“Bwaahhh!” Satan slammed the jar of beer on the light stripped wooden table. While Jake sat there on the stool, transfixed.

“Don’t drink too much. I’m not going to drag your drunken butt home all by myself.” Jake warned. Satan sulked in a drunk manner, hoping to get a shoulder from his friend. The bar was quite deserted that particular night. The lamps laminated the hall, bright at the corners. Small whispering from the late night drinkers echoed feebly through the room. The bartender wiped the table, holding a cigar in his mouth, clanging some bottles together. The smoke from his cigar fogged the lamp close-by. It almost seemed like spirit smoke used in alchemy…

“Anything you boys want? Jake my boy?” The Bartender said, holding a bottle of sake towards him. He wore an apron and worn out shirt and some casual pants. He had a strong build to his body, muscular arms and a tall and handsome figure. He had a tough look on his face with a dark beard, but at the same time, he had a caring gaze. He landed the bottle with a thud on the table.

“Nah, old man. I’m good.” Jake wavered his hand, brushing him off.

“Aw, come on! Gulp it down.” the bartender teased. Then reached his ear, “It’s good for vampires you know? It’ll be a little comfortable for you to not hunt very often… savvy?” he whispered and smiled, giving him a wink.

“Ugh… fine. You never change do you? I’ll take it, then.” Jake grabbed the bottle’s neck and slid it towards himself.

“Buuut…!” the bartender began, “You have to pay though… teehee!” he grinned widely. Jake stopped in midway, expecting something to get from him.

“Wh-What did you say? I have to p-p… what?!” Jake shuddered.

“Ahahah! Just kidding boy!” He patted Jake on his shoulder, cheering him up. The patting was just too powerful that Jake shuddered.

Both laughed and gossiped. But the person beside…

“H-Hey, Sat, sorry about that… leaving you out.” Jake turned towards the drunken lord. He took wheezing and ragged breaths. Said nothing. Just stared straight forward, hands supporting his chin and the glass of booze in front of him. Not a glance more towards anything.

“I’m left alone? Oh, it’s already midnight. I have to look up a skirt or two. I’ll pay you back…” he kept mumbling to himself.

“Oi! Sorry for leaving you out!!!” both zipped.

*****

“*sniff* just because I’m a little into girls’ skirt… you all hate me so much! That’s it I’m—“

“Quit it. Its creepy.” both jinxed again together.

“Uwaaaahh!!! Now you’ve done it! You two are not my friends anymo—“

“Want some quality booze? I bought a pair.” Jake clanged two bottles filled with alcohol, holding them by their neck, deliberately showing them to him.

“Aah! Thank you for the heavens! You both are the best friends I ever had” Satan cheered up, grinning out of his jawline.

“Wow… that was a sudden change of mood. How sketchy…” the bartender gave a lame clap of his hands, with no expression at his face.

There was a sound of the doorbell ringing. Someone walked in, thumping on the ground with metal boots and jingling sound of chain armour and a golden chest-plate shining on the figure. It was a man, a tough one at that. He had a rough complexion with a scar across his left eye to the cheek. He had black hair slit back with brown eyes. He had an enormous build to his body, probably making his enemies cower in fear. The armour shinned even in the light of lamps complimented with that golden chest-plate. He carried a massive double-edged sword along on his waist, swinging on every step. Thumping his feet, he sat next to Jake on the stool, resting his elbow on the table. The heavy armour clashed against the edge of the table.

“Oh, sorry about that… I’ll take a beer please.” The man requested the bartender.

“Coming right up!” the bartender understood, leaving from the service counter to pour some.

The man looked at Jake’s face, not recognising him. Then his gaze fell on Satan.

“Well if it isn’t Victor…?” he began, “How are you… eh?” he asked the drunk lord who happened to be dozing off. Jake elbowed him to wake up and whispered in his ear.

“You have a friend calling for you. Wake up damn it!” Jake hissed.

Feebly opening his eyes, lifting his head up from the table, his gaze fell upon a tall and stout figure. “Wha… General Salazaar?! What are you…” he trailed off while flinching back on his seating position in a respectable manner.

“It’s been a while, Victor. How is your training going? Any new recruits this month?” he asked politely.

Victor? Isn’t he… Jake thought through, coming out of the sense.

“Well, um… hehehe. Not really, but there will be soon enough!” he spit out the words with great difficulty in his voice.

“Now, now, this isn’t working at all. You gotta change your ways!” he ordered in a tough voice.

“Y-Yes sir.”

The bartender put down the mug of beer on the table.

“Sooo, tell me about your history, mister… er?”

“Bwahhhh!” the general slammed down his empty mug on the table that he emptied down in one gulp. “Salazaar… call me Salazaar, please.” He whizzed.

“Okay, S-Salazaar… could you tell me about your history?” Jake asked, patiently sipping his beer, barely controlling the urge to drink it all in one go.

“Yeah… where do I start? Yeah… I… sorry let me sober up.” Saying that, he crossed his fingers, and started emitting energy around his body. Spiritual control power maybe? Then he uncrossed his finger, causing the flow to burst and sip inside him. It gave a golden glow to his body and then faded away.

“I’m good. Now, about my past… you see, I was a knight before. I trained myself to my limit to achieve my dreams and here I am, a general sitting beside you drinking beer. How long did it take? I don’t remember. But I do know that I achieved some astounding feats.” He turned towards both of them, patting his thigh and supporting his chin with his hands. “Like, I defeated the Dragon God Fernandis with my own holy sword. It was quite a difficult feat, though.”

Oy, wait. What did he just say…? Fernandis? Hah, kinda feels familiar. But where… Jake wondered.

“But then, it was not over… then the demon races resurfaced after a long time since the Great War. Rumours has it that the Hell’s ruler Satan brought his army to wreak havoc on the surface dwellers.”

Huh?!!

“I am currently in the pursuit of that wrench. I swear when I find that fiend, I’m going to rip him to pieces!” he spat.

Crap… I don’t have a good feeling about this. He’s right on the spot…!

Jake sat there, frozen with fear building in him.

“Haa? But I didn’t bring—“

“Aaahhh! You drank too much! L-let’s not talk for some time…!” Jake covered Satan’s mouth as hard as he could. But then he realised Satan almost fainted of suffocation. Jake hurriedly released his hand. Satan gasped for air.

“A-Anyway, general, tell us more! Daily duties?” Jake changed the sweat-tearing topic to a calmer one.

“My daily life, you ask? Well…” he shifted uneasily, “I got kicked from my own house… just because I didn’t do the dishes on time…! *sniff* the world is so cruel, especially my wife! Boohoo…!!” he covered his face, trying to hide the weak expression which was obvious even when unseen.

What…? You even have a freaking title of killing Fernandis, chasing after the demon king, almost made my heart come to my mouth and here you are being kicked away from home?! And for what? Dishes?!!

“I’m sorry.” Jake sympathised. Like hell I’ll be sympathetic to you! He showed and honest and innocent smile.

“Oh and Victor, I wanted to speak to you for a moment. It’s about the training courses. Shall we stroll outside?” He offered Satan a hand, fitting his armour into position again. Satan stood up, stumbling over a few times and clashing some glasses, and trotted outside with Salazaar.

“Man those two sure make a good duo…” Said the bartender, coming out of the backroom, wiping his hand with a cloth, wearing a worn out apron.

“Yeah but, coming from your mouth, it sounds something entirely different…” Jake directed his finder towards him without moving his hand much.

“Hahah! You know what I mean! They have a mutual—“

“Stop it please.” He said with a straight face.

“Tch, you’re one boring guy…” he said with a disappointed grin on his face, looking the other way.

“Oi, don’t ignore me so straight! Alright, I agree!” Jake swarmed his hand in the air, trying to get the bartender’s attention while he completely ignored his all gestures.

In the end they ended up laughing, like two best friends, hanging out late till night, holding each other by arms, playing jokes on either and clanging their drinks, toasting their friendship. Jake seemed to like this lifestyle. He did not want to let go any of the precious memories he made, with his loved ones. Even when far apart, he would imagine them, fooling around, together making a group and enjoying. Even if it meant his dreams were shattered.

“To think we could both live our future together, holding hands, bonding deeper every moment…”

“Destiny quoting behind us the tales of how we were and how we are now…”

“If there were to occur any fireworks in the neighbourhood, we would gaze into the starry night watching them bursting into a thousand small sprinklers. But… with you alongside, I could not hear the fireworks, for the sound of my heartbeat is louder than them.”

“If I could pledge for an eternity… my wish would be to see your dreamy eyes that glowed even in the dark, even if for once… I would like.”

“Hey, I didn’t know that you could quote by yourself…” the bartender broke Jake from his reverie. “Do you like quoting?”

“Yeah, for quite a long time, I have always had this habit… since… Wanda…” he trailed off.

Jake left through the door, “Well then, see you.” He waved his hand slightly, biding him farewell as the bartender gave a smirk, hands crossed around his chest.

“Hang in there my friend…”