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Tavern, the Lucky Foot, Blueberry Town

A chorus of cheers swelled in the late afternoon as eager travellers tasted the famous ale. Brimmed with idle chatter of customers, the tavern was in full-house, and the entire town poured out of profit.

Days since the mansion collapsed into dust, the terror that troubled the town soon fell no more. The spiders were gone, either dead or scatter in fear. Without the Navune to watch over them, the lesser spiders fell into disarray. This left them in a wild, feral abandon that caused to kill one another, leaving the hunters to finish them off. With the roads now clear of threat, income flowed into the town from the other communities. For a time at least.

In the tavern, the barmaids doubled their effort to deliver the drinks both old and new. Such chaos. An overflow of patrons, travellers and first-timers were not an unusual sight to the ladies. The number of orders and impatient mobs were part of their job description.

Each barmaid was a soldier in their own right, more so than the actual one. Their steadfast confidence against a sea of voracious, hungry animals required no less but a bit of madness to balance their day to day routine. Though the work dragged on to the night, they remained as they were: professionals at their finest.

A raccoon barmaid dodged and weaved through the masses with a tray of empty mugs, struggling in her grip. She did not want to be here among this busy rabble. She was about to head straight for the kitchen when the honoured guest asked for a particular person. She scanned around the customers, the barmaids among the group. When she saw her, serving at one of the tables, she rushed at all haste.

"Aveline. Aveline!" The raccoon called out, but her voice soon drowned in the noise. She once more tried again, louder, clearer enough this time that the maned wolf was able to catch her name.

Her walnut eyes shifted towards the source as Aveline completed her service. She spotted the raccoon right away. Like the rest of the staff, the maned wolf suffered exhaustion from her work, unable to take her break. Yet that did not stop her persistence in getting the job done.

"Yes? What is it?" Aveline raised her voice.

The raccoon pointed her free paw to one of the doors. "Another refill. He wants a refill. Basement floor."

Aveline gestured with a stern nod. She said not a word for she knew who the person was. As the raccoon vanished to the kitchen, Aveline sprung into motion. The maned wolf headed straight to the bar where her eyes spotted the bartender.

The bartender, a female rat with brown fur and bluish eyes, delved into momentum. With familiar creation, her paws were swift, agile. Years in the tavern made the bartender proficient in her work. She was downright good at it, and that earned the demands more the harder. As she was another progress for an impatient swine, her eyes caught Aveline from the side.

"Ah, Aveline. Rushing so soon?" The rat asked, almost curious. She did not need to look at her paws while the ale was in progress. The procedure to make one was an easy thing to remember after a thousand try. "Since you are here, who is it?"

"You know who." Aveline smiled.

The bartender went silent for several seconds and returned the gesture. "Well, that changes everything," she said with her creation complete.

The swine saw its cold drink, oozing blue foams of tasty froth spilling from the mug. His delightful expression shown, mouth watered. As he was about to reach his reward, a shock of horror painted its face when the bartender directed its drink towards the maned wolf.

"M-my drink?" The swine whimpered, feeling his hope dashed away.

The rat bartender chuckled smugly. "Oi, don't be so dramatic about it. You will get your turn," she said and turned to Aveline. "Alright, get off you, before he decides to pay another one of his excuses."

Aveline nodded her thanks and proceeded to the door that lead down below.

==

The Basement

Aveline tread the stairway littered with a sooty mess of worn-out garments that the permanent guest cared little to clean. He made it quite clear in the occupation of the basement as one of his personal hideouts. A chance to rest and relax from criminals, guards and sometimes heroes of the outside world. Only Aveline and a couple of barmaids allowed entrance to his sanctum. They alone earned his trust at least.

The basement was small compared to the upper floor from above. A room as quaint and homey in a strange kind of way. What was used to store barrels of unripe ale and equipment of less import, the place was now renovated into something suitable for a high King to live in. The owner of the established tavern protested, reminding the honoured guest that there was little to no space to store the equipment. It did not take long otherwise for the owner to be easily swayed with honeyed words and a large pouch of gold to pay for the trouble.

Like a practice-born mother, Aveline asked the guest on several occasions to clean the mess. She would have done it personally herself and the rest of the barmaids if not for the guest's stubbornness to order them to not touch his stuff. Though they remained compliant, that did not mean she would give up the attempt.

"You need to tidy yourself once in a while," Aveline said to the guest as blunt as a hammer. She swept the mess away with her foot to clear the path. "For a noble with prestigious amount of wealth, you seemed to neglect your priorities. This place is a dump."

The noble guest, a chestnut rat, clothed in a slender outfit of red and white, glanced at Aveline with a perplexed look. He turned his chair around to meet her gaze.

"It is what it needs to be, thank you very much," he replied with a wide grin from cheek to cheek. "And besides, the way it looks right now reminds me of home."

"A home filled with ragged clothes, paper reports and the smell of pipeweed?"

The rat's grin twitched even wider. "Exactly."

This caused Aveline to scoff. She stared at him in a playful, scornful look.

"Oh, don't give me that look. I know you of all people to respect my wishes," the rat chuckled. "Now come on, pass me the drink, would you? I have something to show you."

Aveline rolled her eyes as she strode to place the ale at the side of the table. Her long ears then perked upward to hear the sound of jingle. She turned to notice the noble rat, holding a chest of a dark brownish hue.

"Here it is," the rat broke in a chuckle once more as he brought the chest forward. "Take it."

Aveline paused, hesitant by the offer. Her eyes were glued on the chest with a curious intake, wondering what held inside. Whispering in gratitude, she wrapped her fingers around the chest.

"Well... Go on," the rat gestured with complete insistence. "Open it."

Aveline gave the noble rat a quick nod as she placed her paw on the cover. She pushed the chest open. When she peered to look inside, her eyes widened with awe bewilderment.

Inside the chest bore a single object, a piece beyond her imagination. It was a necklace. Constructed out of artless design, it donned of immense beauty. Its crimson ruby at the center glowed a bright morning hue of a star that delivered an unbelievable value. She began to gently touch the smooth surface of the stone, startled to feel its warmth upon her fingers. The necklace was unlike anything she had seen before.

And then it dawned on her. She had indeed seen this before.

"By the look of your face, I say you approved of it," the rat queried, seeing Aveline's dumbfounded look. "Then... it is yours. My reward for your success."

Aveline turned her attention to the noble, confused. "Success?"

"Oh, indefinitely," the noble confirmed, his grin remained glued to his face. He then leaned forward from his chair to point his finger at the necklace. "That gorgeous beauty belonged to none other than our human friend. Amion."

When Aveline heard that name, she immediately froze. Her paws tightened around the chest, claws dug deep on oaken wood. She looked down at the necklace then back to him that masked a neutral calmness.

"Then... Is he..."

"No," The rat shook his head, leaning back to his chair. He pulled out something from his coat pocket. With a scratch, he lit a matchstick for his old smoke pipe. "He is gone. Lost to the flame. I went to the mansion in person. Among the burnt corpses of spiders, nothing left remain in place. Nothing... Except for that piece alone."

Aveline fell silent. She overheard the news, the outburst of flame that caught the old mansion further into powdery ruin. She knew deep down that Amion would not survive. She'd seen him dozens of times on dangerous missions, triumphant with success. A bit hopeful, she thought the warrior would make it out alive like before. But not this time. This time he met his end, and it pained her that she was a part of it.

"This... This don't make sense," Aveline muttered. She pulled the necklace from the container, her fingers danced around the umber chain. She could not take her eyes out from it. "Isn't this what you seek, milord? Why give this to me?"

The noble rat didn't respond at first, his lips on the pipe. After a moment of an acquired taste, he let out a large puff of smoke.

"Why indeed?"

Aveline hesitated, unsure what to say of the noble. She indeed wondered the reason for it.

"You know him as much as I what our friend is capable of. As for his ill-temperedness that he is, the man is a destructive force worth our interest. You did well to calm his rage, by the way," he explained, repeating the process with his pipe. "I've always thought his power came from the necklace. The moment I saw it, I knew that I needed to have it. But... But I see it was not the case. It is nothing more than a pretty bauble. Disappointed? Yes. Still, it's a gorgeous thing, and it would look good on you. Perhaps, the rave of the town?"

The noble's voice began to fade as Aveline looked down on the gem once more. She saw her reflection that mirrored her tired features on the crimson stone. The more she gazed upon it, the more it twinkled by the candlelight. It was as if it glowed in response.

"Are you alright, my dear?"

Snapped out of a trance, the maned wolf glanced the concerned look of the noble. She smiled weakly but failed to speak as the rat continued.

"I can tell you have a lot of things in your mind. It is quite clear on your face. It must be hard to lose a friend. You two were close. Very close even," the rat paused for several seconds. He put away the pipe and gripped the handle of the mug. "I would ask you to rest or take several days off, but I know you better than that."

Aveline nodded, her smile a bit more confident. "Duty calls," she said tersely. She returned the necklace back into the chest and bowed her head a little. "But thank you for this gift, milord."

The rat barked out a laugh. "Hah, I could get used to that. No need for formalities, my dear," he gestured. "A name would do just fine by me."

The maned wolf did not know how to respond to that. It had taken her several seconds before she uttered his name.

"Of course. As you say... Mercurio."

To be Continued...