@liferusher @Spriggs27 @Lunarlors34 @FamishedPants

The rather tense atmosphere however, was broken or at least lowered down when from a nearby somewhat dark alley emerged a rather large orc who exuded a quite odd and dangerous aura. If one were to look him, he would find no weapons on him other than bow or a hunting knife, he actually lacked any real sort of armor on his body and did not seem troubled by this fact at all. However, the most dangerous looking thing about him were his bloodied fists.

Orgos looked at the people on the street trying to analyze the situation there were several people, one of which was down on the ground, probably exhausted or something. All the people there looked strong, or at least capable of taking care of themselves should a fight break out... it would be interesting to be involved with this group. He took a reassuring breath and headed for the people there in the street. He didn't plan to fight them yet, but they would certainly seem like interesting people to fight against later on.

When he got close enough to the people there, he saluted them in a rather friendly manner, despite the somewhat tense aura floating around.

"Hello there, friends!" he greeted, smiling, which might be odd to call people you don't know. "Might I ask what is going on here?" he asked, still acting friendly towards everyone there.

@Claw2k11 @FamishedPants@Lunarlors34@Spriggs27@liferusher

Rachild go outside for look at the event better and he seemed disappointed when he saw orgos

"what he's doing ? he's going to be attacked this fool"

he sighed and he look him with a desperate look, he doesn't like the other race because they are too impulsive for him, he write it once, he supervised orgros to see if he would stop

-a unknown person was appeared between all the people for calm everybody, i think he's gone to be attacked, i should'nt pay intent on him or he'll brought me some problem-

"pffff....that's why i dislike the other race, they are too simple, they are without interest"

he forgot it and he continues his work, they seem more important and impressive than orgros for him, anyway : for him orgros is just Nothing

-anyway, i forget this guy he is just stupid, i have a work after all, he is just a common guy-

he continued to write all in his book and he tried to hide the latter for not being noticed

Survival of the fittest. The world I've been placed upon is one ruled by mere concepts of youth. Yes, you could see it all in every corner and in every cranny of creation. Boys and girls indulging in the hypocrisies of life! But that is besides the point. Yes, that isn't what matters anymore. The night became evident, the students were now at the behest of their carnivorous desires. Beyond the glance of the primary it could be seen very clearly the effortlessness of their truth seething form their pores. It is a lie, it is evil. They will conform to anything and everything as a literal spice to their youth. Secrets, lies, sins failures all of such are mere inhibitors of this so called youth. It's a comedy and a romantic one at that, and as such.



Perhaps you could say that life has its way of justifying its failures. Perhaps you were in an incident where you bumped your toe on the side of the bed and you cursed it for being in the way. When in fact, it was your fault entirely to have failed you have notice something that was right in front of you. In this sense, me ending up in a world that was completely out of my scope of reality was in fact my world rectifying an irreversible mistake. Yes, it happened suddenly. My hands reach the pocket of my pants, pulling out my wallet while the clerk before me waited patiently for his money. The bag suspended at the bend of my left arm while it finally settled that my wallet had been hollowed by some incredible force of nature. Online purchases was in fact such a huge instigator in my life that most of my money went into gaming and generally anime and the works. Any other ordinary student would be at arcades, in movies or merely indulging in youth I was, in fact at home. Preparing my quick meals and playing games and reading my mangas. And now, that has come back to bite me in the ass.

"Sir... Are you... broke?"

Those words stung. They were like knives at the center of my pride. But then again, there was no pride to begin with. "Maybe you feel compassion for a hungry young high-school student who just wants to make for the day?" The clerk rose his brow and crossed his arm, which was immediately met with a nervous smile... "Get the hell outta my store!" Without much hesitation I left the bag and exited the store. My breath began to heave and my lungs felt heavy. How long did I run for...? My head began to cycle on the thought, because for some reason the world beyond me was, in fact, a fantasy. Animals on two legs traveling around the streets speaking and dressed like any member of humanity. Creatures of huge statures hauling what seemed to be a medieval caravan on the center of a large street paved of glittering stone. Night suddenly became day, cold became heat, desolate silence in the general buzz of a busy market.

"I see." I spoke in reaffirmation. "I must've ran all night and walked into an anime convention. This has to be one of those LARPing events I read about. Yes that must be it." The thought began to ruminate on the youth head. His feet began to propel him further and further as he view the details of the lands that was presented before him. "That's a nice costume you have. The fur seems oddly realistic. And even the tail moves like that of a real animal. It is truly impressive." A young female turned to the sound of his voice and winced at his proximity. "Those ears too. The texture of such look impressive. Clearly someone of talent made these e--" Before he could react he felt a swelling pain form at the side of his cheek, his body tripped an fell onto the earth as the creature ran away from his direction clearly peeved by his assessment. The hell was that for? He thought as he rose himself from the floor, tendering the area he was harmed. Soon the same cosplay cat girl made an appearance this time with a male cosplay cat boy towering a foot taller than the young Pica.

"Alright, you have 3 and a half seconds to explain to me why you were hitting on my girl, punk!?" Pica couldn't help but scoff at his accusation, following by a shrug of his shoulders and a bend of his head. [cosplay=royalblue]"What? You really think I was hitting on your girlfriend? I was merely appreciating the quality craftsmanship of her work with her overall appearance. I'm not at all interested in what she has to offer beyond her appearance."[/color] Before he knew it he was pulled closer to the cosplay cat boy before him, as he grabbed his collar. His eyes were fierce, it was in fact, exactly like witnessing a tiger in their ready stance. Like a pray about to pounce the predator.

"You better take that back, human. Before I shred the skin outta ya bones!"

"Even your breath smell identical to a beast! YUCK! I don't care how much of an anime expo this is you should at least learn proper hygiene!" The cosplaying cat boy threw the young Pica to the floor, hitting his head in and causing him to loose consciousness almost immediately. Darkness over took, suddenly a warmth began to swell at the back of his head. An image of reality began to surface and once again, an unfamiliar setting. This time, unlike before. It was in a bed room. The scent was that of roses, however faintly close to that of vanilla. The pillow that settled under him was large, and so was the bedding. It could perhaps hold two people, the bedroom expansive, yet all that garnished it were the bed a table and a large mirror. The closet was near the door, the color was that of auburn due to the hue to the wooden structure. "Where am I?" Pica spoke and a voice welcomed a response.

"In Hell. You so happen to have sinned by pissing of the city folk here using that big mouth of yours, fella." Pica's brow rose as he turned to see another of this cosplaying creatures. This one on the other hand was considerably smaller. About the size of a small child, yet wider. Like that of a plush. "So what made you think that you could just mouth off to someone and his girl like that without any consequences." He spoke and wobbled around. His small mustache and monocle made him look refined and the suit just added to it's glamour. His sense of humor however was impeccably dumb and tiresome. Even though he had only heard one quirky liner.

"I was telling the truth. I was just gratifying the quality of her craftsmanship." The small cat cosplayer turned his head "What the hell are you talking about, fella? What this about a cosplay?" Which Pica responded "Cosplay is cosplay. You know. Men and Woman dressing up as their favorite characters and whatnot."

"Sound kind of racist if you ask me."

"What's so racist about dressing up as a cat?"

"I dunno. That's like saying that I'm an ape while dressed up as a human." Pica turned his head, trying to assimilate what he just said. This LARPing thing seems to be serious business. "So small cat cosplayer. How did I get here?" The mustache cat cosplayer laughed at suck a remark and said "My home. And the name's Bernard."

@Sir Lurksalot @liferusher




Ease's eyes stretched open again and rubbed a bit of sleep out of his eyes. That was weird...It seemed as though he sorta just zoned out for a second, as if he slept...even though he knows he didn't. It was a strange feeling that was heard to even figure out how to feel about. Did he just have a heavy case of zoning out? Did his mind just completely shut down, as if trying to cope from the stress? Or was his creator just a dumbass who kept forgetting to post and every time he remembered he promptly forgot or got distracted? It was hard to pin point quite honestly...Who are we joshing? It was the latter and everyone knows it. Even Ease, despite him having no real fourth wall awareness.

Back to the plot, Duncan had replied back to his little neighbors comment. Well, first he had the understandable complaint of how shitty tourists usually are. Anyway, he went to Juneau for the summer too? Man, what a small worl-er, worlds. Well, definitely gonna be a lot of wilderness stories huh? "I'm actually an hour or 3 north of Juneau. Not too far from Fairbanks. Damn, my family always went over there to visit my uncle Jeffrey. Man knew how to catch and make good fish, I can say that much." And wait...this man mentioned alcohol? Jack?

Oh God, he was already in Ease's good favor.

"Oh man...Mine was actually in my high school years. This random ass party where me and my buddy Evan snuck off with some gin, laid back on the guy's couch, and listened to some drunk guy saying how he was going to shit on the jackass father of the house's computer. So the party was going great." Ease said with a quick chuckle. God...Man that takes him back. Just 15 and still...well Ease. He sighed though. Gotta focus on the task at hand first.

As Duncan took note of the fact that he was pretty much the only one in this world with, ya know a gun, Ease couldn't help but nod in satisfaction. Yeah...While a gun won't work against everything, it's not like anyone here knows how to properly counter it. Let alone what it does. Then again- "While I do love that shotgun, we might wanna save it for emergencies. After all, i'm not sure if this place even has more ammunition." And then he mentioned an...Usain Bolt? "Fuck is that? Some sorta super bolt?

As they ran off and entered more alleyways, Ease's body and heart froze...but for a moment. His eyes looked up and fixated on one thing. A man. A masked man covered in robes of rather elaborate designs dashing past them. But there was something off about him. His body was damaged, heavily in fact, with an arm that seemed more like rags of flesh than any limb. But there was something deeply wrong with this...creature. Ease could barely register as a human from the outright alien feelings that rushed down his spine from his appearance. It wasn't quite anger, curiosity, or even fear. Though curiosity was probably the closest feeling he felt towards it. It was a sensation that felt like it should be dread at the very note of him, but ironically enough, his soul didn't react that way. His body, on the other hand, simply stared out as he ran past, disappearing in the crowds like a glass bottle lost to a maelstrom.

What was he...it?

"Duncan, di...did you-?" "Hey wait up, what is the hurry about!?"

The moment he heard the hey he turned around. Not so much in surprise, but more like he had softly been broken out of a hypnotist's trance. The turn also made him take not that his left hand was now on his sword's grip. Guess the moment he saw the man, he reacted like he was going to action huh? Good...But strange. His reflexes are good but usually he'd react with more shock at the green haired maid's sudden appearance. "Sorry Yoshi. Long story short, Aya vanished out of nowhere. We could use help looking for her if you're willing. Sorry to info dump you like this. Quite honestly? He had forgotten about the tavern completely. It was more so just a distant memory despite it having happened so recently. Panic will do that to you huh?

However, he then took note of something. The crowd seemed more...panicked than usual. A few screaming quite obviously? It was at that moment he smelt, yet again, more smoke. Was this town just a local bonfire? Wait. He looked back. The madman...Suspicious, but hell. It's the only lead he's got huh? He ran against the wave of civilians moving swiftly past each one, closer to whatever the origin. He quickly swiveled his head over as he raised his hand forward and yelled at Duncan and Yoshinobu. "Come on! Follow me!"

He personally didn't know why he was doing this. I mean, there were reasons obviously, but nothing concise. Aya might be there. This could answer his previous question about the local house fires. Maybe even one of the groups ran into trouble? They were all sorta jumbling in his head with him not really too concerned for finding an answer. At this moment, Ease's mind chose to act instead of reason. But it did however plan...Plan in case anything happened. He needed to plan. Mentally prepare for whatever happened...That's all. As he got closer and closer, the smell of smoke and the light of a few flames got closer and closer.

"Ratatosk: Ease...despite all the smoke. I smell blood." The small squirrel spoke within his robed shoulder. He gritted his teeth inside his mouth. Why wasn't he shocked? He already was planning for the worse. If there's an enemy? Duncan tells Yoshinobu to stay in the more crowded streets, have him come up, fight and have Duncan provide cover fire. Easy enough. If there's no one there but bodies? Duncan and Ease are running through these streets and finding that masked man. With his body as damaged as it is, how was he gonna get far? They could find him. And finally...there it was.

Ease's running pace stopped. His eyes surveying the scene before him with widened eyes. Before him, covered in blood and slash, but unmistakably, was Malakaus, bloodied and beaten down. An obvious stab wound through his chest, seeming to be the cause of death. Or was it blood loss? It was hard to decide really. Not far from his corpse, lied an elf, impaled through the heart and bloodied as well. The poor thing even reminded him of Ira, as he grimly swallowed. Elsewhere, a few other dead or dying man had laid about. His words were caught into his throat. His language, mangled and broken. "R-r-...Ratatosk. Don't come out. Stay inside." "Ratatosk: E-ease, what's going o-?" "JUST...Just do that for me." He momentarily shouted, but finding his nerves at the last second. Without protesting, Ratatosk traveled further into his clothing, avoiding the scene.

His feet slowly moved over. One foot over the other, which felt more taxing than usual. In mere moments though, the powerful stench of smoke and blood hit him full force. He gagged for a moment, trying to keep back the vomit that oh so wanted to come out, at both this sight and the smells penetrating his nose. He almost kept it together in fact if not for the smoke once again making him cough wildly. In seconds, his lunch went from in his stomach to on the cobblestone road. He was breathing heavy for a second. He was...used to death by now, that was for sure. Hell, he was used to killing technically-animals and the such. But it was all ever felt by himself. The animals were given rather quick deaths by him and he had only ever died decently painfully a few times. The others had to always be rather gory deaths, he know of that, but at least they were quick. At least he didn't see the results from it for the most part. This on the other hand...was different. He wiped away any spare bile from his mouth as he just observed. What the actual hell happened here?

He then took note of the few survivors among the gore, flames, and disaster. A blond woman, also slashed and attacked obviously, who was standing near some golden sword. Aleph, shockingly enough, who seemed to still be trying to play hero. A woman covered in blankets, obviously traumatized from whatever events transpired here. A few soldiers, who were obviously tending to her and were more than likely about to treat or bury the current dead. And finally, a terrified and horrified Ms Neige who was close to sickness, obviously holding that feeling back better than Ease himself did. He rubbed his eyes, obvious stress in them. What was going on...?

Then a mental note appeared. Duncan and Yoshi. Duncan might be a military man, but Yoshi? The poor girl couldn't hold shit like this. He yelled back into the street way towards them. "Duncan, don't let her see this shit!" He said frantically. He might be used to death but fuck...Not everyone was.

@ADamnFiddle @Seirei No Hai @FamishedPants

Nick watched the man his mustache fall off in disbelieve but did not let himself hear about the little accident. He kept his composure and heard the plumber out. He was really trying to pick a fight with him. He was stating that this cat kid won't leave any money if he kicked her to pulp, ha! What a bullshit, if he was doing it the right way she could come into slavery and keep working for Nick but Nick was a kind dude.



The plumber tried getting Nick into a deal but Nick wasn't falling for this. He knew how easy it was to get into hiding in such a big city. He would still find him but that was way too much of a hazzel.



After saying such a thing the mario guy actually got up from his talking chair and showed Nick some magic device that could potentially trap him inside of it. It sounded a little crazy but it was something he had never seen before in his life. Nick took a quick step back holding his arm in front of him for cover as he looked quite puzzled by the item.





With a light pant and her breath making small puffs of smoke in the cold night air she listened carefully to Ease.



Yoshinobu turned around and was about to head back towards the tavern holding the sleeve of duncan lightly only to notice he wasn't walking with her yet. Ease had already dashed off to someplace else at which she looked quite confused.



Yoshinobu tried calling after him but he was already way ahead. Yoshinobu looked at where her own hand was at to see that she was still holding onto Duncan his sleeve. Quite confused she looked at her hand and at Duncan before panicking and letting go.



Yoshinobu gave him a kind smile before panicking again and grabbing Duncan by the hand this time to let him tag along after Ease.



After a while of barely holding on to the speed they caught up and saw Ease at the end of the street. He was yelling something out that Yoshinobu had to stop from going there. Yoshinobu gave a weird look and continued unless stopped.

@liferusher@Delta44@6slyboy6

"How about, I keep the money and you'll pay me again tomorrow. Oh yeah that sounds like a great deal. And you think they have a safe place to stay too HAHAHA! I'm laughing my ass off, they are as broke as anyone else here."

Kurkono smirked at that comment, a thug saying something like that basically means that he's just nothing but a mere wannabe, not someone with influence & connections. This means that nobody gives a shyt to him even if he dies, to think that someone like him could rule the slums... Now he doesn't have to worry anything about being hunted by both thugs & those stupid ninjas from the evening, a battle, regardless of the results, would just add a few more corpses into the ground, nothing more, nothing less. There is no need for further negotiations, even if that thug accepted the negotiations now, it would do Kurokono more bad than good.

It is unwise to lower your defences ~ Kurokono's eyes narrowed at the unbelievable opening his enemy had given him. Not only Nick's arm is so open as a target as if he's telling Kurokono to cut him, he actually blocked his own field of vision against a potential enemy that has a sword. With one swift draw of his sword, Kurokono sprang forward and made an upward slash towards Nick's arm that was blocking the eyes. He doubt that Nick would be able to even perceive what has happened, let alone avoiding the attack, due to that thug's own stupidity of covering his own eye.

Almost immediately after his initial attack, Kurokono charged towards the other two of Nick's thugs, raising his sword and making a diagonal slash towards his torso. "RAGRGHH--" Kurokono instinctively let out a loud battle cry that echoes the slums, putting his full of his killing intent towards that thugs, being dead serious on turn the thugs into two or four pieces. He briefly signaled Hamaguchi and the other kids with cat ears to run, unless they wanted to be caught up in the middle of this firefight. He's pretty sure that there's a trustworthy noble and 'Gorilla' behind who can tend their wounds.

"From now on, this place will be my turf~" Kurokono's dropped phone landed on the ground, making a small crack by the side.

Emile takes some offence to Grian's apparent laughter, taking it as a sign she was or did do something funny. She simply stares at him as he laughs, a look of displeasure and confusion equally marking her features, a hand resting upon her hip. She makes a pout face, cheeks flushing and frown visibly child-like. "Is there something wrong? D-do I have something on my face orrr...?" She gently touches her face to feel for any dirt; she didn't feel anything there...

"Sorry, its not you or anything. Must've been the stress I guess."

'Ahh, nice, thank you. That really helped my self-esteem...'

Suddenly, Emile felt a lot more tired. Partially because her self-esteem committed a mass suicide, and partially because her teddy bear offered a place to sleep.

"I would honestly love to be carried to bed, Teddy...~" Emile yawns tiredly, like she were nodding off where she stands. "Your kindness is much appreciated. I apologise in having no form of compensation, at least of monetary value, however I'm sure I could help you with one thing or another should the favour call for it." Her tone was polite and proper, and rolls off her tongue as though she's reading from a script. Although she certainly doesn't always act the most noble, from the looks of things, making no efforts to hide her tiredness. It's way past her bedtime, and she was becoming more anxious as she wanders the night, though her teddy bear kept her anxiety from accumulating too high. So long as he is around, she figures, she'll be alright.

Standing beside Grian, Emile nods in readiness. "Lead the way, Teddy! Er, that is, Grian?"

@Delta44@6slyboy6

Rachild is spent behind emile with a cape, he hiden his face in the darkness, he hanging Something, a metallic thing on the ground, he tried to be discreet and quiet but he didn't noticed emile and grian, he look likes a little walking shadow in the street, he stare toward him and he wasn't interrested by something, he looked his belt, like if he searched something

"....where is the tavern....tch"

he bited his finger and seemed angry.....and lost, he has a little dagger on his belt, he was cautious even if he look likes a kid, he sighed and he place his hand on his hair, he taken a map in his bag and he began to read it

"well, i'm not in the good direction, like usual"

He sighed and he began to laugh a little , he turned back and he noticed grian and emile, he fixed them two minute and he began to walk in the path, cautious, he never saw them before and that's why he was ready to run if they tried Something, but he smiled a little, maybe they can be useful, but only if they do something

he write
-today i saw two newcomer, a wolf and a blue haired girl, with the event today, i have a lot of information in one hit haha-

The giant let out a deep huff of annoyance as he made his way through the streets, the hot air meeting cold as it turned into fine steam each time he breathed. The man had been looking for a good while now, but even he knew it was getting too late to keep on looking by this point... Still he cursed himself under his breath for not being able to do anything about it, oh how he wished he could but thinking about it only made him more angry than before. "Dammit.. Sorry girl." Stopping within the empty street he placed his large hands into his pockets to keep warm, soon turning around in order to start heading back, that was until he noticed those ebony locks...

"What the?"

The strange sight of the medium length hairs going into one of the side alleyways peaked his interest but also a sense of slight danger... Taking his strides towards the hairs he started to follow after them, aiming to discover just what they were related too, but making sure to avoid stepping on them but each time Kyojin kept seeing the same sight every time he went to a new corner of the alleyway. Eventually he found himself at an small empty square that was devoid of life, mostly for small markets and scenery, there was no clue to where the hairs could have gone which made him grunt... "Was something leading me here?.." The giant questioned before starting to slowly watch and make his way towards the exit of the place, aiming to head back to the tavern.

With his arm in front of him he could not notice the sword being pulled out of the sheath. Out of nowhere he felt a sharp burning feeling in his arm only to notice the sword had digged about halfway into his arm, the flesh split apart letting blood gush out as he was screaming. The sword had stopped at the bone luckily but his veins were still open now and likely nothing would be able to heal something like that. He fell backwards holding his hand on the wound as best as he could not to let and more blood gush out. Madly he looked at the plumber that was going at the rest of his gang.

They were indeed gut easily apart with the two other thugs running for their lives. Not because of the plumber but because of Nick. Nick stood up and grinned at the man for a moment. The blood that was still on kurokono had set aflame and burned his clothes and skin away just like the blood on the ground.



Nick rushed at him while he was distracted by the blood on his body and immediately unsheathed his sword with his bad hand to slice a few times at Kurokono.

Everyone in the area had started running off to get out of the fighting area except Hamaguchi who was still busy trying to heal her little kitten sister. If she would leave her unaided she would likely die any minute now.



As soon as Kyojin turned around to go back home an unfamiliar person was seen in front of him. Was it a person in the first place? The creature had the same shapes but an unfamiliar skin color and strange eyes like you were peering into the darkness itself. The creature looked dead normal, slightly levitating above the ground with long bandage like hairs floating around her. The creature was staring at Kyojin with a slight smile stuck on her face. The creature didn't appear to bring out any harm but didn't move her eyes from the giant.





Sunlight of the early morning sun shining through the small windows in Maria her office. There was a single cup of tea on the desk of Maria indicating there was someone sitting in the room right now. Indeed a girl with blonde locks and brown eyes was sitting on the opposite side of the head chair in the room which was still empty. She was lightly sipping tea while waiting for Maria to arrive. The girl had helplessly been begging to get in last night and was given a bed and all in one of the guest rooms. She also got handed some Military leather boots to her size with still she school uniform skirt and blouse on top. Her hair was still quite messy since she hadn't found a mirror to make her hair nice again.





Aya sat upright on the bed she was lying in with a hand to her head. She gazed around the room not having any recollection on how she had gotten here. The only thing she could remember was that she had made the dragon girl mad but furthermore she couldn't remember a single thing. She saw a flash and now she is here. Her stomach grumbled, how long hadn't she eaten! He legs were trembling just like her arms. She didn't even have enough energy to stand up properly let stand try.





The sweet smell of bacon and eggs filled the lower part of the inn. Yoshinobu was an early riser and always cooked for the people at the tavern with fresh products gathered from the market. Such a lunch was only for a small price and off course always tasted delicious. Anyone in the tavern could get a plate and even people from outside would be able to get some of they were early enough. Yoshinobu called out to anyone still in their room.





Kondo was slowly eating away sitting there in a laid back pose. Yoshinobu had now joined him at the table while he was still reading the newspaper. Nothing to interesting, a few articles on how the royal election was going and some scandals through the city but nothing all too interesting. He was glancing up at Yoshinobu and gave her a lighthearted smile with a kind smile in return.

@liferusher

Rachild was toward the building where they was, he observed the building with a suspicious look and he began to write in his notebook,he feel aya's presence and he was disturbed by this, like if he found this stranger, he smiled a little and he tried to enter in the building without a noise with his notebook, but he wears black clothes and his eyes bright in the darkness of the building, his smile was visible in the shadow

"well well well... that gonna be interresting right ? huhu..."

He walked in the building until the door of the living room, where he saw the group, but he feel the Strange presence in a other room, the people here was not interresting for him, he began to look the people in the room for know if he could spent in the room or not, that was not good, they seem too powerful for be beated, maybe he ccould if he beat them one by one but it's not possible now.

Vesta Celestia and Avery Ackbar Celestia

Vesta was tired. She couldn't sleep at all last night, tossing and turning with various images flashing through her mind. Too quick to work out what they were but damn they were still annoying. So it was with a loud and tired yawn that she removed herself from her bed and quickly got changed before heading out to do her usual morning routine.
Mediation in the garden. A healthy mind meant more control over her magic after all. A mage's mind is like a warrior's body, as her father said, it must be trained and kept in good shape or it's useless.
Once she was in her usual place surrounded by the scent of red and white roses, she sat down on the ground and now assumed the usual, generic mediation stance.

Avery had been up for some time now, having made sure to stay away from Vesta after last's nights....confrontation. She still wasn't happy with one bit for the prank, let alone making her chase him all over the city. So long as he kept his distance he wouldn't be crushed...hopefully.
But as the feminine boy hummed softly to himself and pranced about the halls with a slight skip to his step he...felt a disturbance in the force. A presence which shouldn't be about the mansion. At first he thought he was being paranoid after the attempted kidnapping last night.
I mean after all how the heck could they get in in the first place? Secondly who was stupid enough to break into the Celestia household? That was just asking for trouble. Not only were the Celestia's all skilled mages, but all the servants and whatnot had at least self defense training in either weapons or magic. So to break in here would be to pick a fight with a small army, and that was if they didn't pick a fight with the one man armies that were the main household members.
But there was definitely someone else here. As Shiro now relayed back to him via their telepathic link. It didn't take him too long to find the intruder either, they weren't subtle at all if they thought black clothing was all it would take to sneak in.
"Oi! Who the hell are you?" Avery called out to Rachild, not even bothering to hide the suspicion in his tone. He certainly didn't look like one of the riff raffs that Vesta had bought back last night.
And as a Celestia he wasn't about to let this intruder break in without getting an ass kicking for his troubles. All the while he was already preparing his first summon. A gorilla? Nah too big to start the day off with.
A hawk? Yeah that could be fun!

@Lunarlors34

Rachild was surprised by Avery and he jump in the surprise, that was not what he expected, but he calmed down directly, he taken a big breath and he began to talk with a sympathic smile on his face, like if he was not a ennemy

"i'm only a trader, i think i have a trade here, sorry if i entered in this house without permission, anyway i'm in the wrong adress i go now haha"

he began to turn back with a suspicious look and he taken his book, it's not good, this girl look likes a magician and they are not stupid, if he was noticed he is going to have a bad time and he know that.

But after a little moment he take a mischevious smile, he have a plan, like he said before he look likes a trader and that could be a good opportunities for play with avery a little, after that he will be able to take the information from the Strange presence, it's not lost again

he write
-it's not a good day today, i hate the magician they are not funny at all, but if i place the good word i will be able to play a little, that's why i love the people, they are stupid and funny-

"it's a pretty house here, but it's not very securised, i saw two or three man enter by a window behind the house, it's not very sure"

he thought :
well, even if she don't trust me, i have a spell for it, she look likes a summoner....A celestia maybe ? Well with the size of the room, she can't summon Something too big for begin, she can summon a bird...A hawk maybe ?
Well i'm sure she's already prepeared to Attack me, she is stupid that's all

Zin slept like a log, a drooling, tossing and turning moving log that couldn't stay in one spot where she was while she slept. When she rolled onto her belly, Zin settled down and stopped moving so much. The dragon woman's dreams were just her being a full-fledged soaring through the skies above, and unleashing a giant breath of flames onto dozens of her enemies from the skies before she returned to Vesta's side.

The moment Zin awoke from her slumber, she expected to be face down in the dirt and left in the streets abandoned behind by Vesta when she told her to leave her behind, the dragon woman was shocked that the silver-haired woman aided her by taking her in. As Zin attempted to get up, she felt like part of her body was being slightly restricted, suddenly the dragon woman noticed that she was being pinned down by some weird and mysterious creature she never encountered before. It was some weird immobile creature with a soft touch to its body it was holding onto Zin almost as if it was hugging part of her lower half.

Lacking her great sword, Zin resorted to the next best thing, her teeth, the dragon woman sunk her teeth into the soft immobile creature and shook her head back and forth, and in a matter of moments the large being was thrown off her and onto the floor. Zin pounced on top of the giant flat creature before muttering." Nobody can pin me down." Soon Zin's nose was barraged with a familiar smell, the smell of roses.

The smell took her to the window where Zin could spy on Vesta below her the silver-haired woman began sitting in an odd position around the roses. Zin following her nose climbed out the open window, like a newborn not knowing what gravity was. But the second she got close to the ground she flipped to her feet and landed straight on the roses before she crawled over to Vesta and pounced on the silver-haired woman like a wolf pouncing on its prey. But instead of mauling her, Zin began grabbing Vesta's posterior and one of her breast. " Vesta !" Zin shouted out her name as she groped her." You didn't leave me behind."

Only for another figure to be found at the gate of the mansion. It was the orc from the other day, and needless to say, he didn't look very happy. Being declined or insulted was no actual problem for him, but being outright ignored was a indirect insult to his pride and despite him trying to avoid needless violence, hurting on orc's pride was not a thing one would do unless they wanted to fight.

"Get out here!" he shouted to nobody in particular, simply hoping that someone from the day before would simply come out of the mansion to greet him or to chase him away. Either way, he would get one of the two things he wanted here, either he would fight, or he would get to talk with one of the people there, either of the two worked.

However, he knew that the chances were higher of someone attacking him than coming out to talk, after all, if you saw an annoyed orc in front of your mansion, one would undoubtedly think that said orc came here picking a fight. So... he prepared, he was ready to activate his divine protection and he was ready to use his magic if he needed to do, however, he wished to avoid a fight if it was at all possible.

Grian Rothfell_

@Delta44@noodles

"Yeah well, not like I have much of a choice." Grian tought to himself. He rolled his eyes seeing the formality of the girl. After all, she was a noblewoman of some kind according to Kurokono. But then again, can he trust a guy who is walking around dressed as a penguin? Nevertheless he looked at the girl and started speaking as he began walking. "The name is Grian, yes. I don't even know what a Teddy is. Sadly, carrying you is not an option. I have a reputation to upkeep, and that would somehow make it worse." Grian laughed at his own joke. When he stopped, he ralized it was a terrible joke, so he just shut up, and looked forward. The slums were filled with houses of all sorts, some barely a cottage in size, other multiple floors high, roughly assembled to hold up until the next storm. It was more like a city of shacks and huddles next to each other in a tight fashion. Small, narrow alleways branched off the road as they walked, barely illuminated by the moonlight. In the far horizon the spikes of the castle gleamed with a magnificent brightness, as if showing way to those lost in the city. But of course, Grian wasn't lost at all.

After some time the large road they walked on branched off into many smller ones. Grian stopped and looked around inspecting the roads, then looked up at the sky above. The city was wildly different at night, especially teh ever changing slums. Grian finally chose a road, and started walking down it. He looked at Emile and since his stupid joke he spoke up again. "If we are lucky, and don't slow down, we could make it about an hour."

Another 10 minutes passed, and the area gradually changed. The hobbles were changed by small stone houses, lined neatly next to each other. It was still an outlying area, but the roads were paved better, and shops started popping up now and then. Of course they weren't open, but a few Inns they passed by were bustling with life.

Some 20 minutes after they left the slums they reached a crossroad in the main road leading to the palace. Grand houses made of brick lined the road, and a fountain stood in the middle of the square. It was a palce where life was bustling no matter the time: people on night shifts walked by, and carts drawn by dragons crossed the roads now and then. Grian stopped and sat down on a bench next to a lamppost. "Come on, take a rest. We are almost there, but the rest is gonna by uphill walking." He looked at a cart speeding by, hurrying to get somewhere. Grian ahd no idea what was so important at this time of the day, but he didn't give many thought about it. His gaze wandered off to the fountain, shining in the bright moonlight. The quite sound of the water flowing was very relaxing. "How did you end up in a place like that anyways? Don't you nobles live in some palce like... well this? Or even better?"

Somewhere far, far away from anywhere...

"Well, haven't been here in a while..." Duncan mused sleepily, sitting with his back to a boulder under the light of the vast tapestry of stars hanging over his head, given chance to shine by a new moon.

Around him, a serene forest of trees and rock that thinned out as it went downhill toward a mirror-like, yet paradoxically mist-covered lake, a long-since disused path leading straight to an old stone bridge that led... somewhere.

He'd been having this dream on and off since he was a kid and he still had no idea where that went.

Still, it was comforting, in a weirdly primordial back-in-the-crib kind of way, and he hadn't dreamed of this place sin-

"Hey. Get up."

If ever there were a moment for a record-scratch, that would be it.

Very quickly, Duncan was on his feet, spun around and staring at the intruder, instinct telling him to fight; He'd had the same damned dream of the same damned forest since he was little, extraordinarily lucid and clear every time... but he'd never had company, and the very thought of it was somehow primordially offensive.

This place, whatever the hell it was, was his. No one else's.

Though his anger quickly melted into dumbstruck confusion as he beheld what he saw.

"Oh, if you could only see the look on your face right now..."

Sitting on that boulder, legs crossed and with nary a care in the world was another him. Same face, same eyes, same shiny goddamn scalp, but scars in places he had none and none in places where he had, visible on his face and poking out from the edges of the old tunic he wore.

Also, woad tattoos. Woad tattoos everywhere.

The two stared at each other in silence for a few painful moments, before Duncan finally collected his bearings and broke it.

"Okay, I'll bite. What kinda Freudian shit are you then?"

Said Freudian shit just snorted indignantly and rolled it's eyes half out of a mix disdain and amusement, and half because it clearly had no idea how to explain it's existence.

"Well... how do I put this..." The woad-painted one began, looking into the back of his own head and scratching his chin in thought "I am and I am not your uncle. Just like I am and am not your grandfather, his father and his fa-"

"You're fucking cryptic is what you are." Duncan interjected.

"And you're kind of a dick." The man fired right back "But I can't say much because I am and am not you too."

"Oh. Well, that clears up absolutely nothing."

The man seated on the boulder visibly seethed for a moment, then sighed a little, letting go of what was clearly to be some vicious string of profanity.

"Look, whatever. Just get your ass up already." The painted man continued dismissively "I smell bacon and you need all the protein you can get."

Duncan cocked a brow at that one.

"...The hell does that mean?"

"Wait, you mean you've been here a full day and still haven't tried punching something yet?"

"No. But I thought you would've known that." Duncan replied dryly "You are me after all."

"I'm also not you, smartass." The painted man growled, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration "Now seriously, wake up. You're hungry."

"Fine, whatever. Fuck." Duncan growled, turning his back on his Celtic-looking doppelganger with a raised middle-finger and starting off away from him "But if I come back here next time I hit the pillow, I'd better be alone."

"Pfft, Fuck you. I was here first."

"Oh you can just-"

__________________________

"-Go STRAIGHT TO-" Duncan stopped. He wasn't in his calming forest by the lake anymore, he was in bed. In his underpants. Sitting up, pointing and yelling at a wide-eyed alley cat that had just happened to poke it's head through the open window at that exact moment. Also, it was daytime. "...What the hell?"

"Lunch is ready!!" Sang a voice from downstairs, accompanied by a siren smell of bacon that made his gut let out a yearning growl.

Oh, right. After an evening of getting blown up in magic fantasy-land, running around in dark alleys looking for a Japanese girl in a maid outfit (he still hadn't gotten over that one) and then helping a bunch of Militia guardsmen (and they were quite adamant about calling themselves Militia, and not those apparently hoighty-toighty Knights of some Iron Gong or whatever) heave corpses and patch up maimed magic fantasy-land dwellers, he wound up here, at the tavern he'd met Ease at and where the blond man told him to head once he was done dealing with that mess.

Duncan sighed a little as he heaved himself out of bed, old wounds making his joints and back echo out a loud series of 'pop!'s and 'crack!'s as he did so, before he reached over, shooed the cat away and closed the window.

That guy... seemed an alright sort. That's why when he saw the look on his face when they found that... whatever the hell that mess was in the alleyway, he'd been quick to grab him and tell him to walk Yoshi home. Might've been a bit harsh about it, admittedly, the sight of... that... bringing old army habits back out of his psyche, but he needed an excuse to get him out of there and away from something he clearly wasn't ready for and, with how much stuff had been blowing up that night, he needed to make sure the girl got home safe, too.

...

Well, the guards had sent him on his way with a wee pouch of coins for his trouble, so he could at least buy the guy a beer later.

That resolved, he threw on his pants, undershirt and suspenders, deciding to leave his red serge, hat and gun-belt hanging off the coat-rack for now. As he slid on his boots he took one last look in the mirror to make sure that, especially after that night, everything was still attached and where it was supposed to be. Satisfied that the scars, muscle and the one slightly-faded blue tattoo covering his right shoulder hadn't suddenly fallen off or vanished over night, he made his way through the door and down the stairs... admittedly looking like he'd spent the night running a marathon. On the surface of the sun. While shoulder-carrying a fully-loaded minivan filled with a family of screaming Texans.

He looked like hell is what I'm driving at here.

Though, that didn't stop him from letting out a friendly, if a little tired "Mornin'" as he came down and saw Yoshi at work with the food.

Something itched at the back of his mind though; That prick he'd dreamt about mentioned an uncle and, as far as he knew, he didn't have one.

Shaking his head, he dismissed it for what it plainly was, some stupid dream.

...Yet, for whatever reason, he could almost hear that painted man laughing his ass off somewhere far, far away from anywhere...

---

---

"W-what... ?"

To Aleph, who was preoccupied with his attempt to save the knight from the influence of an evil blade, the crazed man had acted to fast to even properly respond. Searing pain unlike any he had ever felt before spread throughout the wound and he began to feel cold almost immediately as he dropped to his knee in surprise and defeat.

"But..." he was in disbelief he could be murdered so easily. "...a hero never dies...!"

Banton clutched dearly to the hope that some miracle would save him from death, a hope that would keep this world's hero alive so that he might defeat the true evil of the world. But as his back hit the floor, he could no longer feel his limbs. A numbness had taking a hold of his senses, and his vision blurred soonafter. What he wanted to move would not. Not even his trusty hand with a power to remove this world many times over would listen to his commands. Not even the pain was spared from this numbness, but that did not Ease Aleph in the least.

I... don't wanna... die without.... without accomplishing a single... thing...!

His body's shutdown was followed slowly by his mind, which made it all the more terrifying. To Aleph, it felt like hours since he had suffered this wound and the realization that he was slowly (to him) dying was frightening. Had his foes felt the same kind of terror he was experiencing? He could not wish this feeling on the worst of evils -- it was too much!

"..."



...

...

...

...

...

"I'm fine, thank you."

Shooing the concerned waitress that picked up on his joyless look away, Aleph took a slow bite out of his meal. He could not even recall what he had ordered or what he just put into his mouth, but he simply couldn't care less. His mind was elsewhere as he chewed slowly in a certain tavern.

....What do I do?

He was at a complete loss.

He had never known a fear like the one he experienced last night. Countless times had he been required to fight for his life, but it had never truly been in danger. His foes were almost always weak. Pathetically so. It had been quite some time since he even needed to plan or worry in a battle, that mage from earlier being the first real fight in so very long. But even then, he did not feel despair like he would later that day. Hopelessness that crushed his very heart and soul without the slightest difficulty.

Was he really a hero?

Did heroes experience fear like that?

Was persevering through such terror required of one?

If so, then he was not sure he could be one any longer. Aleph Banton did not own such a strength in his character. It was impossible for him to go through that again, his mind would break into a Trillion pieces. He would cease being anything more than an empty shell of a person were he to experience that another time.

In short, he was not a hero.

He was just some adventurer with abnormal luck and a delusional personality. He was not fated to fight any demon lord and he was not chosen by any means to do any great in this world. What he was... was a worthless existence.

Yes, that was it. He only knew how to fight and was not known for his social skills. There was little more to his being than fighting. How could one pretend to be a worthwhile existence when they had no job? When they had no wife? When they had no friends or allies? When their entire life amounted to very little?

Worthless.

Pointless.

Meaningless.

Unnecessary.

Aleph only had one trait, but it could be spelled different ways. In the end, he was little more than a child playing a game until he scraped his knee and got too scared to play again.

He knew this for such a long time now, and yet...

The echoes of battle had resounded against the darkness, she would recognize the cries and crazed laughter all around. Metal clashing with metal, cleaving with flesh and the dropping of armor could be heard. The snow elf was tussling around on her bed, left and right and kicking her feet. It seems she's having the night terrors...

...but was it really?

There was one memory that flashed in her mind. The death of her orc companion: Malakaus by the hands of a human who went mad as she was being pulled away by people who wore almost the same uniform. She would see the familiar icy blue fur standing in front of her, howling and barking before suddenly opening her eyes out of fear.

"Tundo!" She called out to her contracted spirit, who yipped at the small shriek of his Mistress. He was just sitting on the floor, looking concerned for the well-being of Blanc. "It is alright Blanc, it is me. You are safe now." With those words in mind, she had calmed down a little as she took in her surroundings. It was nothing but a small cozy room. But where was she at this point?

"Lunch is ready!"

Lunch? How long was she asleep? With a stretch of her arms, she would stand up slowly and look at the mirror to fix her appearance before moving down with Tundo by her side. Maybe she will ask questions to whoever was out. The snow elf opened the door, a resounding creak emanating as she pulled it, letting herself out before closing the wooden door behind her.

@liferusher@ZekariVoblis@ADamnFiddle@Sir Lurksalot@FamishedPants

(Just copying for those 'in the tavern')

Olipher waited patiently on the balcony, fully geared for a fight but honestly not expecting one. The home he had invaded was oblivious to his presence and he to theirs. It might not have been the first time they had seen a black clad, skull covered, demon horned, bow wielding Oni mercenary before anyways. Olly believed himself to be a legend for his unusual talent but did not dwell on his own innate sense of superiority. His focus was on the bow.

Polished steel wrapped around an impressively strong but flexible log of wood, sporting no decoration beyond its masterful craftsmanship. Pulled back tight with an arrow ready, Olipher simply waited as he stared down the line to a familiar sensation in the distance of the city. Your standard shadowy thug lowlife with an issue against authority and earning of keep. The bounty was pitiful compared to what he could hunt down in the wilderness but the black clad traveler had been content to stay in the city until the winds carried him somewhere else.
The mark in the distance was a tiny. Had it not been for the balconies height from the ground this might have been impossible..
The layout played in the archers head as the mark moved, his mind creating a rendering of the surroundings. The local guards had promised to intercept the criminal the moment he was down...
Seconds turned to minutes as the mark finally moved to the 'open' area of the back streets.

The thrum of the bow filled his every sense as he loosed the arrow into the sky. A sliver of darkness in the bright sky as it vanished from sight. A full 25 seconds of travel time, the wind refusing to alter its course on his projectile, and the mark far in the distance winked out.
The target was eliminated.

Olipher 'The HeartSeeker' Blightbreak was a title given to him by a clan of merchants who had hired the young lad to hunt for them on the road. His travels had given him insight into the wider world and an opportunity for growth, felling everything from indigenous birds mid dive on prey of their own, and terrifying beasts known to crush the unwary into dust beneath them.
Olipher often boasted he could drop a dragon with a single arrow. A feat he has yet to prove..

Strapping the bow across his back he departed. Leaping the railing to the cobblestones below in a billow of wind as he whispered his spells incantatiod, landing with grace and ease in the alley as he made his way to where the mark had been.
Arriving to meet a small host of guards marveling at the sight before them. The arrow had punched straight through the targets chest and into his heart.

One of the guards walked over and nodded sternly and handed over a pouch with the bounty rewards inside.

No words were spoken from either party.

As the archer strolled through the busy streets near his usual stomping grounds, whim called him to a little bar. Not normally a place he ventured into but he figured there was little harm in simply going in and having a pint. Hell, he'd earned it! .. Right?

The door opened without a word as he pushed his way inside, ducking low so his horns didn't get caught in the doorframe as they so often did. Two coins were pressed into a waitresses pale hands as he moved across the open floor to an available seat. There were plenty of empty tables so he decided to sit wherever he pleased.

The table jumped as he slammed his bow and quiver onto the table and took his seat. His demeanor was cold, icy and unwelcoming. As if a reaper itself had become real. Imposing would be the easiest word to define him.
The gloomy air about his personage disappeared in an instant as he stuck out his hand towards Aleph Banton.

"Names Olipher. Have a pint on my tab friend. You got the look of a dead man walking all over you, and I just can't stand to see a sad man."