Bab 61: Awkward reunion
As they approached Lawrence city, Felix took off into the brush to avoid the gate. Even though he had been investigating in the cities he obviously didn't have an ID card due to being a beast man. Whenever they arrived at a town, he would disappear and reappear when they entered the walls.
"ID card if you please." The guard said routinely. Leo was surprised and silently praised the guards good attitude. He handed over the card after dripping some blood on it, and a moment later received it back and guard motioned for them to go in. Once Leo was inside the gates, he was deeply impressed at the city.
Unlike the various towns and villages they had passed, there was a brick road going into the city, with gutters lining the sides for waste. The houses were made with a combination of stone and wood compared to the usual wood only buildings they had seen the whole way; and not to mention two story, some were even up to four! Most of the buildings that Leo saw after leaving the village were like they were from a medieval movie, and lacking compared to the village that promoted the use of magic and chi, while the normal towns didn't. He looked to Thomas to ask some questions, but he quickly shook his head before Leo could and explained,
"I don't know much about Lawrence city, I was only here once when I was just a kid. Anyways, I only plan to stay for two days before returning." Leo nodded his head in understanding, but at that moment
"Then I'll go ahead and answer anything you want to ask, after all this is where I spent quite some time before heading north you know." Felix had reappeared out of nowhere, and offered to answer Leo's questions. From that point the two were going back and forth with questions and answers the whole way until they reached the inn they were going to stay at.
The inn was a cozy place that seemed to see a fair amount of customers. Leo paid for the two rooms, and they all went up to store their items and rest until dinner time. Leo and Iris however decided to make use of the soundproof barrier that elder grandma taught Iris before leaving, and by the time they went to dinner both of them were looking very "refreshed".
Since Thomas wouldn't be able to drink much the next night in order to leave early, Leo decided they should have a small farewell that night for him. For the first time Felix experienced the immunity Leo had towards alcohol when he tried to out drink him. Iris didn't touch her ale much and was content just spending time with the other three, even though she had to keep her hood up. Suddenly the cozy atmosphere was disturbed when the door slammed open, and a man staggered into the tavern.
"SCOTTY! Gish me a damn ale!" There was a slight slur to his words, and Leo knew it would probably get worse over the next few hours. He seemed to be in a partially bad mood, and Leo was about to say they should call it a night, when the man suddenly yelled over everyone else in the bar on a drunken rant.
"THISH ONE ISH FOR THE PURGE! Wipe out all thoshe damn freakshes, and good riddansh!" Leo frowned at the mans behavior, and was about to say something before noticing that though the people didn't agree with his obnoxious attitude, they did agree with some of his words. Leo was quite thankful that Iris was facing away from the man, and had her hood up so there wasn't unneeded trouble. He leaned over to one of the other tables, as Iris and the other two tried to keep to themselves, and asked someone there,
"What's the deal with the town drunk over here?" The man chuckled slightly at Leo's words, and answered him,
"That's Shane over there, he's not really liked much but this purge is accepted so people agree with him tonight. It's a rare thing that they do, even though he comes in here and rants about mutants every other night. The way he talks about them you'd think their gonna be the end of the world." Leo was a little agitated at the mans words, but didn't say anything. He looked over and Shane was indeed harassing some people, but they didn't do anything about, and the bartender even pretended not to see it. He turned back to the man and asked,
"If he's not really liked, why do people tolerate what he's doing? Why not tell him to back off? And why does he hate mutants so much?" Leo didn't want to ask this many questions, but the more he looked at Shane the more he almost felt a sense of familiarity. He was wondering why this was. The man was more than happy to talk once Leo passed him another ale though.
"See, Shane used to be in the military, so he knows chi. If anyone tries to mess with him he'll teach them a lesson, of course that's only if they live through it. He fought in the mutant uprising a few decades ago to boot, must have been right before you were born. He lost quite a few friends, and lost touch with those who lived through it when he started drinking. His hatred intensified after he returned though, for some reason. There's a few theories, like how his wife who was pregnant gave birth to mutant baby, but it's never been proven. One is that mutants stole his child instead and he's never forgiven them."
Leo thanked the man, and started thinking. He felt it would be best to return to the room once again, but stopped once the door opened again and his jaw practically hit the floor. In walked a woman, who walked up to Shane and tried to talk him into going home. He started yelling and cursing at her though, in response. When Thomas looked to see what Leo was looking at, he also went into brief shock, and started becoming slightly worried. Iris noticed the two's looks, and asked,
"What is she that beautiful?" She couldn't see her due to her still facing away from them, and Leo was stuck at trying to find an answer. He then decided that they have to get back to the room NOW, but when he stood up he caught Shane's eye apparently.
"HEY! Shtay right there!" Shane started walking over, and Leo started sweating, the entire time the mans wife was trying to stop him. He stopped right in front of Leo, who had moved between him and Iris. Shane however pointed to the hooded Iris, and said with clarity for the first time,
"Tell your freaky friend to take of his hood!" The entire tavern was silent as they watched the show. Before leo could say anything though, the mans wife tried to plead with him again.
"Please leave them alone, let's just go home. I can get a pot of t-" the woman was suddenly cut off as the man backhanded her, to neither the taverns surprise, or apparently hers. Leo became enraged at the act, but held it in check. He couldn't afford to have the orange eyes appear here. He forcefully calmed himself, and steadily said to the still waiting Shane,
"My WIFE was mauled by a high wolf on the road a few weeks ago, she lost the sight in one eye and has several leftover scars. I would appreciate not having to force her to show herself in front of the whole tavern." Leo recited their arranged story, but no one in the tavern apparently bought it.
"I've heard that story a hundred times, do you think any of us are so stupid as to believe it?" Knowing he found a mutant to bear his wrath, Shane's wits returned at an amazing pace as if his previous slurring had all been an act. Shane then reached out as if to hit Leo for lying to him. Leo reacted to guard himself, but it wasn't until a second later that he realized he was tricked. Shane's real target was iris's hood.
He grabbed a fist full of the cloth, and yanked it back to for fully reveal her face to the whole tavern. As he did so, she turned and shot a glare at him, only to go into shock along with every other person in the tavern except Leo and Thomas. Her gaze was originally directed at Shane, but the woman behind him caught her eye and stunned her. The reason was because the two looked almost exactly alike.
The only differences between Iris and the woman was that the woman was noticeably more aged, had a bruise forming on her cheek, and didn't have iris's golden eyes. The woman stared at Iris in equal shock, and looked directly at her eyes. She then said to Iris,
"Mary?"
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Harry_Dresden
Harry_Dresden Well who saw that one coming?
Thanks for reading!!!!!
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