Destiny stood next to Kida on the docks in Blowin, looking around the crowded streets blankly. From the relative quiet of Lumo Bay, their plan to search for information in Blowin had seemed reasonable. But now, faced with the sheer scale of the city, it seemed the height of naivety. Blowin was big. Very, very big. It made sense, considering it was the center of all magical knowledge and power in Geonova. The Blowin Academy of Magic was the premiere place for any aspiring wizard to gain an education. The only other university that could even hope to compete was across the continent in Port Antil, and their focus was more academic than practical. Blowin also was the location of the Wizard Council, presided over by the Archmage Xiaru, the single most powerful wizard in all of Geonova.
Needless to say, even if Midas walked right in front of him, he would blend right into the background. Nearly every person they saw was wearing the long robes of a wizard, in a myriad of shades from robin’s egg blue to crimson red to pitch black like Midas’s. Everyone seemed to be in a remarkable hurry, moving with a purposeful stride each in their own direction. What was really remarkable was that no one tripped, or ran into each other, or even had to dodge. Everyone they saw was on foot, and the traffic seemed to flow smoothly according to some unspoken, unwritten set of laws. Destiny and Kida stood on the dock and just watched.
“Well…” Destiny finally said after several long minutes. “We won’t get anywhere just standing here.”
“Right. Let’s go! Where?” Kida asked, more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Destiny knew she was frustrated, so didn’t let it bother her. That was just how Kida dealt with situations like this. How she’d always dealt with it growing up, and likely how she’d deal with it for the rest of her life. Destiny wouldn’t be her friend if she didn’t love her for it.
“Well, even wizards must have bars, right? Or at least taverns, restaurants, something for food.”
Kida was nodding now, her old familiar grin showing up. “And when people eat, they talk.”
“Exactly.”
Exchanging a look that was both excited and apprehensive, they joined hands so they wouldn’t be separated, and stepped into the crowd. Although they knew they stood out like a pair of the proverbial sore thumbs, they didn’t seem to draw any notice at all from the busy wizards. Even when Kida tripped over a tall man’s foot, and Destiny smacked someone in the hip with the hilt of her katana, the only reaction they received were quite, cool stares that seemed to say “You are not worth my notice.” It was an unnerving sensation, and Destiny and Kida found themselves hurrying without consciously deciding to.
As they were carried down the wide street by the flow of the crowd, Destiny noticed something odd. Although they passed a number of shops and restaurants, there were none that appeared to be anything like what she associated with a stereotypical bar. With a tug on Kida’s hand, she directed them around a corner to a slightly less crowded street. With less people came slightly less quality in the buildings they passed. Finally - finally! - after a good hour of walking, Destiny spotted a sign that said “The Blue Devil - Discovery Beer served here.”
As soon as she saw it, she pointed it out to Kida. They quickly extracted themselves from the people on the street and made their way to the long, low building the sign was hanging in front of. The interior still was not what Destiny expected. Instead of being a dim, smoky atmosphere like the bars in Lumo Bay, it was clean and bright - and almost empty, just a few patrons scattered around at various tables. Destiny was inclined to hang back at the entrance, but Kida marched straight up to the bar and waved to the bartender. “Gin and tonic, please,” she said.
He just looked at her. She looked back. Destiny came up next to her and looked between the two of them. The bartender was a slim fae, with the white-pale skin stereotypical of his race, blonde hair with a blue tint, and electric blue eyes. He was handsome in the eerie, almost ethereal manner of the fae. His name tag simply said “Spencer.” And he was looking at the two of them like they came from another planet.
“You’re… not from around here, are you?” he asked, doing a horrible job of concealing the amusement in his voice.
“No. How’d you guess?” Kida joked. He sighed, shook his head, and leaned against the other side of the bar.
“I hate to break it to you girls, but you won’t find alcohol in Blowin. Wizards don’t drink the stuff. They have to keep such a tight control on their magic - can you imagine the sheer havoc a drunk wizard could wreak? Especially a particularly powerful one, which describes at least half the population of this city.” Spencer was clearly one of those people who must talk with their hands, because he gestured wildly as he spoke, emphasizing each phrase with a new motion of his hands or head or body. “The only thing we serve here is called Discovery Beer. Tastes like the real stuff, but no alcohol. Want a mug?”
Kida and Destiny exchanged glances for what felt like the tenth time that day. Destiny shrugged, and slid onto the nearest stool. “Sure, I’ll try it.”
With energetic movements that betrayed his excitement to have a customer, Spencer sprang into action, taking less than ten seconds to snag a mug and fill it to the brim from the tap, complete with a nice foamy head. He slid it down the bar to her, and Destiny barely managed to catch it in time to keep it from crashing to the ground. Kida stifled a snicker. Destiny didn’t even bother to glare, instead choosing to take a long drink of the ice cold liquid.
Surprisingly enough, it was quite good. The flavor was rich and sweet, but not too sweet, smooth, and without any of the bitterness she usually associated with beer. Spencer laughed at the expression on her face after her first taste.
“Good, isn’t it? Of course, I make the best Discovery Beer in town. How about you, miss angel? Care to try?”
“It’s Kida. And yes, I’ll try it. Pour me one.” He quickly obliged, and it was Destiny’s turn to snicker at the look of surprise and pleasure that came over her friend when she took her first drink.
“So…” Spencer said, leaning against the bar again. “What brings two out-of-town ladies like yourself to Blowin? By the look of you, you’re not wizards.”
“No, definitely not,” Destiny quickly replied. “But we are looking for one.”
“Just one wizard, or one in particular? Because if it’s just one, well, take your pick. One in particular, and I’m your man. I hear all the best gossip.”
“One in particular,” Kida interjected. “Goes by the name of Midas.”
Destiny rolled her eyes. So much for being tactful and edging in to the subject. But she kept quiet, because Spencer had grown quiet and thoughtful.
“Midas, eh? I haven’t heard that name in a long time. He was big news around here, a year or two ago. He was a great wizard, one of the most disciplined, and very involved with his studies. Then something changed… no one really knows what. He started dabbling in the Chaos.”
Destiny’s eyes went wide. There were ten basic elements of magic, from basics like Fire and Water, to more complicated ones like Time and Lightning. Chaos was the darkest of the ten. Many wizards knew a Chaos spell or two - some of them could be downright useful, especially in battle. But no one liked to delve too far into it, because Chaos magic had a nasty habit of taking on a life of its own, and possessing the careless wizard who embraced it too close. If Midas had practiced the Chaos arts, they might just have gotten in over their heads.
“From what I hear these days, he’s still pretty dangerous. Hasn’t actually done anything, but he’s not exactly welcome in Blowin. People are so paranoid about Chaos these days.”
“You still hear about him? Does he have family, friends, people who still keep in contact with him?”
“No family, that I know of. He’s pretty old, but magic helps you live longer, especially here in Blowin. Not really any friends either. But he does have contacts here, and, well, gossip spreads. But anyways, he’s very powerful, and very dangerous, and I’d stay away from him if I were you.” Spencer looked up and across the across the room as he finished speaking, and the look on his face stopped the reply Destiny had intended to make short.
“And… he’s walking out of my bar,” Spencer said quietly, almost disbelieving. Destiny immediately swung around on her stool, just in time to see the door swing shut behind a tall man in a black robe, with an unmistakable cane, complete with silver dragon’s head. She grabbed Kida’s arm and lunged for the door, dragging her friend behind her. They crossed the room in a matter of seconds and burst through the door out onto the street.
“I’ll check from the air!” Kida called as she leapt into the air. Destiny scanned the street one direction, then the other, for the man in the black robe. Unfortunately, not only did she spot a black robe almost immediately, she spotted more than a dozen. If any of them had a cane, it was hidden behind the rest of the crowd. Destiny cursed quietly, looking up to see Kida dropping down next to her.
“No luck, how about you?” Destiny asked. Kida shook her head and sighed.
“He beat us again. The man is slippery… and now he knows we were asking about him. I just hope he doesn’t get angry with us, he doesn’t seem like the kind of man we want to cross. But… too much of what Spencer said sounded like the exaggeration that comes from gossip, you know?”
“Mmm. It did seem a bit farfetched. If he was that far into Chaos, why would he have claimed to be honorable?”
Kida nodded, her expression thoughtful. “Exactly. And why are we still alive? I somehow doubt a truly dark wizard would let people like us, who he perceived as threats, stay alive.”
Realizing they were standing outside a bar on a busy street talking about a sensitive topic, Destiny drew Kida back inside and over to one of the tables against the wall in the bar. “Don’t you think it’s possible he might just be playing with us? Making us want to trust him, while he’s really evil?”
“Believe me, I’ve considered that,” Kida replied. “But… I don’t know. It’s just a feeling, I guess. I feel like there’s more to this situation than we know right now. Try to keep an open mind?”
Destiny laughed. “I could tell you the same thing. It’s entirely possible that Spencer is completely right. We don’t know yet.”
“That’s my point. We don’t know. So let’s just keep our eyes and ears open until we do know.”
Destiny nodded, then grinned up at Spencer, who had strolled over and dropped two mugs of Discovery Beer off at their table.
The bar was beginning to grow busier as the afternoon wore on into evening. They finally began to see some of the non-wizard population of Blowin, as shops closed and the merchants and civilians began to trickle in. After their first hour of sitting and drinking, chatting and discussing their plans for the next day, a man walked in who stood out almost as much as they did. He was tall and lanky, and dressed in rough travel clothes, with a coil of rope strapped to his waist and a large pack on his back. He took two steps into the room and stopped dead, looking around the room for a long moment. When his eyes fell on Kida and Destiny, he immediately strode over to them.
“May I join you?” he asked. Kida arched an eyebrow at Destiny, who shrugged, gesturing to one of the empty chairs. He slid the chair around and sat on it backwards, long legs straddling the seat. It was clear he was trying to appear casual and cool, but it ended just being vaguely awkward.
“It may not be obvious, but I’m not from around here,” he began. Destiny started to snicker, but cut it off when she realized he wasn’t joking. “My name is Tomlyn, and I’m a bounty hunter. I’ve got a job and I need a crew. You two look like good fighters, and I was wondering if you’d be interested in joining me.”
Now it was Kida’s turn to laugh. “You really aren’t a subtle fellow, are you?” She shook her head and looked over at Destiny, who actually took a moment to consider his offer.
“Well… I suppose it would depend on what the job is.”
“It’s pretty basic. I’m supposed to find someone, capture them, and bring them back to my employer.” Tomlyn was almost pathetically hopeful. Clearly he hadn’t had much luck so far, and Destiny had the feeling he didn’t really want to hire anyone, but wasn’t sure what else to do.
“And who is this person you’re supposed to find?” she asked.
Tomlyn looked around, apparently checking to make sure no one could eavesdrop, and leaned in. “His name is… Midas,” he said in a low voice.
Before Destiny could even open her mouth, Kida had cut her off. “No. We’re not interested. Thanks, but no thanks,” she said, then stood up and left the table. Tomlyn’s wide, shocked eyes almost made Destiny laugh again. Instead, she shrugged helplessly and followed her friend to the bar. Fortunately - for him - Tomlyn stayed at the table.
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