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"Hahaha, sorry, sorry." Heimrich may have the power to destroy this entire sector now, but not enough to keep all of his emotions that are bubbling up from twisting his face into a silly grin. He looks out at the water for a moment before he thinks of something corny. "Since I made you say it twice, I'll make it even. I love you."
As the young man tries to apologise for giving her more work she just raises her hand with a gentle smile. "Oh please, this plan is much better than my worst idea." She begins to leave the room with the young man not far behind. "I was only blowing hot air when I said I'd kill them anyways... I'd need better justification for something like that. Eye for an eye and all that. I can hardly dish out death penalties for scams. Not unless those scams crippled my village or got my people killed anyways."
The Rabbit had been done with the bowl of meat chunks for a while now... The Bowl was even licked clean. Though she didn't put up a fuss at being picked up, not when some lovely scratches were thrown in that she found wonderful.
Walking outside Aiden could see Himaru talking to a group of Goblins close to the Village centre. The lead one wore a large black cloak embroidered with gold and fur acting like an arrogant busybody as he talked down to not only his own staff but also to Himaru. He didn't even need 5 guesses to know who the hell that was.
Shira wore a polite smirk out in the open but she couldn't wait to knock that little bastard down a peg or several. She led him by the Guardian tree again and then towards the side of the village opposite the Village's main gate. The village itself wasn't massive but it was large enough to have its own orchard and small husbandry area where they raise prey animals.
The small husbandry farm at the back of the village did have some surrounding houses and storehouses alongside the large orchard. And despite being so close to the farm it wasn't as loud as he would have expected... He could hear the farm animals, the strange multicoloured sheep, the large bovines with four horns, even chickens… They look just like regular chickens… Nothing extra about them. Hmm. But the point of this is that they sound almost muffled. That would be when his attention would be drawn to a large pipework tower that had several strange ornate runes like the ones on the Guardian tree that glowed a soft white colour. This thing was likely a magical item to muffle and quiet the sound of the farm animals so it doesn’t disturb the village at large or stress out the farm animals. So no worries about being woken up at 3 in the morning by roosters.
Looks like this farm was how they made most of their food, with the area he’s currently being in more of a Steppes area of land it was easy to see why they went for easy to maintain farm life since not much fruit or veg could grow out here. Though if they wanted a large crop farm then they’d need to expand the walls. Something they may consider doing down the road with the plan to increase exports of lumber.
“Here we are.” Shira had brought Aiden to the very back of the village, nearby was a road that led up into the mountains but his house was safely set by a wall. His new home for the time being was a fairly decent two story house with a yard behind featuring a small rock pool and a small private wall for some privacy.
[Aiden’s new digs: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/878421370130812979/1096558944920555530/c7bfd1d4309029f1158b8a983471d5c8.jpg]
[Okina Village: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/878421370130812979/1096558944450785390/3d4099c70a7809830cea4e62f2305523.jpg]
“It hasn’t been more than a week since the last owner left the place vacant. They went to work as the personal bodyguard or some human noble. I don’t really know the details but he said he didn’t need any of his furniture, just his other belongings so you shouldn’t need anything replaced.” She says as she walks to the front of the house, and produces a key from under a nearby rock. “Your room is on the top floor, the boiler for heating is in the yard at the back of the house in a small shed. I’ll be sending someone along with some food for you little one once you’ve settled in. Until then, get settled in. If you need anything just ask now or make a list and ask for it to be passed along to me and I’ll see what I can do. Okay?”
Saying such a corny line. So unfair. Samantha couldn't help but laugh, her heart felt so light just seeing that stupid, wonderful, grin on his face. The hands hiding her face fell into her lap as she sighed with a equally foolish grin on her face. A powerful duchess, an apparent princess to an ancient throne, brought to happy tears by an idiot who loved her sincerely and she loved him in return.
She hoped this moment could last forever. This perfect, wonderful and ultimate safe moment. Safe... She felt so safe ner him. Maybe that's why she finally let go of that fear holding her back. Heimrich made her feel safe, safe enough to hope again. Safe enough to trust herself and her own strength instead of using it like a crutch to prop herself up...
"Hah... Moria save me, my face hurts from smiling already." She was thankful for that. It meant she was healing.
She takes a moment to look up a the ruby canopy above. For her it has been a decade but it's only been a single day before she left the Kingdom and came out here trying to find Duncan. And instead she found love, security, a reason to live beyond the simple day to day. "I have no idea how I'm going to explain this to Sophia. You, the training in a pocket dimension, any of it. She's gonna think I'm nuts.."
The superdork shyly scratches his cheek with a single finger and glances away. "Well, I hope I chose a nice enough place to confess. I'm not much of a romantic." Damn blockhead bastard looks like he's the main love interest in a romance visual novel. He does remember Samantha talking about her best friend, Princess Sophia. He was dying during half of it but he remembers the stories for the most part about the princess helping her and taking her in like a sister after the Lost attack. Heimrich hopes he makes a good impression when they eventually meet. Might be sooner than eirher of them think, with what Heimrich plans to do. "Don't say too many good things about me though, she'll think you've gone soft." Heimrich grins, calling back to what he said to her back in the Mirror Realm.
"A romantic? Maybe not. But you did choose a really nice spot for your confession. This place is beautiful." She says as she delicates moves a her golden hair away from her face with a single sweeping finger, admiring the beauty of it all. Of course she did worry of what her friend will make of all this, but that was why there were spells for this kind of thing. She smirks at Heimrich as he calls back to their talk in the mirror realm. "Oh yes, all those wondeful memories of my new boyfriend, the pancake of Sam's training." She says with a cheeky grin, her cheeky turning rosy red with just uttering the simple words, the proof of their buddy relationship.
Shira's brief clarification that her thought to simply kill Borgott was more hot air, rather than the beginnings of an actual plan, certainly took a load off Aiden's mind. In fact he hardly contains an actual breath of relief escaping him in the form of a sigh. Just a turn of phrase...thank God. Er, God's? Cesyn? ...Moria? Know what, don't overthink it Aiden.
As Aiden follows Shira and spots the haughty goblin making quite the scene it doesn't take a genius to know understand that's Borgott and 'sons'. Wonder if it's just be a company name, or they're all his actual sons. Maybe it just started that way and grew from there? Doesn't really matter I guess, they're con artists either way.
While walking with Elder Shira, Aiden recognizes some of the route they take, but pretty quickly realizes they're going down a different path than the way he took into the village. There he's able to see a little more of the quaint settlement, and more of its people. Just like earlier they range in size a lot more than humans, or at least what he knows to be humans. Apparently some 'humans' here can look at an A-Class rabbit and think 'quick lunch' instead of 'call in an air strike'. Who knows if humans around here vary in size just as much. It's not uncommon to see these Oni wearing masks either, at first he thought it was a guard thing but maybe it's just a cultural thing in general? Or maybe masks are used to denote some other status or position. Either way, mask or no mask, no passing pair of eyes or wave of hair seems to be quite as vexing as Akina's was---
Thinks the boy with unknowingly red cheeks before being snapped out of a quite dazzling mental image of Akina without her mask, based on the pictures he saw prior, as Shira announces they've arrived. She goes on about the brief introductions much to Aiden's outright astonishment, and he doesn't speak until she's done. Or rather, he couldn't. He's too shocked. "W-wait a minute, a HOUSE?! Like, an actual house? FOR ME?!" Aiden loudly exclaims, holding his rabbit in one hand and pointing to his own face in bewilderment with the other. "I'm grateful but, this is too much! Just a single room at an inn or something would be enough wouldn't it? A house this nice should be reserved for special guests or something! Wait, no, there's other people living here right? I'll just be a roommate, RIGHT?!"
Hakaar was surprised that Sam would so easily base his continued support of the people here on Albus agreeing to shelter them. Then again.. If the roles were switched perhaps he would act similarly. If it was someone important to his daughter or Cora then he would do whatever he could to help them. Though before he could open his mouth to ask or react, his wife had asked in his place.
"Thank you Sam. I know the situation isn't great but I appreciate you giving Hakaar a chance. Even if that is just because he's family. Also, you do? I'm alittle curious what you have in mind. But first... How.. What should I call you?" Cora asks with sincerity, this was still new and strange to her. She had family but no one in Sam's position.
Sensing that the situation ws in hand and moving along, Darius looks to Hakaar efore he bows with his hand across his chest. "Welp, I'll be leavin you in Mr Mason's capable hands. I have stranglers to wrangle and find a good place to hold up in the meantime. If I may?"
Hakaar nods, allowing his Forgotten Angel to go and rally those that were loyal to him. This civil war between the Forgotten was not going to a simple or short affair. Still. After he nodded Darius disappeared to do what he could to keep their rebellion alive. "I... Um..." He didn't know where Albus is as of currently.
Felix, having followed the conversation before he got tons of sympathy and affirmations from them, could sense where this was going. "I can lead you guys to Albus. This way!" Enthusiastically states the young man as he finally got off the couch and started to lead the group through the tower and towards the Medical ward on the tower's second floor.
"Maybe say 'griddle creation' when you tell her. Makes me sound mysterious and deep," Heimrich jokes, the two of them sharing a laugh soon after.
It will be some time before that happens. Samantha and Heimrich remain there in the scenic moment until the sun goes down, eventually driven home by hungry bellies. They take a different approach to returning to the Citadel, a chance for Samantha to experience the world that has opened to Heimrich. He holds her in his arms as he takes off into the air, removing the mental shackles that keep him bounded to the earth. Higher and higher they go, and the forest's trees become mixing watercolors of red and greens, hints of golden edges as the sun begins to set behind them. It wasn't something either of them could ever forget.
Their first flight together feels like it ends so suddenly, despite the leisurely way he was traveling. Heimrich's feet touch the ground once more, just outside the front gates, and bends to help Samantha stand again without too much trouble. "I think we're back halfway through dinner," Heimrich looks up at the ivory tower, little movement is seen in the windows. Everyone is either in the mess hall or eating in private studies or rooms. Oh no, where did Gregor take Isle? He knows the dwarf would take care of her, but where would he take her? Eat at the forge, or in the mess hall? The girl doesn't have aura, so he can't easily sense her amongst all the aura signatures. Oh, Heimrich puts two and two together. I wonder if she's one of the Forestfolk. Her range of abilities are odd enough to fit the bill. "I'm not sure where Gregor took Isle once everyone started dinner. We stayed at the pond a while, I want to let them know we're alright." Heimrich still hasn't gotten used to the idea of thinking of himself as one of the strongest beings in this forest. If anything, everyone in the forest would be afraid of him. But he still worries for his adoptive family's sake.
ZOCOM pulling this to the forefront again. I really want to get to Diamond Eye meeting the Foundation.
I definitely never read that Vance post lol
<[He is coming. He is coming, the thriceborn. He is coming, I feel the burning-]> The man sputters blood in the recording as Lee watches, unmoved at the method taken to get the invader to talk. He is an ugly man, warped by inhuman energies. His brutish build cannot be hidden by the prisoner's uniform he currently wears. He is locked to his seat in the interrogation room, with a table doing little to separate him from Eva. Lee watched the recording in his office from an aerial view from the recorder in the room, allowing him to see the blood trickling from his mouth, nose, and underneath Eva's fingertips along his shaved head. Both of her hands are used to press the pads of her fingers on different parts of his temples and scalp. Lee is well aware that it isn't Eva's grip on their captive's head that is causing the bleeding. <[I await the thriceborn, the one to lead the Firestorm.]>
<[Who is the thriceborn?]> Eva questions him flatly in the recording.
<[Godslayer. Manslayer. Allslayer. He will kill all things, the thriceborn. All things in the name of war. In the name of war. In the name of-]>
Her fingertips remain in the same place, but she adjusts the angle of two fingers. The man's face immediately slackens as his eyes become blank. After twisting another his eyes regain clarity and he perks up, as if he caught himself dozing off. <[Who is the thriceborn?]> Eva asks again.
<[The thriceborn will rise from the well of the damned, souls to fuel the warmachines. He will be granted power and godhood, made General of the bloodhost. He shall have endless glory and slaughter. Praise be to the man who saved his soul! Praise be to the egg that will doom the world! May Death feast upon the world, holy lord Jaggomoth! Pres be! Brgh, bcccch-]>
Eva stops the recording there. "The subject proved to be incapable of forming coherent sentences after this moment. The only information we will be able to gain now will be from the brain download and autopsy report."
Such vague, ominous warnings do little to help the detective's headache. "Well, at least we know now that the sector sized storm coming our way is in fact something to be worried about. Do we know what sector this guy came from? No Puriran or Earthling nationality looks like that."
"We do not, at this time."
"Hmm. And he was the only survivor of his group?"
"Yes Detective."
"That leaves us little to go off of. We need his memory before we make any conclusions."
Sam wastes no time in responding to Cora's question, answering in a reassuring tone. "Just call me Sam, don't over think it." As Darius departs Sam simply offers a nod of his head in both acknowledgement and good bye, before Hakaar then makes it clear he has no idea where Albus is.
Sam is just about to say where Albus is, he's well aware of where everyone on the entire Citadel Grounds are right now thanks to his aura, alas a suddenly peppy Felix chimes in first. Probably trying to make himself useful to avoid being thrown into a lake with broken bones or something. "Well, you all heard him. He knows where Albus is." With a half smile and a shrug he too follows Felix, taking care to stay at the back of the line behind everyone else.
The small time that they shared together, laughing and joking in that clearing, would no doubt settle in Samantha’s mind as a key moment. A pivotal instance in her life where everything was going to change.
And what a key moment it was.
If it wasn’t then she wouldn’t have allowed Heimrich to carry her off into the sky as he did, she wasn’t one to allow herself to feel vulnerable. But this time she allowed it, she took the chance and gave Heimrich the okay… And while she was hesitant at first, she grew to even like this moment of vulnerability in his arms. It was amongst the very few times in her life where she didn’t mind actually being girly… So few that you could count them on one hand. But it was nice…
He’s so strong…
She was sad that it was over so soon despite the leisurely trip they took, still she’ll get over it. No that was a lie she wanted to be up in the air for longer like that in his arms. Sigh. As Heimrich bent over to let her stand, she did so and looked up at the Tower, wondering how everyone else is doing right now… “Only halfway? Damn… I wonder if they’ll still have anything to give out. I didn’t exactly bring food with me from home.”
While Heimrich says that has no idea where Isle or Gregor would be, she ponders for a moment. “I could have portaled us to both places if I had been there before. Should we just go and check both?” She wasn’t quite used to her new level of strength and its effect on the world around her either. But she did want to help him find Isle. Though she wondered how Felix and Sam were doing.
"Sounds like a good idea. We can head to the forge first, since that's a little out of the way of the mess hall," Suggests Heimrich.
Shira thought that when he started to speak up that he was going to complain that this is too little. She was pleasantly surprised that it was the opposite of that. “Yes, an actual house. For you.” She figured that he must have grown up with a big family living in a tiny space if he’s THIS flabbergasted by living in a house by himself. Anyone his age would love to own their own home without having to sell their soul for it.
Aiden’s surprise throws her off a little as he makes a huge fuss about it with all his exclamation and pointing. The older Oni tilts her head to the side and scratches her cheek. “Eh? What the heck are you talking about? A single room at an Inn? You have nowhere else to go. An inn is for visitors, of which we get frequently. I can’t spar a single room for someone who will most likely be staying for more than afew months.” Shira says as she crosses her arm over her chest, trying to wonder why he wanted a dinghy single room when he was offered a whole house. “Special guests DO get a house to stay in. There’s a guest house right next door to the Village Hall where I stay.” She says as she gestures back behind her with a thumb stuck up and thrown over her shoulder.
“And nope. No roommate either. The previous tenant was the last to stay here-” She says while looking the young man in the eye, before a wicked idea manifests in her head. Her perfect opportunity to play a wonderful trick has arrived. “Unless… Would you prefer a roommate? To help you feel less iffy about all this?”
OOC: *Me, who knows full well what the wicked idea is* :)
BIC: "For....huh?" Aiden stares blankly for a few moments, as the words process. Shira explains the situation a little further but Aiden's expression changes little as he looks between the house and Shira slowly a few times. Until, that is, she offers the idea of a roommate. He practically leaps forward at these words and turns his attention fully the Elder Oni. "Seriously? You can do that?! PLEASE!" Aiden steps back a bit, realizing he was probably being quite overbearing and looks away to the house. "I mean, I'm not thrilled about the idea of roommates either, what if we don't get along? But I'd feel terrible taking an entire house from your village. I just don't think I'd be able to sleep right, that house is too big for one person....especially an outsider."
Brandon's eyes narrow for a moment as he looks to the old git, looking him up and down. "You're from the Mystic Sector? You? I thought they were all superhumans... My mother told me about meeting one that married into another Noble Family back home. And she could control light. You get knives as a power? Forgive me but Doumi don't sound like they're all that." He says as he starts to rub some sleep from his eyes. He's been running around nonstop since all this crap first kicked off.
"That's because you haven't seen him fight Brandon! He's crass... Crude... Barbaric. But it's still cool." Clara says in Hayes defence. "Where as I can't see yours or your friend's powers. Just alot alot of posing and things breaking all around you."
"Not my fault you can't see Stands and Old Magic constructs you weirdo." Brandon mumbles aloud.
Though while he doesn't quite like the old geezer, he can at least respect his desire to fight until he dies. That wasn't what he wanted. He very much wanted to go home and revive his noble house and live the rest of his life in luxury, that was the ideal scenario. If not then he'll just do what he can to live a comfortable life and dish out pain where appropriate. "Given that we're up against a dude and his cult full of wizards, necromancers and an army of Zombies, a meat grinder is just what we have to fight."
-----
Samson watches the Pink barrier formed of crystal manifest around them. That he wasn't worried about, let the few that this man has managed to save go free. They will be useful in other ways to his master. Though the speed at which they vanish does worry him. It wasn't teleportation.. He see the trails. Yet he couldn't completely see them. This was going to a difficult fight.
This hero possessed power that was going to make this... Interesting. Especially for him.
Samson cracks to the left, and then to the right after the hero gave him his one chance to surrender. "Target locked. Soul chain. Deathmatch." Was his answer. Between Diamond Eye and Samson a orange chain forms from their chests and meeting inbetween them. This ability was rooted in some bizarre domain of fighting. It felt like Samson had just tethered the pair of them, and right now the both of them were equal to each other until one of them died, ending the Deathmatch. Or at least that is what the chain will do.
He didn't wait a moment to let Diamond Eye react to wht must feel like a debilitating hurricane of lessened senses ringing off under that helmet, he closed the distance, low and fast to try and tackle the hero and slam him into the ground, aiming to get him on his back so the fight will be easier to control.
The audacity of a human girl to not only play games, but to taunt him, caused Diego to stop, dumbstruck. But the disbelief would not stay forever. Alice has seen many different shades of rage. Her father's, Jeremiah, the villagers, Saul, Heimrich before and after the Ghoul, Duncan, Samantha. They all had different forms of anger, born from different emotions and aimed for different reasons. This was the first time she feels anything like this.
His eyes were the first to change. Blood vessels burst within them, drenching his scleras first with red before they begin to glow with unnatural power. His face contorts with anger, his eyes flare and his jaws clench in a snarl. His face contorts beyond human limits as his ears begin to lengthen and his teeth turn to fangs. Alice can feel his bones snapping and reknitting themselves back together in new terrible ways as his body begins to add new mass to itself. She steps backwards, seeing that she is no longer out of this horrid beast's reach. But she couldn't take her eyes off of it, because Diego never took his eyes off of her. Muscles tearing, bones breaking, tendons ripping, ligaments shearing- No human could ever withstand that much pain. Even Heimrich, despite valiantly taking on the curses Vengeance made, couldn't go through it without suffering and clearly showing it. Yet, Diego never flinched. The only sound out of him is the ever deepening snarl as his vocal chords reform from human to a monster's. Not a single sign of pain shows in his eyes, no matter what bone breaks or what tears. All she can see is rage. But, this has to he just a threat. He wouldn't voluntarily enter the house of his superior and earn his ire. He still hasn't set foot inside-
Something large grabs her waist.
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One final twisting strike spins her sword out of her hand, her opponent's blade already at her throat before the sword hits the trunk of one of the forest's many trees and then the ground. And whem she looks into his eyes, all she sees is a cold, deadly intention to carry through.
"Sh*t! I lost again!"
"When did you start swearing," Jeremiah lowers his sword as the young Alice turns away from him and walks over to her sword lying in the grass.
"Geeez, Brude, I'm uh-leven!" Alice starts to bend down to pick up the blade so they could continue. "I'm almost an adu-"
She sees it out of the corner of her eye. The edge of the monofilament blade coming around her left side, about to cut at the eye line and take the top of her head off. Her instincts take over. "KYAAAAH!" Alice drops down low and covers her head by instinct, for all the good that would do. But nothing happens. Slowly she opens an eye, and sees the back, generating edge of the sword, just a couple inches of my head. "What was that for!" Alice jumps up to her feet and faces Jeremiah, who lets the sword rest loosely by his side. "That was for swearing wasn't it?"
"No. If your parents dont want you to swear they'll discipline you." Now Alice's anger cools, now more confused than angry. "You wanted me to train you how to fight. Do you think a fighter would do what you just did?"
At first she thought he meant throw a fit after he almost lopped her head off, which made her a little more angry. But after she takes a second, Alice realizes what he meant. "Oh... I panicked when I saw your sword coming."
She has gotten used to knowing when Jeremiah would nod in confirmation if he was, well, a normal person. "You saw an attack coming that you didnt expect, and you reacted naturally. The difference between us is what we consider normal. You dont have to expect an attack at any moment, that will wear on your mind and leave you sluggish when an attack eventually comes. What you have to change is how you react to things you dont expect." Jeremiah gestures with his sword to her normal metal one in the grass. "Pick it up and we'll continue."
"Okay." Alice turns and goes back to her sword, her nerves on high alert at first, until she repeats to herself what Jeremiah just told her. You don't have to expect the attack, Alice repeats as she wraps a hand around the hilt of the sword. She starts to turn and stand-
A flash of silver below, from a place she couldn't expect. Her sword is in her right hand, and she kept her right side facing Jeremiah just in case he did try something again. But this was from her left! No, she couldn't think, the edge of the sword was approaching her leg, right below the knee. She could only act before her mind could he cluttered with confusion. Steel rings against the composite metal of the back of the monofilament sword as Alice makes it just in time. Her sword is flat against her leg, slid between it and the approaching blade. But by the time she looks down, Jeremiah's sword was gone, and back to being right by his side. Her momentum from trying to get her sword in place in time halfway spins her around. "Wow, how did you so that! It was so fast!" Alice exclaims, and is beaming, knowing she still managed to block it. Jeremiah though had to ruin things.
"You were still expecting an attack," He dashes her good spirits. "You had an advantage." That makes her mope for a but, before she asks him something else.
"Why were you swinging at me with the sharp end of your sword? That could have been really bad if you messed up."
The rare faint smile appears on Jeremiah's face. "So you can see me flipping to the backside of the sword now. I'm a little surprised you picked you picked it up on the last attack."
"I saw it the other time too! Right before it!"
"So you did." Alice knows he believes her. He always knows when she's lying. "That's very good. You have sharp eyes. One day you'll have the experience to match."
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Alice doesn't have military training, or anything formal by any means. All she has is practice alone in her room, or out in the woods with Heimrich's brother. And, of course, her instincts.
Alice realizes something grabbed her after her body reacts. Her hand opens and clenches down, desiring a weapon. Needing a weapon. Something now, as she swings down with her hand that desires the weapon to slash through whatever has her. And something answers her call. With a flash of pink light, Stelrem separates the aura gripping Alice from its master, the sword burning with aura as Diego's hold shatters from around her. It was the last indignity that the werewolf could endure. With a howl that shakes the home down to its foundation Diego in his full werewolf form shatters the doorway as he lunges through the air toward her, claws outstretched to rend flesh. Gone was any plan to make her and Heimrich suffer. He could not allow them to live after what they have done. Alice watches the wolf coming towards her, not thinking about how she could. How she was able to witness Heimrich fight Vengeance does not come to mind. The path she sees the wolf taking before he takes it, visible only to her, she does not question. Not that she could see her eyes become branded with the Luminary Cross. She only sees step, step, brace, slash.
Her right foot drops and propels her down, forward, and to the left of the giant body flying towards her, underneath the grasping claws. Her left stops her forward motion, giving her time to plant her right foot again and brace Stelrem against her right shoulder. Diego's own momentum barrels him into the burning blade, slashing deep into his flesh with a hateful howl. And now, with Alice barely feeling the resistance of the werewolf's supernatural flesh, pulls the blade forward into a single, rending slash.
Seeing just how much he wanted a roommate, she almost felt bad that this was going to be such a fun trick. He looked so relieved to actually live with someone instead of living in this house alone with his pet artillery rabbit. Then he folded and started to act like he didn't kist BEG her for a roommate. "Uh-huh~... Just so we're clear. You're not depriving nothing from no one. We've had no one to take the house till you alived. And since you have zero other places to go you're not an outsider. You're just someone who lost their way, and needs a helping hand." She says as she turns to start walking off though she does look back over her shoulder. "Oh, I'll send your roomie over when I have someone in mind. But that might be after I send someone with food." Oh that was a little white lie but she wasn't going to tell him that. "Now. Get some rest and stop stressing. Or we'll start your training in fighting right now if you really want~" Regardless of an answer, Shira would leave with a laugh.
This gave Aiden an hour or two to explore his new home for the foreseeable future. He would find that there were plenty of rooms both upstairs and down. Has everything really, a living room with the same decore as Shira's place, a kitchen with a strange fridge that doesn't have a cable going anywhere yet the interior was cold and a stove that was similar since there was no plumbing for it yet he could light the hobs and the actual oven, a pantry that was rather bare at the moment, a small closet where he can put any coats or whatnot, an empty cellar, a bathroom with a large circle tub, a single bedroom upstrairs and a smaller guest room. The yard out the back of the house had a small rock pond that was empty of life, a shed with the heating generator that was mentioned before, and a small empty garden area.
By the time he would be done looking around and settling in he would hear a knock at the door downstairs.
"Knives as a- You daft boy?" The old man stutters in disbelief and throwing bread crumbs everywhere. "Thinking those who resist the world are just knife chuckers- Clara! Give me something I can cut! Something weird!" Hayes exclaims, searching the kitchen from his current spot for something bizarre enough to satisfy him.
Ezekiel, meanwhile, is posing in thought outside on the wall.
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Diamond Eye sees the link form in his breastplate, but he does not move or react to the act of aggression. Not until the chains connect. All at once, his senses disappear. Diamond Eye stumbles back, unable to see, feel, or hear his surroundings. The hero is floating in a black void, the difference between what he experiences and what Samson does is too vast. He doesn't even feel himself hit the ground when Samson bowls him over, giving no reaction to hint he's aware of the fight starting at all.
For Samson it's a different story. As soon as he slams into Diamond Eye he can feel something is off. He is heavy, very heavy. Like 50 kilos heavier than what he expected. And his suit isn't just a costume. It feels like he slammed into a knight in full plate armor. But, the way Diamond Eye was moving right before Samson tackled him was completely unimpeded by the suit and this weight. Is the man underneath the armor that dense, or is the extra weight from the armor? Is it both? Either way, under the deathmatch, Diamond Eye should not be able to move now that his impressive strength has been wrenched away. But he still does. The suit, who's plates feel like he's hitting tank armor, has to be moving on its own.
Samson, despite the unexpected difficulty, does succeed in bringing the superhero down, hearing the loud slam of Diamond Eye's back and head hitting the ground. Still Diamond Eye doesn't seem to realize what is happening to him.
I definitely lost my way but not in the way you think... Aiden muses to himself as he continues to look at the house, though he quickly shifts to making eye contact with Shira again as she mentions she'll find someone else to live there as well. Yeah, makes sense if sending food over was quicker than finding someone to live here on such short notice....wait-
"Huh? OH! No, rest sounds good! No worries here I'll stop stressing!" I'M NOT READY FOR THAT RIGHT NOW I NEED TO MENTALLY PREPARE.
As Shira calmly leaves with nothing but a laugh in response Aiden watches her walk away for a few moments, somewhat processing just. Everything, still. So much has happened in such a short time and really, he understands none of it. He's trying to but learning and accepting all these fantasy elements as his new reality is a tall order for most anyone. What he knows as 'normal' is already so far removed from the new life he's about to lead...
To clear his wandering thoughts Aiden shakes his head quickly then looks down at his rabbit. "Well, no time like the present? Lets see where we'll be living for a while, kay?" With a warm little smile Aiden turns and steps into the house, closing the door behind him before setting down his furry friend. Surely she'd like to explore on her own rather than being guided by where he goes, since this will be her house too. And there's no doubt she's smart enough to understand all of this. Aiden starts to look around, simply acquainting himself with the floorplan of the house and basics of what's what: What rooms are where, what does the current food stock look like, how in the hell do you use an oven and stove that aren't hooked up, what does the backyard look like, etc. After he's done looking around he goes back to the larger of the two bedrooms and pokes around a bit deeper, how big is the closet, how much space is there inside the dresser and nightstand, things of that sort. His roommate to be can help him figure out the stove, not gonna even chance breaking that. Hopefully they're not too intimidating to talk to. Elder Shira should take into account Aiden's situation when finding someone.
"Gonna have to find my way around their stores pretty quick, almost no food here. Probably best I try to figure that out myself, don't want to annoy a new roommate too much. Now then-" He finds his rabbit, assuming she wasn't already near him, and goes to the living room with her to figure out a name together. She'll offering a leg thump on the couch cushions to show if she likes it or not. He throws out all sorts of names over a good 30 minutes, sometimes only after several minutes of thought. Seems she isn't a fan of stereotypical names like Nibbles or even Thumper, despite thumping with her hindleg being a good 20% of her personality.
Maybe she's so smart that she can tell the difference between pet names and a persons name. If that's the case pet names probably feel pretty condescending to her...so what if I named her like a person? Lost in thought Aiden really tries to think of a more human type name for his rabbit friend, his internal thoughts even coming out as he starts to think aloud without realizing it. "Well your fur is bright pink, but you don't like pet names. Flowers, people are named after flowers all the time...no. Er, maybe....flowers come with springtime, what names are spring names?" Aiden sits with his finger curled under his chin and legs crossed, sitting on the couch as he makes eye contact with his artillery rabbit. "Oh! How about Chloe? Where I come from it's a name that means 'to bloom', just like flowers in the spring!"
Judging by Chloe's excited thumping, she likes it. Finally. Took a while. With that settled he looks around at the books filling the shelves in the living room, seems they were all left from the previous tenant's stay. Well, nothing else to do right now. No food to cook, food is on the way more or less, and a roommate to meet later so...might as well see what can be learned from these books
Strange...I can tell these books come from a few different languages, I don't even know the name's of them, but I can read it all just the same. Huh. Lets just grab however many I can carry for now and whatever I get through is what I get through!
Without any thought put into what books he's grabbing he simply takes an arm full, stacking a good 15 books and bringing them over to the couch with him. He plops down, opening up the bestiary first, and thumbing thought it. As shown when going through the ledger Aiden has a unique talent for reading, and manages to finish reading the entire bestiary pretty quick, before then happening to grab a book on Oni culture. Only this time, in the middle of reading the book, he hears a knock at the door. He sets the book on Oni culture aside with the pages wide open, right in the middle of the sections about marriage and courtship, and moves downstairs.
"Either food or roommate, moment of truth, COMING!~" Aiden calls out in as polite a tone he can while heading to the door, no matter who it is it's someone Shira directly sent. With a few seconds of calling out he reaches out and opens the door with a smile, prepared to be greeted either by food or a housemate.
Place: Wabachan Hospital, Duncan's Hospital Room
Time: Same day, 11:47pm
Today was a hectic one for Duncan... By now most of his friends are fast asleep, or on their way, and here he was still awake and looking out at the city beyond his window. His mind flooded with the details of what had been explained to him and what he had personally witnessed today. He got to see Samantha again, he got to meet Alice again, for real this time, and has gone to go save Heimrich from something, Felix became cured of his condition, the Templars at the Citadel were cleansed of the corrupted Fabled blood, he was to be moved to a new hospital tomorrow, Wilhelm was back home somehow and had a statue made of him by the gods, and he still had zero idea about why Scotti can’t bear to look at him anymore…
The rest of that didn’t weigh so heavily on his conscience… But he chose to focus on the positives instead of letting that little hit to his self esteem eat away at him. He had better things to worry about right now… Yeah… As if it was THAT easy.
Felix’s recovery and his realised Second Origin was really rad to see and hear about. Though he didn’t get to see the Phoenix in person, but in a memory passed on by Distant Whisper. Seeing his little brother finally healed was a heavy weight off of his heart… He was thankful that his brother was all healed. As was the weight that Samantha now accepted that he was real… That lifted a really heavy weight off of him. He felt much better.
He also learned of the recovery of the Citadel. Everyone there was no longer at risk of being caught up in a scheme of some kind by Salem… His uncle Albus was among those that were cured.
“... I Considered giving up on my Uncle. The man had been a sacrificial lamb from birth to keep ‘them’ from tainting the whole bloodline.” Duncan says to himself, venting his own grievances into the empty room around him. Now that Albus was free he was a potential fit to take the title of Duke from Samantha. If he even would take it, he’s served with the Order ever since he was a boy. He’s been there for 70 years by this point. Would he even want to step down from leading the group he has now? He… He doesn’t know. Albus was now free to choose whatever he wanted to do. He didn’t even need to stay in the order, go with his family or anything else. He could do whatever he wants… But what would he do?
Duncan settles down into his bed. His family, for the first time in eight years, was looking more secure… Potentially it could revive and be a proud house once more. One that can do so much good, not just for Aetheran but for the sector… But those are lofty dreams of someone who has yet to even realise his own strength.
“... Just wait for me everyone. I’ll be back in action before you know it…” Worrying about being unable to do anything was pointless. And by no means were his friends or family weak.
So instead he could focus on getting stronger. So he closed his eyes… And drifted into a dream.
OOC: First thought- He's 70, what's the point of him taking the title of Duchess from Samantha now?
Immediate second thought- Zoconian lifespan, right.
I'll support his 4998 campaign to become Duchess.
Albus for Duchess!
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