Cottonmouth

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Nemo looked down to the table, rhythmically rolling his right hand's fingers on the side of his head, not replying to Raiya or Zoey. After letting out a small sigh he leaned back in his chair, now looking up to the ceiling. "Yeah, that would be me." Nemo finally replied after a couple seconds of silence.

He then turned to face Zoey. "I am a smith, but the things I create are custom, akin to a bespoke suit. And not unlike a bespoke suit, the weapons I make take time. Perfection can't just be spawned willy-nilly at the last moment, it has to be crafted over time. But it's as you said, you don't need something fancy. And luckily I think I have something that fits the bill with your requirements." Nemo explained, then spawned a pistol in his right hand.

The pistol he summoned was a chrome plated 380. ACP Walther PPK/S with a ivory grip. Attached to the barrel was a matching chrome plated small pistol suppressor. "I haven't done much work on this one since I acquired it after a encounter with a British intelligence agent. But it should shoot-" Nemo paused, ejecting the magazine from the pistol and bringing the gun up to his ear. He pulled back the slide a few times, carefully listening to the sound it made. "-just fine." He concluded. Putting the mag back in and tossing the gun up into the air. He caught it by the suppressor and extended the gun out to Zoey with the handle facing her. "Don't forget the spare." Nemo added, conjuring a extra magazine with a sleight of hand trick in his other hand. Judging by sight and weight, both of them were already loaded with ammunition.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Nemo took a drink from his glass as Raiya replied. While he wasn't exactly excited at being called an annoyance, the thought of knowing someone who didn't fear him and considered him an equal was an attractive notion. Attractive enough to douse out his competitive spirit for the time being.

Raiya's response about instructing her gang not to investigate any further intrigued Nemo. "I understand, in fact I can respect that. If someone were to challenge me, I wouldn't want any unnecessary help to defeat them either. But sometimes it is necessary, sometimes bringing the full force of your resources down upon somebody is the only way." Nemo replied. "If your parents were talents, it's likely that the killer is as well. And there's no telling how powerful that person could be now. By choosing to do it alone, you'd be making the same choice I've made countless times. That's why I can tell you how reckless it really is. By putting myself at the greatest disadvantage, it only makes my performance all the more sweeter. Every dance could be my last, without those stakes it wouldn't be a real show. That's all I have to make me feel real." Nemo explained, finishing his drink and placing the glass down on the table.

"That's why I worry for you. If something were to happen to you, well, what would that say about my merit as a partner?" Nemo joked. "While bringing retribution upon this person might make things even-steven, it's not going to make you happy. The end will never be worth the means used to obtain it, especially if the end also marks your own. I'm not saying you should give up on your task altogether, but don't be foolish in the way you do it, don't lose sight of what you can do afterwards. This thing you've set out to do shouldn't be your last act." Nemo finished.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

"To Japan." Nemo repeated before clinking his glass against Raiya's, quickly downing all the alcohol afterwards in one swig. Afterwards, he poured himself a refill and placed the bottle down in the middle of the table for anybody to use.

"Shiro-oni huh? I suppose that's one of the more chic nicknames." Nemo commented. "And what do you think? Do you find me frightening Raiya?" He questioned. "But then again, I haven't had much chance to display what really got me all those monikers yet anyways."

"I see... Couldn't you just have your 'connections' continue to investigate for you while you're away?" Nemo asked. "I'm sure our time together wont be completely unproductive, after all, if the world ends that would make finding your killer a tad more difficult." Nemo finished, drinking a bit from his glass.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Nemo walked down the hallway towards the stairs. "Even so, it doesn't surprise me that you haven't heard of them. They were only relevant when you were much younger. I'd like to say the reason you've heard of me is because I'm just such a natural star, but it's probably just because of my confrontations with Felix and rough history with the Arcanocracy." Nemo replied, taking the stairs down.

"It might be worth your while to invest expand your presence in the magic underworld more. If your goal is to find your parent's killer, it certainly wouldn't hurt. That is, unless you plan to leave the society altogether once you've done that. Speaking of which, how goes that endeavour, if you don't mind me asking? Do you have any leads?" Nemo asked, sitting down at a table in by the kitchen.

"Yeah, I was fearing you might say that. If you don't have any tea I'll feel like an odd duck. If I want something Japanese, and you want alcohol, I suppose there's only one solution." Nemo said, putting his hands together, and then separating them vertically, slowly revealing a bottle of a alcohol in magic trick-esque fashion. The bottle had multiple various Japanese characters on label, and a fancy paper cover fastened with cord over the cap. It was unopened "Umeshu, my favorite drink from Japan. This one is from my personal collection." Nemo said, placing the bottle down on the table and spawning himself two ornate crystal tumbler glasses in a magical display of sleight of hand.

Nemo unfastened the cord and took the paper topper off, he then twisted the cap off and filled both glasses half full before placing the bottle back down on the table. He slid the filled spare glass over to Raiya. "I like sweet things, so Umeshu and me were a easy match."

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

"After my time away I'm afraid I'm gonna have to start from scratch. I've lost a lot of notoriety." Nemo replied. "Most well known magic organizations find my existence to be both a threat and an insult. So that's an easy one. Other than that I have to worry about assassin in-fighting. A good portion of my colleges have enough respect to keep things civil, but that's not always the case. Everybody wants to be considered the gold standard, killing me would remove me as a competitor and also significantly boost their reputation." He explained.

"Retaliation from somebody who I've done a job against isn't as much of a problem as one would think. Anybody worth their weight knows that attacking me would be like fighting the weapon used in the act. It's a guaranteed net loss from the start. What they really want is the person who hired me."

"In the era building up to the standoff between Felix, his team, and I, there were a couple of noteworthy adversaries. Karl Magnussen, a former Dutch Academia professor gone rogue. He was renown for having an exceptionally large manapool, and thus being able to pull off incredibly destructive spells successively without draining himself dry. Magnussen's radical splinter organization had been causing havoc in multiple French towns, he planned to eventually raid a underground museum which preserved powerful artifacts with the end goal of obtaining an item that he believed could amplify his magical prowess to the point where he could destroy the Academia's colleges and eventually collapse their organization." Nemo explained.

"After being tipped off with what's to come, the museum hired me both as protection, and to eliminate Magnussen and his cause. After gaining information, I began to pick off his members one by one at a distance to cripple him. Magnussen took it personally, and over the course of a couple weeks escalated it to a standoff. I sieged his base of operations, slaughtered his lackeys, and then fought the head honcho himself. His destructive capability wasn't a bluff, it rivaled mine quite well, but in the end my absorption ability gave me the upper hand, and I later consumed all that he had. I didn't even have to torch his base, as he did that himself quite well with his recklessness."

Nemo got up from his seat before continuing. "The other I can think of is Sir Charles Reginald Glastonbury III, bit of a mouthful. He was a British manhunter who operated in South Africa. Charles was a big game hunter at first, but eventually got the taste of magi blood and never went back. He was an example of what I talked about before, someone looking to gain reputation for killing me. As a game hunter it's in his nature." Nemo placed his hands in his pockets. "When I was on a trip that brought me to Swaziland, Charles ambushed me out in the wild. For eight days and nights we exchanged fire with bolt action rifles. Moving, or really crawling only when it was safe, eating and drinking only what we had on us and what could be found nearby, not a lick of sleep. When the sunrise of the ninth day came, I caught a glint of his scope and fired."

"I thought I had killed him, but by the time I reached the place where his body would be, it was gone. Turns out the bullet lodged in the scope, only blinding his right eye. After two days I tracked him down to his humble abode and we had ourselves one final duel. He cheated death once, but after getting downed by a rifle shot to the chest, he didn't get back up." Nemo finished, walking over to the door.

"All this talk has got me parched. And after seeing those Japanese blades earlier, I'm in the mood for green tea. Care to join me downstairs, Raiya?" Nemo asked, opening the door.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

"I like what you did with the name and the uses of the crosses, very thematic." Nemo replied, lightly and rapidly clapping his hands together for added effect.

"Very informative, very serious-serious. Only one more base to cover though. Who are your enemies? A person like you is sure to have some people not too happy with them. I'm not saying this in a mob favor sort of way, unless you want me to do something for you. But anyone who's after you will be in turn also after me now. Guilt by association." Nemo explained. "And I like to know what I'm up against, despite how spontaneous I might seem." He added.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

"Ah yes, while I was putting together my outfit, it got me thinking." Nemo started as he found someplace to sit. "I don't know all that much about your Crux gang. My work makes knowledge on things like that valuable, so I was wondering if you could tell me a bit. I've been out of the underworld scene for eleven years, so I could use a bit of catching up." Nemo explained, crossing one leg over the other. "What's new in New York? How's competition? Any good stories?" Nemo specified. "As usual, I'll tell you whatever you want in return."

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Nemo stood silent, his grin soon dissipating and his arms falling down to his side as Raiya responded. After she left he left out a small sigh, not saying anything. Nemo walked over to the record player, which had been turned off not long after Raiya entered the room. He pulled out a new record from the shelf and took it out of it's sleeve. After replacing the current record he dropped the needle, playing Bobby Darin - Beyond the Sea.

Nemo stepped into the bathroom, his hair now completely dry, and ran his fingers through it it push it back, inspecting his appearance.

"I'm not insane." He softly spoke to his reflection in the mirror to break the long silence.

"I haven't gone mad." He added.

"I'm in control." Nemo repeated the mantra a couple of times, steadily growing louder in tone. Once he reached a borderline shout, he started to violently punch himself in the face with the top of his left fist. By the time Nemo was done, a steady stream of blood trickled down from his nose and mouth into the sink, spattering deep crimson red all over the white porcelain. He hung over the sink until the stream trickled out.

Nemo raised his head back up, looking at himself in the mirror. A good third of his pale face was stained with blood now. He used his tongue to lick up a decent portion of the liquid, followed by a small guttural laugh. Nemo spawned a small blue crystal orb roughly the size of a gumball. It had a faint glow to it, and anybody using manalysis would be able to tell it was filled with a significant amount of mana. Nemo then opened his mouth and popped it in like a candy, swallowing it whole down his gullet.

The action had quick results, through the mirror one could see the small cuts Nemo caused with his self-inflicted beating rapidly begin to heal. Finished with his mana supplement, Nemo started to wash the remaining blood off his face in the sink till there was no trace left of what he had done.

After relieving his stress, Nemo crashed back down on the couch, listening to the remainder of the record.

---

A couple minutes went by before Nemo exited the room, judging by his appearance it seemed to had diverted it to a wardrobe change. Nemo wore his usual black boots and accessories, a pair of bright pink velour sweatpants, a white tank top underneath a black button up bowling shirt. The shirt had a leopard print collar and piping around the edges, and worn with the top buttons undone. A black leather asymmetrical moto jacket worn unzipped. Unlike Raiya's the only motifs adorned on his piece was one circular white and black metal smiley face pin on his lapel, and a white X painted the back of the jacket, clearly a play on how most of the members of Raiya's crux gang had upside-down crossed painted on them. And finally, he wore his black and white polka-dot silk scarf around his neck and loosely tied together below his chest.

Nemo strolled over to Raiya's room and knocked on the door three times before opening the door. He seemed unsure of what to say at first. "I do hope my ensemble is up to par?" He noted, comically spinning around in a circle in the doorway. "You're right, these jackets are quite warm and cozy." Nemo added.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Nemo's expression went deadpan during Raiya's reply, hiding his emotions towards it. Once she was done, Nemo hesitated to reply, clearly thinking for a few moments. He slowly raised from his seat, "Do I look like someone who does what's good for him?" Nemo asked, a small smirk appearing on his face.

"Evil is a strong word, I don't think you're evil, and that's coming from me, "The White Scourge", the "Mad Dog from Nowhere." Before I was captured in the public eye I was labeled one of the most wicked forces money could buy. Nobody is free from evilness, but what I think matters is why? Why is it so? The way I see it, every action has a good and bad side to it, people often choose to only see the side they want. Even evil things can have a goodness to them, something that's too easily missed. What matters to me is why did they come to be, and what purpose do they serve?" As Nemo talked he seem to put an extra effort into making his actions seem theatrical. Speaking off towards walls as if there was an audience there. Dramatically spinning around in a circle. All the while he slowly began to step closer to Raiya till he was standing only a few feet from her.

"I've long considered myself to be a tool, a weapon. I'm meant to be cast aside once I've outlived my usefulness. Even if you betrayed me Raiya, it wouldn't be unjust until the third time you've done it." Nemo finished, outstretching both his arms towards her in an invitation to make good on that hug he suggested earlier. "Life's more interesting when it's lived within arms length." He added with a grin.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

"But you still have... what were their names..." Nemo started, tapping his temple a few times while he thought. "Ah yes, Tsukihi and Akane?" He remembered after a brief pause. "Are they not your friends? At the very least close comrades." Nemo asked.

"I understand you and Felix have had a falling out, I'd feel hurt if I was you too. Fear of betrayal is common, rational even, as the damage it can do isn't limited to physical. It can leave scars in your mind, something that can take much longer to fade." He commented. "Being betrayed makes it seem like that to them you weren't worth it, that you weren't of value. Which is an especially despondent thing to be inflicted with."

"It's only human to want to feel treasured by someone else, it's a good feeling. I'd like to think I'd be a good friend, double crossing somebody I share fellowship with is a thing I think I'm incapable of dreaming up. To somebody like me having a bond with someone is invaluable, there's nothing anybody could ever offer me that I'd put above it." Nemo explained.