Trouble at Moon World

Come evening, the boisterous crowd enlivened Moon World's ambience. 

At a certain table for six, a dark elf and a tiefling were having a friendly banter. 

"Screw you, Ellamir, she's just running late!" 

Yulia took a swig of her ale, although perturbed that Magna hasn't arrived yet, she tried to purge the succubus from her thoughts in order to avoid dampening their evening revelry. 

"All I'm getting at is that she might not show up cause she doesn't want you two to be official. I say, get straight to the point and tell her how you feel." Ellamir advised. 

With dreamy eyes, Antani chuckled and gazed at Ellamir acting like a wise relationship sage. She questioned…

"And who made you the expert on relationships?" 

Ellamir's lips formed a smile as her hand grasped Antani's. 

"I guess you could say, I'm a natural." 

Quality versus quantity. Ellamir thought she didn't need to enter in a relationship with a plethora of other women to dole out advice since she's already entangled with the most exquisite of them all. And if Antani was still by her side after long gruesome months then it MUST mean that she was doing something right. Either that or Antani just has a lot of patience. No, Ellamir was sure it was all her. 

Suddenly, Antani's flirty mood vanished as her attention went to Shatter sound sitting across, her eyes were distant, as if she was staring back at the moments when her family was still alive. 

"Shatter Sound, how are you holding up with Gloria and Stefano?" Antani's tone was littered with concern. 

"I'm alright. They are both kind to me." 

"That's good to hear. We won't ever replace your family, but I just want you to know that we are here for you if you need us." 

Shatter Sound responsded to Antani's faint smile with one of her own. Since Antani was planning a solo excursion soon, she reckoned why not take Shatter sound with her? The distraction it would offer would help get her mind off of things. Granted that she still needed to convince Ellamir when the time came, it is a moment that might test their relationship as a whole. But Antani has faith in Ellamir, that she would listen to her reason when the time comes. At least Antani hopes she will. 

"So, are we still set for next month?" Yulia asked.

"Yeah, there's just one thing I have to take care of, before we go." Antani suddenly directed her stare towards the werewolf. "Shatter Sound, do you have any plans this upcoming week? I was hoping you could accompany me."

"None. Yeah, sure." Shatter sounds's answer was curt and straight to the point. It's not that she wasn't interested, she just couldn't find it in herself to move past the memory of what happened to her clan, it was all still fresh in her mind. Although she appreciates the efforts of her new friends to cheer her up. 

"Hold on, is there someone you forgot to ask? You know, another person who would accompany you wherever, whenever." 

Ellamir avoided raising her tone. It was pretty dubious how Antani just left out Ellamir. What was Antani up to?

"Is there? I don't think so."

With a coy stare, Antani drank from her mug, teasing Ellamir. 

"Well, it doesn't matter. I'm going to end up accompanying you anyway." 

"No. You are going to end up at home. Waiting for me." 

Ellamir chuckled. A chuckle that faded when she noticed that Antani wasn't kidding. 

"Antani, are you serious?" 

But before Ellamir got her confirmation, a gruff short haired man wearing a shirt approached their table. His left hand rested at the grip of his sword, as if threatening that it would be unsheathed if the event that would unfold wouldn't go in his favor. His silver dragon head necklace proudly dangled from his chest. 

"Good evening ladies…" The man's hungry eyes stared at them as if they were a buffet. His stare stopped at Antani. "...and especially to you. Say, why don't you come to our table? Me and my crew could use some entertainment for the night." 

Ellamir was about to stand up, when Yulia's eyes and hand gestured to let the paladin sort it out. Likely newcomers to the city, Yulia would grant them clemency, she is a paladin first and foremost. 

"You don't know me, do you? Trust me, you don't want to hit on my friend over here. Go back to your table, and enjoy the rest of the night with your friends. We're willing to let this one go." And if Yulia's tone wasn't intimidating enough, she pulled out the platinum dragon head necklace under her blouse. 

The man gulped. The intimidation felt as if Yulia whipped out her necklace, laid it in her palm, and slapped him in the face with it. 

"So what!? We have a platinum adventurer too!" The man pointed at the Goliath at their table, who, by the way, was sporting the same cocky grin as the man right before they compared necklaces. 

For her top, the light green skinned Goliath wore nothing but an open vest, making her muscular features evident. Her hair, a short black. The tribal tattoo markings on her face and all over her body meshed well with her muscular physique, giving her a savage aura. 

Yulia judged her along with their 3 other party members, she found them lacking. That Goliath might put up a fight, but the rest are nothing but chum. Yulia fired off a mocking smirk at their direction before giving one to the impertinent man. 

"That woman you're hitting on, she's already taken. Trust me, this is a fight that you don't want to pick." Yulia's tone was still amicable, a fact that might change depending on how the man would react next. 

"Taken!? By who!? This jerkwad?" The man's ire fell to Stefano who coincidentally sat next to Antani. "I can knock out a loser like him in a single second flat!" 

Stefano gazed at the fuming dark elf and the back at the man, how could this dumb motherfucker miss the dark elf whose temper threatened to erupt like a volcano?

"Whatever, my guy. All I'm going to say is that you're going to deeply regret it if you keep on being stupid. But be my guest." Oddly enough, Stefano was calm. For he knew that  Karma was about to be delivered…

The man's hand was about to grab Antani's shoulder. As if Ellamir would let those grubby mits touch her lover. 

…The man's 'Karma' took the form of Ellamir's fist, crashing into his mug and sending him flying to a random table, whose drinkers aren't sure who they're going to be pissed at. The instigator or the one who ruined their hard earned drinks. 

Suddenly, there was deafening silence.

It was as if time had stopped for the entire tavern. All laid frozen as consequence for the dark elf's action. Did Ellamir regret it? Not one bit. 

Defying the silence, the beating heart of a certain mermaid thumped like a war drum within her chest. The excitement of the mischief she would unleash gripped her to her core.  

Gloria inhaled, making sure that her voice would reverberate in the entire tavern. 

"FIIIIIIGHT!" What Gloria exhaled was not a mere shout, it was a war cry that sent every patron into a frenzy. 

"Gloria, NO!" Yulia heavily sighed. "Damn it, Dax is going to fucking kill me." 

The mermaid's passion for mischief incited violence, throwing the entire tavern into chaos. 

Bottles and chairs started flying overhead, as almost everyone engaged in fisticuffs. 

Leaving her with no time to brood over, Yulia evaded an attacker's strike by weaving, her counter knocking him out with a single uppercut. 

Free to cause as much harm as possible, Gloria slammed her wheelchair into as many shins as she could. Leaving a trail of poor victims writhing on the floor in agony, clutching their shin. 

Back to back, Antani and Ellamir fended off those that tried to swarm them, knocking most with one blow. 

Shatter sound tried to slip away only to find the exit blocked by the Goliath from before. 

"And where do you think you're going? Don't you think it's a little too early to leave? The fun's only starting!" The Goliath smirked. 

"If you don't want to get hurt, I suggest you move out of my way." 

Instead of ridicule, the Goliath just retained her smirk. There was usually credence to someone that she dwarfed when they talked smack. 

"My name's Greta. What's yours, little woman?"

'Little woman.' The Goliath's snide remark reignited something inside of Shatter sound, making her wear a grin of her own. So the Goliath wanted a fight? Shatter Sound would oblige. 

"My name is Shatter Sound, a werewolf from the Scarlet Talon clan." Her pride, her name rolled from her lips, forewarning her transformation. 

Shatter sound's clothes shredded as her entire being morphed, standing equal in height to the Goliath. 

A loud thud, a sound that resembled a fist hitting a brick wall. Shatter sound's punch crashed into Greta's abs, making the Goliath lean forward. 

"My turn." 

Greta's fist landed onto Shatter sound's wolf mug, making her lurch backwards. 

Her snout twisted into something that resembled a rascal's grin, Shatter Sound let loose a straight into Greta's temple, making her head bleed. 

Yet that wasn't enough to put the Goliath down as she swiftly retaliated with an uppercut. 

Thus, the two traded blows with exhilaration until the city guards arrived about 15 minutes later. 

"Unbelievable! Now I have this mess to clean up! If Garreth ever knew about this he would chew ye out even more than me!" With the tavern closed for the rest of the evening, Dax was dishing out an earful with his thick accent. Although the party was together, it was Yulia who received the brunt of it. "Yer a paladin for crying out loud. Ya was supposed to uphold order. That's it, I'm not serving any more alcohol for the night!" 

"Dax, you can't do this to me!" 

Dax paid Yulia no heed as he went back to the tavern's kitchen. 

Out of every reprimand that Dax said, the alcohol ban was the hardest that Yulia had to endure, it was a blow enough to make her fall to her knees if she already wasn't slumped at her table. 

Suddenly, she felt a hand touching her shoulder. 

She raised her head to see who it was. 

It was Gloria, the root cause of the brawl, smiling at her while giving her a thumbs up. 

+++

Inside of Magna's mansion, she stared at her mother's portrait. 

Her solemn eyes carried a hint of self pity, likely for standing up Yulia. 

Her heart told her to join the tiefling and her friends. Yet it was also her heart that prevented her from doing so. 

It was a duality that she needed to sort out or else, their relationship would forever remain as they are now, purely physical. 

But is there something with that? She was a succubus first and foremost, 'purely physical' is what they live for. 

Magna wryly smiled as she spoke to her mother. 

"I'm sorry, mother. I don't want to become like you."