Unlikely Company - Part 1

In a dusty room, lit by moonslight, the traveler was laying on top of a creaky bed, his eyes half closed as he glanced at a piece of paper resting in his hands. Since he'd found it, it had been crumpled many times, and yet, it still looked like new, truly a special page with few words.

<let's drink, come find me. -D>

Once more, the paper was crumpled in the traveler's hand, tossed into a corner where it unfolded and disappeared before it hit the ground. One day, he had awoken with the note next to his knees, mockingly casual after the chaos that had taken place just before. And now it had led him to this world, his goal to get answers from who had written it, to create the most exiting play in– The traveler froze and shook his head before leaning back into his pillow. Nothing about that today. He only wanted to relax. But just as he closed his eyes, a fist knocked against the shabby door to his room.

With a groan, the traveler stood up from his creaking bed, stretching as he walked over to answer. Out in the hallway was the innkeeper, holding a wooden tray with a large bowl and an earthen mug. Its contents, thick stew and light brown ale, surprisingly promised something worth the long wait. At first, the traveler wanted nothing more but to rip the food out of the innkeeper's hands, but then, he noticed that he seemed quite nervous. The whole tray was shaking. "Is everything alright?"

"Y‑yes, it's just been a while since I had a customer, that's all!" Although the traveler directed a doubtful look at the innkeeper, he didn't press the point. After all, he didn't really care about this minor character – it was just how he was expected to behave.

"Alright then, have a good rest." The door shutting in the innkeeper's face abruptly ended their conversation and left the traveler free to carry the tray over to the small table on the other side of the room. Because this was the second floor, the view from the window behind it was far and unobstructed, going all across the marketplace, the city, and up to the forest in the distance. Its tree greens mixed beautifully with the red roofs below the night, soothed by the light of the tranquil moons above.

Lowering his gaze from the city, the traveler took a sip from his ale and sighed when it was even better than expected. He had been parched, as if the last time he drank something had been an eternity ago, and maybe it really was – it was hard for him to remember nowadays. But, thirst stilled, his growling stomach was next to act up, prompting an eager look at his meal and the spoon next to it. Carefully, he scooped up some stew and–

A loud explosion roared through the night, sending a flash of red blazing across the marketplace. The shock wave was so strong that it formed ripples in the stew on the table, but the only thing the traveler could see outside was the peaceful sight of the sleeping city. Even so, he regretfully halted the spoon that was teasing his tongue and heaved an annoyed sigh. This was not how he had imagined his stay! In silence, the traveler kept holding the spoon, waiting, one second, then another, to see if something else would happen, but no, nothing. The spoon disappeared in his mouth; He had decided. What happened onstage while he wasn't there was none of his business. He had come here to relax – so relax he would. The rest of his meal passed uneventfully. There were no explosions. Neither cats nor dogs nor Torgs raining from the sky. Only silence.

By the time he finished his food, the first anxious calls of the villagers became audible outside, and a little tension drained from his shoulders. Hopefully, the townsfolk would take care of their own problems. Thinking so, he lifted the mug with his ale and was about to take another sip when the door behind him opened so violently it nearly flew off its hinges. Still, it was questionable why it had been opened in the first place, because a moment later, the whole frame was ripped out of the wall completely.

[Ooops.]

The traveler turned around in his seat and was surprised by what he saw. Bent over the pitiful door on the ground was a being he recognized as a demon, and in the gap behind it stood the innkeeper, staring at that demon in dismay.

"W-what are you doing! My door, what have you done to my door!?" His shrieks were so distraught they were quite unlike the gruff expression he made earlier. The demon turned around holding his ears, not at all apologetic.

[I tried, okay? It's an accident, not a violation of the contract. Not my fault the doors here are so flimsy.]

The innkeeper was left speechless by the words of the demon who simply turned back around to his business. With his reward and his break finally in sight, he lifted a clawed hand, crimson runes racing like lightning down to his claws. It was a sufficiently flashy spell, and as soon as it was completed, the hapless fool sitting in the chair in front of him would come to enjoy a new existence as a pile of ash.

[No offense, okay? But do me a favor and die.]

Hearing that, the traveler postponed any comments about the unexpected entry and instantly tried to save the rest of his increasingly deformed evening. His mind turned at top speed, considering every possible action he could take to ensure the safety of his ale. Then, and it surprised himself, he managed to recall something from his mangled memories, something he had received long ago.

"H‑ha‑halt! What do you have to say about this?!" The traveler stretched out his arm, now in his hand a small leaden sphere. It was covered in runes that spoke directly to the mind, and as soon as the demon saw their jagged shapes, the spell he prepared frizzled out like a weak firecracker.

[W-what?! A bulla from the Crimson Queen? Are you kidding me!?]

Losing all strength, the demon's strong arm flopped weakly to his side, his reward forgotten as he stared at the piece of metal in dismay. His mouth opened and closed while he tried to deny what his eyes were seeing, but he certainly wasn't dreaming. A shiver ran down his spine as he realized that he had been about to do something very dangerous. Why hadn't he sensed the bulla sooner? If he had known about that metal ball, he would have never accepted this traveler as a reward for his contract! Now all his plans were ruined!

With the demon trapped in a severe life crisis and the innkeeper lamenting his door, the traveler grinned to himself in satisfaction. While he couldn't quite remember why exactly that 'bulla' kept demons away from him, this way, his ale was saved and with it his evening. Just to be safe, though, he quickly chugged down the rest of it, still a little afraid that this particular demon would suddenly change his mind about attacking him. Unfortunately, it was that very action that angered the demon. Seeing the traveler take a casual drink looked like blatant mockery, and his clawed hands became deadly weapons as he tensed them in anger. The rage almost scorched the inside of his chest. Maybe he could at least get away with teaching that bastard a little lesson?

Just when the situation was about to turn for the worse again, a loud, angry knock crashed against the entrance to the inn below. The innkeeper flinched at the sound, looking from the broken door at his feet and towards the stairs down the taproom. Quite the commotion seemed to have gathered outside. Maybe it was the villagers, here to ask for his help? He could already imagine their pleading faces, begging for his aid, so he quickly skipped away to welcome them. The traveler didn't even notice how he left. With his meal and ale defeated, there was nothing more important to him but to sleep in a proper bed, but there was one tiny problem: A huge demon was standing smack dab in the center of his room – and it really didn't fit the ambiance. Now that he looked at him more closely, said demon seemed visibly shaken by the noise downstairs. His blood had drained from his face, leaving it more gray than the usual violet. Something had begun to dawn on him:

[Oh no... I led the villagers here... but without... I can't leave...]

He was so perturbed that he mumbled out loud, and of course, the traveler didn't miss that chance and nudged his elbow into the demon's firm side. "What's the matter, big boy? A Leni for your thoughts?" The demon flinched, freezing for an instant before suddenly shaking off the bastard who only brought trouble for him. He now realized that he wasn't about to go on break as planned. And what did he get instead? A bastard he already couldn't bear anymore.

[Stop being obnoxious! This is all your fault, so how about you try to not make it even worse! Don't you understand how important it is to wear a bulla so that everyone can see it?! Do you have any idea what you did to me?!]

As the demon aired his frustrations in a bitter tone, the traveler shied away from the wave of very demonic spittle that went flying at him. When he dared to look again, the demon had fallen silent, panting and with a vein throbbing on his forehead. The traveler, trying to lift his mood, slowly reached up to the gigantic shoulder of his pitiful friend and gingerly patted it. "Ohhhh, don't worry," he said consolingly, "I know you will make it through this."

That was it! The demon was about to grab the traveler, but before he could, a mob of people stormed into the room and interrupted the strange situation between them. "THERE THEY ARE! THE DEMON AND HIS SUMMONER! GET THEM!" It was the innkeeper, standing behind a mob of angry villagers, and demon and traveler turned their heads at the same time to stare at them. The former quickly put a hand to his head, feeling a headache coming on. Today really wasn't his day. As long as his contract wasn't completed, he wasn't allowed to harm his client, and he couldn't damage this inn either because of that stupid condition. How was he supposed to get out of here now? Such a thing had never happened before...

"Whoa, you people, what are you doing in my room!?" Fortunately, the traveler was completely deaf to the mood and started to yell at the closest villager. The only answer he got, however, was the stab of a pitchfork in return which he quickly evaded. The rest of the mob didn't seem too friendly either, lifting their farming tools higher as they started to corner the two of them. This clearly wasn't good, the traveler thought, just about to handle this situation when a giant arm nudged into his side. When he finally regained his balance and looked up, he saw a grinning demon looking down at him.

[You better get out through the window if you want to leave this place in one piece.]

Although it may have been an unexpected solution, the demon didn't care how, he just wanted to escape this room – even if that meant relying on the help of this scourge. The traveler, however, just stared at him with dull eyes, showing no intention to move. What would become of his well-deserved rest if he left? He had already paid!

[DO IT!!!]

"Okay! No reason to get angry!" Hastily grabbing his bindle from his bed, the traveler lunged at the window behind the table, deftly kicking out the expensive glass pane along with the rest of it. His surprisingly quick escape made the demon freeze in surprise, at least until a pitchfork scratched over the chunks of his armor. Now was not the time to think. Imitating the traveler, he charged towards the now broken window, crashing through the hole and out into the open. While some would say that he deliberately destroyed the wall in the process, he had merely tried to jump out of a hole in the wall – and the rest was just an accident.

"Nooooo! Not my window! My wall!" The demon laughed as he fell, down into pavement of the marketplace below.