Angelo's POV:
"So, we're in Italy... ah, my Italian might need some work. Ever since my parents and I left Italy, I think my Italian is rusty now." I looked at the camcorder after stepping off the plane. "Well, we got a lot of money due to one request from our website – visit Italy and find the mysterious bar." TTT shortly replied, "Well, you didn't tell me we have a website that we use to get some requests!"
I tried to reply, but the whole thing just feels weird, especially since I can see some people staring at me now. I found a less dense place to talk to TTT. "The website I made for others to share legends and rumors around the world, not to use it to directly pay me if the legends are true!"
I shook the camcorder a little, making TTT stumble from inside. Shortly after she regained her balance, she sighed and said, "Just tell me what we are investigating. I'm too used to you doing your own thing without knowing other benefits."
I tried replying to her scolding with some arguments. "Hey, I didn't—" Before I finished my argument, she shut off the camcorder on her own! "HEY!" I tried to shake the camcorder to turn it on and see TTT, but it looks like she forcefully hacked it for it not to open. At least it should be an hour before it opens again. I sighed. I really need to apologize to her this time.
Well, let's just focus on finding that legendary bar. I went over to a nearby restaurant. Walking up to the counter, I said, "Buongiorno signore, posso chiederle dov'è il bar?" I asked the host.
“Mi dispiace giovanotto ma non conosco nessun bar in questa zona... ma conosco qualcuno che potrebbe farlo,” the man at the host said in Italian. I sighed and excused myself from the restaurant, heading over to the person mentioned by the host.
**Third Person POV:**
Angelo approached the man the host mentioned knows every bar in town. Angelo asks, “Hello? Buongiorno? Parla inglese?” he said to the shabby-looking man, who turned his head in Angelo's direction and said, “Don't worry, I speak English. Did you get sent here via the host’s order? Tell him I'll pay my bill,” he said. Angelo shook his head for a ‘no’ gesture, “No, I'm not sent by the host…partly…I hear you were the man who knows every bar in town? I want to ask something...” Angelo looked at the shabby-looking man with a smile.
Carlo, as he calls himself, sighed with relief, and said, “So, what bar are you looking for? The one near the docks or the one near a plaza? Also, just call me Carlo.” The shabby-looking man looked at Angelo.
“Actually… do you know a bar that appears at the edge of the town? I heard it only shows up every night at that spot, then in the morning it will disappear without a trace. Do you know of that bar, Mr. Carlo?” Angelo questioned. Carlo looked at him with wide-open eyes before regaining his composure. He finished the drink in his hand before saying, “Come with me, I know of that peculiar bar... but be warned, the fellas there aren't friendly,” he said, gesturing Angelo to follow him.
Angelo nodded and followed him to the spot of the bar.They arrived at the spot where the rumored mysterious bar always shows up. Angelo checked his watch; it was already 4 pm. “Wait for a bit,” Carlo said to Angelo, looking at the empty lot in front of them.
Not long after, a building appeared. Angelo, surprised at the sudden appearance of a building, regained his composure. Carlo gestured him to enter the bar without him, saying, “Go, I won't accompany you any longer. Watch out if the bartender gives you a drink; don't ever take it,” Carlo warned Angelo. Angelo nodded and entered the bar. The door creaked as he entered. He didn't expect anything fancy nor messy looking.
The outside of the bar looked just like a normal bar in the town, but something was different. The beer glasses and the keg for the beer were all floating.
The whole thing felt like he just entered a dream. He went over to the bar counter before sitting on a stool to observe his surroundings.
He could only hope that things would not be bad as long as he acted normal.
**Angelo's POV:**
It has been a while now since TTT bothered me... I'm not inside the rumored bar, and I didn't expect that beer glasses and beer kegs are all floating. Is the bar owned by an arcanist, perhaps? I questioned myself as time passed by. Suddenly, the bartender went over to my corner. Think of a generic bartender with a mustache; that's how he looks. He then said something.
“What can I give you, new blood?” he said as he got one of the floating beer glasses and cleaned it. I replied, “Oh, me? Hahaha, nothing, nothing. I'm just passing by time.”
I awkwardly scratched the back of my neck. This whole thing was so weird. If TTT is here, I would be more glad that I know of someone. But as I look around, I see that all the people here either have guns or wands, and they all have that look of them going to kill someone.
Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl. As time passed by, and many more people entered the bar, I managed to witness something you will sometimes always see when a character in a movie is in a bar: jazz musicians playing music while the characters in the bar are drinking or discussing something.
This whole scenario is like a weird movie that I just walked into. As I was preparing to leave the bar, the camcorder opens. It was TTT. Before she could greet me, I turned off the camcorder so that the people won't find me suspicious. I cleared my throat and asked the bartender how the whole place works. He answered my question, “Every night, this bar appears for arcanists or the people working in the underworld alike. But once morning comes, the whole thing will go underground, and the effect you see? The one where the bar just magically appears? It's part of a way to confuse people and potentially scare normal people. You're not normal, are you?”
The bartender asked me, and I could feel everyone in the bar stare at me, including the musicians. They stopped playing music just to stare at me.
I tried replying without making any mistakes, but it was bound to happen.
“M-me? Ahem, I'm not nOrmal.” Dang it... my voice cracked, and that was the confirmation. One of the bystanders in the bar blocked the door to the outside. I'm stuck. I backed away from all the people walking closer to me. The bartender, while going closer to me, said, “You know… I despise you normal people. I made this whole place for either the arcanists or the mafia so I could avoid seeing a normal person.
You know why I hate them so much? Because they are boring!” His voice grew louder as he said those things. I was backed to a wall, no escape now.
But suddenly, the door was blasted off the hinges. It was Carlo. Carlo blasted the door? Before I could gather my senses, he looked over at my direction and quickly made a way for me to escape. He blocked the bartender using his fist. It looked like he punched the guy. I regained my senses before I rushed through the door. I looked over to Carlo.
“Don't worry about me, Angelo! I can manage!” He said as he gut-punched the bartender. That's gotta hurt. But I gotta focus on escaping. I quickly turned on the camcorder as I was greeted by TTT. She looks like she wants to apologize. “Hey Angelo, I apologize about what happened earlier… just turning off the camcorder and opening it an hour later... I'm sorry.”
She said looking at me through the camcorder, but this was no time for some sad scenes. So I quickly replied, “No worries, apology accepted! We gotta run.” I said to her, as she looked surprised. “Really? Is it that easy?” She questioned herself but before she could think of it for another time, I ducked under a passing glass. “Sorry TTT, I'm busy running.” I said to her as I turned the camcorder to let TTT see that I was being chased. I could hear an “oh...” from her. I quickly brought it back near my face and said to her, “So see you after I'm done running from those people!”
I said to TTT as she gave two thumbs up and said “good luck.” I turned off the camcorder and put it back in my bag. It was time for me to focus on running.
**Third Person POV:**
Well, this whole thing turned into a chase scene. As Angelo weaved through obstacles and stacked crates to escape the ones after him, he spotted a ladder that goes up to a rooftop of a house. Without a second thought, he climbed up, leaving the non-athletic chasers in the dust, leaving only the athletic ones. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop; he even did a quick slide from a slippery roof to get to another roof. He looks back and saw that the ones chasing him were all gone.
He ran a few more meters before stopping so that he could confirm no one was chasing him anymore. He settled down and briefly told TTT what happened: the mysterious bar, Carlo, the moment he got into the mysterious bar, and how much he was worried about TTT.
Wait, what? “Hold on, run that back, so you were worried for me?” TTT asked Angelo. Angelo simply nodded and replied, “Well… I was planning on apologizing to you after this… but you apologize first… Ahem, I'm very sorry for what happened that time…”
After some time, our little heart-to-heart got cut short, and Angelo saw that their flight back was nearing. It was almost 7 am now. “That's the time…” he said as he looked at TTT inside the camcorder. She was smiling. “Well, I'm jealous; you didn't even let me accompany you on the adventure you just experienced,” she pouted.
Angelo smiled and said, “Don't worry, I'll let you be with me once we get another request. But for now, we need to get back now.” TTT nodded as they went to the airport and back to their home. The whole adventure wasn't going to leave Angelo's memories for a long time…
But what bothered him is…what happened to Carlo?