[Nexus] Inside 49

[Lost_Deep]

Steele Street - Arcane Academy

"Nothing more, I think. Thanks a lot, Hadlin. It was nice to meet you. Good luck, Amil."

Kate, feeling quite chipper due to the fact that her odd body still has a large amount of fairy magic in it, will then head off if the other two don't have anything more to say to her.

Gerris' (new) House

"Yeah, walks mainly."

"We... haven't been doing much with each other." Both Gerris look a little embarrassed at that. They know that they'll never get used to it if they don't try but...

[Halae]

[Steele Street - Arcane Academy]

Hadlin will hand the black book he has been carrying with him to Amil, "Here. This book can tell you the questions you ask of it. perhaps it'll help you; I'll return for it when I need it again."

He'll then wave goodbye and head in his own direction. Time to find a place to sleep for the night.

[Rebonack]

[Steele Street - Arcane Academy]

"Oh, ah... thank you," Amil says as she takes the book rather carefully. Don't want to gouge it with those thorn-claws of hers. "I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't get lose or eaten by Dire Moths or what have you."

Gotta look out for those Dire Moths.

Have a real nasty habit of devouring books.

A librarian's worst enemy!

The book is tucked away in her utility pouch and she gives a wave with one wing to those departing. Then? Then her eyes turn to the sky as she crouches slightly before launching herself into the air.

This...

This is one of the few good things that resulted from all the insanity that's been heaped on her recently. The sky. She's found that nothing clears her mind and calms her spirit quite as profoundly as just... flying...

So she does.

[Devixer]

[Generic Street]

As the light fades away, Sayuri barely has time to see the lighting before it strikes her. Having to destroy the radiant cannon before reaching Sayuri weakens it, but it still retains enough power to zap her, knocking her out of the air. She bounces off her barrier, and lands a little ways off from Ignai.

...speaking of Ignai, the fiery woman may be able to notice that the light of the walls dimmed significantly for a moment when Sayuri was struck by lightning, and did so again when she bounced.

The shocked and battered woman stands unsteadily, but then throws Imesah a determined grin. "You won't finish me off that easily!" She points her hand at the paladin and casts out several tangled masses of woven starlight, trying to entangle her enough to get in an attack.

Imesah starts sprinting to her left as she pulls her sword from its sheath again. She hopes that this new attack isn't of the homing sort, since she can more easily dodge those.

[Abandoned Theme Park]

And now something altogether unrelated to anything else. Our adventure takes us to Last Ride, a weathered and decaying theme park that hasn't heard the sound of laughter in years. Largely due to the unseemly number of unexplained deaths that took place here.

Boom.

The vampire's head snaps back as the round rips through his skull, the force of the impact knocking the undead clean off his feet and flat on his back. That won't kill him, of course. You have to decapitate the undead for that. Or give them a sunbath. Or shove a chunk of wood through his heart.

The creature is already healing at an astonishing rate, rising back to his feet, when a barbed metal spike lances through his torso and pins him to the nearby concrete wall of the funhouse.

There comes a loud crunch of metal boots against gravel as an imposing figure in blue armor lands heavily in the alley. "Well twinkle toes," the Cobalt Knight leers as he clomps closer. "That was some fancy footwork back there. Now why don't you tell me where your pals are lurking-"

The Knight's axe begins to make a high-pitch hum as the cutting edge blurs. "-and I'll make this nice and quick-like."

((Fighty mystery investigation thingy in creepy amusement park. Any takers?))

Iamar is probably not the kind of person someone expected to see in this place, but she was simply making her rounds of patrol when the city changed again. So she was looking around in this unfamiliar area. She may not look the most observant, at least with the white hood covering a good bit of her face. But she does here someone seeming to threaten someone else, and makes her way over to the scene. She makes sure to climb on top of the funhouse, as that seems like a tactically sound position.

[Lost_Deep]

Unremarkeable street

No, it's not literally "Unremarkeable Street". It's just not a very remarkeable part of town. You see, metropolis square is a bit over that way, and Steele street is over that way, so the result is a place where no one visits much because all the interesting bits are on either side of it. It's just blank brick walls and old-style electric streetlgihts are far as the eye can see. Literally, there isn't any doors or windows or breaks between buildings... which is kind of creepy.

Anyway, some time after Hadlin leaves the academy behind he will find himself on this exceedingly bland and regular street, without another soul in sight. Nothing to keep him company but the soft buzz of the old cotton-filament street lamps. I don't know why they're buzzing. It's probably not a good reason.

Not until Hadlin hears the distinctive tune of "Me and my Shadow" being whistled. While accurate enough for this situation, Hadlin isn't the one whistling it.

[Gullara]

[Gerris' (new) House]

Erani nods. "It might be a bit unsettling to spend time with someone who's, well, you. I have a suggestion that might help actually. You two could try differentiating from each other. Maybe dye your hair, try some different clothing styles, you name it."

[Generic Street]

Ignai sprints the other direction, away from Sayuri as quickly as she can. The flickering barrier catches her attention, but she's not close enough to test if it's any weaker. Might as well give it a shot. She'll run to the opposite side of the street as she started on and give the barrier a hard shove.

[Halae]

[Unremarkable Street]

Hadlin just turns to look towards the source of the sound, though nothing else; he keeps walking if it's just another person, turning back to the direction he waws heading. if something suspiscious is going on (say, it's not a human or it's a human doing suspiscious things), he'll stop to frown at the individual, but not take any other actions until he's sorted out what it is.

[Lost_Deep]

Unremarkable Street

Hadlin will probably notice his shadow isn't quite cooperating with him. It's moving at the same pace... but it's more relaxed than he is. It has it's hands in it's pockets, and isn't shifting or wavering as he moves between streetlights. It will stop if he will, but will keep whistling.

[Halae]

[Unremarkable Street]

Hadlin frowns, and whispers, "Huginn".

A black raven will materialize above Hadlin before landing on his shoulder. He will see through the Raven's eyes, viewing the world with True Sight.

[Lost_Deep]

Unremarkable Street

True sight reveals nothing more. The street appears to be empty... wait. To truesight his shadow looks normal.

"Come now, didn't I make it obvious enough? Maybe you don't know the tune. Me, and my shadow~... I'm rather fond of it."

Then the perspectives switch, with the shadow being normal to normal vision and abnormal to truesight. "The birds aren't going to help you much here, I'm afraid. I'm slippery enough that they can't see the real me. Of course, that implies that there would be something to see. Don't worry, they'll be plenty useful later. Truth of vision is one of the most useful tools here."

Gerris' (new) House

The Gerris think about that for a minute. "You know," One says eventually, "I could change to light brown. It never really seemed like a good idea before, but it's as good an idea now as any."

The other nods. "We're going to buy more clothes soon, anyway. Maybe we could get a more varied wardrobe to help from day-to-day."

"Thanks, Erani. We've been... distracted, and didn't even think of that."

[Rebonack]

[Abandoned Amusement Park]

A white hood is pretty conspicuous if someone is trying to be sneaky. But maybe she isn't trying to be sneaky?

Regardless!

"Burn in hell!" the vampire spits as soon as his mouth has healed enough to hurl insults. The undead struggles to pull himself free from the metal spike impaling him to the wall, but no dice.

"Tch. How rude," the Cobalt Knight returns before taking a hack at the vampire's neck with his axe. The weapon makes a grinding sound like a rotary saw cutting through flesh, bone, and concrete. Because that's more or less what's happening.

The vampire's body quickly burns away into a heap of fine grey ash, leaving only a pair of white fangs behind. Rebonack stoops down to retrieve the trinkets from the remains.

[Above Metropolis Square]

Welcome to the world of tomorrow! A pristine world of clean, towering sky scrapers. Monuments of glass and steel and chrome. Distinctive vehicles of the 1920s-50s era zoom too and fro in the streets far below. Always in motion. Always in a hurry. Always pressing onward toward progress!

Zeppelins dock at the tops of the immaculate towers, serving as the main means of public transportation for Metropolis Square and to other portions of Inside. That is, of course, assuming someone doesn't take one of the UFO taxis.

And there's Amil, winging her way toward home. Ever since she figured out how to fly with that Tyranid body she's been keeping her balcony door on the thirty fifth floor of the Tesla building ajar so she can easily access it from the outside. She's found that tends to work a bit better than riding the elevator.

No car. That means taking the buses, the subway, or one of the zeppelins. Of course, when you can fly under your own power at a fairly significant speed other forms of transportation don't matter quite so much.

The wood drake alights on her balcony, giving her wings a flick before folding them over her flanks. Into her apartment she climbs before going about her usual routine. Check the mail. Check on her fish. Tidy things up a bit. Eventually she finds herself standing in front of her wardrobe, the doors opened wide and several outfits hanging from her claws.

Looks at her woefully tiny dress.

Looks down at herself.

Looks back at a pair of shoes.

Looks down at her feet.

"I'm going to need to be fitted for some new clothes..."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Park
The Lady sighed as she leaned against the tree, and looked at Krystal.
"I cannot fathom the number, it must be in the hundreds! But I do have a memory from each. Mostly good, some bad. But as the saying goes...we'd never remember the good if we didn't have the bad to define it with."
She yawned a little.

Krystal nods a little.

Yeah, good memories are always important. She falls silent for a moment, as if going through some of her own.

[Halae]

[Unremarkable Street]

"Just what are you talking about? What's going on?" Hadlin frowns. He hates it when something is beyond his power to affect. Huginn, however, stays, scanning the area for whatever it can find out of the ordinary.

[OrchestraHc]

Greyzone Rooftops

"Thanks this is a bit better then being scooped. Ask away though I don't know if I'll be able to give you all the answers. As for my uncle, he doesn't lack in willpower, he should be able to hold himself back."

Calvin figures if this random dude can do it then his uncle will be able to as well. He will point the way as they fly.

Greyzone Rooftops

"If you believe in him, all the better," the hero says as he flies them there. "Where do you recall this all starting? The aura, I mean. Also, if you were investigating them, do you have any leads as to where these people are?"

[Lost_Deep]

Unremarkable Street

"Hmm. Here I thought that you knew about the beacon. Well, as a friendly fyi, you happen to have a rather large "This guy is notable" sign sticking out for certain things to see. I mean, I've heard the "'Portant Character" jokes but it's rather ridiculous."

The abnormal shadow switches back to real vision, and then starts creeping up the wall. It stops looking so humanoid, instead looking like some kind of creeping darkness that creeps overs the mortar between the bricks.

Unless, perhaps, you do know about it, but you're tired and are having a little bit of trouble putting 2+2 together? Heh, don't worry about it. We all have our days.

[Halae]

[Unremarkable Street]

Hadlin grimaces. He's fairly tired, given how much magic he's expended with invocations today, "So what exactly do you want with me? Noticable is one thing. Stopping to chat is another."

[Lost_Deep]

Unremarkable Street

"Hah hah hah. Yes, obviously you aren't the reason that I'm here. Then it would stand to reason that I am! There's an interesting notion: why would I ever want to talk to you? Of all the people I could talk to and get what I want right now, why you?"

The darkness becomes a shade of sea green, and begins to ripple over the bricks instead. After a moment it will stop and stalks will begin to grow out of it.

"That isn't rhetorical. Really, why in the world would I bug you?"

[Gullara]

[Gerris' (new) House]

"That's completely understandable. I'm glad I could help. Maybe think about nicknames too. It'd at least clear up some confusion." Erani gives the two of them a warm smile. "Be sure to let me know if something else comes up, or if you just want to talk about something."

[Halae]

Unremarkable Street

"Hah hah hah. Yes, obviously you aren't the reason that I'm here. Then it would stand to reason that I am! There's an interesting notion: why would I ever want to talk to you? Of all the people I could talk to and get what I want right now, why you?"

The darkness becomes a shade of sea green, and begins to ripple over the bricks instead. After a moment it will stop and stalks will begin to grow out of it.

"That isn't rhetorical. Really, why in the world would I bug you?"

[Unremarkable Street]

"The simplest answer is because I have something to offer, correct?" Hadlin is used to dealing with entities of various sorts, but he likes to be in control. He's not in control here.

[Lost_Deep]

Gerris' (new) House

"Thanks, Erani." The two will say in unison, followed by the usual awkward pause. They're going to have to get used to that eventually.

Unremarkable Street

Well, that would make sense, wouldn't it? How about I tell you that among the many things I do... making sense is not one of more common ones. I'm sure you could come to this conclusion eventually, but perhaps not until tomorrow and I want to bug you now so I'll give you a hint:

The thing on the wall will then turn into a technicolor torus and begin to bounce around the street, between walls and lamps, until it rings a lamp. It falls to the ground around the lamp, and then it turns into a three-headed snake that coils back up the lamp backwards. None of the heads look at Hadlin.

Let me know if it's too hard for you. I realize that today has been a long day.

[Morcleon]

Spoiler

Show

Imesah starts sprinting to her left as she pulls her sword from its sheath again. She hopes that this new attack isn't of the homing sort, since she can more easily dodge those.

[Generic Street]

Ignai sprints the other direction, away from Sayuri as quickly as she can. The flickering barrier catches her attention, but she's not close enough to test if it's any weaker. Might as well give it a shot. She'll run to the opposite side of the street as she started on and give the barrier a hard shove.

[Generic Street]

While the nets aren't homing, there are a lot of them, and those that miss, remain on the ground to create obstacles for Imesah's progress.

As Ignai runs across the street, Sayuri barely spares her a glance, but as she strikes the now-weakened barrier, both it and the cloaked woman shudder, and the latter turns and dashes toward her. Her hand glows, and several streamers reach out toward Ignai, trying to capture the fiery woman.

[Halae]

[Unremarkable Street]

Hadlin stares in wonder for a moment, trying to figure out what this thing is, "What exactly are you? Whether it's my recent arrival in this world or, as you say, being tired, I've never seen anything like you before."

[ThirdEmperor]

I Don't Think We're in the Red Zone Anymore...

-port!

Wrath staggers as they 'land' and the ground shifts beneath his feet, the sudden shift in air pressure making his ears pop and his equilibrium briefly become a lot less equal. "Ooohkay. This the place?" Please let this be the place. Another jump and he's liable to be sick.

[Devixer]

Abandoned Amusement Park

Iamar's eyes widen for a moment when Rebonack kills the other man. Really, she should've expected it, but it was no less of a surprise. Her composure is easily regained, though, as she steps to where she's easily viewed on the roof of the funhouse. "Want to explain why you just killed that man?"

Generic Street

In that case, Imesah can run past the nets, rolling at the end just to be safe. Once she recovers from that to see that Sayuri has shifted her attention to Ignai, her face twists in anger. She gets up and sprints towards Sayuri, and tries to take advantage of her shift in attention to slash across her back.

[Lost_Deep]

Unremarkable Street

Ooh, I love this question.

The snake turns into a flowing shadow, which flows up to the bulb of the streetlight.

It's the question of who I am, but with less focus on my personality and more focus on my power. Whether someone asks 'who' or 'what' can be used to measure how much they're anthropomorphizing you, you know. The shadow pulls out a red and white bendy straw, and sticks it into the lamp. Ultamitely, they are the same question. And I find that that I answer it best with titles. "The Corrupter" is accurate on occasion, but doesn't really match me. "Illogic Incarnate" is also somewhat misleading, but accurate. My favorite title has to the "Mad God," even though it's misleading for a whole plethora of different reasons. My second favorite one is "Blasted Thingummywit" for obvious reasons. When it all boils down to it, I give you that thing that you know I'm leading up to and honestly want me to get on with. It sips a bit of light from the bulb thoughtfully. The title which I gave myself, the thing that I acknowledge as a name. Call me whatever you want, but to me I will always be The Lost One.

[Halae]

[Unremarkable Street]

h.

It's just an entity of deific power.

Isn't that nice.

"This still, in the end, doesn't explain exactly why you choose to approach me on a night like tonight. Sense may not be made, but purpose... everything has a purpose. Even if it's not immediately apparent."

He believes that very firmly.

[Lost_Deep]

Unremarkable Street

Indeed. I have a purpose here, a purpose that will confuse you utterly. Something that will make you ponder your own sanity. Something that you never thought that any self-respecting god-like being would do.

The shadow leaps off of the lamp, and when it hits the ground it is a long, skinny, faceless lizard in a monocle and jaunty hat.

I want to walk and talk.

What were you expecting, sanity?

[Halae]

[Unremarkable Street]

Hadlin's eye twitches, but he nods, "Right then." He'll walk with the Lost One, waiting for it to begin.

[Lost_Deep]

Unremarkable Street

Really, your main issue here, the reason that you're so unnerved, is that you have come to expect certain things from being of great power. Things that have been consistently wrong today. Your day started by entering the nexus, and the first thing you come across is Eris and Flora Madhowl. Yes, that was the Godess of chaos herself. An avatar, just as in the flesh as any god can be. What a big deal!

The Lost One switches here to walking on his lizardly front claws. Except it isn't a big deal. Sure, there was mass chaos, but where were the doomsayers? The inquisitors? And what did Eris come for? She came to bug one orange-hared girl. Someone who's lived an interesting life, yes, but no great hero of legend or a great threat. She was just there.

The lizard hops up, scooting along on the tip of it's tail, the rest of it's body in a contemplative position. And then you met a certain King in Yellow. And what does he do? He dances for you. He puts on a show! He offers you wishes. And what does he want in return? Nothing, he just thinks you'll be entertaining.

And not quite last but somehow least, the playful pair of voices. They're like children, they were sorry when you pointed out that they hadn't returned the items. They give you something, something amazingly useful, you know... and the cost? It's basically a prank. They don't gain a thing from it except a few snickers at your expense.

And now me. What's going on? How can this be explained with what you know?

[Halae]

[Unremarkable Street]

Hadlin stops, and stares in silence at the Lost one for a long moment. All of it was true of course. But... everything he knew, from his homeworld, suggested that beings in power wanted something back. literally everything wanted something.

And then this. This day. This insane day, away from everything he'd ever known.

More than he'd thought.

Hadlin can't form a coherent sentence at the moment. The Lost One will have the opportunity to continue speaking.