Bistro

As the mirage faded from Bistro’s eyes, she lowered her gaze and faced her companion once more. His forked tongue flickered about gleefully, the same stars she once imagined reflected back in his longing eyes, and his tail absent-mindedly thumping on the marble flooring. Miru let out a sigh, before he too returned his sights to the human. She shrugged back, grin plastered on her face. 

“I promised I wouldn’t laugh.”

“And you didn’t! I really appreciate you hearing me out.” It pulled what seemed to be a smile, mirroring the woman’s own; eyes closed and turned upwards, tongue bobbing up and down at a rapid pace. “Anyway, I was out here looking for falling stars in the wheat fields. This is the apex of the mountain after all, so I figured I’d get a better chance to find one with how high up I was! ... Then some guards came over when they’d spotted me, and they hauled me away for the night…” 

It gulped, shrinking back into the pool of itself. “I ended up in an empty room for most of the morning. Then I was brought out here to be punished by Dionysus herself, and that’s when you walked in…!”

“Fortunate timing on my part, then!”

“Yeah, exactly!” Miru let out a hiss of contentment, dancing along his length a little. “Say, Bistro,” he continued, curiosity getting the better of him. “Do you have a wish like that?”

 “Why’s this about me now?” The player smirked, characteristically suspicious, but played along anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to entertain her new friend for a spell, test what Cardinal was capable of. “Well, I do, actually. To leave this world behind, to venture forth back to where we came from.”

“Oh!” The creature followed, nodding along as well. “You’re an explorer then! Are you lost? Is there some way I could help you?”

I guess it makes sense that the system wouldn’t comprehend my request.

Change of plans then, as Miru continued to muse, humming along with its tail end by its chin. “It’d be easier if I could fly… Maybe there’s an exit somewhere in the sky? Or a portal?”

“It’s alright,” Bistro reassured him. “I... think you can leave the escaping to me.”

“Oh, okay…? I mean, if you say so. Is that what you would wish for if you ever saw Dionysus’s stone?”

“Maybe,” she breathed, contemplating her next steps. It wasn’t in her agenda to help out a would-be dragon for the day, but this wish-granting stone felt awfully suspicious. Best investigate it before she continued with whatever she was planning on doing. “Let’s ask around about it first, shall we?”

“See,” Miru began, filling the void with a panicked explanation. “Imugi’s are like… baby dragons. Yeah! We live for eons at a time, and at some point during our lifespan, we’re supposed to turn into dragons and live amongst the skies with our brethren.”

This continued to make less sense to the earthbound player.

“I-I heard that there was a wish-granting stone here, so I’d figured… maybe I’d come give it a look…?”

A wish-granting stone? 

“For real…?”

“Y-yeah! I mean, if Dionysus’s meant to be believed as the one in charge of the cool magical stuff.” 

Miru’s tail seemed to wag at the woman’s interest in his treasure, the python’s expression unreadable where the lady stood. “Uh, what is it called again? All-kem-mie? Um, chemistry? No, that’s...”

Bistro chuckled as the beast fumbled, head turning away. “It’s alchemy,” she clarified. “If that’s the word you’re looking for.”

“Ah! So it is!”

“That seems like a reasonable course of action.” She folded her arms, pairing it with a smile. It fell, however, as she ran through her memory. “But he seemed to be pretty upset with you earlier. How come? Is the stone off limits or something?”

“Ahhhhh--- no…!” Miru let out a hiss of exasperation as he shook his head, almost slinking forward, trying to get himself away from the door despite his confines. “It was just one big misunderstanding! I assure you, I wasn’t up to anything bad -- promise!!”

Bistro chuckled. “You denying it without a reason makes it seem suspicious, Miru.”

The monster whined, dipping his head low in shame. “But it’s embarrassing!”

“Well, no judgments here. Try me.”

There was a brief pause, as Miru wagged his tail in thought. “Promise not to laugh?”

“I promise.”

“Okay,” the snake breathed, blinking. With a raise of his head, he looked up to the sky, a bright blue sea of emptiness towering above the two of them. Bistro followed his gaze, taking in the air in suit.

“The other reason as to why I’m here are the stars.” 

In another universe, another time, the two would be looking upon a night sky, dotted with white lights of various sizes, a myriad of cool colours in their wake, forming the different celestial bodies that gave form to the heavens above.

“I heard that an imugi traditionally becomes a dragon when it catches a wishing star that’s fallen from above. It starts to grow paws, like a tiger’s -- three if we’re lucky, four if we’re chosen to grasp the star in our hands.”

“We form a bushy mane -- and antlers grow from our heads. The skin that coats our body falls off, revealing a number of polished scales, the count of which represent our fortune, our divinity. With one thought, we could call down showers or lift a fog, wash the soil and bless the land with fertility and grace! No longer be forced to walk the earth by our creators -- we’d soar through the skies, and bring joy and miracles to the living! Oh, what a wonder it would be to become a dragon...”

She'd managed to wrestle her way towards the door before the serpent picked up its fuss, which the player tried to match in power, grunting and cursing as it finally passed through the threshold. It struggled less now, as it slammed its body into the corners of the door frame in its struggle, (“Oww! Ouch!”) and it followed through with a growl, the door shutting behind it.

Dionysus's intervention, the alchemist guessed.

Now outside, Bistro finally relented, falling on her behind and panting hard. Her heart was hammering, and her lungs were sore, and she'd hoped that maybe some satyr nearby would help her finish the job.

Incidentally, it was around noon when this had happened.

“You didn’t have to be so rough with me, y’know!”

Now that Bistro was away from prying eyes, she decided that she could banter with the beast in broad daylight without questioning objections. She sighed, before she started. “I’m sorry for doing that to you. What are you, anyway?”

“I--”

“And why couldn’t anyone else hear you? Why does Dionysus want you gone? What--”

“Stop, stop!! I can’t answer everything at once!”

That was Bistro’s cue to keep quiet.

The creature huffed, pooling its body together in a contained pile with a groan. Its slim, pink tongue flickered out for a moment before it continued. “My name’s Miru, stranger. What’s yours?”

“I’m Bistro.” She blinked. “But I don’t see how that’s important.”

“First impressions are very important, mortal! That’s a parting lesson from divinity to you!” Miru’s forked tongue started waving about, as he reared his head backwards. Bistro merely squinted. 

‘Mortal?’

“That’s why I’m here, actually. Say, have you ever heard of an imugi before?“

Bistro shook her head. “Can’t say that I have.”

“Oh. Well, it’s okay. All you have to know is that I’m looking to turn into a dragon.”

Silence hung between them, as gears were forcibly turning in the player’s head.

The god raised the pest. "You see this thing, yes?"

Bistro nodded.

"This is your task: get rid of it." 

One fling, and the serpent was upon the floor, dancing about in a fright. It was barely larger than her, akin to a dog more than a monstrous beast, but all the player heard from it was a squeak as it hit the floor in a thud. 

"I don't care how, but that doesn't belong here, nor anywhere near my crops."

The player found herself sweating bullets, noticing how quickly south this trip to the skies was turning for her. Gingerly, she turned around the room, looking towards the door kept partially open. The blues and greens of the outdoors were calling to her, almost begging for her to respond in an affirmative. 

Instead, Bistro returned a question of her own. "How is… any of this related to alchemy, again?"

"Sorry?"

"I was told I was here for a challenge? Of wits, of some sort, of potion-making...?"

"Oh, that." 

Dionysus rolled his eyes, passing his cup to his other hand, before resting a cheek on his fist, leaning against his throne. "Look, I can’t be bothered to entertain Zeus’ little plan for making you mortals do stuff for us right now. So let’s just straighten this out with a quid-pro-quo ourselves, alright? We’ll just say you’re ridding my fields of rodents like him," he gestured nonchalantly at the oversized python on the ground, "and I'll hand you my cauldron... or something. I'm nearly certain everything we keep in the stash gives you some sort of bonus you're looking for. So chop chop. Get to it."

Oh, great. Watch this be the death of me.

Bistro was hesitant, but she inched closer to the creature as it slowed its struggle. With two beady eyes, it spotted her as she advanced, and the woman froze, seeing the snake slither over to her side. As it drew near, poking its face over at her frame, she frowned, jumping up to reach its snout. Her arms wrapping around its jaws surprised the reptile, and it wriggled hard on its lower body, as Bistro continued to do her best to yank the beast forward, pulling and tugging at it with all her might.

"Wh-- hey! Let me go!"

Huh?

Was this thing talking to her? She faltered for a moment, before continuing her pushes forward, against the complaints of the great snake.

"Hey…! Don't ignore me-- let me go!! I have to stay here!!"

Oh, it was definitely talking to her. With her stats being so low as an only-crafter, her breaths became haggard quick. "No– can– do– buddy..."

"Who exactly are you talking to?"

The snake? 

Bistro had wanted to spit that out, had she not been fighting with keeping the beast on lock. Instead, she figured a quicker “Nothing--!” would suffice. She gulped down a breath of air, before continuing to take out the trash, the whiny cries gone uncared for by the god continuing to plague her existence.

"Dionysus is waiting for you."

"Thanks," the player shot back, her smile paralleling the satyr's dissatisfaction. In the guard's arms, he carried a wooden spear, a symbol of strength Bistro didn't have. She wondered for a moment if any player had been keen to take on the deities' defenses, before shoving the thought aside, approaching the large double doors of the temple ahead of her.

They were embroidered with gold accents, hiding under the shadow of its roof, the sunlight only pooling golden at the marble structure's doorsteps. On yellowed handles did Bistro place her gloves upon, brimming with excitement as she pushed forward, hoping her miniscule size and weight wouldn't hinder her entrance. While the doors had managed to give way, Dionysus himself did not, stepping back with a yelp of shock as the player's form became clear in the goddess' eyes -- a visitor, for her and her alone. The most inopportune of times, it appeared.

"Oh! Sorry," Bistro called out to the divine, grinning. The god, seated on a throne at the far back of the chamber, was floating in midair with a hand swirling a goblet full of liquid that never spilled. Framed by two totem poles of torches, flames ablaze above a lip of gold, it only added to the spectacle of said divinity. And the player was quickly enchanted with the enchanted’s height, seeming as though the avatar could take on a modern skyscraper, given a few more inches. Dionysus simply addressed her with a huff, his eyes rolling. Immediately, the would-be alchemist felt smaller than usual, and the usual around these parts already made her mice-sized in comparison.

Eyes darting to avoid the god’s furious look, what was more of a treat for Bistro's eyes was the brown wriggling worm he'd held in his other hand, seeming to squeal intelligibly trapped in its master's grasp. It was a violent tosser, the snake putting up a fight, but Dionysus didn't seem too occupied with it. More akin to an annoyance to him, the player guessed, as she stepped forward into the temple space, uncertain how she should proceed, if at all.

"What is it this time...? Step forward."

And just like that, her thoughts had been answered. "Oh! Got it," came Bistro's reply, the woman approaching the center of the room, hurried in her paces. "Thank you very much, sir–"

"Oh, niceties." 

The worm continued to thrash about as they conversed. 

"Look, that's very polite of you, I’m sure, but… can we just throw those out for the moment?"

Bistro went blank at the odd request. "Sure?"

"Good."

Olympia was one hell of a place to look upon.

A circular concourse with a large fountain, three tiers of water pouring onto each other, crashing down gently upon a shallow base of water. The liquid occasionally splashed onto white clean cut cobblestone, which sprawled over the courtyard in a pragmatic fashion. Each lane cut across patches of grass, filled with shrubs of various heights, potted in ivory or rooted to the dirt, and the occasional flower bush and hedge bordered some sidewalks while more eye-catching landmarks stood out on others. Statues, marble, of various mythological figures. Against the sky's vibrant blue on this carefree weekend day, Bistro was perfectly content to take her time admiring the sights while she still could on the newly-opened Floor 17.

Taking a look down from the way she came from, even towards the sides of the platform Olympia itself rested on, the mountain's slopes seemed to stretch on for ages. It only found itself cut off by the various cumulus clouds that had bunched up, the set that her and her guide had just breached through earlier with their ascension. A gold rim traversed around the pavement's edges, she'd noticed, as her eyes traveled up the rock, separating white from the summit's duller green. As though the gathering of gods wasn't intended to be here in the first place, but while they were, their rejection from the environment still showed through.

Blacksmithing, the player mused, her gaze slowly sweeping over the fields. She'd sighted a large, darkened anvil, sitting unceremoniously by the entrance of a lane leading to a temple, and figured that's what the signifier had meant. And that's... artisanry? A large gold harp, its form neatly cut, stood somewhere within the north-west region of the circle, resting on freshly trimmed grass. No, performance.

Her eyes hopped, spotting each different mark and temple in the distance, before they settled on one she wasn't too familiar with, where the satyr that had carried her here was heading towards. Dionysus’ abode, was it? What did they stand for? Their home gave nothing away -- no landmarks of any sort, save for the golden wheat fields nearby. Surely this couldn't be for alchemy; it looked as though it was more suited for chefs than players like her.

But if this was where her guide had gone, it was more likely meant for her profession.

Clasping a hand around her neck, Bistro shuffled forward, tailing her leader in earnest.

BISTRO | Lv. 11 | HP: 220/220 | EN: 40/40

SHADOWS WITHAL (62)
LIQUOR OF LIGHT (17)

Crafted by: Alchemist | Rank 10

shadows withal | TIER 4 PERFECT POTION | OVERHEALTH III
flows like air. tastes like smoke. feels like a haunting.

[07/04/22] | +26
[08/04/22] | +19
[09/04/22] | +17
| total: 62

Liquor of Light | TIER 1 PERFECT POTION | DAMAAGE III
flows like water. tastes like sunlight. rolls off the tongue like fog on a drowsy morning.

[19/12/22] | +17

| 19/12/22 #l/o

| 09/04/22 

| 08/04/22 

| 07/04/22 

It was a little questionable when 'a while' might be. Nevertheless, the enterprising alchemist was one to oblige with haste. "Three days," she decided, taking a closer look at the order sheet. The most important takeaway from any transaction was the customer's name. Somehow, keeping tabs on the players of Aincrad was more valuable than the col and material she was paid.

Three days came and went. And while infusing the enhancements had been of no large effort, recreating the potion to its specifics were. A quick message and the Cintamani's door left open, Bistro was quick to give herself some paperwork to do while awaiting pickup.

item pickup. | [origin] | @Nari-Lanreth

Percephonius Pyratius | TIER 4 PERFECT POTION | DAMAGE III | x15
A small glass vial containing a liquid of shimmering silver shards and blue hues, it contains a smell upon opening of cinnamon, lilacs and herbs similar to those found within a country garden. The taste itself is horrendous, and leaves a sweet chill in the back of the throat.

Axintori Alcemitanti | TIER 4 PERFECT POTION | OVERHEALTH III | x15
Contained within a cylindrical tube, this liquid mixture appears blood red in the light, but quickly shifts to a greenish glow when placed in a darkened area. Tasting of a mixture of sesame and apples, it isn’t entirely unpleasant on the tongue, but leaves a sickly sweet after taste in the nostrils.

| 05/04/22

| 04/04/22

DIVINITY'S WAIT (63)
PERCEPHONIUS PYRATIUS (15)
AXINTORI ALCEMITANTI (15)

Crafted by: Alchemist | Rank 10

mortal instants | TIER 4 PERFECT POTION | MITIGATION III
flows like water. tastes like ash. feels like fire in the mouth.

[20/03/22] | +19
[22/03/22] | +22
[24/03/22] | +19
[05/04/22] | +3  /16
| total: 63

Percephonius Pyratius | TIER 4 PERFECT POTION | DAMAGE III
A small glass vial containing a liquid of shimmering silver shards and blue hues, it contans a smell upon opening of cinnamon, lilacs and herbs similar to those found within a country garden. The taste itself is horrendous, and leaves a sweet chill in the back of the throat.

[04/04/22] | +15  /17

Axintori Alcemitanti | TIER 4 PERFECT POTION | OVERHEALTH III
Contained within a cylindrical tube, this liquid mixture appears blood red in the light, but quickly shifts to a greenish glow when placed in a darkened area. Tasting of a mixture of sesame and apples, it isn’t entirely unpleasant on the tongue, but leaves a sickly sweet after taste in the nostrils.

[04/04/22] | +2  /17
[05/04/22] | +13  /16

| 24/03/22 

| 22/03/22

| 20/03/22

| 12/03/22

| 11/03/22 #e

| 09/03/22 #e #l/o ^u

DRAGON BREATH (108)

Crafted by: Alchemist | Rank 10

Dragon's Breath | [#] | TIERLESS PERFECT POTION | CRAFTER'S RESPITE
rolls in the link. there's a lot! trying to clean up my roll display rn so it looks cleaner/neater in the future.

[23/08/21] | +23
[08/03/22] | +30
[09/03/22] | +16
[11/03/22] | +20
[12/03/22] | +19

| 08/03/22 #e

[23/8/21] #e

[18/8/21]