Serious Business, Serious Drinking

The light of dawn shines through a window and into Ibuki's eyes, causing her to squint and grumble as she tries to wipe her tiredness away. The feeling of dampness beneath her head sends her shooting out of her chair. Looking around, she finds herself in an entirely unfamiliar environment. Well, not entirely unfamiliar. The Princess of Fiore was no stranger to alcohol and the establishments from which it might be acquired, but she usually enjoyed her drink in...higher-end places. This was not that. It was a dingy tavern with several unsavory sorts suspiciously eyeing each other from its corners and either speaking in hushed tones or on the verge of murder. From the stains on the floor, someone likely already had been.

"How dreadful. I don't think anything could make this worse... Oh, of course."

She catches her reflection in the window and comes to another shocking realization — she was one of the unsavory sorts she'd been glaring at. Gone is her usual regal attire. In its place
is a much plainer black dress accompanied by a pair of boots and a shabby cloak. Beneath the hood, locks of red poke out instead of the beautiful blue hair she was born with. Though, perhaps this change should have been expected. After all, she was no longer Ibuki E. Fiore, the kingdom's beloved princess. No, the woman who entered this tavern the previous night was Agni Fervis, a criminal in search of magical items that could increase her power.

How successful Agni had been was up for debate. She hadn't found her way into an auction, but she had spent the night drinking with the barbarian working for Hag's Hex. That's what had led her to use a booze-stained table to rest her head.

"Hey, lil' lady. Looks like yer friend couldn't show ya a good time, why dontcha spend some time with me instead?"

A disheveled man with wild hair stumbles over to her. Agni's nose scrunches up in disgust as she notices more than just the stench of booze on him. Oblivious to her displeasure, he leans against a post to both balance himself and, seemingly, in an attempt to strike a more flattering pose than his drunkenness would ever allow. Given she was recovering from a night of drinking, Agni couldn't even begin to entertain the idea of dignifying him with a response. She simply rubs her temples while grumbling.

"Ya hear me? I'm a nice guy ya know. Why don't I get some drinks?"

Who offers a girl a drink when she is clearly dealing with a hangover?

Agni continues to ignore him. Instead, she lets out a wave of magical pressure that causes the tavern to shake and her unwanted company to lose his footing. As he clings to the pillar like his life depends on it, she slowly makes her way to the exit. Unfortunately, he fails to take the hint and stumbles after her as soon as he finds the confidence to walk again.

"Hey, I ain't done! Jus' lemme-"

He roughly grabs Agni's wrist to stop her from leaving. His grip makes her wince slightly, but the small explosion directed at his chest seems to hurt him more. The drunk man is sent flying and smashes into one of the tables. Not fully registering what happened, he makes several unsuccessful attempts at picking himself up while making pleas for her not to leave — not realizing that she's already disappeared.

The warmth of the sun on her skin and the scent of Balsam's sweet air immediately make her feel somewhat refreshed. Of course, she was also more than a little pleased with herself. Her recollection of last night's events was a little hazy, but she clearly hadn't forgotten to enforce her most important rule: not touching.

Now all she needed to do was find somewhere to relax and do some remembering about whatever she'd talked about with that Marak fellow. Luckily, she already had at a rather esteemed bathhouse. Well, Ibuki E. Fiore did, but she had a feeling that the princess wouldn't mind her borrowing it.