The soft sound of a broom sweeping the floor filled the almost empty bar, accompanied by a song playing quietly from a nearby radio. It was rare for 'The Chalice' to be this vacant, but perhaps people were still settling back into their routines after the kaiju alert, so it was understandable for seats to be empty.

The only one around was an older man, his hair a blend of black and gray, his demeanor that of a gentleman experienced in the ways of service. A sophisticated black vest adorned his chest, contrasting with the buttoned white shirt he was wearing underneath. Black pants complemented the attire, culminating in a stylish pair of brown loafers. He had the look of a ‘suave’ man.

Although the man exuded an aristocratic aura, he was focused on such a mundane task that it made for quite the picturesque view. He was in the middle of cleaning up a mess, consisting of broken wood, glass shards and varying debris from the fall of a dishes cabinet.

He sighed, pausing his cleaning for a moment, and stared at the grandfather clock nearby. It was almost 10 p.m. but nearly no customers had dropped in, and the few that did were a bit startled by the disordered view and decided to ‘come back later’.

He was calm now, at least, but a few hours back he had been extremely preoccupied by that same mess, and even had called on the authorities to report it. After all, someone must have broken in, as one of his statues in the basement was missing.

But more than worrying, it was baffling! Who in their right mind would have hauled off with a big, old statue, ignoring the cash register and all the other valuable items they could have sold more easily? He lamented the loss, but then again, he had tossed the sculpture in there and forgotten about it for years. At present, he was more annoyed by the cleaning, and wanted to get back to his usual place behind the counter as quickly as possible.

The gentleman sighed once again, since he hadn’t made much progress, and just as he was about to resume his task, the hanging chimes at the door rang softly, signaling the arrival of new visitors.

He stared vacantly in the door’s direction, and saw a familiar pair of hoods come in: his niece and her friend. Behind them, an unknown, tall blonde man crossed the doorway—but oddly enough, he seemed vaguely familiar. “Hey Lil, Selly.” His voice carried a husky and gruff tone, but his smile showed warm kindness towards the pair. He eyed the stranger while raising an eyebrow, and continued. “Another guildmate of yours?” He asked, assuming their companion was part of that guild of theirs. Would make sense why he felt such familiarity with the guy.

Well, that or he had come to the bar at some point. The gentleman wasn’t in the habit of remembering non regulars. He resumed his sweeping, an ear pointed in their direction, waiting calmly for a reply.

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Ascalon’s group had just arrived at the bar, and his suspicions were on point. The toppled furniture, the messy disaster, the weird contraption that still spun in the ceiling; it was all too familiar.

No doubt about it, that was the tavern he had awoken in. But before he could do anything, Lilithra skipped a few footsteps ahead, hurriedly. “Uncle! Are you okay?!” She patted her uncle everywhere, as if trying to ascertain if he was missing a limb or something, clearly a bit panicked.

Selorien couldn’t help but snicker, although he too was worried about the sight before him. The gentleman laughed heartily, left the broom to the side of the counter, and put both hands on his niece’s shoulders. “I’m fine and dandy, don’t worry.” At his words, Lilithra let a relieved sigh escape her lips, and looked around the mess with both curiosity and alarm.

Ascalon kept quiet, letting the family members speak to each other. “What happened here, Uncle?” Her worried expression made her uncle put on a reassuring smile, as he replied.

“Whatever happened, I wasn’t here at the time; I went for a bit to Marygold’s. But, I think we’ve been robbed!” Lilithra finally relaxed when she heard her uncle was fine, and frowned upon learning about the robbery.

With so many guilds around, one would think crime would be on the low end, but the truth was that bad people always profited, no matter the times. But before her train of thoughts led her to anger, her eyes widened in realization as she remembered her uncle’s question. “Oh, that’s right!” She said, turning to Ascalon, while a smile spread across her face. “This is Ascalon, and he’s a, wait for it… a wanderer!” She presented the knight with both hands in the air, shaking them as if revealing a big surprise.

Ascalon took it as a cue to step forward, making a deep reverence while the gentleman looked at him with intrigue. “Greetings, good sir, my name is Ascalon Rendland, head knight of Wyrmland’s Citadel and commander of the Golden Alliance of Excadia, and it is an honor to be in such esteemed presence.” It was his usual presentation, but he added a bit of flair, since the gentleman looked like a man of noble origins, giving the impression of a wise scholar.

The older man simply appreciated him with awe, thinking of what a grandiose introduction that was, filled with impressive details that picked his interest. Pondering for a moment, he smiled and replied. “Well, well, manners make a man, I say! Raphael Ashford, master of The Chalice, at your service.” The man bowed elegantly, showing cordiality.

Lilithra and Selorien watched in wonder, exchanging knowing glances. They felt these two had a few things in common. “And I am deeply sorry about this… as it was my doing.” Ascalon exclaimed, pointing at the mess the ‘master’ was cleaning up before.

Confusion swept the room, while everyone stared at the knight with different expressions on their faces. “Pardon me, but what do you mean by that?” Raphael asked, his voice taking a more serious tone, his brows furrowing slightly.

Selorien and Lilithra stood silent, but eyed the knight suspiciously. “As Lilithra explained to me, I hail from another world. I was in a rather… perilous situation, back in my homeland, and lost consciousness.” He explained, approaching the doorway to the basement, and pointing through it.‎ “When I awakened, I found myself trapped in this place’s very cellar. I had no choice but to force my way out. Once again, I am deeply sorry about the result of my actions.” After his last words, the room fell silent.

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Selorien had raised one of his eyebrows in suspicion, but Ascalon’s tale didn’t really sound that far-fetched. Lilithra didn’t show the slightest doubt on her expression, and simply smiled. Ascalon could feel her trust towards him, and felt both grateful and happy. Raphael was the one to break the silence at that moment. “Hmm, I see. But then, tell me, what about my statue, hmm?” He asked, letting the others know what he had meant earlier by being robbed.

The pair of hooded friends stood in silence, watching things unfold with uncertainty. “It couldn’t have simply gone off, walking after you.” As Raphael spoke, an odd feeling began to assault him. The blonde knight’s features, his hooded clothes, stature and other details were starting to juggle his memories. He wore quite the resemblance to the statue.

That sculpture was supposedly being passed down from generation to generation for centuries, in a family of wealthy merchants; that is, until Raphael lucked out on a gamble against a drunk, rich fellow from said lineage.

He stood there in silence, brooding and murmuring to himself. Lilithra wore a worried expression, while Selorien sighed and took a seat at the bar counter. Raphael shook his head and rubbed his temples. “There’s no way… am I getting too old?” He kept grumbling for a while, thinking he was going senile.

It wasn’t that unreal, if he thought about it for a second. Stranger things happened when the Gifted were involved. So, could a traveler from another world possess a statue or some sort? “Hey Lil, do you remember that statue…?” Lilithra jumped, a bit surprised at the mention of her name.

“Uhm, no? Which one, to begin with?” She lifted a finger to her chin and looked a bit pensive. “Yeah no, sorry Uncle, but I can’t remember a single one anyway.” She smiled awkwardly, and her uncle sighed. It was to be expected since these sculptures had been kind of sealed into the basement for a while, and even Raphael had just remembered about them.

Raphael focused a sharp stare on the knight, and after a brief moment, decided to simply forget about it. There was no way a statue came to life, anyway, and he couldn’t trust his memory of the object’s details. Ascalon didn’t look or behave like a thief, more like a weirdo if anything, too. Maybe someone had entered after the blonde man left; there were other, more plausible possibilities.

He was too tired to think, and sighed in resignation. As if to close the matter entirely, Ascalon’s stomach rumbled loudly. Lilithra looked at him with surprise and giggled, Selorien murmured ‘same’, and Raphael smiled gently. “Anyways, I’ll trust you, Mr. Ascalon. You must be tired, besides hungry, so take a seat. I’ll prepare dinner.” As the gentleman disappeared through a door, probably the kitchen area, Ascalon felt really grateful.

And also felt the need to pee. He had blocked out all his bodily functions from his mind, given all the confusion and events that had transpired that day, hadn’t he? Clearing up his throat, he asked Selorien a question. “Sir Selorien, could you point me in the direction of the nearest latrine?” Selorien looked at Ascalon like he had just heard some unknown language, and then realization hit him.

“Oh! Bathroom, right? Just go through that hallway, first door to the left.” He pointed lazily to a passage close to the door the master had gone through. Lilithra kept herself away from the conversation, and sat next to Selorien, starting to fiddle with her thumbs while she waited.

Ascalon nodded in appreciation, and promptly followed the directions. He thought it was a bit odd to have a latrine inside the house, but he wasn’t going to judge his benefactors.

But damn if it wasn’t a fancy latrine. He had never seen such a sparkly and well decorated room. The floor looked smooth and clean, and different contraptions surrounded him, some even made from what looked like polished marble.

Even the actual latrine was marvelous, and looked much like a throne! He couldn’t believe such a luxurious room was made just for answering nature’s call. “New Lumingard…” He whispered as he went about his business. It truly was a country way ahead of any other he had visited.

Some time passed, and Lilithra and Selorien were wondering if Ascalon needed a hand. “Hey, maybe he slipped or something?” Said the girl worriedly, while peeping at the hallway.

“No way. He’s probably confused about the faucets and shit.” Answered the guy, also looking in the same direction, somewhat curiously. At that moment, the robust figure of the knight appeared, a smile on his face as he quickly walked in strides towards them.

“That was such an experience! Even warm water came out!” The pair of friends looked at each other, and burst out laughing, hoping he was referring to the faucet.

Ascalon looked at them a bit embarrassed and confused, but couldn’t help but end up laughing with them. Lilithra and Selorien thought that was the first time they had heard him laugh, and felt a warm feeling inside. The knight too, pondered about how fortunate he was to have met these two.

He took a seat next to Selorien, and Lilithra looked both relieved and somehow sad. At that moment, Raphael appeared, bringing in a moving table full of dishes. Ascalon thought that he was going to be taken by surprise too many times from now on.

As for the food itself, it looked incredible, and everyone else watched him as if to urge him to eat. He complied and grabbed a piece of what seemed to be a chicken leg, masterfully roasted, and eagerly bit on it. “Hmmm! Thjs js deljcjous!” He exclaimed, mouth full of chicken and bliss. The rest looked at him with warm stares, small smiles on their faces. Selorien took the chance to remove his hood, and for the first time that day, Ascalon could fully appreciate his face.

He was indeed handsome, although he showed a really sour expression most of the time. And where those… Elf ears? “An elf?” Ascalon blurted out, surprising both Selorien and the rest. He had never seen a black-haired elf, so it took him off guard. “My apologies, I do not mean any harm by that. I just… have never seen one with such a dark hair color.” Surprise aside, Selorien smiled a bit mischievously, and started to cut into his food with a knife.

“Heh yeah, I dyed it black. So you know elfs, huh?” Selorien asked, and Ascalon nodded while thinking that this “dyeing” had to mean he painted it somehow?

It looked good on him, it really set him aside from all the blonde elves Ascalon had met. Was that the purpose of it…? He decided not to pry, and kept indulging in the banquet before him. Ah, truly a king’s dinner. Then, he noticed Raphael was looking at Lilithra with a worried expression.

“Won’t you remove it, Lil?” The older man asked calmly, nothing but gentleness in his tone, but Lilithra jumped and grabbed both sides of her hood, pulling it down as if to hide herself.

“Uhm, no, I’m kind of chilly, actually… haha…” It was an obvious excuse, even Ascalon could tell, but Raphael’s sorrowful look made him keep quiet.

The knight felt a tingle on his chest, being the first time he had seen Lilithra appear that small and scared. “Come on Uncle, let’s eat!” She said enthusiastically, as she started chowing down her food, too, in an obvious attempt to divert the topic. Her uncle simply sighed and smiled in resignation. Selorien kept quiet, but Ascalon could tell he was also worried. Well, everyone had their demons to deal with, some more literal than others.

Ascalon stopped eating for a moment, as he tried to suppress the memories of his last, cruel battle. The sight before him did him good, it was kind of healing in a way—but did he deserve to be there? After some conflicted thoughts, he kept partaking in the feast, enjoying the peace while he could, as time passed slowly.