Halloween Spook-tacular: A Better Perspective

Part of Anya wanted to really be irritated. She'd left Black Water Port to do some work, and the fact that she'd never gone and got a passport before had wound up turning around to bite her in the ass. She was stuck in Fiore because border security for getting out was a bit more strict than getting in for...there was some reason, but she couldn't rightly remember what it was just at this moment. But that part of her was relegated to the back of her head at the moment. Truth be told, she was caught up in the spirit of the season. Every sensation had become so much clearer ever since she'd taken that Lacrima. The biggest change was just how much more keenly she could smell everything. At first, it had been nauseating. Of course, her much sharper sight was nice.

But having your sense of hearing and smell suddenly reach inhuman levels in the span of a heartbeat or two wasn't exactly the most...painless experience. But, she'd had time to adjust. The seasickness had been a new thing. Something she wasn't exactly happy about. But she could at least mitigate that with part of the magic the Lacrima had given her. However, it was thanks to her enhanced senses that she caught word of an interesting event going on in the Port City. Much like everywhere else in Fiore, the city was decorated in all kinds of macabre decoration, and all kinds of seasonal games were being played. Perhaps most fittingly, they had actual gold coins on offer as prizes. They called it a 'token', sure. But she'd seen a few people flashing their tokens around. They were definitely real gold.

So, driven by that intoxicating combination of curiosity and the kind of avarice that had allowed her to be ok with becoming a pirate, Anya followed the cries of the voice..and wound up at a small booth, set up on the side of the street. Someone was already standing in front of it, so Anya stood off to the side for a moment. Observing as part of the crowd, eyes darting with a speed that might be impressive to the casual observer as she did her best to follow the coffin that the booth worker had placed a piece of candy in. It was an interesting game to her. She'd been out in the world for a few years now, and had seen a few similar takes on this game. But it still fascinated her just how easily it was to iterate on and change the idea. Adding magic was a genius move. It made it that much harder for anyone to cheat. After all, magic could move the cups around at a pace far faster than normal human hands.

Eventually, the coffin came to a stop. The person behind the counter put their 'bet' on the coffin on the far left. If her 'new' eyes could be trusted, Anya was relatively certain the candy was actually in the coffin on the right. So when the decorative coffin's lid pushed open to reveal a skeleton rise from it in the stereotypical zombie pose thanks to a touch of magic animating it, she found herself smiling ever so slightly. Especially when the skeleton let off a little cackle and 'fell apart', leaving the booth worker to wave their hand over the coffin on the right side. Just as she'd thought, it was in the right.

The previous contender didn't try a second time. But Anya? Her curiosity had been piqued. So she slipped out of the crowd.

"Ah, I see we have a new contender!" The woman running the table called out, the wind blowing ominously as she spoke. It was admittedly surprisingly cold, for how temperate of a climate the port usually operated under. She found herself wondering if they'd set up special lacrima just for the big celebration that was being thrown. Still, Anya shrugged as her unzipped coat blew in the breeze.

"I don't think I'd go quite that far. I mean, 'contender' implies a brawl. And honestly? I don't see anyone around whose quite drunk enough for that just yet." She teased, getting a hearty laugh out of the woman behind the table. She was dressed up in quite the ironic outfit: A pirate. If only she knew what the woman in front of her actually was. Thankfully, she'd chosen to wear a pair of shorts that were a fair bit longer, so making out her guild tattoo wasn't quite so simple as that.

"Ah, I'd be careful who ya go 'round makin that joke to. Anyways, I take it you understand how the game works?" Anya nodded, leaving the woman to reach under the table and pull out a piece of candy. Even within the wrapper, Anya's newly enhanced sense of smell could pick up on the hint of spice coming from it. Hm. Spicy candy. That was a new one.

Still, just like last time the vendor placed the piece of candy in the middle coffin. And with a raise of her hands, the cups began to shuffle around. Slowly at first, but gaining more and more speed..even more so than before. Her eyes were darting around incredibly quickly--more quickly than she'd even thought to be possible before now. Was it just her, or was this woman shuffling the cups--sorry, coffins quite a bit faster for her than she had the previous person? Regardless, Anya was doing her best to follow the movement. Could she cheat?

Probably. It wouldn't take much magic for her to distract this woman, and she could just snatch the candy and coin from the table next to her without anyone noticing. She'd gotten quite good at sleight of hand in her years of confinement, after all. And yet, a big part of her was beginning to chastise her for even thinking of doing that. This was a festival in an openly neutral territory. Cheating just ruined all of the fun for everyone involved, herself included. She would play fair, and she'd like it!

She wasn't on a job, and she wasn't important enough to be due back at the guild hall right away. She could afford to live like a normal person for a while, and play a regular game like a regular goddamn girl for once!

As her own internal argument reached its resolution, the coffins finally began to slow down. It would be time to choose soon...

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Slowly but surely, the coffins on the table settled to a stop, and the mage behind the table lowered her hands, a massive grin spread across her lips. "And there we have it. Yer fate, shuffled on this table like a deck of cards. Your candy--and further rewards--lie in just a single one of these coffins. The other two, mere mockery. So lass, do ya feel like fate is on yer side?" The woman asked, clearly having fun getting into character. The enthusiasm was admittedly infectious, and Anya could feel that idiotic looking grin that she usually only got when she was running around at the peak of her energy begin to tug at her lips.

The idea was for her to ride the high of this woman's infectious energy, she could tell. It was a clever gambit. One the last person had fallen for. But Anya was a mage for a Dark Guild, and a slave in her own home before that. Her life had never afforded her the ability to be truly blindly reckless. So, even with something so small, she began to put thought into it. Her eyes darted across the table. The coffins were all identical. Whoever had made them clearly put a lot of effort into it as well. She could see the seams were the coffin's lid was designed to slide away when prompted. It wouldn't take much for it to do so, even.

It was a bit overkill for a simple thematic prop, if you asked her. But then, she'd never had the patience to really sit down and carve something out of wood like these things had been. Just looking at it wasn't much help. What about the things she had heard? Well, that was a good idea. But unfortunately--while having enhanced hearing during any other day would have given her a definite edge--there was currently a city wide festival going on. Too much of what her ears were picking up was just background noise from the other games and events going on tonight.


Well, those were two of her three enhanced senses out of the window. What about smell? She'd been able to pick up on that faint whiff of spices before the woman had shoved the piece into the coffin. Anya brought her hand up to her face, running it across her jawline and mouth. The goal was to make it look like she was struggling, putting real thought into this. The movement of her hand more than distracted from the movement of her nose as she sniffed the air a few more times. Yeah, the spice was definitely still there. The speed at which this woman had moved the cups was making it a bit more difficult to pick up on where it was actually coming from, though.

The intensity at which Anya was focused in on her task meant she didn't notice how it was starting to unnerve the woman behind the table. Truth be told, even if she had noticed? She wouldn't have cared. The part of her that loved making mischief would have viewed this as the perfect way to shake things up. After all, people were expecting you to run around like an idiot during such a big event. That was why you couldn't walk more than half a block without passing six different liquor vendors.

If she kept waiting though, it was going to be all too obvious that she was relying on some kind of trick to help her win. So she ran her eyes across the table one last time, thumb and index finger clasping her chin as she nodded a few times. The scent didn't seem particularly powerful on her right or left. And she had put it in the center coffin to begin with. If the whole point of this game was to trick people, getting them convinced that the candy had moved from its original position was definitely the best trick to pull. It was a gamble on both sides, really. After all, Anya really wanted some of those coins. Of course, she was overthinking it now. The last person had gotten it wrong but still walked away with one. But, either way. She'd made up her mind.

"I see we're one of those thinkers, eh? Please don't take too long making a choice. I'll get in trouble if I let people start holding up the line.." She said, her happy and boisterous tone having dipped down to a lower register when all but asking Anya to hurry the hell up and make a decision. Luckily for her, the dark mage in front of her had actually made her decision. She'd bet on her gamble. Without saying another word, she held her hand out above one of the coffins, just like the last player had. And just like with him, the coffin's lid slowly lifted and slid away in dramatic fashion, like the dead were rising from their grave. Unlike the last player though, no plastic skeleton rose up to cackle at her. Instead, the coffin's bottom raised, revealing the very piece of candy that had been placed in it before.

After Anya made her choice, the woman behind the table gave her a brief round of applause.

"Aye, matey! I see the devil's luck rides with ya tonight! As promised, 'ere's yer reward!" She said, scooping the candy out of the middle coffin before reaching under the table a second time, pulling out one of those golden skull tokens that she'd been seeing people walk around with. Both things were handed off to Anya, who left the stand with a wide grin spreading across her face as she pocketed the token and unwrapped the candy. She was extremely curious about what this thing actually tasted like, since she'd been able to smell it the whole time. So, she popped it into her mouth..and was immediately disappointed. She'd been hoping for something like a chili powder candy or even just a 'hot' cinnamon flavored candy. But she'd not gotten either one of those. It was just a jawbreaker rolled coated in a mix of sugar, black pepper, and paprika. Sure, it tasted fine. But the 'kick' wasn't really there.

Oh well. She'd gotten her hands on one of these interesting tokens. Perhaps she could wander around and find a few more. Perhaps something interesting could happen to make up for how banal and boring the candy had been.

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Unfortunately for Anya, finding something that could make up for how boring the candy had been seemed to be a bigger ask than she had expected. After all, most of what she was seeing were food vendors and your standard carnival games. None of that was really all that intriguing to her. She had all of this energy now that things so common as air and water could refill her magical reserves, as well as satiate her body's need for each. So when her sharp hearing picked up on the sound of a hammer hitting something, her curiosity carried her. The closer she got, the more clear the sound became. It almost sounded like a solid block of rubber hitting..bone? Odd. On top of that, she could now finally hear the sound effects that were coming with it. Or at least, she hoped they were just effects. Then again..those groans sounded awfully convincing.

As she made her way to the source of the noise, she would find herself standing smack in front of something that might actually help her end her boredom. While this was also just another reskinned child's game--Whack a Mole this time--there were things that set it apart. For one, she could smell it more keenly now. What looked like plastic skeleton heads coming up out of the holes in the machine were actually proper bone. But, how could she tell? Sure, it looked convincing on a surface level. But there was very obviously a clear layer of..something wrapped around it. The answer was simple. The wrapping might have made the heads that were popping up look like plastic, but they were wrapped imperfectly. She could smell it. That faint, musty scent of something having been left alone for too long. She watched for a few moments. Whatever they were doing to run this game, it was..intriguing. The heads weren't simply being summoned in the holes they were in. But it was very obviously not just being accomplished through completely mundane means. Either way, her attention was piqued when the man handed the previous person a coin. She was next in line. Taking the hammer from the man running the stand, she gave it a few test spins in her hand, getting a feel for the weight of it. Perhaps this would be a game that could actually take advantage of her newly enhanced sight. After all, it was a reflex game. Being more keen eyed could only help in this case..right?
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She should have been doing better than this. Between her enhanced eyesight and the literal decades she spent honing her hand eye coordination. So why was she having a hard time hitting these things as they popped up? Truth be told, she wasn't sure. At least, until she felt her stomach rumble when one of those skeletal ghoul heads popped up again. Ah, right. One of the other things that she'd been given by that crystallized tear of a lacrima. Cravings for the things that the powers she now had were centered around.

Since she had the ability to make scales, that meant that bones were something she could eat. Between the smell of the bones and the fact that she'd yet to have dinner tonight? It suddenly made sense as to why she was having such a hard time hitting them as they popped up. Her swings occasionally went a little too wide, or she'd clip the edge of one of the holes when trying to catch one on the head. That wasn't to say that she missed every swung she made, though. In fact, she'd managed to hit up to about half of the high score displayed on the little counter above the game itself by the time sixty seconds had passed. In the back half of it, she'd missed more than she hit. But the man running the game still applauded her regardless.

"My, that's certainly an impressive sight from such a small lady as yourself. Between you and me, they told me to set the high score a little too high. I wasn't expecting anyone to get anywhere close to it in the time they gave. Good on you." He was bullshitting her, she could tell. But he tossed her a second Skull Token regardless.

"Thanks. So, I see a lot of street food and booze. We're in a pretty big city, so I can't imagine there wasn't any place set aside for real food, yeah?" She asked as she caught and pocketed the coin, leaving the man dressed up as a necromancer to chuckle, extending a quite obviously false skeletal hand further down the street.

"The town square was set up for music and mingling. The restaurants with outdoor seating are all still open, and serving anyone who swings by." He offered, leading Anya to nod as she stretched a bit.

"Much appreciated!" She said as she went off down the street. The games were fun enough. But she had gained some incredible gifts after returning to the abandoned remains of her home. Perhaps it was time to put them to use. After all, the young children had been going around yelling 'Trick or Treat'. Lots of treats had been given out, but not any tricks. That could be fixed. But first, she needed to refuel herself and think on what she wanted to do. So with that in mind, she made her way off in the direction that the necromancer had pointed her towards. It was time for her to get a good meal.

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Well, the last vendor certainly hadn't been lying. She heard the sounds of the music before she'd even turned the corner. While the radio lacrima that were being used weren't the loudest things on earth, they were definitely pretty easy to pick up on even over the sound of the crowd. Even if she wasn't a Dragon Slayer, Anya was pretty sure she'd be able to hear it anyway. So the fact that the current song was a remix of a public domain classic actually brought a small, silly smile to her face. Walking through the crowd, she kept getting pulled off into small and shallow conversations. It was quite nice having a space like this where everyone was in a celebratory mood, but weren't going as hard as, say, the denizens of Black Water Port usually did when it was time to celebrate.

However, that wasn't why she was here. Scanning the perimeter of the Town Square, there were a few places of outdoor seating for a seemingly random variety of places. There were cafes like 'The Q & A Coffee Shop' or 'Bad Garden Barista'. A few 'chain' locations in the form of places like 'Oh My Cod'--the stereotypical Seafood Chain of the area, 'Souprise'--no points for guessing that one correctly, and 'Wok and Roll'. All of those places were filled up, among a few others. But there was one that caught her eye over the others. Some diner-type looking place called 'The Fading Spoon'.

As it turned out, it wasn't exactly a standard location. In fact, it was a bit of a pop up shop scenario that had paid to run out of one of the existing locations for the night. As a result, there was a lot of food themed in the spirit of the season on the menu. Graveyard Chicken Enchiladas, Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese, Pumpkin Risotto. What actually caught her eye was something that would serve to fill her regular stomach, and at least part of her magical one. A bone in, maple/apple glazed pork chop with a dusting of seasonal spices. She'd only have to hope she didn't get a weird look for eating the whole bone. As a mage from a Dark Guild, getting caught out notably like that wasn't exactly the best look. It meant more people would recognize her. And while that wasn't the worst thing in a place like this, it would make getting herself back into a familiar environment while away from the guild quite a bit more difficult.

Thankfully, she would find herself to be rather lucky. Most of the people who were gathered in the town square were too busy dancing and drinking to have the patience for a sit down restaurant, so most of them had gravitated towards the chains. That meant that for the nearly an hour it took for her to get and consume her food, people weren't paying attention, aside from the few people in costume that swung by and commented on her 'costume'. Right. Her choice in attire was certainly..odd. Maybe she should look into something a little more..standard if she was going to walk around pretending to be some nobody. Either way, she eventually finished her food and made her way out towards an exit. Oddly enough, every corner that you could enter or leave the town square from had at least two people on it, each sitting next to a small bucket. When she tried to pass one of them, they stopped her. For a moment, she felt everything in her body tense up..until they handed off a third of those little coins to her, and then told her to enjoy the rest of the night.

Oh, would she. Now that she was full, she could spread a little bit of mischief before the night ended. With that in mind, she turned down one of the many dead end alley ways in the port city..and seemed to all but vanish into the night. There were pranks to be pulled, tricks to be given. It simply wouldn't do to just let such a grand opportunity to be the chaotic being she truly was in the deepest parts of her heart just simply pass her by!


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