Spiritus City

Spiritus city was busy. People flooded the streets, busily rushing to whatever places they needed to go. A wagon drawn by black horses parted the crowd, allowing an undisturbed passage for whatever noble was inside. 

The buildings were neatly kept, made of nicely painted wod or colorful stones. I took the street the knight told me to, accidentally bumping shoulders with a man dressed in blue trousers. His blouse was tucked into his pants and a saber hung from his hip.

"I'm sorry!" I apologized. The man just scowled at me, and kept walking. 

I quickly learned that bumping into people here was common. 

I made it to Pyrra's Pub after ten minutes. My stomach was rumbling so bad, and I was getting lightheaded. 

The Pub was painted a fiery red. A sign hung over the door. "Pyrra's Pub" was written in flame letters. A beautiful woman with flames leaping from her palm was painted on the sign.

The pub was mostly empty, though the scent of alcohol was heavy. There were four tables, each of them forming a square within eyesight of the bartender. I approached the red haired woman, who looked a lot like the drawing on the pub's sign.

She was wiping the counter with one hand, while lighting a stove with the other. When the stove was lit, she asked me what I wanted. SHe sounded nice, but I could tell she lacked patience.

"What can I get for ya, wizard?"

Wizard? Do I really look like one?

My stomach growled for me. Pyrra's face shifted from irritated to humored. "I've got just the thing for ya. Just go take a seat and I'll bring it over." I did as she told me, taking a seat at a table. 

The tables were wooden with benches for chairs. They could seat eight people, two to a bench and four benches per table. 

At the center of the table was a series of overturned cups. I took one and poured myself a glass of the coffee on the table. They had no sugar or cream, but when I drank the coffee it was sweet like honey. 

"Whaddya think?" a woman had appeared out of nowhere. 

"I'm sorry?"

SHe nodded to the coffee in my hand. "THe coffee. It's enchanted to be sweet." she shrugged her bare shoulders. "It saved us a fortune on buying cream and sugar."

Her hair was brown, and her skin was tanned. She wore a shoulderless dress that was the same color as the guy I bumped into earlier. HEr eyes were sea green.

"It's delicious."

"Good." she pointed a finger at the coffee pot. SLowly, it began to fill with steaming coffee. Blowing on her finger like she just fired a pistol, she winked at me. 

"You're an alchemist, too? A creation mage."

She nodded. "I've been learning a few spells in my spare time. I have an affinity for liquids." She sat beside me and poured herself a cup of coffee. "What's your name? You look like a strong wizard. We haven't had one of those in town for a long time."

"My name is Rue. I'm a summoner mage, but I'm not exactly strong." I scratched my neck, chuckling nervously.

"A summoner." she said the word like it was foreign. "My name's Alla. I'm one of the waiter's here for the morning shift."

"It's nice to meet you, Alla."

SHe nodded, raising ehr cup to her lips. "Likewise." she said, sipping her coffee. Waving her fingers, she refilled the coffee pot. Setting the cup down, she asked me some more questions.

"So, you're a summoner. Does that mean you can conjure spirits to do your bidding?"

I shook my head. "Not exactly. My magic requires me to seal spirits away and then bind them to my will. It's like domesticating an animal, except this animal could be an angry demon or a cute fairy."

"It sounds complicated." she said. I nodded in agreement; the smell of bacon filled the air. "So if you have to bind a spirit, where does it go when you're not using it? Like are they invisible right now, or do you stuff them in a jar?"

I chuckled. I wish I could stuff the scarlet bunsen in a jar. 

"We actually store them in drawings or on paper." I showed her the card of my killer. "Since sealing a spirit makes it weaker, it is reverted to the second dimension. Meaning it can only exist on a piece of paper."

Taking the card in her hand, Alla studied the card. "Did you have to draw this yourself?"

"No." I didn't want to tell her that I had gotten the card as a gift. 

"So when you summon a spirit, how do you make it do your bidding? You said you bind it to your will. Do you like," she pressed her fingers to her forehead like a telepath. "Ya know."

"Not exactly. Sometimes we have to give them commands, sometimes all we have to do is think of a command. I've even seen some summons protect their master without getting a command."

"I see." she ran her finger along the edge of the ecard.  I noticed the back of it was the same red as Demiurge. 

Handing me the card, she smiled. "Well, Rue. I look forward to seeing you around more. Maybe you can teach me something about materia."

I almost declined until she said she'd pay me in food for each lesson.

I accepted.

Alla said goodbye and dinesh her coffee. A group of people sat down at the table next to mine; Pyrra set my food in front of me. It was bacon, eggs, and a biscuit with jam on it. It smelled heavenly.

Taking a bite, I had to relish the flavor. 

But, all good things are cut short. Before I had finished my food, a familiar woman sat across from me. Behind me, four men stood up, crossing their arms.

Noir had me trapped!

"Oh, crap!" I sighed.