5 Years ago

“We have a breach in the containment section!” Yelled the security guard “Get Tolfey down here immediately!” The head of security Tolfey burst through the double doors a face full of panic and fear.

“What’s happened?! How the hell did he wake up? He’s been in a medically induced coma for 125 years and he wakes up now? How?!” The security guard pointed at a man or what was left of him.

“What’s left of that fella right there is the reason Joshua escaped. He’s been working as night staff for about a year now. Than he suddenly comes down here to Joshua’s cell and blows himself up!” The security guard looked through the cleaners file handing it to Tolfey “Says in his file that he was an adept, he was able to control electricity. But this explosion was not electrical.”

Tolfey’s arm suddenly began burning looking at his wrist he saw a red symbol glowing fiercely. “Shit! He made it to the second level. Okay seal off this area, bring forensics in and find out why the hell this man exploded. I’ve got to deal with Joshua, he should still be weak from all the drugs we’ve been pumping into him.”

Tolfey took a shortcut to the area that he knew Joshua would have to pass through in order to escape. Just as he reached it Joshua was passing around the corner. The two now face to face. Joshua smiled at Tolfey.

“Ah Tolfey. Been a long time hasn’t it? I suppose you came to stop me? Well I don’t think you can, but you can try if you want to.”

Tolfey didn’t even wait for the man to finish tapping several symbols on his biceps and fists he was suddenly imbued with great strength and agility, his fists now aflame. He struck Joshua many times in the chest he dodged back as the symbols power wore off. Joshua staggered slightly looking at the seared mark on his chest, a grimace on his face. Chuckling the burns healed quickly.

“I told you that you could try. I guess, you failed. Don’t worry I’m not angry at being trapped down here. It really gave me time to think.” Tolfey who had been turned to face Joshua looked at him in the eyes voice full of determination he whispered

“You’re not right in the Head Joshua, we did what we had to do to maintain peace!”

Joshua laughed throwing the man at the wall opposite him. Joshua turned before he left through the door at the end of the corridor looking at Tolfey “You know, I have no idea why that man exploded outside my cell. I don’t appreciate the help of lesser mages. But i’ll let you figure that out, I have other things to do.” Leaving Tolfey a crumpled heap on the floor he looked in front of him and began moving his fingers in the air as if he was putting together a puzzle. After a short while the area began to glow with a dull purple vibe. Waving goodbye to Tolfey who was trying to get up he walked through the portal and left.

Phillip and Jennifer were quick to their friends side as he was lifted onto a stretcher. Tolfey explained that Joshua had escaped and was on the move. Phillip quietened his friend “We do not want to cause panic among our people Tolfey, we will try to deal with this as quietly as possible. If people knew that we, The Order let someone as powerful as Joshua free than they may doubt our strength.”

“Don’t worry Tolfey we’ll sort this out” Jennifer said.

Present Day

Joshua looked over the city of London, the home of The Order. It had been a year since he had escaped the Order. Yet he felt as weak as he had during that day. Whatever they had done to him had been a permanent thing or was taking a hell of a long time to wear off. He would need to find the Distorted Skull a powerful Eldritch Artifact. With it he could restore himself to his full strength. But the damn vampires had it, and they never did like sharing. No matter perhaps he could recruit some help from other mages who shared his vision of the future. If not he could always trick them into helping him. Adopting a trench-coat over himself he made his way to the Abandoned bar. Joshua was certain that even with the strength he had he could easily overpower anyone that tried to capture him.

[POST EXPUNGED]

The day had been like any other. Eyja had woken in her small bedroom, greeted Calfer and enjoyed her morning cup of peppermint tea with some linseed crackers and dried fruit. Afterwards she had gone to work in her shop until she closed for the day. Having a daily routine that had nothing to do with cleansing rituals and meditation circles was a blessing to the young witch. Of course she still practised her beliefs, just not to the extent of what was normal with her couvern. As she sold some dried camomile she thought of her sisters and a yearning came to her heart. She'd have to visit them soon.

Calfer sat on his perch in her shop and softly cooed when they were alone. She went over to stroke his head. “I think I'm going out tonight.” Eyja told the owl. “I still need to get my hands on some Doxy eggs.” The owl cooed again, ruffling it's feathers. She sighed. “You know I can't take you with me. People would notice! And you know we're not supposed to reveal ourselves to ordinary humans.” A snap of the beak was her answer. “I'll be careful. Take good care of the house now!” The bird turned it's head to one side, planely ignoring her. This made the young witch leave with a smile. Calfer was far too worried! What on earth could happen with the Order around?

Making her way through London she sat in the bus, staring at all the buildings it passed. At first she had been intimidated by the city, but now that she had grown accustomed to it it didn't frighten her any more. The enclosure had become more of a comfort to her, securing her from the wolrds dreads. Ironic, somehow. Other people didn't feel at ease in the noise, dirt and hectic of the city. Yet for Eyja it had become a home she felt safe in.

The bus stopped in front of a bakery and the witch got off, continuing her small journey by foot. The further she went, the quieter everything was. Then she had reached her destination and entered the Abandoned Bar. Now, where was her usual clerk whom she got exquisite and rare ingredients from? Looking around she stayed near the entrance, trying to spy through the crowd, her long hair dancing around her shoulders like liquid fire, bright in contrast to her dark clothing and pale face. Finally she found the man who was sitting at a table, deep in conversation with another. Perhaps she'd wait a bit . . .

Saryx walked along the grungy streets, bumping into people accidentally. There were so many people here, how can anyone relax? Saryx pulled her hood closer around her face. She was quite timid around other people as she shied away from the oncoming traffic of people. Saryx began to wonder if she would find anyone in this god forsaken place that could help her settle in.
With a sigh, Saryx entered into a nearby bar to rest, for she had been walking for hours. She only had a few British pounds, which meant she needed to find work and soon. She had heard about other magical beings within this area, so maybe she could find work for one of them? Of course she would have to hide what she was, fearing she would put her life on the line.

The museum echoed footsteps as a megaphone or microphone might, blaring the sound throughout the empty halls. Romen statues of gods and goddesses peered down upon the source of the noise. Gregory stared back, blank eyes recalling their glory when they had still been decorated for their grace to be won. Now they were marble and only that.

The museum was supposed to close an hour ago but working there had privlages that aloud him to stay and clean the floors for however long he liked, the night guards certainly didn't mind the extra company. Even if he was a bit strange.

By the time he had made his way back to the entrance and the dino bones he had thoroughly lost interest. Gregory could not recall dinosaurs, the thing that lurked in his mind had not bothered itself with the trivial creatures and so Gregory himself could not be bothered with them either.

He left through the front door walking to the Abandoned bar; a place he'd recalled from another time when he was not called Gregory. It was a dim place, dirty on the outside but remarkably full of interesting people on the inside. There he would be amongst other things, non-humans. He took a seat at the bar and asked for just water, Gregory didn't need to be poisoned by magic drink or whatever. Gregory had family to get home to after the bar.

The van arrived at a locked up warehouse away from most of the traffic. However, as should be expected, it was all but unoccupied. Eighty parked the van back-facing a large service door, shut it off, and then exited the driver seat. He proceeded towards a smaller door on the side of the warehouse, checking his surroundings for any witnesses. Thankfully, he was clear.

He knocked on the door. There was a single knock back. Eighty replied with a single word.

"Terrier."

The door opened silently, and he stepped inside. There were two men, one by the door, one sitting in a chair close by. Both of them looked like your average thugs. The seated one looked at Eighty and asked him, "Finally made it. New blood here too?"

"Yeah. Female, blank drug record, minor psychological damage."

"Perfect." The man replied, standing up and opening the service door. Eighty took out his keys and opened up the van, pulling away the blanket covering the cargo. Inside was a werewolf. Relatively small, ragged from captivity, bound by an obscene number of straps and locks. There was a device strapped to her head that was ready to drive a giant nail through it if she got too rowdy.

"Beautiful." One of the thugs commented, "We'll fix her right up for the new season. You should think about joining up this time Eighty, make some bets."

"Nah, mate." Eighty replied, "I just want the money, and the bonus we talked about."

The man nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two things - a neat bundle of pounds, and a plastic bag full of some form of black powder. Eighty pocketed both, and the thug said to him, "Season doesn't start until next week. You got some time time to think about it."

"Mate, just roll her out so I can get movin'."

The thug turned and grabbed the cage, pulling it out onto a large dolly the other thug had brought in. He took a needle from a strap on his holster and carefully injected it into the werewolf's thigh, sedating her. Eighty handed the device to shut off the nail mechanism to the thug he'd been talking to. They closed up the van, and the deal was done. Eighty turned back towards the door and made his way out while the thugs rolled the werewolf away to her new life as a pit fighter.

As he exited the warehouse, Eighty took out his phone and texted someone.

Dropped off the dog food at your friend's house.

And as he got back into his van, he got a reply.

Good, thanks. Appreciate the help.

And with work done for the day, Eighty believed he earned himself a pint before he headed back home. Oh, but where to drink?

...

The Order knew about Eighty. They knew about his activities, and boy did they not approve. But just as much as he was an eyesore to them, he was also a valuable informant. Plenty of up-and-coming villainous groups had met their end thanks to the man's sense of criminal limitation. After all, if one party gets too powerful, the business suddenly becomes harder. And no one wanted the worse of two evils.

The leadership knew who he was - the rest, not as well. And he preferred to keep it that way. So why was he just now entering their Abandoned Bar?

Well, they had the best drinks in the immediate area. And despite their strenuous relationship, the Order allowed their little informant to have a pint or two as long as he stayed out of trouble, and away from anyone who might recognize him.

Not that anyone here did. He almost never talked to these people.

Saryx took a seat at the bar and ordered a cheap drink. Something to warm her up. Without fire, Saryx has been getting colder and colder and she needed to heat up some. She gave the bartender the last bit of money she had for some food. Some fish and chips. To her, the chicken was way to greasy and she didn't even go near the chips. She wasn't a big vegetable person, if you can call chips a vegetable. In fact, she preferred to eat only meat. She took a swig from her cup and looked around the room, seeing who was around.

Just standing there, waiting for her clerk to finish his business she started to feel uneasy. With a sigh of defeat she went over to the bar, moving her slender body through the crowd as she tried not to bump too many with her bag that dangled happiply from her shoulder. Maybe she should have brought a smaller one . . . Then again, she never new what her clerk would have for her. She sat down between a woman who was picking at her fish and chips and seemingly didn‘t enjoy it much and a man with a small beard and dark eyes who just looked like plain trouble. Well, she‘d have to wait a while for the time being. Bending over the counter she waved for the bartender who came rushing by. With a smile she gave up her order: „Hello! I‘d like a large glass of water, please.“ Her voice was soft and barely carried over the noise of her surroundings. The man ogled at her. „Pardon, Missy?“ She sighed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. „A GLASS OF WATER!“ she almost shouted. The man started laughing. „We don‘t serve no water here!“ Disbelief and frustration played in her features. Was the guy serious?!

When the bartender went away without another word Eyja almost collapsed onto the bar chair. She had been defeated because of a glass of water . . . How ludicrous! She looked over to the table of the man she was waiting for. He was still in deep conversation. At least she had a place to sit. Her gaze wandered to the woman. She smiled friendly before continuing her scan through the crowd. A little nervous she started playing with her pendant. The man next to her seemed somewhat . . . off . . . She couldn‘t quite grasp it. Perhaps it was just the heat in the room or the sound level surrounding her. Maybe it even just was hunger. She‘d had nothing since breakfast and she wouldn‘t be home for another few hours. Maybe she should get something here. The thought lingered for a moment before she shook her head. No, if she asked for a salad the man would probably throw her out entirely!

You don't go to a pub for a glass of water. Not a normal one at least, this one was a more special case. Eighty was seated, passing a glance at the woman who'd asked for her glass of rain, only to get denied. After her turn was up, the bartender approached him next.

"You." The bartender commented, "What do you want now?"

"My usual." Eighty replied, "I'll be out of your hair after one or two, mate. Ease up."

The bartender, looking all sorts of displeased, turned and grabbed a glass, and held it under a lager dispenser. He handed over the drink, and Eighty handed over the payment. They continued to eye each other for a moment as the exchange was made.

"You ever gonna tell me your name?" The bartender asked.

"No." Eighty replied.

The bartender looked well and done with the conversation, so he turned to serve his other patrons. Eighty began taking sips of his lager, pulling out his phone and flipping through messages and random websites. And, passing quick glances around the room, mainly for signs of trouble.

Maru had been wandering the streets, to any passersby she'd appear a tall girl wrapped in a brown robe, only striking green eyes visable from the darkness beneath the hood, but to any supernatural creature or any human with supernatural powers she'd appear a tall Faun, large antlers with rings and necklaces draped across a tip or two sat atop her head, her two legs were furry and ended in hooves that had bracelets around them and her fluffy deer tail twitched here and there with her mood same as her large ears that twitched, her eyes stayed the same, a vibrant almost glowing emerald color. Maru moved along the cobblestones her mind set on the opal ring in her hand, her latest find, she fixed the ring on one of her antlers and looked around, she tended to just roam the city when bored, her eyes always catching any lost or discarded jewelry along the walk. She blew out a sigh and moved to enter the Abandoned Bar, she often frequented the local bars, drunk maidens were more likely to drop their expensive wears there, plus she had a sweet tooth for wine. Moving inside she casted her eyes around before approaching the bar and ordering a glass of red wine, she seated her self at a stool and sipped at the wine as her green eyes scanned the floor for anything shiny.

Mara:

Sat behind the counter of her shop in Baker Street. It was a regular day, almost nobody ever coming in, most people saw the name of the shop and just wrote it off as a place to buy useless junk. But, the more informed would tell you that they also sold slightly less useless junk. The telephone began ringing.

"Alright, you remember the dare." said Adam. Mara, without, looking away from the book that was on the counter that she had been reading, picked up the receiver.

"Voodoo Jade Palace and Taxidermist, you snuff 'em, we stuff 'em." she said. Adam began giggling.

"Excuse me, I bought a love-charm from you the other day... Well, it's not working right. I mean, I asked loads of girls out and they all shut me down. Is there a specific thing i'm supposed to do?" Mara gave a deep exhale.

"Look, sir, check the liability disclaimer on the box." she said. It was a disclaimer that said "May not contain any real voodoo or magic, any subsequent love found after use of this product is purely coincidental."

"Well... Don't you have anything that really works?" Mara looked at Mr Giggles, who was dusting an antique vase. She gave him a look to ask him to kill her now.

"Sir, do you believe in UFO's, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, Clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trans-mediums, the Loch-Ness Monster and the theory of Atlantis?" she asked. The line went dead for a second. Adam gave her the thumbs up for remembering the entire list in order.

"... If I say yes, do I get to join the Ghostbusters?" came the reply.

"No, you get to join the ranks of Britain's mentally disturbed." she then hung up the phone. Adam couldn't contain his laughter any more and began letting out big guffaws.

"OH MY GOD, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT TO A PAYING CUSTOMER!!!" He quickly settled down, though.

"Anyway, the answer you're looking for is, yes, yes, no, slightly, yes, yes, no, no, maybe and most definitely." she then went back to her book. At that point, Giggles walked towards her and gave her a note that stated that the meeting time for The Order had been moved up an hour and she now had 30 minutes to get across town. She looked at it, then went back to her book. Giggles then continued to push the note further towards her until she acknowledged it. "Dammit, Mr Giggles, I don't want to go. It's so boring and I already have what I need, at the moment." she motioned to her book. He didn't stop until she finally snatched the note off of him. "Fine, dammit, i'm going. Adam, mind the shop. Giggles, if he tries to get into my magical supplies, don't you dare use the Kunai's again... That taser I bought you should be good enough." she then walked out of the door and grabbed her amulet, transforming into a Kestrel and took off.

After a little while, she eventually landed just in front of the door to the abandoned pub, and when nobody was looking, transformed back into her regular, 10 year old form. She then took her pipe from her hoodie and popped it in her mouth. As she walked in, she struck a match and lit the tobacco inside. Pushing past several larger beings, she walked to the bar and waited for the others to arrive. She looked over at the human member of their group. "So, how's life treating you?" She asked, befor letting a long plume of smoke blast from her nose.

Saryx looked over at the girl who sat down beside her. She scowled at the bartender for denying her her drink. Maybe she was new to this whole ordeal, but water didn't seem to be a rarity here. So why couldn't she drink water? She looked at the woman's large bag, then back at her. Saryx leaned against the bar top, resting her head on her hand.
"Why would he deny you water? She asked the woman, a slight accent in her voice. "It doesn't seem to be hard to find around here. I've never seen so much water in one place."

Joshua looked around the dark city of london, gazing with disgust at the mortals as they moved past him. They looked like zombies completing their mind numbingly pointless task with no complaint or deviation from their allotted task. Pathetic. Slipping into a side alley he combed through his mind trying to remember the location of the Abandoned bar. While he had stopped four humans had appeared in front and behind him two armed with pipes, one with a baseball bat and the other with a switchblade knife. The one with the knife smiled and spoke to him in a heavy cockney accent.

"Looks like a little fish fell into this nest of sharks. Listen here mate hand over your money or else."

Joshua looked at him blankly. "Or else what?!"

"I'll stick you with this knife and take your stuff from your dead body."

Joshua Shrugged "Unlikely. But I will humor scum like you for a moment." The Switchblade man stared at him dumbly not able to comprehend what Joshua had said. Sighing Joshua sliced the air in front of the man with the switchblade. Still looking at Joshua with the dumb expression it quickly changed to one of shock. Coughing up blood he looked down at his waist which was no longer attached to the the rest of his body. He had been cut cleanly in half and died. The other men screamed with rage and charged at Joshua.

Expanding his hands outwards a black sphere expanded from Joshua's position passing through the men and then contracted back inside Joshua. The men fell to the floor dead. Joshua always liked necromancy magic it was very strong but, relying on object was too much of a draw back for him. Dusting himself off he made his way to the bar. Entering he looked around the establishment. So far so good he had not been recognised. Walking up to the bar he sat down and ordered a Cider. Joshua was currently hiding his power from the others as a magical aura like his made him stand out.

The withered body slumped to the floor with a soft thud. The poor man used to be a magic user, before it was ripped from him by the darkened warrior who stood over his corpse. He hadn't thought twice about opening the tomb, even though it had a pretty powerful protection sigil over it and even a warning, "Here lies Arkan, agony and all. Beware his horror and flee." It was instantly disregarded and he nullified the protection spell.

Upon opening the tomb he was met with a strange sight. There was what appeared to be a suit of armor unlike anything he had seen before. It would probably catch a splendid price on the right market and as he went to touch it, he became aware of the amulet around the corpses neck. It was beautiful, made of diamonds and seemed to say, "touch me". It was his biggest mistake.

As he put a finger on it, the suit of armor seemed to heave before an incorporeal veil of grey started seeping from it. Then its right hand came alive, snatching his by the wrist. It was ungodly cold and his life seemed to flee before his eyes, as he tried to scream but not a sounds came out. It was over in minutes, and Arkan then emerged from his tomb, restored but still hungered for magic. Always hungered.

The demon looked back at the tomb and removed his sword, Agony, from its depths. The sword was unimpressive looking but the taint of his powers had leeched on it, causing the sword to become powerful in its own right. Simply touching the blade end would cause a living person's hand to throb slightly. A cut would send the weakest to their knees and anything worse then that would be indescribable. It truly took talent and the will to tolerate pain, to even have the chance of overcoming the dangerous magic placed upon it.

Arkan then left his tomb, then the crypt at a slow pace, never seeming to be in a hurry but his steps had purpose. He emerged from what appeared to be a large drainage pipe in the middle of a ditch. He shambled up the side, coming face to face with what looked like a large town in the distance. He began to walk towards it, the pull of magic was calling him ever so slightly like a breeze. He was a leaf in the wind and those that relayed upon magic were beacons within the dark.

"You mind bringing me another bottle, Gillby?" a voice to Joshua's left.
"No problem, Sans" the bartender said before walking off to get Sans what he wanted.
Sans took a seat looked up at Joshua. "Heya" Sans said "You've been busy, huh?". The bartender returned with another bottle of ketchup. Sans took it and nodded his thanks before turning back to Joshua with a smile that made the sorcerer's sins crawl on his back and weigh on his neck. "So, I've got a question for ya" Sans continued "Do you think even the worst person can change...? That everybody could be a good person if they just try?".

Joshua turned to the man who addressed him. He was drinking what looked like ketchup not the strangest liquid he had seen someone consuming but none the less this man definitely wasn't ordinary. Though as he thought about it neither was Joshua but he would not lump himself in with this lowly skeleton mage.

"Well that depends on the man." He paused for dramatic effect. "And his sins. Though I suppose every man is inherently good. Some of them do bad things for the sake of the outcome being something good."

Joshua's eyes scanned the skeleton, he couldn't really be called a man but from his voice he was obviously male. Joshua could see the magic bounding the man's soul to his body. Necromancy magic and a powerful one at that, but with a bit of time Joshua could learn how to do it to other or undo it to this skeleton. He smiled inwardly looking around at the other patrons. They were a mix of mages and magical beings he would wait for the right kind of people to enter the bar before he proposed his little quest. For now he would humor this skeleton.

49: did the poochie make it ok
80: Yeah.
49: goooood that's quality stock
49: and i did her pack a favor
80: I bet.
49: trust me dude it was for the best
80: And before you ask, I'll send you your cut tomorrow.
49: and hey what about my cut
49: lol beat me to it
49: crafty bloke
80: Yeah. Gonna go back to drinking now.
49: alright
49: enjoy your tea time dude
80: Bye.
49: bye

Eighty exited the chatroom, going back to viewing Reddit, taking another sip of his lager. The export from Forty-Nine, the best meat trafficker Eighty knew, had been a long deal. She'd killed several of her own pack plus some civilians and a cop back in the US. Forty-Nine had worked his magic and sent her over to London to be put to better use as a near-rabid killing machine. The pack thought she was being medicated - they'd have already gotten "there was a complication" talk by now.

Eighty turned his head towards the other people at the counter. Folks who looked like humans, but sure as hell weren't. Someone as mundane as him couldn't see past latent and constructed magic veils, but this place? It was a substitute over his natural intuition. He assumed he was the only normal human in here.

He finished up his lager and left the glass on the countertop. He stepped away and repositioned himself at a booth closer to the entrance. He kept an eye on the folks seated at the bar.

Something told him they were going to start something.

Joshua's response made Sans chuckle. He took a swig of ketchup before speaking again. "Alright" Sans said "Well, Here's a better question". Sans' pupils suddenly vanished, leaving nothing but an empty pair of eye sockets. "Do you wanna have a bad time?" Sans asked "'Cause if you follow through with what you're planning...you are REALLY not going to like what happens next". Sans took a another swig of ketchup before continuing. "Trust me on this 1, Josh" Sans said, his pupils now visible again "I've seen this all happen before, and it rarely ends well for the guys in your position. Come to think of it, this occasionally ends badly for everyone, depending on who lives and who dies. But I digress. My point is that if you go after that skull, you should consider yourself boned".

A single untouched shotglass of what was probably whisky sat on the table by Ahnciel who had fallen asleep on his work some few hours ago. Star charts and a notebook filled with a nonsensical script and diagrams to back it up under his arm and face, an ear twitching in his slumber. This is what the world had become for the fallen commander, resorting to finding places to crash for the day and living at night since he didn't have money for actually having a place to live. The drink? Someone may have left it there, since Ahnciel had used the coins he found from the previous night to get a bagel for breakfast/dinner. I'm sure if he was awake he'd appreciate it.

With a small sniff, he sat up and blinked sleep from his eyes. A piece of paper following up since a bit of drool during his sleep caused it to stick to his cheek. He lifted an eyebrow, the mint green glow lighting up as the iris silently whirred to life, opening to reveal the lens which joined his other eye in noting that their choice residence for the day had become populated while he was out. Yawning, he picked up the shot glass to give the contents a smell before cringing and setting it back down.
It was been almost four days in this new world and he hated it just as much as the last one; too many humans all packed together like sardines. Normally they'd all put Ahnciel on edge, but the first two days spent hiding didn't help him at all since the worst treatment he'd received were a few girls who'd thought he was adorable and wanted to pet him. That was...unexpected.

Ahnciel peeled the paper from his face, looking at the contents which were little more than marks of gibberish to anyone else who didn't know the language. It was a simple recounting of the events that lead up to the crash which he'd written down so he wouldn't forget any details of the strange radiation readings that disabled his ship. Where the parts could be? Who knew. It was about a good of time as any to be up and pack his things for today's wandering. Ahnciel stood after refolding everything and slipping it into his messenger bag, standing and lingering for a moment to yawn and take in the events in the bar.

It was all business as usual as far as he was concerned. Creatures in disguise, creatures out of disguise, humans disguised as creatures...humans disguised as creatures in disguise. What almost looked like a skeleton took him by surprise before it vanished, causing the Aylv to doubt what he'd seen, rubbing his eyes. Outside it was all humans and so, weighing his options, Ahnciel sat back in his seat near the bar and downed the shot of warm whisky. He cringed from the alien bitterness, tensing while their ears fluttered in distress from the unexpected heat of the obviously alcoholic drink. Supposing he'd be there until either something happened or the place closed for the night, he pulled out his notebook to try to pick up where he left off in trying to plan his first move.