Fractured God

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The three sat at a table with their meals before them. They decided to go through a full course and were now onto their main course.

“So they made a sauce out of potatoes? How gross.” Tina stated as she got a look at Lily's dish. “It's not even mashed anymore, why would they do that?”

“It's called Potato Aligat, and it's fucking delicious,” Lily answered as she had another spoonful.

It was a sizable bowl with a white paste inside. It had a creamy texture with a few pieces of some green herb sprinkled in, that popped against the white food.

Her cheeks were flushed and her gaze was weak. And even from across the table, she reeked of alcohol. “That guy wasn't kidding, eh, holy shit, he's right, this doesn't need meat or anything else with it.” She shovelled away at the bowl like she was in an eating contest.

“It's pronounced Aligot.” Bailey chimed.

“All I know is it's fucking delicious!” In between them, the basket of bread was replaced with a basket of steak fries. Lily grabbed a handful and ran through it through the Aligot before shoving it down her gullet. “At least I'm not eating like a cave dweller.” She said as she turned to Tina's dish.

It was a meat patty of some kind that appeared to be seared on both sides. In the middle however, it was clearly raw.

“Tch, I thought the bastard was screwing with me.” She sliced off a part it with her fork and gave it a sample.

She saw the words “Lamb Tartare” and assumed it'd be some lamb dish she never heard of. And she was right in a sense. The poor waiter nearly soiled his pants when he set the plate down before her.

She chewed it for a few seconds and nodded her head.

“You're seriously eating that?” Bailey asked as she took another sip of wine. This time, it was red wine. There were three bottles on the floor and the fourth one was opened on the table.

One was white wine, one was champagne and the last, a braggot, served as a nice break from the heavier spirits.

“And you're seriously drinking that?” Tina responded. “Let's get more of that braggot, that wine is no good.”

“You have the palate of a child,” Bailey answered, taking a more exaggerated sip from the glass.

She took another bite of the raw meat and continued at it.

Bailey sighed.

“I don't know why you two didn't just stick to what you know.” She said as she took a bite of the breaded leg. On her plate was a breaded and deep-fried rabbit, along with some cooked wheat berries. The wheat did have some rabbit meat in it as well, along with some herbs and spices, but it was definitely the most plain meal among them.

“You know they can probably afford a flour mill, right Bailey,” Tina said as she eyed her meal down.

“And you do know they can afford to cook that, right?”

After an enjoyable meal, the girls decided to relax with some cards. At least that was the plan until the alcohol truly hit Lily.

“Come on, girls, let's skip the cards and go have some fun. There's a strip club a few on the other side of town I've been eyeing.” She said in a slurred tone.

Tina eyed her suspiciously.

“I, uh, think she's talking about a place where men strip. I've heard there's a few in town. I haven't been to one but I've heard about a few of the adventurers working there for extra cash.” Bailey quickly added.

“I knew the men in this parish were no good. With Ezekiel dying, we lost the last good one.” She said as she clicked her tongue.

“Oh come on, you guys want to touch guy's bodies don't cha? We still have some cash left, let's get going.” Lily said as she got up and left the room.

Tina grimaced and clicked her tongue.

They had already left their bill on the table.

The pair got up and ran after her.

“Get back here you undersized alcoholic!”

“W-wait up, Lily, don't go spending all that by yourself!”

The pair caught up to her a few metres outside and Tina could only sigh as they pleaded with her.

“Come on, I know you'd want to go there too,” Lily said.

“I-it'd be fun wouldn't it?” Bailey asked as she looked away.

She grabbed both by their dresses and began walking. “We had our fun, it's time to go home!”

“Come on, you big bitch!” Lily cursed.

“Please, I'm curious too. Can't we vote on this?”

They both had flushed cheeks, so Tina didn't consider a single word that came out of their mouths.

As she walked away…

“Hmm?”

She saw a man in all black quickly go into an alleyway.

“There's no way.”

She ran over and saw them exit the other side of the alley.

(“He's the right height and he's wearing that cape. No, it's just the alcohol affecting my vision. Tch, I should have waited until we got home to drink something. They probably gave us some weird shit, I knew that red wine didn't taste right.”)

She wanted to turn around and chalk it up to her being drunk but…

Her mind was quickly left spinning its wheels when she saw Tibaut run past.

“Huh!?” Tina exclaimed.

“Was that?”

“It's Vanessa's hubby.” Lily slurred as she looked.

All three of them saw the same thing so she knew that was real, at least.

She had already lost sight of him but that didn't mean she wasn't going to get to the bottom of this.

“Can you two move properly?”

“I need some water,” Bailey asked.

“I can move my head into my crotch!” Lily cheerily stated and then proceeded to do just that. “Hehe, I'm so bendy~~~”

(“It just had to happen with these two pieces of deadweight with me.”)