Coffee, Cake and - Man?

Phoenix woke up before Elliot and had made brunch for him when he finally did get up near noon. He was groggy and had a splitting headache, for which Phoenix cared not in the slightest. It was his fault to get drunk, and should've learned the consequences the first time he started drinking four years ago, but hasn't. She didn't coddle him when he woke up like this, nor did she give him pain medication because he'd just do it more often and know she'll come running. No, she was not going to baby him. Instead, she made him eat, then work it off.

"I'm going into town for a few hours, I want the meadow trimmed by the time I get back."

He snorted. "I'm not your servant, my lady, Phoenix."

She rose her brows. "No, but you do live here, so you will do some of the work since I do not have servants."

Elliot glanced outside and winced. "The light! It burns!"

Phoenix smiled triumphantly. "At least you're awake and sober! The affects of your drinking are wearing off with very brutal consequences. Maybe you'll learn not to drink someday."

He waved her off. "Like that'll ever happen!"

She shrugged, knowing he was probably right, but a girl had to hope for something. "Just trim the meadow, that's all I ask of you for today."

"Until tonight."

"Until tonight."

Phoenix grabbed a dagger and started into town. The run at this time was hot and humid, suffocating, but she ignored all that, enjoying the pain in her legs as she ran. The sun was high in the sky, the clouds were very few in numbers, and the birds sang their songs and tunes to each other like they didn't have a care in the world. Overall, it was another typical day in the Ruthless Archipelago. Once Phoenix reached town though, it would be less cheerful than it is out here.

The Ruthless Archipelago was just one of the many Archipelagos around. Each Archipelago is running a different way, have their own traditions, and are robbed from their happiness by their own criminals. The Ruthless Archipelago was just the worst of them all. Here, criminals were everywhere, most in gangs and cults. Some ran alone, but they were the ones who usually got caught—then tortured and killed. The towns were huddled in fear of what the criminals would do next, where they'd strike next. The families who lived on the outskirts in the forests and near the water—like Phoenix and Elliot—had less troubles. Though, every once in a while, something would happen to someone out there.

There were advantages to living out there, and then there were disadvantages. If you did live in the forests and near the water, you were rich and wealthy, but all alone to deal with your own problems. It was less likely you'd be found, but more likely you'd be robbed than anyone in town. Most of all, you had wonderful scenery, but no one would be able to hear you if something went wrong—unless you were lucky. It was miles between the homes out here and it was likely that if you had died, you wouldn't be found for days or weeks. No one would miss you. No one would care. So, criminals might just take your life because they knew they could.

Once Phoenix reached town an hour later, she went to her favorite place—actually her second favorite place—the coffee shop. The aromas of coffee and vanilla filled her nostrils, bringing a mouth-watering scent of sugar that was very rare in most Archipelagos. It was a shabby place, barely being held up by beams and splinters of wood, but it was always overflowing with people who paid good money to get some caffeine. Phoenix was one of the shop's best customers and never missed a day to visit.

She entered and went straight back to the counter where Gwendoline, the shop owner, stood taking orders from a white-haired man. When her green eyes saw Phoenix, she perked up and rushed the man. After a minute more of finishing his order, the man went to go find a table to wait while Gwendoline gestured for Phoenix to come forward. "The usual, my lady?"

Phoenix smiled warmly at her. "You know it, Gwen."

"How about coffee cake with that? We just got the ingredients this morning."

Phoenix's stomach growled at the offer. "That sounds great!" she sighed.

Gwen told her two sons, Clement and Baldwin, to hurry up with the orders then turned back to Phoenix. "How is Elliot?"

Besides Elliot, Gwen was also a friend to Phoenix, though not as close. They were more like peers who talked gossip than friends who shared each other's stories. "He's good. Drank himself to sleep last night," Phoenix said as she leaned against the counter. "I sometimes wonder if he'll ever learn."

Gwen laughed. "Don't count on it."

Phoenix hummed disappointedly. "I guess."

"Here is one milk chocolate mocha and a slice of coffee cake," Clement said, setting the order down before Phoenix. "You look nice today, Phoenix."

She smiled, but kept her eyes averted. "Thank you."

Clement went back to work while Gwen took another order from a tall figure with dark brown hair. From beneath her eyelashes, Phoenix studied him carefully. He was strong, if the tight clothes and bulging muscles had anything to say about it, his hands were large and calloused, and his face hard. He wore a knife in one leather boot, several on his belt, and two swords and a bow with a quiver of arrows on his back. Phoenix had never seen him before, and she knew everyone by face here, if not by name. But his face did not register with her. It was unsettling, and she was alert immediately.

As if sensing her eyes on him, he turned to look at her, just finishing his order. His dark brown-black eyes bore into her as if trying to see her soul. When he spoke to her, his voice was deep and edgy. "You know it's impolite to stare?"

Phoenix took a sip of her hot mocha and rose her brows. "My apologies."

He snorted and went to sit at a table by the only window in this shop. He kept his eyes on the outside world, his hands clasped before him on the table. "He is as in love with coffee as you are," Gwen said behind Phoenix, scaring her out of her thoughts.

"He is?"

She nodded. "Comes here at least twice a day at the same times."

"How come I've never seen him?"

Gwen shrugged. "I don't know. But I wouldn't get on his bad side." She gestured to the assortment of knives strapped about him. Phoenix nodded and ignored the man, instead talking with Gwen and finishing her coffee and cake.

Half an hour later, Phoenix stood up to leave, needing to be going other places before heading home. When she looked to the window seat again, the man had left. She left the shop and went directly to the post office, receiving her mail and looking through it quickly before making her way to the bridge that connected this Archipelago to the Ethereal Archipelago. The bridge was about five miles long and very wide. It stood about fifty feet above the water and had a wonderful view to the east and west. The middle of it is where you could see other Archipelagos and endless waters.

Phoenix took the long trek to the middle and sat on the railing, gazing out peacefully at the glittering blue waters. When she was young, she lived at the Ethereal Archipelago, finding it scary and yet inviting. Ethereal sounds just that—ethereal. Monsters like no one could believe lived there. Some looked like monsters, others looked like humans but with certain body parts giving them away. Phoenix found it enchanting and haunting. She loved and hated the place, longed for its variety of creatures like she longed for a family.

She had stayed with a Gifted, or as they call themselves, Nephilim. Her name was Getnee and she took Phoenix in until she came of age. She said she was mostly human, but part of her blood comes from angels which gave her the ability to do certain things, but Phoenix was to tell no one, and she promised and would keep her promise until she died. Getnee loved Phoenix like she was her own daughter, spoiled Phoenix as if she were a princess or an angel herself. Getnee is the only one Phoenix told about her past and so understood Phoenix better than anyone on the Ruthless Archipelago.

Phoenix sighed and stood up once more, only to run into someone who bumped her back into the railing. Strong arms caught her around the waist and stomach. Her breath whooshed out of her and she gripped the railing to steady herself before pulling out of the arms' embrace. When she turned, she found the man from the coffee shop staring down at her. "Watch where you're going," he hissed.

She glared at him. "I could say the same to you."

"I was, but you got up and moved right as I was passing. I couldn't move in time."

Phoenix snorted. "You moved in time to catch me before I fell to my death."

He shrugged and started walking away. Over his shoulder he said, "Next time, remind me to let you fall to your death since you don't want my help." With that, he disappeared down the bridge.

Phoenix watched him leave with a glare, hoping she never saw his face again. She hoped he stayed at wherever he was going and never returned. Something about him was just too dark, too…

Like her.

If she were to admit it, he had the same expressionless face as she did when she talked to someone he considered unimportant. His focus was determined and his walk was stiff. Phoenix wondered if he might have been through something similar to herself, but then laughed harshly. Of course not! No one has experienced the kind of pain she's been in, and she thought nothing could be worse. How could it? What happened to her is the reason she didn't let people get close, didn't let Elliot become more of a friend than he already is. She hated the thought, and if it weren't for her heart, she'd have preferred to be alone in the world.

Phoenix made her way back into town and went to the library to read for another few hours since it was likely Elliot hadn't even begun trimming the meadow yet.

Meanwhile in the Unbound Archipelago, a dark man entered a different kind of shop where he met three people sitting around a table. He ordered an ale and went over to the three, taking a seat in the last chair. "Ecthrois, Devdan, Advandth," he said as a way of greeting.

On the man's left was Advandth, a brunette woman with coal lined eyes and a stick figure. She was skinnier than most women who were fit, but it looked as if she was bordering the line of starvation, even though she ate three meals a day—as she puts it. On her other side was Devdan. He was small for a man, but had many ways of tricking a person. The man thought of him like a rat because he could slip into the tiniest of spaces without getting stuck. He had ruddy hair and always carried a needle fine blade hidden in his sleeve. On the man's right side and Devdan's left was Ecthrois. He was taller than the man—who was tall enough as it was—and was usually silent unless giving his upfront opinion about something. The man liked him because he always asked the right questions and saw details the man usually missed.

Advandth smiled slyly at the man with gray eyes. "Did you get the information you needed?"

The man looked at her and nodded once while Ecthrois crossed his arms. "Did you find him?"

Again, the man nodded. "Someone at the weapons shop was whispering his name. I tempted him with money to tell me."

"And?" Advandth said with excitement.

"And you'll wait until I take you with me before I let you know anything else," he snarled and turned to Devdan. "Meet me tonight to go over the details. I'll need you to do a few things before we go."

Devdan nodded as Ecthrois gave the man a suspicious look. "The boss is waiting for you as well."

The man sighed in exasperation. He could care less about the boss, only his job. "Tell him I'm busy."

"I have." Ecthrois stated. "He doesn't care. He wants to see you immediately."

Devdan smirked. "What's wrong? Get into trouble?"

"No!" the man said, but he was lying through his teeth. "No, I just don't want to see him until this job is finished."

"What did you do?" Devdan asked with anticipation.

The man glared at him. "I'll tell you when you tell me what you and Suspiria were talking about in the coat closet the other day."

Devdan scowled and his anticipation disappeared, a wall of defense going up in his green gaze. "Nothing."

The man smirked. "That's what I thought. Leave it, Dev."

Dev held up his hands in defense. "Fine, whatever you say, man!"

The man stood and sighed, finishing his ale. "I need to go. Ecthrois and Devdan meet me tonight at the spot. Advandth, you will be taking the night off. No arguments."

The other three nodding, reciting, "To fight or work, we are ready."