The Blackbird Tavern & Inn

Veta_Norr

Owner of the Blackbird Tavern
Sound of slow footsteps crunching on the fallen dead leaves then stops, as then the sound of jingling keys..door swings open, the soft sound of a sigh of relief.."Finally..I'm home." Veta spoke as she placed down her suitcase to the floor. Smoothing her hand over her hair as she glances over the room.."Hmm..needs some serious cleaning up before I can even consider opening. Guess I need to snap to it..lots to be done..mopping , dusting..making sure the glasses are clean, kitchen clean..and most important..the drink inventory needs to be checked." she ended with a soft chuckle to herself as she reached to the handle of her suitcase. " First things first is to unpack, and dress into some cleaning clothes and get busy." Moments later she has returned to the tavern, dressed in a denim shirt over a pair of dark colored jeans, and tennis shoes on her feet., and her hair pulled back with a clip. Taking a moment or two, standing in place , hands to her waist she gives the room another long look..surveying on where to begin first. With a sigh, she decided the floors will be first. So with a turn she heads to the cleaning closet just off from the kitchen..getting the pail with mop, and gathered up several bottles of cleaning liquids , shoving a couple of bottles under her arm, and another she held by pressing it against her, her other hand grasped the handle of the mop in bucket and pushed it across the kitchen floor.
Many hours later, she slumped down to one of the booths sweeping the back of her hand across her forehead and then moved a few strands of hair away from her face as she looks over the room. Still not quite finished, but it makes for a good start. She grins, tapping her nails to the surface of the booth table, " Great to be home, again." She slides out from the booth, hands to her lower back she leans left then right to stretch her back. Before heading out for some much needed rest, she makes the last chore of the day...placing a 'Help Wanted' sign to the lower corner of the window by the door. Gave her hands a clap she turns on her heel and heads out , looking forward to a good long soak in a hot tub with a few candles scented candles lit on the porcelain corner, and a glass of wine.
 
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It had taken a good part of a week, working days and most of the nights, but she has finished with the cleaning of the place. Now the following day, she arose , freshly dressed , decended down the stairs looking forward to her first morning cup of coffee. Moments later, she stood to the open doorway of the kitchen sipping on her coffee as she takes a long look over the tavern area. A light smile of approval of her hard work. She stepped over to the bar, and settled down to one of the long legged chairs , fixing her attention towards the tavern entrance.
"Well..only time will tell if my work pays off.."
 
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Upon unlocking the door, she entered inside closing the door behind her. She stepped across the room then slipped behind the bar counter. Taking down a glass from the shelf, she then poured herself a shot of Disaronno then settled down to one of the stools at the bar, taking a slow sip of the drink , thinking of what a strange evening this had turned out to be. The room was quiet. A bit too quiet. But sometimes she enjoyed the quiet. Perhaps soon her business would perk up, it had afterall been closed for some time, some may not even know The Blackbird has reopened. Patience. She then took another swallow of her drink as she then reached for the ledger she had left on the counter earlier and began reading over the figures.
 
She stands at the window, gazing out, sipping on a glass of ginger ale..as she lowers her glass she shakes it lightly, listening to the tinkling of the ice cubes. It's one of her favorite sounds. Her attention shifts to a tree across the way , the gentle sway of the branches as a light breeze flows through makes the leaves seem like they are clapping. It brought a small smile . She really needed something to make her smile. Business hasn't exactly been what she would like it to be. She actually thought The Blackbird would again come to life after so she so long had been away. She sighed to herself, muttering softly,
" I shouldn't bash myself..it couldn't have been helped..she had to leave."

A feeling of sadness moves in and covers around her tight, feeling the suffocation as the scenes of her past visit away comes to her. She gave her head a small shake, making the long silken strands of her raven hair to sway slightly against her back and shoulders. "No..Have to think on something else.."
Taking another swallow of her drink she turns around and stares about the room, the tables with the chairs neatly pushed to each smoothed top tables. Globe candles on each table. The bar counter..napkins neatly stacked in their containers, stirring straws..wine glasses hung over head on a rack that held the glasses by their stems. A long stretch of a mirror on the wall behind the counter, bottles of every size and color stood poised on a tiered self. Easier to read the labels that way. Every thing is in place. Except for one thing. Patrons.
She couldn't understand it. The Blackbird is in a good location..she hasn't seen much action in town either, it's almost as if it's a ghost town. She kind of chuckled..
"Damn...at this point I'd welcome the ghosts."
 
"Marcus, we have something interesting." Said the voice in his ear.
"What is it, Katarina?"
"Movement in the old sector. One of the old taverns. It's been steady for several days."
"Again?"
"What do you mean 'again'? There hasn't been activity there in years."
Marcus laughed. That was certainly true. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just that the last time movement was seen in the old sector we had to call in help from some of the ones who helped build that section of the realm to deal with it. I seriously don't want to have to mess with that, again."
"Oh the big, brave, genetically enhanced martial arts expert is scared of ghosts in the tavern, is that it?"
He rolled his eyes and smiled as he responded. "Will you knock it off? Which tavern?"
"Blackbird Tavern and Inn. I'll send you the coordinates."
"Thanks, Katarina." He said as he got into his car to start heading that direction.
"And Marcus?"
"What is it?"
"Be careful this time, will you?"
"Hey, come one, this is your little brother you're talking to here..."
There was a pause. "Yeah..." She continued solemnly. "So be careful."
 
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She gave a shrug of her shoulders as she then moves around to stand behind the bar setting down her glass to the counter. She went to reach for a bottle but paused for a moment ,
" Do I really want to do this ? " She said aloud to herself.
" Oh why not..the patron's won't mind.." She replied to herself.
"Oh god, I've resulted to talking to myself..well, in that case..let's make the conversation more interesting.."
She went to tilt the bottle over her glass but paused as she returns the glass back to her lips only to swallow the remains of the ginger ale. Settling the small glass upon the napkin that was left there earlier, she poured herself a few finger levels of the liquor.. then with a half turn to return the bottle to the shelf behind her but stopped, shrugged again as she then chosen to just leave it on the counter. She then slipped out from behind the counter and was about to begin down the corridor when she stopped, turned and went back only to reach for the bottle then returned to heading to her office, pushed the slightly open door with the toe of her shoe she moves inside , setting the bottle on the desk as she then lowers herself onto the black leather swivel..slouches down, leans back and props her legs atop the desk in a crisscross fashion.

Raising the small glass up , " What brought me back to Ayenee to begin with ? " A brief pause as she then answered her own question with an " oh yeah,..to escape."
 
The drive to the old sector of town didn't take all that long, once you got through the traffic of the main city. Growing up here, he'd never really given the infrastructure of the city much thought. However, his trip to the other realm with the Yamataian Empire had been eye opening. It made him realize that Ayenee as a whole, not just the capital city, was a very peculiar place. He'd meant to talk to Anon about other worlds when he brought the delegation back with him, but circumstances being what they were...well, it just hadn't worked out.

Now that he was actually in the boundaries of the old sector, he had to slow down to navigate the streets. That's how he noticed a lot of things he hadn't payed any attention to before. The ground was charred from some epic battle in many places. Machine parts from who-knows-what lay rusted and forgotten. Guild houses encircled some long-forgotten crest near the square. And, did the old inhabitants really feel a need for so many taverns? What he noticed, most of all, though, was the state of the buildings. True, they were dark and musty, and he could see an obvious layer of dust inside, but there was no deterioration on the buildings themselves, at least not very many.

"Kat, how long has it been since this sector of town was inhabited?"


"Oh geeze, Marcus, I don't know. The way time works around there I wouldn't even be able to guess."

"Okay but, long enough that there should be some decay on these buildings, right?"

"Dad never talked about the old town with you. I forgot."

"What do you mean?"

"The city was built one building at a time, just like most old cities. But, with so many overly powerful creatures coming around with an attitude problem, buildings were getting destroyed on an almost daily basis. For some reason, nobody wanted to relocate, and more and more places kept popping up, but they were getting tired of rebuilding all the time. So, a group of mages or weavers or something like that got together and decided to protect the buildings with a group spell. Any business owner who agreed would be protected by the spell from damage to the buildings. A few didn't want it done, but almost everyone agreed. Dad said it was one of the most complex pieces of magic ever performed in the entire realm. So, the structures themselves can take a hit, and will immediately begin to repair themselves."

As Katarina talked, Marcus picked up a rock and looked at the building he was standing next to at the time. White Dove Tavern and Inn was posted on the sign. Marcus tosses the rock through the window, which shattered easily enough. And, sure enough, the moment the pieces settled on the floor, Marcus could see them going back along the same path they'd traveled to eventually rest back in place. He whistled in surprise.

"We could use something like that at Equilibrium."

He looked ahead and could see the Blackbird up the street. He decided to jog the rest of the way, and came to the door fairly quickly.

"Seriously, Marcus, be careful."

He knocked and pushed the door open slightly. "Hello? Anyone around?"

 
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Thinking she heard something, she slowly uncrossed her legs placing her feet back to the floor. She rested the book she had been reading spread eagle on the desk. It was an old paperback she had brought back with her, one her favorite's titled 'Lightning' by Dean Koontz. That and the liquor was nearly successful in lulling her to sleep, just as she was nodding was when she thought she heard something. She sat there being quite still, a slight tilt of her head as she focused.
Then she slapped her palms on the arms of the office chair, and rose up.
" Could be something, could be nothing.." she muttered as she began to move out from behind her desk now heading to and then out through the open doorway ..Smoothing her hands over the front of her shirt, smoothing her fingers along the collar and adjusted the back which had flipped up as she had slouched earlier in the chair. Just as she approached the end of the corridor she paused , giving a slow glance around the tap room area..nothing..nothi..that's when she saw the man standing just inside. Veta's eyes widened at the immedient shock .
" Wow , someone IS here.." she thought to herself.
She lowered her arms to her side as she stepped out fully into the room, "Careful , might be one of those 'ghosts' " she teased herself.
Slowly as she approached the stranger, she began to smile softly,
" Well..there IS life in this city after-all.. Hello, welcome to the Blackbird, how may I help you ?"
 
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Marcus chuckled. "I kind of had the same thought about you. This area of town..." He looked outside for a second. "Well, you can see it, I assume?" It was sad that he had to ask, but it was Ayenee. There was no telling what sort of peculiar restrictions someone could have placed on them.

Without concerning himself with her response, he took another step in and extended a hand. "The name's Marcus. I'm with the Equilibrium Corporation. It's one of the larger companies in the main area of the city. It's kind of become a habit of mine to keep tabs on this area of town. Last time someone showed up here for more than a couple of days it didn't end very well."

Clearly she'd spent a good deal of time cleaning. There wasn't near as much dust as the other buildings he'd passed, and he couldn't see any sign of cobwebs. He didn't mention the obvious smell of alcohol on her and visual signs of intoxication, subtle as they were. It was a tavern, after all. What else was he supposed to expect?
 
His statement puzzled her . Seeing the extended hand, she reached out her own to return the greeting.
" Can I see it ? See what ?.."
Her hand hardly gripped in the handshake when she moved away from him to peer out from the doorway wondering what it is she is to see. She remained quiet as she then took slow steps outside, first looking across the way, then right and then to the left. Nothing. Absolutely nothing and no one.
" Well...that explains everything."
She took a few backward steps back inside, reached with her hand stretched behind her as she blindly felt for the end bar chair, then a foot backward to the bottom rung of the chair, hand now to the counter she pushed up to seat herself to the chair.
" It really is a ghost town...how is it I didn't see this ? "
She fell quiet.
" I left...what was to be perhaps a short trip, turned to an extended stay of a year...all my energy was focused solely on returning...that I just wasn't paying any attention..but ..now all my questions have just been .."
She is so shocked over this she couldn't seem to finish her sentence. She slumped back,
" Wow...guess I look like the biggest fool right ? I've returned to nothing.."
She fell silent once again. A hand raised to her stomach as if the wind had been knocked out of her. This business was all she had. She put alot blood sweat and tears into building The Blackbird only to now have the proverbial rug snatched out from under her. The sting of tears rose to her eyes, but she quickly blinked several times as she slipped down from the bar chair to now slipping around to stand behind the counter. She took in a deep breath as she worked to keep her composure. Lifting a bottle from the tier behind her, she didn't care what it was at that moment what she took. Setting down the bottle on the counter , a shot glass soon followed. Pouring a shot , she downed it quickly. Not bothering to look back to him..she began to push her thoughts back to his introduction.
"Mark is it ? Wait , no...Marcus..that's right..well Marcus, what can I get you? "
Splashed more to the shot glass, then held the glass up as it in giving a toast.,
" Drinks are on me....so, Equilibrium Corporation.." Her voice was straining..coughed , clearing her throat in another effort to push back tears...she didn't want to loose it in front of him.
 
He stood and watched her reactions. He wondered if she knew how much she was actually giving off as she moved about the room.

He remembered a time back before Katarina had learned about his enhancements. He'd been unable to figure out why most people couldn't do the things he could. Sure the exclusively physical things were easy enough to explain away. Being stronger and faster than other people had been something he'd just attributed to his discipline with martial arts. It was the other enhancements that he couldn't pin down. Why weren't others able to problem solve as fast as him? How come they didn't notice subtle movements and hear whispered sounds? He'd been naive enough to not figure it out until his sister learned the truth. Now, his ability to read this woman's body language so easily made sense.

"We tend to not notice things we aren't looking for." He said. "If you were focused on just getting back, why would you have bothered to pay attention to whether or not there was a crowd in the street? This area of town is easy enough to get to from outside without passing through the other areas, and there are any number of reasons why a normally busy street might be empty for a little while. Time of day, weather, special events, on and on. It's easy to rationalize." In another environment he may have added "You're only human.", but that would be a very foolish statement, especially in the old sector of town. He'd personally met several individuals who could masquerade as human but turn into something entirely different at the drop of a hat.

At her offer of a drink, he looked at the selection. He'd never been one for alcoholic beverages. Part of the problem with his enhancements was that his metabolism was heightened, as well. A single glass of wine could get him drunk in a matter of minutes. "I'll have to apologize but time works pretty differently in this area of town so I don't really know what to call it, but I'll take a root beer or a sasparilla."
 
She gave a slow nod, I didn't bother if he didn't want to share a drink with her. She dropped a couple of ice cubes into a tall slender glass, pull back the tab releasing a 'pop' sound followed by a fizzing as she poured. She didn't empty the entire contents of the can only sat it on the counter then placed the glass on a napkin and slides it towards him. Her movements almost seemed mechanical, she was feeling numbness at the present from being brought to her attention she had tried to rekindle her business in a town that somehow had become dead during the time she had taken leave. Returning to her own drink, she lifted it up but just held it and staring at it as she sloshed the liquid watching it wave side to side in the glass, she did this alot when thinking. Thinking. That was something she couldn't seem to focus on right now. She just felt numb. Finally something did manage through the fog in her head..
" What happened here ? What caused everyone to leave ? "
 
He took a sip of the drink and sat in a chair fairly close to her.

"I don't know if I'm the best one to answer that question. What I can tell you is mostly secondhand knowledge. But, it started a long time ago. When the population growth of Ayenee was at its peak, something happened that stopped the influx of people almost immediately. And it wasn't just the capital city, either. Community leaders came up with plans to regroup, which worked for a while, but as time passed fewer and fewer people were showing up. Some people died; some moved away; some simply vanished with no explanation given."

He glanced out the window. Bugs and rodents seemed to be the only signs of life anywhere out there.

"It's easy to understand that you'd be concerned for the future of your business. I do have an offer for you that could, potentially, help. It's not without a fair amount of risk, but the company I work for might be able to give you a hand, if you're interested."
 
" I once saw a movie similar to this..."The Stand". Only difference is that it was a virus sort of stuff that was killing people off, the survivors were immune to it."
She finally did bring up her glass as if to take a drink, but instead sat the glass back to the counter. It was as if she did realize she had exceeded her limit just a bit. She then turned her attention to him, what he told her caught her off guard.
" A job offer..hmm..been quite some time since I did something other than working my own business. It did pretty good....a while back. "
She fell silent then, now turning her attention at the open doorway gazing out to the section of street that was only visible at that view.
" My father was right afterall...he said it wouldn't last. "
Still unmoving from what seemed close to a semi-hypnotic state gaze to the outside,..
" So..what sort of job is it ?...umm, wait..risk you say? What sort of risk ?"
 
Marcus chuckled a bit.

"Well, it's something I'm pretty sure you'd be fairly good at. How does the title of 'Owner of the Blackbird Tavern and Inn' sound to you?"


He waited for her initial reaction and laughed slightly.

"Okay I'll explain. We can relocate the building to an area of the city that's still under development. The risk comes in the moving of the building. We've done it to some newer buildings in other areas of town, but never anything from the old sector. If this building was included in the protective spells it may or may not even work, in the first place, to be honest. If it does, it may suffer some damage and I don't know if the warding will remain in place if it's move out of its original location. Then there's the legal matters. Equilibrium would draw up a temporary contract with you for a while as a matter of reimbursement. Ultimately it would allow you to retain ownership and move the business to an area of town that will actually allow for customer traffic. In return, we'd be temporary partners for a share of your profits."

He'd let the initial offer sink in for a moment before continuing.

"Of course, I'd have to clear all this with the board of directors, first. But, this wouldn't be the first time the company did something like this, so I'd say that would be more of a matter of formality than anything."
 
Her mouth nearly dropped open. She turned his words over in her head for a moment. Her eyes narrowed slightly , In all honesty, she loved the idea. She just felt it to be too good to be true. One moment she felt as if she had lost her establishment, and now she is being told it could be re-cycled in a sort of way. She couldn't help but to feel skeptical,,there are some people who finds kicking a person down entertaining. She stared at him in brief silence before speaking a responce.
" I love the idea..but, if moving the building seems to be a problem..why take the effort in moving it ? Wouldn't a corporation rather build than take a risk ? Don't get me wrong..the full concept of re-location sounds great, being that I've been offering services to a dead city for the past two weeks. "
She slipped out from behind the counter and over to the window, she removed the 'help wanted' sign and brought it back to the bar only to rest it on the counter next to her glass which she did decide to lift up and take a small swallow. She drummed her fingertips atop the 'help wanted' sign..
" Let me know how Equilibrium feels about it.."
 
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Another chuckle escaped from his lips. "Well like I said, it's not without risk. I'm the VP of the sporting division of a major corporation. My life stays pretty full with business matters, technological advances, martial arts events and so on. I'm hardly an expert in magic. If we can even move the building, I think it would be worth it. If what I've heard is true, the protective warding on the buildings around here should keep us from having to worry about the building's upkeep, so moving it would actually be quite a bit cheaper than a new construction project. Manual labor can be replaced by mechanical labor, but materials still aren't cheap."

He finished his drink and stood up. "I tell you what. You keep doing whatever it is you would normally do, and I'll be in contact as soon as I can. He held out his hand. I'm sorry but I don't believe I caught your name."
 
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She was to say the least, impressed as he revealed his duties. (( that's busier than even my worst day..well, actually today had been a 'worst' day..)) she thought to herself. She gave a slight smirk to his comment on getting back to what she normally has been doing..then seeing his hand reaching out, she reached out her's as well,
" Can't catch what hadn't been thrown.." she said with a grin. " Veta." she then added to that quickly, " Thank you, Marcus."
 
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"Nice to meet you, Veta. I'll be in contact, soon." With that, he walked out of the tavern.

"Are you insane!?"

Marcus waited until he was a fair distance away before responding. No sense in seeming like he was talking to himself while Veta could still hear him. "Not any more than you. We'll talk when I get there."

"It'll never work, Rodia."


"Now there's a familiar voice."
Marcus turned to see an all too familiar form sitting on top of the tavern he'd thrown the rock through earlier. "Nice to see you, Anon."

"Same. But seriously, it'll never work."

"So I've heard. Why not?"

Anon disappeared in a small flash of light and reappeared in front of Marcus, just a few feet away. "The White Dove was my childhood home. My godfather took over caring for me because of a war. Eventually, his duties forced him away, so he found a suitable set of adoptive parents. They owned this tavern. But, as things went back then, anywhere that people gathered was prone to a good amount of violence. Over and over again I watched the Rampids rebuild this place. And it wasn't just here, or even other taverns. The guild houses, the docks, lake houses, palaces, on and on and on."

The white light that surrounded his body shimmered as he moved closer to the front door of the establishment. Placing a hand on the wooden door, he closed his eyes and continued to speak in a somber tone. "They were good people, Marcus. Like most people in Ayenee, they had sorted pasts. But, all they really wanted was to be left alone. I was a welcome addition to their family because it gave them some sense of normal life. But they were tired of the violence. Tired of working so hard to run a business only to have it destroyed at the whim of some over-confident powerhouse. Don't get me wrong, they could hold their own, and I stopped more than my fair share of fights from breaking out inside these walls, but it still happened."

"Okay..." Marcus knew there had to be a point to this tale. But, he wasn't seeing it. "So what does this have to do with the other tavern?

"The wards. I can't take credit for the idea, but I helped create them." He wiped his hand across the door and watched the dust and dirt fall off the building. In a moment it looked like a brand new piece of construction. Knowing it was only a matter of time before more settled on, he sighed and continued his explanation. "It was an immensely complex series of weaves. We tried one mass combination spell, but it fizzled every time we tried it. In the end, we had to weave separate wards on every building. Time, space, energy, mind, chaos, holy, elemental...the list goes on. Everything had to be woven together perfectly, and it was done on almost every building in the area. Manipulating supernatural energies isn't easy, and it comes with a price, Marcus. In this case, the price was high. That's why time acts so strangely in this area of the city. In fact, it acts differently for each and every building."
He pointed to the Blackbird. "You physically do anything to that building, and the moment everything stops moving, it will start an exact reverse course to that precise spot, just like when you threw the rock through the window of my childhood home."

Marcus put forth a playful smirk. "Ah. You saw that, huh?"

Anon smiled. "Any activity here alerts me. It's not like you knew."

Marcus nodded. "Okay then. So now what? I can't very well go back there and tell that poor woman that minutes after I offered to save her business I learned it's not actually possible. It's not like Equilibrium would have gone for it, anyway. For cryin' out loud I had to as her what her name was before I left. What sort of business plan is that? 'Hey guys I don't know anything about this lady, her history, her finances, her business plan or her capabilities, and oh yeah she didn't even notice that there wasn't anybody else in the old sector of town, but I think we should dump a huge chunk of money into her business to get her back on her feet.' Yeah that'll go over great."

He sighed. "I can afford to move a building but there's no way I'm able to pay for an entire tavern by myself."

Anon smiled as he faded from view. "I guess you'll have to figure that one out for yourself."
 
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After the man Marcus had left, Veta stood at the counter. She wasn't sure how to feel at this moment. She was feeling excitement, but a little doubtful too.
(( Wow. What a day this has been.)) She thought to herself as she now moved around the corner of the counter to the spot she was earlier serving Marcus his root beer on ice. Taking the empty can and glass from the counter she dropped the can to the waste container under the counter and the glass went to the small sink also located on the other side of the counter. She rests her palms to the sides of the sink and stared forward, staring at nothing in particular as fell into thought.
" What if..what if this doesn't go through..what would I do then ? "
She sighed deeply.
" Afterall..this really does sound..too good to be true."
A quick wash of the glasses she places then to the drainer, then wipes her hands to the dish cloth tossing it back near the sink as she now moves away from the counter with her hand patting a yawn as she begins her assent to the stairs to head to a room for some needed rest. She steps over to the dresser and pulls out a nighting gown then heads to the bathroom. Moments later she returns to her room, tiredly pulling back the covers she crawls in, slipping her hands underneath her pillow as she turns to her side and closes her eyes. The events of the day replays in her head recalling all that Marcus had told her. She snuggles her head deeper into the pillow as she then says in a whispery voice..
" Per favore, rapidamente risposta lo edifico , Blackbird..." (translation..please a quick reply of the business Blackbird.)
She then begins to drift off to sleep.
 
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