Drunk

Carter had discovered this bar about a month or two ago. Back then he'd been looking for a place to mope after failing to get a promotion he was vying for. At first he was taken aback by its historic and traditional theme, it was strange to see something like this nowadays. But he soon fell in love with the bar; it was quiet, and the owner was quite nice.

Taking a seat at one of the tables, Carter looked around and took in the atmosphere, this bar one was one of the few places where he could forget about his stressful days at work. Suddenly he froze, his gaze locking onto to a young boy in a Cherry Blossom Kimono sitting in the corner.

"Oscar, you letting kids drink here now?" Carter laughed. Oscar simply shook his head.

"He's the entertainment" he explained, causing Carter to laugh even harder. However, taking a closer look at the kid Carter saw the guqin.

"Whatever you say…" Carter stretched in his seat before continuing. "Get me the usual please."

"Right away" Oscar replied, taking out a glass. "Kai, I'm not paying you to sit around am I?"

Carter looked back over to the kid, Kai, in the corner. He watched as Kai took a deep breath and raised his hands to the strings.

'Show me what you got kid'

Instantly the sound of the guqin rang throughout the room. Soft on the ears and not too loud, it felt almost as if he were in a sound booth recording music. Carter closed his eyes and enjoyed the music, waiting for his drink to be served.

As the music continued, he realized different instruments had joined in. With each instrument the music only got better and better. He could almost picture the scene of a small band playing next to him, giving him a private show.

After an unknown amount of time the music stopped, prompting Carter to open his eyes. Looking at the table in front of him he saw the bottle of Sake he ordered. Taking a glance at the rest of the bar he realized a couple other tables had filled out, with people chatting and laughing like any other night.

'I didn't hear them come in…'

"He's good, isn't he?" Oscar said, sitting down across form him.

"Better than good, he's incredible" someone from another table answered for him, causing the bar to break out in laughter. Carter looked towards where Kai was sitting, but no one was there, only the guqin remained.

"Where'd they go?" Carter asked.

"The kid went back to the kitchen for a break" Oscar explained. "He's been playing for close to 45 minutes now, he needed it."

"What about the other members of the band?" Carter was shocked, the music had just pulled him in and not let go.

"Other members?" someone from another table laughed. "You had your eyes closed so you didn't see, but the kid is a Spirit Master."

'Spirit Master…'

"You should've seen it" the man continued. "Once the bar filled up a bit, a yellow spirit ring appeared around him, lighting him up and giving him a warm glow. The image of a small fish swam around him through the air, it was like something out of a movie."

Carter sighed, he regretted closing his eyes now and just enjoying the music. He'd now have to wait for the kid to get back from his break so see it. Taking a sip of Sake Carter looked back to Oscar.

"Where'd you find this kid Oscar?"

"Secret of the trade I'm afraid" Oscar raised a finger to his lips and smiled. After a moment he placed a wireless mic down on the table. Carter picked it up and examined it with a confused expression on his face.

"What's this for?"

"To better enjoy the music, instead of shouting out your orders across the room you can just press the button and speak into the mic" Oscar explained to the amazement of Carter. "Then I'll get you your order in no time."

Carter was amazed by the strange idea this was, but after hearing that music he couldn't agree more. Little did he know though, was that the mic didn't even have batteries in it let alone a wireless connection to the bar.

…

In the kitchen Kai was relaxing against a counter and drinking some water. Looking at the doors leading to the bar he sighed. At the beginning it wasn't too bad, there were only about 5 or so people. But nearing the end, right before his break a couple groups came in increasing his load significantly.

The toughest part of this training was having to split his mind and multitask. Having to listen and create sounds at the same time was quite straining. Not only that, he'd have to remember two or three orders from different tables at once sometimes. It was like splitting his hearing, causing his music to slip up slightly every time.

Looking at the time though, it seemed like his break was just about over. Stepping towards the door he took a peak into the bar and swallowed hard. Someone must of invited some friends because there were almost double the amount of people, some standing due to a lack of seats.

Kai clenched his fists in determination. Whether or not this would help with eh ball drill didn't matter, he could feel this work pushing him to his limits and increasing his control over his Spirit Abilities and Marital Soul.

Kai stepped back out into the bar, earning him a couple cheers from the patrons. Sitting down his spirit ring appeared behind him, the siren swimming around freely adding to the magic of his performance. He opened his eyes, the purple seemingly glowing against the glow from the spirit ring. Raising his hand to the guqin, he began his next performance.

…

Cheers erupted from the bar as Kai stumbled his way towards the kitchen. He felt like he was about to pass out form exhaustion. He'd barely been able to finish the last performance. Looking at the clock in the kitchen he realized it was 8 pm.

'I'd normally be in bed by now' Kai fell to the ground, willing to sleep right there in the kitchen. Suddenly the doors burst out behind him, Oscar emerging with a huge smile on his face.

"Tired champ?" he joked before picking kai up and plopping him down in a chair nearby. Kai watched as Oscar fumbled around his pockets, looking for something before he pulled out a small pill.

"Take this, it'll make you feel better" Oscar explained, placing the pill in Kai's hand.

Kai looked at the pill warily, not willing to take some strange pill from Oscar he tried to hand it back.

"You trust Evelynn, right?" Oscar said, pushing Kai's hand back. "Then trust me, it'll heal your injuries and restore some of your energy."

Kai slowly brought the pill to his mouth and swallowed it. It had a strong, bitter taste and it felt as though it was burning his throat. Immediately his stomach began to heat up as his face flushed red. Kai tried to ask what was going on, but only slurred words came out.

"Well, this wasn't supposed to happen" Oscar said to himself. "Did I give him mine?"

Oscar rushed upstairs for a moment, returning with another pill resembling the one he gave Kai. Giving it a quick sniff, he shook his head.

"No, this one's definitely mine" Oscar spoke confidently.

Kai watched this all happen, each moment his vision getting blurrier and the warmth in his stomach spreading around his body and making him feel numb. He got up from his chair, stumbling around drunkenly.

"Hic!" Kai let out a cute hiccup as he stumbled towards Oscar. Oscar stared grimly at Kai, unsure of what to do, he tapped his chin with his finger.

'Evelynn sure isn't going to like this…' He thought. A few moments later a smiled blossomed across his face. 'Of course, she doesn't need to know!'

"Looks like you'll be staying here tonight kid."

He then reached out to grab Kai, it was time to get this drunk kid to bed.

…

Carter was sitting at the bar enjoying a drink and chatting with some of the other patrons when suddenly Oscar burst out of the kitchen, an ice pack pressed against his left eye. Carter immediately burst out laughing.

"Skimp on the kids payment Oscar?" Carter shouted out, resulting in a wave of laughter erupting from the nearby customers.

"Ha. Ha." Oscar gave out two sarcastic laughs before pouring himself a drink. "I just slipped getting the kid to bed."

"Whatever you say man" Carter smirked, before a serious look returned to his face. "Oscar, would you mind if I recorded him singing next time he performs?"

Oscar gave Carter a curious look.

"Why would you want to do that?"

Carter rolled his eyes.

"Don't you remember what I do for a living?"

"You work in sales for some big company, right?"

Carter choked on his drink. When he first came to the bar he remembered spilling his heart out to Oscar, telling him all about his work, but the guy still got it wrong!

"Something like that" Carter said awkwardly. "It'll be great promotion for the bar once I show it around, you'll attract a lot more customers!"

"Sure, go ahead" Oscar said. Carter was stunned, expecting it to take more than that to convince the bar owner. "More customers mean more money, why would I say no to that! He'll be here tomorrow, make sure you come early and get a good seat!"

Carter simply shook his head and placed a bank note on the counter.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world Oscar. I'll see you tomorrow!"

…

Watching the final customers leave the bar for the night, Oscar fell back and sighed. It'd been one of the busiest nights in quite a while, seems like Kai was more popular than he had imagined.

Looking back towards the door he thought of the boy sleeping upstairs. Reaching up he felt his swollen eye and winced.

'Evelynn sure found herself a monster.'