The Sugar Flower Cafe

Blake showed Hubert and Edelgard what to take care of in the morning while they were waiting for customers to come in. They were back of house, so they weren’tjustcooking; they had to clean and sanitise everything that Blake used to make drinks. She had a ton of different tea infusers and she’d used quite a few last night. She felt a little bit bad, but theywerefor back of house. Since it was Wednesday, Edelgard was the one in charge. “Hubert, because of how labor laws work, Edelgard needs to be the one to handle everything. You said you were her loyal vassal and I’m not sure how much you take care of for her… I can’t have you working unnecessarily and racking up overtime. By law, I have to pay a minimum of one and a half times if you work overtime.” She wasn’t sure how well he’d take this… He let out a heavy sigh. “I’m used to doing everything for her…including making her drinks… Just letting her work on her own doesn’t sit well with me.” He paused. “But I do understand. I normally hate leaving her alone, but perhaps I can help our new roommate set up her furniture.” “That would help things go a lot faster, honestly. Anna can only be in one place at once. Addy has Zyric to help, though I’m not sure who Anna would choose to help. I’m sure Celica would appreciate the help.” Well… He took that a lot better than she thought he would. “Very well then.” He bowed and headed out, disappearing around the side of the building. Edelgard poked her head out. “Huh, I wasn’t expecting him to relent so easily. He’s usually beyond stubborn about…pretty much everything.” She shrugged. “Maybe it’s because you’re our boss.” “Maybe. I don’t know him well enough to determine. I’m just glad he’s willing to help out in other ways. My budget is already going to be tight with having four employees now… Thankfully, the projected savings from having Anna be my supplier will definitely help, but still…” She had five employees, technically, and she technically was putting Weiss on payroll; Weiss just didn’t know it yet. It was just easier to put things away now and figure them into the budget from the beginning rather than try to fit it in later… Plus, it’d be a nice surprise for Weiss to havethat muchmoney to spend when she felt better at least physically. Edelgard winced. “You didn’t have to take us on, you know…” “I chose to. And I’m going to pay you. I’m not sure how much I can afford raises, though…” Yeah, that was going to be tough… But they hadn’t even been working adayfor her, so that was something to worry aboutlater. “Anyway, I’ll leave you alone and take care of things back here.” Edelgard slipped back into the kitchen and returned to her duties. It was a few minutes later that several people walked in. One was a young woman with a winter coat on, but she took it off and revealed a plain, dark-red, long-sleeved shirt and black jeans. The other looked a bit older and appearances would say they were related. But Blake slitted her eyes a little. That was no person; like Zyric, there was something nonhuman dwelling beneath the surface. And that was no typical body; it was more like…hard light than anything. It was basically an unprotected soul in a projected body. The woman she looked at and the black-haired man with glasses were both like that. The projected woman wore fancy clothing, business casual. The black-haired man was much different, wearing jeans and a hoodie. Definitely quite the bunch. But she shook herself and smiled. “Hello and welcome to the Sugar Flower Café where we focus on drink experiences rather than fast convenience. If you have time, I’ll be happy to make you a drink and my staff can make you a meal.” She put on her best customer service voice and mask. However, the projected woman had an eye on her. She could feel it in the woman’s gaze. “Oh, uhm, could you help me with the blends? I’ve never heard of any of these…” theactualhuman said. “Certainly.” Blake helped her with the ingredients of all the herbal blends she offered. She couldn’t make a unique blend because she didn’t have house blends… She bought everything wholesale from big makers, though she wasn’t sure how Anna being her only supplier would change things… For the time being, she had a large back supply of all her blends, so she wasn’t in danger of running out of any of them. “The citrus sunburst sounds good…” “Can I get a name?” “Akiza. Izinski Akiza.” “What about your companions?” “They don’t need anything.” “Okay, who or what are you?” The projected woman looked at Blake. She sighed. Apparently the spells that Anna put on the café wouldn’t work onhereither… This was annoying. They seemed to fail more than they seemed to work. What was the point of such spells if they didn’t work on the majority of people she interacted with? She hated having to explain everything each time. “I’m a Faunus and I can ask you the same thing. Your body…isn’t really a body. There’s a soul there, certainly, but that’s no normal body. You and him—” She pointed. “—are the same. She’s—” She pointed at Akiza. “—the onlyactualperson among you.” “Huh, most people wouldn’t pick up on any of that. You don’tseemlike a threat, but those cat ears…” The projected woman looked at Blake. “I’m not; I promise. I’m just a café owner.” There was more to her than that, of course, but shereallydidn’t want to go into her past with complete and utter strangers. They didn’t need to be privy to her time as a radical terrorist. If she got to know them enough, maybe she could tell them, but she had no intents to tell them what she’d been through… She was reluctant to even tell her employees since they were still strangers to her. “Your eyes speak of past combat experience.” The woman looked at Weiss. “Hers do too.” “Rose, please… I just want to get a drink,” Akiza pleaded. The woman, Rose, sighed. “Fine…” She shook her head. “You can call me Rose.” “So what’s up with the projected people?” Blake asked. “I’m Blake, by the way, and this is Weiss, one of my employees.” She motioned and started to get the drink together. It was a lovely blend, one she really enjoyed. Great way to start off the day. “And ‘call you’ Rose? Is your name not Rose?” That hadn’t escaped her byanymeans. “I’m Black Rose Dragon but my name is Seriel.” Blake tilted her head to the side. She had no idea what that meant. “You have no idea about Duel Monsters, do you?” Blake shook her head. “Not in the slightest. There’s no such thing where I’m from.” “Akiza, you’d probably be better at explaining.” Rose sat down at the table with the black-haired man who had remained quiet up until this point. The two talked quietly, but Blake could hear them loud and clear, thanks to her Faunus hearing. It was a language unlike any she’d heard before. She definitely couldn’t understand them whatsoever. She wasn’t sure if that was intentional to keep her locked out or just what they did… “Well, it’s the most popular card game in our world and has been fordecades.It brought about relative world peace. There really aren’t wars between nations anymore,” Akiza explained. Blake had to useeveryounce of self-control she had to not stare dumbly. She had to pay attention to the tea she was brewing so it wouldn’t be terrible when it came out. “That…sounds really implausible. World peace? No discrimination or anything like that?” “I don’t really get it either, but it’s not like it solved all of society’s ails… And there areotherthreats…” Akiza’s eyes shifted a bit and her soul dropped. Whatever had happened, it had obviously left an impact on her. “Psychic duelists are treatedextremelypoorly especially here in Japan where people who are different are looked upon unkindly.” “That’s what Kurusu-san said. The nail that sticks up will get hammered down sort of mentality, he said.” Blake was still uncomfortable being around a male alone like that, but now that she had other employees, she would definitely feel a little more at ease. She just hoped she wouldn’t be left alone with Hubert… She knew he could and absolutelywouldharm her if he felt like she was doing something uncouth toward Edelgard. For some reason, he didn’t put her on edge, but sheknewhe was a threat for certain. She wouldn’t be unkind to Edelgard or anything like that… But she still knew that Hubert would end her and nobody would find her body if she crossed a line. Akiza nodded and sighed. “That’s very true… So you’ve been to Japan before?” “Yeah, yesterday. My café hops aroundeverywhere.But can you explain your friends? They have weird readings on their souls… I don’t really know how to quantify it.” “Oh, Rose and Taro…” Akiza got behind her and pulled a box of some sort off her belt. She pulled some cards out. “They’re duel spirits. At least in each monster card, a spirit inhabits it. Rose is the spirit of Black Rose Dragon.” She pulled out a singular card and showed it to Blake. A fearsome black dragon with wings made of rose petals. Well, the name definitely fit. “Psychic duelists basically make the damage from duelsreal.My powers go beyond that, though; I can interface with duel spirits and bring them to life evenoutsideof duels. So they’re basically disembodied souls, taken from their world, and put into temporary bodies. They don’t really feel anything, not pain, hunger, thirst, hot, or cold.” “That…must beverystrange.” Blake looked at Rose and the black-haired man. “It was at first, but you get used to it after a while,” Rose said. “Why doesn’t she look like her card?” Blake asked, looking back at Akiza. Akiza put the box back on her belt and took another off. These were clearly doctored cards. They had the monster area cut out of them, then had someone else’s art taped to it. The art was done on thick cardstock. “I can manipulate my powers to give my friends different outfits. These aren’t their normal clothes; Envael is more European-style medieval than modern Japan. Rose naturally has a human form, so I just draw her human form the best I can with different outfits.” “I have no idea what ‘European-style medieval’ means… But huh. Interesting.” The different powers people had on different worlds were interesting. She was a weirdo in that she could use advanced aura. Most people wouldn’t believe it existed, but a lot of people could tap into the lower Grades pretty easily. Meditation would allow one to tap into up to Grade Five on one’s own without a teacher, but anything above that required a teacher…especially once they got to Grade Nine and above. She was only Grade Nine, but she could do minor soul manipulation. However, she didn’t try anything beyond that because she didn’t want to cause irreparable damage to somebody’s soul. Akiza took out what looked like a scroll and then flipped it around to show her the screen. “Oh. That’s just typical medieval style for Vale and southern Mistral. Central and northern Mistral were much different, though. …Vale and Mistral are two of the four kingdoms on Remnant.” “Remnant?” “My planet.” “That’s…not a disconcerting thing to call a planet.” “It’s a long story that I don’t feel like going into.” “Fair.” “Do you think you’d like to learn to duel?” Blake blinked at the offer. “I’m…not sure. I do have two staffers to train, though they’re likely going to be off duty today. I’m not sure how fast things will move here or not… Thingsreallypicked up in one of my stops on Monday. This is a pretty big metropolitan city so I wouldn’t be surprised if things pick up quite a bit. I wouldn't want to stop in the middle of doing something with you.” She pulled out the infuser and pushed it across the counter to Akiza. “I mean it couldn’t hurt to try to learn.” She smiled. “If things get too busy here, I’ll just leave and come back some other time. But I do have two decks on me.” She took another box off her belt and placed it on the counter. “Plus, dueling can be a fun way to pass the time. I can probably pick you up some basic structure decks that teach you how to play more rigorously on your own time.” Blake looked at Weiss. “Actually, Weiss, why don’tyoulearn to play so that way I can stay open for right now?” Blake wasn’t sure if things would pick up or not. She really didn’t want to be caught off guard by customers coming in. If Weiss wanted something to do, she could play with Akiza. Blake just didn’t want to run the risk of customers coming in and getting the wrong idea about her. She could easily handle the register if things started to pick up. This was a large city quite obviously, so it could pick up without any warning. Weiss blinked but nodded. “All right.” Akiza started explaining things to Weiss and Blake listened while she took care of little things around the back of the café. Weiss seemed a little bit overwhelmed by what she was being taught which…Blake couldn’t blame her. Picking up things like a card game from scratch was hard. Some of the kids in the Fang had tried to teach her some trading card games but she justneverpicked it up. This one seemed a bit complex but maybe nottoobad. Honestly, Blake could pick things up just by listening. Weiss had way more to deal with than Blake did, considering she had just gotten out of torture a couple of days ago. The lack of food was no doubt getting to Weiss. Not that Blake was starving her, but having been deprived of nutrients for eight months… Yeah. Weiss would probably struggle with intense mental tasks for a while. Weiss sighed after several hands and put the cards down. “It’s just…too much for me right now.” Blake nodded. “I’m not too surprised unfortunately…” “What happened to her? I can see she’s fairly thin…” Akiza said. Weiss’ gaze dropped and Blake looked at Akiza. “Not something we want to disclose if that’s all right. She’s just been through a lot.” Akiza gave a sympathetic look. “I understand that all too well… I’ve been through a lot myself.” That definitely explained Akiza’s soul… It felt like it’d been through a cheese grater. Not as bad as Blake’s own soul, but honestly, it felt like a lot of similarities. She could only guess at what Akiza had been through, but she really didn’t want to press into a stranger’s past anymore than she wanted a stranger pressing into her past. “It seems like we’re peas in a pod, huh?” Blake nodded. “Yeah, it does. Though, honestly, it doesn’t seem like anything’s picking up,, so maybe I can sit down and play. Weiss, are you hungry?” Weiss shook her head. “All right then.” Blake stepped up to the counter and took the deck. She shuffled it and started listening to Akiza’s directions. Yeah, this game was more complicated than anything she was familiar with, but it wasn’t in a bad way. There was ahugeelement of strategy to it as well as a little bit of luck. Akiza explained that the deck that Blake was playing with was a control-style deck with the Naturia archetype. The deck Akiza herself had was a Black Rose deck and a burn deck. The two had an interesting conflict style since the Black Rose deck burned away the opponent’s life points. Thankfully, Blake was incredibly detail oriented and used to picking apart people’s weaknesses, so the Naturia deck workedwonderfullyfor her. Akiza came in with the win and it was somewhat overwhelming, but Blake wasn’t upset. Akiza smiled. “Not bad for a first-time player. Honestly, you worked well with the Naturia deck. I might see if I can build another control-style deck for you rather than get you a structure deck. I normally don’t build decks from scratch like this as I bond with my cards, but I’ll see what I have. I have access to a lot of different cards, though it might take me some time to fully put a deck together for you… And once you’re more comfortable with it, you can also modify your deck.” Blake rubbed the back of her neck, her ears down out of embarrassment. “I’m just a good strategist. Though the slight element of chance was getting me.” Of course, there were ways to search for cards that she had stumbled across, but there always remained an element of chance since no draw could be fully predicted. “It’s honestly a lot of fun.” Akiza nodded, her smile warm. “Duel Monsters is atonof fun. How many people do you have here? It might be a fun thing do while you have down time.” “Well, there’s me, Weiss, Addy, Celica, Edelgard, Hubert, and Zyric, but I’m not sure how interested the latter would be…” Zyric freaked her out a bit. She still wasn’t surewhyshe wasn’t afraid of Hubert since he was the type she reallyshouldhave been afraid of. He could andwouldmake her disappear if he had the chance to do so. But that didn’t frighten her. It should have, but it justdidn’t.She couldn’t get much of a read on Zyric, so they scared her more than Hubert did. She just…didn’t really understand how and why Hubert didn’t frighten her to hell and back. Maybe itwasbecause he was so transparent… There was no telling. “Oh wow, that’s a fair few people. I’ll see about making you a control deck but get the others structure decks. Then you can see if they want to play.” Akiza smiled brightly. “Structure decks aren’t too expensive since they’re meant for kids to be able to start playing relatively off the bat with.” Blake nodded. “Honestly, that sounds fine.” She smiled. “Thank you. Do you want me to pay you back or anything?” Akiza flapped her hand. “It’s fine. I have plenty of money. It’s not like I’m going to be building you a Chaos Control deck back in the days of the original set.” “That…means nothing to me.” “Chaos Control was a particularly powerful deck with several very rare monsters like Chaos Emperor Dragon and Black Luster Soldier. You would’ve had to pay atonof money for them and it’d basically be an instant win button for how good the deck was. Few could get it, though, but those that did had amajoradvantage.” She paused. “By the way, would you like to get to know the duel spirits in your deck when I get it built? It might take me a little while since I’d have to order individual cards… But I can get you a structure deck to start with as well.” “So like your friends here?” She looked at Rose and Taro. “I’m not sure. I already have enough people to get to know right now. Getting to know a whole deck worth of monsters would be a lot. I need to get to know Weiss, Hubert, Edelgard, Addy, Zyric, and Celica. Getting to know monsters sounds like it’d be a bit of a headache. Especially since I don’t know anything about Duel Monsters.” Blake paused. “Also, you never did order anything.” “Oh, I’m sorry! I got so distracted that I forgot. It’s still early in the morning, so I can order something with caffeine…” She frowned. “I’ve never tried coffee before…” “Would you like to try it? If not, I have plenty of teas which include fruit- and flower-based ones.” They weren’treallytea because they didn’t have leaves from the tea plant, but it was the only word that could be used for it… It frustrated her as a tea aficionado but it simply was how language worked. “I could also make you a matcha latte or something…” “A matcha latte actually sounds good.” Akiza smiled. Blake nodded and got to work making the latte. It didn’t take too long and she passed it over the counter to Akiza in a mug. “I prefer to focus on experience rather than being a fast-food café unlike Grimm and Grounds.” “Grimm and Grounds…?” “It’s a popular chain across all of Remnant. The Grimm are creatures that feed on negativity and are drawn to it. They push humans and Faunus to the very edge of existence. And grounds… Well, like coffee grounds… But if you ever want to try coffee, I can help you figure out something. I’m not the biggest fan of overloading coffee with simple syrups, but I also don’t drink it black. Like everything, there’s a balance. Maybe next time you come you could try a blend that has a more floral, fruity flavor and I can add some simple syrups. I could give you a small cup to try it out. Since it wouldn’t be a full cup, I wouldn’t charge you full price.” “That…actually sounds nice. I unfortunately have to do a lot of all nighters…” Akiza sighed. “No rest for the weary.” “I know that feel. What do you do for work?” “I’m an international advocate for psychic duelists… That’s what I am and how I can bring them to the human world.” Akiza motioned to Rose. “Most psychic duelists aren’t as strong as I am because I also commune with duel spirits. Most can causesomedamage, but most aren’t as intense as my powers are.” “What exactlyarepsychic duelists and stuff?” “Normally, duels are done with these.” Akiza held up a disk that had been attached to her arm. “These are called Duel Disks and they cast holograms. Psychic duelists infuse the holograms with some level of life and make the damage from duelsreal.We played a tabletop game which is how it was played when Duel Monsters first started.” Blake could feel Weiss’ soul flipping over on itself and her face grew pale even for her. Blake placed a hand on her shoulder. Akiza gave a sad smile. “And that’s why we need advocates. Psychic duelists and their powers aren’t well known and they’reterrifyingto people that don’t understand. Kids get tossed out on the streetsfartoo much… My job is to bring knowledge of psychic duelists to the world. I run a nonprofit called the Unity Center that’s branching out into many different countries in Europe as well as North and South America. Asia’s hard to penetrate because of the entire collectivist mindset so many of the countries have. I have control of my powers, so you don’t need to worry. I only use them in duels where I need to make a point.” Weiss nodded a bit, though she remained balled up. “That’s definitely a good thing to have… Just be careful it doesn’t become an echo chamber,” Blake warned. “I’ve seen what happens.” She couldn’t really shake the White Fang from her mind. It had been started by her parents with the best of intentions, but it had devolved into an echo chamber of radical ideals and terrorism. She really just didn’t want Akiza’s organisation to fall to the same fate. Even the best of intentions could be twisted and used against people. She just hoped that wouldn’t be the case here… Of course, Akiza could only have so much control over individual people… People that had been hurt often could andwouldfall to radical ideals because they wanted revenge on the people that had hurt them. Akiza nodded. “I’m aware. I know what can happen when people are allowed to stew in their anger and grief.” Blake could feel her soul turning over and over again. There wasincrediblydeep scarring there, no doubt from whatever Akiza had experienced. Blake wanted to reach out to her more, but there was only so much she could do. This was their first time meeting. She really didn’t have any space to tell Akiza what to do. She was just warning her that it could very easily get out of hand and people could turn against her. “We offer free counseling services and it’s pretty much arequirementthat people get it in order to be accepted into the Unity Center. It’s just hard because of the stigma against mental health here in Japan…A lotof the kids I deal with have anxiety and PTSD or even C-PTSD due to their histories… I don’t want a repeat of the Arcadia Movement.” Blake tilted her head. “The Arcadia Movement?” Akiza stiffened and Blake felt her defenses snap up as quickly as they could, but it wasn’t enough to keep her out. Only a few people could keep Blake out and she could count those people on one hand. “I’d…rather not talk about it.” “Sounds like me with the White Fang,” she offered. She didn’t want to offer more thanthat,but it seemed like they honestly had a fair bit in common. “I know I don’t want anybody pushing their nose intomyhistory, so I’m not going to ask you to divulge sensitive information. Wejustmet. There’s no need to try to push into each other’s sensitive pasts.” Akiza nodded and visibly relaxed. Blake could also feel her defenses go down. Akiza hadsaid‘the Arcadia Movement,’ so Blake couldn’t really help but ask. But no, she wouldn’t push Akiza to tell her history. Blake already had told her history to too many people as it was… She would probably have to come clean to everyone in her employment sooner or later… She really didn’t want to, but she would need to at some point just for the sake of transparency…and especially if Adam found her, then tried to take her. “The White Fang is an…ominous name.” “Unfortunately, its reputation precedes it.” Blake shook her head. “I don’t really want to talk about it too much more, though.” Akiza nodded. “Like you said, we just met, so there’s no real point in pushing our noses into each other’s pasts.” She glanced down at her watch. “I should probably be off anyway… I need to get to the Unity Center. Thank you for the drink and talk. I’ll see about building you a control deck and offering your other employees structure decks.” Blake smiled and nodded. “All right then. See you later.” She waved and Akiza headed out of the door. Weiss relaxed entirely, her frail body looking entirely wrung out. Blake looked over at her. “Sorry. I don’t know people’s pasts or abilities when they walk through the door,” Blake apologised. “There’s no telling who’s going to walk through that door. I can definitely understand being tentative about certain types of powers, but I need to give my customers the benefit of the doubt. Honestly, I don’t think Akiza’s bad… She has a good heart and her soul is warm. It’s really just that she was dealt a bad hand in life and is still reeling from what happened to her…whatever it was.” Weiss nodded and sighed. “I’m sorry… I know I shouldn’t be so presumptuous… I just don’t know much about Anna…” “I know she wouldn’t do anything to put me in harm’s way. She can definitely be a trickster, but I doubt she’d want to actuallyharmanybody unless there wasgoodreason for it. She’s the one that’s supplying my tea and coffee blends now as well as the one that keeps offering you stuff for free.” Blake had definitely harmed people in the past. There was no denying it. She had killed people even innocents—unarmed and untrained men, women, and children. It didn’t matter who it was in Adam’s eyes; if he deemed them traitors to the Faunus race, then they deserved to die. “It’s just hard to adapt to all of this…” Weiss sighed. Blake walked over and offered her hand to Weiss. She didn’t want to touch her without consent; that was just messed up. Blake knew how sensitive people could be because shedid notlike to be touched without consent herself. It was one thing if it was an emergency; it was another if it was in a calmer setting where one could consent. Weiss hesitated then took her hand. Blake felt Weiss’ soul flipping over and over, her anxiety sky high. “It’s okay, Weiss. Youjustgot out ofliteral torturea couple of days ago. I wasn’t tortured in the same way you were, but I was systematically and methodically destroyed. It was torture in its own way. It took me alongtime to feel safe. Honestly, I’m amazed at how put together and articulate you are. You’re pushing through a lot.” Weiss nodded a bit. “I had to do a lot to keep myself like this…” “You’ve done well. You can relax now.” “If I do that, I’ll collapse entirely and won’t be able to function.” “Well, it’s your choice what you do in the end. Hopefully we can help get you some help in due time…” She really hoped they could. Even if not, Weiss had a comfortable place to heal and recuperate. Blake glanced at the time and saw two hours had passed. She looked back out the window and the familiar skyline of Vale appeared. Back home, huh?