Oath and Vow (KafAnju: Majora's Mask)

Chapter 2: The Words of a Dreamer

While the town above remained bright thanks to the sun above, the underground bar, selective to those considered members, remained dim with few colorful lights to show its unique features. It was a small establishment, filled with stools that were lined up against a long countertop decorated with cow-like black and white spots. Behind the drink counter was a wall with built-in shelves, filled with glasses and milk-filled bottles. One of these bottles, however, happened to be empty and was currently not on the shelf, but in the bartender's large hands as he wiped it down with a rag.

"Looks like we somehow made it through the worst of it," the bartender said under his enormous mustache as he looked up at the shadowed roof. "I wonder whose prayer had been answered that saved us all?"

"Who knows?" a lady's voice answered. "Maybe that old teacher's stories actually came true, and if that's the case, I would need another drink."

The bartender lowered his head to see the older woman and man sitting side by side, both cheeks a bit red from the milk they had been drinking through the violent night. The lady was of a larger build, dressed in a sparkling yellow dress that remained mostly unzipped in order to fit her figure. Everything else that accented her body was a bright red: the scarf that sat around her shoulders, the jewels on her fingers, and the heels on her pudgy feet. Even her hair was tied into a large loop above her head was a vivid red. The only accent colors that existed on her body that wasn't red was the pink on her large lips and the black mole that sat under them.

"I'm glad the scare didn't affect your drinking habits, Madame Aroma," the bartender said as he continued polishing the milk bottle. "I wouldn't want to lose one of my best customers."

"Please, Barten," the madam said, taking another sip of warm milk. "After everything that's taken place in the last month, I'm sure my drinking habits have only worsened. I will say, I'm happy that the town is still standing, and even more so that my son has returned."

"Kafei has been found?" Barten asked.

"Reappeared on his own accord, and knowing him he most likely chose to die with the town, whether he reunited with Anju or not," she answered. "I can't scold him for it. His parents did the same thing!"

Aroma laughed as she took another swig of milk, causing her cheeks to redden more. Giving a relaxing sigh as she allowed the milk in her stomach to settle, she glanced over at the man sitting next to her. He was a smaller man, with scrawny arms and legs and a belly more on the round side. His clothes were that of a jester, with a large white ruff around his neck, a red vest with accented blue sleeves, and tight of the shame shade of white. What once were proud eyes were now reddened and baggy with sparkling pupils that seemed to sparkle in reminiscence. His sharply shaped mustache bounced left and right as he sniffed his sorrows away, taking a sip of the milk bottle he had in his hands.

"Gorman, what's the matter with you?" Madame Aroma asked disapprovingly. "You've been moping around since you arrived in this town because you felt the Carnival of Time would be canceled. Well, we're still here, aren't we? You can put on your show!"

"I can't put on a show," the man named Gormon said. "I'm a failure as a ringleader. I didn't have faith and allowed my troupe members to wander in confusion. I'm sure some have already left, and rightfully so. Now my dream of performing at the carnival is truly ruined, and even worse, it wasn't by the moon but by my own selfish hand."

"I thought that the end of the world would help us bond, but it seems you're still annoying me," the madame said sourly, "and again I find myself wishing it was only your face that was doing so. Wasn't your passion reignited earlier? Even if you sounded crazy, talking about how some little boy somehow played four instruments at once to play some song you heard in the past, you at least sounded reinvigorated. What happened?"