Chapter Text
Phainon was EXTREMELY horrendous with handling alcohol. Like— it was worse than his fashion sense! And that’s really, really bad.
And so naturally, being the lightweight he was, decided to get absolutely wasted in the crowded tavern that he visited weekly. It was a homey little place, he was a regular there and he was pretty sure the waiters were tired of dealing with him all the time. He was already a chatterbox when he was sober, and he certainly didn’t get any more quiet when he was drunk.
But hey, he’d only gotten three harassment claims from patrons so far! If you asked him, it’s a them problem— everyone should appreciate a nice, friendly little chat every once in a while, right?
He stumbled around the loud yet welcoming place, the scent of beer and roasted meat lingering in the air. Laughter and chatter could be heard in every corner of the cozy space, making for a warm and welcome atmosphere.
A small yelp escaped his mouth as he nearly fell down before catching himself on a nearby oak table. It creaked under his weight, making for an unpleasant sound that made him wince. He quickly regained his balance, his hazy eyes wandering up to look at the nice-looking fellas sitting around the table.
His vision was blurry, it was a miracle that he hadn’t passed out and accidentally gotten himself a concussion yet.. (speaking from personal experience). A sloppy smile tugged at his face as he resisted the urge to puke out his insides and get kicked out for the umpteenth time this month.
“Heeey thheere!! Have hic y-you guys ever hic ever- uhm- considered hic-“
Phainon stumbled over his words incoherently, clearly drunk out of his mind. His speech was slurred and he could barely even form a proper sentence anymore.. perhaps this is why he kept getting harassment complaints.
He heard an exasperated sigh from one of the patrons. “No Phainon, we aren’t interested in joining your powerful adventurers team that will defeat the big, bad Demon King. Maybe ask again next week, I’m sure we’ll change our minds after you asking for 5 weeks straight.”
One of the adventurers sitting by the table commented sarcastically— a woman with red-.. brown.. hair? Phainon wasn’t too sure, there were black spots dancing in his visions at this point.. was it even a woman? Their voice sounded more feminine and soft.. either way, he could tell that they were mocking him.
A few of the other people sitting around the table snickered at their comment, a couple more sarcastic and playful remarks being made. He huffed, admitting defeat and retreating to go bug someone else.
Adults were so- boring! He remembered back in his good old childhood days, in the peaceful village that he called his home, he’d play pretend all the time with the other kids. Of course, he’d always refuse to play as anyone except the hero who saved the world! His dad had given him a plastic sword that he carried everywhere— even cuddling it while sleeping. Cyrene and the other kids had poked fun at him for it a lot, but he never let anyone’s stupid opinions about him affect his ambitions. Not then, not now, not ever.
Clutching weakly onto the wall, Phainon hazily looked up. There was a stabbing pain pulsing in his head, which he attempted to ignore in favor of going around the tavern and bothering other people.
He noticed a newcomer sitting by the bar, someone he’d never seen here before. It instantly hooked his curiosity- a traveller perhaps? Well no matter, time to introduce himself!
He staggered over to the stranger, nearly tripping over his own feet, earning a few snickers from the surrounding customers. He clumsily took a seat next to the stranger, giving him the friendliest smile he could muster. The guy.. or girl? seemed to have rather long hair tied in a low ponytail, the mint color making it stand out. However, the thing that first caught Phainon’s eye was the strange black eyepatch. And the pointy ears. Was this guy an elf or something?
“Hic.. hehehe.. nice to hic- to meet you! I’m uhm- I’m Phainon!” He greeted excitedly the stranger, trying his absolute best to make a good first impression—which he clearly wasn’t doing a very good job at. He looked like he was gonna fall out of the chair and collapse any second, or puke all over the pretty boy he’d just met a second ago.
“Anaxagoras.” The stranger, Anaxagoras, replied bluntly. Seems like this guy wasn’t into small talk, judging by Anaxa’s unenthusiastic voice.
“Well.. hic.. hello, Anaxa!~ Do-“
“It’s Anaxagoras. Rule number one: do not call me Anaxa.” Anaxa— ehem.. Anaxagoras interrupted him, not sounding pleased with how wasted Phainon was. Phainon laughed awkwardly in response.
“Hic.. then, Anaxagoras, would you- uhm- hic.. would you perhaps b-be interested- hic in joining my fantastical adventurers party?”
Phainon gave his usual spiel to the other, the one that had been given to practically everyone in the tavern. It was a routine at this point, every Friday night, he would go to the tavern and try to recruit people to join his adventurers party. He did indeed not have any luck— a weird, drunk guy didn’t exactly look the most trustworthy after all. He should definitely consider rethinking his approach.
Anaxa sighed softly, taking another sip from the brown drink, absentmindedly swishing the liquid around in the glass. “No.” He responded bluntly, not even bothering to sugarcoat his words.
Phainon sulked, his expression dropping like it did every time he got rejected again and again and again- really, he should’ve been used to it by now. He was a stubborn fool though. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have been here after 5 weeks of no success.
“Ah, cmoooon~ hic I prooomisee it’ll- hic be a good time~ I’m reaallyy strong!” He made a poor attempt to convince the other, moving one of his arms to flex his muscles rather arrogantly. He made a show of it, smiling proudly, as if he’d just done something impressive. Anaxa was visibly not impressed.
“No.”
“Think about- hic.. the cool a-adventure!”
“No.”
“We’ll be heros hic after we defe-“
“No.”
“Hic.. I’m handsome and funn-“
Anaxa rolled his eyes, finally snapping. “I’m not interested.” A frown tugged at his lips, his hand clenching tightly around the glass he was holding. “Are you purposefully ignorant or just plain stupid?”
Phainon dramatically put a hand on his heart, feigning hurt. “Ah, you wound- hic.. me…” He threw his head back, acting like a damsel in distress,despite being a full grown, muscular warrior who was taller than most people. It made for quite the ridiculous sight.
Anaxa scoffed softly in response, unamused by his theatrics. “Are you always this annoying?”
“Nah- hic.. y-you’re special~” It was a lie. He was indeed, always this annoying.
He moved his other hand to pat the elf’s shoulder, and before he could even touch him- his vision blurred as he blacked out, collapsing in the tavern once again. Yet for some reason, he could’ve sworn that it felt different than all the other times he’d passed out..
—
Phainon woke up the next morning in one of the rooms above the tavern with a horrendous headache. It was no surprise, he’d gotten used to it at this point. Being hungover was the worst, he always regretted how much he drank the next morning.
He groggily sat up, groaning softly, struggling to move his limbs. His whole body felt like jelly— not normal jelly, but the gross, watery type that food stalls used to sell to scam his naive little self when he was still a little kid.
He groaned softly, gagging before quickly stumbling out of the bed and rushing over to the bathroom, bending over the toilet and throwing up. Titans, he felt like shit.. he could’ve sworn that he felt magic coursing through his body before he collapsed, but maybe he was delusional and that was just his drunken brain talking.
He panted softly, flushing the toilet and falling down limply onto the cold bathroom floor. He barely remembered what had happened last night after he got hammered— he did remember talking to a particularly cute elf boy though.. ouch, that guy probably thought he was a total weirdo.
After composing himself for about an hour (aka staring at the ceiling for who knows how long..), he somewhat smoothed his clothes back out before strolling downstairs, thoughtlessly spinning the key of the room he had stayed in on his finger.
Footsteps echoed on rustic the wooden floor as he approached the receptionist, flashing a friendly smile as he slid the key back over.
“Yo! I owe you the usual?” It was a rhetorical question. He often stayed a night at the tavern after getting too drunk to walk back home, he’d memorized the bill already. And so two silver coins were slid over, the metal scraping against the oak counter.
She jotted something down in the logbook as Phainon signed out. “No, it’s fine. The guy who knocked you out paid for it. Can’t blame him for knocking you out, to be honest.” She piped in, sliding the coins back to him.
His eyes widened slightly in surprise— aha, so he hadn’t gone crazy and he really had gotten knocked out with magic! He patted himself on the shoulder, huffing softly, awfully proud of himself for being able to recognize it. He then perked up at a realization—
“So.. he can use magic? He has to be pretty damn powerful if he can knock me out like that, right?! I’m sure you could just.. do me a little favor and-“
“It’s against policy to give out our customer’s private information.” She coldly interrupted his excited rambling, making his smile drop instantly like a kicked puppy.
“Besides, he clearly didn’t seem very fond of you last night.” She pointed out bluntly, slightly amused by how desperate Phainon had looked yesterday. He winced softly at the reminder, hurt by how annoyed Anaxa had seemed yesterday. To be fair, he was being pretty damn annoying.
He feigned hurt, snickering softly. “Ouch. Low blow.”He’d become friends, or at least acquaintances with almost everyone who worked in the little tavern, half because of how much he visited it and half because he was naturally very talkative and friendly.
He waved goodbye to the receptionist as he left, stepping out of the tavern and immediately darting to the Adventurers Guild. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to take bounties while he was still hungover, but real warriors don’t take breaks! He’ll have to train really hard to become strong and defeat those wretched black tide monsters, to protect everyone and be able to fulfill others’ dreams.
—
Phainon looked over the various bounties and missions posted on the commission board, thoughtlessly letting his eyes scan over them.
Collecting herbs… nope… rescuing cats… nope… cleaning graves… nope… killing black tide monsters? Ah, F-rank. Nope. Sure, he always loves helping out with doing small little things, but he should leave some tasks for the lower ranked adventurers who aren’t able to do high ranked bounties every once in a while.
He sighed, deciding to just cut his losses and take the F-rank bounty. Whatever, he was still hungover anyway. He should go light today. Plus, it would be a good outlet for his anger to kill those stupid monsters. Maybe sometimes warriors have offdays too.
After a couple minutes, he arrived at the location written on the paper. He quickly spotted the black tide monster— just two? Well, it was a F-rank bounty after all.. this should be a quick job. Something to get him back on his game and forget about this annoying hangover. Seriously, his head was still killing him after hours..
He pulled out his trusty greatsword. Although it may be a bit old and rusty, it got the job done just fine. He charged at the monsters, quickly killing one of them with a quick slash. He huffed softly, internally giving himself a pat on the back before turning around to kill the last enemy—
Woah woah woah. Time out.
Where did all those monsters come from?!!
He had turned around for a single second and poof, all of a sudden a whole horde of black tide monsters appeared! Two, four, six.. fuck.
And of course, with a horde of enemies comes the elite monster— the Dark Sun Gryphon. A large black tide monster that resembled a mutilated wolf.
F-rank bounty my ass??!
Phainon was really, really trying his best not to panic. Lesson number one in the (non-existent) warrior’s handbook was to stay calm at all times after all. If he couldn’t defeat a couple of stupid monsters, who was he to call himself the hero who would kill the Demon King?
(yet, that day, he hadn’t been able to kill the black tide monsters. watching his beloved village— his home burn down, the previously neat wheat fields getting trampled on, getting forced to kill his precious friends as he heaved for air through his tears—)
He grunted as he stabbed his claymore into one of the abominations, avoiding a slash as he got surrounded from all sides— he barely dodged an attack from the elite monster, leaving a scratch on his arm. He winced as the golden blood trickled down his arm, soaking into his shirt. That was gonna be a pain to wash out later.
Right, golden blood. A constant reminder that he had gained the Titans’ blessings. Of the duty that he must fulfill.
The monsters continued to attack him as he struggled to try and defend himself from all angles, his heart pounding in his chest.
He froze as he turned around and saw a pair of black claws ready to thrust deep into his stomach, tightly shutting his eyes, his body tensing as he braced for impact—
Yet the pain never came.
His eyes reluctantly fluttered open after a few more seconds of hesitation, being met with the sight of all of the black tide monsters lying lifeless on the ground. He flinched as he saw a swift arrow made out of wind streak past him and into the large wolf, making it drop dead with a sharp howl.
Had he finally gone insane from alcohol poisoning? Maybe he was still dreaming.. was it a miracle from Nikador?
“Ha, you expect to be able to defeat the Demon King when you get beaten by a few measly monsters?”
A familiar voice echoed from the trees as the guy from last night at the bar jumped down, looking unimpressed and downright annoyed. He froze in surprise, his mouth stupidly dropping open as he stared at the newcomer, Anaxa, like the latter was an alien.
One thing was for sure after that little show— that mage was powerful. Phainon wanted him.
“Please joi-“
“No.”
Phainon grumbled as Anaxa didn’t even let him speak two words, slightly frustrated.
This guy really liked the word ‘no’.
“Cmon, you didn’t even let me finish!” He whined, putting his claymore away. He glanced down at the dead bodies scattered on the ground, impressed. Hell, if they met twice in a row, surely it must be fate that they travel together!
Anaxa rolled his eyes in response, huffing softly. “We both already know what you were gonna say anyway.“ The mage eyed the golden blood staining Phainon’s shirt for a second before quickly turning away.
Phainon tried to give him his best puppy eyes, clasping his hands together, looking like a kicked puppy. He would get down on his knees and beg Anaxa to join him at this point.
“I’m not interested.”
“Please? Pretty please? Think about it! You’re powerful, you shouldn’t be wasting yo-“
As Phainon started rambling, Anaxa gave him a deadpan expression, his footsteps light and quiet as he disappeared into the dark forest, attempting to avoid the annoying warrior pestering him.
Phainon yelped, quickly following him— yet as he walked into the vast woods, he found himself quickly losing track of where the elf was. Damned mages. Always relying on their magic to fix all their problems. What a stupid cheat code, he’d like to be able to disappear into thin air and ignore his issues too!
That didn’t mean that he was gonna give up though. Oh no, no, no, once Phainon got invested in something, there would be no chance that he would let it go. He was persistent idiot.
—
“Anaxagoras? Ah, that strange mage. I heard that he’s been alive for thousands of years.. poor guy, must be why he doesn’t have any friends.”
“Hm? The blasphemous elf? He’s powerful but his personality certainly needs a whole lotta work if ya ask me~ Don’t tell him I said that though, or else he might capture me and use my body for his weird experiments!”
“He used to give lessons to aspiring apprentice mages and wizards, but he wasn’t that well liked among his students.. yikes, I heard one of them planned to hang him.”
“Rumors say that he gouged his own eye out for his insane experiments, and that’s why he always wears that creepy eyepatch.. I’d stay away from him if I were you.”
Did asking around about Anaxa seem kinda weird and creepy of Phainon? Maybe. But every response that he got only fueled his intrigue for the elf more. I mean cmon- a powerful mage who was also an ancient elf? Who wouldn’t be curious?
Plus, based on his research, Anaxa wasn’t apart of any other adventurers team. Which meant that he might actually have a chance! He could never find any people who were powerful and not part of a team yet— this was like a goldmine!
He gulped nervously as he stared at the rustic spruce door of the address someone had given him. According to her, this was supposed to be Anaxa’s residence. He was trying his best (and failing) to not feel like a total stalker.
After awkwardly standing there and composing himself for a minute, he lifted a hand to knock on the door. His heart was beating with excitement, even though he knew damn well that he was gonna get rejected again.
The door opened with a soft creak. He saw Anaxa emerging from behind it, dressed in more casual clothes than the last time they had met.
He was visibly not pleased to see Phainon.
“For gods sake-“
The mage cursed under his breath, immediately slamming the door shut in Phainon’s face with a loud thud.
Ouch. Expected reaction. Despite that, Phainon still winced, shifting behind the door.
“Erm.. Anaxa?! Come on, don’t be like that- please hear me out at least!” He yelled, knocking on the door again.
Phainon gasped in surprise as Anaxa actually opened the door again— did he actually manage to convince him?
“It’s Anaxagoras.”
A beat of silence.
Before the door got banged shut in his face again.
—
The next day, Phainon showed up again at Anaxa’s front door, this time holding a couple of pieces of yellowed paper in his hands.
He’d spent all night yesterday writing a long speech to try and convince the mage. He could barely stand still as he expectantly waited for Anaxa to open the door so he could deliver his speech. Not like he expected the other to be convinced by his quite frankly shitty words though.
He perked up as he heard the door squeak open, wasting no time and quickly delving into his presentation.
“Ahem. Thank you for taking the time to listen to me today. I, Phainon of Aedes Elysiae, have come here to propose a te-“
“No.”
To no one’s surprise, the door was slammed shut in his face.
Nonetheless, he bucked down and slipped the pieces of paper under the crack of the door, hoping Anaxa would pity him and take the time to read it instead of using it as fuel for his fireplace. He’d spent hours trying to perfect it after all! He’d poured his heart and soul into it— albeit it was still pretty horrible. All of his past teachers had said that he had a knack for debating though, so hopefully it was better than he thought.
He sighed softly, solemnly staring at the closed door for a while before retreating and deciding to try his luck again tomorrow.
“I have come bearing gifts! I heard you like dromas, so I boug-“
SLAM
“According to the NiA, around 75% of adventurers have s-“
SLAM
“I found a couple of old grimoires in m-“
SLAM
“Maybe you wo-“
SLAM
“S-“
SLAM
Phainon eagerly knocked on the mage’s front door for the 17th day in a row, still as cheerful as when he had started. The same most definitely couldn’t be said for Anaxa. The noise of knocking slowly started pissing him off more and more every day. Hell, one time whilst he was trying to ignore him, Phainon had ended up knocking on his door for 10 minutes straight until he begrudgingly opened it.
No way was he gonna give up now. Sure it was a little discouraging, but he was a fighter, not a quitter. He’d visit Anaxa every day for years straight if he pleased.
The familiar sound of the door creaking open was heard, yet Phainon didn’t immediately jump into any speeches, presentations or propositions like usual. Nor had he brought any gifts by the looks of it.
He had in fact, not prepared at all today. He’d been out helping the citizens of the Grove with miscellaneous tasks yesterday, something he’d grown accustomed to doing since when he was just a little kid in Aedes Elysiae. People had always said that he was the most helpful and generous little kid, and Phainon had always reveled in the praise. However, because of his busy schedule, he hadn’t found the time to prepare for today’s meeting with the elf.
He missed those times now, when things were more simple and he was only a naive little kid with unreachable dreams.
Phainon held his breath as Anaxa surprisingly didn’t immediately slam the door in his face like usual, although it looked like he wanted to.
“…I’ll join.”
There was a pause.
“…huh?”
Phainon stood there, dumbfounded. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t for the mage to accept his offer on the only day that he hadn’t prepared something special for.
Anaxa scoffed, not amused by his response. “Tsk, I see you still don’t understand elementary level words? I’ll join your little group.”
A glimmer of hope appeared in Phainon’s eyes- did the mage really just accept his proposal? Just like that? After only 17 days?
He quickly recovered from his dumbfounded state, absentmindedly rubbing his neck. “D-did you read my speeches then? Did my gifts convince you? Why the sudden change of heart, Anaxa—.. Anaxagoras?” He quickly corrected himself on the elf’s name, awkwardly clearing his throat and flashing a sheepish smile.
Anaxa huffed, unimpressed by Phainon’s continuos stupid questions, something he’d have to grow accustomed to while traveling with the latter.
“They didn’t. If anything, your foolish speeches and idiotic gifts only discouraged me to take you up on your offer. I figured that traveling and personal experience could be beneficial to my research and abilities. Plenty of new grimoires and spells have appeared since I last traversed Amphoreus, and there are still plenty that I haven’t found.”
..yeah, that definitely made more sense. He really hadn’t expected the other to accept in such a short time. He was curious about how old Anaxa was, but he decided that it would probably be considered disrespectful to ask.
“Although I suppose your speeches are somewhat admissible. They definitely still need more work, and your grammar is downright terrible. Wait here.”
Anaxa disappeared back into his cabin, soft footsteps echoing in the air. Phainon lingered in front of the door, swallowing nervously as he expectantly waited for the elf to return. His mind wandered to what Anaxa could possibly have for him..
He returned after a minute, making Phainon quickly perk up. A small stack of papers were held in his hands.
Wait- were those his speeches?! The mage had actually kept them instead of burning them like he’d expected? All of a sudden he felt awfully embarrassed about his horrible writing being read..
“Wha- you didn’t throw them away?” Phainon gawked in surprise, his eyes wide like a confused puppy.
“I corrected them. You have talent for debating… your linguistics are a different story.”
Phainon took the stack of papers from Anaxa’s hands with a bit of hesitance, staring at the red ink neatly covering his messy scribbles. He was astonished—and feeling rather proud that his proficiency in debating had been noticed.
“Your formatting and transitions need work, they make the paper difficult and confusing to read. Each paragraph should focus on only one point. Avoid informal language, and use persuasive terms to support your stance. Incorporate ethos, pathos and logos more productively. You should also steer clear from repetitive phrases and run-on sentences to keep the reader’s attention. And maybe.. work on your handwriting..”
Phainon listened attentively, focusing on every piece of advice he got. Such bluntness wasn’t something he was used to— but it was definitely something that he appreciated. He was accustomed to praises and sugarcoated words from his teachers and professors.. this was a welcome change.
He flicked through the papers, his eyes thoughtlessly glancing over the clean words written in red ink. A small smile tugged at his lips. He was glad to find someone who wasn’t afraid to point out his mistakes and shortcomings.
“Ah… I’ll take it into consideration in my next paper, professor.” Phainon emphasized the title, chuckling softly at his own joke. He’d heard from a couple of citizens that Anaxa used to give lessons to apprentice mages and wizards, so the nickname fit quite well if you asked him!
Anaxa certainly didn’t seem to share his opinion, his eyebrows furrowing at being called ‘professor’. “Don’t call me that. Keep your childish nonsense to yourself.”
Phainon laughed in response, not at all bothered by his cold and straightforward attitude. In fact, it was admirable to him. Unlike Anaxa, he was a chronic people pleaser. He felt the need to change himself to fit everyone’s expectations, to take people’s burdens and dreams on himself. The immense pressure to be well-liked by others always weighed heavy on his mind and in turn, his every move and action. To see someone who was the complete opposite.. was intriguing to him, to say the least.
Anaxa seemed to only got more irritated as he laughed, scoffing softly. He strolled out of his house, the front door shutting with a small gesture as he walked away, not even turning to check if the warrior was following him.
Phainon half-ran after him until he caught up, still smiling. His gaze lingered on some of the things he hadn’t noticed about the elf when he was drunk or too busy trying to give his speeches and gifts before the door got shut in his face. Anaxa’s pale, flawless skin and soft mint hair framing his delicate face made him look ethereal to Phainon— he’d heard that elves were known for their youthful and elegant appearance, but this was the first time he’d ever seen one in person..
Anaxa noticed his very obvious staring, raising an eyebrow.
“What are you staring at.”
Phainon quickly got snapped out of his thoughts, sheepishly clearing his throat.
“D-don’t worry about it! What- uhm- where are we going anyway?”
He quickly tried to change the topic, steering the conversation away from his ogling. Anaxa seemed to notice it but didn’t push any further.
“Adventurer’s Guild. You want to form an adventurer’s team, no? We have to register.”
Phainon sighed in relief as the elf let their talk stray from the previous subject, before quickly moving back to his usual cheerful attitude.
“Ah, right!”
Excitement was clear in his voice. The thought of taking his first step to his lifelong dream of becoming a hero and defeating the Demon King was an unreal feeling— he wondered if Anaxa felt a quarter of the exhilaration he did. Probably not, judging by his aloof nature.. nonetheless, he was still happy to have someone to travel and fight with.