It was a taxing day yesterday, but Touma recovered with tea, rest, and a sleu of normal customers, as normal as yokai can get. It was a couple days but he was settling into a nice routine. He would pray to the shrine and give offerings, he would serve customers coffee and tea and snacks, and would pet Fou as his source of therapy after Merlin.
Touma got into the shop this morning and began his routine. As he finished cleaning up and such the bell rung for his cafe. In came link, who looked a little gruffed up and sat down with a plump as he laid his head on the counter.
"You okay there? You looked a little burnt" Touma said as he polished a glass and slid it over filled with chilled milk.
"Yeah, just decided to challenge a temple of fire without ample protection, no biggie" link muttered. Touma looked at him with a raised eyebrow as a talisman slid into his hand and threw at link while chanting order.
His wounds were beginning to heal, not fast mind you, but the burn marks on his skin were beginning to disappear. "Wow, magic is amazing" Link said with amazement as he saw his wounds were disappearing or closing up. "Yep, you should learn some" Touma chuckled as he took something out from a private stash and handed it to Link.
"What is it?" Link asked. "It's a snack from this area, a version of manju buns with some extra spice" said Touma as he handed the kappa shaped buns to Link and got on with his serving as the screams of a hero could be heard.
Some others began to come in. There was yokai from the other side of Shin-Kyoto, from the courts of Nurarihyon. They were more unruly than there counterparts from this Kyoto, but they made for some great customers.
"Touma!" screamed a Yuki-Onna as she leaped towards Touma who formed a quick barrier she ran into. "Not today Ashino, not today" muttered Touma as Ashino rubbed her forhead where she rammed into the barrier.
"Thats not nice!" she screamed as she got up. It was all in good nature though so it was fine. Touma dismissed the barrier and got her usual cup of tea. Another of the Hyakki Yagyou, Aoko, came by and sat down as well with a cup of something stronger in front of her.
The day was getting started and it was calm. That was until the bell rung and something strong swept through the room. Divinity, it was something one could intrinsically detect if the divinity in question wasn't trying to hide it. However, what was even more surprising was the fact it was now getting supressed by the very cafe itself, or by the shrine within.
It was an girl, who was dressed in a somewhat,.... revealing outfit. A tank top with jean botty shorts, a baseball cap and two horn like antlers coming out of her head. Her eyes were two different colors, yet her aura said one thing about her. 'Dragon', a beast that is a calamity of nature and power given form, yet its divine so its also a god granting it power over the world, truly terrifying.
"Oh, this place wasn't here before" she muttered. Her figure, which was given huge assets, was drawing attention from everybody as she made her way towards the counter. "Hi, welcome to my cafe, my names Touma" the owner muttered. "Oh, my name is Quetzalcoatl, you can call me Lucoa" said the happy goddess which struck fear into the patrons hearts.
A scatter of feet and chairs was heard as the customers filed out, all besides Link of course who had no idea of who Lucoa was.
Lucoa looked around and saw how her presence seemingly scared of many customers. "Sorry about that" she muttered in an airhead manner. She seemed somewhat oblivious yet felt like she new what was going on.
"It's fine" muttered Touma. "May I ask what you want?" Touma asked. "Oh, do you do tamales?""Yeah, I can do a basic version". Touma was a man who knew a lot of things, buth mundane and supernatural and used it to his advantage.
It didn't take long and he got it done quickly, fudging some of the time with magic to get it done quicker, carefully though so the taste didn't diminish.
"Awesome!" said Lucuo with a genuine happiness as she began to dig into the tamales. "Hey Touma" asked Link as he whispered to Touma. "Who is she? Everyone left because she said her name" uttered Link with pure curiosity.
"Quetzalcoatl, or Lucoa, is known around the supernatural part of the world" Touma began. "She is known as a god, particularly one who had a hand in creating the earthly world" Touma told him as Link now looked like he was about to collapse.
"Oh im not a goddess these days" said Lucoa off handedly while a tamale hanged from her lips. "I'm more of a dragon than a god, though I do still have my divinity" she finished as she gobbled up the last tamale.
"Wait, if your a dragon can you kill one for me?" asked Link who seemingly recovered from his shock. "Dear, I'm a neutral dragon so I won't wantonly interfere in other affairs" she said which caused Link to become downcast. "Thought" she eventually continued, "I can grant you a blessing to help you" said Lucoa.
She held her hand over his head as a spell formula appeared and her divinity seemed to flow through it. An aura of magical energy seeped into his body as he glowed with an unnatural light and what divinity was present in him, seemed to amplify. There was a blessing already on him you see, from a goddess of unknown.
"There you go, that should give you a boost. Oh, you should learn some magic too" said Lucoa as she pressed her finger against his head and sent a deluge of information into his head.
Link, whose eyes now rolled back into his head passed out on the floor from all the stimuli as Touma just shook his head. 'Can't my cafe be normal?' he thought, but the answer he knew was no.
Lucoa sat there and order more tamales while the bell rung for another customer. An old man in a grey wizards cloak and hat, with a wooden staff to accompany him carrying an old tobacco pipe.
"Well, what an unusual place to find in the shire" said the old man who was very familiar to Touma, and with the words of shire and the fact a wizard of grey cloak and scarf weren't enought to inform him of his identity, the man before him was gandalf.
"Hello Mr.Wizard, how may I help you?" said Touma as Gandalf inched towards the counter. "I would like something to drink if you don't mind, tea if you have it" said Gandalf as Touma nodded and brewed him a fresh cup and set it in front of him.
"Ah, what a fine cup. I sure do hope Mr.Baggins brews a fine cup like this" said Gandalf as he drank his tea. Touma was beginning to wear his brain thin with all these interactions and wondered would it stop.
"Hey Mr.Wizard""Gandalf if you don't mind""Gandalf, what brings you to my establishment?" Touma finished. "Well I was off to meet a friend about a job or so, and I happened to catch your extraordinary building. It was peculiar for the shire, as it was interwoven with unseen mystery, so I had to look" Gandalf explained through his tea. "This tea is mighty fine! Is there perhaps a chance I could have some for the road?" he asked politely, as politely as someone of his power could be.
Touma was about to respond when something manifested on his counter. It was a golden key emblazoned with Elixabeths symbol. 'For customers who wish to visit wherever they are' she explained. Touma chuckled as he handed the key to Gandalf. "Here, just use this key when you want to visit us, should work anywhere".
More keys manifested, one for Lucoa and Link. Each were given there key to use as they saw fit. Gandalf emptied his cup and said "Farewell Touma, I shall see you again, maybe with a hobbit in tow" he chuckled as he left.
"Quite a fun place, I will come back! Oh before I go" said Lucoa as she tapped me on the head and something warm flowed through me, a spark of enlightenment, a blessing.
"For the food" she said as she left, and Link wasn't far behind, leaving a crystal for payment as he left.Touma stood there, trying to contemplate what was happening. 'Maybe I should ask for the place to be extra fortified' he thought as he got out a portion of food and went to the shrine to pray.