The lone figure walked in and paused as he studied the room, a slight grin finding it's way to his face. Zenix had just entered a small low-class tavern named Dine&Dash.
"I see this place hasn't changed much, guess it's because it has only been a month or so", he said walking towards the bar. The bartender looked at him from head to toe. "The same can be said about you. Actually, I take that back, you look slightly out of shape".
The next moment, the waiter smiled and said with delight, "Nice to have you back Zenix". "To be honest, It's nice to be back", Zenix replied happily.
The waiter looked towards a table at the extreme of the dinning room, he noticed a family of three, enjoying their meal in tranquility.
"Your departure marked a turning point for Dine&Dash. Somehow, we could no longer keep up to standard. However, we still stood strong".
Zenix smiled slightly and then scratched the back of his head, "I never knew I was that much of a pillar. It's actually funny just listening to you say that". "Don't let all that get to your head now", the bartender teased, while filling a glass of wine for a customer.
"Now that you've returned, you should go meet the boss first". The bartender then paused and added, "Oh right, expect the unexpected once you've entered the office, a lot has changed".
'What does that mean?", Zenix thought to himself. "Sure, I'll try to be careful". Then shrugged off the sudden apprehension that flooded his mind and boldly walked through the staff door.
He then made his way to the door that had -Bosses Only- inscribed on it. "I guess somethings really haven't changed". After a minute or so of anxious pacing, he finally mustered up the courage to knock, but he was met with no response.
He decided to simply open and walk in, but little did he know that he would regret it. As the door slowly creeked open, he felt a slight unease.
The lights were out and the curtains were drawn. There was no source of light aside a deam table lamp. It was dark and so quiet, as if separated from the outside world. A desk stood beside the window with two chairs assigned to it, with the table lamp and other items on top of it.
There was a big shelf, filled with numerous book collections. The most disturbing fact was that, there was no sign of a presence in the room.
He cautiously looked around as he called out, "Boss, it's your humble employee. I'm finally back and ready for duty". Suddenly, his pupils dilated.
In that moment, he was greeted by a base ball bat that was mere centimeters from colliding with his face. He shifted his balance and weaved the attack, his movements were clean and graceful.
He then ducked, narrowly avoiding a counter attack. Unperturbed, the unknown attacker continued to move, delivering attacks one after the other, in a seemless succession.
Zenix was about to deliver a counter when he caught a glimpse of the attacker's face, which disrupted his flow. He lost his center of gravity and toppled to the ground. The next second, he smiled at the sight of the bat being pointed at him, so he surrendered.
"Now I get what Alfred meant by -expect the unexpected-. No one could have ever guessed that the nonchalant, hot-headed, and Impulsive Boss Ryna would try to murder her own employee".
The attacker -whose face was covered by a scarf- looked at their defenseless prey with disdain and got up to their feet. Taking off the scarf, the face of a woman almost in her 30's was revealed.
Ryna had marble green eyes and short green hair. Her frame was slick and athletic, lean and defined. Her beauty was subtle but eminent.
"Good to know you haven't become rustic. Also, I don't like your attitude boy, drop it". She proceeded to knock him on the head, and then walked to her desk.
Flipping a switch beside her, the entire room was lit up by fluorescent lights, forcing the stack shadows to retreat. The office literally went from night to day.
Zenix looked around then got to his feet. Taking a seat at the desk, he asked her with a plain expression, "You're aware of what's been going on lately in Lore, right?".
"Of course, it's been allover the news. It's apparently getting more and more alarming too".
She paused and sighed, "It's been keeping the police on their toes".