Counting Stars

**Date Started:** September 27, 2021
**Date Completed:** Ongoing
**Next Role-Play:**
**Users Involved:** ComicMaster619, Nearó
**Setting:** Ikinobiru Province
**Characters Involved**: Sergia Ricciardo, Axle Strider

## Another Time, Another Life

With the creaking wood underneath their boots, the smell of ciggarates and booze in the air, and the crackling sparks of the fireplace echoing throughout the room - it was evident for anyone that entered that this was an establishment of simple pleasures. As was its intent... But unlike most bars shared among the general public in the Ikinobiru Province, this one stood out from amongst the rest as it seperated the common folk to anyone that currently on a Guild Job, be it as a solo adventurer or otherwise. Whatever the case may be, this segregation came in the usage of a magical barrier at the foot of the stairs that deafened any noise from the inside and blurred the imagery on the other end, making it a perfect place to remain undisturbed. Be it for some time alone or to find a good conversation with fellow adventurers or clients.

At its centre was the bar itself from which a large man with his back turned from any new arrivals, hands fiddling with the various beverages at his disposal as was his trade -- pouring a mixture of vodka, rum and other drinks into a glass already filled to the brim with ice. His broad figure and muscular exterior certainly made him stand out as that of a weightlifter if anything, not some bartender that was barely able to have enough space to move around in. Yet the way he was handling everything... Pouring from one bottle before putting it back where it belonged without as much as a glance leaving the glass in front of him, only to grab onto another from the shelf above him and let its contents inside the drink without a second thought to whether or not he'd grabbed the right bottle. He simply knew this place by heart, that much was certain.

Once finished, the bartender turned to one of the other patrons sitting at the very edge of the bannister, placing the drink down in front of him. "A Princess Midori, as per order chica..-"

Reaching down to grab the drink and nodding her head in acknowledgement whilst her eyes were fixated on the chess pieces in front of her, she was a woman with dark, blue hair with snappy clothing and a dark bag placed next to her stool Her hand seemed to fiddle with the tie around her neck as she observed the pieces on her board, which notably had no other opponent in sight but instead seemed to making the moves for both sides of the chessboard.

Riddled in bandages and bruises, the wounded man treaded alongside the street, having just finished two jobs in the last couple weeks and hadn't eaten anything in a few days, the journey having taken its toll, tired not just from walking, but of whatever animals he could see, as the requests in question all involved magical creatures, the sheer ridiculousness of it all literally had the beasts taking their respective turns taking him out for a joyride. As much as he respected and admired animals due in part to his martial style, he couldn't so much as stand to see another living creature for the remainder of his trip, the sheer revolution in some way taking a literal effect on his environment, intentional or not, his irritation twisted into a quite annoyance, elevating itself into aggression, and ultimately manifesting into outright hostility that spilled out in the open, frightening every animal in the vicinity to flee from the danger the man was emanating. The pressure taking a very real effect as branches began to snap, all the leaves were falling off the trees he passed by, and the ground he stepped on left behind a black miasma that disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.

Realizing what was going on, Axle snapped himself out of his rut, taking a deep breathe to relax himself, purposefully suppressing his magic power, undoing the effects his body was having on the environment, "stupid ass curse," he muttered to himself, his train of thought turning to his family, realizing it had been a long time since he had left home, and not exactly in the best of terms. Before he could linger any further, without knowing, Axle caught the glimpse of a nearby bar out in the open heading down the road, weighing in on whether or not to simply continue onwards back home to Fiore or linger in this country, not wanting to spend any more time than he had to here. After weighing in his options, what was the harm in taking a small break, if anything, it could serve as a distraction and lighten his mood up.

Stepping through the establishment's doors, Axle was surprised that the doors hadn't fallen off from how mishandled they were, the hinges squeaking and hard to move from the rust building up, but the interior was a sight to behold, although he was 25 years old, just being here made him feel even more mature, surrounded by all manner of adventurers with liquor in hand and the waft of tobacco had reminded him why he became a mage and left home in the first place, appreciating the fact that he had the fortune to run across a place like this. What stood out was the obvious barrier separating the clientele from ordinary people and mages, walking to the foot of the stairs as he trekked his way to the second floor, the atmosphere being significantly different, with the only customers being wizards occupying this part of the building.

Still the middle of the day, the bar still had open seats, becoming quite evident that it would be filling up soon the closer nightfall came, he let his weary self rest across the bar, giving two light taps on the counter to inform the master of the bar for something to drink, "orange juice," he exclaimed, noticing a chess board on toward his side, with a woman on the opposite end of it. t first, Axle tried to look in every which direction while he waited for his drink, peeking back and forth on the game board, especially on where the pieces were, trying to keep himself busy as he waited to see if anyone else was coming. It became evident she was playing by herself, if this was intentional or not was beyond him, but he knew that it was close to the end, she could reach a perfect game with with a few more moves. Without realizing it, Axle moved one of the pieces, counting the moves needed to arrive to checkmate unintentionally.

"Sorry, didn't mean to bother you or anything, I just saw a chance and I couldn't help myself."

Appearing shocked at first as the woman were being snapped back to the real world, having seemingly been lost in thought for who knows how long, her light purple eyes wandered from the pieces and on towards the mage now next to her. She seemed cautious at first as evident by her body's initial reaction being to seemingly move away from the mage, as well as clutching her tie just a tad bit more than before. Yet even as quickly as her body would react, it'd appear to calm back down again as her eyes wandered the man's exterior.

"That's quite alright, I wasn't...-" she stopped for a moment to clear her throat, or perhaps to gather her thoughts, "...my opponent wasn't that good really as you could imagine." With those words, Sergia's head would seem to flinch, much like you would when a sharp sound would suddenly come forth out of nowhere, removing her hand from her tie as a result, after which her posture returned to a more relaxed state. She could be seen leaning towards the counter with one arm placed upon it whilst resting her head on her hand, all the while the other now reached out towards the board in front of her and made the next move using the Queen before gesturing to the stranger to continue.

"Well, bold move nevertheless. Not just from your piece but also yourself. This your idea of a pickup or do you usually find yourself being invited into other stranger's board games without permission?" Reaching out to grab hold of her drink as she spoke, taking the opportunity for another sip whilst still finding herself looking back and forth between the chess at hand and the man in beaten up garbs.

"I don't normally like playing with others, but I can't resist these kind of games, especially if the guy in front of me can provide a challenge," he replied, moving the pawns of his side of the board, scooting one seat over to get closer, his celestial gate keys jingling while doing so. Peering across his shoulder and across the young lady, Axle tried to make out to see if anyone else was accompanying her if she had a chess board out, while at the same keeping an eye out for any unexpected visitors. Glancing at the pieces on the board, Axle at the best of his ability took in all the information at his disposal, planning his strategy to victory, but whether or not he could do it was still debatable. Even though he knew nothing of this woman, just seeing her the way she played would tell him enough to get a good picture on the type of person she was, moving a pawn ahead.

"What about you, can't really get into somebody's business if they didn't have any," referencing the fact from what he could see, she was alone, the rest of the patrons seemingly going about their own business, none of which seemed to pay them any mind. Before he could say anything else, a large thrashing could be heard from the front door, knocking the door off the hinges in the face of two strangers, both of varying appearance and height, Axle not paying attention, too focused on the game at the moment.

Given the woman's lips forming into a smirk at the mage's initial remarks, it would very well seem to have an effect on Sergia - not that one could tell if it she found them to be funny at how cliché they might appear or genuinely appreciated. She would proceed to open her mouth, no doubt to hand him a clever response of sorts, yet only found herself leaving it slightly ajar before closing it again as both her ears and eyes turned those clattering keys of gold and silver. Eyes then wandered back up as the man looked around the vicnity, placing the drink back down as Axle made his next move.

"As far you could tell at the very least..." She was quick on the draw this time, grabbing the horse almost as soon as her opponent had made his move and proceeded to knock out the very same peasant that had just taken one step too far. Looking back up to see the man's reaction, if there had been any at all, whilst catching a glimse at the bartender next to them as he seemed to excuse himself to take a closer look at the commotion downstairs as he started making his ways for the stairs. Much like the man next to her, Sergia didn't seem to be letting it distract her all too much, not during a time like this.

"One might find companions and business in all sorts of places. Sometimes they'd be easy to spot, other times they might a little bit more tricky to find, but I suspect you'd know all about that already, no?" As she spoke those last words, Sergia's eyes made no attempts to be subtle about it this time as her glances between that of the man's keys and his own stare would be made quite clear. "Most people would go to great lengths to hide that they're carrying such things... Gives you less of a target on your back after all."

Taking a moment to catch her meaning, he noticed his keys were out in the open, surmising that they must've have fallen out when he was moving between seats. Tucking them away back into his clothes, Axle must've been too tired to notice, a bit reckless in the way he was hiding, moving another piece as he glanced at the woman, "thought I hid that better, that's embarrassing." Letting out a sight, the thought of having a some kind of threat or hit thrown his way would sound nice, if nothing to break the boredom or feel any sense of normality, but given his current circumstances, it was an unlikely situation he would ever find himself if his family had anything to say about it.

"Just my house keys, nothing to kill someone over. But it makes me wonder, if you recognize them, can I assume you use the same 'keys' for your house too?" Axle didn't want to blatantly acknowledge his celestial keys and put himself at a disadvantage, but for her to know, he just had to wonder what kind of magic she used, this observation showing that she at least was a mage of some kind.

As the game went on, rune knights began to fill the establishment, moving tables and chairs as they parted the patrons to the side, making way for the two strangers that had previously knocked down the door. Looking around for anyone that fit their description, the taller man had a significant build, his hair tied into a ponytail, the only facial hair he had consisting of a pencil mustache and goatee, a worried look dawning on his face as he bit into his thumb. "He has to be here, he has to be. If anything were to happen to him, I just wouldn't know how to deal with it, I don't think my heart could take it."

The second stranger, clad in full armor laughed, sneering at one of the council's knights face-to-face, the man's face breaking out in a cold sweat and armored man backed away, "If he was that easy, I'd have kill the shit out of him myself heheh," he remarked, kicking a chair off to the second floor they here headed, slamming violently against the wall close to the bar.

"Anyone interested in magical artifacts would know of them..." Reaching her hand out for the glass next to them yet again, yet whilst watching the man make his move and subsequently the board, Sergia's would feel a tug around her neck as her clothes would emit a straining sound. Slowly letting go of the glass without even having lifted it and reaching instead for the knot at the top of her tie, proceeding to loosen it as she continued with a light smirk; "...and anyone who's also interested in making..!" The straining vibrations continued as it'd appear that her tie would only fasten itself further around her neck rather than growing more loose, even the tip of which could be seen lowering itself as if being pulled by an invisible hand. The woman's smirk dissapated and she now looked a little bit more nervous, raising her other hand in the meantime to signify to the stranger not to act, as evidently he'd already suggested that he might be a tad impulsive, *"H...Hydra..!"* She'd speak out in a tense whisper, still trying to maintain her compsure like nothing was wrong, she lowered her hand from the knot and instead reached for the middle sections of her tie before squeezing it a litte, revealing the outlines of something inside the fabric as the straining suddenly stopped. Only to quickly reverse itself altogether and become visibly more lax, causing the woman's posture to become significantly more relaxed as a result.

Filling her nostrils with a whiff of air before releasing it through her mouth in a quick sigh and lowering her hands again, "Sorry about that." Quickly taking the opportunity to take a sip of that drink from earlier before she continued. "House keys was it? Well, as a matter of fact I-..!" Sergia's eyes sparked wide and open as she stopped herself as the sudden crash and splinter of wood pierced her ears and caused her to move out of her chair and turn around, immediately reaching for her tie yet again. The way she held it would give the impression that Sergia might as well rip the thing off her neck to use it rather than cradling it like some valuable commodity. Her eyes wandered quickly around the vicinity, first to the broken chair only a few inches from where she had been sitting, then over to Axle to see his face. Was he just as surprised and just as clueless? Was he calm and collected from experience? Or was it a tinge of smile between those lips to suggest his involvement? No matter the case, Sergia quickly moved out of the way and towards the bannister to see what was goin on downstairs. The magical barrier that had up until now concealed them from view and out of earshot, now glitched with patches of open pockets spread all across its walls before suddenly fading altogether. Making it crystal clear for the people above to see whomever was causing these issues below, and for those down under to see her piercing purple eyes, judging them even at a glance as they demanded an answer for all this commotion.

After a while, the bartender slid his drink across the counter, Axle catching it with the palm of his hand, admiring the bright orange color of his drink as he noticed the complex reaction of his guest, particularly that of her clothes. It was almost like they were speaking, but even with magic, something as ridiculous as talking clothes was pushing it. He almost tempted to say something but too bashful to speak up, coughing several times to recover. With his sharp ears, Axle could only make out a vague work she was mumbling, "hy...hyd...hydro...hydrate? I mean, I'm not that thirsty but if you insist," taking a drink from his juice, dropping the glass a moment later as a chair flew over. Glancing over to the wall, Axle almost jumped out of his seat from the sudden crash of furniture, noticing all the knights grouped around the first floor of the tavern, with two familiar faces that sent a chill running down his spin, breaking out in a cold sweat and jumping back before they could so much as catch a glimpse of his face. Undoing some of the bandages around his hands and chest, Axle rewrapped it around his head, obscuring most of his face, as drastic of a measure he felt it was, feeling somewhat ridiculous for going to such lengths.

The bar was filled to the brim with patrons and wizards, all murmuring among themselves, a tension rose above the crowd, the relationship between mages and magic council become all the more evident in the way friction grew between the groups, some almost ready to jump straight into it at the first sign of provocation, both parties not to be the one to initiate the first blow. At this point, a single word, careless motion, or gesture could break this unpronounced stalemate, setting off an all-out brawl that would not just drag both groups, but the ordinary civilians alongside them. The stillness alone felt like the whole world froze in that exact moment, Axle motioning to Sergia to get down, hiding under the bar counter, "we have to get out of here, things are about to get escalate real damn fast," he whispered, extending his hand to the woman, "we've playing this entire time and I never got you're name. My name is Axle, just Axle."

"Wait.. are they after you or something?!" Having turned away from the festivities down below and made her way over to the then previously nameless stranger, Sergia had certainly found herself in a position she had not anticipated when waking up this morning. Albeit hesitant at first as her eyes quickly glanced between Axle's hand and eyes, the woman finally reached out to shake the Celestial Spirit Mage's hand - taking the opportunity to reach for the tie with her other one. Removing it out from the confines of her jacket, and lightly tugging at the small string of chains at the very end of the fabric, revealing the outlines of an object sliding inside it and coming out at the tie's tip; revealing a silver key with the symbol of a horned snake. "Sergia, pleasure. And sorry about earlier.. you know how our partners can be at times, yes?"

Still holding the silver key in a tight grip, Sergia placed the magical item on the surface of Axle's hand which sent a slight sting of magical energies throughout the man's body as if he was being connected to something or someone. "I'M GOING TO FUCKING END YOU, YOU SECOND-RATE POSER!" The voice belonging to that of a woman with a tone typical to that of an elder sister nagging on their young sibling would surface inside Axle's mind. Given his past experience, it was pretty fair to say that it'd quickly surmised that the voice belonged to the Celestial Spirit belonging to this silver key.

"First you bump into my fight against the lady and make the wrong moves,"

"The chess..." Sergia called out as to interpret the spirit.

"..but now you're dragging her into YOUR mess!.. WORST. DATE. EVER!" The voice finished speaking out to the other Celestial Mage, revealing that why no, there certainly wasn't any magical pieces of fabric... Just a key with an jealous and angry spirit inside.

"They have me confused with someone else is all," Axle said nervously, his eyes averting the gaze of Sergia as he scratched his head, wiping his hand across his shirt where his he had touched her key just a second ago. Axle felt a sense of deja vu, as he too had a spirit that was just as rough in the form of Scutum, an elderly spirit that more or less acted liked his grandfather in the way he looked after him.

"Fritz! FRITZ!" The man with the mustache called out, the tall man laughing, finding the situation both amusing and somewhat problematic, the ruckus they were making was sure to draw the attention of unwanted guests, complicating matters worse with the knights they had borrowed from the magic council per their older brother's request. A favor that he found more restrictive than helpful in their situation. The full-plated mage shrugged, if people could see past his helmet, it would've been evident that he was grinning hauntingly at the reaction of those around them, his extreme indifference on the matter eliciting very little out of him outside of his interest in his mission, as he knew a hero like himself was above such petty squabbles, here to pick up what he felt was cargo to simply drag back home, either by force or worse.

He and his partner crossed the open space made by the knights, the mages occupying the first floor were being held against their will against the wall, the growling and mumbling growing louder and louder, some asking themselves *"what's going on?"*, or *"what'd you expect from magic council"* among other tantrums. With the nervous gentleman walking up to the second floor, the full-clad mage stood around the lower floor, being approached by by one of the knights guarding the backdoor. Writing what appeared to be magic sigils along the grooves of the door and floor near the front door, they were securing the only entrance with Jutsu Shiki as per the two guest's requests, "I've set up the barrier as per you request Prince Strider."

"Strider...it couldn't be THAT Strider could it?", one patron muttered out, the bar falling silent, the rumbling stopping almost entirely as a quite panic erupted from within the crowd. Dead silent, not a single soul brave enough to so much as let out a single breathe to break the quietness of the moment, the identity of the two miss-matched strangers become all the more evident, being children belonging to the Strider Family, one of the most influential families in the world of magic . Weather they knew it personally or through word of mouth, some say that the family was almost as old, if not older than some of the most well known civilizations scattered throughout the whole of Ishgar, with a line said to be as vast as the stars that light the night sky, stretching back for hundreds of years, with every new generation said to improve upon the last.

It was common knowledge not to associate or temper the wrath of a Strider, that a single word uttered held power that was no different than that of the council passing judgement on the guilty. A rune knight, Sherry Chevalier, a knight nearly the level of a captain, couldn't help but acknowledge this fact, much to her disdain and disgust, her revulsion becoming apparent as she was, for the better part of a whole day, forced to follow the egocentric whims of children against their will, being sent over to become what was essentially glorified babysitters for full-grown wizards, a blow to her pride that she had to endure painfully, her hands shaking from the anger boiling up inside, frost growing along the hilt of her sword.

Joining the older brother, Sherry cut straight through the barrier, inscriptions scribbled along the broad surface of her sword that left a gaping gash through the magical residue, the two inspecting the bar whilst examining the customers for anyone that fit the brother's description of their missing person.

Sitting there, staring at the man covered in bandages and hearing the murmurs of the occupants downstairs, the footsteps kept getting closing to them with each passing second and Sergia was running out of time. The thoughts inside her head whirled around in search for an answer, grasping the silver key in her hand in hopes of it being just that, but even she had heard enough throughout her days that the Strider Family could be bad news. Reaching for the black bag that had been left just next to her seat up until now, "bahh... It's during times like these that I wished I knew something like summoning bones and had an attitude of a crazy guy that would just throw caution to the wind!" Speaking her mind just loud enough for Axle to hear her but hopefully no one else at that point, Sergia opened the satchel and reached inside from which almost her entire arm would seem to be swallowed up inside, it certainly wasn't proportionate to how it looked. When pulling her hand back out of it, she'd no longer be holding the silver key from before but rather wielding a brass knuckleduster and pulling out three small rods of which she'd put one each in-between the fingers in her other hand and clinging onto them like they were some kind of throwing stars.

"How badly do you want to get out of here? Be honest." Sergia whispered to the mage next to her, her eyes now locked on and ears perked as they followed the footsteps as they were getting closer and closer.

Axle's eyes shined with a quiet resolve, staring from the knocked over chest board to the young wizard hiding out with him, "I have to get out of hear no matter what." Before he could say another word, a single hand rested alongside the bar counter, the grip alone nearly breaking under the pressure of the man's strength, his fingers sinking into the hard wooden surface. With a single pull, the mustached man ripped the entire bar clean off from it's foundation, slamming it violently against the wall, crushing the chairs nearby and catching the nearby wizards off their guard from the barbaric display. Coming face-to-face with the royal, Axle's face ran cold, breaking out into a cold sweat from the encounter, the man in turn taking a moment to scan him, the bandages, at first, throwing him off from identifying his facial features, but it gave way from something more practical. As much as he wanted to hide it, it took family to recognize family, and his hair, and particularly his eyes is what gave away his true identity, something that all children of the Strider Family shared.

The only words that escaped from Axle's lips was a simple name, "Leopoldo...", the name belonging to an older brother that was several years older than him, a face he hadn't seen in a very long while.

Hearing those words, Leopoldo's eyes began to swell, bursting out crying, making all kinds of sniveling noises as he was overwhelmed with so much joy, wiping the tears as he recovered from the emotional outburst. "Fritz, my adorable little brother. When you left home without so much as a word, everyone was worried that you'd gone off and died in some ditch somewhere," he shrugged, "dad just chalked it up with you being in your rebellious phase, so he just figured you'd come back home once you've had your space. But I knew, I KNEW it couldn't have been so simple." Leopoldo's eyes shifting to the female wizard right beside him, his shifting from happiness from his reunion to pure vitriol, noticing the bandages that Fritz was covered in while the young lady was all but unscathed.

"Did she do this to you?! I bet she was the one that lead you astray, taking MY brother from home with your wicked whiles. You did didn't you. DIDN'T YOU!" Smashing his left hand through a stool, Leopoldo used right hand to rest it alongside the bar counter, the grip alone nearly breaking under the pressure of the man's strength, his fingers sinking into the hard wooden surface. With a single pull, the mustached man ripped the entire bar clean off from it's foundation, slamming it violently against the wall, crushing the chairs nearby and catching the nearby wizards off their guard from the barbaric display.

"Playing with his gullible young heart? He's too trusting, he needs to stay at home where he's safe," he muttered to himself, clicking his tongue as he bit into his thumb, too focused on his own inner thoughts, so much so that he couldn't pay attention to anything else, including his own brother who was trying to clear the misunderstanding. "Its not like that, I barely just met her when yo—," moving him to the side, Leopoldo charged straight for the woman, his tunnel vision fixed on his prey, all the while the rune knight stood by observing the situation.

"This all your fault you stupid. Hussy. BITCH!" Leopoldo screamed out loud, biting his lip to the point of drawing blood, glaring at the woman with such disdain that if looks could kill, he would have burned a hole straight through her by now. With a vein pulsing across his head, Leopoldo rolled his arm back, leaning as far as he could backwards to deliver a downward punch straight across the topside of the young woman's head, aiming to crush her head straight into the ground so that he didn't have to look at her any further.