Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo were wandering around the poorer portion of the kingdom since Wilbur was insistent on helping Lizzie clean and rebuild the window. The poorer part of the kingdom was a bit lower down on the mountain, so it wasn't as cold as the castle, but it wasn't particularly warm, either. 

"Do you think everyone at home realized that we're gone?" Tubbo asked as he was trying to balance on the edge of the sidewalk. He was wearing a thick wool sweater that was a bit too small since Puffy made it for his tenth birthday.

Tommy shrugged. He wore the blue top and pants of his royal outfit, since those were warm, but wasn't wearing all the accessories. It's incredible that nobody has recognized him as the youngest prince of the Antarctic Empire. "Probably. Though Father doesn't pay much mind to us, and Techno has been so busy lately..."

"At least your families care about you," Ranboo said, frowning. He wore his usual outfit ("I don't have any warmer clothes," Ranboo had said), and was currently visibly shivering. "My dad forgets I exist half the time."

"God, you're so emo." Tubbo joked.

Ranboo furrowed his brows. "What does that even m-"

"Hey, let's go in there!" Tommy interrupted and pointed to a building that looked to be some kind of bar. It looked a lot nicer than the one back home. The outside had dark tinted glass that made it hard to see inside, the walls were made of marble, there were decrotive golden pillars on the corners, and there was a large sign that said "Las Nevadas" in fancy loopy golden lettering.

Ranboo gaped at the blond. "Are you serious!? We can't go in there!"

Tommy looked at him, confused. "Why not?"

"Wha- I- WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHY NOT'!?" Ranboo stammered, exasperated. "It's a bar!? And we're only fifteen!?"

"But you let us into your dad's bar!" Tommy argued.

"Yeah, to see your brothers! It's not like you guys just hung out there just to hang out!" Ranboo pointed out.

"Actually, we kind of did..." Tommy rebutted.

As the two boys argued, Tubbo rolled his eyes and looked through the dark window. It was some type of club, from what he could tell. It was currently closed, that was obvious, since the only person there was the owner, cleaning the bar.

"It doesn't matter, anyway." Tubbo interrupted their argument. "It's closed."

Tommy crossed his arms, pouting. "I wanna go to the bar!"

Ranboo rolled his eyes. "Stop being a child. There are other places to explore—"

"Don't call me a fucking child! I'm the same age as you!" Tommy crossed his arms, sticking his bottom lip, pouting like a child.

Ranboo rolled his eyes. "Maybe if you didn't act like a child, I wouldn't treat you like one!"

"Oh, you bitch—"

"HEY!"

The three boys turned to see the owner, who looked very annoyed. "The fuck are you kids doing, screaming out here!?"

"I'm so sorry about my friends, sir." Tubbo ran in front of the owner. "They were having an argument. We're about to leave, I swear!"

The owner looked up and looked at Ranboo, furrowing his eyebrows. "Hey, haven't I seen you somewhere?"

Ranboo furrowed his brows. "I don't think so...?"

"No, I could've sworn I've seen you somewhere before..." he thought aloud as he snapped. "Are you from the Antarctic Empire?"

Ranboo nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, why...?"

"Are you Sapnaps nephew?" The owner asked.

Ranboo blinked, confused. "N-not exactly, but we're close. Why, do you know him?"

The owner laughed happily. "Oh gods, yes! We hung out a few days before I moved! He's a cool guy."

Ranboo blinked, trying to place where he'd seen the man before. "Wait...Quackity...?"

The owner grinned as he nodded his head. "Oh my gods, you do remember me! How have you been, man? Looks like you finally made some friends!"

Ranboo blushed as his tail wrapped around his leg—a habit that indicated that he was shy or nervous. "I-I have been good..."

Quackity paused as he looked around. "Wait, why don't you boys come inside? It's freezing out here!" He gestured for the boys to follow him as he went inside.

The bar looked really nice inside, with an ornate chandelier in the middle of the room (something Tommy has only ever really seen in the palace), a nice-looking stage with an assortment of instruments on it, and the tables and countertops is made of the marble that the walls were made of. Near the stage was a doorway that lead to the bathrooms, a wall sconce on each side of the door, each side of the stage, and each side of the bar. There were also lanterns on the stage, as well as on every other table.

Tommy whistled as they walked in. "Damn, this place looks nice. How can you afford this?"

Quackity laughed lightly. "Oh, this looks more expensive than it is. Believe it or not, but nice places can be surprisingly cheap." He walked behind the counter and got each of the boys a glass of water. "Though I do serve some pretty expensive liquor, so the prices aren't exactly low."

"Are you still going after that dream of yours?" Ranboo asked as he sat on a barstool.

Quackity nodded. "Oh, yeah, but I need to get some money first, ya know? People don't exactly want to gamble their money away to some dude in an alley playing poker, heh."

"This is nice and all," Tubbo interrupted, "but we need to get going, remember guys?"

Tommy groaned. "Do we have to?"

Tubbo blinked. "I thought you wanted to avenge your mother?"

"Woah, wait, what?" Quackity interrupted. "Wait, what's going on?"

Tommy sighed. "Promise you won't tell?" When Quackity nodded, he sighed and took a sip of water. "I am the youngest prince of the Antarctic Empire, and a few weeks ago, my mother was murdered here, in Rivendell."

Quackity gasped. "Oh, my gods..."

Tommy nodded. "Yeah. Me, my oldest brother, Wilbur, and my friends are looking for any information about her murder, and who could've done it."

Quackity hummed. "Well, I don't know if I'm much help, but I did see a couple of guys talking a few days ago. I didn't catch their entire conversation, but I did hear that one of them was planning to kidnap someone. I don't know who, though."

"Did you see what they looked like?" Tubbo asked.

Quackity shook his head. "Sadly, no. It was dark and they were wearing hoods. Though, I did see that one was a cassowary."

"And the other guy?" Ranboo asked. "C'mon, Alex, you gotta remember something."

Quackity shrugged. "I didn't see. I'm sorry boys, I told you I'm no help."

"You've helped more than you realize," Tubbo said with a smile. "Thank you, Quackity."

Quackity nodded with a smile. "No problem. And hey, if you guys want to hang out, my bar is always open to you three."

Ranboo smiled as he got up. "Thank you, Quackity. For everything."

Quackity smiled as he waved goodbye to the boys.