Pahn would sit motionless for roughly ten seconds before answering Anora. His mind needed time to process this modern human, her ways, her ethics, and the manner in which she presented inquiry's. Her rush for words and expression was beyond him, he was internally beginning to recognize this. She sought to speak whilst he awaited proper ways to pronounce meaning that even then lacked their substance of explanation. He knew of days when entire nations would wait century's for him to say but one word, let alone explain all of his personal history and convictions.

"I'm unsure.-" Pahn would say in a frank tone, those eyes never moving from the candle between them whilst continuing to speak. "-I have yet to know if I truly care for this shell you call home.. Though..-" He slowly leans backwards, pausing for less than a second by some miracle of speech. "-What I do know of is the malice in my heart for a creature known as Prephlin..." Our celestial human slumps into his seat, still analyzing a steady flame whilst allowing his arms to relax into the hidden space below their table.

Pahn's posture had grown to be suddenly striking, fitting of a godly countenance by just mere mention of one hated 'creature'. His shoulders had stretched outwards without slouching forward. His hands had fallen to sit laxly near his waist. His hips shifted partially to the right as to project a confident posture in leaning faintly towards one direction. One could say he was ready to perch atop a throne, looking out over horizons of conquered land from a mountaintop fortress. Pahn projected the nuance of a fair king, caught in his own contemplation during the brief respite he's provided between country-defining conversations. This happened quickly, his body seemingly slipping into this pose without any preconceived notions.

Anora, aside from any reactions she may have, would be shown a brief flashback of what would feel like her own memory. She see's a glowing, silvery man sitting on the edge of what looks to be a coffin with much the same pose Pahn now holds. He's just ten feet ahead of where she stands. They are surrounded by vines which pulsate and throb with slivers of light that change their hue with each heart-like swell. These vines all lead to said casket, it's lid somewhere out of view as steam billows continuously from it's open top towards a dark abyss above. These vines wrap like veins along the small walls of said coffin, stretching somewhere far into the shadowy distance in every direction along the floor. A mosslike substance grows slightly atop everything here aside from Anora and the man before her. His countenance doesn't shift despite feeling as though one may have been standing here for hours. The pure ivory light beaming from his naked skin keeps finite bodily details from being analyzed. Somehow, this light isn't hard on the eyes at all. Even though one might remember a great panic clasping them in that moment, the sight of this man provides an equally calming note to circumstance. "It's been too long.. Don't worry, I feel your reason for my wake. We'll bring resolution to the affairs of you and your guardians.-" His voice would fall faint, slowly dissipating into nothingness before the vision itself would also darken. Over the course of roughly three seconds, our young woman would be pulled back into the reality of Dino's Italian Eatery.

When back in the present, Anora would feel an ominous weight against her chest. The candle between her and Pahn had begun to flicker without any breeze present. Pahn's eyes had slowly begun to assume their silvery glow. Air grew thick, heavy with that familiar presence once invoked during godly combat. Those near began to cough frantically or look about in panic, the feeling of a large beast stalking man as it's prey overtaking all of those present. Appearantly, during Anora's venture into an unknown past, Pahn had begun to swell with an aged instinct to hunt the aforementioned 'Prephlin'.

*Slap!* All at once, this sensation ended as two pale hands belonging to our celestial man rose to slam palm-first into his own features. They rotated and twisted against his face for a short moment as if he were attempting to rouse his expression from a recent nap. During this time, his posture shifted from that of a king to that of an average man, though of course once either hand lowered, human eyes could soon gaze upon smooth appearance again. His face was glazed as it had been, though it now showed exhaustion by a feint frown and falling cheeks. This was a practiced look, a way of revealing a lack of rest stretching towards lengths uncomfortable simply to imagine.

"What other questions do you have?" Pahn would quickly say. He had apparently realized what he was doing and wished to readily change the subject. Those eyes now looked upon Anora, never shifting. He was not swelling with pride this time, rather, he maintained that callous expression of fatigue in wait of new inquiry's.

Anora remained equally as motionless as Pahn, her intense stare ever honed on him. Part of her did not want to know the answer, feared it, even--after all, if he could destroy a city in only a couple minutes, there was no telling how quickly the earth could fall to him if he turned against it--but the other part of her wanted, needed to know. If there was someone, something out there seeking to destroy her home and, by extension, the people she loved, she felt it more than just her duty to do something about it, whether that meant helping or hindering the impossible being sitting before her.
When he did answer the question, she slowly let out a breath she had not realized she held. Though he might not be out to save it, at least he did not intend on destroying it. Yet, anyway.
She eyed him for a moment when his posture shifted regally, a king ready to lead an army into battle against an enemy.
“Who’s Preph…” she began, but her question faltered as, for the second time that day, a vision consumed her mind like a waking dream or an all-consuming memory.
Much like her dreams, it felt real, as if what she saw was a long-forgotten recollection recreating itself before her eyes. The vines pulsating with changing light kept her attention for only a short moment before the man engulfed in a silvery aura gained her focus.
Pahn, she thought, watching him and wondering where they were. Had he perhaps transported the both of them somewhere, or was this all in her head?
She took a slight step forward when she heard his voice, an action that felt like the first movement in the strange room in hours. To her dismay, though she stood a bit closer now, his words grew faint then fell into silence. She opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but darkness consumed coffin, vines, and Pahn in a single slow bite.
When the world returned around her, she was once more greeted with the familiar scent of Italian food and spices, and the sound of mumbled conversations from other occupied tables.
Anora inhaled, confused, as she glanced around, one hand tightly gripping the edge of the table and the other rising to rub at her temple. But she had only a short moment to dwell on the unexpected vision before her chest grew heavy and the atmosphere thickened with a familiar power.
Her attention snapped to Pahn, the flame between them flickering mysteriously and casting eerie light and shadows over his face. Her eyes widened, and panic flooded through her at the thought of what might happen if he did not get a hold of himself.
“Pahn!” she breathed, reaching forward and placing a hand on the table between them, trying to snap him out of the anger that had consumed him.
She startled back and drew her hand away when he moved and slapped both hands to his face, a streak of misty purple riddled with with electric gold unintentionally trailing with her fingers and making her own eyes glow. She did not bother to banish it as it swirled around her hand, ready for use, until the power rolling from him vanished as quickly as it had begun. She watched him rub his face, adding the topic of Prephlin to a list of topics best not brought up with Pahn in a public place.
“What other questions do you have?”
This time, it was Anora’s turn to pause. She bit her lower lip for a moment, the desire to ask about the creature that had upset Pahn overwhelming, but one she dared not try to satisfy with others around.
“Did you… I just saw…” She took a breath, sure however she phrased it, it would sound ridiculous. “This might sound stupid, but I saw a vision… memory… something of you. On a coffin. In a room made of vines. Was that… did that come from you?” she finished slowly, her uncertainty displayed on her face.

Pahn sinks deeper into his seat, that slight sensation of fatigue now fully covering him. He listens as Anora speaks, never blinking nor wavering into another emotion. This would appear unnatural compared to interaction with most other living humans. People express their thoughts, whether they be understood or not, in practically every way at all times. Someone else would have shifted, reacted, sighed, looked elsewhere, or committed to practically anything other than remaining inside a look of tired analysis whilst taking in another persons words. He was a breathing statue being spoken to by an energetic young woman.

"It does sound stupid.-" Pahn would say without any notions of hostility, the frankness of his tone still present as always. "-Your mind gave you an image, there's no reason to be apologetic before speaking on a subject." It was Anora's need to be cautious with her words, her sensation of being embarrassed by what it is she feels, that our celestial had called 'stupid'. What she had spoken about wasn't the thing he thought to be at all idiotic, it was her anxiety that made itself present before anyone else had revealed an issue with conversation context.

"Regardless, I've been in many places resembling your description." Pahn would quickly recant as his final answer, caring not how this may derail Anora's thoughts. He may have a soft voice, but there was certainly the unhindered tongue of a confident man behind each sentence. There was no reason for Pahn to hold back, in his mind this would only breed a truer confusion then whatever may already be present.

*Ding-ding!* The bell to Dino's establishment rings as it typically does when another customer enters. On this occasion, it was a set of five faces whom stepped atop said premises. These pedestrians were dressed as any other might be, some outfits more striking than their counterparts. What may have rung outwardly as odd, was how each individual asked to be seated separately though they had obviously entered as a group. Nevertheless, they were men and woman like anyone else, each being eventually provided their own table as an average customer may be.

--------------------Somewhere in Earth's Southern Hemisphere--------------------

The scaled gorgon whom held Anora captive earlier today spared no expense in escaping conflict to reach her homeland. She had witnessed something spectacular, and her sister needed to know of what it meant. Not a moment was wasted as she scaled fauna-caked towers. Her jade skin-suit bends and flexes with each bound through the darkness. Massive green leafs flutter and snap against the pressure generated by her supernatural speed, tropical ecosystems doing nothing to hide a deep trail left in her blistering wake.

She inevitably lands at the peak of her predestined location, one small room holding a being of vast combative prowess. This beings back is to her sister, the gorgon whom traveled so far to shed light on an everlasting conflict. Limestone blocks surround them here, not one furnishing made present to comfort whomever may dwell in this ill-lit domicile.

"Dear sister. He's still alive, as you had feared." That familiar feminine figure kneels before her sibling, a sign of respect towards someone possessing greater power than herself.
"I do not fear this life. Though, I do suspect that man as a true immortal." An immaculate woman standing near her moonlit window turns to face the kneeling girl behind her.
"Th-this is not all. He's been given the jade crux by Nuhn-Ket. There's already a test in place to observe it's earliest results." The younger gorgon shudders in anger as her sister speaks highly of another being. 'My beautiful sister is meant to be the strongest, the highest of all beings!!' Or so she inwardly thought.
"Good, young sister. Come directly to me when you're better informed." The glowing woman turns back towards her window, crossing either humanoid arm over he voluptuous chest as she previously had been before our young informants arrival.
"Yes, Medusa!" The young gorgon would say before vanishing back into the night. Again, she would waste no time in traveling towards a destination she thought would better her adored sister by any means possible.

In the time between her question and his answer, Anora noticed how drained Pahn looked, now slouched, seemingly emotionless, in his seat. She looked at him, concerned, wondering if he had overdone himself between the battle and cleaning up. Perhaps he was not as powerful or had more limitations than she had first thought.
At first, Anora was slightly taken aback when Pahn agreed about the stupidity. Though she had thought so herself, she had not actually expected him to say so aloud. Then she realized what he meant.
“Oh,” she said simply, unsure whether to take that as a positive or negative statement. Regardless, it was far from a satisfactory answer. She opened her mouth to reiterate her question, but it shut when he spoke again.
She blinked at him. “Many places? How many vine-rooms with coffins are there?” She shook her head, dismissing her own questions. “Never mind. That’s not what I asked. My question was, did it come from you?” She enunciated each word of the inquiry, unsure if his last statement meant he had no direct part in it, or was toying with her. At this point, she suspected it could have been either.
“I swear,” she glared at him through narrowed eyes, pointing a firm finger at him, “if you’re messing with me…” She let the empty threat trail off, unsure what she would do. The most she could do was walk away from him, but that was the last thing she had planned. She had at last found the part of the world she had felt was missing her entire life; she would be a complete idiot to leave it and the adventures she was sure it had in store for her behind.
From her vantage point facing the door, her attention snapped to the entrance at the sound of the bell. She watched five people approach the counter as one party to be seated. They looked as normal as the next guy, but the sense of paranoia that had haunted Anora since that morning flared up.
She shook her head, trying to push it aside, then went to look back to Pahn. Instead, she found herself watching the group get seated individually, spread throughout the dining area. Though she could not quite say why—perhaps the day’s events had her more on edge than she thought, or she had seen one too many spy movies—their actions unsettled her.
“Maybe we should go somewhere else,” she suggested slowly, forcing herself to look from the people with their strange request. “Somewhere less populated.” She could not help but steal another suspicious glance around at the strangers as she absently fidgeted with a cloth napkin from the table that someone had fancily folded in a way she was sure she could never refold.

During the time of the aforementioned five's entrance, Pahn would remain apathetic. His gaze slowly meanders between Anora and the many faculties of their table. Candles, the checkerboard tablecloth, their silverware, and the untouched bread sticks between them all retaining an equal amount of interest as any word our young woman may have muttered forth. He still remains nearly entirely without any movement.

"No." Pahn would eventually respond only after the long wait between Anora's first question, and her request to depart early. Pahn didn't seem to care if this confused the girl or not. To him, he'd answered her questions. It was at this exact time that Dino would arrive, assuming to place food between them.

"Here you are!" Pahns medium pizza was glimmering with grease and perfectly tanned cheeses, slight veins of steaming red tomato sauce bursting between the crust and lone dairy topping. Anora's large Lasagna serving smelled of a slight mix in varied spices and well-boiled pasta, nearly dissolving to the bite. This, in conjunction with the already present atmosphere of well-prepared food, would create a practically instant mouth-watering sensation for those exposed.

"Now, why the long faces? We should be happy! Might some wine help?" Dino had not gone without noticing the overall taxed/confused atmosphere surrounding the pair before him. Without missing a beat on this assumed date, he readily offered a beverage to break the bough of conversation.

When served his food, Pahn would sit up to stare complacently down at his meal. He removes a single slice with well-trained motion before recognizing Dino's presence. This might appear rude to most, though, Dino hardly minds the younger-looking mans initial lack of speech. If anything, the old chef appears excited to witness Pahn test more of his pizza.

During this interaction, one of our suspicious five newcomers stands to walk towards the bathroom relatively near where Pahn and Anora sit. This caucasian woman, looking to be aged between thirty and forty, chose to wear black-leathery boots, classic dark jeans, and a black turtle-neck sweater to compliment her lightly bouncing brown curls of hair. Her mild features point briefly in our protagonists direction, her vibrant green eyes leaving as quickly as they had settled. She would enter the bathroom without any complications or obvious motions of suspicion, just an atypical stride of someone needing to ease natures call.

The only relation between these five, should one have the necessary eyesight and paranoia to continually observe them, would be their bright green eyes. Perhaps this could be suspicious, but people often have similar eye color, that's not weird, right?

“What?” Anora looked at Pahn with a confused gleam in her eyes as she wondered which question, if not both, he was answering. At the very least, she was sure it was directed toward her last question.
"This topic doesn't exactly seem like one to—" Before she could finish, let alone bother to interrogate him further, she glanced up as Dino returned, their food in hand.
“Oh, right.” Food. She had ordered so absently, she had forgotten they had even ordered “Thanks.” She offered him a small smile in gratitude as he placed her order of lasagna in front of her.
The tantalizing scent rising from the warm dish and voluptuously crimson sauce dotted with spices coating the top made her mouth water and stomach decide it was hungry despite everything.
“That… smells amazing.” Slowly, she reached for one of the neglected bread sticks and placed it on the plate beside her entrée. The bread felt perfectly fluffy on the inside, yet crisp on the outside. Just the way it should be, even after sitting out through the duration of her and Pahn's conversation.
She shook her head at the man’s offer for wine. “It’s just been a long day.” She reached for the glass of water the man had placed on the table earlier alongside the bread sticks. She paused in raising it toward her mouth, her attention turning to one of the most recent customers as they stood. Her grip on the glass tightened as she watched the woman—dressed in a way Anora would approve of, if not a bit warm for the summery day—draw near their table.
Anora suppressed a sigh of relief when she realized the woman was only heading toward the bathroom. Her gaze locked with the woman’s for a short moment when she looked in their direction, admiring the shade of green of her eyes, but it seemed nothing more than a casual glance before she entered the restroom.
Get a grip, Anora! she scolded herself, bringing the glass of ice water to her lips and forcing herself to not cast another glance around at the five—now four—people who had entered. Now you’re just being ridiculous… and referring to yourself in third person. They probably just happened to arrive at the same time. That happens. Right? She frowned into the glass, hoping the cool, refreshing liquid would help calm her racing thoughts and nerves.

Pahn remains unattached to Anora's words, allowing every confused syllable to flow over him in ways liken to a weak wave crashing against an unchanging shore. He was now holding pizza, precious pizza. This is all that matters. He may have been poisoned via this same delicacy earlier, yet, he cared not.

Upon taking his first bite, Pahn would liven in some slight ways. His body would vaguely begin to sway and move by forms natural to many other humans. He would sigh in relief and blink in exasperation, displays of emotion previously foreign to that callous stare of fatigue he held for many long moments. Pizza had apparently begun it's process of revival.

"I'm not trying to confuse you. In many ways, Modern Earth is a result of my actions.-" Pahn would say without any initial query from Anora. His tone boasts a remarkably quickened pace and a less aloof nature. He paused only to take one quick bite of his pizza, which would push him further into whatever ecstasy he presently found himself in. "-To better explain. Yes, your 'vision' likely involves me to some large extent. But, I'm not forcing any of it on you."

Pahn now performs several odd actions. Firstly, his free hand raises into the open air whilst his shoulders and hips begin to gyrate in motions liken to casual dance. Either eye closes while he reaches the end of his first slice of pizza, continuing to 'dance' as he lifts another slice from the platter before him. His free right hand performs a movement similar to what some would call 'wax-on wax-off', spinning clockwise for a time before moving counter clockwise to an unheard rhythm. Dino, upon witnessing this entirely queer reaction to food, clasps his hands excitedly over a grease-speckled apron. He then silently nods towards Anora by her reply. At that, he departs happily for his kitchen. One may guess that Pahn had some skill in dance by his tame outburst.

"But, if you're connected to the titan I'm suspecting, then-..." Should Anora remain relatively silent at the event before her, Pahn would continue to speak. Of course, this wasn't before he took a bite half way. "..- I can guess you're seeing the inner-most chamber of my dwelling. Most people call it Olympus these days. I always preferred Mount Othrys, but, that was before they kept building shit on top of it." He probably sounds like a younger man having his lunch with a friend during work, speaking casually and without restraint.

One of our four remaining patrons makes a slow motion to stand from his seat during Pahn's performance. He's a a young man dressed in formal attire. His pale hands slowly slip through side-swept locks of black hair that shimmer like silk against a mid-afternoon sun. Afterwards, his arms lace themselves over an obviously muscular chest, the buttons of that black and grey pinstripe suit now being undone by well-directed fingers. Upon finishing said task, he removes one well-stitched jacket to fully reveal a light-grey shirt and dark green tie. He undoes his tie, tossing it with callous disdain upon the table before him.

None of this would be particularly strange. A young businessman removing his more expensive clothing articles before eating Italian cuisine. He also glances towards Pahn and Anora. This isn't odd either, people often steal a look at those not one table from where they stand. What is odd, is that the other three green-eyed patrons would glance towards our pair at the exact same moment. Stranger still, the man would remain standing during Anora's future response to all the aforementioned events of this post. He wouldn't stare whilst standing, he would simply sigh and fidget casually with his clothing as if he were awaiting someone's arrival.

None of this would disturb Pahn, in fact, he looks like he hasn't noticed a thing in this restaurant past Anora, Dino, and the pizza before him. But, it's not like anything's gonna happen. People have to stand for plenty of reasons, maybe the lad has a bad knee?

Anora placed her glass down and watched Pahn with curiosity as his demeanor changed with just a bit of pizza. Her brows raised further when even his words came more willingly and naturally. She cast a worried glance to Dino, trying to remind Pahn of the chef’s presence, but Dino did not so much as cock his head at the statements she was sure would sound rather odd at best.
Anora absently tore off part of the bread stick and mopped it around a pool of the red sauce on her plate. Her action fell still, letting the bread soak in the sauce as Pahn’s behavior grew that much stranger.
What in the world? She watched his seated dance with an expression somewhere between inquisitive, amused, and a bit fearful that he had gone insane. She shifted in her seat with no idea how to react to his bizarre display that was all, she could only assume, because of his pizza.
She looked away only when movement caught her attention from the table nearest them as a well-dressed man stood, then glanced to Dino when he walked away, looking even less undisturbed by Pahn’s actions as he had been by his words.
“Was that your ‘Happy Pizza Dance?’” she asked with a smirk, her brows still raised. “Or something I should be worried about?”
She stole another glance to the table with the man, who had since removed the more expensive-looking aspects of his attire, but still stood. As she moved to return her attention to Pahn, she saw all four pairs of eyes look to her and Pahn’s table in unison, for the first time noticing the similar eye color.
A sense of foreboding again stepped down Anora’s spine, and she quickly looked back to the helping of lasagna in front of her.
I thought green was a rare eye color? And who… Urgh! Stop it! she ordered herself silently, again reaching for the glass of water. She momentarily contemplated excusing herself and following the woman into the bathroom to prove to herself that she was just being overly paranoid, but then Pahn began to speak to her again, his tone more friendly than she had yet to hear it.
“But, if you’re connected to the titan I’m suspecting, then…”
She inhaled and choked into the glass on the sip of water she had taken. She quickly placed the glass back on the table, and wiped at her mouth with the back of her opposite hand.
“The… what?”
She could only gape at him as he continued, still trying to process the first thing he had said, let alone the existence of Olympus, or that Pahn lived there. The rabbit hole she had plunged into just kept getting curiouser and curiouser.
She raised a palm toward him. “Hold on. Back up. I’m connected to a titan? And a follow-up question, if I may:” she placed her hand on the table, the people with matching eyes temporarily forgotten, “titans exist? You've got to be joking!”

"Pizza, nhn, pizza dance.." In response to Anora's rhetorical question, Pahn would have quietly bantered a tune of nearly nonsensical substance. He did this as if it were the natural action, closing his eyes whilst circulating his movements from one direction towards the other.

When Anora continued her questions, Pahn answered in due form. His readiness to reply was certainly faster than before. He holds the comparable pace of an average man at this point, perhaps, unhindered by questions against past form.

"You're 'maybe' connected to Themis. But, that's only if you're holding my third guardians powers.-" Pahn would firstly state, consuming a steaming bite of pizza before continuing his words. "-And, yeah, of course they existed. I needed someone to run the intergalactic trade routes me and Greed had established. We were selling and buying too much for me to totally trust him with running the show beyond Earth's atmosphere."All words were spoken as if the questions leading up to their birth had practically no reason to be asked. Nonetheless, they were answered in softer tones.

Pahn yet raises a finger as if there's one further thing to mention during his devouring of another sauce-caked slice. "That bastard still shorted me half our intake! Your people would have done better if I could've spared the same ivory-forged weapons we provided the gods of Olympus... Sometimes I actually miss that old mountain." Pahn sighs longingly, those eyes gazing with a faint twinkle of nostalgic remembrance upon briefly losing themselves within the flickering candle between him and Anora.

*Ding-Ding!* Another customer enters, as they often do. Yet upon that same customers entrance, the young businessman who'd been standing rather suddenly sat back down.

This latest guest is a woman, a regal woman wearing a rather close-fitting red dress in complimenting voluptuous curves. Her black hair was tied tightly in a bun, one shimmering silver brooch caked in massive blue gems endowing it's surface with a particular shine. Her vibrant green eyes, the most vibrant to be witnessed yet, danced over the people in this room now visited by her vast charisma. Upon fully analyzing the crowd before her she raises one pale hand, flicking it towards the entrance in some absent form of a command to 'shoo'. With this, everyone but the green-eyed five stand and depart without another word.

She couldn't be older then forty, though, it doesn't also mean she couldn't be younger than twenty five. Her eastern-European features had an ageless quality by them, those refractive crimson lips and high cheek-bones telling of words to be whispered only to those in power.

Her high-heels smack with strength against our padded ground below. She walks with oozing confidence towards Pahn and Anora. The four seated strangers nearby have yet to move, as if nothing has changed around them. The only new traits here would be the lack of customers, and a newfound silence in the air.

One seat is grasped by the red woman. All exertions are overly enunciated, her back and rear arching outwards in obviously flirtatious gestures. She slowly pulls the chair to our pairs table, allowing Anora to finish her words should she have spoken during or while all aforementioned events transpire.

"Please, don't allow me to interrupt." She would say during her motion to sit, her voice cool yet callous as a lake coated in thin ice; one may gaze at it's beautiful surface, yet a single step upon it may spell utter demise. Her posture is likewise, well-mannered but somehow tense.

Pahn, still unperturbed by all which occurs around him, continues to dance and eat his now half-finished cheese pizza. With the red woman's words, he would even encourage Anora to continue asking questions by half-choreographed gestures. This shows he not only registered everything going on, but hardly cared about what it is that could possibly be transpiring directly next to him.

The man Anora has associated with is nothing if lacking in some profoundly aloof factor.

Anora tried to think of which titan Themis was, but drew a blank. Her best friend, Anna, had an interest in Greek mythology, but Anora usually only payed partial attention at best on the few occasions where she talked about it.
“You’re what now?” She exaggerated a blink.
The more answers she got, the more questions she had. But that was the way life was, never answering something without giving you something new to ponder, dash it if it confused or irritated you to no end. Maybe even life got bored and needed something to keep it entertained.
Anora only stared at Pahn, her mouth slightly agape at the concept of “intergalactic trade routes.” She sat back in her seat, still staring at him as he consumed more of his current slice of pizza.
“So, a guy named Greed cheated you. You do see the irony in that, right?” She could not help but chuckle lightly through her nose. “So, what. Are you telling me you’re one of the Greek gods or something? Because I don’t remember there being one named Pahnjaka.” She took a deep breath, in through her nose and out through her mouth, and ran a hand through her hair.
Trade routes to other planets. Titans. The gods of Olympus. An unexplainable connection to it all. It was, if Anora was honest, a bit overwhelming, if not mindbogglingly fantastic.
“I swear,” she began with a disbelieving shake of her head, “if I wake up and find out that this is just another one of those freaky dreams, I’m going to go insane.”
She startled at the sound of the bell at the door, nearly knocking over what remained of her glass of water. She looked to the door, sparing the well-dressed man a quick glance when he sat down.
She gawked at the woman that entered. Everything from her ageless appearance to the way she held herself screamed some form of royalty and demanded respect. When she flicked a hand dismissively, Anora sunk further into her seat as everyone not endowed with green eyes stood and left as if in a trance, leaving behind partially emptied plates.
“Okay,” Anora said, her words drawn out. She glanced to Pahn for his reaction, but either he had the focus of a goldfish who just got fed, or he did not care. “That’s not normal.”
She held her breath when the woman’s attention turned toward her and Pahn’s table. She scooted a bit further away when she neared, hoping she was going for one of the tables beside them, but knowing better. The silence that had fallen in the room alone, broken only by the clack of the woman’s shoes, was unnerving.
Anora swallowed as the sinuous woman flirtatiously pulled an extra chair to their table. The chilliness in the woman’s voice made a shiver step down Anora’s spine. She looked from Pahn to their uninvited guest and back again, trying to decide what to think between Pahn’s lack of concern and the sense of foreboding that nagged at her.
Anora licked her lips when Pahn gestured for her to keep talking. “This… someone you know?”

"You do realize how young you sound, acting as if greed wasn't a name before it evolved into a term. Irony is irrelevant, you could say I was the first to be cheated by him.. or 'it', as you would have it...." For the first time, there was something sad in Pahn's tone. Not so much melancholy, as a hint of regret. He's disappointed that he didn't see it sooner. He's disappointed he lost an entire era developed with such dear compassion. He's upset he lost his first family, the beings that accepted him despite his mistake of attempting to break Earth. All of this is because he couldn't see Greed's intentions for what they were before it was too late. His 'pizza dance' had slowly ended at this, being fully gone by the end of this first reply.

This celestial being speaks as if the woman now by their table hardly exists. Or perhaps, she was partly the reason he'd stopped dancing. Regardless, Pahn would answer Anora before addressing his guest. Upon being asked if this is someone he knew, Pahn would have made a passive gesture with his right hand, something of waving her away. By this, he likely appeared to say 'don't mind her'.

Pahn would scoff in humor at Anora's comment of 'not hearing about a god named Pahn.' "I created all gods and titans recorded by the Greeks. Why would their maker bear the same title?-". His eyes were now free of disappointment, rather, they now appeared to be softly observing Anora in her current state. These gentle questions may search the girl, attempting to allow her to question what it is she does know. "-And why act like you know the entirety of your world, child? This is hardly your duty. After all, your fellow humans were the ones to burn down their Library of Alexandria, you couldn't have known my name by this."

Pahn's composure had shifted away from being casual, back towards exhibiting the regal natures his appearance would denote. He'd sound and appear more understanding, a deeper wisdom coating his responses. At this, his half-finished pizza would now remain untouched. Soothing air may now be felt encircling Anora. This is a soft presence comparable to one relative you'd trust with everything being right near you, speaking encouraging words whenever being filled with doubt.

From the back of the restaurant, the kitchen door could be heard opening in slight. Dino peaks into his establishment from there, witnessing Pahn and another set of customers occupying his now relatively vacant dining space. At this, he would slip back into his kitchen without minding the sight. Pahn has brought guests with him on two past occasions. Both times he'd discussed odd subjects and fantastical beasts. This ushered Dino to ask what it is they were speaking of. Pahn would have answered that he's working on a book about mythology, to which Dino would have felt he should be encouraging. But, on this particular occasion, it was the hefty sum of cash he'd found on the open window to his kitchen that had assisted in minimal disturbance. He assumed it was a crew of high-end publishers, as he knew little of writing books.

"You shouldn't worry so much, you'll know if this is real if you wake up tomorrow and I'm still here.-" At this response to Anora's anxieties, Pahn would have turned his gaze towards the green eyed woman waiting patiently to be addressed. "-So why is it that you'd bring a full-blooded gorgon escort to greet me?"

"We have simple intentions.-" She'd sigh whilst speaking, as if answering were hardly something her callous heart had deemed necessary. "-We're here to examine you."

Pahn would sigh, allowing a moment to pass before responding in kind. "You mean, you wish to test my current limits? I suspect that destructive incantation you've been brewing in the restroom couldn't mean otherwise?-" The red woman chuckles at this, her laugh something of purely false creation. That vile response of hers was nearly followed by further words before Pahn interrupts halfway the opening of her mouth. "- Aside from that consideration, I should mention, you've been followed by someone rather unkind to gorgons."

With that, the red woman glances casually back towards her subordinates. Each responded in kind with their own form of casual shrug before our guest turned to Anora and Pahn. Her words were now full of further confidence and oozing ego. "Why should the mighty Pahnjaka use words to-.." She stopped speaking just as rain could be heard pattering against nearby windows. '...shhhhSHHHHHH!' This rain grew to be immense within seconds, it's raging torrents of liquid spurred into being despite the once clear sky outside.

*Thud!* The red woman stands suddenly, her chair flying backwards and falling to the Earth below. She rears around, her venomous features now filled with a vile disdain more poisonous then whatever it is she may have had up her sleeve here. "How could you not have sensed him!?!" She howls at the four behind her, their faces now plagued with fear for their well-being from two threatening ends. Our red woman hastily starts for the door, her obvious intentions to escape betraying that previous charisma of dominance she'd held so well to this point.

*Ding!* The seventh guest enters just before escape is made, a massive figure much too large for the doorway before him. Another magical being had entered, this much was immediately evident.

Water rises as steam from the blue skin of this newcomer, his body apparently heated to a point of converting h2o into it's gaseous state. His massive eight foot form dwarfs everyone in the room, either supernaturally large fist clenched in preparation of conflict. Brown, leathery shoes fester with mist in like form with black, baggy pants. His open chest looks more of a jagged cliff face by chiseled muscles than anything naturally human. A vest flaps lazily against rippling gusts of warm air, arms larger than tree trunks sitting easily inside either sleeve. Wide neck muscles lead into a head topped by flowing white hair. Those aged features tighten and grimace with practiced anger, well-trimmed facial hair only complimenting an overall enraged expression. The back of his head taps lightly against the roof above as he fills the room with a comfortable smell likened to the inside of an oak tree.

"O-o-o-odi-..." The red woman stumbles backwards, her high heels giving way beneath clumsy steps.
"Yes, I'm Odin. And you were the fifth slave-keeper, Nien-Tellis." The massive blue man interrupts incessant stuttering, revealing his name as Odin. His deep, booming voice causes the room to vibrate in it's low-tones of obvious rage. A heavy presence slowly begins to fill local space as the red woman gasps when her name is given the aforementioned title. He takes a heavy step forward, causing the establishment to shake further.
"I-I-I can tell you where Loki is, I can t-t-.." Nien-Tellis is once more cut off in her word filled attempts to escape whilst dragging her body backwards with scrambling arms and legs. By this time, the four behind her had stood, their body's openly trembling.
"I'm not interested in your words, bitch! I'll see that jaw click when it's on a pike!" Dino's eatery quakes with several further words alongside forward steps. Odin's eyes had previously been hidden within the shadows of his anger-folded features, yet now they reveal themselves underneath heavy eyebrows by blistering dark-blue luminescence.

The ensuing events are quick, but, could still be relatively observed. The four behind our red woman trembled and gasped at Odin's last words. Inevitably, they came together in a blood-curdling battle-cry, the lot of them utilizing their separate aspects to strike collectively.

First came the man in the business suit, who's outfit disintegrated entirely in a wave of green and red light which swirled around him liken to a cylinder of raging waters. His skin changed in this moment, it's human characteristics bubbling into a reptilian exterior. His shout ushered these things into being whilst each and every muscle expanded violently, perhaps to increase physical strength.

Two nearby women withdrew wooden rods from their pockets, said items expanding to become long rods. A luminescent green string extends between either tip of said rod to connect them as a bow might be. Both wielders drew back said wires, a glowing arrow of greenish energies fabricating from nothingness between their fingers during their targeting with freshly shaped weapons.

The last of these four is a man wearing black shades, a white t-shirt, and dark-blue jeans. Pale hands withdraw small silvery rods from either pocket, both extending and morphing as a liquid metal before assuming the final forms of shimmering silver sabers. He swings these blades in the open air at break-neck speeds, green waves of energy flowing from their edges as a barrage of sharpened winds.

All of these stances and forms are assumed in less than one and a half seconds. During this time, Odin breathed in deep and drew his left fist back. The woman in red clumsily rolled on her side toward the table Anora and Pahn are presently occupying in attempting to avoid whatever may be coming.

"Odin!-" Pahn would suddenly shout with authority, his booming voice overcoming Oden's quakes and bringing a halt to whatever disruptive magics may be taking place here. He'd remained silent and uncaring up to this very moment. "-I like the food here." He would then say in a level tone whilst looking towards the tall blue man with a casual expression that softly denoted the words of 'come on man, take it easy'
"Oh...sorry." Odin would then be overcome with a posture unlike his original rage. At this time, he appeared more as a child being told not to break a rule just before having been caught in the act. He lowers his fist with struggled hesitance and an innocent expression of dismay.

Pahn ushers Odin towards his table like an adult dealing with some goodhearted kid who hardly knew better. Odin respectfully withdraws his magical aura, walking by quaking steps towards his ordered location. The red woman was offered one singular grimace by the blue man as a sign to move while her panicked eyes dance with confusion and anger between everyone present, notably, they rested for a moment longer than the rest on Anora specifically. She then quickly stood, and sprinted like a bat out of hell towards the door.

The rain had abruptly ceased, as had all the aggression in the room. The four who'd prepared to fight for their lives stared with open jaws for several seconds between Pahn and Odin before following their assumed leader to the now open exit. Before long, everyone in the dining area had hastily departed aside from Odin, Pahn, and presumably, Anora. Perhaps someone could be heard yelling words of revenge, though it was difficult to hear through the glass at the front of restaurant. One could guess that unsightly bunch had attracted quite a few stares during their dead sprint down an afternoon street.

"Try this." Pahn laxly offers Odin a slice of his pizza while the massive being takes a cross-legged position at the end of their table.
"My thanks and apologies, sage." Odin would bite into the slice that appeared as a hilariously small rectangle between his gigantic fingers just after speaking. He acted as if nothing had just occurred, or perhaps, as if it was all an everyday event. Regardless, he appeared to also enjoy the pizza.
"It's no problem.-" Pahn would respond, grabbing another slice for himself. He sighs with bliss whilst chewing another bite before speaking again. "-Ohsh, shright, thish ish shomeone I Shknow." The regal being would clumsily say to Anora between full cheeks whilst pointing casually in Odin's direction.
"The pleasure is mine. To meet such a beautiful young woman!-" Odin would enthusiastically proclaim, standing briefly to bow with such speed that faintly heated air could likely be felt rushing towards Anora afterwords. He would then sit with an audible *THUD!*. He steals another slice of pizza from across the table, knocking over the bread-sticks without an apology by his hand that covers nearly the entire dining space. He then continues to speak towards Anora with obviously blushing cheeks. "Your taste is impeccable, Sage! She IS a welcome sight!" His thundering words and nigh-anxious composure couldn't make his horrible attempt to flirt anymore obvious than it already was.

Anora took pause at the tinge of regret in Pahn’s voice.
“He’s… where we got the term from,” she said slowly, her gaze still shifting uncertainly between Pahn and the woman as his dance came to an end. She wondered what Greed had done to him to deserve this first show of sorrow she had seen from Pahn. If the name had stuck and turned into the concept she knew, she could only imagine it was something extraordinarily bad.
When Pahn waved the newcomer off, Anora returned the action with a look that silently asked, “Are you crazy?”
Her eyes narrowed at the mocking tone he used, but the words that came out of his mouth were enough for her to otherwise ignore it. She ran her tongue over her teeth, her lips closed.
“You made them,” she echoed, returning his stare incredulously, the woman temporary placed on the back burner. She could forget her friend’s Greek mythology book; it probably knew even fewer truths than she did, by the sounds of it. She took a deep breath.
“Okay,” she drew out the word as she exhaled, Pahn’s posture shifting from casual to one that felt far more fitting for him. Though the woman in red held a regal air about her, it paled in comparison to the aura surrounding Pahn. The woman was only posing as a cold, callous queen, while Pahn possessed the true kingship with a wisdom both Anora and the woman could scarcely begin to fathom.
She cast the woman a sideways glance as a comforting presence encompassed her, the woman’s seat blocking an easy escape from the corner booth. A bold action, Anora thought, where Pahn was concerned. Either she was extremely confident, or blindly foolish.
“... you'll know if this is real if you wake up tomorrow and I'm still here.”
Anora sighed, and made an exasperated gesture with a hand. “Well, that’s reassuring.” After a short moment, she followed Pahn’s gaze toward the woman.
Gorgon? We’re surrounded by gorgons? She looked uneasily to the four people still remaining in the restaurant, only their eyes setting them apart from most of humanity.
She listened as the woman and Pahn exchanged words, their meaning beyond her, and arousing yet more questions. She inhaled and looked toward the restroom at the mention of a “destructive incantation.” She placed both palms flat on the table as if to stand. If he considered it destructive, she feared the worst.
Anora’s attention snapped toward the nearest window, droplets of rain sliding down it with increasing rapidity. She startled at the clatter of the woman’s chair falling backward onto the floor. As the woman venomously reprimanded the others, in a swift motion, Anora pulled her legs onto the cushioned seat to kneel on it, angled her body to hold both fists in front of her, and her eyes began to glow as electrified energy burst to life around her knuckles and licked at her wrists.
Before she could do much else, the woman ran toward the door. Whether to flee or attack first, Anora could not say. Either way, once the massive, boulder-like figure of a blue-skinned man with rather impressive burnsides and an alarming amount of muscles miraculously managed to squeeze through the doorway, she only hoped that what bode ill for the gorgons brought nothing but good will for her and Pahn. The room felt a bit warmer with his presence, the air growing thick and mist rising from his bare skin where droplets sizzled away.
As he confirmed the woman's bumbling address of Odin, Anora could only gawk at the newest arrival. She cast an anxious glance to Pahn, hoping for some sort of confirmation that this guy was on their side—or, at least, wouldn't try to flatten them—the violet mist surging uncertainty over her skin.
In the instant it took for the four gorgons and their apparent leader to go on the offensive, one man even bursting into his reptilian form, and Odin to ready to strike, Anora looked to Pahn again and gestured toward the impending fight with her panicked eyes, wondering if he planned on doing anything about this. After all, between the two of them, there was no doubt he was the one with the strong powers.
But all it took to stop the massive man were five simple words. She watched in a mix of confusion and surprise when Odin’s fierce stance grew sheepish.
“Uh…” she glanced between Odin and Pahn as the latter motioned Odin over. “What about…?” She pointed toward the gorgons with an open hand, the mist receding from her fingers. Before her brain could fully communicate the question to her mouth, the woman-in-red’s eyes, once more close to their table, settled on Anora for a moment longer than the others.
She inhaled through her nose, and her hand reformed into a fist, sparks of golden electricity dancing threateningly about the mist as her own gaze darkened, almost daring the woman to try anything. But the woman turned and sprinted for the door, her companions quick to retreat behind her. All, that is, save for the one who had gone into the bathroom.
Once they were gone, and Odin made his way to the table, Anora’s mist fizzled out and she sat back, hard, her back leaning against the wall and feet up on the faux leather booth. She watched Odin approach, and ran a hand through her hair. They had gone from Greek to Norse gods in the matter of minutes.
“Odin’s a giant blue guy,” she muttered to herself, her voice on the verge of hysteria as Pahn offered him a slice of pizza, her hand snagging in her hair. “Of course he’s a giant blue guy. I’m sitting across from the maker of Greek gods, and am connected to a titan. Why wouldn’t,” she thrust a hand toward Odin in emphasis, her elbow bent, “he be a giant blue guy?” She ran a hand down her face, watching Odin take the pizza, his hands comically too large for the slice.
Anora’s head cocked toward Pahn when he spoke to her through a mouthful of food. Her eyes widened when Oden stood so fast it sent a brush of warm air her way, and she braced one hand on the table and the other on the top of the seat’s backing when he sat back down, half expecting the building to shake.
“Uh… hey,” she responded dumbly, then cleared her throat. She watched him reach for another slice of quickly dwindling pizza, her lasagna and now soggy bread stick sitting sadly neglected.
A destroyed then rebuilt city. A man powerful enough to create the beings Greeks declared their gods and titans, but none of them, she assumed, quite what she had thought. Mr. Gray and gorgons out to get Pahn and, thinking back to the reptilian woman in the alleyway, her. And now the Norse god of war was flirting—albeit horribly—with her over pizza in an Italian eatery. It was all a little too much for little more than half an hour.
She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it, before trying again.
“I—I think I need some air.” She pushed herself to a half standing, half crouched position on the booth, then carefully moved around Odin, his head rising well above the table even without a chair to sit on.
She hopped to the tiled floor, the chains on her shirt jingling gently, then walked toward the door, her gaze lingering on Odin. She paused for a moment with the overwhelming desire to poke him to make sure he was real, but thought better of it; if rain boiled into mist on his skin, she would rather not find out what it might do to her finger.
“I’ll… be back.” With that, she hurried toward the exit. Pulling the door open, she paused and looked back once more, then ducked outside, hoping the temporary rain would have brought at least a bit of a cooler temperature with it.
Outside, she moved to the side of the door and leaned against the rough wall. She took a slow, deep breath, relishing the petrichor lingering in the air. Though it was still warm out, the fresh, earthy aroma of rain made up for it. Dark splotches on the concrete showed where some of the rain had landed, the moisture quickly sucked up by the greedy summer air and sunshine slicing through the dwindling clouds.
For a couple minutes, she watched and listened to the drone of cars rushing by on the main road. A few people walked the sidewalk. A woman in a business suit and high heels exited a coffee shop a couple storefronts down from Anora, then started pacing, engaged in a heated argument over a cell phone about statistics and sales.
“Fine!” the woman exclaimed in an enraged defeat. “But if the numbers aren’t fixed by the time I get back to the office, someone’s getting fired!” She shoved her phone in her pocket with a huff, and Anora quickly averted her gaze, pretending to not have heard any of the conversation. A completely normal conversation. A mundane, boring conversation not deserving of a lingering though.
As the woman walked away, her heels snapping moodily against the concrete, Anora took another deep breath and put her hands in the pockets of her black jeans, one sharing space with her cell phone.
She glanced toward it, the woman’s chat making something nag at the back of her mind.
Crap! Work! She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time, the thought of having to go in and pretend to be a normal waitress making her shoulders sag. The display informed her it was 1:32 p.m. Even if she wanted to go in now, after everything, and had thought to bring her uniform, she would be cutting it close.
Yeah, not gonna happen. She unlocked her phone, and went through her contacts until she got to Mrs. Wheaton’s work number, one of the owners the small diner she worked at.
Clearing her throat in preparation to put on her best “I’m sick, and feel like I’m dying” voice, she hit the call button.
The phone rang a few times before the familiar voice of her best friend, Anna, who always seemed to get in no less than half an hour early, answered it with the customary, “The Golden Spoon. How might I serve you this glittering afternoon?”
After a minute of explaining to Anna she wouldn’t be making it in, and a few well-placed coughs she was sure did not have her friend convinced, Mrs. Wheaton took over the phone. With a couple apologies, the arrangement to make up for the missed day over the weekend on one of her usual days off, and the order from Mrs. Wheaton to get well soon and drink lots of orange juice, she ended the call and pocketed the phone.
She took one last breath, then turned back toward the door. Inside, the impossible awaited her. Everything she had ever searched for and more sat at a table, eating pizza, while her spinning head tried to settle down. Without a second thought, she reached for the door handle to peek inside, part of her expecting to find Odin and Pahn gone, and replaced with ordinary customers.

Pahn and Odin could be witnessed sitting at expected locations upon Anora peering into Dino's Eatery: One massive cross-legged behemoth relaxing on the carpet near an immaculate, silvery gentlemen in the booth nearby. They had discussed a choice few subjects during the young woman's absence. Yet, one must recognize, this did not occur without first being interrupted by an enamored restaurant owner.

"Who is this!?" Dino, whom had neglected to check the dining area for several moments, had only just emerged from the kitchen to witness his latest guest. Those stubby legs carried him swiftly towards Odin, the one targeted by his inquiry.
"Hmm?-" Odin would have initially responded, further words brewing behind pressed lips before being shushed by a slight hand gesture from Pahn.
"This is my friend. We'll have another pizza." Pahn waved towards the old man at this, a slight flicker of white light crackling across his fingertips. With this, a magic used to placate another being had been used. As far as Dino is now concerned, regardless as to circumstance, everything is going extremely well and he hasn't a thing to worry for.
"Of course! I'll be right back with it." Dino would happily respond, walking back towards his kitchen immediately after. Several minutes later he would come back with a fully prepared cheese pizza.

Such a use of simple magics was not unknown to many mages, but, for Pahn, it was not typical. This powerful being often enjoys observing the rants and squabbles of other beings. He's known by Odin to have enjoyed the allowance of all those near him to let loose with every inner emotion. All feelings are equal to Pahn, for him to push away another individuals questions about present circumstance before answers could arise is rare. Odin had noticed something wrong with his old friend upon entering, though, to rear it's head in this way shows an unnatural severity.

"Sage... What troubles you?" Odin would turn towards the man he'd come to see, a deep and understanding vibrato surrounding each word. An unmentioned alarming sign had pushed Odin to seek out Pahn, bringing him here.
"Odin.-" Pahn leans upon the palm of his right hand, those glazed eyes focusing on the being near him. "-I've really gone and done it, old friend.."
"What could it be? Are you truly having such troubles?!" Odin's voice would raise slightly, it's pitch showing an anxiety foreign to his charismatic confidence. In all the century's of knowing Pahn, this Norse god had not witnessed him to show regret over any decision. At this last sentence, Anora would have begun peaking back into the establishment. It wouldn't be hard for her to tell that an intimate conversation between close friends had begun.
"I've contained my natures further than needed. By this, I failed to observe a poison as it entered me.-" Shortly after hearing this, Odin practically threw himself into the air. The giants body had gone rigid with mixed emotions of anger, surprise, and extreme guilt.
"A POIS-....!!" Pahn raised his left palm towards Odin just as he'd begun to shout, ushering the befuddled being to calm himself. Several seconds later, the tall blue beast relaxed enough to cross his legs once more by a loud *THUD!* with the earth below.
"I haven't much time, those responsible are seeking my regalia. May I trust you to assist my crossing River Styx?" By these words, Odin was drawn aback. He looked shocked, perhaps even fearful.
"..Do you believe I'm prepared for that? You did lose permission when-..." Odin paused during his question, as if struggling to find the proper words to bring about a particular subject. "-When 'she' passed." Those last three words were soft and quiet in their tender release.
"I'm aware. I'm well aware...-" Troubled sighs fill Pahn's banter by these words. "-We'll defy Nike's exile, I know. Regardless, you understand what will happen if we aren't quick about this."
"I do.." Odin would surrender, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

Our godly pair would now sit in silence for several long moments. They would eat their pizza as neither Pahn nor Odin could immediately think of a thing to say. Yet, before long, blue lips would inevitably find a way to lighten disparate moods.

"I'd say I've lost another bet with my wife." Odin would tentatively chuckle, speaking on his often humorous home life.
"Oh yeah? Still proving you wrong at every turn, is she?" Pahn grins at his friend, the gambles Odin and Frigg make with one another being the topic for many a conversation in the past.
"Aye, her sharp wit's a double edge.-" The god would laugh aloud before continuing between slices of pizza. "-She said you'd need help when I felt your brand lose potency. I wagered you wouldn't. Now, she's proven right again." His laugh then escalated, each below pushing a powerful vibration into this buildings walls.
"What did you lose this time?" Pahn inquires, his mood lightening further upon eating and conversing further.
"I lost Sleipnir for a century!" At this, Pahn would spit forth out of surprise before they both broke into an uproarious bought of laughter.

To Anora’s relief, Odin’s voice met her ears. They were still there, not vanished back into her strange dreams. With part of her still trying to convince the small bit that thought she had finally lost it that this was all gloriously real, she stepped fully into the eatery.
What now? she wondered, only catching the tail end of Odin’s sentence. Problems in Asgard? She let the door close behind her with another jingle. Is there an Asgard?
She crossed her arms and leaned against the back of the booth separating Pahn’s seat from the one behind it as he began his answer, Anora debating on the best way to return to her own seat with Odin blocking it. She glanced to the untouched lasagna and rather soggy-looking bread stick in front of where she had been sitting. Perhaps she should not have ordered anything.
Then, Pahn mentioned poison.
“A poison?” she said at the same time as Odin, only finishing the word, her voice partially drowned out by the giant’s volume. She moved so she could see Pahn as Odin took a few seconds to calm down. “You’ve been poisoned? By who? And when?” She jumped slightly at the thud of Odin readjusting himself.
The inexplicable desire to help Pahn, and a fear of seeing him dead spread through her again. He was the answer to everything she had wanted to know, to the dreams that had plagued her, the powers she possessed, and her intense desire for something more, and he had been poisoned. Figured.
She opened her mouth to ask what his regalia was, and what importance it had for someone to want to steal it, but then her jaw just hung open when he requested Odin's aid in crossing Styx.
“The Underworld’s River Styx?” she asked instead, Odin’s reaction going unnoticed. “Like, Hades’ domain?”
Her attention turned to Odin when he spoke, her brows furrowing at his change in tone. She glanced between him and Pahn, her expression softening slightly. Had Pahn lost someone? Unfamiliar with the next name he threw out, she wondered if perhaps that was the ‘she’ Odin referred to.
Anora held her breath as she took in Odin’s defeated posture. Something about going to the Underworld that made even the blue giant, who she could not imagine having much he needed to fear, uneasy.
When silence fell between them, she remained equally as quiet, the atmosphere more intense than she imagined the little eatery had ever experienced it. She tried to make sense of the short exchange, but the more she thought on it, the more questions it created.
“What can I do to help?” she opted to ask, but her words overlapped with Odin’s. She blinked at him, trying to remember who she had heard Odin’s wife was. “Frigga?” she questioned uncertainty, the name more familiar to her from the Thor movies than anything she had read.
She watched Odin reach for another slice of pizza. She shuddered slightly when his laughter pulsated through the air, worrying for a moment that the vibrations might, at the very least, create cracks in the walls. She glanced back to the counter nervously as the two continued, wondering why none of the staff had come to investigate, or even ask about--if not simply gawk at--the blue giant that had waltzed into the restaurant.
Pahn’s doing, I bet, she thought, looking to him.
She startled back when the two men burst out in laughter, missing the joke, and questioning how they had gone from such a solemn topic as being poisoned and visiting Styx, to laughing over a lost bet. Okay, maybe I should still borrow Anna’s mythology book. At least then I’d recognize more names.
“Not to be a stick in the mud,” she began with a frown, trying to be heard over their boisterous guffaws, “but, uh, poison?” she gestured to Pahn. “Time limit? I don’t know how it works for deities, but here,” she pointed to the ground, “being poisoned isn’t something to mess around with. Do you know how long you have? Or, you know, maybe where to find an antidote?”

Though Pahn registered Anora's words he displayed no immediate concern for them. Odin, in contrast to this blatant apathy, gazed attentively towards the girl while she spoke. Once she finished, his massive shoulders heaved towards the silvery 'deity' in anticipation, exuding an obvious air of hope upon mention of an antidote.

"Yes, poison..." Pahn responds by flat tones after several seconds of staring blankly forward. His expression appears as that of someone consumed by practiced thought. "You're right.. Incidentally, I've been troubled with leisure for several moons..." Pahn sighs, sitting back while his left hand runs slowly across the underside of his jaw and upper regions of the neck. "You see, the trouble isn't death. The trouble is frailty. The poison isn't lethal, it simply lowers my strength to roughly that of an average man. After that, I'll easily recover to my fullest power."

Odin releases a sigh of relief that would feel more like a warm ocean breeze to Anora than any natural breath. It's powerful gusts push her hair this way and that for one brief moment amid air caked by scents of salt and incense. Though, before anyone could respond further, Pahn would continue speaking.

"Being weak has only been an issue for the past billion years or so..." Pahn sits up, adjusting his posture to exude typical nobility whilst his left arm relaxes across the top of his booth cushion. "Think of Earth as a furnace with gold more valuable than the galaxy being purified at it's center. Now, think of me as the heat of this furnace. No being alive can get into the furnace due to it's high temperature. Should I suddenly cease to burn, anyone can get to the gold. I may be able to regain my former blaze, though it won't matter if the gold I've been smelting is gone. Does this make sense? I'm not really in danger, I'm immortal. What I possess is the cause for worry." The natural belief of those last words is likely to further reveal Pahn's conviction that nothing can kill him. At the same time, his care free attitude towards concepts of immeasurable size is given more perspective: He speaks of the Milky as if it were a commodity to be traded and of a billion years as if it were some short phase in life.

"Of course," Pahn continues after one brief pause. "should my regalia fall into the hands of the creature I suspect to be pursuing it, then much more than any space I've mapped may be at stake for immediate harvest." He states this by tones showing passive conviction, as if it were some natural law of reality and everyone present should acknowledge it should they not have already done so.

Noticing his attention on her, Anora’s eyes shifted to look to Odin, unsure whether it was more or less unnerving than Pahn’s lack of attention was infuriating. But at least he seemed to have some sense of urgency about—or, at least, an interest in—the situation, whatever his reasons may have been. One side of Anora’s mouth pulled down irritably when Pahn at first answered only the rhetorical question of her series of inquiries.
Her brows rose at him being ‘troubled with leisure,’ the way he worded things striking her as bizarre and making her wonder how long 'many moons' was.
“I never would’ve guessed,” she said sarcastically as he sat back.
Her gentle, relieved sigh at the news his life was not in danger was drowned out and cut off by Odin’s. She blinked at the giant blue man as the gentle billowing of her hair from the warm breath settled back against her face. She blew a stray strand out of her eyes, then turned her head back toward Pahn as he continued.
“Oh, only that long, huh?” She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows as Pahn adjusted himself. She chewed on a cheek for a second at his question, then nodded slowly.
“So, basically,” she began once he had finished, “with you out of commission, your regalia’s as good as stolen, and if whoever it is you suspect’s after it gets it, Earth, at the very least, is doomed. And you’re just sitting here, eating pizza,” she gestured to the boxes of pizza with increasing anger at his apparent lack of action, at his callous show of impassiveness at the whole concept, “while the world’s at stake. Isn’t that just fantastic!” She placed a palm on the side of the booth to lean as close to Pahn as she could, still incapable of getting to the table with Odin sitting in front of it.
She glared at Pahn as she continued, frustration mixed in with her intense expression. “You might not care about this place, Pahn, but it’s my home. If this regalia of yours is really that powerful, shouldn’t we be going after it to get it first, or something? If they know where it’s at, you could move it, keep them from finding it until you’ve got your strength back.”

Odin could all but contain a chuckle when Anora spoke with such confidence and anger towards Pahn. He soon shifts his body towards Pahn, allowing passage into their booth for Anora. His perplexity with this youthful woman appears to have distracted him from being spatially aware. The man blushes slightly, as if realizing his blunder. Regardless of embarrassment, he remains focused on current circumstance.

Pahn takes Anora's response quite severely in contrast to his typically aloof demeanor. His anger was brief, and triggered immediately by the words 'You might not care about this place, Pahn, but it's my home.-'. His eyes open fully, those smooth eyebrows furrowing themselves into a treacherous canyon. Folds of overly-flexed skin claw upwards into the forehead via jagged cuts of shadow. His hairs swirling curls of ivory shimmer faintly as they straighten and float. Both eyes are totally coated in black clouds of shadow as the darkness of his face grows unnaturally dense in contrast to a reflective porcelain exterior. From beneath his brows, in the space where his eyes could once be observed, small dots of white light sprout forward much like several lone stars in the night sky that feel oddly like they're watching you. Pahns lips swell and part between defined cheekbones and a sinking jaw. From within the small ebony sliver between his now partially open lips Anora would feel it, the sensation of our celestial titans rage. A multitude of howling voices synchronize with one another in a harmonious symphony of gibbering rage. An unearthly fear belongs to this chorus of sounds coming from an inhuman throat, a fear far deeper than that of the dark. Instincts all but cease to function, as if no biological defense could prepare one for this.

Though everything mentioned occurs in the span of roughly three seconds, Anora may feel exposed for far longer. One could relate it to being observed by an overpowering predator while adrenaline works overtime to fuel an escape route to no avail. The sudden pressure of Pahns concealed magical presence was heavy and fueled with an intensive instinct created by an eternity of honing his craft. Oddly enough, this brief event would feel familiar to our young heroine. Something of a long repressed memory can be felt bubbling to the surface. Sensations of betrayal towards not only Pahn, but towards herself being materialized strongest among a wide range of rage-based emotions. Anora could likely tell these emotions didn't belong in the moment.

"You're right.." All at once, Pahn's features shift back to normality. He quickly looks away from Anora afterwards, slight shame overcoming him as if he knows at least somewhat what it must feel like to be stared down in such a manner. The vague emotions of repressed memory would cease, and the voices would be gone as they'd never existed in the first place.

Odin was still looking towards Anora up until Pahn spoke, showing no signs that he'd seen or heard what came from Pahn just now. Perhaps the chorus of voices were in Anora's head? Or perhaps they were.. something else.. something locked away far deeper than any dream ever could be.

In this moment, the magically observant may note how precise and focused Pahns rage was. The sensation of his presence not only slipped by Odin, an obviously powerful being, but it flowed straight into Anora while Odin observed her without him noticing in the least. Anora is likely not to make full note of this until a far later date. Even so, she could come to some vague realization of it should she suddenly look afraid. Odin would be confused by her fear.

"We should be moving.-" Pahn quickly continues. "-I'll-..." He, for the first time, seems to have legitimate trouble in finding words to express himself. "-..I'll explain myself further. Whenever we stop to rest.. that is."

Pahn stands, Odin following suite as they both begin heading towards this restaurants exit. The blue man doesn't look to have any quarrels with whats presently happening, though, he is faintly confused by his masters sudden lack of tact.

Pahn will queitly listen to Anora should she speak on their way out. But, just before leaving, he'd grasp the doorway and look back into the establishment with twinkling eyes. He shows the fondness only a child could emulate when moving away from their first home, silently expressing a goodbye to something dear. His jaw sinks, yet his lips don't part. His eyes shut whilst this rooms air slides into his nostrils by a drawn-out breath. He then opens his eyes, holding his shallow lungs as if they housed something precious. After several short moments of this, a sigh would be relinquished into the near-empty dining area before Pahn finally exits. Once outside, his face would again maintain it's typically distant nature's and glazed expressions.

For some reason, people wouldn't pay Odin any mind as he trails behind the pair. His lumbering body may stick out like a sore thumb to them, but, not one member of natural society appears to be pointing their fingers.

Though Odin graciously shifted to allow her access to her side of the booth, Anora’s focus remained on Pahn, his movements gaining the blue man barely half a glance.
But then, a pulse of Pahn’s rage flooded over her as his face morphed supernaturally in anger. Despite the short moment of familiarity that flashed through her at the expression and harrowing, indistinct voices that impossibly left his mouth, a primeval fear overpowered the weaker concept and shadow of betrayal that accompanied it. Flashes of purple mist and golden electricity sparked around her at the emotion as she stumbled back to put space between herself and Pahn, the bursts of energy exploding like miniature fireworks. She shouted in surprise when she tripped over the gorgon’s discarded chair.
Anora fell to the floor, the chair tangled with her legs. She quickly propped herself up with her hands behind her, her fearful expression trained on Pahn. Though his show of fury had disappeared nearly as quickly as it had come, the feelings that had accompanied it remained. He was an ancient predator, and to him, she would be little better then newborn prey. Heart pounding in her chest, she could not help but glance toward the exit, checking the clear shot to an escape route she was suddenly certain she would not make if he actually wanted to stop her.
She did a double take when she saw the confusion Odin had turned to her, before the giant man looked to Pahn. Had Odin somehow not seen Pahn’s display, or was he so accustomed to such a thing that it was little more than a normal occurrence to him?
She did not have time to dwell on the question before her brain registered that Pahn had said she was right.
“Wait, what?” she breathed as he continued, shocked he had actually agreed with her after that.
She squinted at him slightly, taking in his lack of composure and struggle for words. Is that… guilt? she wondered.
When he stood, she got to her own feet as quickly as she could, ignoring the mild soreness in her back from the fall. She straightened her shirt to the gentle clinking of the chains attached to the garment, then set the chair right, glaring at it as she shoved it beneath its proper table, before following the men toward the door. She glanced up at Odin, forgetting exactly how tall he was when standing, then turned her wary gaze to Pahn as they headed to the door, keeping a bit of distance between them and her.
“So… to the Underworld, then?” she asked slowly, a cautious tone in her voice. “And who is it you think’s behind all this, anyway?” She stopped when Pahn paused in the doorway and turned to look at the restaurant. She stepped slightly aside and glanced back, wondering what, exactly, this place meant to him to warrant such a loving look.
Anora remained silent until they were all outside. The summery, mid-day heat felt a bit hotter after being inside the air-conditioned establishment, but not unbearably so, even to her, dressed in black as she was. As they went, she glanced uncertainly between Odin and the few people passing by on the street and sidewalk, worried about what kind of reaction they might have to seeing a gargantuan man with blue skin treading casually down the road.
Wonder how they'd deal with S.W.A.T., she wondered, worried more for the sake of the authorities than Pahn or Odin. They seemed quite capable of handling themselves against a bunch of puny, human-made weaponry. Or the military… Or Area 51.
But, oddly, no one paid him any attention, as if he was invisible to the rest of the world. Which, she had to admit, would not be entirely surprising. After all, Odin and his like had remained little more than the inspiration for Greek and Norse myths for many a year.
Anora's attention went once more to Pahn. She hesitated before reiterating her last question, licking her lips uncertainly, her lower one catching for a moment between her teeth.
“Do you think the man… woman… whatever you mentioned earlier,” she began warily, fearing even an indirect mention of the name he had given earlier might cause another, similar scene as in the eatery. If that was the case, though, it would explain the seemingly random injection of Prephlin into their conversation. “Had something to do with all this?”

Pahn continues walking quietly for a short while, making up for his silence with body language alone. His first movement is towards Odin: Pahn looks back towards the blue god, his left eye winking whilst glowing a faint luminescent silver. Odin freezes after this gesture, reaching one massive finger upwards to anxiously adjust his leathery collar.

"If you think that's wise, I suppose we can." Odin would say, as if some message had silently been relayed between him and Pahn. With this, the behemoth vanishes from sight, an explosion of humid air left in his wake. Several nearby pedestrians were startled by this wave of heated atmosphere, said occurrence being revealed as unshielded to human perception. Aside from the slight smell of seaweed, nothing is left of Odin's presence.

Once our mythical giant had mysteriously departed, Pahn would gaze backwards again. His eyes fixate on Anora, an unfamiliar expression painting those noble features. His eyes slouch underneath a tense brow, his lips tighten inwards whilst his cheeks shrink in slight to further accentuate chiseled cheekbones. Sympathy liken to a parent taking it's unknowing child to get flu-shots is plain to see.

"Anora...-" Pahn slowly starts, his voice soft while he resumes gazing forward. "-..I'll bring you with me. But, you must know, this is it. On the slight chance you return, nothing will the same. This world will change, your reality will change, your ability to ever achieve 'normalcy' will be forever gone. I'm about to toss this planet into what your species would define as an 'apocalypse'. Are you truly ready to experience the end of the world with someone you know nothing about? You'll be away from everyone you love as they're immersed in chaos far from your reach."

Pahn would sigh after asking these questions, his head hanging low whilst his right hand moves to rub the back of his neck. He stops walking several seconds later, raising his head and turning around to face Anora with a faint grin. Those glazed eyes carry a feeling of looking straight through this girls nature.

"Maybe its best if we go to your family and workplace to say goodbye. Better to do that than dwell on questions you already know the answers to." He looks ready to follow Anora for a time rather than guide her. He's not forcing this on her, but he looks as though he's as committed as he'll ever be to this.

When Pahn failed to answer her question after walking a short distance, Anora gave an irritated sigh, her mouth pursing slightly to the side.
Fine. Don’t answer, she thought, crossing her arms over her chest.
She glanced between Pahn and Odin when the latter winked mysteriously, her brows furrowing in a mix of confusion and curiosity. The expression only deepened when Odin actually responded. She stopped for a moment when Odin vanished with a rush of warm, sea air that made her hair flair from her close proximity. Others nearby had noticed it, glancing toward the area, then moved on, oblivious and practically uncaring about the oddity that had affected them. She stared after a man who had walked by, sparing only a confused glance, wondering how much of the world she had been blind to all her life. Had she unknowingly passed by something like Odin or the gorgons before, only could not see it?
She shook her head, then hurried to catch back up with Pahn. No matter the answer, at long last, she was facing the beginning of the adventure and purpose she had ached for since she was a child.
“What was that all about? Where’d he run off…” Anora’s words trialed off when she noticed Pahn’s unusual expression directed at her. “What?” she asked slowly, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she readjusted her arms. She did not much like the way he was looking at her. Though, it was certainly preferable over his raw anger.
“Anora…”
“That’s my name.” She raised her brows at his slight pause and slow speech.
As Pahn continued, Anora’s expression sobered. She uncrossed her arms and slowly slipped her fingers into the pockets of her jeans. In the heat and excitement of everything, she had not so much as paused to even consider the possibility of not coming back. Of the people she would be leaving behind—her parents, siblings, friends—if she did not return, and what would become of them from her going missing. Of everything that might happen here to affect the people she loved while she was away.
With Pahn’s back to her, her feet slowed to a stop shortly before his steps ceased, her gaze on the concrete between them.
“I was of the impression that getting your regalia would avoid Earth’s apocalyptic downfall,” she said without looking up, addressing the easier of the subjects at hand.
When Pahn turned toward her, Anora’s head twitched upward slightly, but she did not fully look to him. She inhaled at how final “to say goodbye” sounded. She swallowed, then raised her gaze to his, holding it for a long moment. After a few seconds of silence, any uncertainty in her expression was replaced by determination that glittered in her amethyst eyes and set in her jaw.
“You’ll have to try harder than that if you want to scare me off, Pahn.” She raised an eyebrow. “Whether I go or stay, nothing will ever be the same for me after the morning I’ve had. My reality’s already changed.” She raised her chin slightly. “All my life, I’ve felt—I’ve known—there has to be something more out there that I need to be a part of. I’d be an idiot to turn my back on this now, especially when I could actually do something to try stopping a complete apocalypse instead of sitting at home twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the world to end. Also, there’s no way I’m letting you go alone. Or just with Odin. Doesn’t seem like fair odds, you against the Underworld. Someone’s going to have to watch your back when that poison takes full effect.” To demonstrate her ability in doing so, she raised a hand, fingers stretching upward. Her eyes glowed softly and the specks of gold in them became more prominent as the shimmering, purple mist of her base powers formed around her fingers, golden lightning weaving playfully between them.
She dispelled the magic and her eyes returned to normal. She hesitated as she got to the concept of saying her farewells. She took a deep breath, then shook her head.
“Don’t worry about wasting time going to them,” she said, her voice a touch quieter. “I wouldn’t know what to say, anyway.” She smirked, the action half-hearted, as she continued, speaking with her hands along with her words. “Because I’m pretty sure, ‘Hey, guys! I’m going to the Underworld with a man who just destroyed the city—but don’t worry, he fixed it and erased everyone’s memories—to save the universe from some ultimate evil. I might not come back alive,’” her voice quivered slightly at the concept, but she continued just as animatedly, “‘and chaos is going to take over the world, so thought I’d drop by to say I’ll see you in the next life,’ wouldn’t go over very well. Especially with my parents. And with my luck, Ethan wouldn’t let me out of the house without him. Trust me when I say he can throw a tantrum that’d make even Mr. Gray do anything he asked.” She rolled her eyes, but a small smile quirked her lips at the thought.
She paused, glancing to the side. Despite her words, she had to tell them something. A day of avoiding her phone was a normal occurrence, but she had no idea how long she would be gone for. Or if she would be coming back at all. After a couple days without hearing from her, her parents would be frantic.
“But I should at least leave a note or something,” she concluded quietly. “If you don’t mind stopping by my apartment.”
Anora cleared her throat, and began walking again, taking the lead. “Besides,” she glanced over her shoulder at Pahn both to look at him while she spoke, and to see if he was following her, and gave as light a shrug as she could, “normalcy’s overrated. And boring, to boot.”