Shining Sun

Walking down the street, Leroy was deep in thought.

'With this, I'll have enough copper to give Ivar. Let's hope he doesn't ask for more.'

A while later, Leroy could be seen entering the Tavern. He had been going around for a while looking for targets but couldn't find any.

While he could go and steal from anyone on the street, that was just an idiotic decision. After all, he was only 14 with no backing whatsoever, and offending the wrong people could end up with his dead body in some random alley.

When looking for targets, Leroy observed them closely and noted their clothes, the way they walked, and if they were talking to someone, to whom?

People with above-average clothes in the slums most of the time meant that they were part of a gang, considering that he was an employee of the most famous Tavern in the slums, which meant that he was recognized by many people.

Thus, they would be able to find him pretty easily. Other people that he tended to avoid stealing from were people from higher districts, as they had a high chance of either being connected to gangs and dealers for drugs or being spies sent by the guards to investigate the gangs. Offending either would mean Leroy's death.

It was currently Noon; going inside the Tavern, Leroy found the place pretty empty.

The early morning and the night were the times were the Tavern had the highest amount of customers; in the morning, people came to eat their food, or they simply passed out around these parts and came for a hangover drink, while the night was when most people had nothing to do and as such came to drink and look for the random hooker to spend the night with.

"Master I'm back"

The old man turned around towards the door from where he was washing some beer glasses at the bar.

"You punk, didn't I tell ya to stop calling me master."

"Of course, sorry, Old man."

laughed Leroy as he said with a grin on his face

"Either calling me Master or old man. You are one annoying ass kid. Didn't I tell ya to call me by my name, Travis? I tell ya."

said Travis with a grin matching Leroy's

"Sure, sure, I'm going upstairs. I'll be back in a bit," said Leroy as he started running up the stairs

"Annoying Brat," muttered Travis as he continued his work.

Arriving at his bedroom door, Leroy went inside and was met with John sitting on the bed while holding his head with his hands, his face showed a grimace as if he was in pain.

Leroy just glanced at him and went to his bed to lie down.

'I can't take my bag while he's here or Ivar will be told everything, this god damned lackey.'

John started whispering to himself in a low voice, his words were a mess, it was like he was talking while using an entirely other language as his eyes had gone wide and saliva was starting to drip from his mouth.

'This guy... seriously gives me the creeps. He and Ivar are insane. Just what happened to them that day.'

Leroy shuddered as he thought back to when John and Ivar were great older brothers who always looked out for him and Arthur.

'That day was when everything started to change. It was as if they had been possessed by some insane ghost or something.'

*Bang*

Suddenly, John got up to his feet and started turning his head franticly left and right as if looking for something. Then his eyes landed on Leroy.

He kept staring at him for a few seconds and then quickly started to get out of the room before he stopped, turned around, and said

"Praised be the Sun"

The expression on his face, which until now had been grotesque and simply horrifying, turned neutral in a split second after he said the words. Then he walked out of the room as if nothing had happened, almost as if he wasn't just going completely insane just a few seconds ago, almost as if he had forgotten completely.

Leroy was still looking at the door even after John had left

'Just what happened to you guys? I tried to find out, but it was all just a dead end. Even Travis would tell me nothing and just said they had hit a stage in their life and would snap out of it in time.'

Getting up, Leroy went to the door to see if anyone was there and then took his bag from where he had hidden it underneath his bed.

'I don't think it's just a phase, but no matter what I do, no one listens. After all, who would listen to a kid talking nonsense.'

Leroy removed 6 copper from the bag so that he would have enough to give to Ivar, closed the bag, and then put it back in its hiding spot.

Heading down the stairs and into the lounge of the Tavern, he found that John was nowhere to be seen; as always, he'd simply appear for a moment and then go to whoever knew where.

Travis had repeatedly reprimanded him for not coming back at night, as John would sometimes not return for days, but the old man could do nothing about it at this point.

While Travis was their Master and them his slaves, he had never considered them as such but more like his own children, trying to raise them as best as he could in this god-forsaken place.

"You need any help around here?" 

"Ya could grab some of the bottles from the storage and put them behind the counter for me."

Leroy started helping Travis arrange the bottles of alcohol so they would be ready for the customers who would be coming in a few hours.

"Have you seen Arthur? Where's he gone? Did he tell you?" asked Leroy while trying to reach the top shelf.

"Told me he was going out to play with some of the kids round here at the Church."

"At the Church? Since when did we have that kind of thing in the Slums?" asked Leroy, perplexed

"Ah, heard from some that it was opened last week, called the Sun God church or something," replied Travis

'Sun God,' Leroy's eyes widened.