A Godly Inspiration

Romulus walked udly through the streets of Lavantir. The city was not overly large, but Romulus still felt out of place in an urban environment. The sun was just starting to set and it bathed the entire city in a crimson light, but also casting quite a few shadows from everything around the city. It was a duality that Romulus came to enjoy. It reminded him a lot of the guild he had joined recently, even though it seemed like a life time ago. But then on another hand, it was a lifetime. Romulus had changed quite a bit since he had arrived. This was something he was grateful for. Especially to the guild mates that had helped him get to where he was. A few stood out rather strongly in his mind, and remembering the fun they had on jobs together brought a smirk to his face.

Romulus was known to take long strolls at night, but this was different. Normally he wouldn't return to the guild hall until the sunrise was nigh on the horizon. But this time, something was different. It was probably because of him thinking about his time at the guild, but he found himself at the doors to the guild, much as he did when he first arrived to Lavantir. That day still stood out in his mind. It was his first taste of friendship, and of a certain type of cake that one of his friends was known for. Romulus opened the imposing door and made his way inside. He slowly made his way to the Tavern of the guild, not for any reason, or with any haste. He just wanted to continue his thinking about the guild and its members, and what better place to do that than a place where he could be surrounded by them?

Romulus found the entrance to the Tavern, and slowly opened it. As soon as the door was opened in the slightest, a cascade of sound struck Romulus. He was certainly not used to the sensation, but he had grown to enjoy it as much as he could. This guild was as close to a home as he had ever gotten, and since an imperfect home is better than none at all, he accepted the noise that cane with the Black Rose mages. He made his way through the Tavern room until he found a booth in the corner. He aloud himself to fall unceremoniously into the lightly padded bench seat. With no one else in the booth, Romulus was able to stretch his limbs and leave the world around him and simply retreat into his head. He was enjoying his own thoughts until he ran across a memory that was contrary to his current emotions about the guild he was in. It was a memory only two people had. He had been hiding it and was actually slightly ashamed of it. Maybe he would share it with someone soon. Maybe. But until then, he would have to just keep going over the happier moments of his life at the guild.

It was night time now but the guild was still bustling with activity. Probably because everyone around was so busy with jobs that they arrived and left at random timings. So the chatter and noise never seemed to stop at the guild hall. Jin too was at the guild hall, sitting at the tavern and casually conversing with a few mages while he enjoyed his favorite red velvet cake. He wasn’t much known before but after becoming a Rising star he was very well known. Then soon afterwards, he was made the guild’s ace and that was the major boost to his popularity. Now he would get plenty of mages who wanted to talk to him and converse with him casually. He had never aimed for such an attention but being a social person, he enjoyed the company. He got to meet new mages so it wasn’t that bad.

Once again, the door to the tavern opened but this time a more familiar face entered the guild. Apparently he didn’t notice Jin and went for an empty bench and lay their so unceremoniously. Jin gestured the bar tender to bring him another red velvet cake. He recalled the first time he had met Romulus and how he had enjoyed the cake. The bar tender brought the delicious product of sweetness and Jin picked up the plate heading up to where Romulus was. ”Yo Romulus, you’re up late”, he said sitting on the bench without asking for permission. He was sure Romulus wouldn’t mind, they were close enough to ignore formalities. He sat and placed the plate in front of Romulus, ”have some cake” he said with a smile.

It was late night so Jin wasn’t accompanied by Kaya, she had already pestered a few mages, played around and eaten. After that, Jin had taken her up to his room and she had instantly fallen asleep. She wouldn’t be waking up before sun rise and he didn’t feel like sleeping so he had returned to the tavern.

Black Rose... she spoke out loud while she stood outside the large and imposing door to the guild. It was Rei's first time being at the Guildhall. It was late in the evening and she had come straight from her temporary residence at an apartment complex not too far away. She had only been out of confinement for a week or so and had been approached by someone of a guild named Black Rose. She had been offered a position in the neutral guild and out of  necessity, she had accepted. Now here she was, at the guild late at night and somewhat hesitant to enter. She hoped that since it was so late, there would be very few people there and she could easily and quietly slip into the guild without too much attention. She breathed heavily once and then pushed the large door open and stepped inside quickly. The door slammed shut loudly and little Rei cringed, she opened her eyes and looked around, but no one seemed to be in the main area.

She sighed in relief and folded up her black umbrella and hung it on a hook by the door. Voices and music could be heard from another room, likely a social gathering area: with nowhere else to go for now, she resigned herself to go and check out the inhabitants of the guild. She opened the door to the tavern and was instantly assailed by the noise of loud music and alcohol. Instantly, she felt uneasy, being an 8 year old by nature and the stature to match... this was the "grown ups" area. She clenched her little hands that were getting sweaty and walked in: a few people who noticed her enter just watched her in disbelief... what was an adorable little girl doing in the guild tavern? Rei went straight to the bar and crawled up into the soft stool seat and motioned at the bartender with a small cute finger. One glass of milk please.. she asked in a polite and cute but timid voice.

The bartender raised an eyebrow at first but then shrugged and poured her a glass of cold milk, she thanked him and then turned around as she crawled off the stool and then grabbed her glass of milk. Now all she had to do was find somewhere to sit and drink it. Her nose picked up the smell of something sweet nearby, she sniffed around and used her extra sharp vision to scan the room until she found the source: two men were sitting in a booth and one was offering the other some cake. She walked up to them slowly and set her milk on the edge of the table and did a small curtsy as she dipped her head in a bow and lifted the folds of her black dress slightly. Rei is Rei, may Rei sit here? she introduced herself and asked the two men. She dropped the folds of her dress and sniffed the sweet cake, her eyes trying not to look at it too hard. She had been confined for two years by the Rune Knights and hadn't had the luxury of such sweet and tasty foods. She dropped her hands, which had momentarily shown signs of iron shackles causing scars on her arms.

Magna meanwhile stood behind the bar. He was in fact the one who had poured the glass of milk for Rei. He was often behind the bar mostly because he liked serving people in various ways plus the tavern served food. He'd heard a few talk saying the food had improved since he joined the guild and that made him happy. The reason he had raised an eyebrow at the young girl was just that. She was a young girl. It was quite late so it seemed odd she'd be in a tavern. It was fine though. He himself was only 15 so it seemed odd he'd ever be serving behind a bar, but here he was doing just that. He didn't drink alcohol himself, being too young, and so relied on others to tell him of his cocktails.

He'd considered seeing how the girl would react to his famous milk-based drink the Chateau Victoria. It was entirely non-alcoholic, but it was an incredible revitaliser of physical stamina and removed all weariness. It was said to allow you to run for 12 hours solid without rest. Not his words, but those of people who had drunk it.

Whilst he had been serving behind the bar he had been watching Jin. The man was getting a lot more attention these days and in a way Magna's own popularity, which had grown significantly whilst part of the guild, might be because he was often seen with Jin due to the jobs they had been on together. He also noticed that Jin knew Romulus and went over to greet him when he came in and even offer him some cake. Romulus was another job buddy of his and one he felt he got on well with. It was nice that his friends were friends and now that he thought about it the red velvet cake that Jin was eating was one of the things that brought him and Jin together initially. Romulus had said the same. It was a very miraculous cake in that way. Perhaps he'd have to try and make his own version one day.

His shift would be over soon enough. Perhaps he'd go join the two. Funnily enough the young milk drinker had gone over there to request a seat. It seemed her eyes were locked onto the cake though she was trying to hide it. Yet another who might become closer to Jin due to the cake. He nodded. That settled it. He would master that recipe and make a red velvet cake that would blow this one out of the water. A cake of friendship and camaraderie.

Romulus scanned the bar room. It was filled as normal with mages filling the space between them with plenty of noise and plenty of friendship. But during his scanning Romulus saw a very young girl enter. While children were not uncommon sights, and size could be deceiving, seeing one enter a bar filled with mages was a bit worrying. Romulus was instinctively protective of younger things. This came from him caring for his younger brother for years. This coupled with his very confrontational nature made him tense up, ready to spring if anyone were to act like they were going to hurt or threaten the young girl. He continued to watch her as she walked up to the bar.

That was when Romulus had his attention pulled away from the bar, shortly before he saw what the girl was doing or who the bartender was. His attention was pulled away by something happening much closer to him. Jin had taken a seat across from Romulus in the booth, greeted the wolf mage, and offered a slice of cake. Romulus couldn't help but chuckle and look into the eyes if the first friend he had made in this guild, then Romulus said, "Come on, I'm always up late. I'm just never in here late. You know I don't like people."

As Romulus was finishing what he was saying, and spinning the plate the slice of cake was on, the same young girl from before walked up to his table. This much attention was new to Romulus, but he wasn't complaining. That night he was in a more social moid than he normal was. He looked at the young girl with soft eyes as she introduced herself. Romulus cracked a small smile at the way she had introduced herself. Romulus slid the cake Jin had gave him towards the inside of the booth, followed by the glass of milk the girl had sat on the table top, noting a familiar golden twinkle in the glass. Romulus didn't mean to be so insitive in his actions, but the young girl had already expressed interest in sitting with two older mages, and if she was on the inside of the booth, with Romulus between her and everyone else in the bar, he would feel much better about her safety. Deciding this, Romulus stood up and bowed slightly as he gestured Rei to sit into the booth. "Of course you can, young one. And have some cake too. It is absolutely delicious." Romulus flashed an apologetic look at Jin, since Romulus did feel bad about giving the cake away when he knew it was meant for him. He certainly hoped the Ace would understand.

It was certainly unusual for a girl to walk into the tavern of the guild. Children wouldn’t normally be awake at such an hour but there she was being an exception. He noticed her as soon as she walked into the tavern and walked to the bar. It was then that he also noticed Magna who was attending to everyone present besides the little girl. Everyone around them were Black Rose mages, so he didn’t feel any need to be alarmed. However, he couldn’t recall meeting the young girl before; she must be a new member. He hadn’t read any recent files, it was only customary for the guild ace to be informed about newer members. ”I should probably keep up with the paper work” he thought making a mental note. Juggling multiple jobs, his responsibilities as an ace and then keeping up with paper work was not an easy task. He hadn’t done anything of the sort before either so it was all new to him too.

After acquiring some liquid which appeared to be milk, the young mage headed towards the two Black Rose mages. Romulus stood up and greeted the young girl, Jin interpreted that as a very gentleman kind of act. He didn’t stood up since he wasn’t one to go with formalities, he gave her a warm smile and gestured at the same place Romulus had giving her permission to sit with them. ”Sure, a cute lady such as Rei can sit anywhere” he said with a kind tone. Jin wasn’t old he was in his teens, only a year older than Magna, probably a little older than Romulus too; but he wasn’t that old. However, he liked people and he liked children. The girl was respectful towards them and the cute thing about her was that she referred to herself in third person. Jin couldn’t help but instantly like the girl. He noticed that Romulus gave his cake to the young girl, he was about to get her another one. So instead of getting one for her, he would get another for Romulus then.

He turned to look at Magna, who was probably done with his shift at the bar. He raised his hand and held two fingers shouting: ”The usual please”. Why did he ask for two cakes? He had one for himself and one for the little girl, only Romulus was the other without the cake. It was because he assumed that Magna would too join them soon after finishing his shift. Then his attention turned to the young girl once more. ”Nice to meet you Rei, I’m Jin and this is Romulus. That chef over there at the bar is Magna”, he went ahead and introduced everyone to her. He didn’t specify his position as a guild ace just because he believed that the visible dryad mark on his right shoulder should be enough. He couldn’t be sure though since she was a new girl but he wasn’t one to brag or show off. ”I assume you’re a new mage here, aren’t you?” he inquired not in a sarcastic tone. He wasn’t one to judge a book by its cover.

Rei smiled, she knew it was the right choice to sit with these men. They were friendly and seemed to love her presence: the one known as Romulus got up from his seat and slid her milk and the slice of cake over to the inner table seat. Any other eight year old might have been confused about this, but not Rei. She studied Romulus's body movements while he had done this- this was the act of a motherly atmosphere, being able to read people like open book, she could tell that Romulus meant nothing but safety and care for her. She thanked him and climbed up into the seat and waited until Romulus sat back down before drinking from her glass of milk.

Romulus scooted the cake closer to her, to her delight. She thanked Romulus and Jin in turn and then took a bight of the yummy cake with a cheerful blush on her little face. Rei decided that she likes cake. Rei likes you too! she exclaimed, verbalizing her positive opinion of the Black Rose mages seated around her. She looked at Jin's mark curiously, Rei possessed a new guild mark herself- but his was different? She didn't understand this, she assumed he was a Black Rose mage.

Jin interrupted her quizzical thought as he asked if she was a mage as well, though his question was more of an assumption. Rei stored her closed umbrella on the inner booth seat as she positioned herself comfortable sitting on her knees to ensure she kept a somewhat average height to talk and eat at the booth. Rei has had magic at six years old, but she is still new at guilds. Rei didn't get to talk to people for two year. she expained at length, though not really giving out any details: she wasn't ready right now to face her most recent past. She reached across the table and poked Jin's skin where his dryad mark was, This is not Black Rose?

Magna nodded at the request and quickly prepared two of the red velvet cake. It was a dish that had brought him and Jin together as well as Romulus and Jin. A true recipe of friendship made possible through an actual recipe. What could be better? He walked over with the two cakes and sat down himself as he placed them on the table. "Hey Jin, Romulus. Its been a while. How are things going?" he said with a smile and nodded at the small girl. "Enjoying the milk? Its a special brew of mine. Its one of your favourites right Romulus?" It had been a long day of cooking and bartending for the mage. However, he enjoyed it. Cooking was his passion, his raison d'etre as it were. If he wasn't cooking he was generally studying more about cooking or out on a job. Most would say 'all work and no play' to this, but the thing was cooking to him was not work. It was play. The jobs were also fun as he got to spent time with his friends.

He saw Rei pointing at the dryad mark upon the neck of Jin. It was a rather special mark. A mark denoting him as an ace of the guild and one of the guildmaster's most trusted mages. "So Jin. How are Fira and Kaya?" Magna asked politely. He was actually quite surprised to see Kaya not present. He hadn't really seen Jin and Kaya apart ever.

Romulus nodded to the young girl as he was being introduced by Jin. Romulus returned to his original seat after Rei had moved into the inside seat of the booth. Romulus was happy to hear that Rei liked the cake, as it had been the first thing Romulus had liked in the guild as well. Romulus was not, however, happy to hear Jin order two more slices of his infamous Red Velvet baked good. The sweetness was a bit much for Romulus, but he still ate because of his connection with Jin. The fact the he had ordered two slices also sent Romulus for a loop, that was, until he noticed who Jin had ordered the cake from.

Magna was the one serving that night, and the second slicecof cake was no doubt going to be used to get Magna to sit with the other 3 mages already assembled. Romulus remembered his first time meeting Magna. The two had hit it off really well, and their job together had went over as smoothly as any of Romulus' other jobs so far. Magna made his way over to the table with two confectionary treats on plates. When Magna mentioned that Romulus should know something about the milk Rei was drinking, it clicked to Romulus why it seemed familiar to him when he had moved it for the young girl. Romulus chuckled lightly at the thought of how tired he had been when he officially first talked to Magna.

When Rei pointed out Jin's Dryad mark, Romulus wasn't all that surprised. Though he didn't know exactly what the mark entailed, he knew that it made Jin an Ace, and that the mark was rare to see. What did surprise Romulus was the fact the Magna said two female names to Jin. One Romulus recognized as the tiger cub be enjoyed, but the other was foreign to him. It did do something though. It confirmed that Jin was indeed married. Romulus had brushed those rumors off as nonsense and ignored them, but that one name confirmed that Jin had a spouse.

Rei instantly felt safe for some reason, surrounded by older-brother type of mages in the new guild for her. All of these men were friendly and sensitive to her childish side. She was indeed enjoying the milk she was given, it was a had a special taste to it and she decided she liked it better than regular milk... but then again, she could hardly remember the last time she had real milk or the taste of it. She nodded to Magna and sipped the milk again and looked at as the big bys started to converse. Jin explained his dryad guild mark, Rei nodded her head with an empty understanding to the explanation. Ace? Whatever that meant... a guild was full of mages, unless there were grades of ranking each guild? She pushed the idea away for now and focused on those at the table. Maybe Rei will get a Dryad mark? she asked inquisitively, not wanting to be unlike everyone else. Maybe the others had the mark as well, just in unseen places. That made Rei think of her mark, a black rose on hr upper left shoulderblade. It had been placed upon her before entering the guild hall only a couple of days ago.

"Nah Rei-chan. The dryad mark is special, only the chosen mages of the guildmaster get it. Which I think is you and Elyx right?" Magna said explaining in a calm and soothing tone. He hadn't actually met Elyx before, but he had heard the name. I mean, he worked in a bar. That was a great place to hear rumours and talks. Apparently the other ace was a powerhouse when it came to doing jobs. He was rarely in the guild and just seemed to always be doing one job or another. Quite impressive really, but not something Magna would emulate. He'd go on jobs when he needed to or when he was invited, but for the most part he'd just spend time cooking and improving on that. If that took him a job then so be it.

"Its good to hear they are well. Its been a while since Kaya came to try and get me to cook her something." he said with a grin. He liked the little tiger and she was always willing to try whatever he cooked. "Did those sardines and raspberry jam put her off?" That was one of his failure dishes. He had them every now and then. It was natural when you experimented so often. He'd fought the oilyness would go well with the stickiness of the jam. Salt and sweet. Sadly it had failed.

"As for me ya know same old, same old. I cook, I serve, I try to find rumours of certain ingredients." he said and shrugged. That his goal in life. To be the best cook, but he also had a sub-goal to find a certain set of ingredients.

Rei had been too absorbed at the sight of the dryad mark and the turns Magna and Jin took in explaining it. One said she wasn't likely to get the mark and the other said she could get the mark- she furled her brow slightly in confusion: apparently it was hard to get, but it was possible. Rei looked at Jin, he looked soft and delicate, friendly and very warm. Yet he had gotten such a rare mark. Helping people seemed to be the natural thing to do, but Rei wasn't used to people: she had only been capable of sitting with these people because they were from Black Rose as well and had kind and warm atmospheres.

The appearance of the new female eluded Rei, she had been staring hard at Jin's dryad mark, not really realizing she was staring. In had come Izyuki and sat down, Rei didn't know until the girl chirped up and moved into the conversation. At the sound of another woman's voice, Rei turned her head and saw Izayuki. Without knowing anything about her, she thought the girl was pretty. Izayuki seemed to be stressed out over something, while not overly apparent, the girl was somewhat apprehensive about jumping into a conversation she wasn't a part of. Izayuki did it well though and seemed to fit right in, Jin had responded to her and even scooted over in his seat to allow her to sit comfortably beside them. Rei nodded as Jin introduced her to Izayuki. Rei is Rei. she introduced herself in an unnecessarily manner since Jin had already done it. Realizing this, she got a little embarrassed and waved her little hand and then shrunk back in her seat.

"Well tell Kaya to swing by when she has the chance. I've been working on a few recipes especially for her." he said with a smile and thought back to the time Kaya had saved him from the possessed and rather evil principal. "I owe her one after all, but i'd probably make her a meal anyway...she's my friend." He winked at Jin and grinned broadly. "Don't think i've forgotten about you either bud. Gonna make you something extra special." He looked at the red velvet cake an idea forming in his mind. Yes, that would be the perfect dish for Jin if he could perfect it. He paused for a moment and then decided to voice an idea.

"We're all mages of Black Rose and we seem to get on well." Magna said seriously. "Some of us have just met, but I have a feeling we will become great friends and do a lot of work together. So why don't we form an official team?" He then chuckled and raised a piece of the red velvet cake on a fork into the air. "A team united together. Ingredients to form one delicious combo. Just like this red velvet cake."