Looking for inspiration... and Purpose (Finished)

[kokoran714]

I wonder if there's an age limit on who they let in. Paul pondered as he sat near the entrance to "The Frosted Flame".

The boy had been wanting to drop into the popular bar ever since he heard about it: He knew that bars were common places for story tellers to dwell.

And the fact that this bar often had customers from many different worlds, that meant people with magnificent stories would be there too, and all sorts of inspiration would surely come to Apollotin. The thoughts of composing such music and creating such drawings put a grin on the priet's face.

But that wasn't the only thing Paul wanted to drop in for; Lately, he had been contemplating one question: Why in the worlds did he drop everything and follow Lasire to Radiant Garden?

Of course the world was beautiful, and it certainly intrigued the Maestro with it's many wonders, but morally he felt selfish; He had almost no purpose in coming here other than to have a vacation.

So as well as stories, Paul was looking for advice. The boy wanted to figure out something useful he could do, so he could make a name for himself among the worlds. Paul wanted a quest.

So after about 20 minutes of thinking about walking into the bar, Paul shouldered Corona (in lyre form), and opened the door to "The Frosted Flame".

He smiled widely, trying to show his confidence, but in the back of his mind, worry ruled his thoughts.

[ariana]

Tifa was busy again. It was one of those times which she appreciated, strange as it may seem to some, but being busy throwing drunkards out of the bar and shaking up drinks distracted her from thinking what Cloud might be getting himself into. Hey, he was strong and capable, surely he wouldn't get torn apart by some random Heartless? But the worry was always there, and it was annoying.


She noticed this strange blonde male with clothes that suggested he was from Olympus Coliseum. Tifa couldn't help but smile slightly at the two thoughts. One was seeing this fellow tearing open his toga after falling. The other was battling against the infamous Sora. Alongside three other of her friends. And yet, he prevailed as the champion.


Curiously, Mr. Olympus entered the bar. Now what could someone that looked so young...be doing in a place like this? Firmly slapping a customer whose hands were wandering in the wrong places, she eyed the visibly and obviously nervous boy. "Can I help you?" she asked, sure that he was going to ask for directions or something along those lines.

[kokoran714]

"Can I help you?" The bar mistress asked Paul as she swatted away a wandering hand. The youth honestly felt out of place as he walked into the bar, and it wasn't helping with some of the stares he was getting from the other customers.

But for some reason, the woman who was apparently in charge of the Frosted Flame made him feel safe. It must have been a workload having to keep the bar under control, so in actuality, Paul was glad that she ran the bar.

Confidence filling him, Paul responded, "Yes, as a matter of fact. Do you know anyone who knows a bit more about this world's history? I'd go to a library, but I'm more keen on listening to the history."

The priest thought,Yes... That sounds like a good place to start. Learning about Radiant Garden. That might help a bit as to what I should do.

(Sorry about the short post; I have places to go )

[ariana]

(XD S'right, I do short poasts quite a lot too @_@)


The world's history? Tifa eyed him curiously. "A little young to be studying old stuff, aren't you?" she said, leaning over the counter top. That sounded like something Aerith would do. "Well, quite a lot of us he - Coming up in a moment - here know a lot about Radiant Garden," she said, waving a hand over herself. "Then there's the Restoration Committee. They probably know the most. There's - Cid, Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, and if you can catch them, Sora, Goofie and Donald," Tifa ticked them mentally off her mind. Was she missing anyone?


Returning a man's leery look with a dirty look of her own, Tifa turned to complete a few orders, wondering what else she could tell this strange man. Boy. "You don't want to ask the people in here though, because the only history lesson they'll be giving you is a history lesson about their very personal life," she rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I doubt a library would have a complete history of this place, too," she added. Poring over thousands of books would probably end up to the same conclusions.


"For a long story cut short, Heartless comes, Heartless goes," she shrugged.

[kokoran714]

When the woman asked if Paul was to young to be studying this old stuff, he simply replied, "Ma'am, if I may be so bold, I always am studying history, or more so, I always was studying Greek history. This would probably be nothing. But please continue."

The bartender, or maybe bartendress, indicated she knew a bit about this worlds history, which Paul took a mental note of, but then she brought up a group of names who all belonged to a "Restoration Comitte". Paul kept all the names in his head lest he heard the name, but then his he practically jumped of of his sandals when he heard Sora's.

"What!? Sora's comes here?! I only know him by reputation, but back on Olympus, he was the top warrior in the colisseum! Oh man... Sorry 'bout that. Got a litte excited," The priest appologized as he collected himself; Sora was something of an idol in his eyes; Sora being kind, strong of heart, and awesome swordsman.

Some of the customers gave a fair share of dirty looks to Paul, as well as the bar's caretaker, but she seemed to just intimidate them back to drinking Hades knows what. Picking up where he left off, Apollotin asked, "What else?"

Then the seemingly feisty lady did as asked, and advised against asking about the world's history to any of these bums, as well as giving the history of Radiant Garden in a Pomegranate seed, "Heartless comes, Heartless goes"

By now Paul could tell he should probably be taking his leave, judging by the fact most of the bars current occupants were looking extremely annoyed, but he wanted to stay and gather as much info as possible, "I think I understand. Heartless came and terrorized the world, but then someone came and drove them out. Is that right? Well anyway, a few other questions; Are there any people you know of who could tell me what a Heartless is? If yes, could you give me directions to their homes, and if no, directions to a comittee member."

Hearing a glass shattering on the floor made the priest flinch, but then finished, "You obviouly know your stuff, but I would hate to take time from your busy schedule." A bottle flew and hit the wall right above Paul's head, just reminding him he should take his leave soon. Trying to make ammends with the bars patrons, Pau added, "Or your wonderful customers. By the way, my name's Apollotin, but call me Paul"

[ariana]

Greek history. Which probably meant this boy had a lot of things in his brain. Merlin would probably like to pick it. Glass ready, she looked amused. "Sora...is really well known around here. He saved this town more then twice and destroyed a thousand Heartless in five minutes. He went head to head with a legendary swordsman. He traveled to many worlds."


She set the glass down as she went to grab some gin for some martini. "What a Heartless is," she repeated thoughtfully. That was rather deep. The first thought that came to her was Ansem. But that was stupid. "There used to be reports, I believe. I don't know where they are now. Sora is probably one of the few out there who really knows about Heartless. Everyone else, well, the basic things."


"When the darkness is a person's heart Stop that. takes over, the person is transformed into a Heartless. The committee mostly hang around Merlin's house. Next to the shops ought to be a duck. Scrooge. He'll point out where the house is."


And then glasses started flying. One soared neatly over the Apollotin's head, and Tifa's eyes narrowed. The perpetrator was the one who ordered the glass, so Tifa picked it up, and with amazing accuracy, smashed it into his crotch. He ran out of the bar howling. "Never liked him anyway," she muttered, brushing her hands. She really needed to clean and make this place look better, it was starting to look like a dump. Of course, Cloud was still nowhere to be seen, so unless a gummi ship crashed into the bar or something, she was going to do some cleaning later.

[kokoran714]

Apollotin watched, almost bursting out in laughter at the sight of his assaulter, dashing out of the bar, howling. Resuming his conversation, he thanked the barmistress "Thank you very much. You've been a lot of help answering all these questions. I'll make sure to look for this, "Scrooge Mc'Duck"

He left about 500 munnny on the counter as a tip for the owner's help, and started for the door. So let's recap: There's this Comittee group I should keep an eye out for, and they hang out near to this guy named Merlin's house. They should be able to help me out with what I should do, now that I can travel the universe. And heartless are basically people who allow evil to take over there hearts... Hm. Oh!! And I need to keep an eye out for Sora! It seems like that could be a huge asset to talkl to him. Pity I don't really know what he looks like...

As Paul reaced the exit, he turned around and called back, "And may I have your name? I'd really appreciate to know who assisted in answering my questions.

[ariana]

Tifa swiped the munny before any of the drunkard and drug addicts could get their filthy paws on it. Like she didn't have enough idiots to deal with...then shrugged and put it in a drawer. Not like she had much use herself for munny..


"Tifa. Tifa Lockhart. You'll want to watch out for Heartless....they play rough," Tifa added, eyeing the boy. He didn't look much like combat material. More like walk-around-and-get-ambushed-damsel-in-distress material. But then again, looks could be deceiving. People started hollering in either happiness that Paul was leaving or annoyance that he was still there. "And - quiet please," she said politely as the noise got louder.


So she brought her fist hard on the counter with just enough force not to break it. Obviously she'd done this many times before. Which also ended up in replacing a few countertops. Wham. The noisy plummeted at once. "Thank you," she said sweetly. "If you happen to run into a man with yellow hair and a huge sword that looks somewhat dark and moody with a long, flowing red cape, tell him Tifa is very, very annoyed. His name is Cloud."

[kokoran714]

Paul couldn't help but grin at the sight of Tifa, as she called herself, keeping this crowd under control. And speaking of the occupants, all the drunkards and bums seemed quite pleased he was exiting.

Keeping the image of a dark and moody, blonde haired, man with billowing red cape in his mind, Paul confirmed his task, "All right! I'll pass on the message if I see him. And I don't worry about too many heartless; I've fought and defeated monsters that could eat one of those fat heartless for a snack,"

Opening the door, Paul offered one last thing to Tifa, "If you're ever in a situation that requires a musician or entertainment," At this, Paul revealed his lyre, "Give me a call. See yah Tifa!"

With that, the priest took his leave from the Frosted Flame, now with more information then he probably could have hoped for, and thought a constant mantra in his head, Mc'Duck, Restoration Comittee, Sora, Cloud; Mc'Duck, Restoration Comittee, Sora, Cloud; Mc'duck.....

The day was still young, and there was still much to find. But in his heart Paul knew he could do this; The wasn't that large (so it seemed). But that was when something else clicked, this time, in his head; He knew what his next song would be about. Hastily, he sat down on the bench he had before, and started to write down the song he had so desperately wanted.

( You want to finish this up, Ariana, or end here?)

[ariana]

(I'll just wrap it up then)


Tifa raised an eyebrow. He defeat monsters stronger then Heartless? But then again, Sora looked young and was incredibly strong. Not many could wipe out her, Leon, Yuffie and Cloud in one go. "Thank you!" she called as he left, now curious about that lyre. As soon as he left pandemonium reigned once more, and it was back to swiftly smacking and throwing dishrags. What a strange boy. The boy reminded her of Sora. Somewhat.


Of course, there was always the possibility of another person like Sora. She sighed. If that was so, it meant another long "adventure". And more work. But honestly, that was better then taking care of the wretched people inside this bar. And there would always be the chance of running into Cloud. So she could demolish him with ranting.


"Hey! No puking on the tables!"


<Tifa exit thread>