Venus Rosé walked through the streets of Hosenka; a home to leisure and entertainment, the best place she could possibly asked for herself. It was still early when the clouds gave of their rain to the grass and trees, when the road became alive with more splashes than her eyes could appreciate. Rainy days were her favourite kind of days – that is, if she wasn’t required to leave her house. The evening was the best time for people who sought the glee and wonder of a night-time refuge to hopefully distance themselves from their lives when the sun calls them in. By this hour, people have fled to the safety of their own shelter, into the arms of their beloved ones, but one young woman with bright cherry-wine hair sauntered over the cobblestones of Hosenka’s roads, an umbrella above her to shield herself from the soft pitter-patter.

Her stiletto heels clacked each step she took, while she received some passing glances from the strangers who walked by. The woman didn’t want to acknowledge whatever they found interesting on her features, be it her clothes or her scarlet hair, and she simply busied herself with the thoughts of the excitement and thrill she was going to have once she arrived the destination. Her choice of clothing was perfect for the evening, perhaps a tad bit revealing; a sheer black top paired up with a silver sequin mini-skirt and her signature red stiletto heels.

The oaken doors to the cabaret stood right before her where loud music pounded behind the doorway and where cigarette smoke curls from every doorway. As she pushed the doors open, the scent of smoke and the loud pound of music blasted into her face. The redheaded beauty found herself a vacant seat and while she ordered a strong glass of whiskey for herself, not long after, she found herself enjoying the company of a few people who’d approached her – not in an inappropriate way – but rather, they’d noticed her amongst the crowd and Venus took the opportunity to amuse herself by engaging in a conversation; a trick of hers to get useful information out of them.

The lights had dimmed out and the spotlight finally shone down upon a young girl beautiful enough to attract the attention of the entire audience in the cabaret. Her voice was just as mesmerizing as her appearance and she’d watch the entire hall falling into silence as they listened to her voice echoing against the wall of the cabaret. It had been a long while since she’d last heard someone singing this beautifully in front of her eyes and she had to admit it was truly a blessing to her ears. Applauses and cheers rippled through the audience and the cabaret quickly returned to the rowdy state as it was in originally after the performance was done. Venus figured it was the cue for her to get some drinks for herself and get wasted.

It was hardly halfway into the night, but it seemed that a fight had already broken out when she heard the bar stools clanging, some shocked gasps and a small crowd gathering near the scene. ”Here we go again.” The usual expected occasion of ‘perverted man harassing the young girl played out before her, quickly intervened by the singer who was on stage just a moment ago. ”Interesting,” a grin spread across her lips, raising her glass of whiskey onto her lips and took a sip as she watched the girl pummelled her feet into his face. The man was dragged off against the floor by the security guards with his nose bleeding out; poor man was probably unconscious but he quite deserved that kick.

The horde quickly dispersed once the fight was over and Venus would approach the girl with a glass in her hand, her dark blazer draped over her shoulders. ”What’s your name? Care to have a drink with me after you gave him that beating?”

Hm, healing magic. Interesting. The red-head bemused as she watched the female stranger who had attracted her attention worked the wonders of her magic upon the other girl. When Venus had proposed the idea of having a drink together with the girl, she seemed hesitant and was rather half-hearted in accepting her offer. So, the hunter quickly chimed in to clarify that she was by no means approaching her with any sort of intensions, ”Don’t worry. I’m not here to harm you or anything, just want to have a chat – to know more about you.” It was no lie the singer was a beautiful woman, but Venus’ heart already belonged to someone hence, it wouldn’t be possible for her to be flirting with someone unless there was something significant to gain out of it.

”Let’s have a drink.” She tilted her head over to the bar counter, gesturing her over to the vacant spots at the bar and Venus would occupy the seat next to the girl. ”Rania, was it?” She had asked her name earlier after the fight had broken out, but perhaps the other female was occupied with her own thoughts since Venus never received an answer to her question. ”Name’s Venus.” she spoke, smiling softly down at the girl who still seemed to be rather uncomfortable with her approach.

The Siren had attempted her best efforts to be tolerant with the pink-haired girl, not wanting to coerce her into answering her questions especially since she seemed unwilling to have Venus as her company. Albeit, her persistence remained, mainly because there was something she wanted from Raina. ”You were really talented up there, did you travel to Hosenka to become a singer?” she enquired, hoping to get the response slowly out of her newly attained acquaintance to see whether Raina would be ready for the question Venus was about to ask next.

Truth be told, there was something that Venus wanted from the girl albeit, it wasn’t the sort of inappropriate requests that the other girl often received instead, she was planning to make an offer to her – one that could possibly help her. The Siren joined the female at the bar, seating herself next to her and when the bartender approached, she’d order herself a glass of whiskey, strong and chilly, just like how she usually ordered. Despite volunteering to introduce her own name, Venus wasn’t given the response so she was rather left dumbfounded on how she should address the singer but quickly came to the solution that she would simply call her as ‘girl’.

It was apparent that she didn’t trust Venus, despite not showing any hostility and honestly, she couldn’t blame her. The times they were living were unjust so it was usual for everyone to be guarded with strangers and even the huntress herself felt the same, except that she had the ability strong enough to fend for herself that not many people dared to approach her – perhaps excluding the ones who were out on a hunt for her head. When the singer requested the bartender to look out for her stead however, the Siren couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Rebellious in nature, Venus was also a woman who was easily irritated when she wasn’t given the chance to correct herself.

”Trust me, I’m not here for that. Besides, I have a boyfriend, I wouldn’t be hitting on a stranger for no reason.”

The whiskey glass was eventually placed before her and the fiery red-haired woman swirled it in her hands as she watched the ice cubes clink against the glass before she lifted it against her lips. It had been a while since she’d consumed alcohol; her elixir of life and she was more than glad that she’d encountered this younger girl at a bar, for it blessed her with the opportunity to indulge in her favourite type of beverage.

”You’re an amazing artist and I see that you’re a capable healer, no less,” she spoke once she’d taken a good sip of her whiskey and hovered it over her lips again. ”Ever heard of Daeva Eye, by any chance?”

”You’re alright, everyone has those days.” Venus lifted up the glass up for a toast, before bringing it against her lips to take another sip. It was finally good to see the girl, Raina – as she introduced herself as – finally relaxed around her. She was only here to enjoy her drinks and possibly learn more about the beautiful singer, without doing any harm of course, so she would feel uncomfortable if the young girl was always tense around her, especially since Venus might even become her guild mistress if she were to accept her offer that is. That was the plan; to recruit Rainer after seeing her abilities to captivate the audience as well as her skills as a renowned mage: they would suffice to a good addition to their guild.

The Siren merely observed her as Raina explained in regards to how she’d been struggling with her life in general. From her forlorn facial expressions, it seemed that she truly was, and even from the way she spoke of her own abilities, they were with insecurity almost as if everything took an impact on her confidence. Venus had gone through a lot of things that existed, but losing confidence wasn’t one, so she couldn’t possibly relate to her own experience albeit, seeing her struggling this much almost made her feel as though she was dealing with a person who was lost for directions. The woman sighed.

”It is a guild, the only all-female guild existing in Fiore, in fact,” she spoke proudly of her own; one that has become almost like a family to her. The guild has had its own achievements, namely the Grand Magic Games where they were placed the winner of the tournament and certainly, has a lot of potential members that could rival many other guilds. Perhaps it was just her arrogance playing here but nonetheless, they’ve made a name for themselves in recent years ever since the new guilds were established. The information given to her that Raina was part of a guild before was useful enough to tell her that she’s had the experience of being in one. ”We’re not at all about power, or being strong. We’re mostly just young girls in a guild finding a purpose – well, it is that for me at least.” She chuckled, lightening the conversation.

”At the very least you’ll have some precious girlfriends around you.” The hunter smirked, propping her elbow onto the bar counter while she rested her cheek into her palm. ”You don’t need to make a decision now, anyway. Feel free to take your time. I’ll be available for you to contact if you’re interested.”

For a moment, the sounds of the tavern behind her drown out her thoughts as the Siren stared into her glass of whiskey, mesmerised by the constant swirling of the ice cubes, almost absorbing her into the vortex. The huntress was finally brought out of her reverie when Raina began her words and she’d turn to face the girl instinctively. It took her a moment to recall that Venus was recruiting her into their all-female guild a few minutes prior. Though it seemed that Raina spent a bit of time considering the option, she had to say the acceptance to her invitation was fast; not even days or a couple of hours, but rather only a few minutes.

Venus eventually smiled. ”I’m glad you’ve finally made your decision. Trust me, having more of us is always better.” The singer also seemed pleasantly surprised by the turn of events, if not from the shock of even receiving an offer in the first place. ”You needn’t ask twice – consider yourself a member of our guild from onwards.” The woman grinned sheepishly. She was excited; thrilled to be exact, that things had turned out the way she’d wanted and that their guild was slowly growing with new recruits joining every now and then. Venus has still yet to meet everyone in the guild, aside from the founders of the guild and some of the fresh faces that she couldn’t properly recall.

”Don’t forget to pay a visit to our guild when you have the chance. A guild mark will be given to you and only then you’ll be considered as our guild mate officially.” Slipping off her seat, she stood tall on her heels and rolled the jewels across the bar to pay the drink that she’d ordered. ”…And, welcome to Daeva Eye.”