Chapter 6: Tavern Trouble

-11 MONTHS REMAIN-

The man spun around to face Ulric and Aurora. Only then they could get a good look at him, scrawny and withered. He hopped down from the bar stool, to which Aurora stifled a snort. The man swaggered over to their table, his hands in his pockets and a cocky grin on his face. 

"I'm sorry." Ulric started, his eye twitching with annoyance. "Who are you, exactly?"

"Oh you don't know me? Tch, typical diurnals. Not familiarizing themselves with anything different than them." He spoke quick. His words danced lightly, like a gnat buzzing past an ear. His rhythm was syncopated. "Name's Zeth. And YOU! Must be some Solstya army trash." Zeth pointed his boney, accusatory finger at Ulric. Aurora sipped her mead, her gaze darting between the two of them.

"W-What?" Ulric stammered. 

"Don't act so shocked. You're really not hiding it. Between your, fake noble personality and obsession with the sun. I'm mean just LOOK, at what you're wearing! You're a Solstyan soldier if I've seen one." Zeth made a plethora of extravagant hand gestures, making them more of a distraction than a supportive descriptor. 

"Okay, what do you want?" Ulric asked exasperated. Aurora took another sip of her mead. 

"Nothing much, just wanted to inform you that you're delusional! And a fraud, probably!" Ulric couldn't decide if he was baffled or annoyed. "You say that you want to help as many people as you can, but then you TURN RIGHT BACK AROUUUND! And say you wanna keep the sun unblocked." 

"I don't... understand..." 

"Yeah, me neither." Aurora chimed in after finishing another sip. 

"Of course you diurnals wouldn't understand, you only ever think about yourselves." Zeth slicked back his braid and pinched the bride of what was left of his nose. "How do you think, this whole eclipse situation, would affect nocturnals, such as myself?" Aurora and Ulric stared blankly at Zeth. "HELLO?! Eternal night?! That sounds like a dream to me!" 

"Okay, hold on!" Aurora stood up from her chair after one final sip. "How is an eternal night good for anyone?! Do you not understand the kind of damage this will cause?!" In a matter of moments, she became more offended than Ulric. 

"Please!" Zeth scoffed, turning his head away. "I've seen many of eclipses in my day and they have never, been as catastrophic as you're making this one out to be."

"Huh!?" Ulric swore he saw a vein pop on Aurora's head. 

"It gets dark all the time sweety. A little extra night isn't gonna kill ya."

"Except that in this case it will! Global temperatures would drop, crops would die, and WE would all starve!" Aurora started to sweat, and her face turned red. 

"Mmmmm nope. Sorry, I don't believe you." Zeth chuckled and shook his head. 

"Oh my gods, he's stupid." Aurora put her head in her hands. Ulric awkwardly put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to console her. 

"Hey hey hey HEY! I ain't taking CRAP from a cyclops and a, a, a fatass!"

"Dude, come on." Ulric said disappointedly. 

"I'm sorry, I thought we were havin' some playful banter." Zeth's tone immediately backed off. 

"No? You made fun of him for missing an eye and just called me fat. That's not banter, that's just insulting our appearance." 

"That wasn't cool of me, I'm sorry." Zeth sheepishly looked at the floor. "But my point still stands!" He cried, springing back to life. 

"Alright, is this going anywhere?" Ulric sighed. 

"You bet it's going somewhere! It's going down, and by it. I mean YOU!" Zeth was pointing so hard that his whole body was shaking. Ulric smirked.

"W-What?" He giggled. "You want to fight?" 

"Oh yeah, I wanna fight you diurnals." Zeth's tone got significantly more serious. The atmosphere of the tavern energized. The pressure climbed and the air grew tense. A swirling gust ruffled Zeth's robes. A red aura emanated from his core. Ulric shifted his stance, tightening his grip on his halberd, readying himself for an unwanted confrontation. Suddenly, bursting forth, coiling around him, an aethereal red serpent manifested from Zeth. Aurora's eyes grew wide. He's a zootic? She thought to herself. "Yeah, that's right! The mad serpent Zeth is ready to THROW DOWN! Bet you weren't ready for that!"

"I'm not gonna fight you, dude." Ulric said sternly, relaxing a bit.

"Why? Cause you're scared? Cause you're scared of my venom strike?! My poison punch!?!" Aurora's interest piqued. She began analyzing the spectral snake before her. She scanned its body and patterns. It was made up of predominantly a red glow, but there were breaks of black and white. Red, black, white, black, red. 

"I'm not gonna fight you because it's stupid!" 

"Yeah, fighting a fight you can't win is pretty stupid."

"No, I-" He was cut off. 

"There's no shame in admitting you're scared of my venom. My coral snake spirit will fry your nerves in an instant!" Aurora scanned again. Red, black, white, black, red. 

"I'm not scared of your venom! You just aren't worth the time! I'm not fighting you!" Ulric tried to reiterate. Zeth began crudely mocking him. 

"I'll fight him." Aurora interjected, finishing her analysis. 

"Huh?" Ulric whipped around. 

"YES!" Zeth pumped his fist. 

"Are you sure about this?" Ulric worried.

"Hold my glasses." Aurora handed him her glasses without facing him. She stepped forward and confronted Zeth. She stood still, tall, and confident while Zeth bounced around on the balls of his feet. "I do have one question before we start. I'm a little new to this whole scene and I want to gauge where you stand. Have you fought anyone else before?" 

"Nah, they were all too terrified. I mean just absolutely petrified. I think one guy peed himself when I mentioned my venom. Let me tell ya, it was freaking. Hilarious! Uh so no, no you are my first one." 

"Mmhmm..." Aurora nodded. "Well you seem pretty eager to do this. I'll let you take the first shot." 

"Aurora..." Ulric stressed, newfound doubts creeping into his mind.

"OH! Oh you are too kind! And dumb!" Zeth clapped his hands. "Well I can't say it's been a pleasure! I'll try to make this as painless as possible, but no promises!" Zeth widened his stance and reeled back his fist. Red lightning crackled around him, waking up some of the more blacked out tavern patrons. The spiritual snake slithered around his body, finally settling around Zeth's arm. "I'll see you in paradise kid!" He lunged forward, the tavern shaking with his step. He threw a punch with all his might, straight into Aurora's stomach. As his fist collided, the snake charged through her body. The force sent Zeth back, regaining his footing where he originally stood. He let out a mischievous laugh before looking up to admire his work. 

Aurora didn't even flinch. 

"WHAT!?" He screamed. Calmly, Aurora approached Zeth. She grabbed an empty bottle off a table and smashed it over his head. Zeth fell to the ground dazed. Aurora dusted off her hands and turned around to leave. 

"How did you? But... his venom??" Ulric stuttered. 

"Oh, he wasn't venomous." Aurora explained. Ulric stared at her lost. "The pattern on his snake. Red touches yellow, you're a dead fellow. Red touches black, you're alright Jack. He's a milk snake, not a coral snake." 

"But you didn't react from his punch at all?" Aurora cheekily held up an empty potion bottle. 

"When you mix a stone skin potion with alcohol it dilutes it. The effect is still there to a degree, but it can go completely unnoticed." She beamed. Ulric let out a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead. 

"I gotta say, I'm impressed! Don't necessarily like that you used a potion for this but, hey, nice work!" He patted Aurora on the back and the two of them started to leave. 

"Yeah, that's right! Run!" Zeth shouted, rubbing his head. "And don't think this was the last you'll see of me! I'll be back! With something better than a duo! I'll get a trio, no a quartet, NO! A quintet! That's right! I'll get a whole five-man band going! Archetypes and all!" Zeth continued to ramble on as the two shut the door behind them, moving on to the next part of their journey, Aetherwind.