[sub][color=#B9BABC]F L A S H B A C K     —     T H E  A F T E R  P A R T Y[/color]          	[color=#6A5B7E]J u n e  5[/color]     	     [color=C54E4E]A   c l u b   i n   N e w   A t r i a  s[/color][/sub][hr]

Ezra gazed around the club, and took within its dualism of darkness brightened by bright and shining lights. The music blared, piercingly permeating through his mind, and he took it within him like breath. There was no peace here, and thus peace there was.

Ezra was stilled surprised that he had allowed himself to be dragged away, and towards something like this. He had never before visited a club, and he still had no urge in him to ever visit one again. Yet something within him made it so that he did not regret coming here, if only for a single day. There was something melancholy about graduation, and for that reason he sought solace in something which would give him of a proper ending. Of all the places he had lived, he was happiest here at the Academy.

Beside him was Olivia. He remembered when he only saw in her an intellectual rival that needed to be surpassed. He surely had been foolish then. Now he had come to her as a friend. 

“You know, there was a time when I thought I held you in contempt. I had to surpass you, intellectually if in nothing else. Really, I just idolized. In my mission to be better, I delved deep into my studies, and one day I saw just how beautiful the world and spirits I studied were, and I abandoned that silly of obsession of mine.

“Actually, I don’t know why I’ve told you any of this. I suppose I thought I could trust you with it. But it felt good for me to say it to someone, finally. I suppose I said because, well, it seems like we’re all going away to war. Some of us will not come back, and the rest of I’ll bet’ll be changed.”

“But for now I think I’ll just enjoy myself. You’ve always had a way of lightening things. So, do you think I could a drink here?”

[sub][color=#B9BABC]T H E  B A R[/color]		[color=d8996d]Ezra Malchut[/color]		Recruits of Doral[/sub]
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Ezra was definitely a long way from the Academy. Undeterred, Ezra stepped across the creaking wooden floor and towards the bald bartender in his monochrome outfit, annoying a few denizens who were uncomfortable for this young upstart being so close.

“Can I help you?” the bartender said, the hint of hostility none too subtle.

“Yes,” said Ezra. “There’s something I want to know, someone I want to find.”

The bartender gave a mirthless chuckle. “We get a lot of people through, some don’t stay long. But go ahead, boy. Who’s this you’re looking for?”

“I don’t have a name-” began Ezra.

“‘Course,” the bartender scoffed.

“But tell me, of all those who has been in Doral, whose the strongest?” 

“The strongest? Tell me kid, where’d you come from?”

“I’m a Guardian.”

“You, a guardian?” and then the bartender scoffed again. “Must’ve just graduated, then. Listen, kid, this isn’t Oakridge. Looking like that and talking like that, you can’t really expect anyone to take you seriously. This isn’t your Academy, kid. Nobody knows anything ‘bout this ‘strongest.’ Go ask the others, and they’ll tell you they’re the strongest.”

“Well,” Ezra said.

So Ezra tried again, approaching a table occupied by a group of men gambling with cards whose appearances warranted worry on the veracity of their virtue, and who it was apparent that they were drunk. The leader was a man who wore a dirty fedora, with a bold-eyed prostitute sitting on his lap, and had a wicked laugh. As Ezra approached, they stared at him, their roguish smiles not vanishing as they gazed at him with sneering expressions. 

“Well, now look what we have here!” the hatted man said. “I saw you with the bartender over there, kid, and I saw how he tossed you away. What can I help you with?”

“I am looking for the strongest among all in Doral,” Ezra said.

The hatted man laughed and said, “You’re lookin’ at him.”

Ezra eyed him, and he said, “I…don’t think you fit the description.”

“Oh, so do you, now?” said the hatted man. “I suppose you think you’re pretty tough, then?”

“Tougher than you, at least,” said Ezra.

“Well, we’ll see about that!” said the hatted man.

He came up with a punch, which surprised the prostitute, who gave a look of horror and quickly left from the hatted man’s lap. Ezra ducked the punch, and gave a strike of his own. An uppercut knocked the hatted man off from his chair and from consciousness. His friends got up from their seats to assist their leader, and lunged at Ezra. However, their movements were sluggish and disorganized, and Ezra dispatched of them easily.

“Get out!” said the bartender.

And Ezra was glad to leave, as he saw that there was nothing more to be gain there. 

[hider=Summary]
In a flashback, Ezra attends a post-graduation party at a club, and he reveals, surprisingly, how he feels, and how his outlet on the world has matured since he arrived at the Academy. Meanwhile, in the present day Ezra pursues the hint his note gave, asking for who the strongest in Doral is. This results in a fight between him and a drunk, and he is kicked out and forced to ask elsewhere.
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