“--and the way you spun, it was incredible!!” Zaeli gushed as everyone aimlessly strolled down a nearby avenue after the show finished (“for realsies this time!”).

Calico agreed, immensely satisfied with the spectacle, “Better than any performance I’ve ever seen in all nine rings of hell! Not to mention, the snacking was excellent.”
Buttered popcorn was a thing of the future (also, they might’ve stolen a morsel of happiness here and there, shh).

“Aw you guyss, thanks!” Charlie skipped a hop higher, clearly elated.

“I can’t believe you got every single target down.” Kezrah was deeply struck by Charlie’s knifework more than anything, “They all looked identical. How..?”

“Ohh that, hehe!” The jester subtly led them down a narrower street, branching off from the polished cobblestone of the main roads still full of scattered carnival goers,
“See, the line between talent and illusive magic is a thin one in showbiz. You gotta walk that tightrope juuust right to sell it.”

“You don’t mean–”

“Yep!” Charlie took out her dagger, same as before. Up close, it was clearly well taken care of. Mildly aged, yet still maintaining every encrusted jewel’s gleaming lustre,
“They were all just this one! So long as I got down one target perfectly, the rest of the clones would do the same.”

“Whatever happened to ‘a magician never reveals her secrets’?” Kirin poked, receiving a poke back in return.

“Eh, I’m feeling something generous tonight.” Charlie giggled, reholstering the dagger and eventually halting the group’s walk, “Speaking of, here we are!”

“Where is.. here?” Zaeli looked about, noting the less populated streets.
Charlie didn’t seem to be referring to anything of importance, other than the building right behind her. It was short and stout, giving a very homey look while also screaming “niche tourist spot!” with its decorative signs and well lit portico. The windows were a glowing gold, an occasional dark silhouette showing a random passerby inside, holding up a stein or glass or–waaaiit a minute-

“The ringmaster told me this is the best tavern in all of Fortuniza! Great refreshments with none of the queue.” Zaeli could’ve sworn Charlie’s mask just winked at her,
“Drinks on me!”

Kirin and Calico needed absolutely no convincing to immediately barge in, already beelining it to the bar as everyone else got ushered in by Charlie, shivering at the stark warmth indoors.

“O-oh, are you sure?” It wasn’t awful crowded inside, but there were more than enough people for Zaeli to know the tavern wouldn’t be going out of business anytime soon, “You’ve already been so kind to us today.”

“Pshh, don’t you even fret! It’s my treat, really.” Charlie waved as they all joined Calico and Kirin eyeing up the vast shelves of bottles.

“Yeah, don’t even fret.” Kirin hailed the bartender, “So what’s that sparkly purple stuff all about?”

The bartender–a smartly dressed dwarf likely walking on an elevated platform behind the bar–wrung out their rag in a drawl,
“That there’s the Starry Malg, 4 pieces per serving. Tastes like a bitter berry smoothie. It sharpens the mind sleeping, polar opposite when awake.”

Entirely serious, “How high on the ‘fuck me up’ scale?”

The dwarf snorted, “Out of twenty? I give it a solid thirteen.”

“If a serving’s a shot, I’ll take two.”

Kezrah leaned against the counter, voice amused, “Not wasting any time I see.”

“I haven’t drank in months. You know how hard it is to find good liquor in this country?” Kirin caught the glasses slid toward him, immediately downing one. His lips soured, face twisted in recoil as he coughed.

“Strong?”

“Fuck. This shit’s horrific.” Kirin nabbed the second shot, “That’s how you know it’s good.”

Kezrah chuckled, about to step back from the bar when Kirin reached for his poncho,
“What, you’re not ordering?”

“Ah, well.. I’ll admit it’s been a while for me too.” Kezrah looked up at the long menu boards above before directing to the waiting bartender, “What would you recommend?”

Eventually, after everyone picked a drink, Charlie led them to a good booth in the corner

Kezrah ended up ordering a classic mug of enchanted beer, while Calico got a swirling cocktail that looked eerily similar to green blood. Charlie went with a tall wine glass of bright pink starfruit, and Zaeli asked for a cup of water.

The only reason Kirin didn’t make fun of Zaeli, was because he was balancing a trayful of shots, dropping it on the round table as he slid in the booth last (what? they grew on him).

“Kinda regretting that whole ‘drinks on me’ thing right about now.” Charlie counted roughly twenty shots in a concerned whistle,
“Welp, just don’t pass out!”

“Listen, it’s been a long day.” Kirin simply gulped down his third shot, not making any promises, “A very, very long day.”

Calico agreed, enjoying their cocktail, “Yup. Nothing like a near death experience after a thousand year hibernation, am I right?”

“Hold on, a thousand year what??” Kezrah tentatively sipped his beer, not hating the taste, “I mean… what?”

“Oh y’know. Gotta do what you gotta do when you’re on the run from hell.” Calico explained, as if that didn’t elicit even more questions,
“Possessed some rando bodies to stay under the radar. Course, I then had the misfortune of possessing this cult sacrifice, and didn’t realize till it was too late.”

“This is one heck of a backstory already.” Kirin nursed his fourth shot, intrigued. Far as he knew, hell was a realm that had closed itself off for nearly two millennia now. Some didn’t even believe in its existence anymore,
“Continue.”

“Their ritual couldn’t kill me, obviously, but I did go out like a light. Best nap I ever had.” Calico peered into their empty glass, tsking,
“Then I woke to the festival.”

Possessed bodies thankfully don’t decay (can’t quite say the same for clothes), so upon sensing/smelling the ludicrous amounts of happiness wafting in from the capital, it didn’t take much to claw out of whatever temple coffin they were in and casually ask the year from a frightened priest, before taking all morning to follow the trail.

“Now here I am.” A dramatic sigh, “In dire need of more drinks.”

Kirin offered his tray before the demon could leave to order more, who happily accepted a purple shot or two. Or four.
“..Wanna match?”

Calico smirked in wordless acceptance of the challenge.

“Hm, see- that sorta answers the hibernation bit, but not quite the ‘near death experience’ part.” Charlie sampled her pink drink, “Mm! Fruity.”

“Riight, of course! The single meal buffet.” Calico leaned back against the plush seats, pleasantly buzzed, “Jaimie, was it?”

“Do we have to do this now?” Kirin groaned, immediately going for another shot at the mere mention of the name. Calico mirrored him.

“I don’t see why not. No better time to catch up than when we’re drunk!”
Calico cackled, immediately launching into the whole encounter (and demise) from before, with a few unwilling quips from Kirin to fill in missing information such as “my blood’s got a bit of Void in it” or “that is not how I sound like shut up”.

By the time Calico finished recounting every little detail, beginning to end, there were four Malg shots left,
“Sooo yea. Turns out I’m allergic as fuck to this ‘Void’ stuff. Whatever it is.”

Kezrah began scooching away slightly, “On that note, maybe it’s time we filled you in on our side?”

“Wait, wait are we seriously not going to address the fact that they literally just killed somebody.” Zaeli looked around, “Like, that is what happened right?”

“Yes.” Both Calico and Kirin chorused.

“Suuure it was!” Charlie giggled, only halfway through her wine, “Tehe! Eating happiness..”

Zaeli, under normal circumstances, would’ve addressed why Charlie thought Calico was joking when they seemed almost joyful in their admission, but frankly, these weren’t normal circumstances.

Therefore, she just moved on to eagerly take up the task of recounting their discoveries.

After all, it’d probably be for the best if they actually shared and evened out their pool of information to better decide how to go about the fact that they now suddenly had the one and only device capable of granting access to what was apparently a NEW fucking arcane, just by happenstance.

“...In summary,”

Zaeli finished the lengthy tale and her water, throat scratchy from talking so much (even with everyone’s side commentary). Probably more than she’s ever talked in one sitting,
“Void is this new arcane that we know.. practically nothing about. Other than the fact that a bunch of people seem rather keen on stealing it.”

“Annd that it’s super rare.” Kirin’s speech was only slightly slurred, so he went for an eighth (ninth?) shot, “High-five Kezrah.”

Kezrah indulged him.

Calico also raised their hand, but not for a high-five,
“Then you.. just how much Void do you have?”

Upon finding everyone after their recovery earlier, Calico recalled smelling the same scent of power from Kirin’s blood, only this time, staggeringly concentrated.
It took a minute to get used to, having assumed it was all still Kirin… up till Zaeli caught them up to speed.

“More than me, thas for sure.” Kirin loosely gestured to Kezrah’s face, giggling listlessly.

The tabaxi nodded, pointedly tightening his mask’s strap as he slipped his mug under the beak,
“Yes. But you were sitting next to me the whole show, so I think you should be fine. Unless, you, try to eat me or something? Which I’d really appreciate if you don’t.”

“Pfft don’t worry, you’re not THAT cute.” Calico hummed, thinking.
How the scientist described Void felt a bit reminiscent, but they couldn’t put a claw as to why.

“I, don’t know if I should be relieved, flattered, or offended.” Kezrah set down his now emptied beer, “But if we’re all caught up now.. Kirin?”

Through the haze of alcohol and overall exhaustion (though, the carnival show and lively tavern atmosphere did well to wake everyone up a bit after all their running about), Kirin managed to remember that, hey, he and Kezrah were yet to have their mutual interrogation of each other!

And so it commenced,

“OH! Right, right so-” Kirin shook his head, then winced at the vertigo it introduced,
“Nnow that I finally get to ask… how in the shit did you get Void??”

Kezrah made a confused noise, “I said earlier when we met that I was born with it.. I take it you weren’t?”

“Nah.” Kirin hiccuped, “I got it through some experiments.”

Everyone blinked.
Even Charlie’s mask.

“E.. experiments?”

“Yeahh like, my birthparents wanted me to have Void, but they sorta failed and ended up giving me to some other rich ass family in Darth.”
Kirin didn’t register the stunned silence until he broke it, “Don’t remember none of it though.”

Kezrah let go of a relieved breath, “I see... what do you remember then?”

“My other rich ass family in Darth.” Kirin retorted, swaying his head,
“They were whatever. I eventually learned bout my past experiments, and decided to do my own for fun.”

He brandished the intricate gauntlet on his right forearm fondly, dark silver glinting under the warm lanterns hooked above,
“I made this bad boy here. Only way I can actually draw out my Void.”

Kezrah examined the gauntlet in interest as Charlie and Zaeli both pondered aloud at the same time,

“You’re from Darth?”
“So there are others who know about Void?”

Kirin drowsily answered both with a nod,
“Ehh nobody here really knows about it. I’d say most of the Ragnar Isles don either.. ‘cept Darth I guess.”

Kezrah didn’t understand the meters and wires of the gauntlet one bit, but was nonetheless impressed, “How did you do this?”

Kirin blew a raspberry, “Wasn't too hardd. It's hooked to m’ blood.”

“Ah.” Needles. Kezrah was proud of himself for not letting a shiver through.

Zaeli kept speculating, fingers tapping,
“But if there are other Void researchers… I mean, a new arcane seems like a big deal. Why haven’t any major presses heard about it yet?”

Charlie nodded, jester hat jingling, “It does seem pretty strange.. in a funky kinda way!”

Rubbing his eyes,
“Uhn.. why do you care? Like- me n’ Kezrah are voided, and Calico...”

Said demon slowly stole two Malg shots, entirely non-discreetly from under Kirin’s nose.

“...is here. But whas the deal with you two??”

“What do you mean?” Zaeli looked affronted,
“I mean, yes, I know this lead probably isn’t connected to my.. village. But I’m used to that. Never stopped me from helping others with their mysteries along the way, and this seems like the biggest one of them all.”

Kirin mulled that over a bit, before conclusively downing a shot,
“Nah, yer still weird. Bet you don even get paid.”

Zaeli bit back any confirmation or observatory remarks on Irideen’s almost ridiculously socialist democracy–practically ensuring you could get by just fine even without a part-time job or so–while Kirin turned to Charlie expectedly.

Charlie rolled a shoulder,
“Vibes.”

“Oh come on; helping naked tieflings get clothed, sneaking us in with that cool disguise (which by the way can you still teach me pls), giving free tickets and now drinks??”
Kirin leaned in conspiratorially, “What’s the catch.”

The engraved smile on Charlie’s mask appeared to deepen,
“No catch!! Whenever the circus gets hired for a big event, I love gettin to know the locals!”

Although, something told Charlie absolutely none of the people she met today were actually locals, which made it all the funnier.

“But usually, I tend to do stuff like- teach an acrobatic move to some schoolkids, or join random tavern talks. Today was... fun.”
Then Charlie also leaned in conspiratorially, loudly whispering, “(and yes, i can still totally teach you back at the carnival).”

Kirin clapped his hands clumsily,
“Lesgooo.”

And then he finally slumped over, passed out.

“Called it." Charlie shook her head.
"Should we wait till he wakes? Dunno where he lives.”

Kezrah prodded at the snoring hexblood, “Well, considering he just ditched his gang, he likely won’t be welcome back at his residency.”

“Oooh right. Then, what about you guys?”

Calico gave a deadpan stare that spelled “should i return to my coffin”, Zaeli shrugged with a mutter of how forest beds were plenty fine, and Kezrah actually thought on it for a minute.

He could go back to his guild, but… he also wasn’t exactly looking forward to the repercussions of not completing such a simple job, especially for the amount that Vel offered.

Besides, he didn’t leave anything of importance in his living quarters.
“I’d prefer.. sticking around a bit. At least for him.” He nodded toward Kirin, now drooling on the wooden table.

“Gotcha, gotcha. Welp- luckily for you all, the carnival is no stranger to hosting strangers! I can hook up some hammocks in my tent no problemo.”

Zaeli smiled, “You really do this often, don’t you?”

Charlie topped off her wine at last, getting up, “Naw, you guys are just cool.”

While Zaeli aided Calico with their stumbling and Charlie paid her weight in gold, Kezrah hoisted Kirin up in a piggyback, grunting.

The guy was a lot heavier than he looked, so after some rumination, Kezrah took up the last Malg shot as resigned payment.

Best not to be wasteful.