Reela has decided. She's finally realized the worst mistake Regan has ever made. He thought he was making the world a better place, and for so long she thought he was right. She thought that everything he was doing was for the greater good, and like an idiot, she supported him.
But now she realizes how stupid she was. How stupid he was.
He should never have taken down the barriers. He should never have 'united' the world.
Because apparently, before the barriers dropped;
No one in Aramora gave a fuck about underage drinking.
Now she's beating her head against the bar counter, ready to climb over and strangle the morally corrupt barkeeping little twit who refuses to serve her drinks. See how he likes playing by the rules as she rips his fucking throat out.
Just like she did to that Hex on the Firefly.
All to save Regan.
She rubs her hands over her face, trying to wipe away the dryness that stings her eyes and the irritated skin of her cheeks from all her dried tears. The lantern light of the tavern blurs into view as she brings her hands down, one over her mouth and the other rested on the countertop, shakily tapping to the beat of her heart drumming in her ears.
'What was he thinking?'
She looks down at the counter – at the note sitting in front of her.
She tries to read it all from the beginning.
"Jules, I don't know how much time I have—"
But she stops to dart her eyes to the bottom of the page. To the last line.
"I should have said goodbye when I still had the—"
She closes her eyes. "...Why am I doing this to myself...?" she whispers into her palm, when she hears a suppressed chuckle from the other end of the counter.
She opens her eyes and lowers her hand from her mouth, and she looks over to see Jules downing a shot of either one of two things. Option one: Water, in which case she's unsure if this is really her aunt and Reela should turn and run from this skin-walking pretender.
Or it's the more-likely option two: Vodka.
Jules sets the shot glass down and looks over at Reela. "Now that is a damn good question," she sighs before sliding over to sit next to the girl, who just goes right back to staring down at the letter in front of her. Jules bites her lip. "At this point I think you're just trying to distract yourself from your desire to cave in a bartender's face," she says and flashes a wink to the barkeep on the other side of the counter, who stops cleaning a glass to point at her.
"Hey, didn't I bar you?" he scoffs and Jules rolls her eyes. "How did you get those drinks?"
Jules snickers with a slight slur as she returns her focus to Reela to pat her on the shoulder. "Let this be a lesson. If someone doesn't give you what you want, simply don't get caught taking it," she sighs with a small voice crack.
Reela glances at her. "Are you already drunk?" she squints her eyes.
"Tipsy," Jules nods to the letter. "When are you going to give yourself a break, kid? You've read it how many times now? You know that it's just a goodbye letter."
Reela stiffly shakes her head and looks down at it again. "It has to be more..." she says weakly. "Regan went through hell and back ten years ago. I know his life's been a little less exciting than going on magical quests for teleporting orbs and taking down corrupt governments, but..." she huffs at the paper. "It just seems so unlike him to just... give up."
Jules snorts and leans sideways on the counter. "Unlike him? Regan? To be dramatic?" she shakes her head and reaches over to ruffle Reela's hair, but she waves her off. "Sounds like my brother to me."
Reela scoffs and looks up at her. "Exactly. This is your brother. Why aren't you more concerned about finding him?" she asks. Jules simply takes a deep breath and sits down on the stool beside Reela.
"I do want to find him. Badly," she states and rests her hand on the paper. "I just don't think this is our lead."
Reela shakes her head again and looks down at the letter, but Jules doesn't move her hand. Reela goes to brush her off, but Jules just catches her hand in her other one and takes a deep breath. Her aunt throws on a smile and sweetly tilts her head, which Reela knows is a sign that she's ready to punch her in the face.
"Reela... No offense, but right now," she sucks in a breath through her teeth. "You're acting – and sounding," she whispers, "a lot like Regan."
Reela actually blurts a dry laugh and pulls her hand out of Jules'. "How-fucking-dare you?" she scoffs and defiantly shakes her head. "You might as well just bash my face in too while you're at it, like your little show here yesterday," she rolls her eyes and Jules chuckles deviously.
"He was an orc," she shrugs carelessly. "I made an improvement."
Reela purses her lips and looks down to start pouring over the letter again, but when she turns her head, it's gone. She snaps her glare over to Jules, who is back on the end of the bar with a vodka shot in one hand and the letter in the other.
"Jules. I need that," she gets off her stool and crosses her arms.
Jules laughs and holds out both the vodka and the paper. "Red pill or blue pill? You take the blue pill—"
"Jules," Reela growls.
Jules tilts her head innocently. "What? I love that movie," she contentedly hums. "Keanu Reeves."
"Okay," Reela sighs and walks over to pat her on the shoulder. "I know you said you're just tipsy, but I think we should get you to bed now," she says and slowly moves her hand from her shoulder to her back. Since Jules has yet to lower either the paper or the vodka glass, Reela takes the opportunity to snap her hand out for the paper, just as it vanishes in a lilac glow and Jules stands up and crosses her arms also.
"Reela. You really are sounding like Regan," she tisks. "You're working yourself too hard. If you let me, I can help you take the edge off because it's clear that won't be happening here," she says with a snide towards the barkeep. "Kid, I'm telling you. Sit at a bar, look sad, and if the bartender is cute, say you're going through a breakup. Free drinks and maybe even—"
"Jules," Reela clears her throat. "I'm trying to find my dad, not get laid. So can't you just give me the letter back?"
Jules pops her lips and grins. "Not until after you've had some fun," she states and lowers her voice. "Not too far from here, there's a club. Absolutely beneath the law, which means they don't care if you're too young to drink. I know all of this Regan business is stressful, which is why Auntie Jules is here to help," she downs the vodka shot and slams it on the counter before spinning around to look at Reela.
"So. You in?"
Reela shakes her head yet again with a sigh. "Jules, I can't just—"
"Someone mention a strip club?!" Before Reela can even turn her head, Corb has already rushed over.
Where did he even come from?
"Re, please! I didn't know Letroseli could have a redemption arc!"
Jules claps Corb on the back. "Exactly! We don't even need to walk. My rift shard is already attuned to the place, so we can just pop in whenever," she flashes Reela a winning smile. "Come on, I thought you've always wanted to go to a club. You just turned eighteen and you're already acting like my narc of a brother. Live a little!" she takes Reela's hands.
"I thought the shards can't move this many people at once," Reela narrows her eyes in question, but Jules nods without losing her smile.
"Not without enough power, which I have now that I've been back to my cabin," she shrugs. "I've collected a few Schism Fragments over the years. It'll get us there."
Reela doesn't know why she didn't like the sound of that. The idea of anyone collecting Schism Fragments frightens her. But she guesses if anyone can deal with things like that, it's Jules. She's careful, despite her behavior. Reckless but at the same time, calculated.
She just wants to find Regan, but Jules is right. Just a month ago, Reela was watching the calendar just waiting to turn eighteen so she could go to clubs with her friends and her dad. Now she's ready to brush aside an opportunity to go to an elf strip club?
'Am I becoming a... narc?'
"Alright let's go."
Unsurprisingly, Todo didn't want to come. Jules offered as they passed him in the street, but he was on his way to the tavern for a drink of his own. Reela still doesn't know what his problem is as of late, but it's really starting to piss her off. She was concerned at first, but now it just feels like he's going out of his way to be an ass, which she is in no mood to deal with.
So, it's just Reela, Jules, and Corb.
Girl's night.
Where, exactly, this club is located is still a mystery. When Jules warped them all there, they were already in the foyer getting hit in the face by a wall of smoke that Reela doesn't have an extensive enough criminal record to identify the type, so in a multiple choice selection, she'll just go with the 'all of the above.' Whatever it is, it almost knocks her off her feet. Again, since she's still not used to the warping thing. At least she didn't have to use her own magic this time.
The place is dimly lit with only candles and lanterns to keep the place lit. The main room is massive, with a bar counter ring in the center with a colorful selection of bottles on the circular rack, giving plenty of choices from all sides.
It's almost like a tavern, but bigger. And shadier. In all honesty, the best way to describe the way this place feels is to tell it exactly like it is. It's a fantasy version of CyberIllusion and no one can fucking tell Reela otherwise. They even have drug dealers in the corner booths and Adaliaen men and women dancing on stages and tables wearing very little clothing. Everyone looks either drunk, almost drunk, or wanting to be drunk.
As Jules said, this place is beneath the law, and Reela can see why. Obviously there are a lot of Adaliaens and Half-Adaliaens here, but also a whole mix of people of different races. There are Tus'Felnis and orcs. Centaurs, Dwarves – there's a mermaid in the hot tub over there. People are gambling, drinking, arm wrestling, making out in corners, and—is that a dead guy on the ground?
He's probably fine.
Jules takes a deep breath in and exhales with an eager chuckle. "Never gets old," she nods her head towards the bar counter, which is being tended by two Adaliaens; a man and a woman who are both wearing all black, tight leather outfits that leave nothing to the imagination.
Reela just takes a step towards the counter with Jules when she sees that Corb is already there, talking to the Adaliaen woman. She sighs and shakes her head but before she can chase after him, Jules catches her arm.
"Reela. Corb is doing what you should do," she motions to the tavern. "Have fun! It's like a playground for adults!" she claps her on the back and steps away to take off her cloak and stuff it in her bag. She pulls her hair out of its braid to let it all fall around her shoulders in a wave of dark red curls.
Jules steps back over to Reela and without a word, spins her around by her shoulders to take the hair tie out of the girl's hair, making the long white ponytail come undone. "You've lost ponytail privileges," Jules turns her back around and fluffs her hair. "Now, you wanted a drink, right?" she asks and pulls Reela through the crowd of sketchiness to join Corb at the bar, just as he's getting a mug served to him by the Adaliaen woman behind the counter.
Jules knocks on the wooden countertop and flags down the Adaliaen man and he comes over, leaning forward on the counter in front of them. "What can I get for you lovely ladies?" he says with a smile that's first on Jules, then Reela, who is sitting stiffly with her head down as she keeps glancing back over her shoulder.
Jules elbows Reela in the side and up-nods to the man, but his eyes are still on Reela. "Dealer's choice," she chuckles and bites her lip as she winks to him. "Make it good."
The man slowly nods and tears his eyes off of Reela to start preparing the drinks. Jules smiles proudly before she looks over and sees that Reela is still tossing cautious glances around the room. She doesn't like how open this place is. And with the mix of orcs, Tus'Felnis, and Adaliaens...
Jules punches her shoulder.
Reela winces and whips her attention back onto her. "What was that for?"
"You're not relaxing," she groans. "Trust me, Reela. I come here all the time. If anyone's out to get you, I'll know it," she says before nudging her with another subtle nod to the bartender. "Besides, I think he likes you."
Reela rolls her eyes and turns forward again. "Even if he does, I don't care."
Jules tilts her head. "Wait are you a lesbian?" she asks. "I can try getting the chick away from Corb if you—"
"No," Reela growls. "Again. I'm not here to get laid. Just a drink," she states, when the barkeep comes back to set two mugs in front of Reela and Jules. No clue what's in them, but so long as it gets her drunk, that's all she cares about.
She offers the man a brief smile. "Thank you," she says quickly and grabs the mug, but he catches it before she can move it any closer. Her instincts flare up and she prepares to have to turn his nose into a dented street sign, but when she looks up, he flashes her a wink.
"On the house," he says before letting the mug go and backing up to turn and start serving another customer.
Reela grumbles and just pulls the mug closer to herself. But before even lifting it, she stops. Why would the drink be on the house? It's not like she couldn't pay for it. What if there's a reason he's so insistent on her having this drink?
She looks over to see Jules already head-back elbow-up chugging from her mug. Reela grabs her arm and forces her to put the mug down. "Wait. What if it's poisoned? That must be why they were free."
"Gremlin. You know I love you. But you are one paranoid comment away from getting slapped," Jules states and turns her body to face her. "These drinks were free because they were ordered by two hot women and served by a sad, lonely boy who wants to get some. But the catch is;" she leans closer to whisper to Reela. "He never does. And we," she raises her mug high. "Get drunk for free."
As Jules goes back to chugging her drink, Reela sighs and glances over in time for Corb to slide over with a mug of his own.
"Holy shit, you guys. I think the elf girl's into me."
"I assure you she's not," Reela rolls her eyes and turns forward, when she catches the Adaliaen man staring at her with a grin. She glares at him in return.
Is he waiting for her to take a drink?
Corb leans down over Reela's shoulder. "Are you having a staring contest?" he asks, looking between Reela and the man, and Reela huffs as she looks over at him.
"No. I'm asserting dominance and telling him with my eyes that he's not fooling me," she crosses her legs and leans forward on her elbows. "I've been poisoned enough times since coming to Letroseli and I'm not looking to make it a habit."
Jules groans on Reela's other side and both Corb and Reela turn to look at her. "She's being paranoid. Look, kid. I'm sorry I said you were acting like Regan, but that doesn't mean you have to enter full-blown 'Cree' mode. Now, will you stop overthinking things and just get drunk, dear?" she says and resumes drinking until she empties the mug and slams it down with an ungodly belch.
"'Nother round, barkeep!" she laughs carelessly and raises her hand.
Reela shakes her head and looks down at the mug in front of her that's just tempting her to drink it. She wants to get drunk so fucking badly so she can stop overthinking everything, especially everything with Regan and his note. But what if she's right and the barkeep spiked her drink?
Corb places his hand on Reela's shoulder. "Your hot aunt's right, Re. You've been stressing your tits off for how long now? Too long. You've got nice tits, so stop stressing them off," he states and grabs her mug to take a drink from it. She reaches up to try to stop him, but it's already too late and he just sets it back down.
"Corb, what if that was poisoned?" she snaps and grabs his arm, but he merely shrugs.
"Then I die a drunk, happy death," he chuckles, but his smile fades when Reela goes back to staring at the counter. Before he can say anything else, the barkeep comes back over with Jules' second drink, but after giving it to her, he steps up to Reela and smiles down at her.
"I don't think I caught your name, snowflake," he says with confidence that to anyone but Reela would come off as 'smooth,' but she's not buying it.
Reela sighs and entwines her fingers together under her chin with her elbows on the counter. "If you add 'special' in front of that, I will gladly demonstrate the eighteen different ways my father taught me to stab someone," she states. "Nineteen for men."
The man just chuckles and tilts his head as he looks her over. Why isn't he getting intimidated?
"The snow angel's got fire, I see," he comments and shifts his stance to face her better and show her a warm smile, and Reela tenses.
Fire.
That's what Avinalyn keeps saying about her.
She stands up from her seat quickly to grab the man by the collar of his shirt and raise her fist ready to throw square into his face. Already, just seeing the confidence on his face shift to instant fear is making her feel better.
"Did Avinalyn send you?" she demands and fakes getting ready to punch, just to make him flinch. "Did they put you up to this?"
The man holds up his hands defensively. "U-Up to what? I-I don't know who that is!"
"Oh, so you didn't poison my drink?" she snaps. "Then why was it free?"
He raises his hands higher. "Because I thought you were hot!"
Corb raises a finger and chuckles. "I mean, this is pretty hot," he shrugs and leans back to look at Jules on Reela's other side and he motions to Reela. "Are you not gonna...?"
Jules holds up her hand to him and smiles as she keeps her eyes on Reela and the bartender. "Just... wait."
The man flinches back from Reela and she glares at him, trying to get a sense of whether or not he's lying. He's shying his face away from her and trying to make himself appear as small as possible. Even if he was sent by Avinalyn, he doesn't seem very intimidating if just threatening a punch in the face is enough to scare him into submission.
With a sigh, she lets him go and actually smiles when she watches him scurry away.
Jules bites her lip which turns her chuckle into something closer to an amused growl. "Told you he liked you," she teases and pats Reela on the back. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to join the 'who wants to kick the dead guy' ring over there," she stands up and nods to Corb. "You got this?"
Corb's face blanks. "Uh..."
"Good," Jules winks at him before turning and rushing over to the kicking cult in the corner.
Reela takes a deep breath and sits down, going back to just staring down at her drink. She still isn't sure if she can trust it or not. After all, Avinalyn said after the last time that they poisoned her that she should trust her instincts over her appetite. Maybe that's true, but her mind fundamentally wants to disagree with everything Avinalyn says.
Corb clears his throat and calmly pats her shoulder. "Okay... Now, I'm not a therapist—"
"This should be good," Reela snorts.
"...But I'm getting the sense this isn't just about the letter," Corb says carefully while watching her eyes. Reela cocks a brow and looks up at him.
"What else would I be stressed about other than, you know, finding my dad," she laughs dryly. "I swear, is my voice not working or something, because it seems like every time I say that, no one seems to understand how serious the situation is," she says with a bit of snap.
Corb lowers his hand from her shoulder to rest on the bar counter. "I mean, yeah... There is that and that is... serious. But..." he looks her over. "You know... There was that whole 'fight' you had with my brother. Remember? When he accused you of sleeping with—"
"I remember, Corb!" Reela blurts and slams her hands down on the counter. She forces herself to take a deep breath and lower her head again. She shakes her head as she keeps staring at the mug in front of her. "I just... I don't get how he could honestly think that I would even be interested in Avinalyn," she scoffs with a weak but spiteful laugh.
Corb eyes her curiously and spares a glance at the barkeep he thinks just shit himself because of Reela. He clears his throat again and looks down at her. "Re... Homeslice, I'm on your side here—"
"Don't tell me you think so too," Reela groans and looks at him with resentful, but pleading eyes.
He holds up his hands. "Of course not! But..." he brings his hands back down and motions to her. "Maybe it's your paranoia that's making him think that way," he suggests and slowly starts pushing the mug closer to Reela's hand and she glares at him.
"Okay, Corb. Just how many drinks have you had?"
He chuckles. "Not enough," he looks over and winks at the Adaliaen woman, and she winks back. He snaps his focus back to Reela. "But no. Seriously. This isn't a me being dumb thing, I think. All I'm saying is that... No one brought up Avinalyn," he nods to her. "You did. And maybe to Todo, that could seem... 'suspicious.'"
Reela holds her glare on him for a moment before she gives up and grabs the mug, raising it to her lips and chugging vigorously. She doesn't know what the fuck is in this, but holy hell will she not live to see the bottom of this mug.
Corb had better shut the fuck up real quick. Sure, she's paranoid. But that doesn't mean she wants to bone someone she can't fucking stand. Avinalyn was, by some people's standards – low standards – 'nice' to her once. And it ended with them poisoning her and locking her in a room.
Corb smiles and claps to himself. "Yay, you're drinking! That means we're making progress. But I was thinking," he taps her shoulder and she lowers the mug to glare at him again. "I might have an idea to get Todo off your ass about Avinalyn."
Reela rolls her eyes and lifts the mug again. "Joy of joys. A Corb idea. Wonderful," she mumbles before resuming her profane chugging. With any luck, getting drunk will make tonight less unbearable. She gets that Corb is just trying to help, but pep talks have never been his strong suit. But she appreciates him trying to fill in for Todo while he and Reela aren't on speaking terms apparently.
Corb nods excitedly. "If Todo's worried about you sleeping with Avinalyn, then you should fuck someone else!"
And that's how Reela experienced her first spit-take.
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Todo sits in the corner of the tavern with a bottle of ale in his hand and a pit of regrets in his head that he just can't shake away, no matter how much he drinks. He's not usually one to try drowning his sorrows in booze, but he guesses that's just one more thing that's changed recently.
The main thing is Reela.
He doesn't want to assume she'd lie to him. In fact, he hates the thought of her keeping secrets from him, especially one like this. But he doesn't know if she was telling the truth when she said she wasn't interested in Avinalyn, or if she was defensive.
Or was he the defensive one?
He can't tell. Maybe he should try talking to Corb about it when he gets back from 'girls night' with Reela and Jules. Normally he would be worried about both Reela and Corb being away, but he trusts Jules to be able to keep them safe.
He pulls his mind away from his thoughts when he hears footsteps approaching behind him, and he prays it's not a tavern girl looking to score because he made the 'Cree Tyrell' mistake of brooding in a bar where women and closeted gay men come in herds.
But then he feels a searing hand on his back that threatens to burn through his jacket.
Todo tenses and tries to remain as still as possible, when Avinalyn rests their other hand on his shoulder with the same threatening heat as the one they keep on his back.
"Shh. Don't worry, Todo," they whisper before slipping into the seat beside him with their hand still on his back. "I was just hoping we could have a little chat."
Todo takes a slow, deep breath that doesn't tame his anger one bit. "About what?" he rumbles.
They calmly smile. "Don't be coy. I'm here because of our arrangement," they state. "You know, for when I got you out of prison back in Lithonilynn. Now I'm here to collect my payment."