"Hahaha!! And then I told him, you can't be that strong, buddy. You're wearing a damn cape!"
Every single creature around the bar burst into hysterical laughter, orcs, elves, and daemons alike slamming their glasses on the countertop repeatedly in applause.
But the one they all gathered around to cheer, was a singular, young man—pale olive skin and blue eyes. His hairstyle was a black undercut with shaved or closely cropped sides and back.
An all-black, exotic uniform that didn't look like any uniform or blazer from Lychinus, a furred cape draped all the way down his back, it was strangely plastered with colorful stickers and amateur drawings, like some children drew on it, and finally, a large mysterious backpack by his foot.
A human.
"Hah! Yeah… So anyways, I took his cape." The young man gestured comedically, putting his long white cape on display.
The entire tavern couldn't get enough of this kid, creatures were falling to the floor in raging fits of laughter like it was normal,
Like this, was normal.
The only person who wasn't laughing, was a crimson-eyed woman sitting off in the far back, tracing the rim of her glass as she eyed the young man with intent.
Pandora Desdemona.
"Haha! Wait! Wait, Dion! Tell 'em what you did to those orcs last time!" A drunken Daemon said in between chuckles.
Dion revealed a toothy smile, and took one last swig from his nearly empty glass, then stood up. "Maybe next time, I got a ship to catch remember? Dion said, patting the daemon on his back affably.
Suddenly, a slightly buzzed daemon woman approached him, playfully rubbing against his body. "Oh, come on. Why do you even want to go to Erenam? Skal's don't know how to party like I do."
Pandora's ears instantly perked up.
Dion gently pushed her off and guided her into a nearby stool. "Well, thankfully for me, this trip is strictly business."
Dion places a silver coin on the countertop next to the bar keep—a dark elf, who gives him a small smile as he continued scrubbing down glasses rigorously.
"Alright, everybody!" Dion shouted, waving back at all of the patrons as he walked out of the tavern's front door.
"Bye, Dion!!" An assortment of voices cheered as they raised their glasses to him.
He walked out into the dead of night, the streets of Tenebris were completely empty by this time, vendors and shop owners were or have already closed down for the night, and no creature enjoyed being out alone in the dark, especially with the rising crime rates.
Dion patted down his back as he walked, just checking if his pack was tightly sealed and secured on his person. Though before he continued walking, a family caught his eye, a mother and two children sleeping on the sidewalk. Dion frowned, crouching down gently by the mother, making certain not to wake the kids.
"Psst. Hey, Aralenea." Dion whispered; the dark elf mother instantly perked up and looked at him with meager eyes.
He grasped her hand softly, and placed 7 gold coins into her palm. "Here, it isn't much but, you could buy the little ones something to eat."
Aralenea stared at her hand, and bit her bottom lip, tears began to swell in her eyes. "Oh, Dion… bless you. Light bless you!" She cried, pulling him into a tight hug.
"Of course." Dion smiled. "Be safe, okay?" He said, standing up once more and walking off further into the night.
Though, there was a pair of watchful eyes that Dion wasn't aware of.
Pandora slinked from behind a dimly lit alleyway, slowly trailing his every step. Despite her vulture-like stalking, she was just a little bit thrown off of her game.
…Why the hell is this human so chummy with all of these creatures? This is unheard of.
They should be turning up their noses at the first sight of a Lychinor, but instead they're praising and sharing drinks with him?
This confused Pandora deeply, but also… excited her.
…What if she killed him? Oh, just imagine the look on his face in that split second he realizes that his life will be taken, right before his eyes. The despair it would cause those around him.
For the first time in a long time, Pandora smiled. Truly smiled.
Her mind was set, she would kill him and take his place on the ship to Erenam. Maybe even take a part of him to remember this moment, her 'methods' are unknown in Tenebris so no one would be able to trace anything back to her.
As Dion continued on his way, a strange chill shot down his back, causing him to stop and study his surroundings.
That's odd. Dion had walked these streets millions of times, especially during the night. But something about tonight was different, he could feel something, someone.
Somebody, was watching him.
CLANG!
Pandora jumped out from the shadows, and swiftly brought her chains crashing down on Dion! But, with almost inhuman reflexes—he unsheathed the short sword hidden beneath his large cape, and met the chain's metal with steel.
Before he had even a split second to process the situation, Pandora's chains coiled around the steel of the blade, then she pulled—forcefully yanking the sword from his grasp.
"What the hell!?-" He grunted. But Pandora was relentless, like always. Sending a flurry of whips and thrashes his way, Dion was quite nimble though, and quick on his feet.
This wouldn't stop Pandora, of course. With a final thrust, she flung her chains towards him—aiming right for his neck, hoping for the chains to coil around it.
Dion foresaw this, and immediately threw his left arm up—the chain's coiling around his wrist instead.
Pandora attempted another yank, but pulling a full-grown man to the ground wasn't as easy as a sword—not that she couldn't, but Dion was resisting with some unnatural strength of his own.
They were both trapped in mental and physical struggle, neither willing to give in.
Amidst his struggle however, Dion was finally able to get a clear look at his attacker, the moonlight now revealing her features.
His eyes immediately widened. "W-Wait a second! Hey, I know you! You're the!-"
He was cut off by an even harder tug on the chain, like Pandora was gesturing she didn't care much for what he was about to say.
Dion nearly fell over, he finally just grunted in annoyance, and reached into his back pocket. "Ah, fuck this."
BANG!
Pandora felt something blazing hot whizz by her left ear, stopping her dead in her tracks. She couldn't explain why, but her entire body locked up—tensed. What did he do just now? Was that his ARS?
Slowly beginning to look up, Pandora noticed Dion was holding a strange device, she had never seen it before. A block of metal in an odd shape, with a strange deep black hole in the front.
What kind of Light is this? Purple? Red? How could he send such panic down her body just from pointing it at her!?
"Next time, I won't miss." Dion remarked, cocking back a lever on the strange device. "So, just put the-"
Pandora immediately dashed for Dion, panic be damned—she wasn't gonna let some random hold power over her like this.
In the blink of an eye, Pandora covered the distance between them, Dion barely had any time to react before she was already behind him. He had never seen a human move with such speed, the rumors about her must be true.
He tried his best to whip his body around in time, but Pandora had already thrown out her chain—aiming right for the back of his neck!
The chains missed their mark. Instead, they hit Dion's shoulder—causing him to wince, and drop his heavy backpack to the concrete floor.
CRASH!
An object went flying out of his pack! A glass, globe-shaped item hit the ground with force, it carried some strange light, a Golden Light.
BZZT!
"AGH!" Dion and Pandora screamed in unison.
On impact, the Golden Light exploded! Blinding the both of them, and sending an excruciating shock through their persons. It felt as if a 900 degree blade was being stuck in their heart a thousand times over—their essence being pulled from and reattached to their body repeatedly.
All while their vision was blinded by white.
"…Oh, how the tides of fate have shifted still." A gentle voice spoke to them, like a lullaby. "Curious, is it not? How troubled of beings we truly are. Devouring the entire world around us, yet we require more still. Why do we worry, so? As we're drowning deep down the lake, who will hear us truly? So, let us gasp for air together—and when the water fills our muted lungs, we'll share in this vision of white, as one.
White. Everything returns, to white."
…Slowly, the world around them returned.
They both winced, falling to their knees finally regaining their bearings.
Pandora began violently wheezing, clutching her chest tightly, the sweltering pain from earlier lingering in her sternum.
"No… NO!!" Dion screamed, scrambling to retrieve the shattered globe item—now broken into hundreds of tiny little glass shards, the Golden Light that was held within, completely vanished without trace.
Pandora watched the distressed Dion with addled eyes, but slowly, began to notice something strange. REALLY, damn strange.
A Golden thread, was not protruding from her chest. It couldn't have been thicker than any regular strand of silk, but when she tried to pull on it, a painful shock traveled from her neck to her lower back.
Dion slowly turned back to look at Pandora, obvious rage boiled within his eyes, he stormed over to her, towering over her body furiously.
"YOU! Do you even know what you've done!?!"
Pandora quickly forced herself to her feet, doing her best to match his energy. "What? What the hell are you talking about?"
Dion aggressively grabbed Pandora's collar, and pulled her close, their noses nearly touching.
"You fuckin' idiot! You just bound our souls for the rest of ETERNITY!!"