Part 2. Ferne Wiese
Berlin has a history of fire, violence and blood. Not every city in any country could be said to have such a history but a couple of German cities… they have been through worse. Along with the countless wars it has been involved, and got besieged, in, terrorist attacks, civil unrests and even some genocidal rallies have destroyed the capital throughout the centuries. But, against all odds and countless rebuilds, the city of Berlin with all its glory stands proud, boasting one of the best organized civilian and commercial grids and districts and housing almost 15 million people inside an area smaller than Hanover.
In each turn of a corner, the beautiful streets of Berlin with its iconic German architecture gleams and invites more and more attraction to the city. Yet, the people are unhappy; the permanent residents of the city is oppressed by the repetition and the eerie peacefulness.
“If you ask a commoner “when would you rather live than now?”, almost all of them would answer “the past” or “1843, the year where the last war happened in Europe”. It is bitter but it is the truth… All I could say from this is that we, as a specie, could not live without conflict; the powers that are thriving now, those of far east, are in an almost age-old war, killing hundreds of thousands but they are not dead and far from being defeated. It is this nature, the adaptation and evolution through the hardship, that enables our minds to work and make new discoveries. Sure, the peace brought a whole new challenge that we are still undertaking but the advances into the new frontier – the new age – has plateaued, leaving us behind those who are in a constant struggle for a place among the heavens”, sounds a radio inside the Ferne Wiese bar.
The creaking of the old wooden floor and the whistle of a kettle gives the atmosphere of a cozy wooden cabin, far up the Swiss Alps, surrounded by a thick tree line on one side and the onlook of the lower reaches on the other. One such home might exist in the mountains but, it is just a feeling of comfort and at ease as well as the emptiness that is the most prevalent in the bar Leo has taken the group into. At a side cubicle close to the back wall, “This place, huh? Eh… Well… People often ask for the best place a city has to offer when they visit one… this is the best place I could offer… Ah~ I did not think it would be this hard to show-off a place. This is actually-”, says Will, standing beside the table where the group had settled, before abruptly being cut from his monologue by a straight strike. With Will on the ground, “That is what you get when you leave without a notice”, says a young woman, about a palmspan shorter than Will.
Unholstering a pistol from her side, “Sinä vitt-”, starts her sentence but gets bound by Yuki, interrupting and immobilizing San. Trying her hardest to break away from the bind, “Why do you hold me back? Of all the people, why are you this composed? Why aren’t you dicing this place up like you did to the train station?”, she says. Unfazed by the commotion and turning to a more comfortable position, still on the ground, “Wow, the wood has not lost its comfort”, says Will. The angry onlooking girl throws a kick at him… *whoop* As the girl trips on a thin thread and falls beside the relaxing Will, “The first one was enough, Alex. You know that Ghost cannot take a lot physical abuse”, says Yuki, finally releasing San from the binds also.
While San helps Will get up and reconcile with Alex and Yuki, the three potatoes, Johann, Li and Leo, were searching the menu for things to eat since the whole ordeal began.
Entrusting an order to Alex, the group converse amongst themselves about what did just happen. Over the next 20 minutes, “Back when Yuki and I worked with Leo and the others, I got this place from the previous owner for, basically, free. Since, back then, this place was a part of the red-light district, a lot of fights and other illegal activities were held here. And, as I, too, was a fugitive, this place was one of the places I hanged out at the most”.
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The drinks arrive, “On one day, the previous owner of this place, Leigh Schmidt, was so drunk that he just started attacking everyone in sight. Thankfully, I was not one of the people he attacked first but, that girl over there, Alexandria, was. He hit her with force so great that when she finally hit the wall, it shook the entire building”.
Sips from his cup, “I did not know such had happened, though. But, after another girl, Alice, showed up to help Alex, Leigh was throwing bodies all across the floor, some hitting others and others hitting the walls. One almost hit me but missed and hit the alcohol shelf in front of me. Seeing a man bleed out but being able to do nothing more is just… I could not do anything; I could only stop further damages”.
Raising three fingers to call for a second cup, “I yelled, “Leigh!” to stop him from punching any other person. He was one hell of a boxer, hoisting more than a dozen state trophies and a style named after him, “The Bear”; I knew I would be a leaf. But, with him intoxicated and disorientated, I knew I could do something to minimize the damages. Said to use an accelerator type materialization, he threw his punches with an added spice of CE61, multiplying his force to a tremendous amount. And, there I was, as a void to every mana materialization and manipulation. He threw his first punch and I took it; his punch without the addition of his mana was quite weak, to be fair. He then threw another, right to my head”.
Sips from the second cup, “I blocked it without realizing I had my converter on – the one that is now on Li’s wrist… Basically, that drunken Leigh put extra into his following punch which backfired on him and killed him on sight. My watch took his inserted force, converted it all into CE16 and exerted it back into his right hand. What it did to him is that, it essentially electrocuted him and made all of his muscled contract which led to him having a cardiac arrest”.
Empties the second cup, “After all of that, the place looked like a massacre. Blood everywhere, people laying on the ground here and there, some conscious and others not, it was a mess. I took a look at the wounded and did as much as I could, cleaning and bandaging most of those who were losing blood and treating the ones who fell unconscious to the upstairs, where a lot of rooms were in place. At dawn, most of them went home or brought to a hospital. Alice, Alex, Seraphina and I were left here, cleaning up the place. Well, Alex was still unconscious and Seraphina tended to her so Alice and I cleaned up. And, that is when I became the owner of this place, after taking the title from the previous owner in a fight to the death”, tells Will, quite proudly.
“Your meals are here”, says Alex as she brings two bowls of noodle soup, two plate of Carbonara and a cobbler of whiskey on a tray. Everyone at the table feels a stint of unease, putting their respective plates off for a moment. “And that is why you do not leave a place as significant as this, abruptly, Ghost. In the 4 years you have been absent, we struggled every day. And, and, Alice just became a different person in general… You meany”, says Alex, teardrops at the doorsteps of her eyes. “Speaking of which, where is Alice?” asks Will as the head chief, a pale blond girl approaches the cubicle with a single bowl of soup on a tray. Immediately sensing ill intentions, San reaches to her side, only to find the holster empty… Softly smiling, “It is a pleasure to serve the associates of the infamous Ghost. I am the head chief and acting manager of this establishment, Alice Li Yeva. And here is the soup you ordered, Mr. Epsilon, perfected to your preference and recipe”, says the girl, standing beside Alex.
Quite annoyed, “Why are you-”, Alex starts her question but gets bonked on the head by Alice, who seem to be fairly reserved for someone who Alex hauled her to be. “Excuse my sister, Alexandria Li Yeva. As she has some unresolved business with Mr. Epsilon, her actions are of parallel to her anger. So, as you please, I will take my leave and take hers as well”, says Alice, dragging Alex back to the kitchen. Unsure of anything, Will and his friends start to eat their meals, hoping that everything was and is alright after he left them.