There was nothing better than sipping on a glass of nicely chilled beer in this sort of weather, puffing on a cigarette while watching out the window; the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye. The lively ambience of Samhain had somehow brought a particular redheaded woman to a tavern and there she was, with her head rolled back, guffawing while holding an empty glass of beer in her hand. It wasn’t just any kind of tavern, in fact, it was Halloween themed so every guest was dressed in their own costume, whether they bought it in the most affordable way they could find or by sewing it themselves. With the kind of vibe she received from the tavern, she doubted it was the latter.

The inn itself wasn’t a fancy one and their beverages were very average at its best, albeit it was the people at the bar that she found herself drawn to, carefree and reckless without a single worry passing their minds. Now, Venus Rosé wasn’t the type of gal who enjoyed beer, rather she preferred stronger beverages like scotch or whiskey or even vodka but with the amusing company she was having at that moment, she had to indulge herself in cheap alcohol to hold her liquor. Even then, she had already consumed possibly over 10 pints of them so one could say she was out of her wits, drunk.  

”You know what I did to that kid? I smacked his head and he faceplanted into the ground.”

The table roared with laughter. Nothing about the joke was hilarious yet, here she was, clapping her hands like a seal and howling like a wolf alongside a group of men in their early thirties as though it was the funniest thing she’s ever heard whilst conversations continued to swirl in a dirty cloud of smoke and the stagnant stench of cigarettes hides within the collaboration of mephitic odour. ”Oh my god, I think I’m going to die.” She was now hugging her trusty blade (that was sheathed) – one that she brings along with her wherever she went – in a desperate attempt to hold her laughter.

Guests from the other tables threw them a passing glance due to their obnoxious behaviour but, how would she know? Her sanity was barely with her when she was roaring drunk that everything she saw and heard was nothing but a joke to her now and all of it is fine, because it was Halloween.

OUTFIT

One of Samhain's skeleton game booths had put Masami in captivity. The task was to open the jar, a single jar that was as big as Masami's palm, which isn't so big in size after all. Who knows if this jar had some sort of magic imbued in it? Masami has done his adventure in looking around for the strongest people in Samhain, because that skeleton man didn't say that it was specifically Masami that has to open the jar. All that matters is that the jar opens, and he wins the game. No matter how buff the men were, the jar was left unopened, and Masami remains a loser until the said jar was opened, prior to the game's mechanics. One name everyone except Masami was familiar of: Venus Rosé. Supposedly one of the strongest mages in Fiore, present here in Samhain; Masami just had to look for her.

She was last spotted in a certain pub, as Masami was told. With the jar at hand, he looked at the signage to make sure that he was at the right place. The reputation of Venus Rosé—the one said to be dressed up as a samurai—had allowed Masami to receive intel about her location. Thus, with restraint, Masami entered the pub and gulped at the amount of people inside, as well as the vivid smell of both alcohol and cigarette. Surely, this was not a place a child should be in.

Masami didn't want to continue a step, but then the few men that accompanied his back had pointed towards a woman that fit their sheer descriptions. "That's the one you're looking for," they said before they left; not because they were afraid of the woman, but because they knew that they should use their chances to deal with anything about her. Then, that's where Masami realized how risky this task is; a boy—rather, a child—dressed up in white clothing that dignifies him as a demon for this Halloween atmosphere, was going to use his chances to get that woman to open this jar for him.

Tip-toeing to fit in crowded, tight spaces, Masami kept the jar safe and sound as he makes his way to approach the woman that was dressed up as a samurai, as the descriptions mentioned. All stories of both conscious and drunken men could be heard; a specific one about smacking a kid gave Masami chills to the spine. With haste, Masami finally disturbed the woman that laughed at the crude joke, and that he called her name before he showed a jar with... nothing inside of it. He didn't want her to assume that he was trying to prank the lady and get punished for it, but he didn't know what else to do but bow, "Please open this jar," he said. At that point, realizing what Masami had done, the crowd started to quiet down, but not in utter silence. The boy dared to ask a strong woman to open a magical jar as if he was testing her—except, that wasn't the point of it.

I swear, I'm just doing this for two pieces of candy, he cried at the back of his head, because the atmosphere certainly wasn't for kids like him. Holding the magically-locked jar out for Venus Rosé to open, Masami kept his bow and didn't look at anywhere else but the floor.

The rumours of her whereabouts somehow spread like wildfire, despite her being dressed in a costume, looking rather unlike her with an eyepatch over her left eye and as long as no one bothered her, Venus gave not a single cent to the gossips and tales of the Burning Rose. ”Give me another pint!” she yelled over the booming noise of the laughter and music that reigned supreme inside the tavern. The waiter looked troubled due to the repetitive orders that she had been making the past half an hour as though he was worried of taking responsibility if Venus were to end up passing out inside the saloon bar. On the other hand, it was a good day for the innkeeper considering that there was a particular customer spending hundreds and thousands of jewels on their local beverages.

From a short distance, a sound akin to that of someone speaking to her drew her attention away from the undying laughter of their table, enough for Venus to consider angling her head the other way to see the approaching figure of a…child? The group of men eventually went silent as Venus peeled the cigarette butt away from her ruby-red lips, plumes of smoke rising from her mouth. Her gaze glided over the stranger head to toe, dressed in a costume she assumed was to resemble a demon – it was no doubt the boy was a child. ”This is not a place for a boy,” she spoke as she inhaled another puff from her cigarette, ignoring the request that was made to her, which was to open a jar.

The huntress peered at the glass jar he held; there was nothing inside it. She scoffed. Am I getting pranked by a kid? At the very least, the boy certainly had manners approaching her, even bowing at one point despite interrupting her leisure time. She didn’t understand: it was merely opening a jar, anyone could’ve done it so why was there the need to come all way to visit her for such a request. It was, without doubt, the most ridiculous one that she’d ever received during her occupation as an assassin, and out of all, it wasn’t even a request to kill someone but rather, to open a goddamn jar.

”You need to pay me to receive my services.” She grinned wickedly and lit out her cigarette on the table. It was meant to be a sarcastic joke, though she wouldn’t have minded earning a bit of money on a foolish request. Well, since he was polite about it she figured she might as well just get it done for him so as to rid of his presence sooner as well. The red-head turned to look at the white-haired stranger once again and shrugged to herself as she took the jar from his hands before placing it on the table. The second she stood up, she felt her head go all sorts of things that could possibly be described and her entire body giving out on her, her legs as though they were jelly. ”Oh, fuck,” – were her final words before she toppled over the boy then crashing down onto the wooden floorboards, passed out.

Somehow, Masami believed that the woman really did needed money in return... of opening a small, empty jar. It has always been that way, especially for high-ranked mages and clients—It was all about the money, was what Masami thought when he was subtly taking Jewels from the pockets of his shorts, before Venus decided to let the sarcastic joke off and open the jar as requested. He decided not to say anything, because people are intimidated of Venus Rosé and for a boy that was quite immune to intimidation, he thought that it was better to act as if he had blended in.

Masami's first impression of the high-ranked mage, Venus Rosé, wasn't so pleasing. Apart from the highly-accurate samurai-inspired costume, which Masami had scanned from head to toe, Masami believed that overall, adults and children will always have this border that separates them. At the same time, the name of the red-haired jane wasn't so unfamiliar after all, now that Masami had grasped a look on her face—She's in the same guild as Kurisa, he thought, watching Venus' drunken face before she stood up, hit Masami's sides with her rather heavier body, then falling down.

The crowd gasped at the scene, probably assuming that Masami did something to the famous high-ranked mage which... just passed out, though Masami hoped that she didn't pass out. Some of the men raised their beers and started to cheer about "slaying the queen" or something of the sort, which Masami didn't realize (rather, he assumed that he's going to get in trouble for something he didn't do). "... this—are all high-ranked mages... I don't know, they seem to get wasted a lot," the boy could count all of them by fingers—all those "high-ranked wasted mages" that he had met in his adventure in Fiore-land. At this point, Masami is uncertain that he had gotten the right person.

Now that the "queen has been slain"... and drunken, the courageous fools in the pub had made their attempts to pick the red-haired jane up to be thrown outside. Apparently, without Masami's notice, she was a pretty infamous fellow, and now was their chance to strike her in a rather not-morbid way (because it's Halloween and things were supposed to be #HahaFunTimes). Masami would pick the jar up and chase them down, because he was overall desperate and in need of this jar to be unopened.

The boy might find the lady laying down outside, in which he'd lower down and ask her as if she did not pass out. "Someone should get beer-magic or something like that... but I figured that it might be too OP," he'd lay a hand right above her forehead, casting a magic circle, "This is supposed to soothe headaches and bring people back to life if they pass out," he said, "my (ex-)guildmaster gets drunk a lot so I learned how to cope with such an experience." It must be rude to compare a drunken lady to a man she had never met before, but cheers to Masami's hopeful naivety with this spell, everything should be alright.

"Now, please open this jar."

COSTUME

Getting herself rip-roaring drunk, for someone who had quite a reputation; you could say Venus was shameless, to the point of having herself thrown out of the pub because she had passed out with her face smushed against the tavern’s floorboards. It was probably one of the most mortifying and disgraceful images that she would have to add to her list so far, but she didn’t care – as long as she was enjoying every bit of it. The young woman enjoyed a moment of bliss unconscious on the cold hard ground floor before she fluttered her eyelashes open, instinctively spitting out the sand from her mouth the moment she tasted it. Christ, I’m going to get the worst hangover, – was the first thought that crossed her mind when she finally pulled herself awake.

Instead, the headaches that usually accompanied her after her incessant consumption of alcohol was no longer there. To have recovered this fast was a miracle, but it was only then she noticed a soothing soft warmth of skin atop her forehead as though it was healing her from her drunkenness. ”It’s you,” she began, her voice slightly hoarse from all the laughing she did in the past few hours. ”I’d expected you to be gone by now after seeing what a mess I was.” The woman laughed weakly and pushed herself up onto her bum to regain her posture.

Venus almost panicked when she realised that her most treasured weapon was no longer in her hands, only to see find it lying in the sandpit beside her. The barkeep must have tossed it away together with her, thankfully. If it were to be stolen, she’d have hunted the person down until the end of the abyss and there was no way in hell that she wouldn’t have gotten it back.

The demon-costumed boy was still very adamant on having Venus open the empty jar for him. ”What’s so important about opening it that you had to come all the way to me for it?” She was oddly curious as to why the boy also chose her merely just to open the jar and wondered if it was a life or death situation. What would opening a jar have to do with someone dying though? She found her inner self asking the question and presumed that perhaps it was the reason why he’d healed her moments ago instead of leaving here there in her most disdainful state, possibly only to get the task done for him. ”You’re a very strange boy,” said the redheaded beauty, grinning wickedly to herself.

Due to her drunken state that she had displayed earlier, Venus assumed her own impression on the boy was most likely quite the opposite of pleasing. On the other hand, she found him rather interesting; a young boy in his aloof nature, entering the bar that was out of his age limits only to request a certain woman to open a jar. ”Since you’ve helped me out of this state, I suppose I shall fulfill your request.” The huntress bowed dramatically at the boy, flourishing a hand before her and picked up her sword.

”Witness me, child. Behold – the most splendid jar-opening display.” Of course, she had to be dramatic about it: that was the fun of the entire situation, aside from being tossed out from the tavern. She held her blade from its scabbard, keeping it inside its sheath so as not to hurt others with the flames, and aimed the sharpest end by the cap of the jar. She twirled on her feet almost like a ballerina and with a swift movement of her arm, she flicked the cap with the minimum force required without breaking the entire jar.

”Tada.”

Rather than saying anything in return, Masami instead stayed silent; gulping. The spell had worked seemingly more effective than expected, fixing the issue sooner than Masami assumed it would. It was either he had improved with his magic—or maybe the woman wasn't so drunk after all... which wouldn't explain the passing out, sort of. And, it was as if the red-head was still a drunken lady, Masami watched as she took her sheathed sword out, twisted the jar can open and then finished the job that the boy had requested. She really needed the sword...? unless, maybe this is how people open jars here in Fiore, assuming that the red-head is Fiorian, anyway.

With Masami's knees still down to the ground, Masami leaned down, and closer to the now-uncapped jar. "Woah, it's actually open," he'd take the jar this time, inspecting its' structure, "finally, I'm no longer a loser." It was hard to have a huge losing strike, but that lose strike finally ends now! He can now go back to the skeleton booth and receive the price of two pieces of candy; he'd take the cap and keep it inside one of his shorts' pockets. Shouldn't risk putting it back into the jar; the boy stood up and bowed at the red-head in thanks, the jar held between an arm and his torso.

She seems formal, so it's probably better to act formal too; "Thank you, kind lady," it felt awkward giving thanks in Fiorian, it was much honest and sincere-sounding in Joyan, for some reason. Masami would lift himself up and raise a hand out – the last time he forgot to introduce himself, he was deemed as slightly unmannered. Better not make the same mistake, he thought, "Trick or Treat—I'm Masami," different people have different tastes. Venus Rosé would probably assume that this kid is eccentric, not like people haven't thought that yet. "Thank you for finally opening the jar with your... uh—sword," he'd unintentionally stare at the sheathed sword, then back at the woman's eyes.

He was afraid that he might not receive a handshake, but that is probably normal. Some people don't even like introductions—most of the people Masami had met in the past were usually like that. He wouldn't want to ask if the sword was necessary... at least it was sheathed; what kind of monstrosity would've happened if it wasn't?

The boy was quiet – was what she perceived within the last few minutes of their first encounter. Though it might have been exaggerating if Venus said he’d hardly spoken a word other than requesting her to open a jar, it almost seemed like that was the case. Confidence dominated her scarlet pools accompanied by an arrogant smirk along the line of her lips when she’d successfully opened the jar. The boy mentioned something about not being a loser once the jar was opened and despite how the entire act was pointless to her, Venus couldn’t help but succumb into her inquisitive nature and wonder about what this whole thing was about.

Venus was denoted as a kind lady and that incredibly made her feel flattered. Out of all the compliments, she received, being kind was definitely not one of them and hence, she felt somewhat proud for doing such a silly task. ”Happy Halloween, Masami.” She rested her hands on her hips and gave him a cheeky grin. ”Unfortunately, I don’t have any candies with me but, you can have me as your treat although I guess that wouldn’t be very tasty for you.” She pondered, pretending to look rather dumbfounded at her own nonsensical joke. ”Venus.” The redhead was horrible at introductions, either she came off as rude or merely forgot to share her own name but, this time she wouldn't as she clasped his hand gently within hers.

”Well, since you were desperately asking me to open it for you, I figured I should just give you my best efforts.” The woman chuckled, fitting her sword around her waist. ”So, will you tell me what this is about now? I think I deserve to get an explanation at least.” Venus had started walking, assuming that Masami would follow, away from the tavern controlling her urge to not look back and enter the bar and have herself tossed out of the building for the second time on Halloween. ”And, why’s it an empty jar? Does someone have their fart clamped inside it or something?”

He laughed with her, letting the red-head introduce herself as if Masami doesn't know who she is. Well, the only thing he knows about her is that her name is Venus Rosé, and that she had "quite the reputation," nothing else after that—he wasn't the type to indulge in gossip or read newspaper about heroes and idols. Come to think of it, when he had scanned her from head to toe, she looked quite heroic. Masami thought that she had perhaps slayed a dragon in the past, or saved the whole city. He was too naïve for his own good, which was probably the reason why Venus Rosé was entertained: little did the boy know that his body can easily be cleanly split in half, and see the Heavens before he could even know it—all through this woman. Perhaps it was better to never know, at all.

"I'm..." he tried his best not to mumble, as that would have been very humiliating, "glad that the spell worked! You don't look like you were drunk just a few seconds ago." Actually, you never know—maybe she's still drunk or... well, maybe not? Though, it wouldn't hurt exposing his childish side and admit that he had been playing this town's games. Before he could even explain, Venus said something that bothered him; he was looking so closely at the corners of the jar, and she'd say something about farts! It was probably just Masami being a young boy, but right after she said that, he had instinctively sniffed the jar.

He realized what he had done only a few seconds after, and the jar made a noise to show how hard Masami had sniffed; he paused on the spot, hoping that his senses would numb and that he wouldn't smell the fart—wait a minute, that's way worse! Masami stared at Venus' eyes in silence, and then he made a quick sniff the second time; "A-Ah..." he chuckled at himself afterwards, trying not to give out a sigh of relief, otherwise it would expose the fact that he actually believed the small jest. "It's those skeleton booths, haha,"—Ohfrickwellthatwaskindaembarrassing—"they were very hard to win, and the people were complaining about how hard the games were. I've finally won the second time, but it kinda feels like I cheated." Who knew that the kid would meet a rumored X-Rank through an empty jar? He probably wasn't even supposed to let someone else touch it. Anyway, the red-head had created quite the scene, so Masami will not be able to forget each other's first impression.