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“Here’s to a happy ending!”
“Hear hear!”
The men and women of the Octopath Travelers had separated 5 months ago in order to cover more ground in their respective quests. They were to meet in Clockbank in about a month’s time and travel together again from there.
And so the recurring “Guys night,” as Partitio called it, was born.
Hikari had become champion of the arena, and Kazan was ecstatic. The other men offered their congratulations, but Kazan felt that this was not enough and made this quite clear. Hikari and Temenos immediately knew where this was going, but the latter made no effort to stop it and Hikari couldn’t do much when Partitio suggested that they hit the tavern. And so they all began drinking.
“Ahh.” Kazan leaned back on the tavern bench. “No matter how many years pass, there will always be the delight of a nice drink. Don’t you think so, Hikari?” The warrior looked at him blankly. “...you can clearly see that I am partaking in tea.” A chuckle sounded from Partitio. “My Prince, you must relax every once in a while! Not even the Eagle of Ku could perform well if he was always so high-strung.” Hikari continued to look at Kazan, a blank expression continuing to adorn his face. “...I am not-”
“Oh, yes you are,” Temenos interjected. “You’re constantly on the lookout for threats as we journey. And granted, it’s thanks to you that we have avoided many an ambush…” He paused for dramatic effect. “But if you’re on edge every waking hour, it’s only a matter of time until you snap at someone. And that someone might be a certain dancer…”
Hikari did not react well to that prospect. His expression darkened. Temenos smiled to himself. I knew it. “...I see. Thank you, Temenos. I shall take your words to heart.” Temenos patted him on the back. “And that is all I ask.”
Kazan stared at the cleric, awestruck. “...I have known Hikari for most of his life,” he began. Temenos turned to look at him. “And never once have I been able to convince him to take my advice on this subject.” A brief silence filled the air. “Inquisitor Temenos, you are indeed something else.”
Temenos chuckled. “Please. I am unworthy of such lofty praise. Surely you can do things that I cannot? After all, I can tell just by looking at you that you hold many secrets.” The Tactician’s eyebrows raised. Then he barked out a laugh.
“HA! I could say the same for you, Inquisitor!”
“Just Temenos, please. But if you would indulge me…” The cleric leaned forward. “...I would request a friendly competition of sorts.” Kazan raised an eyebrow.
“Oh? What do you have in mind?”
“A risk for both of us. I want to see which of us has better deductive powers.”
“Whoa there, Partner,” Partitio interjected. “I’ve seen my fair share of ‘friendly competitions’ in the taverns, and they don’t end well.” Kazan chuckled. “I appreciate the concern, my good man, but I think this will be just fine.” He looked at Temenos. “Any other rules?” Temenos thought for a moment, then looked up at him.
“You start. By revealing what you believe to be one of my secrets, you allow me to reveal one of yours. And the opposite is also true. The first one of us to back out loses.” Kazan took a swig of his drink. “You’re on.”
Hikari sat on the edge of his seat. Osvald was eyeing them from the book he was reading, pretending not to care as he took a sip of his coffee. Partitio’s eyes were nervously flitting between the cleric and the tactician.
“...you wear a mask,” Kazan began. “You believe it will protect you, come what may. No matter what hardships you face, past and present, you believe that as long as you keep that mask on, it will protect you from your own heart.”
The silence was deafening.
“...I believe it is your turn.” Kazan took a sip of his drink. Temenos’s mouth was slightly agape. Interesting, he thought to himself. This man may be more perceptive than I initially gave him credit for. I was wise to try and size him up like this. He chuckled, then took a sip of his own drink.
“Right you are,” he proclaimed. He looked at Kazan.
“...you accuse me of wearing a mask, and I do not confirm nor deny it,” Temenos began. “...but you have many. Every word that passes your lips is precisely calculated to make those around you believe you to be a specific person.” He took a deep breath. “Your eyes are seeking traits in all those around you, even those in this tavern you have yet to interact with. You do this to prepare the best possible method of diplomacy. A different mask for each different situation. And I would wager that you don’t even know which one is your real face anymore.”
One would think that silence was screaming.
Kazan was shocked. But also… Is that anger in his eyes? Temenos wondered. I wonder if I pushed it too far. But Kazan plastered a smile on his face. He took another sip of his drink. “I do believe it is my turn, is it not?” He set the glass down.
“You are grieving,” He stated bluntly. Temenos almost stiffened. …how on earth did he- “Someone close to you has passed away recently, and it has been threatening to tear you apart.” The Pontiff. “And yet… you have found something to cling to. Or rather, some one to cling to.” Kazan stared at him. “Someone you believe to be reliable, trustworthy, and naive in equal measure.” Temenos stared at him.
“...how did you-”
“I didn’t. You gave me that information. I was just running my mouth.”
Temenos could not help but continue to stare. Anger was boiling inside him. He took a swig of his drink. “And you believe you have no such person to fall back on. The look of jealousy on your face gave you away.”
Angry eyes locked onto angry eyes. The tension in the air was unspeakable. “...looks like i’m about to be right in a second,” Partitio spoke up. “Think we can, uh… call this one a draw, folks?” Temenos closed his eyes. One, two, three. He looked at Kazan.
“Yes, I believe that would be for the best.”
Kazan nodded his agreement. “I must say, Inquisitor, you are much more perceptive than I gave you credit for. Though I did nearly lose my cool, I must say I found this most enjoyable.” Temenos laughed. “Haha! As did I, good sir. I do believe I could learn a thing or two from you.”
“And I from you.”
“To the truth!” They raised a toast and happily drank their liquor.
Partitio sighed, and Temenos could hear him say something along the lines of ‘that was close’ under his breath.
Hikari got out of his seat. “Excuse me for a moment, my friends.” He walked up to the bartender and gave him a few leaves. Then he walked to Osvald and whispered something that not even Temenos could figure out, even though he attempted to read their lips. Osvald got up and walked to the table, with Hikari in tow. “We’ve got a problem.”
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Temenos didn’t think he would have any trouble coming from Crackridge, since no one knew of his visit to the Kal Ruins and Reiza was smart enough to keep silent. That or run away altogether.
This is why it surprised him when Osvald and Hikari told him that the entire other side of the bar was wearing Crescent Moon necklaces. The Inquisitor stole a glance at them, and sure enough there were Crescent Moons adorning the collarbones of each and every one of the patrons opposite their side of the tavern.
“...this is unexpected,” Temenos murmured. “I’m not exactly sure how to proceed here.” “I am.” All eyes turned to Kazan. “A good old-fashioned bar fight.” Hikari immediately protested. “Kazan, what about the other patrons? And the tavern itself? If we engage in combat, the tavern will be destroyed and many innocents will be hurt.” Kazan sighed. “...do you have any better ideas?” Osvald turned around, glancing at them behind his back. “I’ll take care of the patrons. And we have plenty of funds, don’t we? We can pay the tavernkeep for the damages.” Osvald stepped into the center of the tavern. “Listen up!”
All eyes were on Osvald. “This place is about to become a battleground. If you value your life, leave at once.” The tavern was quiet. Then there were some… mixed reactions. Half of the patrons left. The other half burst out laughing. They followed the first half out the door as soon as the Moonshade Order members pulled their knives.
“So you spotted us.”
The men of the Octopath Travelers stood up. “Indeed I did! I must say, I didn’t expect you to come all this way from Crackridge just for me.” Temenos fluttered his eyelashes. “You must truly care about me…” The woman in front of the rest of the hooded figures chuckled. “Heh. Yes, I suppose you could say that. We came here to show our love.” She brandished her own knife.
“Barkeep,” Hikari spoke gently. “Get down.”
The hooded figures charged. There must have been… ten, maybe fifteen? Temenos couldn’t quite tell. They waited until there was alcohol running through my veins to get the drop on me. They planned this quite well, the cleric thought to himself. But they planned on me being alone. That was their mistake.
“Kazan, stay behind me,” Hikari commanded.
Kazan paid him no mind, grabbing a chair and slamming it against the head of a cloaked figure. “And miss out on all the fun! Absolutely not!” The chair splintered into several large pieces. “I need to let off some steam after that little duel just now!” Temenos chuckled. I suppose it couldn’t hurt… Temenos picked up his staff, raising it high above his head. This could even be fun. “Holy Light! Illuminate the darkness!”
Of course, the spell didn’t hit anything. That wasn’t the goal. The travelers had come to expect this tactic from Temenos and averted their eyes when they saw the spell beginning to take form. Kazan almost got blinded, but Hikari covered his eyes at the last second.
Their opponents weren’t so lucky.
They reeled back, blinded by the intense light of the spell. This left a perfect opening for Osvald to cast a spell of his own. “ROAR, THUNDER!” It wasn’t meant to be powerful either. If anyone died here, it would make their quests that much harder. No, the goal here was to immobilize their targets.
Six or seven of them collapsed, their bodies seizing up as the electricity coursed through their bodies. On the ground after one second, unconscious after five. That’s how it usually went. The rest of them seemed to have immunity, or some sort of resistance to spells because they were barely affected. There were few enough standing now that Temenos could count them. Eight standing. One of them lunged for him and thrust his knife forward. “So sorry!”
Bonk! Step to the side, go for the head. The man crumpled. Hikari’s instruction was paying off. Another attempted to jump off the counter and go for his head. This one didn’t even need any skill. Temenos simply swiped his staff behind him. He didn’t need to feel the impact or hear the cracking sound to know that he had just dislocated his assailant’s jaw. Six to go. He looked around. Hikari was fighting the woman whom Temenos assumed to be the leader. Kazan was smashing a wooden board against a poor man’s head. Osvald was beating the life out of a couple more, and Partitio… hm.
Partitio was telling two of them about the composition of their necklaces. Something about silver, he assumed. And they were actually listening. Perfect! Temenos walked up behind them.
Bonk!
Bonk!
They fell to the ground like a leaf in the fall. “Phew!” Partitio leaned back. “Dunno how much longer I coulda kept them occupied. Thanks for that!”
Temenos gave him an incredulous look. “My dear friend, I do believe you have a silver tongue to match that of Bifelgan himself. I don’t doubt you could talk a God into making a deal if you had to.”
“Haha! ‘Preciate it! And whaddya know, looks like we’re just about wrapped up here.” Temenos turned to look at the scene behind him. The supposed leader was gasping for breath, Hikari holding his sword to her neck as she knelt on the ground. Osvald was finishing up looting the belongings of his victims, and Kazan was bribing the barkeep. All in all, a successful brawl.
Temenos gave the scholar a look, and they nodded to each other.
“Right!” Temenos began. Osvald picked the woman up and threw her to the ground. “Let’s start with some warm-up questions. What’s your name?”
The woman remained silent. Osvald muttered an incantation and jabbed his fingers into her side. She seized up for a moment, crying out. “Let’s try that again, shall we?” Temenos asked brightly. “What is your name?”
“...Greta,” she responded.
“A pleasure to meet you, Greta! Might I ask why you are here?” Temenos already knew, but he wanted to hear it for himself.
“...you entered the Kal Ruins. You cannot be allowed to live.” She growled. Her eyes were red. Is she truly about to cry?...no, this is something else. “How do you know I explored the ruins?”
“We sent an extra agent to trail you and Reiza. We could not take any chances.” Temenos stiffened. He glanced at Osvald, who evidently shared his concern. Greta was looking shaky. Surely a little brawl wouldn’t have this effect on someone as skilled as her. She held her own against Hikari, after all. “I will ask you one time and one time only,” Temenos began. “Where is Reiza?”
Greta was silent. Then…she began to laugh? What does she find so amusing? Dread pooled in the cleric’s stomach. She looked at him, and Temenos could swear he felt his heart beating in his gut.
Blood was falling from Greta’s tear ducts. “Surrender yourself not unto silent dusk,” she coughed out. Her nose was bleeding now. “For the light shall fade.” She fell onto her hands and knees, coughing up blood. “And soon… night shall… fall…” Greta’s limbs gave out. Hikari walked forward and turned her over. He checked for a pulse. “...she’s dead.”
Temenos walks forward and opens the woman’s mouth. I want to know what killed her. It wasn’t Hikari, his entire dream is to create a world without bloodshed. “...she hasn’t swallowed anything, as far as I can tell. It can’t be a poison that did this.”
“Are you sure about that?” Temenos turned around. Kazan was staring over his shoulder. “There’s a tooth missing. Perhaps there was a poison capsule there, and she swallowed it to avoid leaking information.”
“...that would explain the red eyes and the sudden bleeding.” Temenos sighed. This is going to become such an ordeal. Hikari suddenly picked up Greta’s lifeless body. “Whoa whoa whoa! Whaddya plan on doin’ with that!?!” Hikari stared at him. “...I’m going to bury her.” Partitio grabbed his shoulder. “Now hold on a sec, fella. The law’s probably on its way after all this commotion. Whaddya think is gonna happen when they see you haulin’ a dead body ‘round?”
Hikari stopped. “...you have a good point, as much as it pains me to admit it. Forgive me, Greta.” He put her down where she was.
“I love pointless chatter as much as the next person,” Temenos spoke. “But I do believe it is time for us to retire for the night. We cannot be seen here with a dead body and countless unconscious people.”
“Correct,” Osvald spoke. He walked to the tavernkeep. “If anyone finds out we were here…” A fire lit in his palm. The man yelped, nodding quickly. “Here, my friends!” Hikari held a window open. “If I recall, this leads to an alleyway. We should be safe making our way to an inn from there.”
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It was about 2 am.
Partito was snoring. Hikari was sleeping fitfully. Osvald had fallen asleep with a book in his hands. All the rest of the inn patrons that evening had long since fallen asleep as well.
The only two souls awake were those of Temenos and Kazan. They had been staring at each other nearly since they had arrived at the inn.
And if Temenos could read a room, they would continue to do so until the sun came up.