“Hello there. My name is Ludelle, what is yours?”

The words came out from an Elven woman, who was a bit shorter than the Elves Izual was used to seeing. His newly restored eyes took her in, noting her extended hand, gracious smile, and her decorative dress. Unfortunately, the Hellspawn was woefully unprepared for such an encounter. He had spent a great deal of the morning exercising extreme caution at this wedding and had purposefully avoided the opposite sex, for any social interaction at all would require him to follow a strict set of rules and possibly lasso him into an arranged marriage.

'Remember, compliment her and smile. Be warm and friendly, but not overbearing. Stand tall and confident, and make sure she notices you!'

A little over a year ago, these rules were given to him the one time he had gone to a wedding, that of a great nobleman's. Ariadne, his late mother, had dragged her son there in an attempt to plot a marriage between Izual and the nobleman's sister so that they might be better protected against the Hellspawn's father. Unfortunately, that night ended up a disaster when Izual drank too much, blacked out, and was accused of deflowering the nobleman's sister. He didn't remember any of that, just the memories of his mother and himself being chased out of town.

From that night on, he had thought of weddings as events where people get married and schedule for others to be married, where one mistake would have you sentenced to death. He wasn't exactly sure how the engagements were made, but someone was pulling the strings. Right now, the fact this woman was approaching told him that someone had paired him and her together, which meant an accord had been struck. The poor man knew nothing of the reality of the situation: that of simply a woman introducing herself to him for no other reason than to strike up a conversation. Nonetheless, Izual steeled himself and braved the challenge set before him. If this was the woman that the higher powers willed him to be with, then the Knight had no other choice. Though he knew he was a flawed man, he would not fail this challenge!

"Ludelle... That's a delightful name. My name is Izual Anzhela." he responded to the Elf in a surprisingly intelligent manner, a coy grin spreading on his face. Gently, the fancily dressed Hellspawn took her hand and, with a flourishing bow, put his lips to the reverse side of her palm, careful not to gore her with his long, black horns. Standing back upright he dared to continue his romantic onslaught. "I hope you don't mind me saying, but... You have an amazing smile." His comment came out like pure honey, and for the first time in his life, he actually thought he had been successfully 'romantic'. Surely his mother would be proud.

Hopefully this would be enough to sate the higher powers, Christian, the Masters and Mistresses, or whoever they may be, and show he was devoted to this orchestrated engagement. There would be no screw ups this time!

Lazarus, Megelis
Day 3 Morning

Tugging at the collar of his new suit Lazarus stepped into the gathering hall for the Wedding. It had come as a genuine surprise when five suits had shown up in his room from the Lady Akime. At first he’d been wary of the intentions before finally settling on it being a gesture of assistance. At first glance it had certainly seemed like she’d been making a comment on his capacity to dress himself. Then again he had been out of the world for a long time so it was probably for the best that she offer help. After pondering the selection he had finally settled on that was in the middle. Hardly tame but at the same time it didn’t come off as ostentatious.

The gathering of Knights was certainly a sight to behold. Although they largely gave him a wide berth both intentionally and unintentionally it was incredible to see the sheer variety in there dress. Military uniforms from every corner of Galendar. Styles that had gone out of fashion hundreds of years ago and styles that he had missed in the last century. Tugging at the collar second time Lazarus frowned. Akime probably wouldn’t be here since she was one of the bridesmaids. The reality was that he probably should have left with the first group of people who were doing set up but he’d been far too preoccupied with the offer of suits.

A familiar face appeared out of the crowd. Megelis looked over his shoulder as he approached Lazarus. “Hey, you and I were supposed to leave with the first group weren’t we?” Lazarus shrugged at the Master of Blade. “I honestly haven’t a clue. I just assumed I’d show up here and that there would be time before the actual ceremony.” Nodding the Master of Blade scanned the crowd almost as though he was on edge.

“Something bothering you?” Came the flat tone of Lazarus voice as he looked at Megelis who appeared to be searching for someone. Or avoiding them. “Uh. Yeah. Eve and Ralrisk are going to murder each other. And Ris is probably going to murder me to be frank. Eve forced herself on me since Ris is a Bridesmaid so her reasoning as that I didn’t have a plus one. So naturally she should be it.” Lazarus cocked a solitary eyebrow at Megelis. “Oh woah is you, the man who has so many women throwing themselves at him.

Megelis gave the ex Master of Sight a dirty look. “Yeah well I guess you wouldn’t know too much about that would you.” It was a joke and Megelis was more distracted by looking to make sure Eve hadn’t caught up with him. Lazarus remained oddly silent as Megelis looked at him again. “Wait...No way. Christian always said you never were interested in that sort of thing beyond casual sex…” Megelis looked at Lazarus suit before he raised an eyebrow at the Avatar of Yishreenok. “Huh. Who is she?”

Lazarus nodded towards a blonde making her way through the crowd. “You better sort out your own issues before you tackle mine”. Megelis rolled his eyes “Seriously these two chose me. And I don’t have the answer to what I want. I might not even be in love with either of them. I just don’t know or have the time. I’m the Master of Blade first and foremost.” Lazarus simply shook his head. “You’d do best to figure out what you are to those two. And soon.”

Megelis turned and narrowed his eyes. “Wait. No way.” Cackling Megelis started walking towards Eve. “Tell Lady Akime I said hello for me.”

Lazarus stiffened at the comment as the Master of Blade walked away.

The navy blue cheongsam rested well on the pirate queen’s features as she sat on well trimmed grass. With her legs crossed and her arms at both sides of her she inhaled. It had been a while since Lady Marrowblade mediated, and it was well needed.



Many of the tower’s doors were mysterious, and contained many things. After cherry picking the room Raven needed she felt oddly satisfied, yet, nostalgic in the room. The sounds and smells were just right for what she needed. Today was the fruit of her labor, the light at the end of the tunnel. She smiled with closed eyes. Christian and I will finally be bound, the human way. memories of their many adventures came dancing through her mind. When she held out her hand and convinced him to join her, when he saved her life after getting cut…

Raven rubbed the skin underneath her collarbone. The scar was completely healed, replaced with the tattoo of his name. She leaned back from her meditating position, smiling at the view before getting up from her position.

There was a deep melodic voice in your head.

“My great granddaughter, getting married to an elemental of storms? I never thought I’d hear of the day.”

Suddenly a woman appeared before her, using the moisture in the air to take form as a purple transparent figure. She was very tall and curvy, standing a foot taller than Raven herself. The sight of her naked form brought an eyebrow up from Lady Marrowblade. “Great grandmother,” She inhaled. “What brings you here?”

The Moonless Night, with flawless skin and dark violet hair frowned.

”I came to warn you, dearest.”

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When the Moonless Night left from the garden, Raven sighed.

“Well,” she smiled.

She squeezed the tech on her wrist, and outside Blackwing was set in high speed for the hill of flowers.

Time for the wedding.

Shiba sighed as he watched each and every one of the people joining him on this endeavor show up. Either they were honor guards like him which would be good to know in case something does happen and he needs back up, god forbid. Or they are actual guests of the wedding Shiba didn't care either way since he was just on guard duty on top of the ship if someone noticed him and wanted to talk find if not Shiba didn't care. He had a job to do and he was going to do it right that was all it was to him. Shiba made sure to keep channeling his magic and whenever he got tired he laid down in the crows nest and take a breather even if the illusion he was making wasn't all that difficult maintaining such an illusion still made him tired he needed to make sure to pace himself so that if something happened he would be ready.

Shiba really wasn't used to all this protection stuff since after all he specialized in sabotage and assassination the best thing he could do was make sure to provide no entrances or easy shots to his protecties otherwise known as the bride and groom. Shiba would feel better if he could just stay hidden and strike whenever something happened staying still like this was making him a little jumpy...

“So, Calder, I have two questions - first: Just how good are you in a frontal assault? Second: How interested would you be in… acquiring an arms manufacturing giant that brings in twenty five billion credits each year?” She paused, “That’s about six hundred and sixty tons of gold equivalent, if you’re wondering.”

Calder rolled his shoulders and head, and clapped his massive hands together as a rumbling chuckle, akin to waves breaking on a rocky shore. “Assault is my purpose, the very reason for my existence, and more funds and access to more arms is always a boon to any warrior. Let’s have a go and see what we can find.” Calder reached into his pockets and checked to be sure his shield and mace were in their places, and they were. He had considered getting armor of some sort or another from the tower, but honestly, it cost him so little to heal himself, and it was so much fun to watch the horror spread through his opponents as they saw him take hit after hit and just keep coming. Yes, armor had it’s uses, but so did fear, and in Calder’s experience fear was more effective than armor.

Pulling up to a large and imposing building with the words “MACHINA INDUSTRIES” displayed in gigantic block letters, a stylized half gear serving as the C, Adéla held a hand up, “Whoa there, cowboy. Just give me a bit. Feel free to come in as violently as you like once you hear screaming and gunfire, mm’kay? I’ll make sure to throw someone through the door if I need you immediately.”

With that she hopped out of the car, blowing a kiss to the troll in the back as she marched into the building. Making sure her coat covered her weapon she strode up to one of the guards, winking at him as she walked inside, passing straight through their security scanners without a hitch.

The interior of the building was surprisingly spacious, and she took careful note of the rather unusual design, apparently intended to allow defenders to direct their fire onto an assailant. She chuckled, it was clearly designed by amateurs. This was going to be too easy.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she mentally flicked a switch and looked around, taking note of the Wills of the people in the lobby. Every single security guard seemed to have a completely average Will, and some even had dim little weak ones - they would probably crumple in a single hit. A few of the men and women in business suits caught her eye and she made note of them - wouldn’t want to kill them. They could be useful later.

One person caught her eye - a young man standing in a security guard’s uniform, but not holding a rifle. His Will was stronger than most of the ones surrounding him - she would have to dispose of him before the main show started, otherwise he could cause… problems. He wasn’t as powerful as Calder or herself, she could tell, but he could certainly add some unnecessary complications that would be best avoided. They didn’t want another magic user to complicate things.

An idea popped into her mind and she grinned - a good way to get most of the noncombatants out of the way while getting most of the guards clustered in one general area. She made for the area of the room he was in, settling down on a bench to observe him for a moment. Judging by the time, and the frequency with which he glanced at the clock, his shift was due to end any minute now. The perfect opportunity to jump him.

She busied herself pretending to stare at her phone, even as she took detailed mental notes of the layout of the entire building. The tick of the clock let her know that the guard’s shift had ended, and, as another man came to replace him, she got up to follow the man.

“Sir! A moment please!” She called after him, jogging to catch up. Once the guard had turned to look at her, a quizzical look on his face. “Hello, you probably don’t recognize me but I’m a shareholder in your company here, and a contractor working on a project I… probably shouldn’t mention actually. Anyway, I couldn’t help but notice that you aren’t carrying a standard weapon, and I wanted to inquire about any potential magical capabilities you might have? I was waiting for a business meeting, but it got cancelled at the last minute, and then I noticed you. I haven’t been able to find anyone else here with magical capabilities, and I had questions I wanted to ask a true combat mage. For a separate project actually. If you could help me I’d be immensely grateful, and I’d be sure to mention you to the boss~” Once more she pulled the trick of allowing her shirt to, ever so subtly, part and give the guard something else to consider.

“Well… I’m off duty now, so I suppose I can spare a little bit of time.” The guard seemed to be taken rather… off guard by her sudden approach, and was unsure how to answer. He did an admirable job of not staring however.

Her face lit up, and she beamed at him. “Great! I’ll just follow you along to wherever you were going, if that’s okay? It should only take a few minutes, ten at most. I can compensate you for your time too.”

His eyebrows raised. “Well, I was going to go and change into my regular clothes and grab a bite to eat…” this time he looked down, and she had to hold back a smirk.

“Oh, that’s no problem.” She gestured, “After you.”

The man shrugged and began walking, “What kind of compensation are we talking here, by the way?”

Adéla held back the urge to cackle maniacally. “Whatever you want. I’m sure I can provide it. Now,” she pulled out her phone and opened up a notepad, “First of all, how skilled at magic are you now, and how skilled were you when you first began? Capabilities, stamina, etc.”

The guard went off on a spiel about his upbringing and magical education, letting slip gobs of information that would be useful in just a few minutes. Adéla kept up the act, jotting down notes as fast as she could and nodding at the appropriate times. She fingered a second syringe of sedative, making sure it was within easy reach for when she struck.

The guard’s locker room was upstairs, which factored into her plan even better than she could’ve hoped. “Do you mind if I come in? I can keep asking you questions while you change. And… stuff, yeah.” She managed to fake a blush, averting her eyes as they neared the door.

The guard’s eyebrows shot straight to the top of his forehead. “You want to come into a men’s locker room?” He stood there for a second, incredulous. “I mean… I guess? Can’t guarantee what’ll happen if one of the guys walks in on us.”

If one of “the guys” walked in on them, she would have one fewer guard to deal with later. Shrugging, she smirked, “I’m sure I’ll manage.” Walking in right after the guard, she made sure one last time that the syringe was right where she could grab it easily.

The guard unexpectedly rounded on her. “What do you really want?” He demanded, she glanced down, noticing that he was apparently rather mixed on his opinions.

Raising her hands defensively and to show she was -apparently- unarmed, she played up the confusion. “What?” She showed him the phone full of notes, “Taking notes! Learning! Going to make myself some money - and you of course, too.” She added hastily, “Look I’m just a woman without much money or anything to do but work okay. I wanted to work on a project of my own, and you seemed nice.” She gulped, making sure to glance down below his belt every now and then, and making sure that he noticed.

He smirked at her. “Oh, really?” Stepping forward, he extended an arm, placing it on her shoulder, and then moving his face closer.

This is really going to work? Again? Adéla thought incredulously. She had been expecting something… far harder. No sense in looking a gift horse in the mouth. “Yes…” she replied, putting her own arm around his neck, the mini syringe in her hand as she pushed the incredibly thin needle into his neck. She’d tested them on herself before. They were almost impossible to feel.

Suddenly his hand flew to her neck, choking off her windpipe in a vicelike grip. His eyes were cold. “What are you here for?” He demanded, completely unaffected by the drug.

She choked and spluttered, chest growing ever tighter as her oxygen supply dwindled. She couldn’t reach her gun, and this was a mage, and one trained in combat at that. He could probably kill her before she’d have time to paint the walls with his brain.

His face went from one of grim determination to shock as her body began to grow. Her hair shrank into her head as a tattered crimson robe replaced it. Heavy armor grew from her body, forcing his hand off of her throat as thick tentacles rushed out from under the robe. Her face became obscured save for two dark, bottomless holes where her eyes had been. She in turn grabbed him by the throat with a now clawed hand, as he stared in terror at what she had turned into.

She wasted no time savoring the radically different playing field. Before the mage had a chance to react she punched the other clawed hand through his stomach and crushed his throat.

Striding briskly through the door, Adéla stood at the edge of the fourth floor and took a second to enjoy the calm before the storm. With a single… less than graceful leap, she jumped - but not before throwing the guard’s corpse beforehand. Slowing her fall by spreading a net of tentacles out to catch the walls, she still shook the floor of the building when she impacted.

The people in the lobby stared at her. In an alien yet still slightly feminine voice she yelled to the room, “Civilians please exit the building in an orderly line. Please no screaming until you get outside. You can return to work once the company is under new management, and probably get paid more. Thank you for choosing Mind Warping Abomination for your new employer!”

With that she grabbed a cluster of people and pushed them towards the doors, out of the line of fire, even as the security let loose regardless of who was in the way. Luckily the other occupants of the building had the good sense to duck and crawl, most too stricken with fear to scream for the moment, instead soundlessly complying with her orders. Adéla ripped the blast doors out of the main entrance, catching the hail of gunfire with the heavy reinforced slabs of… some alloy. She flung her tentacles out, grabbing four of the security guards and flinging them viciously against the walls.

The first earsplitting scream reached her ears as a cluster of people managed to get outside.
Calder sat waiting patiently, he was mildly annoyed at being asked to do clean up, but he’d done it enough times before so he complied with her request. It was several minutes later that things finally started happening. He noticed people stumbling out of the building in shock and horror, then came the gunfire, screams, and panic. Still, no one was cast into the streets so Calder took his time getting ready, pulling out his shield and mace, he considered the front entrance, and the side ally carefully. Mortal building, best leave them a route of escape, mortals get nasty when cornered.

Calder strode confidently forward, the masses moving around him of their own will, giving him a wide berth. As Calder reached the front of the building he opted knock in a front window instead of waiting for the last few stragglers to tumble out of the front door. Now inside he noticed that most of the guards were equipped with simple enough tech, machines relying on the user to point them in the right direction. He raised his mace high over his head, and geyser of steam poured out of the end, filling the lobby area rather quickly with extremely hot water vapor. The cloud and heat worked together to obscure vision of the guards, while a simple thread of Will shaped it to Calder’s whims. The vapors moved mostly naturally, but seemed to contain faces and shapes, often vague but somehow familiar to the viewer. Unfortunately or the guards, that did nothing to stem the heat, which was approximately 1645 K. It left little time notice the heat on direct contact.

That was infrequent however, as Calder let it rise to the top of the room and slowly roll back down the walls slightly. If the guards bunched up, he would direct his geyser at the clump of personnel, and leave behind well steamed, corpses. His only lament was a distinct deficiency of good marinating sauce to flavour his meal with. He did actively keep the steam from Adéla, not being certain how well she could take the heat. He also kept an eye out for civilians, no point in slaughtering his new employees after all.

As some of the guards watch in horror, Calder takes the time consume bits of arms and legs of the steamed corpses, mostly for the psychological effect on the survivors, he wasn’t really hungry, yet. Bullets flew towards him, his large bulk blocking the incoming natural light and leaving a hazy silhouette for them to aim at. And each one hit him, his raised shield, or his greaves. The shield and greaves rang with every hit, and Calder’s flesh … well the sound resembled a man trying to walk across mud flats, the initial entry quiet enough, but the exiting rounds, made a brief sucking pop. Still, he never seemed to notice the bullets. Calder’s shield protected his head, a mild nuisance it was to have to find your thought every half minute because of a lucky round.

He moved towards the emergency stairwell near the elevators, and sent his geyser into the inclosed space. He’d rather they used the elevators to move, since the wall displays above them kindly told him where each elevator was, and which way it was going. Since this was Adéla’s hit, he looked to her, clearing away any intervening steam with a thought, for further guidance, as to how she wanted to play this slightly volatile take over. Blood trickled from his chin down his chest, the blood of his … well, late afternoon snacks now. His own wounds healed almost instantly with minimal, if any visible, bleeding, so far.

Adéla looked between the stairs and the elevator, pondering for a moment which one to take. The elevator would be quicker, and would allow them to avoid more confrontations with security - but then again, they could kill the power and trap them inside.

Not to mention she wasn’t sure if she and Calder could even fit in there together. She doubted if even one of them could comfortably fit in there.

She walked towards it, eyeing the interior and glancing back at Calder. “We can squeeze in there, but we’re going to have to go one at a time.” She ducked her head and squeezed into the confined space. “It’ll be back down in just a few seconds, these elevators are terrifyingly fast.”

Clumsily pushing a button with a clawed hand, Adéla shot to the top of the building at a breakneck pace, g forces shunting her against the back of the elevator. Then, as the elevator came to a sudden halt, she went airborne momentarily, coming back down to land rather ungracefully and stumbling out of the elevator in a most undignified manner. But at least she was at the top - poking another button with a tentacle she watched the elevator shoot down back to the ground floor.

Calder would be up with her in a moment. So she began to walk, making a beeline for the ornate double doors that lead to the CEO’s office. She’d been here before, and now she had quite the score to settle.

Calder wondered it was worth trusting the technology to get up the building in haste… and decided he’d rather trust only himself if he could. So he rode his own elevator up, taking a moment to set up a bigger, but cooler geyser in the floor of the stair well. Then he rode it to the top, rolling out of the stream as it reached the top floor. Though his momentum was such that he rolled a good meter along the ceiling before dropping to the floor, and landing on his own two feet, as if he did this sort of thing everyday. It was his fae blood that made him so graceful. He didn’t even try honestly, it was just a part of him like his scaly hide and toothy grin.

A quick glance around the room showed him Adéla storming across the room. He moved forward in something not quite a run, for the motion he made more than any lack of speed, and was soon advancing on her left flank, a half stride behind her, so she had a clear line of fire in front of her and to either side. One last, desperately loyal guard opened fire on the pair from ambush, aiming for Adéla. A mere twitch of his fingers and Calder created a wall of ice that simply swallowed the bullets. Each projectile gleamed through the clear Ice, leading a hazy trail of cracks to show their path. A gesture later, and the man found himself sealed into a hollow cube of Ice. His gun couldn’t even punch through the walls of his new cubicle, and if he stayed there too long he would suffocate, unless air holes were made. Calder intended to let the man pass out before restoring his air, so he wouldn’t be able to cause any more trouble for the pair of entrepreneurs, as they finished their latest acquisition.The reached the double doors, and Calder pushed them open with magic, mostly to save the doors from being scared by an accidental scrape by talon or claws. Calder stood in the doorway behind Adéla sealing that exit physically until she deemed anyone free to go.

Adéla grinned malevolently as she strolled into the CEO’s office. She morphed back to her human shape gradually, swaying her hips seductively as she stopped in the middle of the room. “Six little piggies went to their jobs one day.” She twirled a finger, blasting a guard who’d been slowly raising his rifle and completely erasing his will from existence.

As space folded around him and ripped his body into nonexistence, Adéla whistled a merry tune that vaguely resembled the individual escapades of the little piggies. Only, when she began to sing it in a surprisingly gentle and soft tone as she warped back into her Aberrant form, the lyrics gave those present in the room chills down their spines.

She extended a cluster of tentacles from under the hem of her robe, crushing all the security cameras in the room into a fine powder, but not before they recorded a bone chilling, inhumanly malevolent cackle from her general area.

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Bunny and Rini arrived to the courtyard quite late compared to the rest of the crowd, having spent most of the morning getting dressed and prepped. The verdant haired Paladin had poured tons of money into their outfits, especially the royal, doll-themed apparel that her Aspirant wore. However, her own floral-inspired dress was far from cheap. Perhaps Bunny had gone a bit overboard, but she was having the time of her life displaying some of her feminine extravagance. It was also her first wedding! The whole event had her teeming with excitement, so she couldn’t help herself with splurging a bit. Even the gift she bought for Christian and Catherine, a fancy bottle of high end whiskey, had put her further in debt. At this point, she wasn’t even how much money she owed.

This too was Reena’s first wedding, having seen a procession for a dead person and never a bride down an aisle. The cycle of life was a beautiful thing, wouldn’t you think? This Bunny lady was pretty nice in a older sister kind of way. There was a deep feeling in her gut that told her that her superior saw her more as a dress up doll than a woman though. Shrugging at the thought, Little Red could care less. It was nice to be lavished with gifts that would inevitably get ruined at some point. However, not having Chronos by her side felt like a piece of her was missing. For safety precautions, Rini strapped a dagger on her thigh under her soft fabric dress. In a way, she did look like one of those old vintage porcelain dolls her mother use to collect. Her size certainly didn’t help her situation. Would people find her creepy? Who knows! That wasn’t her problem, but this parasol was fun as hell to twirl around and her tiny bust looked good in this frilly costume.

As they neared the courtyard, a bright smile grew upon the Paladin’s face, seeing the many people adorned with such regal clothing. All of this to see the Lord of Storms married off! A thrilled giggle escaped her lips as she was flooded with an encapsulating sense of unity and cheer. Her silvery eyes floated down to the tiny yet dazzling woman who pranced merrily beside her, and her free hand gestured at the crowd.. ”Look at all the beautiful people! Oh, I’m so excited! Let’s go find Iz-”

Suddenly, Bunny’s voice dropped off, her eyes widening in abject horror as she beamed back into the congregation. Her hawkish sight saw something she could not unsee: Izual was practically on one knee, kissing the hand of an Elven woman who had curves enough to slay a mighty Ogre Lord. Bunny had yet to discuss with the Hellspawn her feelings and their relationship, but in this single moment she knew exactly where she stood. She was nothing to him, just an object he could toss away into the wind. Her body quivered, rage and sorrow spiraling within herself, and her shaking hand dared to drop the expensive bottle of liquor she carried.

With the sudden drop of Big Sister Bunny’s voice, Rini looked at the direction she was staring at. Big boobed, colorful lady, ‘horny’ male with black scleras, and a TROLL. How cool was that?! The troll was the coolest. As much as she wanted to geek out, the White Rose had to see what was wrong with her companion.

“Are you okay? Are you scared of Trolls? I think he looks kinda neat!” the small woman happily chirped.

Meanwhile, the strange mechanic was in her own private area (within the courtyard), away from the large crowd… or at least, she tried. There was too many damn people. She wore an olive green military style dress that started at her neck and ended by her ankles. Christian had left her a hologram expressing his wish for her to attend as a guest at his wedding, which was translated to: There is no choice in the matter. Go socialize for once. The message also explained how this was a special occasion so her usual attire was not recommended, which truly meant: Don’t embarrass me. The apathetic woman came to a compromise (with herself), she’d wear something that appeared to be nice enough for this lavish event, but in reality hid the clothes she felt most comfortable in. Her hair was straightened and down for once, which she hated, mind you.

A little ticked that her cyborg companion confiscated her cigarettes until after the wedding, saying some shit like ‘You don’t want to stink up the place, plus they’re bad for your health anyways ’, the mechanic stood still like a foreboding phantom. Itching for her addiction, her glaring red eye observed her surroundings. ROB had stayed in her lab. Lethal didn’t think taking a little robot, who spewed random and sometimes offensive phrases, to a wedding was a smart idea.

Concurrently, Bunny was panicking. Her heart had been crushed in an instant, and part of her wanted to get violent and wild. The other half of her pleaded her to stay calm, for Christian’s sake. The last thing anybody needed was a riot. Unfortunately, the two women couldn’t leave after they had just arrived. That was just in bad taste. For now, the Paladin just needed something to get her through her emotions, something that would take her far away from here. Instantly, her eyes went to the bottle in her hand. Shard would understand, wouldn’t he? Daring to take that risk, she unscrewed the lid and began to guzzle down the delightfully smooth bourbon.

Almost a quarter of the bottle was gone by the time she unlatched herself from it. The buzz came swiftly, hitting her like a brick. If there was one thing the green haired woman had no tolerance for, it was alcohol. Turning to her companion, she offered the drink to her, faking a smile. ”I’m o-okay! Nothing’s wrong, I promise!” she tried saying confidently, but her words came out weak and forced. Her expression was beginning to break, her smile faltering and eyes begging to cry.

Having never had a drink of alcohol before due to misunderstandings that she was 14 year old girl rather than her true age, whatever that was, Rini excitingly grabbed the bottle and chugged down a bit more than Bunny had. Seeing ‘drinking’ as a competition, rather than knowing the effects it could do to you. The taste was odd and bitter, but she could handle it. Or so she thought. A small body plus never having this kind of substance before was all around bad news. The White Rose’s cheeks flushed and the world become tipsy turn-y. If people thought Rini had little to no filter sober, imagine her under the influence.

“IF YOU’RE TRULY...truly? YES TRULY OKAY. Let’s go talk to them!! Nyah!” As she cheered her friend on, Rini pointed her parasol in the direction of the people that made her upset, “We go!” She forcibly demanded.

Bunny watched as her Aspirant gulped down more than she had, raising an eyebrow in amazement. For such a small woman, she could really pack down the booze. ”That’sh really not a good…” The albino was already sprinting into the crowd, headed towards the tall Troll that stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of the courtyard. Taking another swig of the liquor, the Paladin stumbled after her trainee. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it too far before she collided with a familiar frightening figure.

As if being surrounded by people wasn’t already a pain in her ass, some dimwit bumped into the Mechanic pushing her into… the chest of a built man, extremely adorned, who stood next to a disgustingly cute “teenage” AI. Gaining her stability back, Lethal fixed her posture and looked up at the tall man. Her expression never failed to be unchanging, revealing no apologetic feelings at all ‘a resting bitch face’. His red eyes met with her stare (keep in mind she only has one useable, red eye). Her bangs covered up the other half of her face, hiding most of her lifetime scar. There was a moment of silence as she contemplated who he was. She didn’t really care to know who worked at the Tower but his attire did scream artificer. The mechanic begrudgingly muttered, “You must be Leviathan Nero.” For a second, the woman looked back to see who was the cause of this atrocious disaster… ah. The incompetent Paladin.

”Oopsh! I am sho shorry…” Bunny slurred out her sad apology, holding her liquor close to her chest. Normally, this is when she would have backed off and left Lethal alone, but her emotions were getting the best of her. Like a sudden rain storm in the middle of Summer, tears started leaking from the Paladin’s eyes. ”How could he do that to me…” she moped, trudging forward and embracing the Mechanic in front of her. Her head against Lethal’s chest, Bunny began recanting apologies over and over again, her voice muffled by the Cambion’s thick clothing. Her hands were still latched to the glass container, the tip of the bottle prodding against Lethal’s stomach.

Discomfort. That is all Abiteth felt. Not so much because of the stabbing bottle in her gut, but the crying woman that reeked of alcohol. Her eye twitched at this affection. Taking a deep breath in, to make sure her anger levels didn’t rise, the mechanic thought about how the Master of Stars would want her to react. Today was his and his bride’s day, after all. The least she could do was be… nice. Her body cringed at the thought.

“Don’t let a hindrance ruin today. We are here to… celebrate.” she hissed. If this Paladin didn’t get off of her in the next minute, the demon-blooded woman would give into temptation and rip the teary Paladin's eyes out of their sockets.

Bunny sighed at Lethal’s words, knowing she was right. Retracting herself from the woman, the Paladin wiped the remaining tears away from her eyes and nodded to her cohort. She noticed the Artificer standing near the white haired mechanic and gave him a small wave while taking another drink of whiskey. How plastered Bunny intended to get was anybody’s guess.

Simultaneously, Little Red had scampered to the person she found the most intriguing in this congested place. Looking up at the shimmering green stranger, who wore a charming midnight blue suit, the small woman eagerly waved at him, “Helloooooooooooooo, Mr. Troll! I’m Reena, or Rini, whichever you prefer~ I’m a new recruit! I showed Mr. Shard some awesome blood magic and he was like WOAHHHH. What’s your name?” Surprisingly for a drunk girl, she spoke quite coherently, just a bit… loud. Her candy apple eyes blinked innocently as she waited for him to respond. While the White Rose waited, she used her parasol to keep her stable. Through the corner of her eyes, she saw the sexy lady and desperate horned man. But they were BORING.

It took no more than thirty seconds into their interaction for Ludelle’s jaw to drop limply and her eyes to widen in disbelief. Sadly at that point her hand was being held hostage and made escape rather tricky. Another creep! was her instant thought and it had nothing to do with his undeniably cute face and all to do with the fact that last time someone had been so smooth it ended violently. Her eyes shot to Calder in panic, only to find that he wasn’t at her side, possibly for the first time ever since she’d met him. Way to go, pigface, now you abandon me!

And then Izual spoke and his voice was soft as silk and just as gentle and he’d obviously either missed, or completely disregarded the shock on her face as he spoke of her smile. Had she even smiled? Bad move, that only encourages the creeps further!

But… Her shoulders relaxed a little as she took in the suit and figure underneath. He was actually very handsome. Back in the old days that was all the excuse she’d needed, so what was different now? Some stupid trauma and the fact that for once it wasn’t her making the first step? No, she was done with the past, she was living in the present now. And in the present a delicious éclair was offering himself freely.

A frown crossed her face but when it passed what replaced it was a small, deceivingly shy smile. Men were fools for shy. “Um… Thank you.” She made an effort to blush a little, stroking the hand he had kissed, pursing her full pink lips ever so slightly. “So do you.” Her voice was somehow sweeter now. So what if this was a wedding, it’s not like they were all over each other yet, so what’s wrong with a little flirting? Even Calder must agree if he’d left her to it, watching from afar. “I feel privileged to have seen it.” And she raised her eyes to Izual again and the faint glow of electricity sparked around her pupils in a mesmerizing display of shifting blue, grey and silver.

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There was a long moment where the two just stared at each other. The girl had not budged or changed in facial expression, she patiently waited for the man to respond to her, with her lips curved slightly upward. Silence never did bother her and she didn't know when it was socially acceptable to do anything, so her being perturbed by a long pause was highly unlikely. Was it rude she wanted to touch his face? The emotion in her stare was admiration, even with not knowing much about the man. Rini contemplated climbing him to feel his face but decided against it. The first time she tried to mount Chronos was a... difficult time. Calder was pretty tall, especially when standing next to her. Here she was at 4'6" staring at this massive Troll. Her eyes trailed down his hard muscle and scaled hide. Not one to jump to conclusions with anyone, Rini listened to his pleasant voice that reminded her of her seaport home, before the mob and the fire. Her frilled black dress with red bows only emphasized her deathly pale complexion, while the long pig-tails that almost touched the floor highlighted the age of the body she lived in for centuries. Her figure had a soft glow to it due to her body reflecting the light that came down on them. Based on her physical attributes, she was far more blaring in light than her older sister, whose hair was gray and whose skin had more color to it. Though, Rini knew none of this, she didn't even know if her sister would attend the wedding!

After he finished, she responded with a little sway in her still stance, "Nice to meet you Mr. Calder Dylan!" Her smile widened as she let out an adorable giggle, "I am! It's sad I didn't come sooner, since I know no one besides Bunny, who seemed upset when she looked over here. She then began chugging her wedding gift for Mr. Shard! I drank some too, it makes my head feel fuzzy. I thought she was scared of you, so I wanted to get a closer look. But you're too cool and can rip someone apart if you wanted to, which is like... man, if only I had that strength! BUT I think the wedding would be a really heartwarming experience! Don't you think?!" Rubbing her eyes which were slightly sore from being exposed to so much daylight in one day (not having her red hoodie with her), the White Rose muttered, "I wonder how similar a wedding is to a funeral..."

Sudden excitement fell over her. Jumping in place, a brilliant thought danced in her mind and needed to be expressed. Perhaps Calder could do a display of his strength? Oh man, that would be something to see! Rini couldn't help but think of possible fighting scenarios where the Troll made a bloody mess. Her head still felt a little lightheaded but the world was gradually stabilizing, which was weird. Bringing up her closed parasol, she pointed it toward the silver haired man with horns, who was flirting with the beautiful lady, "Can you rip him apart!? or bash his skull in!" Of course, Rini did not trust anyone she saw, due to being an outcast all her life. Perfect moments got ruined by the creatures of the world all the time, and she was ready for something bad to happen at this party 'of love'. Who knows if that guy was to be trusted, right? Something about the Hellspawn irked the woman. Intuition told her that he was the reason why her Big Sister was crying but even without that assumption, his smug face just annoyed her. It didn't help that Rini had a past experience with a man with similar features... but that's a story for another time.

Turning her head to her new friend, her expression turned serious as she challenged, "You are capable of doing that, right?" It wasn't like she was trying to be rude, the Crimson Death didn't know any better.

Against all odds, Izual's actions had gained the interest of the woman in front of him. Studying the Elf's expression, Izual's dark eyes caught a rosy tint spread across her cheeks. He also noticed that, like a mewling kitten, her bashful demeanor was absolutely adorable, accentuated more by a tender tone that bled honesty. His gaze never left her face though and never once ventured across the voluptuousness of her body. The Knight was not the type to be drawn in by sheer sex appeal, for the concept of attraction through external beauty alone was foreign to him. A different kind of allure was required to gain his utmost attention.

For a brief moment, a figure in the background drew the Hellspawn's attention: that of a Troll, towering above many within the crowd. The creature's reptilian eyes were on the two of them, watching them. At that moment, Izual understood who and what that creature was. It was the Overseer, the one that would rain hellfire upon him if he failed the test of mettle before him. The Troll was there to ensure all coupled parties remained together, the assassin that observed from high above with unending vigilance. Surely, there was no escape from such divine causality.

Suddenly, Izual snapped back to Ludelle, meeting the entrapping countenance of her lustrous, stormy orbs. Had her visage been so hypnotic before? The electric performance that danced in her eyes had him transfixed, leaving his mouth partially agape as he leered at such a phenomenon. Though he knew nothing about her, her gaze told him everything he needed to know and the depth of her character. He was a sailor pulled into a radiant blue, grey, and silver maelstrom that threatened to swallow him whole. The immaculateness tugged at his very soul, crawling in and flooding his essence with serenity. "...Wow. I have never seen eyes as beautiful as yours..." he practically whispered, not a trace of dishonesty in his words. Eyes, in particular, were one of Izual's weaknesses.

Blinking, he tore himself from her addicting vortex, clearing his throat and laughing nervously. If he kept staring at her like that, then she'd just walk away and his mission would end in failure! "Er... Would you like to accompany me to the ceremony? I'd like to get to know you better, Ludelle." he offered, running a hand through his silver hair while grinning a cheesy smile. If she was supposed to his future wife, he might as well try to know everything about her. He could take solace in the fact that she at least had beautiful eyes, if nothing else. So, whoever decided Izual and Ludelle should be together, then he supposed they chose appropriately.

So many people. It was incredible that Shard had managed to build the Tower in such a manner that Urthar could open a Way large enough to move this many people without burning out his magic in one fell swoop. The floor of the room was basically a massive staging area. Shard had only ever used it once before and it had been to assault a Stygian Blade stronghold. Now it was being used for wedding transportation. Urthar had changed his appearance on the Shard’s request. The Aberration was now a much younger version of his normal human appearance. The medium length brown hair had been pulled back and confined high off his shoulders. The wrinkles and scars were gone from his face and it was clean shaved. Urthar had done some restructuring of the face as Shard had informed him that the point of changing his appearance was to be more physically appealing. As a result Urthar had fixed the symmetry of his mortal coils appearance and made sure the outer musculature was well defined.

The end product was a younger more handsome version of the Master of Words mortal form. Absently he looked over the crowd as he worked magic into the concentric rings in the floor of the floor. They had been systematically spread out to provide an even distribution of magic. Urthar went back to studying the floor and he continued to channel magic into it. This was going to be interesting as it was more people to move than he’d ever tried moving at once.

Adéla brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She felt more than a little out of place in her finely tailored military uniform when almost every other woman was wearing an elegant dress or other more traditional attire. In a moment of hesitation she’d decided to curl her hair to downplay the otherwise masculine appearance she was presenting.

Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Urthar looking as though he was preparing to do … something. She quirked an eyebrow, trying to discern what exactly he was doing, and at the fact that he was decidedly more attractive than he usually looked when presenting as a human.

Craning her neck, she realized for the first time that the floor of this room had large concentric circles on it, well distributed too. It didn’t remind her of any of the Aberrant magic he had showed her yet, so, with curiosity buzzing in the back of her mind, she ambled over. “So, want any help?”

Urthar quirked an eyebrow at the surprising appearance of Adéla. “yes.” Urthar took her by the arm and pulled her in front of him. Placing his hands on her shoulders he pushed her head gently down so she could see the floor. “I'm going to open your eyes again.” With gentle hands he moved her hair and pushed on her temples gently. With the gentle pressure and a surge of magic he opened her magic sight again. The only difference was this time she could see the strings of reality that ran through Galendar.

“I’m preparing the circles to channel Aberrant magic. We’ll use it to fold reality, punch a hole in it and then move everyone through it. It requires a lot of magic. We have to use magic to pull reality, then more magic to punch a hole and then finally we have to cocoon the others and move them through the hole.” Urthar removed his hands and stepped next to her. “Make sense?”

Adéla’s eyes widened as Urthar ‘opened her eyes again’. She gazed around absentmindedly for a moment, absorbing the new dimension she could suddenly see in with astonishment. “You’re going to have to tell me all about this later, you realize, yes?” She muttered out of the side of her mouth to Urthar. “You never mentioned all of… this, before!”

Her eyes snapped back to focus on the Master of Word as he explained his intention. Nodding at his explanation, she raised an eyebrow, “And… what exactly do you need me to do? I doubt I have the power to fold space or cocoon everyone.” Pausing, she added uncertainly, “From what I recall of my readings I might have the power to punch the hole though, but I doubt I have the control needed.” She broke eye contact, studying the circles surrounding them and taking mental notes of their magical properties. “Seriously though, your brain is mine to pick once I have the chance.”

A smile crept across Urthar’s face at Adéla’s respons. “All in good time. It is probably easier for you to absorb everything a little at a time. That being said, Yes. You may.” With a twist of his left hand Urthar manipulated the energy in one of the circles. “What you can do is direct magic. All you have to do is release the magic in one of the circles. It will punch through reality and then I’ll pull them through.” With a gesture Urthar motioned at one of the circles.

“Have you been practicing your other magic?” Turning his head Urthar looked Adéla up and down. She was certainly different. “This whole affair is something entirely new for me. I didn’t think that Shard ascribed to the rituals that went along with the other mortals of Galendar when it came to mating” His attention returned to his preparation as he finished filling the remaining circles and preparing them to open a Way.

Adéla raised an eyebrow, “I’ve spent my entire life completely devoid of magic. I’d wager that you that if you transferred every iota of information you had on magic over to me, I would still crave more.” She nonetheless quieted down, letting him explain her task. “Right, so I’m an interdimensional sewing needle? Gotcha. Just tell me when and I’ll take care of it.”

She was good at punching holes in things.

“And yes, I have been. In fact…” she fished out a small boxy contraption, tossing it to Urthar. “Railgun ammunition, imbued with Aberrant magic. Tell me what you think of it some time? In theory it should function like the void blast with an inbuilt airburst detonator. Will punch a hole in something, but not before completely removing a section of the armor of whoever’s being hit.” She pulled another out of a second pocket, “These are more experimental things I’ve been tampering with and building a custom weapon for. In theory this would allow a mind fray like charge to be delivered to a target with the same accuracy as a regular sniper rifle. In addition…” she held up her hand, the air shimmering around it, “I’ve managed to make a sort of ‘blade’ that I can conjure around my hand. It’s still a work in progress but it’s had some interesting results.”

It was certainly impressive results for such a short time. With a flick of his hand he called an ephemeral item into his left hand. “I graduated from weapons like that a while ago.” The smile on his face was clearly an impressed one. “You’ve done incredibly well in the last weeks. I did not think that someone who started out as human would ever have been capable of this sort of thing. Very impressive.” Urthar eyed the ammunition. It was a great attempt given that she’d only had a few weeks to play with the magic. It was certainly excellent workmanship. The only flaw with it was that it wasn’t hardened against attrition.

Holding up the ammunition he gestured to her. “It's excellent, the only problem is that this one is going to deteriorate over time.” With a compression of his hands he sealed the ammunition against the pull of Galendar’s magics. “In essence all you need to do is craft a shell like you wear around yourself for the enchantments and it will prevent deterioration.” Handing it back Urthar appraised her again. “Impressive, very impressive.”

Adéla blushed at his praise, unsure of how else to respond she stammered out a self effacing reply. “Well I mean it just came pretty naturally! And it’s not as though it’s anything that impressive! I just imbued some items with Aberrant magic! It’s not like I’m opening portals to beyond the Outer Gate or anything! Just adding some Aberrance to mundane items!”

She coughed, still blushing at at the compliment. “So what was that you had just then, by the way? You’ve never mentioned temporary item… summoning? Conjuration?”

Urthar gave a sly look. “Oh no you don’t. You aren’t suppose to know anything about that.” With a smug look Urthar turned back to his workings with the portal magic. For some reason it came off as almost...playful? Narrowing his eyes a little it dawned on him that this was something totally different than he was use to. Looking back over his shoulder at her Urthar nodded at her hand. “Same principle as the imbue items. You need to construct an outer shell to contain the magic and prevent deterioration.”

“What do you mean I’m not supposed to know this?” Adéla looked genuinely confused, raising an eyebrow. “It all seems so obvious. I looked into a few terms I was unsure of and such, but most of it’s just like sculpting clay or something.” She shrugged, “I mean you can do so much more, I’m just barely able to do anything in comparison.” Her blush only grew stronger, and a mild stutter crept into her words at the novel experience. Gratefully she seized upon something else to respond to. “And I’ll keep that in mind, thanks. Would it be possible to construct a shell that would violently decompose and release a void blast on someone? Like a grenade?”

The look on Urthar’s face was genuine surprise. “Your mortal upbringing fabricates very interesting uses for out magic. I’d assume that is possible; I’ve personally attempted such a thing.” With a flick Urthar conjured the strange slash of empty seeming space. It was as though reality simply. Ended. It sat in Urthar’s hand as he looked at her. “This. Its why I no longer need conjured weapons. And don’t even think about looking at it with your eyes open. I’m just starting to appreciate you and it would be unfortunate if it eroded your mind.” Closing his hand the strange mass of emptiness disappeared. “Your weapon will be impressive though to be honest you’ve done an excellent job of constructing it with no assistance.”

Adéla could tell the moment Urthar conjured the… void, in his hand that looking at it would be a terrible idea. Despite that, some primitive part of her mind nagged at her to stare at it, but she paid it no heed and looked anywhere but the small piece of reality warping nothingness. “What… what is that?” She looked up at him curiously, “It looks like a small chunk of the Void or something, sitting right there in your hand… could you potentially show me how to do that? Or at least tell me a bit more about it?” She paused, “Or, failing that, any pointers on improving what I’ve managed to do myself? I’m not exactly happy with it at the moment, it’s got more flaws than I can keep track of… any pointers would be greatly appreciated.”

“Its called the Reaper’s Scythe. It is totally unique; it's a piece of the space between reality and it's been weaponized.” As he finished the last of his preparations Urthar took Adélaby the arm and gently lead her to a bench to sit down on while he waited for the last of the stragglers. “Frankly it is a matter of practice. A Void blade like yours is going to need to be stabilized. And as far as the flaws go again.I’ve never encountered a mortal with your capacities so I wouldn’t worry about it. If you’d like I can show you how to stabilize the blade.” Urthar rested the walking cane he normally used against the bench.

Adéla raised an eyebrow at the name of the technique. It was… a slightly corny name if she said so herself, but the actual mechanics were absolutely fascinating. A piece of space between reality… weaponized… she was practically salivating at the thought of how she could harness something like that.

As he took her arm she realized he’d never actually touched her before. His skin was… surprisingly normal. Which shouldn’t have surprised her as he was in his human form, but it was still a mild surprise all the same. “Of course I’d like that!” She replied enthusiastically, “Anything you can show me would be wonderful.” After a moment’s pause she added, “And really? No other mortals with my capabilities? There are billions of people out there, surely there are plenty of people who can do far more?”

Urthar shook his head, “There are maybe a dozen like you in the entirety of Galendar. So not exactly a high standard.” A sly grin crossed his face. “But you’ve certainly come far. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this quick of progression.” Taking her right hand he flipped it over in his hand and forced his own magic through through her hand prepping it for projection of magic. “Reconstruct your blade and then I’ll help you structure the projection. Then we’ll contain it and you can replicate it in the future.”

Adéla was surprised to say the least. Only a dozen like her? In all of Galendar? She’d grown up with absolutely nothing distinguishing about her, and even as she grew older the only interesting things about her had been how young she looked and how ruthless she could be. Immediately the flush returned to her face and she coughed awkwardly. As Urthar took her hand and channeled his own power through it she closed her eyes, focusing on the magic running through her own system and pushing it towards her hand.

The air around her hand shimmered and distorted as the blade emerged around it again, roughly two feet long and lacking a distinct shape. “Well… there it is…” She murmured uncertainly.

Tilting his head Urthar tweaked the blade’s form until it had a vicious curved edge to it. Stabilizing the form slightly as he did it. “What form do you want for it?” Urthar continued to tweak around the edges and form of the blade. “And for the record you’ve done excellent on your own. I think it is really just a matter of deciding on form.”

Looking her up and down Urthar cocked an eyebrow. “That is an interesting color your face has taken on. Are you well? I know that occasionally mortals end up with sickness.” The actual fact of what was happening to Adéla went almost entirely by Urthar; however his gaze did seem to linger before returning to the blade.

“It’s just uh… a thing that happens to uh…” Adéla blushed even harder and covered her face with her hands reflexively. “It’snothingdon’tpayattentionatalljustkeeptellingmewhatyouweregoingtosay.” After a moment’s pause she peeked out from behind her hands, noticing Urthar lingering on her for a moment. “It’sjustathingpeopledowhenthey’reembarrasedlet’sgetbacktotheswordokay?”

Coughing awkwardly again, she regained some composure. “I was ah… thinking more of a straight form for thrusting with plus longer reach. Does it really matter though? This isn’t mortal steel, it’ll dissolve mundane matter all the same, as far as I know.”

“Well yes and no. It is a material and it can break. That being said, it is quite durable.” With a flick of his hand Urthar extended the blade and gave it a double edged tapering it to a point. “Is this more in the line of what you were thinking?” His gaze returned to her but he didn’t comment on her red face or her sudden change of syntax. In his years in Galendar; Urthar had found that all too often mortals and those who had started out as mortals were given over to odd behaviors from time to time.

“Shard asked me to change my mortal form to something more appealing. Was I correct in the assumption that symmetry and average features with the occasional varying feature is also appealing in the male form?” As he asked the question Urthar thickened the base of the blade, hinting at a crossguard should she indicate it was desirable in the blade. “Frankly I’ve always found symmetry oddly appealing in the biped races. There was a world of giants we descended upon once. It was also the case there that it was appealing in the female half of the populace but oddly not so in the males. I personally didn’t bother to select any of the males to add to my warrior stocks. Aberrants tend towards asymmetry so it is refreshing to find something less so.” With a pointed look Urthar gave Adéla’s chest a nod. “Strangely that part of your appearance was absent in the Shi’an’ti. Their female form was muscled similar to their males, lacking the adipose tissue. Probably a more efficient form but it certainly lacks something aesthetic. Perhaps it is simply an aquired view from so much time on Galendar”

If it was at all possible, Adéla’s face flushed an even darker shade of scarlet at Urthar’s mention of her… frontal assets. Why was she getting so flustered? She was used to commentary on them - she’d been a prostitute for over two decades for heaven’s sake.

Then again, she hadn’t regularly “entertained” millenia old Aberrations as customers either. Or at all. Or even known they existed.

“Well I mean,” she stammered, uncertain of how to continue, “Yes symmetry is good you should definitely go with symmetry if you want to appeal to people here why are you asking me you should really ask someone else who knows more about this than I do…” she trailed off, clearing her throat all too conspicuously. She would never admit it - but Urthar intimidated her. Even though he had just praised her accomplishments she was all too aware of the gap that existed between them in… everything - age, power, experience…

Adéla was silent for a moment as she waged a brief mental war over how to continue. “Breasts are for eh…” she flushed a deep scarlet again, “providing milk for children after pregnancy, technically speaking. It’s a pretty universal mammalian thing. And ah… as to the sword! Yes, that’s what I was thinking, something useful for thrus- stabbing.”

Urthar finally stopped focusing on the sword and gave her another look. Without warning he leaned in and pressed his left hand into the hollow of her throat and found her pulse. “You are acting rather strange, I’m not sure what this response you are having is so you’ll have to forgive me for not offering a remedy. I’d say it was fear judging by your elevated heart rate and stuttering but I’m not sure what there is to be afraid of.”

Something seemed to dawn on Urthar as he took in her response. “I’ve broken some sort of social convention haven’t I?” Pausing he contemplated the conversation up until now. “I’m sorry for asking you about symmetry. I simply thought you would be the best to ask since your form contains it; that and most other individuals are less willing to spend time in my company.”

Noticing the sword again he pointed to it. “Try stabilizing the form.”

“No no no it’s fine just… unexpected, is the word.” Adéla blurted, “Technically you did sorta kinda but I mean you probably chose the best person to do so with because reasons and oh look what a wonderful sword!” She focused intently on the weapon, channeling more energy into it as she pictured the end result in her mind. Gradually the blade seemed to gain more substance and definition without nearly as much of the weight as a normal sword.

After a little while she looked back up at Urthar. Her face had more or less returned to a normal color and she spoke with a considerably less nervous tone. “Symmetry is all well and good, but there are considerably more things to take into consideration regarding your appearance and such. I used to ahem… hold a profession where knowing that was essentially mandatory, just don’t expect me to be able to explain every social nicety - I’m still learning that myself.” After another moment’s pause a question that had occurred earlier nudged at the back of her mind. “You mentioned you had ‘warrior stocks’? What do you mean?”

Reaching out again this time Urthar pressed his thumb to her temple.

An army of beings stood on a barren field bathed in blood. They were as varied as the stars and included everything from beasts, to bipeds, to asymmetrical formless beings hundreds up hundreds stretched out before her as she stood on a rock outcropping.

“My children and my army. They are the spawn of my harem. Breeding stock taken from a thousand worlds and given form. They are the finest warriors in the whole of creation.” With that he sat back from her. “And no they are not all directly my children. Infact I have maybe a dozen children. My Warrior stocks are largely for breeding amongst themselves to produce desirable traits.”

Looking at the sword he quirked an appraising eyebrow. “Well done. I am incredibly impressed. Such a feat I thought might be beyond you but you seem to prove me wrong at every turn. Clearly I underestimated you. I should not have done so. And I will not hold back in your instruction in the future.”

Adéla’s eyes were wide as dinner plates as the images she had just seen reverberated through her head. Thousands of purpose bred warriors as a part of a conquering army, all apparently in some way distantly related to the being sitting next to her, for all the world looking like a regular man.

“Wait wait wait - breeding stock? Your army? Thousands of worlds?” Adéla asked him incredulously. “If you have an army, why are you here? I presume you were trapped somehow, but, well, the ‘how’ part of that somehow is the important part. Were you trying to conquer Galendar?” After a moment’s pause, she raised an eyebrow, “And I’m guessing you would’ve taken ‘breeding stock’ from it too?”

Settling back against the bench Urthar nodded. “Yes, I was one of the three commanders that were sent to subjugate Galendar several thousand years ago. Suffice to say it did not go well; largely do to the fact that at the time Galendar’s Gods were free to roam the surface of the mortal realm. So as you can imagine it was difficult for us to fight Gods on their own turf. In the end we sealed away Galendar’s Gods but the damage was done and the armies of the Outer Gods were driven back through the Outer Door and it was sealed. I remained as at the time I had been retrieving something from the surface. When I got word that the invasion had been defeated instead of attempting to flee back through the Outer Door I went to ground. It worked out well for a long time but living in this reality did not go well as I couldn't replenish my magic. At which point I met Christian a few thousand years ago and the rest is history.”

At her second question he pursed his lips. “I doubt it. Well. At the time I think I doubted I’d find anyone worth while. Humans and the other indigenous of Galendar have not always been as well adapted. Frankly not many beings can actually breed with Aberrations and produce a being capable of using Aberrant magic. At the time I didn’t know humans could. Frankly the warriors we were facing at the time weren’t terribly impressive since the largely relied on their Gods for magic and strength. If I’d taken anyone from Galendar it would have been a waste as their magic is not compatible with the realms beyond Galendar. In much the same way that You and I can not replenish our own magic naturally the same is true for a being from Galendar leaving this reality through the Outer Door.”

His thought trailed off as he gave Adéla a thoughtful look. “If you are wondering the answer is: yes.” Urthar left the single phrase hanging in the air between the two of them.

Adéla stared at Urthar for a moment. She had been wondering - and that wasn’t really the answer she’d been wanting to hear. She could always put a positive spin on things and interpret it as her being exceptional among humanity - but she found it hard to find satisfaction in knowing that she would’ve been taken as breeding stock to pump out armies of warriors for further conquests. Before she could stop herself from thinking aloud, she murmured under her breath, “Why did you even have breeding slaves?”

Her face once more flushed scarlet and she seized on a less awkward and sexual topic instead. “What were you retrieving at the surface?” She coughed out, trying hard to keep the tension out of her voice. Her head was filled with images she would’ve rather forgotten - and images she would’ve really rather her imagination not conjure for her.

“The God weapon. And you misunderstand. Not as a breeding slave. You are unique. It would have been a waste to have you used for breeding. Additionally if you think it involves breeding like humans do such a thing then you are quite mistaken.” Urthar chuckled “Humans are highly inefficient. That and my breeding stock lives far better than human slaves.” With that he stood up and stretched. “We should probably finish preparations if you have no further questions.”

“If not as a breeding slave, what then?” In spite of herself, Adéla couldn’t help her curiosity. “Just what do you mean by saying that I’m ‘unique’? You just said that there were others like me, or with my capabilities. Would they not be just as ‘unique’ then?”

Quirking an eyebrow at Urthar, Adéla stood up, offering a hand. “Regardless, we probably should go and finish up.”

“Agreed, we are just waiting on a few more. I’ll let you know when we are ready.”

It's Not What it Looks Like

Monochromatic Rainbow, @Viciousmarrow

Adéla, Bunny

Adéla stretched her shoulders as she walked away from Urthar, leaving him to his own devices to finish preparations for opening the Way. She contemplated simply finding a good place to sit and waiting out the duration, but a little nagging voice in the back of her head urged her to go and socialize with other sapient beings, human, fae, or otherwise - the important part being that they could respond to her.

Her social skills had deteriorated considerably during her isolation in the pit and self-induced solitary confinement in the first few months at the Tower. She still remembered most social niceties and such, but actually putting them in practice seemed like it would be considerably more difficult after speaking to maybe ten different people in total in her entire time here. Urthar didn’t even really count as social interaction with other natural denizens of Galendar for obvious reason.

She made her way through the crowd, increasingly self conscious over her choice of attire. The coat was certainly more feminine than most military style coats - but all the same that’s what it was. Gunmetal grey, four colored fourragère with each color marking a notable achievement, and the insignia of her rank of Knight Commander of the Master of Word prominent on her right breast.

A lock of hair fell into her eye again and she blew at it futilely, trying the get the offending strands out of her face but failing miserably. Sighing, Adéla reached up to brush it out of her way, revealing a curious sight in front of her.

A woman, with… bright green/turquoise hair staring at… Ludelle and a… She wasn’t quite sure, not a fae, not… Hellspawn perhaps? She wasn’t sure. Why was he flirting with Ludelle? Was Ludelle flirting with him?

Adéla sighed - why did people have to be so complicated? Machines were nice, she preferred machines. She snuck closer, overhearing some things and raising an eyebrow. So… this neon haired woman was… attracted to or crushing on or something on this Hellspawn, and she was breaking apart because she thought he was… dumping her? Flirting with other women?

Adéla gently applied palm to face. She didn’t know much about the courting processes of the other peoples and barely any of that of human, but she’d gleaned enough from Calder and others to gather that, judging by how he was acting, that was far from the case.

Walking up to her slowly, her nose wrinkled at the stench of strong alcohol. Very strong. She was all for getting plastered after the fact, but doing so beforehand seemed a bit rude.

“You do realize,” she began, standing behind the neon haired woman, “that he’s not being a player, right? He probably thinks he’s supposed to be doing that with her, arranged marriages and such. Such fun.”

Oh. So shy was his type. A small smirk crossed Ludelle’s mind but as it came out it was shaped like a flawless innocent smile. The compliment about her eyes was sweet but came as no surprise – after all, the magic behind them was a gift from the gods themselves. It was the single most reliable way to entice anyone, friend or foe, and Ludelle suspected the reason why they’d covered her face in Southgate was because the Blade knew. Which in turn meant that either Adela or Marcus had betrayed her as they were the only two people on the planet who knew about her connection to Qtelneick. And while it was troublesome that in return she had to speak the truth and nothing but the truth one day every week, what she herself gained was pretty damn useful sometimes.

She fluttered dark-tinted eyelashes, careful not to overdo it and thanked for the compliment. Then she said that, of course, she would like nothing more than to spend more time with him if he’d have her and was just reaching for his arm when her guardian decided to reappear. In the worst possible moment with the worst possible company. Ludelle hated kids and found it hard to supress a grimace as she looked at Rini.

“Oh, hello sweetheart.” She chirped, bending slightly over to smile at the child. “I like your dress, it’s very pretty.” She commented before straightening up again. “Um, if I can introduce you to Izual Anzhela. He is…” lower your eyes and let the corner of your lips twitch slightly, unsure. The blush will come naturally. “He’s my date for today.” Lastly, direct look at him for reassurance and let him see that slight embarrassment on your face, pink cheeks go well together with rose lips and long dark eyelashes.

It had been a long time since she’d last done it, but Ludelle knew how to seduce a man. In her sleeve there was a whole repertoire of roles she’d assumed to get the ones she wanted, shy, nasty, rich, they all needed a special touch. And she had it, it came back as naturally as driving. But she was a bit rusty and Marcus was still stuck at the back of her mind, somehow pulling her back to her real self and hindering her act. But she had to get over him, right? And how could she hope to do that if not by being with another man?

Despite her calculating approach, Ludelle realised she really did hope to get a shot with this guy. And as she saw it, the only thing that could stand in her way was that Calder had been around her long enough to recognise the act.

That’s why she was so glad that before anyone could say anything else, the Master of Word announced they would be moving and everyone stated towards the middle of the hall. Ludelle grabbed Izual’s arm and rushed to the platform, hoping that Calder would get the hint and let her enjoy the party.

Day 3, Afternoon
Urthar

Urthar drew on the fabric of Galendar’s reality and tugged the Hill of Flowers and the Way hall closer together. Shard had designed the Tower to support Urthar’s magics from day one and it was certainly paying off. The energy in the circles across the floor cocooned the Knights standing in the hall and with a glance Urthar cued Adela to release the magic

The effect was impressive and it punched a neat hole through space to allow the wedding guests to slip through. They were met by the sight of the Hill of Flowers and the wedding ceremony set up completed for their arrival. Urthar grinned at Adela. She had done excellent. Now was the opportunity for all of the Knights to recover from the hard work that had gotten them here.


Day 3, Afternoon
Christian and Raven
Themerlinhawk & Grin

Raven was smiling. Sounds of petals dancing with the wind caressed the orange and pink world the two lovers and their companions stood on.



It had been a while since Raven’s expression mirrored the sun. Her blonde hair shone like the mane of a lion in fresh morning, and her red cinnamon eye glimmered. Flowers of all different kinds of sweet pink trickled around them, watching just like the breathing guests.

Christian stood with Megelis at the altar that had been erected for the ceremony. In the end he’d simply settled on having his right hand with him as opposed to a longer list of groomsmen. Akime, Ris and Marielle would end up on the other side once everyone was seated.

Looking up at a hill next to the one they had set everything up on he grinned at the flash of light that heralded the rest of the guests. Megelis walked a little away so that he could get a clear look at the group. “That appears to be all of them.”

A gust of wind picked up more of the petals from the top of the hill and sent them away in a flurry.

Pushing back the tailed coat he wore Shard smiled as Megeils turned back to him. “I’m glad that it's this generation that gets to see this. You’re the ones the Tower was built for.” Megelis returned the smile. “I think you need for focus; Shard. You only get married once after all. Try not to make any mistakes.”

The Lord of Storms chuckled at his companion as he looked off down the hill towards where he knew Raven was. As soon as the guests finished filing into the seats things would begin and he wanted to savor a final moment of silence before he finished one of his oldest projects.

The walk uphill would normally be quite tedious for a dress, but luckily Raven has spent many years practicing form and posture. She held her tall frame high and gathered her dress in her hands, eyeing the top of the hill as it unwinded the scene she has waited a lifetime for. Her hair was woven with roses and an array of flowers that colored a warm palette. The air was fresh as she took it in, but a part of it left her as she took in the man waiting at the tip of the hill. It seemed as though this hill was there for thousands of years, and she was finally about to make it to the top, binding to the one who always waited. The strength of patience he had was the same strength of her happiness in this moment, and it was clearly written on her ageless features.

Shard smiled to Ris, Marielle and Akime as they took their places across from him and Megelis. They had foregone many of the normal individuals for the wedding but it felt right for Raven to have these three as Bridesmaids. Folding his hands together he looked down the aisle at her as she approached. Flicking his eyes to the right Urthar gave him a raised eyebrow for his troubles. Asking one of the other Avatars to marry the two of them had felt wrong so in the end he’d settled on Urthar. The only member of the Tower older than the two of them and intimately familiar with Galendar history.

It felt like time had stopped when she finally settled next to him. She felt the world on her back, and the sun on her skin. But most importantly… Raven collected Christian’s hand, slightly tugging him a bit closer to her with a child-like grin. “Hope you didn’t have to wait too long, beloved.” Her enamored smile returned as she lost her stare in his.

“I mean if you’d made me wait three thousand years we’d have had a problem.” Christian chuckled under his breath at her comment. “But since you didn’t I think we’re okay.” With that he took her hand and turned to face Urthar.

“Galendar has many traditions in marriage. Everything from elaborate vows, to simple declarations. Today Christian Highfell, The Lord of Storms and Lardy Raven Marrowblade, Heir to the House of Marrowblade will be married. There are now vows to be made in the ceremony they have chosen. It is simple. They have agree to a soul bind. One of Galendar’s oldest traditions.”

Urthar let the words sink in. For those who didn’t know what the ceremony was Urthar continued. “Both of them will give a simple consent to the binding. Anything else is merely a physical symbol of the bond they have decided on. In this life they will live as separate beings but when they cross the veil to join Yishreenok they will no longer share separate souls.” With a brief pause Urthar said quietly to the two of them. “Are you ready?”

Raven nodded. This was it, this was all she had ever asked for. Long ago she wouldn’t have even imagined this sort of happiness was achievable, yet here she was, alive after two thousand years, about to share her soul. It was selfish, chipped, was far from righteous until she shaped it, sculpting away using the tools contained in Galendar’s consistent pool of stars. The hard work finally paid off, and though she was beyond human, Raven became more than she ever thought she could be. The stubborn blonde became a woman, and then, a legend. Her success was all because of the being that grounded her, gave her purpose. Her hand quickly warmed his as she squeezed it.

Christian mirrored her nod to Urthar. The reality was that the last two thousand years he had dipped his hands in so much blood that it would never wash out; but it was worth it. Christian had built a feature for both of them. It was finally time to stop the running, the searching, the fighting and the wondering. Raven was here with him finally and she was ready to take on the rest of their lengthy lives together as one. Finally.

She turned to face Christian, grabbing his other hand with her own. In his eyes she saw when he was a dragon, when they first met. A sweet smile played with her lips as she tip-toed along her treasured memories with him. Adventures the world will never forget.

”Join us! We’ll pay you twice that bastard’s paying you if you burn those mages to a crisp. Promise.”

She grinned. He’d grown into something so much bigger than mansions filled with gold.

“Christian, I am everything I am today because of you. The woman I am, the things I’ve done, I’ve never had such a better sail to guide my life down the shores you have showed me.” She inhaled. “I love you.” Raven had only said those words to him, she was too young to completely understand the meaning back when she left Marrowblade manner, and had to learn the hard way its importance. “You waited for me when nobody else would. I’m not perfect, but I became strong. Now that I am finally the Raven you deserve, I’m going to forever have your back. Whether it’s me standing on your neck as we take down an army in the sky,” She winked. “Or it’s holding something we’ve created for this world.” She exhaled, then bit her lip. She could write a book on how thankful she is for Christian, but she settled for the small handful of words she spoke.

With a smile Christian looked back into her eyes. Seeing it all: the goddess, the woman, the captain, all of it. It had been so many years but he remember the moment when she’d appeared on the beach while he’d been stalking a group of Stygian soldiers. In the end it had been the most important decision of his entire life. Taking her offer and joining the Stygian army had lead to this very moment. “You’ve grown so much and it makes me smile to even think of you. I’m glad you’ve returned and I’m ready to see this all the way through to the end.”

Urthar smiled and took Raven’s left hand and Christian’s right hand. Bridging the magic between the two of them he wove an intricate spell around their souls and left the spell in place. When one of them passed it would fuse their souls in the the afterlife.

“It is done. Knight’s of Stars I give you your wedded couple. Christian Highfell, The Lord of Storms and Lady Raven Marrowblade.”

Raven beamed before quickly tugging on Christian’s clothes into a full kiss, the first kiss of many for the two bound partners.

Christian wrapped his arms firmly around her back and supported her neck as he dipped her back and kissed his beloved deeply. With a final parting sigh he stood the two of them up and turned to the guests in attendance. “Thank you all for coming to witness and share this moment with us. Now, I think it's time for a party. Don't you all?” The Stormlord quirked an eyebrow before looking down to his beloved and smiling. Tonight would be a night to remember.

---

Day 3, Evening
Christian

Shard sat and held Raven’s hand as he watched the whole of the Tower celebrate. It was good to know that there were still so many things to be thankful for in this world. So long had passed since they’d had this occasion to celebrate. With a gentle tug he brought Raven into his arms and kissed her forehead with a smile. Their day was finally here and it was a pleasure to share it with all of his close friends.

Looking up at the Sky above Blackwing, Shard smiled. Elsingdar had agreed to delay dawn by two hours to give them more time for the reception and had even sent the Auroras to light up the night for them. Between the stars the rainbow lights wove across the sky. Blackwing had been adorned with thousands of paper lanterns and was currently drifting over the planes of Theodar; far away from the cities and towns of the providence. The southern province was always mild in weather and temperature, with a gentle night breeze to keep them cool.

The deck of Blackwing swayed ever so slightly; enough to make sure those who had taken to the dance floor were on their game that even. The rigging creaked softly just beyond the edge of music and the talking of the guests.

The Dust Coven representatives had appeared just before the ceremony. It had been years since Shard had seen Garick Darksand and Amon. The pair had been absent of late, largely occupied with the Coven’s business in the Northern Kingdoms. Many of the current generation of Knights had never met the pair. They were strange indeed with exotic accents and unusual appearance. Shard had met the pair during the first Stygian War. Garik had been a Priest of the Sands at the time and Amon had still been just a simple soldier who had joined Garick.

As for the Circus members; Shard had made sure Kaela got the invite. Most of the Knights gave the well endowed Fire Witch a wide berth. Kaela had a penchant for harming men who she thought weren’t being respectful enough. The criteria for not respectful enough was often hard to predict since she was an outrageous tease. The Fire Witch’s appearance had also reignited some irritation towards Crow. Apparently the last time Kaela had appeared she’d ruined the night for several of the other Knights and then take Crow to bed.

Kaela’s companion for the evening was a heavily built man by the name of Sir Bleakwind. Shard didn’t know much about him as he was a newer recruit of Xavier’s. The man had firmly planted himself at the bar and kept a cautious eye on his charge. Apparently Xavier had taken him on as a Griffon handler.

Shard finally shifted his gaze back to the horizon and settled in; intent on enjoying Raven’s company and the antics his Knights were sure to engage in.

For once, Levi was in the midst of his peerage in the Tower and was not utterly suffering. Though he had felt a distinct sense of foreboding following the "incident" immediately prior to their departure, the ceremony itself was painless. Well, it was brief, if nothing else. Necro had managed to keep to herself the entire time, which was a no less than a miracle in Levi's eyes. The reception had started, and Levi was eager to get the rest of this charade over with. He had left his wedding gift on the designated table (a baroque magitech pistol, a rare collector's piece gleaned from Levi's late father's stores), and then set about to ensure that he was spending as little time sober as possible.

A good few fingers of brandy saw well to that, and Levi was already enjoying the party that seemed to be well underway. Necro seemed to be quite uninterestedly playing with a plate of hors-d'oeuvres, obviously put off by the lack of shenanigans thus far. Her master, on the other hand, was paying strict attention to matters at hand. Two matters in particular, D-Cups at a glance. Levi had a vague idea of who the woman was; she had been introduced shortly before the beginning of the receptions. Something something fire witch, Court of the Crimson King, yadda yadda. He didn't really care about that right now; all he knew was that he very much wanted to cozy up to the warmth of that fiery temptress.

There was, however, an issue preventing him from approaching her. The issue happened to be about eight feet tall, and in slate-grey armor, no less. However, Levi was known to be cleverer than most men, and so quickly hatched an appropriately clever scheme to ensure that the brute would not interfere. He turned Necro's attention away from whomever she was about to throw a cocktail wiener at, and in hushed tones quickly explained his plan. A devilish grin quickly spread across the digital girl's face, and for once she felt no compulsion to turn against her master's whims. Especially not when such whims involved rigging a drinking contest and inspiring widespread mayhem.

A quick spell from NITOCRIS was cast over Necro to give her the sensory trappings of a living thing; warmth, smell, a pulse, and so on. Now for all intent and purposes a living girl, she sidled up to the bar next to the large knight, and banged impetuously on the counter. "Nine Hells! I've got a thirst that could dry out a shoggoth! Barkeep, gimme whatever you got that could strip the color out of space!" After making her feisty demand for alcohol nominally safe for consumption, she turned her attention to the man beside her. "What're you havin', pal?" She leaned over him, sniffing at his tankard. "Smells like milk. You some kind of lady-boy?" Necro laughed heartily, slapping the knight on the back, which made a loud and resounding noise against his armor. Several guests turned at the noise, curious as to what was going on at the bar. "Try a real drink, Mary. Live a little!"

Meanwhile, Levi was making his move on the now-occupied knight's charge. He approached boldly from the front (no need to surprise the poor girl), his posture and confidence both languid and aided by alcohol. "Pardon me," he did his best to sound suave, once he was a comfortable distance from where the witch sat, "I'm quite curious about your fragrance. Would that happen to be Fire from Heaven, in Christopher Brosius' Archetype Series?" He knew damn well already what perfume she was wearing; he had performed a quick molecular analysis using GRIMOIRE a few moments prior. "Fantastic scent. So primal, so profound." He took a seat next to the woman, offering his hand to be shaken. "Leviathan Nero; a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Finishing the drink in a single go the massive Warden turned and looked at Necro. “You should try the Daggerfall Firewater.” The Ex-Warden’s eyes were oddly clear given that he’d sat down to drink at the bar quite some time ago. “If you think this is milk then you should be good with that stuff. Kaela seems to love it for some reason.” Taking another mug from the bartender Sir Bleakwind turned and looked Necro up and down.

It was clear that while he didn’t look it Henry was rather inebriated. “As for your apparent need to out drink me I doubt that is even possible. There is only one person I’ve ever encountered who could out drink me and she is also capable of out drinking Death itself so I don’t mind that one.” The second mug went down just as smooth as the first one. Two more quickly followed.

Shifting in his armor Henry turned to scan the deck of Blackwing; it had dawned on him that he hadn’t seen his charge in a while. That and something was else that seemed to be agitating him. Henry couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Turning fully around he started to search for his charge it was apparent that Necro hadn’t fully engaged him.

---

Turning from her drink the blonde haired witch took in the tall dark haired man who had approached her. With a delicate hand she took Levi’s hand. “Kaela, how do you do”. With a shift Kaela crossed her legs and picked up her drink in her right hand. “Impressive observation, it was a gift actually. I thought it was appropriate though.” Her grey eyes seemed to laugh at Levi as she took a delicate sip of her drink shifting again causing her cleavage to shift as well in her dress which had been selected exactly for how it presented her impressive chest and well curved hips.

This was going to be fun. The fool had no clue who she was and was walking right into the trap that all of the new Knights inevitably fell into. The distinct lack of men around her should have been an obvious clue that something was a bit off but it was too late now. The spider had another fly to play with in her web. “So tell me; what do you do for the Tower? I don’t think I’ve ever encountered you before.” Turning to her left she leaned her head onto her hand as she propped it on the table and tucked her right arm under her breasts causing them to be pushed even further forward while she sat her glass on the table before leaning forward and giving him a coy interested smile.

Gibraltar had done his job at the wedding, no threats, no inconveniences, just the bonding and a blooming love shared among all who were there to witness it. And yet, Gibraltar still found himself prowling around at the reception on alert, ready to guard the life of the one he had been tasked to protect, even if the wedding itself was over. His optical sensors scanned the guests at the party, Archive's database filling his HUD with a great abundance of information, names, ages, ranks, roles, height, weight, biometrics, psychiatric, etc.; most of it was of little use to him. Everyone was having a good time, either drinking their fill or dancing out on the main floor, Gibraltar's eyes wandered up to the sky show above, the heavens themselves granting their blessing to the newly weds.

His path eventually had him stumble upon his own charge, lurking in the shadows at the edge of the party, as she usually was. Despite how calm and collected she kept herself, he could feel her twitching, the need for her addiction beginning to grip her rather harshly. Gibraltar approached the young woman, "Lethal," he gave her a slight nod before reaching down to his leg, a small hatch opening as he pulled the pack of cigarettes that he had kept safeguarded on his person. He was about to hand her the pack before halting and opening it, pulling out a single one for himself, before placing it in her open hand. The hatch closed and he took his place next to her, standing at her side as he brought the tiny ash stick to his lips, sparking a little lightning in his fingertips to light it before breathing in the noxious fumes. Inhaling, exhaling, he didn't feel the smoke as it entered or left his lungs, in fact there really was no point in him even having taken the cigarette. His cybernetic augmentations and the nano-bionics in his bloodstream would prevent the nicotine from ever reaching his brain; on the plus side, he'd never get lung cancer as a result. No, the whole point of this was purely for the celebration aspect of it, tonight was a night to live it up a little, even if he felt on edge, he'd try and enjoy this night as he was sure Shard would have expected all of his guests to.

@lovely complex

Shiba sighed setting the wedding went off without a hitch so his presence was more or less for show. Once the wedding was over Shiba went to the reception to get some free food if nothing else. The place looked fitting for a wedding reception and it seemed like the only people here were friends of either the bride or groom so Shiba was able to relax a little.

Shiba put down his hood and dropped the illusion so he was able to be seen by others. He made a straight line for the food table since holding up that illusion was so long it was tiring. He got a nice plate of food making sure to grab an apple as he sat down at some random seat. As he ate he felt like he was being watched but felt no malice from it so he decided to ignore it. Once he did finish however a few kids cane over to Shiba asking what was wrong with his hands. Shiba would have usually turned invisible and walked away but damn it their eyes were melting Shiba heart. He slowly moved his sleeves up to show them and they looked at Shiba like he was cool. They then asked if he could do tricks with them. Again Shiba sighed but he grabbed an apple and cut it in two with no effort and they awed at that and Shiba couldn't help but blush not feeling used to this kind of admiration considering his job description. They soon went and gave Shiba more to cut and he couldn't help but oblige them....at least until their parents saved Shiba from cutting anything important...