The heavy smell of mulberry pie filled the air; the smell was almost thick enough to be a visible vapor floating around. It was rather distracting, making him unconsciously think of a happier time in his life. With a drawn out sigh, Phoenix Seraph pulled his pillow from under his head and used it to block out the smell from his nose. There were things in the world that he simply did not want to remember, it hurt too much. Following the dense scent, that had been slowly tainting the air in his room for hours; a hefty sounding fist pounded on his door and began to yell. Phoenix groaned from under the pillow, “not now, Meredith.” He muttered just loud enough for her to hear him. 

Outside his door, he knew the old hag who ran the inn he was staying at was waiting for him to get up and leave the vicinity. He didn’t want too, he had stayed up late the night before practicing a new spell he had just learned and it had drained him. 

The young mage jumped as the flimsy wooden door was thrown open and there stood the middle-aged woman who owned the Moonrise Inn. Her grayed-brown hair was up in a messy bun and her faded pink homely-looking dress was covered in baking powder. This woman was tall, taller than Phoenix with broad shoulders and thick arms. Anyone could tell at first glance that she was foreign. “Phoenix, where have you hidden my apron this time? I want you out, young man” 

Phoenix’s brows knitted together as he tried desperately to remember if it was in fact him who had taken Meredith’s apron again. His eyes scanned the floor rapidly as if it held the answers he was searching for. “I… I um, don’t know, you could have just misplaced it” He looked up at her innocently with a smile, rising out of bed as to not seem rude. “I’m sorry, maybe I can help you find it?” The mage offered.

Meredith glared at him with piercing blue eyes, “I thought I had lost it, which is why I was baking without it, then I remembered that little vermin of yours loves to steal my things, if it wasn’t you this time, it had to be him” This time it was her who looked around the room, peering at every corner to try and find Phoenix’s beloved pet ferret. 

“Artemis?” After thinking about it for a moment, Phoenix chuckled a little and turned to kneel before the bed. He peeked beneath the sturdy wooden bed he had been awoken from and sure enough, there was Artemis, his pure white ferret, curled up in a ball on top of Meredith’s apron. With a smile he exclaimed, “Artemis! You scoundrel you! How could you take dear Meredith’s apron?” 

Tiredly, the small ferret looked up at Phoenix that mirrored his master’s, pure black. Before Phoenix could demand he give it back, Meredith stomped over to the bed and stood behind the mage. “Get my apron back from the vermin!!” It was somewhat obvious that she was afraid of Artemis or she’d get it herself. 

He was already reaching his arm under the bed to retrieve the stolen apron, “right, I’m on it”. Artemis scurried to the corner of the bed, allowing his master to take his nest away. “Thanks, buddy” he whispered. “Got it” When he pulled the apron out from under the bed and stood up there were visible claw marks right in the center of the thick material. “Great…” Phoenix turned on his heels, he had to crane his neck upwards to see Meredith’s face clearly. “Here you go, oh right, and my fee for the past couple of nights” 

Phoenix dug through the pockets of his pants hurriedly trying to find enough coins to satisfy the enraged woman who was only growing more upset with every passing minute. He took all the contents of his pockets and handed them to her. “I’ll just be heading out now, sorry about your apron” Smiling sweetly he snatched up his boots, gauntlet and belt, attempting to put them on as he hopped on one foot toward the doorway. 

“This isn’t enough for the trouble you’ve caused me, what with your fire tricks two nights ago and last night I heard you chanting, all night, it kept me up, and my apron that you kept taking. It’s ruined now, my only apron” She was watching him rush around to get his things and leave. 

“But you said you wanted me out” Phoenix stopped and stared at the woman. “You’ll have to forgive me, miss, I really don’t mind to rush out like this without paying in full, but you did say you wanted me out and I don’t want to impose any longer… Artemis it’s time to leave” Artemis ran out from under the bed and hurried up Phoenix’s leg all the way up to his shoulder. With a deep breath Phoenix reached for a pouch at his belt, pulling out a single card with archaic symbols on both sides. He closed his eyes, holding the card close to his chest. When he opened his eyes again they had a yellow, flame-like glow to them. ((Like Black Rock Shooter I guess)). “[i]Indespectus[/i]” The word came out as just a whispered but it echoed through both their ears as if he had had said it normally. 

The middle-aged woman was unsure what he was doing, what spell was the young mage going to cast, was he going to hurt her? In the blink of an eye, Phoenix and his companion had vanished. 

A minute had passed, outside the inn Phoenix stood with his arms up in a stretching position. He ran his fingers through his thick blond hair to make it return to its original spiky ways. “Ugh… Now where am I going to sleep?” Behind him he heard the voice of Meredith shouting his name, “Whoops better get out of here, eh Artemis?” He pet his friend lightly on the head and bent over to pick up his sword. “Can’t believe I almost forgot this, let’s go, before she gets the authorities after us”

He ran as fast as he could toward the only place he knew to go, town square, where he could blend in among all the odd balls that wandered around or hurried about, depending on who they were. Artemis dove into Phoenix’s shirt so he wouldn’t be lost in the running. “So, when we get to the center of town, we should probably get food, you have to be just as hungry as I am. Or maybe that’s just me…” 

Upon arriving in town he had to sit and catch his breath, the smell of fresh baked bread caught his attention so he ducked into a local bakery and attempted to buy a bit of food. 

“Wait, what?! I could’ve sworn I had at least… Right… I gave it all to Meredith” His stomach growled pitifully. “Never mind than” Phoenix hung his head and walked toward the exit. He felt a familiar, painful pinch on his chest. “Ow, what?” He asked his friend who was still hiding in his shirt. Artemis crawled out and sat on his master’s shoulder, Phoenix followed Artemis’s beady little gaze to where a few officials were walking around asking groups of townsfolk questions. 

“Damn… We’re screwed; I’m not a criminal… Well, guess there is only one way out of this, right?” He looked up, the sun was directly above town square, there was no hiding in the shadows. [i]I’ll have to make a run for it.[/i] In the center of town square stood the way gate that he had to get too, the one that led to the realm of Irakix, the most magically advanced place in the world. In his way there were far too many people to count. Phoenix took off toward the way gate.

[i]Here goes nothing.[/i]