Chapter 18: The Black Pig establishment.

"Help! He's got my purse!" A woman cried out as a man ran down the road, breathing heavily as he sprinted away from anyone that could catch him.

Just as he thought he had made it, a bus door opened and slammed into him, stopping the thief in his tracks.

Theriault and Shen Yi walked out of the bus, both looking miserable.

"Public transport is not it," Theriault said, shaking his head as he looked at the man on the ground. "Wow, five minutes into Ireland and someone's already dead, is that a new record? That might be a new record..."

Shen Yi rolled her eyes. It had been nearly a week since the trouble in Japan had gotten cleared up. More than once during the trip they'd been attacked by monsters, luckily they were weak, but she couldn't believe how much being a Keymaster kept her on the radar for these deadly beings.

All her life she'd thought she was well-informed on the world, and in the past week she'd learned more about it than she had in her 19 years of life.

'Quite the reality check,' She thought, seeing Theriault look around at all the buildings.

"We're not far," Was all he said as he began walking, causing Shen Yi to groan. She had wanted an adventure, she just didn't realize how much work it was to go on.

As they trotted off, a man sleeping at the bus stop awoke, sitting up and walking the same way as the pair...

...

Later, they stood outside an old pub called 'The Black Pig.' The sign above it read: THE BLACK PIG & CHOPS BAR AND GRILL. There weren't many people around, and from how quiet the street had gotten, this wasn't exactly a popular place to visit.

"If you wanted a drink you could have just said so," Shen Yi said, smirking as Theriault shot her an annoyed glance.

"This is where he'll be, he lives here," Theriault replied, walking through the doors and taking in the scene.

It seemed like most of the customers were men, probably because there was only one other female in sight. She wore tight jeans and a loose shirt with her hair tied back. She smiled when she saw them enter, and then went behind the bar while waving them over.

"Welcome to The Black Pig! I'm Ariana, what can I get started for you?" She said, her eyes glancing at the huge cornucopia that was wrapped up in bed sheets and strapped behind Theriault's back.

Theriault noted this immediately, smiling a bit as he sat down. "Goat milk with rum, add some honey and coconut shavings," He said, earning a weird look from Shen Yi who sat down beside him.

"So you did just want a drink? It may be a childish one, but a drink nonetheless." She teased, causing Theriault to hold his head.

"Why did I bring you?" He said, groaning to himself as he unstrapped the Cornucopia and set it next to him, leaning against the bar.

"There you go, and for your girl-"

"My goodness Ari, don't finish that sentence, not even in a thousand years," Theriault said, scoffing at the thought as he took the milk drink and downed it.

"Ari?" The woman said, smiling kindly as Theriault rolled his eyes.

"I know you need to keep up appearances, but if you're going to change the way you look, you should definitely change your name as well, makes it less obvious," Theriault said.

Ariana sighed, her hair going from red to a golden brown color, her eyes changing from blue to more of a hazel.

"Still sharp after all this time Theriault?" The woman asked, leaning over the bar as she looked at Shen Yi.

"So what is she then if not a girlfriend? New maiden? Fangirl?"

"What?" Shen Yi protested, "Who'd ever be a fan of him?"

"Oh, come now, we've all seen those movies," Ariana said, nodding toward the screen that showed a movie with three men and one woman traversing through a forest.

"The Mysterious hero takes a girl on a journey and she naturally falls in love with him, it's a common trope," She said, enjoying teasing the young girl.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Theriault said, glaring at the screen before turning back to Ariana. "Is he in town?" He asked, gesturing toward the back of the bar.

"He comes and goes, but yes, he's been known to frequent this establishment," Ariana answered, setting two glasses of the milk drink down in front of Theriault and Shen Yi.

"You don't need to speak in code, it's just us and a bunch of randoms in this bar," Theriault said, rolling his eyes as he downed another glass and stood up, grabbing the wrapped Cornucopia and walking behind the bar.

"Let's see if he remembers me..."

"It's only been a few years, he remembers you."

Shen Yi sat awkwardly in her chair, taking small sips of the drink. It was sweet, with just a hint of a bitter taste, all in all it wasn't a terrible drink.

"So how'd you get wrapped in Theriault's endeavors?" Ariana asked, leaning against the bar and smiling at Shen Yi.

"I wouldn't say I'm wrapped in them... But he's definitely teaching me a lot about the world, I had no idea how sheltered I was..."

"Oh? You're a Keymaster as well?" Ariana said as naturally as you would ask, 'Are you okay?' or 'Can you pay for this drink?'

"Yes ma'am" Shen Yi said happily, "But I haven't really used any of its power yet, and Theriault has never shown me anything beyond defensive techniques.

"That's fine, the first thing you learn is how to defend yourself, and that will do wonders," Ariana said, smiling dreamily as she thought of other times.

"So... How do you know Theriault?" She asked, seeing Ariana's demeanor switch.

"It's a long story, and if he hasn't told you then it's not my place," Ariana answered, quickly brushing the question off as she glanced back at the curtain Theriault had disappeared behind.

"Would you like to see? The land isn't much kept up on, but I think it's a pretty good view." Ariana said, earning a confused look from Shen Yi.

Ariana opened the curtain. Contrary to a small storage room, or maybe an entrance to a break room as Shen Yi was expecting, she saw grass. A beautiful land just behind the curtain.

She noticed trees off to the left, and a group of large buildings not far from where they sat. "Woah," was all the girl said as Ariana gestured her over.

"Hey, if anyone of you dines and dashes while I'm gone, expect to pay triple the normal price tomorrow!" Ariana yelled before smiling back at Shen Yi.

"I'll gladly show you the Sawyer residence."

...

Meanwhile, Theriault walked the long grave road toward the forest, his hands in his pockets as he looked around.

"Been a while..." He muttered, an almost longing look on his face as he walked past a boy who looked maybe a year or so younger than him dressed in servant garb.

"Excuse me, sir, are you lost?" The boy asked, looking at Theriault.

Theriault paused, and turned back to look at the boy. "Lost? No... But I am looking for someone, he'd probably be your master?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Father makes us call him that when we're working, says it teaches us discipline and not to build a cocky attitude or something," The boy said as a much younger, but identical boy walked over, a large smile on his face.

"Hunter!" They yelled smiling before noticing the out-of-place visitor.

"Who's he?"

The older boy, Hunter, shrugged. "Mom must've let him in, he's looking for father," Hunter said, shrugging and pointing his finger at a leaf on the ground, fire coming out of the tip of his finger in a concentrated flame and burning it to ash.

"Well, you can tell your father I'm here," Theriault said, his eyes wandering to the burnt spot on the ground.

"No thanks, I'm sure Father would rather you find him than us tell him some random guy showed up looking for him."

Theriault gave a smirk. "Fair enough, that's a nice little key you got there," Theriault said, turning on his heel and walking toward the forest.

Hunter and the boy looked at him from the rock. "He looks so weird," The boy said, scrunching his nose as Hunter continued watching Theriault.

"Yeah..." The boy agreed.

In the forest, Theriault stepped onto the tree branch that led to the clearing, a small snap sounding out while he looked around.

"Hello Theriault, a voice said behind him as a sharp whistle sounded. "Been a while," The voice repeated as Theriault dodged the large axe, causing it to hit a tree next to him and slice right through.

"Yeah Sawyer," The black-haired boy said as he unstrapped the cornucopia and smirked at the man. "It really has..."

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