The quiet that accompanies the darkness of the city was almost unnerving. The usually lively city of Adeluna looked like a ghost town compared to what it had been before the whole threat of the end of the world that had come from the desert. The people seemed to have had enough from all of these dangerous events that seemed to be never ending and were scared. Once night fell they would hide themselves away, chasing after the bliss of sleep and dreams until they would awaken with the first rays of dawn as they crested upon the horizon.

But….what was this? In the distance, voices could be heard singing. It would seem there was one place that the horrors of the world would not touch. Seemingly unaffected by the unspoken curfew were those down at the port, or more specifically the Winking Mermaid. The closer one came to the tavern the louder the singing grew. The doors and windows were open and the party of people was spilling out around the building. It was more up like a beacon. Of hope that normalcy would remain in this town, and would grow once more and replace the depressive darkness that seemed to have taken over the rest of the town. 

Tonight was the usual unofficial singing contest for sailors to sing their favorite shanty songs but it seemed to have gone far beyond that as it was no longer a contest but a horde of men and women singing with all their might as one. It was quite a spectacle to behold. So many strangers, friends, family brought together by the magic of cheap ale singing together wonderfully. There were of course a few key players that seemed to be the sparks within the crowd, keeping everyone going, keeping the motivation up, the songs flowing, the dance roaring. One of these sparks was a young man, quite drunk at that who was singing along and dancing atop the bar with a few others. The energy seemed to just radiate off of him, keeping spirits high. His white hair partially obscuring his sky blue eyes as they hastily looked about as the dance continued.

Drinks in hand those on top of the long bar table were twirling about jumping around and keeping their drinks held high as they went about their business. It was a jolly celebration where all the songs known to these sailors and other folks would be sang, the festivities they were having would go on, not stopping for any reason, past the point where no more songs were to be sang.

"Welcome, what can I get you?" "I'd like something without alcohol, please." "Huh, well that's not going to be too difficult. What're you in the mood for?" "Something light, to soothe the stomach." "Hmm…then how about a mug of warm ginger ale and cinnamon?" "I'll have that then." "Coming right up." The server was off behind the counter, preparing a warm kettle of boiling water and a clean cup. Sitting near the side wall of the Winking Mermaid, a man in plain robes with long black hair tied into a braid was sitting by himself. He wasn't sure why he had come inside. Cymbel wasn't known for drinking, and he had no stomach for anything strong today. When he had been wandering the streets outside he heard the sounds of singing and felt the need to walk in. While he waited for his non-alcoholic drink, he was thinking over things. Oh, that's right–he was here for a reason, but not a very good one.

A few weeks ago Shiloh had stopped by to see how he was doing in Nisshoki. Occasionally she would visit him during his shift hours at Amakusa whenever her work brought her to Parvpora. This time wasn't the usual meeting, as she mentioned she might not be able to see him for a while. There were reports of a strange structure having emerged from the Harena Desert, and rumors said it was responsible for a string of murders and kidnappings taking place within the region. People were moving in to find the root cause and wipe it out before things went out of control. He had asked if she wanted him to come with her to help, but she had said no. Even though he understood she was worried about his safety, he felt terrible for not being able to help alongside her. He would be at a severe disadvantage out in the desert, due to his poor heat tolerance. Although he had promised not to put himself in harm's way, he couldn't stay at home while feeling useless.

Taking a few days off, he took an airship to Adeluna to wait for Shiloh when she returned. It was a rather feeble attempt at consoling himself, thinking that if he was close by he could assist her should she need him. His thoughts were interrupted by the server's return, a steaming mug with the rich fragrance of cinnamon in hand. Accepting it gratefully, he paid her for the drink. Holding the warm mug in his hands, the stress and tension in his body began to ease. Tonight there was a singing contest, and although he would not be participating, it was a welcome distraction. His mind wandered too much to pay attention to the words, but just the cheerful atmosphere was enough. 

Daz was enjoying the spectacle in The Winking Mermaid, everyone was in a happy mood and were singing songs and drinking to their hearts desire. He left Jax his bird outside for now, letting him fly in the sky while he looks for a room to rent for the night. He smiled at the waitress and asked "Miss, you have any juice or something without much alcohol in it?". She smiled and said "Of course, I'll be back in a few minutes to get your drink", after replying she winked at Daz and he simply smiled looked down and tried to hide his smile, which was embarrassingly getting bigger. The waitress laughed and soon Daz was singing along with the other men and women inside The Winking Mermaid.

He removed his cloak and stretched his arms and legs, unknowingly spilling a drink from a nearby drunk sailor. "OI, WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM? YOU BETTER PAY FOR THAT YOU STUPID BOY!" shouted the drunk sailor. Unfortunately, his crew mates heard his shouting amidst all the singing, walking to the drunkard and asked "Hey, Rob, what's the matter?". "WHAT'S THE MATTER? THE BOY SPILLED MY DRINK AND I WANT HIM TO PAY FOR IT!" said the drunk man in an angry manner. "Aye! I will pay, here, just leave me be, I apologize for spilling your drink master sailor." said Daz who reached for his coin purse, intending to pay the man for his drink. "Gimme that!" said one of the sailor's friends, putting his hand on Daz's purse. Daz quickly grabbed the hand and pushed it away, "Get off my purse! You know what, never mind, I'm not going to pay you drunk basta–" before Daz could finish one of the sailors tried to sucker punch him. Fortunately he saw that coming and quickly moved out of the way, "Hey! What the hell?!" asked Daz who raised his hands up in a defensive posture and kick his chair to the floor, which led to the crowd looking at Daz and 4 drunk sailors. Before anyone could stop the fighting, one of the sailors tried to uppercut Daz, but he merely side stepped and grabbed the man's head and launched his knee upwards. The sailor reeled from the counter and soon the other 3 were descending upon Daz while the onlookers shouted in excitement.

Rumer had been drinking at the bar for close to fifteen minutes now, and her buzz was warm and pleasant, but not too much to make her head start swimming. She had thrown off her tattered denim jacket in a hasty effort to cool down, the singing bodies of pirates jam-packed in the bar making the temperature rise. Her messy dark hair was already beginning to look frazzled, but that was nothing new to her. "Askew" had become her aesthetic over the years.Exhausted and nursing aching muscles, Rumer had been gingerly dabbing at a few cuts and scrapes across the back of her hands and up her left forearm. "Shit," she hissed as she took a napkin soaked in her glass of dark liquor and used it to clean herself up. The cuts stung, but not quite as much as when she'd received them.With a sigh, she slumped slightly forward and moved the glass toward her lips. Before she could tip back the rest of her drink, she heard shouting above the raucous singing. Rumer turned her head lazily around, looking for the source, and found a fight had broken out between a man and one particularly drunken sailor. Within seconds, others had joined in on the fight.Rumer laughed, admittedly a little more buzzed than when she started, raising her glass into the air towards them and their squabble, and shouted above the noise, "GOT ROOM FOR ONE MORE?!"

(OOC: Ew, yikes, sorry everyone! This is my first post on this site, and I guess I'm unfamiliar with the formatting. My post looks terrible! And I don't see an Edit button. Sorry!)

The joyous song making was proceeding nicely, everyone was having a good time. Kyoya danced along the bar as he sang until some shouting was heard over the singing. He stopped and looked over towards the commotion and sighed, this wasn't good. The whole bar was likely to get involved if it went on for too long. He yelled out, magic fizzled within his voice, "Hey!" The music stopped and as if pulled by a magnet those without strong wills of their own would find their attention being shifted to him whether they liked it or not. "If you're going to fight, go outside and make a day of it, but inside is out of bounds." As if compelled by his words the drunken sailors that had been fighting made their way to the door and left the building.  The young man nodded at the musicians and the music started up again. 

Hopping down off the bar he ordered another drink and took a large gulp before returning to singing but no longer dancing, instead he kept his eyes scanning about the room for any more trouble that might start up. 

(Ooc: oops forgot to add this. The ability he used is like a taunt in video games, they were just drunk enough to follow his suggestion. Also sorry it took so long to get a reply out. The last person I was waiting for must have forgotten)

For moment things had taken a turn for the worse, and his first instinct was to make himself disappear. However one of the merrymakers took notice and called them out, and Cymbel detected a hint of coercion in his voice. That sensation, that feeling which called you to attention. It was familiar, just like how his father had asserted his position over him and his brothers. And in turn, just like how his own brothers spoke over others. Back then he wouldn't have been able to do otherwise, but she had helped him learn how. Whenever he thought of her, he felt like anything was possible. Her own courage and independence inspired the same in him.

Still no word from her yet. He missed Shiloh badly, something he was trying to ignore by not thinking about it. How was she doing? Where was she? Was she sleeping well? She had told him once she occasionally had insomnia and had trouble sleeping soundly. It was one of the few things he could help her with, and he was happy to. Maybe he should have followed along with her to the desert after all. The drink was now lukewarm, and the mug cooler than before. Taking a drink, he set it down as he stared into the mug's contents. Unable to tell anyone how he felt, much less resolve it, was stifling. Then, there was a tapping on his shoulder. Alarmed, he turned around only to remember that he was sitting with his back to the wall–which then made him panic in earnest. To his relief, there was a small green wyvern the side of a cat hanging off his shoulder looking at him. It pulled at his clothes with its mouth to get his attention.

"Oh…thank goodness. How did you find me here?" Picking it up, he set it down in his lap and it sniffed the mug before deciding the cinnamon was too overpowering. Reaching down, it pulled at its leg to reveal a small scrap of paper tried to it. A message? Unwinding the string, he unrolled the parchment fragment.

'It might be a while before I can get to you, so I've sent the wyvern ahead. He's a smart one, and knows his way around the city. I'm sorry it took so long. Things took a nasty turn over here and it was a tough fight to get back to the outpost, but I'm fine. I should be back on the Clephsydra and over to Nisshoki in a few days. After a long couple of months, it's finally over. I'll tell you more after we meet up. There's not much space on this piece of paper.' - S.K.

It was rather vague in some places, but he was happy to hear that Shiloh was alright. He wasn't sure what she meant when she had written 'It's finally over'; did that mean the terrible things he had heard happening in the Harena desert had stopped? If that was the case, then how did they manage to do it? Perhaps it was the gods. He had heard a few were seen assisting personally with controlling the damage the strange pyramid had wrought. He felt a great heaviness lift off of him with the knowledge that she was safe and sound. Finishing his drink, he took the little wyvern with him as he headed out the door. He had to hurry home and prepare for her return.

The loud clamoring of The Winking Mermaid fell upon Viola's violet tufted ears as she rounded the corner of the raised wooden bridge rising up about two horse heights and over the lower stone path drifting slowly down deeper into the sandy beach where the signs of the tide etched a smoothness to the wet slick rocks now covered by a thin layer of salty ocean water. Viola's boots echoed against the wooden planks with each step as she neared the old establishment. She had heard that this was the best place in town to get information about where to find a sage to potentially tutor her in the arcane arts. Though the smells of rotten fish, vomit, and … other smells of a sinful nature made each step closer to the fine establishment became harder with each step. Still her determination pressed onward. 

That was until she entered…

Viola shook and blushed as her eyes caught a glimpse of a bare chested sailor struggling with deciding to bury his face in ale or the bountiful bosom of the barmaid. Nonchalantly, trying not to arouse any attention from any of the potentially sex crazed drunken sailors. No. No! Please don't look this way…just some random robed person randomly walking into a place to umm…get her derriere clasped by some old guy. 

"Eek!"

Viola gasped.

"Unhand me!"

He didn't let go. 

"Caltfwwujy bdiwz!"

Viola yelled as a wisp of strong violent air emanated from her hand at the old lecher with the intent to knock him to the ground. Unfortunately, the strong gust of wind back-whooshed causing Viola's robes to fly up over her head causing the majority of the patrons to get a good unscrupulous view. Beneath the upturned robes Viola grew fifteen shades of red embarrassment.

Looking at the man who shouted, he simply left the room, but first waited for the sailors to leave so he can jump on them outside of The Winking Mermaid. Waiting for the last sailor to leave, he stood up and walked towards the door they were using and drop kicked the last man to leave just as he was about to, causing a domino effect in which the last man to leave fell and bumped on to the others. OI! What the he— Before one of the sailors could finish, Daz delivered a roundhouse kick to his face, causing a bloody nose and a drunken man's sobbing. The rest of the sailors quickly got up and lazily put up their hands, clearly intoxicated to the point they were wobbling their arms and bodies in an admittedly hilarious manner. Daz remained stoic however, as he was facing against 3 sailors who knew a thing or two about fighting, drunk or not. He immediately delivered an elbow to the face of the nearest sailor, causing him to fall down and get pummeled by more elbow strikes by Daz, giving him bruises that would probably last a few weeks. The next sailor saw his companion getting beaten, so he rushed for Daz, who quickly gave a quick jab to the stomach to the charging sailor. He stood up and delivered a vicious elbow to the back of the head of said sailor, knocking him out almost immediately. The last one snarled and also charged at Daz, who dodged him easily and gave a quick suplex to Rob and for good measure, stomped him in the back of the head. He searched their pockets for money but alas, found nothing of use. Seeing the men down and out and feeling satisfied, he went back inside the bar to see a young woman using magic, also seeing some particular clothing in the process. He quickly pulled the robes down and asked Are you okay?