Chapter Text
Avery felt for her grandfather’s pulse, but it was nowhere to be found.
“He’s gone,” Peking Duck said quietly. “I can feel the contract dissolving.”
Avery nodded.
“I can feel it too,” added Pancake, squeezing Avery’s hand.
Tempura looked concerned, brow furrowed, no trace of his usual smile to be found. “So… what do we do now?”
Avery looked up at the gathering of Food Souls surrounding her.
“I don’t see a reason you all should be separated - is this an overstep, to ask that you might sign a contract with me in my grandfather’s stead? You’re perfectly welcome to leave, of course, but I would sincerely appreciate the help!”
“I will stay on,” said Black Tea.
“As will I,” Milk said, grasping Black Tea’s hand. Avery wasn’t surprised that the two refused to separate.
“Same here,” said Pancake, flashing Avery a thumbs up.
Tempura, however, looked uncomfortable. Avery smiled gently.
“It’s okay, Tempura. I won’t be offended. Would you like to set out on your own?”
“I don’t want to leave you - it’s just - I’ve spent so much time doing boring work for the restaurant - no offense! I think I’d like to do some exploration of my own this time - see some new things, meet some new people! See the world.”
“I understand completely,” Avery said. That left only one food soul. “Peking?”
Peking Duck was silent.
“You know I adore you, Avery,” he said at last. “It’s just - you’re too much like your grandfather for me to grieve properly. To be here in his house, with his descendants - it’s too much. I need space to accept my loss properly.”
“Of course,” Avery said, though tears were starting to form in her own eyes. “Will you write, at least?”
“I will. And I will return if I can. I just need time. Time for myself.”
“Well, if you’re summoned and I don’t see you again -” Avery pulled Peking into a tight embrace, letting her tears soak the front of his shirt. Peking patted her on the shoulder gently.
“Farewell, Avery. Tempura, forgive me if I don’t travel with you this time. It may be best for me to start over anew.”
Tempura nodded, unusually solemn.
“Take as many supplies as you need from the storage area,” Avery said, wiping away her tears from her face.
Peking nodded. He and Tempura left the room.
“I’ll call the funeral home,” Black Tea said, and left presumably to do exactly that. Pancake slunk out after, looking apologetically at Avery - she couldn’t blame him for wanting to leave the room.
Then it was just her and Milk, alone with her grandfather’s body.
“I need to go tell the customers downstairs that the restaurant is closed for today. Are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”
“Yes. Of course.”
As Milk left, Avery closes her grandfather’s eyes for the last time.
---
“Master Attendant? Master Attendant?” Finally, Avery realized that Milk was speaking to her.
“I’ll never get used to being called that.”
“It’s all right. You will eventually, I promise. I came to ask if we might summon another food soul now, before the restaurant opens, so we can get them familiarized with the dishes and the layout.”
“All right,” Avery said, “let’s head to the summoning room, then.”
They made their way downstairs, Avery’s heart sinking to see the restaurant to dark and empty. For as long as she’d stayed here, it had never been dark - on holidays, the only time her grandfather closed the restaurant, it had at least been lit up with lanterns or Christmas lights.
When they reached the summoning room, Avery’s hands began to shake as she pulled the box of embers out from the trapdoor under which it had been hidden.
“Milk,” she said softly, “what if the ritual goes wrong?”
“It won’t. Your grandfather was a powerful summoner, and you have his blood in you. This sort of ability runs in families. With this kind of hereditary skill, it matters more about the strength of your will than the intonation of your words.”
You’re worthless. Look at you. If I wasn’t here to keep you from straying, you’d soon be a wastrel drifting through life without purpose.
Avery shook the words from her head and began the incantations. Soon, an oval of white light began to form in the middle of the circle of embers, tinged with gold at the edges.
“Look,” said Milk, “see that golden glow? It means an Ultra Rare food soul is about to appear!”
Avery’s heart surges in her chest.
Please, please, please…
But it wasn’t the figure she wanted. This Food Soul is shorter, yellow haired, with a bright smile and rotating shards of ceramic that followed him as he moved.
“It seems you’ve run into some trouble! It’s no use, let me take care of it. I’m Crab Long Bao! How can I serve you, Master Attendant!”
“I…”
“Am I not who you were hoping for?” There’s no malice in Crab Long Bao’s question, simply curiosity. “It’s alright if it’s true.”
“No,” admitted Avery, running a hand through her short brown hair. “You weren’t.” She sounds wistful, her gaze drifting off to someplace else. She quickly snapped back to reality, flustered.
“I mean,” she said, waving her hands quickly as if to smooth down ruffled feathers, “not that it’s not an honor to have you with me! I’ve heard you’re very powerful, and all, so I should be grateful, and, and I am! I am grateful!”
“It’s all right!” Crab Long Bao replied, laughing. “What’s your name?”
“Avery,” she replied, “Avery MacInnes.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Master Attendant!”
“Master Attendant… It sounds so strange…”
“I promise you, you’ll get used to it. Some take longer than others, but they all do. Now come on, it looks like you’ve still got embers left! You can’t stop summoning with just me!”
“I… I don’t know. Maybe tomorrow. Meeting new people is a lot for me.”
“I understand. Now, important question - where do you keep your alcohol!?”
Avery looked startled, but laughed, covering her mouth.
“We’ve just met!”
“Well I’m not just asking for me! You said new people make you stressed! We can just sit and talk and hopefully a drink will take the edge off!”
“Thanks, but I don’t drink.”
“Well, I can drink, and you can talk! Come on!”
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out the door, tugging her along behind him.
“Where are we going!?”
“The market! If you don’t drink, you won’t have any alcohol on you! Nothing but cooking wine, anyway!”
“Okay?”
The market was a vibrant, bustling trove of stalls and shops, filled with colorful wares and dazzling signs.
Crab Long Bao seemed to know it well - Avery wondered if his former master attendants had lived nearby. Her suspicions were confirmed when one of the vendors greeted Crab Long Bao in a familiar manner.
“I haven’t seen you in weeks!” exclaimed the vendor. “Come here, boy. I’ve got some nice sake for you. On the house from me.”
“Thanks!” Crab Long Bao grabbed the bottle, and then threw his arm around Avery’s shoulder. “This is my new Master Attendant!”
“Hi,” said Avery meekly.
“Congratulations, Attendant,” said the old man. “You’re lucky to have this one by your side.”
“Hmm,” murmured Avery. She was wondering about perhaps expanding her restaurant services to include alcohol.
“I’m serving a lobster special when I reopen,” she said. “What would go well with that?”
“Hm… We have a nice white wine over here that should complement the lobster, without overpowering it.”
“Oh, wonderful! I’ll take three.”
Both Crab Long Bao and the vendor seemed a little surprised.
“Master Attendant… That’s not exactly a cheap bottle of wine…”
“It’s fine! Don’t worry about it, Bao - can I call you that?”
“Sure!”
The vendor packaged the bottles for them and sent them on their way.
“What did you mean back there, don’t worry about it? Are you secretly rich?”
“Uh… sort of, I guess?” Avery ran a hand through her hair in embarassment.
The Food Soul looked ecstatic.
“That’s amazing! It’s been a long time since I’ve had a rich master attendant!”
“I inherited a lot of wealth from my grandfather, as well as the restaurant itself. I took care of him in his old age until he died a few days ago. Then the restaurant came into my care.”
“Your grandfather, huh? That’s not common! Do you have parents?”
“We don’t talk much,” Avery said. She hoped Crab Long Bao would let the matter die, and he seemed to take the hint.
--
“Get back here, you worthless little brat!”
Avery ran through the trees, branches scratching at her tear-streaked face. When she stopped to catch her breath, she nearly burst into tears again - she’d lost the path, and the trees around her were completely foreign. She sat down on a rock and let the tears flow.
“Hey! Why are you crying?”
“What?”
“Why are you crying?”
“My mom. Why is your hair that color?”
“I don’t know! It just grows in this way. You’re really sad, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I guess.” Avery sniffled.
“Wanna know what I do when someone makes me sad?”
“What?”
“I play with my rats!”
“Your… rats?”
The man produced a bamboo rat seemingly out of nowhere.
“See? Here, hold out your hand so he can sniff it - not a finger, he’ll think it’s food.”
Avery extended her hand cautiously, too dazed by the absurdity of the situation to protest. The rat sniffed her hand, then nudged up against it.
“He wants you to pet him - go ahead!”
Avery stroked the rat gently. The man laid his hand over hers, guiding her movements, encouraging her to put more pressure on the rat.
“Don’t worry! He won’t break! Here, scratch him behind the ears. He loves that.”
As Avery pet the rat more enthusiastically, she realized she’d stopped crying.
“What’s your name?”
“Avery.”
“I’m Bamboo Rice.”
“You’re... you’re a food Soul!”
“That’s right!”
“Where’s your Master Attendant?”
“He’s at home. He doesn’t know about this place. It’s a secret, all right?”
"A secret..."
One that Avery pledged at that moment to keep with her life.