Shard poked his head into Raven’s cabin. “Hey we need to talk, it’s probably time to do prep for the wedding. The Knights are all back and it looks like the world isn’t going to end anytime soon. That and Ris keeps asking me what color dress she should wear. I don’t have an answer.” Christian stood in the doorway with his head cocked to the side and a glass tablet in his left hand. His eyes slowly wandered Raven’s cabin as it was the first time he’d ever been inside the room on board Blackwing. “Senechal also seems to think it will take him more than a day to do any sort of set up. That and I sort of told the Masters and Mistresses that we’d be having it in a couple days.” Christian’s gaze continued to wander until it stopped on Raven. “So do you have a minute?”

The golden haired beauty lay perched in her seat, viewing an older map of Galendar. It had several marks in pen scribbled on it. Words of renamed locations, added towns, et cetera. As Shard eyed the cabin he took in the fact that nothing had changed about Raven’s quarters.



The moonlight gleamed inside the windows, shining over the table which was lit by dim lighting. Raven wore a dark blue night gown that dripped down to the floor at her feet. She didn’t look up to meet shards eyes, her eyebrows still furrowed in concentration at her mini project.

“mm?” A gentle smile played with her lips at the sound of her beloved’s voice.

Shard twitched the glass table over in his left hand and ran his fingers over it. It projected a series of images onto the wall of her cabin. “We need to decide on seating arrangements for the actual wedding ceremony, and reception. We need to decide where we plan on doing it and how we want to do the setup, additionally you’ll need to pick out bridesmaids if you want them. Oh and we need to decide on food. Among other things.” Settling down next to her he tug a chair over to hers and sat with her.

Raven’s red eye was glazed with distant sleep before she rubbed it, her other one covered by askew pieces of her blonde hair. She glanced up at Shard and smiled. “I want Akime to be one of the bridesmaids, she’s been a sweetheart. Perhaps Ralrisk as well. It would be amusing to see that girl in a dress.” She stared down at her old map and gently chuckled, her finger twirling around a strand of her hair. “As for the seating…” She tapped the pen on her lips. “..I’ll leave you in charge of that. I’ll probably be having my entire crew around us, but you should have specific seats for the people of your choice. As for location, we can program some teleportation devices to our select seaters, everyone else can take blackwing to the location for some festivities. She smiled warmly. “So, I have a special present for you. It took a whole ton of work, but I think you’d appreciate it.”

Shard leaned over. “Oh what is that?” His arms snaked around her waist. “Where did you want to have the wedding by the way? I mean we can always use the roof of the Tower but if you had some place in mind we can certainly do that. And It might be fun to use the deck of Blackwing for the reception.” Christian nibbled into Raven’s neck a little, taking in the scent of her perfume before peering down at her desk. “I’m sure Akime and Ris would love to be bridesmaids, I should probably ask Megelis and Lazarus to be attend me then as well. I don’t think Urthar will do it so I’ll have to find other Knights as well, but that can be something I do.”

Raven leaned into his nibbling as she tapped a few invisible buttons on her mechanical arm. “Let’s have it in our flower hills.” she said abruptly. “At least, the actual ceremony, then all of our private people we invited can teleport back to Blackwing afterwards.” She continued to twirl her finger around her hair. “And, as for the present…” She grinned and snapped her fingers on her mechanical hand, causing a holographic image to appear above the table in blue gold light. It was fabric of some sort, attached to some roughed up supports and inner contraptions to hold it up in a curved shape. It was the top of a wagon. She grinned proudly. “I searched for this thing for two years, centuries ago, until I finally found it and stitched most of it back together..” She stared deeply in Shard’s eyes for a reaction.

Christian tilted his head. “How is that still a piece of fabric? It's over two thousand years old?” His eyes flicked back and forth over the fabric she had painstakingly reconstructed. “Wow, never thought I’d see that again.” Pensively he leaned into her still staring at it. “We could put it up in our room and it would be like old times again. Just add a creepy necromancer and a war going on around us and I’ll be having flashbacks to going up and down the coast with you.” He smiled into her as pressed his lips to the top of her head. “I’m so glad you found that. I have dreams every once in awhile about it, funny I know but it happens.”

She snapped her fingers and the image evaporated into strands of code that faded in the night. “I had to weave in a ton of nanofiber into the matter as it was turning to mush. It was quite difficult to tell the truth, took another six months of sitting in this cabin as my crew went around making improvements to Blackwing, stitching the thing together strand by strand. The supports were turning mushy as well so I had to melt titanium into the pieces with a really high temperatures. That left some marks.” Raven smiled sheepishly. The captain leaned herself against Shard, inhaling slowly. “Our life is finally going to settle, Christian.” A hearty laugh coughed out of her.

“Imagine that. So many years of strife and making a mark on this world and now we get to settle down. That's something I never thought I’d get to do.” As he sat contemplating the ceiling he mused allowed. “I wonder if you and I could have a child.” It was a bit of a subject change but it was largely Shard speaking his mind aloud as he often did to his close confidents regardless of what the thought actually was. “Alright so Flowers, Blackwing, Seating arrangements will be done. Just have to ask Akime and Ris and then we can go from there.” Shard shifted Raven into his lap and stroked her hair. “I never thought we’d get to this point to be honest. It always seemed like there was another battle to be fought or another task to be done.”

She turned in his lap and gave him a long kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pulled back, the taste of midnight on her lips. “That can wait for tomorrow.” Raven cocked an eyebrow mischievously. “What was that about having a kid?”

Shiba groaned as he woke up again to the morning light of dawn. He hated mornings, how anyone could be chipper when they just wake up is beyond him. Shiba after a few minutes of just waiting for his eyes to adjust finally threw off the covers of his bed and scratched his hair. He did this in favor of rubbing his eyes since all those years ago when he first got the claws he has never taken them off; ever. Thanks to Shiba's own skill in alchemy he would never need to since all he would need is some anti rusting agents and a clear coat when he takes a shower after all. He still needed to learn how to sharpen the finger tips of the claws every now and then but its no different then a blacksmith and a sword.

Shiba stood up and stretched his wings a little before tucking them back in and going to take a shower using the things mentioned earlier so their was no damage from the water. Afterwards he got dressed making sure to take his cloak and putting the hood down before leaving the room and locking up.

Shiba heard that their was a wedding happening soon with some of the higher ranking knights or something along those lines he never really paid much attention to it. A serving girl was passing by with a tray of food to someone else and Shiba silently stole an apple from her tray. Shiba used to love apples because it reminded him a lot of his mother but that was a while ago and now apples just don't taste as sweet anymore but he still eats them hoping he will get his taste back for it someday. One of the advantages to having claws was the ability to cut the fruit with his own fingers. slicing it himself and eating everything but the core which he threw out a window nearby no doubt he might have hit someone with it without his notice. Shiba was told he would have to help prepare for the wedding which to him seemed so tedious and boring but who was he to argue he wasn't going to let his own bitter feelings get in the way of someone else's happiness. When he got to the staging area he decided to put his wings to use and help hang banners and the like around the area since with his claws he might end up scratching up something delicate like a vase if he wasn't careful so he wouldn't bother...

Stepping into the courtyard Crow squinted up at the sky. It was incredible how much time could pass when you weren’t paying attention. Looking down at his list from Sentinel; crow peered at the crowd. Spotting Shiba, Crow checked the list again and looked back over at the Nephilim. The list he had was a list of all of the Tower’s Knights with the natural ability to fly. Eve hip checked Crow from behind as she stepped up next to him. “Hey squinty. You spot someone else?” Crow held up the list. “Does that look like Shiba to you?” Eve peered at the list and looked up at Shiba. Tucking her long blonde hair over her ear she straightened back up. With light steps she crossed the grass. The graceful movements gave away her Elder Sidhe heritage as did her soft beauty as the often alien beauty had been tempered by her Angel mother. “Yeah that certainly looks like him. Come on let’s go ask”

Crossing the courtyard Crow drew a wave of looks as he hadn’t bothered with a Wyrdmask. His long gait and startling face were a bit of a shock as he rarely left the morgue. Striding right up to Shiba Crow lead right into his interrogation. “Hey, You’re Shiba correct?” Eve stalled Crow’s immediate jump to a question with a hand on his arm and a dazzling smile. “Hi, I’m Eve. This is Crow, we were wondering if you would be interested in attending Christian and Raven’s wedding as part of Blackwing’s Honor Guard. We have need of Knights that are capable of flight to keep watch for the Ceremony and then you’d get to go to the reception afterward as a guest. The Ceremony is going to be held in the Flower hills of Theodar so we’re being invited as Guards and then as guests for the actual reception.” Eve smiled and slapped her hand over Crow’s mouth as he opened it. “Ignore him, he’s kinda...unsocial.” Eve smiled at Shiba waiting politely for a response with her hand firmly clamped over Crow’s mouth.

Shiba was simply minding his business setting up banners when he turned around to see someone ask if he was Shiba and he nodded thinking he didn't need much more of an answer then that. They then introduced themselves as crow and eve, Shiba simply gave them a bow as a high. Shiba wasn't much for words since he was more of a actions speak louder kind of deal. They talked about him attending the wedding as the honor guard making sure the entire affair was safe then be a guest when they leave for reception. Its not a bad deal and honestly Shiba would welcome being away from the crowd of people that will no doubt be guests at the ceremony. Shiba still couldn't stand being around so many people at once since now he was trained to suspect each if not all the people in a large crowd could be an assassin out to get him. Walking through one was even worse since he could easily be seen yet couldn't find a good assassin out of a crowd. Sides being a guard should be much more interesting then simply helping to decorate sit through the ceremony and leave afterwards. "im not one for social graces either. since its better then simply helping to decorate ill be an honor guard" Shiba said thinking that nothing could really happen after all what demented little monster would purposely attack someone on their wedding day. That was just cruel, and even on whatever mission he was sent on he did make it a point not to kill on a special occasion like a wedding...

"Oh man..."

Izual's head was pounding like a drum. His predicament was certainly not made any better by the sunlight flooding into the cramped room. The Hellspawn was sprawled out across a messy bed, and a petite, undressed woman with long green hair rested her cute face against his chest. A few too many drinks last night had gotten him here. He didn't have any recollection of the night before, but he assumed he accidentally strolled into her room, mistaking it for his own, and slept here. However, Izual didn't have a clue as to why she was naked, nor did he seem to notice the floral patterned panties hanging from one of his horns. This wasn't the first time this had happened though. Far from it.

"This is like the tenth time this has happened this month. You'd think I'd learn after the first time." the silver haired man muttered to himself. Bunny, the woman he was sleeping with, stirred a bit and leered at him with grey eyes. She was an eccentric Paladin renown for her marksmanship. You wouldn't be able to guess that though, considering everywhere she went, something was bound to go wrong. This was due to the fact that Bunny was clumsier than a bull in a china shop. "Go back to sleep, Izzy..." she pleaded before knocking out again, snoring rather loudly. Raising an eyebrow, Izual was surprised to hear she actually enjoyed sleeping with him. She had told him time and time again, but he couldn't grasp how a strange man hogging her bed was pleasing.


Delicately, he made sure Bunny was comfortable and tucked in before he started to gather his clothes. Like her, he was also completely in the buff. For some reason, it always ended like this. Perhaps they just got too hot? The answer was beyond him. Latching on his gear and sheathing his Novabuster behind his back, he heard Bunny say, in a very suggestive manner, "Your 'sword' is so big...". His eyes shifted from his Novabuster to Bunny before he gave her a confused stare. Izual was not exactly known as the brightest crayon in the box and didn't catch onto her sexual innuendo at all. "Uh... Yeah. It's a greatsword, after all." he stated matter-of-factly. Anybody with a working eye could see that he had a big sword, so he didn't understand why she felt the need to say that.

"You're such an idiot..." his lady friend mumbled before curling into the covers and falling fast asleep. Shrugging the comment off, Izual sauntered out of her room and into the hallway of the apartment complex he lived in. While Bunny occupied Aparment 203, Izual was just to the right in 205. It was by no means a bad place to live, provided one could tolerate hotel-like apartments. Plus, it was dirt cheap, right next to a bar, and located the main road of Angel's Landing. Not just the bar, but practically everything was within walking distance, so for all the negatives, Izual felt it was worth the price.

Down a flight of stairs and through a glass door, the Knight made his way outside. He noticed that the morning rush, interestingly, wasn't nearly as bad as it usually was. In tandem, he felt his stomach rumble, a craving for some waffles and bacon hit him hard. He quickly decided to follow his stomach's orders and began to make his way down the avenue to his favorite breakfast joint. Some grub would definitely help with the hangover too. Strangely, as the silver haired man traveled, he found himself being stared out by pedestrians on the street. Some pointed and laughed. The Hellspawn even heard someone call him a creep!

Did he have something on his face? Were his pants on backwards? What could possibly be making him stand out so much?! Izual didn't have a clue. From his left horn though, Bunny's panties still hung, flying free like a nation's flag.

Though Blackwing was mighty and powerful, it also has the smaller rooms assigned for practicality, and a place for women to craft some of the most beautiful apparel. The queen of the ship resided in one of these rooms, her arms up as excited hands worked through the fabric attached to her. Devices circled her waist and chest to make measurements, along with her legs and several other locations on the human body that appeal to the femininity of a woman. Raven grumbled a little. “You know, I could just teleport a dress onto my body so all of you didn’t have to do so much work..” She started, bubbling a frown onto an old woman’s face. “Nonsense! Women like us can only dream to make a wedding dress for a goddess-to-be! A chance like this only happens once in several lifetimes!”
This brought a smile to Raven’s lips and she closed her eye. “Very well. Then make me the best dress for an important day in Galendar history.” Her metal eye patch covered her scarred eye, and she frowned at it in the mirror. Normally she wouldn’t nitpick something so miniscule in terms of facial beauty, but here she was, the pirate queen’s reflection furrowing her eyebrows. The young woman in front of her noticed this and stared up at Raven with turquoise eyes. “If you’re afraid that what’s behind the cover is impure then you have nothing to worry about. You’re always going to be the most beautiful woman in the stars.” Raven looked down at her in surprise before a pleased grin crossed her features. “Thank you Mary, you’re right. There are much grander things to worry about.” Besides, there shouldn’t be any worry in the first place. Because of the cut, Raven could now see all. And everything she saw around her made her smile. “I am so fortunate to have such a beautiful crew. I will never forget any of you for as long as I live.” She stroked the cheek of every face around her, a beautiful smile overwhelming her features. All of them smiled up at her before standing and bowing ever so slightly. “Your dress is finished Lady Marrowblade.”
And so it was. Raven stared in the mirror, pleased by the results. “Thank you, may the moonless night find you safety.” She grinned knowing that eventually the title would be passed on to her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was damp, and cold. Marielle begrudgingly perched herself on the crows nest of Blackwing. The only noise was the roar of the wind, and the pounding in her ears. Though physically at her best, the girl couldn’t help but isolate herself from everyone. The loudmouth has now become the silent bird, overlooking her current residence. She was listening, for what, she didn’t know. She leaned back against the wooden boards, wrist on one knee as she looked up at the sky with wonder, juggling a reed in between her teeth. She found it among the food supplies so she gave it a home between her lips as she contemplated her senses. This was the closest to meditation Marielle has ever gotten, and since her petty battle against her mistress she has succumb to numb silence. She barely gave Iris, the medical attendant, two sentences before heading out the door.

The shadows grew long around Marielle as the world seemed to slow around her and turn a strange grey scale. It's been a long time my dear. Out of the corner of her eye Marielle could detect a figure standing with its back to the post of the mast that rose up through the crow’s nest. The man appeared to resist being properly focused on; however as when Marielle turned to see who it was it appeared as though he was staying just outside of her vision where should could focus on him. It was a disconcerting feeling knowing that someone was there but at the same time you couldn’t quite make them out. The sound of cards being shuffled rang through the strange grey scale world they were standing in. Is that dumb whore still keeping you on a tight chain beloved?

Marielle sagged in her position. “What do you want?” She said, anger flickering in her voice like a dying ember. She forced herself to ignore the pounding in her heart.

She couldn’t see it but it was almost as if the figure had frowned in the corner of her vision. I’m not allowed to check on you anymore? Just because you ran away with the circus doesn’t mean that you had to run away from me. The figure slid down the poll until it was seated again, just on the edge of her vision.

The black haired girl clenched her teeth. “You’re one to talk about disappearing. You left me, that’s why I ran away. To find you..” She swallowed the pained tone surfacing behind her throat. “Why are you here now, after I have finally decided to stop looking for you. You’re like a shitty bug that bothers me, and right when I forget about it it shows up again. Fuck you.” Marielle could feel it now, adrenaline. It flooded through her veins but the girl registered it as poison, not remedy. She wondered if she jumped from the crow’s nest how badly it would hurt once she hit the ground. The longer the time spent with this bastard, the less she gave a shit.

The man stood up. I came to warn you, the world as you know it is drawing to a close. I went home Marielle. I went back to the Wayfarer Inn. Ask Christian if you survive the coming darkness. It’s not something I or any of the other Gods can protect you from. Good luck my dear. If you live through it I’m sure you can find me if you cared to try. That and If you ever get away from this whore who has you under her boot. You know I tried killing her once? It almost worked too.

Marielle refused to budge, but a new anger was fanning her flames. “Yeah, ‘if I cared to try.’ You know you’re a real shithead right? I don’t give a damn about the world.” Marielle paused. “She’s not a whore, either. And even if she was she’s done a much better job of taking care of me then you ever will.” Her eyes turned gold but she refused to tense her body, folding her arms under her head. “I loved you, Xav. But you love yourself more.” The confession was brief, and Marielle was far too disturbed to care, but her voice was genuine.

The man slithered through the air around the edge of the crow’s nest seizing the front of her shirt and hauling her up with otherworldly strength. She founder herself staring into eyes that reflected infinity back at her. A thousand lives stared back at her, every path she could choose, every path she had taken, everything she had missed and everything she had gained. I will always love you, my dear. And I will always do more for you than she ever will, you just won’t ever see it. The strange pair hung suspended in air above the crow’s nest for a short eternity before Xandrius dropped her back onto the crow’s nest. Take care, Marielle. And with that the phantom was gone disappearing into a thousand broken pieces of a mirror.

Marielle stood there before sinking back into her original position, silent once more. After a long while she dug into her pocket and pulled out a small glass piece of tech, reviewing the contents she’s read over and over.

”Lady Marrowblade and Christian Highfell, the king and queen of stars finally engaged!”

Below it listed several dates and a teleport button to a specific location, only activated the day of the wedding. Marielle poked at the green button listed below it, accepting the invite. The reed in her mouth bounced a little from the mischievous girl. “It’s about time blondie.”

Calder had been busy of late, though few had seen him since he’d left the infirmary before Marielle’s little tantrum. He’d not been idle though. Sirius’ appearance here complicated things somewhat, and simultaneously simplified them in other areas, it was the way of things between them. Calder didn’t hate his little brother, not by any means, but like many siblings they’d had their fair share of quarrels and given their unique talents, it had been a uniquely mutually beneficial experience for them both. Though neither of the Dylan brothers saw it as such, at least not yet.

Today, Calder was going shopping of all things, for clothes no less. A thing he’d never had to do before, as in the fey courts one’s attire is provided by one’s liege, so that you’re always showing the proper allegiance, or whatever message one’s liege wished to convey to your audience. So he was going with someone, hopefully she would be able to help him find a suitable outfit for Shard and Raven’s wedding. Calder stopped outside of Adéla’s door, and knocked, though it probably sounded like pounding, on her door thrice, before stepping back and awaiting her response. He currently wore his usual outfit, simple shorts of a thick leathery material with several magical pockets that held far more than they ought to be capable of holding. The rest of his scaly hide was unclad, as he needed no covering, and had better access to the water around him without clothes hindering him.

Adéla grumbled as she dragged herself out of bed at the sound of Calder knocking, stumbling over to the door and pulling it open. Blinking through sleep addled eyes she stared at Calder for a moment before her brain had spun up enough to make the connection. “Oh! Righ-” she broke off, looking somewhat embarassed, “Just… give me a second!” She hurriedly closed the door, stumbling back across her quarters to a small closet where she pulled out a nondescript shirt and pair of pants and speed-dressed, returning to the door in a little over two minutes, fully dressed and… mostly awake.

“Right, we’re going clothes shopping?” She clarified, “I have a few places in mind to check, unless you had somewhere you wanted to check out first? I… can’t say I’m an expert on Fae fashion styles, or any fashion styles really, so you’ll have to forgive any mistakes.”

“You can do no worse than I. I have never been permitted to acquired my own raiment before. And I have no desire or need to maintain any ties, even that of fashion, with my former masters. So lead on my bedraggled and befuddled guide, as I try not to bemoan the dismal straights I must have arrived at, to agree to being led by one as blind as I.” Calder responded lightly and glibly, quite pleased to be simultaneously living up to multiple definitions of his breeding.

Adéla’s initial appearance, while revealing, was not particularly embarrassing for the troll to witness. Fey are wild creatures, clothing is entirely optional and often purely decorative in nature. He thought nothing of her weary response to his knocking, and merely lifted a massive arm to one side, and half bowed as he spoke when she returned to the hall, physically indicating his willingness to follow her wherever she decided they should go first. He fell into step beside her, and matched her pace as the two departed the residential area of the tower.

“Riiiiiight… I think this is the place we’re looking for.” Adéla was doubtful, but she strode towards the building they had stopped at, pushing through the front doors and pausing. She’d been here once before, albeit not for her own personal use - some colonel had needed a snappy suit and been too self conscious about his masculine image to go and ask a tailor in person. So she’d been dispatched on the very productive enterprise of acquiring said suit for the man.

The tailor who owned this store hadn’t been exactly happy to hear what she needed, apparently his niece had been maimed in a bombing or something, she didn’t really know, at the time she’d still been barely scraping by in a brothel, it wasn’t as if she’d had any control over it.

She doubted he had any fond memories of her, she’d done her best to be courteous but, as a friend had put it once, “Sweetie, your definition of courteous is everyone else’s definition of uncivilized harlot.”

It had taken her a little while to realize sex didn’t always sell.

Knocking on the door, she let herself, and then Calder, in. Walking up to a man seated at a desk, preoccupied with typing something on a computer, she cleared her throat, waiting for him to look up before speaking. “We’re here to see Mr. Garcia. Reservation under the names Láska and Dylan.”

He looked up at them and immediately his brow furrowed, “What are you doing here?” He snarled, “Garcia isn’t seeing you again. Not after last time.”

Adéla sighed, she had been expecting this. “Look, this time I’m paying, and I’m not with the Blade anymore - what was I supposed to do? Tell my commander ‘no’ and get myself shot?” She fished out a small plastic chip from her pocket, “There. That should be enough to convince you I’m not here on any fishy business. My friend and I are here because we need some formal wear, and your boss is the best I know of.”

“You got shot anyways, so that’d be ‘yes’ little tempest.” Calder spoke with a voice that might be likened to slow movement of deep waters. It was inexorable in its own right, and it complimented the ironic truth quite nicely. “Mr. Garcia can honor his appointment willingly as any merchant should, or he can tarnish his reputation with petty squabbles. Which he chooses is his business, but I’ll still hear it from his own mouth, as a paying customer I’d rather like to get my money’s worth for my time. I’m afraid clerks don’t cut it, nothing personal boy.”

Calder wasn’t particularly trying to intimidate the boy, but it would be difficult not to, considering he was clearly bred and trained for war, plus fae blood always seems a little off, usually in a pleasant way, but it was a not so pleasant manner for Calder and other trolls. Calder didn’t mind doing business with a wide variety of beings, but if they couldn’t accept good coin for their services then he saw no reason to leave them in business, choking out more honest merchants. Though his definition of an honest merchant wasn’t what most beings in Galendar thought of when they heard the phrase. The boy seemed to take offense at Calder’s words and was about to respond in a rather heated manner when his lips were suddenly and inexplicably covered in ice, preventing him from speaking. Calder tried to communicate one last time with a more direct approach. “Fetch Mr. Garcia, now.” This time Calder’s voice was decidedly glacial, and left little room for wondering who had put the ice over the boy’s mouth. He wondered if the boy would need further incentive to do as he was bid, but it turned out that he didn’t. As the boy fled, Calder turned to Adéla and asked about her last visit, his voice a warm bubbling spring.

“So what’d you do the last time you were here? You might have told me we could expect such a warm welcome, I might have offered do the talking and invited you in after the deal was made; and so we might have avoided this little travesty committed in the name of good business.”

“Well, long and awkward story short, before I got to the point of being a high ranking member of the Blade myself, my boss had a ceremony to attend, and he didn’t have anything nice to wear. So he sent me and a bunch of other mooks out to go and find him a nice swanky suit.” She paused, “I came here. He hadn’t given me any money and I had almost nothing myself, so I had to threaten the poor guy into doing it for me. He wasn’t interested in sexual compensation, and I had no alternatives left.” Awkwardly shrugging, she waited patiently for his arrival. “Nothing to be done about it now, I suspect we’ll be charged a premium. But this is the best place to get some formal wear in the area.” She paused, “Well, that we can afford at any rate.”

Calder looked at Adéla askance, he probably had more than even he knew stuffed in his pockets, he’d been filling them for many years, still she wasn’t entirely wrong. He didn’t want to empty his pockets for a mere outfit. Still, perhaps it this man could make something truly remarkable. His last masters had contented themselves with glamours, cheap yet intricate marks of one’s social standing. It would be interesting to see how a real tailor’s work would compare. Calder considered responding, but a rather irate man appeared interrupting the conversation.

“What’s the meaning of this? What have you done to my man?” The man Calder presumed to be the tailor in question asked angrily. Calder replied, his voice cool and calm, “He sought to diminish your business, and to waste my time. If I have acted out of turn I apologize, I am not accustomed to the ways of this place yet. I have need of a very special set of garments, and I hear that your the man to see for such a job. Are you that man or do I seek another?” As Calder spoke, the clerk’s mouth was freed as the ice vaporized leaving him no worse for wear, though his lips were a tad cool to his inquisitive touch. Amazed and still somewhat in fear of his life, the clerk stayed back, hoping to avoid the ire of these particularly troublesome customers. The tailor, somewhat mollified, though no happier to see the customers, nodded his head and admitted that it would be all but impossible to find a better tailor than he in these parts. Calder grinned, revealing his reptilian teeth, and responded positively. “Excellent, then we need garments for a wedding of great import. Stormlord and Lady Raven have invited us to join the celebration of their union, and we require garments that fit the occasion. Do you still think you can handle the task? You may not have time to fix any mistakes, and wasting my time will not be a profitable endeavour.”

The tailor, now somewhat indignant, sniffed in disdain, and responded rather poorly. “And what makes you think you can afford my work? Last time she was here my work was taken at gunpoint. This time you won’t be able to do that as I have nothing on had for you to take.” The last he threw in Adéla’s general direction though he seemed to be above speaking to her. It made sense to Calder, though he knew the man was wrong, he also knew correcting the man would be unproductive at best, and so let the man live in his fragile fantasy for a bit longer. In response to the man’s question, Calder reached into one of his pockets and rummaged around for several minutes, mumbling something about needing to clean his pockets out at some point as he searched. Finally he pulled out one large lumpy, nugget of gold. It was on closer examination an excellently crafted bust of some otherworldly beautiful creature, the detail was simply breathtaking. Even the slightly jagged base was a nice artistic touch, if a tad too realistic.

The whole thing was just a bit too realistic in fact, as if the head had been removed from a living creature and then dipped in gold. Which wasn’t far from the truth, but this was a solid gold bust. And it hit the clerk’s desk with a solid thump, as Calder dropped it for the tailor’s examination. If that wasn’t sufficient to pay for their suits, Calder would be very suspect of the man attempting extortion.

The man’s eyes widened. Swallowing his pride he took the nugget, nodding tersely to Calder and then, looking almost as if it might kill him, to Adéla. “Very well, if you would follow me to the back, we can take measurements. Valdez, don’t think this gets you off of your shift.” The clerk nodded quickly, rushing back to his seat and casting a fearful glance over his shoulder at Calder.

Leading Adéla and Calder to a room off to the side, he put the nugget somewhere to the side and pulled a measuring tape out. “Now, whose measurements would you prefer I take first?”

Adéla shrugged, “I don’t care, do you?” She looked up at her surprisingly wealthy companion expectantly.

“You first. You know what you’re looking for, I only know what I want to convey, no point making you wait while I work out how to convey that message with a master tailor.” Calder set his mind to puzzling out how best to explain his desire to Mr. Garcia. He wanted something that conveyed the depths and intricacies of an ocean realm, but how could he tell the man what an Ocean realm was? It is vast, deep, dark, cold, and very heavy, yet vibrant, alive, and always in motion. Calder wasn’t sure how the poor man would get it all in one set of raiments but he desperately hoped that Mr Garcia could do it.

“Fair enough then.” Adéla shrugged her jacket off, tossing it onto a hook nearby and stepping forward to let the tailor begin to, reluctantly, take her measurements as she detailed exactly what she wanted. “I need a gunmetal grey suit coat styled thing, slightly longer than normal, reaching about to mid thigh. Double breasted, and lined on the interior with a graphene-dilatant armor system. The shoulders will need a silver eagle on both of them, and a silver fourragère attached at the right shoulder and near the top right button, preferably tucked under the neckflaps.” She paused, “Oh, and a thick black leather belt, you can choose what style, or however that works, since you know more about this than I do.”

And with that she was more or less done. All in all that was over faster than she’d expected. “Calder!” She called, “You’re up, good luck.”

“I shall have need of it, I think.” Calder traded places with Adéla and considered who to try and convey his desire. “I need a raiment of regal bearing that displays the might, depth, and complexity of the sea. How you choose to display that on my substantial frame, I leave to you. If you can shape your work so that the strength of the sea appears to be one and the same as my strength, you will earn a further boon.”

Mr. Garcia stood there for a moment, mouth agape and somewhat horrified, he’d been asked to turn an idea into a set of clothes. That … didn’t usually work out well. Steeling himself he began taking measurements, and examined the troll’s shorts as he did to get a feel for what he usually looked for in clothing. Clearly the troll valued practicality and durability, so perhaps a roguish look would suit him best? hmmm, ideas began to flitter through Mr. Garcia’s head and he took a few extra measurements just to be sure he had a good feel for the sheer volume of material this outfit would require.

Calder stepped back out when the man was done, a proper glint in the man’s eyes. Whatever he made would surely be a masterpiece, though it might not be the masterpiece he was looking for. Calder shrugged and walked out of the shop with Adéla. He looked up into the sky, blue above the smoky haze that covered the city. He smiled, the sky reminded him of vast oceans, and those thoughts comforted him. Glancing down to his companion, he spoke his thoughts. “Well, that’s done. Shall we enjoy the rest of the day on the town or head back to work?”

Adéla raised an eyebrow, looking back up at him, “Heading back would require helping out with the wedding preparations.” She began walking out to the car they had borrowed, “I’m content to just show up and look snappy, personally. Never really been one for weddings.” The credstick in her pocket weighed on her, she had… not been entirely truthful when she said that anything nicer than Garcia was out of her price range, but now she had even more money saved up to go and use.

Well over thirty years of money from prostitution, and forty years of actual pay stored in a secure account, in fact. Thirteen of them at the rank of colonel. She had money to spare.

She grinned. “Where do you want to go?”

“Somewhere fun, and with good food, I missed lunch today.” Calder responded easily, and with a wide toothy smile. He was glad he could relax a bit and enjoy the day. It was easy for him to get lost in his work, and there was so much to do these days. He slid into the modified back seat, that was still a tad cramped for his great bulk, and settled in to see what the day had in store for them.

Deep in the bowels beneath the Tower of Stars, a lone figure worked at a feverish pace. He stood at his workstation, the chair under him knocked aside by his frantic machinations. Holo-screens floated around him, each displaying an incomprehensible arrangement of code, calculations and abstractions. Simulations processed as quickly as the slave-processors assigned to the computational spell-engine would allow them to, each overclocked and overheating. A cloaked man tapped furiously at illusory keyboards and control panels, errant spell code swirling around him in luminous characters. Levi paid no mind to the smell of burning and electricity that surrounded him, as he had finally made a breakthrough, and would not allow this moment to pass by without taking advantage of it.

The COR LEONIS, possibly the greatest of his many inventions, was a node of energy derived from something called a "paradox code." It was, in essence, a self-sustaining perpetual energy source. It functioned as a spell that through clever coding had essentially cast itself; it fed itself the mana it generated, and perpetuated without any outside interference. Its existence was a functional proof of "one plus negative one equals one." It was an overflowing Klein bottle; a mobius strip with three sides. The COR LEONIS was a miraculous achievement of magic and science, and if ever released would likely revolutionize the world. But it was not enough.

Levi needed an energy source great enough to power a god, not a school science project. STRANGE AEON would require a charging period longer than the projected lifespan of the universe to boot up using the COR LEONIS. He needed a greater paradox code, one that drew from the well of eternity that fueled the expansion of the universe itself. Around the clock his automated spell-engines calculated, processed and simulated spell code that could possibly contribute to the divine paradox that he required. Levi compiled the data into proper spells in his waking hours, but he had been without success for over a year. But this... this had potential.

This code could possibly be the paradox great enough to bring STRANGE AEON to life. Its structure was infinitesimally complex, but at the same time beautifully simple. Levi wasn't even totally sure that it truly existed, as it seemed to disprove its own existence through the workings of its structure. Levi worked quickly, yet carefully to compile the code, as he worried that the spell could zero-sum and write itself retroactively out of reality. Possibly taking a few laws of physics with it. However, he was nearly finished, and his processors screamed as the spell achieved stability. This was it; all of the simulations confirmed it. He had achieved another paradox code.

Levi wasted no time congratulating himself. He archived the code on numerous backup drives, and immediately began to configure the code for energy production. This was a far simpler matter, and he had a make-shift experimental core functioning in minutes. He initiated the boot-sequence of STRANGE AEON's core systems, directing them to draw power from this temporary power source. Levi rushed to the hangar in his laboratory to watch his work unfold.

Bolted into place like some manner of prisoner, the humanoid form of STRANGE AEON loomed far above Levi in the hangar. The huge power conduits connected to it sparked and surged, delivering charged azoth and phlogiston to the metal behemoth. The sequence took a few minutes, and all the while his spell processors continued to boil and fume from the monstrous complexity of the paradox code. Massive, metal fingers began to twitch. Eyes that shined like twin suns opened, swiveled about, and finally settled on Levi's minuscule form, far below. Then, all went dark.

Levi's beleaguered spell processors had finally given out. From the smell, he figured that the had literally liquefied from overheating. With no more paradox code, there was no more power. In fact, all of the power to Levi's lab was out. He used GRIMOIRE to reroute the backup system to COR LEONIS, just to get the lights back on, and restored the illusion keeping STRANGE AEON's hangar hidden. It wouldn't be much longer, now. Until the machine god walked the earth, and ascended to the heavens.

Eve smiled at the Nephilim and tugged on Crow’s arm. “Excellent. You’ll get your invitation soon but you also need to get some nice clothes for the reception afterward.” Eve smiled and winked before turning and tugging Crow with her. Crow frowned as they walked away. “I’m not sure why it is you didn’t want me to talk to him. I could have said the same thing in fewer words.” Eve shook her head at Crow. “No you’re terrible at stuff like that, seriously. You’ve cost us a ton of people already.” Crow frowned. “Why doesn’t Christian just order them to be part of the Vanguard.” Eve sighed “Because it’s suppose to be a choice that we offer. It doesn’t matter that much nothing is going to happen, Christian just wanted people to help.”

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As the lights flickered back to life the figure of the Master of Word stood looming, casting a grotesque shadow on the wall even though Urthar was in a human form. His bespectacled eyes glared at Levi. “I strongly disapproved of this line of research and I don’t know why Shard let you follow this line of research. It imperils the Tower and it took Archive off line for 3.6 seconds. Archive has never been taken off line. Ever. That could have done irreparable damage to Archive which is an integral part of how the Tower functions.”

Urthar walked over and looked at the metal monstrosity lying on the table. “I’m not sure why Shard endorsed this at all. This is a terrible plan and I’m sure it will draw even more attention to the Tower from the Gods, we’ve already had Exandar descend on us in full force to try and kill us.”

Urthar peered down at the Mechanical God. “I’m amazed the Aberration Lords sanctioned such a being, was it to unseat the Gods of Galendar?” Urthar pushed his glasses a little further up on his nose as he peered at the strange being. It could certainly be the shell for Divinity but it lacked a Divine spark. That much was certain, and there was no way to artificially create a divine spark. You had to take it.

Shiba sighed as he watched the two leave but that meant that he was free to go. Shiba looked at a clock nearby and decided that it was around that time of day to go and see them. Shiba left the area deciding he didn't really need to help decorate since he is going to be a guard for the wedding. Shiba went back into the tower of Angel's landing and found a flower shop in one of the market areas and he bought flowers with his allowance because of the work he has done. The main reason he didn't steal the flowers instead was because the people he was visiting wouldn't like that.

Once it was bought Shiba walked up through Angel's landing and went to a cemetery on the middle row of the tower. The cemetery wasn't much and it wasn't anything like the mausoleum meant for the knights but it was peaceful and quiet which was what Shiba liked about it. Shiba walked down the many rows of gravestones and he found two that he wanted and he placed the flowers between the two.

The grave stones read:
Markus Akabane ****-**** devoted father and protective husband
Victoria Akabane ****-**** loving mother and loyal wife

the gravestones were those of his parents Shiba made sure to visit them regularly and give them flowers. Shiba wasn't always able to come and see them like this, the first time he did he cried and said he was so sorry for not protecting them but he was able to work through that and soon was able to visit regularly to talk and tell them what's been going on. "Hey guys, im back to tell you that I was invited to be a guard for a wedding happening tomorrow. Don't worry mom I have been cooking meals for myself just fine and not always junk food but my work isn't always able to allow me to cook. Dad Im still taking care of the gauntlets and the cloak I even added a slot for vials to be inserted so I can poison the claws. I thought the next generation would like that." Shiba said with a small smile glad to be able to talk to them and even if they were dead Shiba could still see them everyday...

---

---

---

---

Overlooking a cliff by the sea, a young man laid rested against the bark of a tall oak tree, an abundance of grass beneath his body. The sky was orange, tinted in the reflection of the setting sun, the air was cool around him as it lapped at his skin like the delicate touch of a woman. His eyes remained closed, opening ever so slightly at times to look at the orange globe as it fell into the sea. He breathed in deeply, the fresh and salty air filling his lungs, before he exhaled, his warm breath mixing with the air around him.

Peace, content, these were the feelings Gibraltar felt, that is, until he opened his eyes and the world slowly shattered around him in crystallized and digitized glyphs. He did not flinch, he did not flee, he simply closed his eyes as the void suddenly engulfed him, complete darkness.

….
RECHARGE COMPLETED
….
….
….
STANDBY FOR ACTIVATION

A sudden whirring filled his ears as his ocular receiver gave him vision once more, his Heads Up Display loading the vast programs that filled his field of view with a consistent flow of information. Fluorescent lights slowly increased in intensity as his ‘bed’ began to activate, he could feel the various cables popping off his metallic body and the neural uplink attached to the base of his neck disconnecting him from his ‘dreams’. He felt the casket like device lift up and the doors slid open before him, steam exhaling like a dragon breathing in slumber.

ACTIVATION COMPLETE

Gibraltar took in his surroundings, he was in Lethal’s workshop, and just like always, so was Lethal. Over by her workstation, working on some project of hers as sparks sputtered and flew, the tiny robot ROB-CAM overlooking her work with quite a bit of fascination as it pattered about observing all the different angles as she worked tirelessly on...whatever. Servos began to whir to life and Gibraltar stepped out of his station, slowly approaching his mechanical confidant who either didn’t notice his ‘revival’ or was simply too busy with her work to care.

”Good morning Abiteth,” His deep, slightly robotic voice greeted the young woman, ”What is on the agenda for today?”

---

With the play button pressed in, an old transceiver device statically released a classical song of a world’s past. The music resounded throughout the lab which resembled that of a junkyard. A woman with long, silver hair and charcoal spots on her half seared face stood under her 1966 GAZ 21 Volga that was lifted above ground with her car jacks. A seemingly old-fashioned cigarette laid between her lips as smoke leaked out without any movement of her face or body.

Still. Calm. Motionless.

Simple work goggles covered her eyes as she looked up at her old timer. Her untidy hair was tied up by a stiff rubber band, her left bangs falling in front of her facial blemish. She wore army green cargo pants, a midriff red vest with a black crop underneath it, and a tool belt around her waist. Along with all that, she held an electrical car plier in one hand and an electromagnetic drill in the other.

There was no telling how she felt. Her face was expressionless, lips slightly ajar due to her poisonous addiction, and her eyes were hidden behind black tint lenses. Smog surrounded the area, all which came out of her cigarette that released smoke like a cigar.

A little robot wobbled into the musky cloud as sparks began to fly. It’s rusty gears turning on the inside and oil dripping from it’s hinges, as it whirred closer to it’s master. The fumes that ascended into the air from it’s back tank amplified the massive cloud that had already been created. The robot’s forehead blinked red like a beacon light informing the woman that it was recording her escapades. Though the lens were visually impaired due to the smoke, which wasn’t an unusual occurrence, the robot was set on heat sensor mode and was able to see the mechanic and the car through the toxin.

The woman was lost in her work, forgetting time itself. This car would be her forever project, constantly improving it, always wanting to make it deceivingly misleading yet incredibly better than any of those newer models.

This was her life.

There was no need to dream bigger dreams. As long as she could immerse herself in the dangerous world of technology, the stoic woman would be satisfied. Of course, there was also her knightly duties for the Tower but they understood her needs or at least, they kept her… entertained. Working here killed time, gave her something to do, let her put her friend through life threatening tests, and the majority of ground 0 was her playground! The deal was great even if she had to interact with more people than she would like to.

The hard steps and deep voice of Gibralter pierced through her concentration. Ah, yes. Her name was Abiteth. Not many people were permitted to call her the name given to her by her father and that wretched whore she knew nothing about. This cyborg of a man was an exception since her father gained a liking to him, finding him to be useful and good natured. A man to watch over his daughter as his daughter used the man however she pleased. Sounds sexual right? Unfortunately, neither cyborg nor mechanic had any interest in the other romantically. Hell, she couldn’t even feel remorse after ‘accidentally’ exploding a church during a funeral ceremony.

Putting the pliers in a pouch on her tool belt and handing the drill to ROB, the woman gingerly made her way out from under her car, out of the smoke, and to the hulk of a man she accepted into her life.

Removing her goggles and resting the eyepiece on her head, revealing her crimson red eye and an indiscernible charred eyelid, Lethal flatly replied, ”Check in. See if we’re needed for a...”

Pause. Let the next word sink in.

“Wedding.” The last word might have had a pinch of annoyance added to the blandness of her voice. The mechanic did not find such occasions worth the hype, especially when she had better things to do in the comfort of her lab. Grabbing a rag off the nearest work table and wiping the grime out of her hands, she looked up at Gibralter and muttered, ”Word goes around fast.”

---

”A wedding?” It was subtle, but when Lethal mentioned the word her tone had changed ever so slightly. Raising a hand up to his visor, he started searching through Archive’s database as information flooded at the speed of thought across his HUD. It’s not like his fingers activated his HUD, he could do that at will, but he liked to at least let people know that he was either looking something up or at the very least busy at the moment, plus it was...impolite to do it without the person knowing.

An image of a wedding memo popped up in his vision, holding his arm up the glyphs on it began to glow as they floated up and formed a digitized image of what he was looking at in front of Lethal. ”The Lord of Storms is to be wed to Lady Marrowfell, a wondrous occasion for all to come.” He read the words aloud on the digital pamphlet.

”Well, let us check in. I don’t believe we will be needed for the wedding preparations, the tower hands will more than likely have that assigned to them. No if anything, we will most likely be asked to be a part of the vanguard or some type of honor gua-.”

The image suddenly evaporated from his vision and forearm, curious. He tried accessing Archive, it was offline; curiouser. The lights in the workshop started flickering too as he looked up at them, were they under attack? No, there was no seismic activity, perhaps a powersurge? Archive reactivated after a temporary disabling.

”Archive just went offline, it’s back up, checking the source of the power disruption; standby.” After a brief search he discovered one of labs as being the source, should they go check on it? No...Urthar was already there, he disengaged Archive before answering Lethal again, ”We’re not needed, the Master of Words is already investigating the matter, for now, we’ll need to go and perform the check in.”

Stepping back to his station he retrieved his sword, attaching it to his back via a magnetic plate and holstering his handgun after checking its ammo contents. ”Shall we?”

---

Having placed the drill on a low shelf, ROB’s small footsteps clanged throughout the lab, starting from the car and drawing closer to the two individuals that have been heavily implanted in it’s memory card. Over the years of constantly documenting Lethal’s endeavors, the machine had grown an odd, artificial attachment to her cyborg companion. The music abruptly went on and off, on and off, and eventually started playing backwards. The sound that was being produced now from the device screeched, almost like a demonic fiend screaming, and ROB made aware of Lethal’s twitchy eye. After the heat sensor disengaged, having left out of the smoke, the machine’s lense switched to aura sensory mode.

Staring wide-eyed at it’s master (not because it was surprised, it simply had a big lense), the robot saw a light shade of orange, which symbolized a growing aggression. Though Lethal was great at keeping her emotions to herself, when she actually felt something, the robot was always prepared, constantly analyzing the flowing numbers around him. An area had so much information to it. Anyone who came down here could assume a couple things about Lethal, but ROB CAM was capable of dissecting and reading an area to its core. His lense would extend out and find all the possible clues that led to better understanding Lethal, Gibralter, and the building itself. The robot’s previous owner had given it the ability to prevent possible mishaps or at least foresee an issue before it could occur. Luckily, Lethal was only annoyed. If her aura was red… then there would be a problem.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

The robot teeter-tottered toward the music player and pulled the cord out from the outlet making the room completely silent. Bringing its attention back to it’s master, ROB observed quietly as her aura turned to an earthy brown… relaxed, calm, at peace. When foolish individuals interrupted Lethal’s tranquility, attunement with her classical music, and her passion for steel and technology… someone, more often than not, died.

Power surges were not common occurrences in the Tower, the cold hearted woman could suspect someone was the cause behind it but her care to investigate was nonexistent.

Both Lethal’s comrade and ROB had one thing in common, they both resolved predicaments before they could occur; perks of being a machine or having been transformed into one. The robot knew it’s master wasn’t unreasonable and irrational (for the most part). However, past events have made it absolutely necessary to constantly take precautions.

After Gibralter had spoken, ROB’s computer synthesized, high-pitched, unisex vocalizer ‘happily’ uttered, ”I’m on a seafood diet. I see food and I eat it! End Log Set H #55,836.” The red light on it’s forehead stopped blinking and the recording was stored in the database within it’s metal plated chest.

Not saying anything in response to her comrade, Lethal tossed her cigarette in a disintegrated, non flammable trash can, and removed her lab tool belt, replacing it with her repair tool belt. Taking another cigarette out of her right pocket, the mechanic pressed it against her metal, demonic sigil ring, and quickly dragged it against it causing it to burn. Placing it in between her lips and nonchalantly shoving her hands in her pocket, she muttered, ”Let’s go.” and strolled out of her lab, with ROB following behind next.

A creeping monstrosity slithered its way into Levi's laboratory. The Magus did nothing to hide the look of disgust that crossed his face as the Master of Words came into view. An aberrant monstrosity, in the guise of an impotent, self-aggrandizing bureaucrat. A terrible creature that passed itself off as something even more terrible. It made Levi's skin crawl to think that the blood of anything remotely similar flowed through his own veins. He nearly spat at the Master's feet, but this time managed to restrain himself.

He made no effort to welcome the intruder, instead kneeling at the central core of his spell engine to assess the damage done. As Urthar ranted at him, Levi pried one of the sleek machine's panels off to get at its inner workings. The panel was somewhat melted on, and so Levi grunted and strained to remove it; his well-trained musculature making itself clear as he flexed and pulled on the metal sheet. Finally, it came off, and Levi crawled partly inside of the coffin-sized computer core. This was a particular type of spell engine of his own design, but nothing terribly extraordinary. Essentially an adaptable spell-code transmitter and computer; GRIMOIRE was based on similar technology.

Just as he thought, the processors had utterly burned out. The smell of electrical fire and melted silicon was thick inside of the case. The damage had even spread to other components, which would also need to be replaced. He sighed; these parts would take days to synthesize and replace. Levi's excitement from his earlier discovery was utterly gone at this point, between the considerable damage to his computer mainframe and his utterly uninvited guest.

Grunting and crawling out of the large computer case, Levi responded gruffly to the admonishment of the Master. "Spare me your sanctimonious demagoguery." He rose to his full height, taller than Urthar's hunched form, righted his chair and hung his cloak over the back of it. "If you and the rest of the feeble souls in this Tower wish to continue to live as fearful rodents under the looming heel of the gods, so be it." He wiped the sweat, dust and loose azoth from his hands with a towel on a nearby workbench, still not looking at Urthar. "Just leave me out of it. My work is sanctioned by the Grand Master, and that is all the explanation I owe to the likes of you." He lit up a cigarette from a packet also on his bench, and finally turned to look at the Master of Words, contemptuously puffing on his smoke. "Regarding the predecessor of this project, I suggest you consult your vaunted Archives rather than wasting my time." Levi summoned GRIMOIRE, and turned his attention to the holographic interface of the spellbook floating over his free hand. "You know where the door is."

With a blink Urthar didn’t bother to acknowledge that Levi was being foolishly rude. Most disrespect came from an over inflated ego and the thought that it was safe to insult beings that could wipe you from the face of existence with a twitch of their hand. Urthar calmly propped himself on his cane as Levi continued to work on his science project. Atleast he was persistent and relatively proficient. Then again Christian rarely took on those without skill; fools certainly could be tolerated if they had a useful skill.

“I think you will find The Stormlord and his Knights do not fear the Gods.” Urthar inspected the metal shell as he ignore Levi’s disrespectful tone. It was a pitiful attempt at best. The fool was still using metals from this reality; eyeing the spell book Levi toted with him Urthar cocked an eyebrow. Atleast he was trying to use infinity to power it but it was still a less than incredible attempt. Given a few more decades the man might produce something more interesting as far as the Master of Word was concerned.

“Well, Now that I see the progress I think I understand the Stormlords lack of fear as far as this project is concerned.” Peeling back reality Urthar peered into the inner workings of the machine, it was crude. It would certainly be interesting if he managed to find a Divine spark. Tilting his head Urthar kept peering; it was ingenious for a mortal that was for sure. With a shrug Urthar set a small piece of glass on the work table. “The Stormlord request your presence for his wedding, it’s not a request. Turning it down would be unwise as this sort of research would probably draw unwanted attention without the protection of the Avatar of Storms.” Turning Urthar walked to the door and pulled it open. Without a word he passed through the door and the alien presence that followed the man everywhere receded as he descended deeper into the foundations of the Tower.

Urthar waited patiently in underground practice room. He’d given Adéla the directions to reach it. It shouldn’t be hard for her since the glamour wouldn’t affect her. Come to think of it that probably needed to change so that he didn’t have a problem other Aberrants. It was time to start teaching her how to use actual magic. The transformation were all well and good but the real magic would take time. She would absolutely have to learn how to mindfray, infact she would learn if it killed her.

Adéla made her way as quietly as she could to the room Urthar had indicated. She knew she was going to be learning more advanced uses of Aberrant magic, but exactly what she didn’t have the slightest idea.

Arriving in a small room, she realized that the area would’ve probably been protected by some illusion that’d keep prying minds away, but obviously had little effect on her - the reason being just as obvious. Opening the only door she could see, she emerged into another room, much bigger than the previous however, and with an occupant this time.

“Hello.” She greeted him, “So what are we doing now?”

Urthar nodded towards a golem at the other end of the room. “Time to learn how to use some of your magic, transformations work really well but the problem is that even for us some of the creatures of Galendar are simply physically too powerful. That being said. Our magic is next to unstoppable against lesser wills.” Urthar made a sick chuckle through his tentacles. “And quite effective on those of equal or more powerful wills.” Urthar walked over to Adéla and used his will to jerk the Golem forward. “Let us start with mindfray. It is one of the best ways to damage an enemy. Because it targets their will.” Urthar turned on the golem, drew up his magic and slammed the Golem with the magic. Instead of targeting the body he sent the magic straight at its will. ”Aim for the Will, grab ahold of the magic and through it straight through the outer shell of the being that you wish to hurt.”

Adéla wasn’t quite sure what exactly the Master of Word meant when he said, “Aim for the Will”. Perhaps it was because of her complete and utter lack of knowledge regarding magic, albeit now increased a little due to exhaustive research into the nature of Aberrant magic, but nothing she’d read had mentioned aiming for someone’s Will…

“Eh… if you don’t mind,” she paused, looking somewhat apprehensive, “Could you explain what you mean by ‘aim for the Will’ perhaps? I’m not really sure what you mean.”

Urthar stepped up behind her and put his hands on either side of her head and dug around in her head for a moment before finding her senses. Ah that was the problem With a twitch of magic Urthar pressed Adéla’s magical senses open more. “That should be enough of a kick start for your senses to start developing at a faster pace. Now look again, this time instead of using your mortal eyes do your best to ignore them and use your other senses” Urthar stepped back from her and gestured again. “A being’s Will is what defines its existence and how much of an effect they have on reality. Our magic can damage that, in Galendar we can even go as far as forcing this reality to erase its own inhabitants if enough magic and Will is brought against a target. For the most part Mindfray will only make it harder for your enemy to focus, use magic and fight but if you apply enough magic and force…’ Urthar stepped around her again for a moment and let loose at torrent of Void magic that erased the Golem’s Will from existence. For a moment the Golem hung limply before reality warped on itself. The Golem contorted in on itself before a tearing sound followed by a crunch and with that it was simply gone. “I doubt you can manage that much magic and you still lack an Aberrant will but you can still apply the basic principles of Mindfray. It is what makes our kind so dangerous. No magic in Galendar can target a Will like we can. Not even the Avatars or the God Weapons can do what Mindfray can do. The problem is that we are forced to play by Galendar’s rules, it would be simple to extinguish a Will from Galendar if they were in the Void. Here, it is less simple. Think of it like breaking the rules in a game. If you know how to not get caught it makes life simpler; but you always have to take extra pains not to get caught.” Settling in another Golem stepped from a wall alcove. “Alright now, use your senses and use the void magic you absorbed against the Golem’s Will directly.”

Adéla nodded, only half paying attention as she focused on the golem. She still absorbed what Urthar had said of course, she’d developed a keen skill at hearing what others were saying while simultaneously not listening to them with any real attentiveness. Everything he said about breaking the rules and how she didn’t have an ‘Aberrant’ Will -whatever that meant, she would have to ask- registered in her mind, but most of her attention was focused on the dazzling array of sensory information she was suddenly receiving. It wasn’t like she could hear better, or smell better, it was like allowing a colorblind person to see in red as well as yellow and blue, or even growing eyes when before there had been none.

Mild overstatement, but she breathed in and focused, seeing the golem in front of her, and then… not. In front of her she could discern some sort of… something, there weren’t exactly words to describe it for regular human sight, but it was something else certainly. A smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth and she raised her hand, feeling what little of the arcane power of the void she currently held flow through it. With unrefined and inexperienced motions she cast the power coursing through her hand at the Will in front of her, attacking it as viciously as she could with her limited skill at magic of any sort. She did make a conscious effort to restrain herself somewhat, not wanting to bleed herself dry already.

The impact battered the form of the golem’s Will, or at least how she perceived it. It seemed faded and much… less. While in the real world it didn’t seem to have suffered any serious damage, it was easy to tell that it was not all there anymore. Turning to Urthar, she raised an eyebrow, “So… how was that?”

Urthar tilted his head as he studied the Will. “That was actually rather good considering that you are about as magical as a rock. Or were I should say. No offense.” Urthar placed his hand on her shoulder and replaced her magic that she had expended with the Mindfray. “Give it a few more tries and get a feel for targeting the Will, then I will teach you how to degrade substance. Once you know how to do both of those things then it is simply a matter of teaching you how to combine: creating, destroying, and transforming to achieve the desired effect.” Urthar settled back again to let Adéla work.

All things considered the woman was taking quite well to the training. Urthar had a sneaking suspicion it was largely due to the fact that he didn’t have to undo any prior magical training that she had. Galendar and Void magic didn’t mix, they were simply incompatible. Although it was certainly odd that Adéla had such an aptitude for Void magics. As soon as she had that down it would be time to teach her anti-magic but all in good time. The next step was learning how to actually channel void magic into the material plane and for that she would have to master the Void blast spell. Not difficult but it was the basis for most other destructive void magics.

“Let me know when you are finished and we can move on to teaching you how to use a Void blast”

-----

Adéla grinned as the golem in front of her vanished into the void of nothingness. It had taken several attacks, and she herself felt a little winded, but she had actually managed to kill it without ever touching it once.

She’d used magic!

Containing her inner desire to hop and skip around like someone an eighth of her age, she turned to Urthar. “So, think I’ve managed the ‘targeting the Will’ bit, yet?” She allowed herself the ghost of a grin, eager to continue this learning, “I think you mentioned degrading substances next? Could you elaborate on that, perhaps?”

Urthar jerked another Golem out of its alcove and set it slightly farther away. “Yes, you have to manifest the void energy and use it to destroy things. So a Void blast is where you convert raw void magic into a destructive magic which tears apart substances in Galendar.” Urthar converted his magic and flung a blast of magic the length of the room. It slammed into the Golem and tore it to pieces. “This one is going to be a little more difficult, since you actually have to make the magic manifest itself in order to use it.” Urthar stepped back and let her give it a shot.

“So instead of attacking the metaphysical, we’re simply attacking the physical?” Adéla raised an eyebrow. It seemed relatively simple, not all that different from changing her physical form, in that she was affecting the physical world, it was just a little more long distance this time.

Letting the magic within her well up once more, she breathed deeply, letting herself see the target before pushing the energy coursing through her body out, forcing it into a hostile form and hurling the manifested bolt of Void energy at the golem with all her metaphysical might. The shot impacted it and, while not tearing it to pieces such as Urthar’s had done, blasted sizeable chunks off of it and sent it reeling back. The hint of a grin tugged at the corners of her mouth again, but she still managed to keep it in check, “And?” she asked, “How was that?”

Urthar nodded. “Well done. Next time when you use it, don’t think of it as hitting the Golem with the magic think of the magic as a solvent. Our magic deteriorates Galendar’s physical world, so instead of using it as a bludgeoning tool use it as a means of getting the world to crumble. Its a matter of breaking apart things on a lower level of matter. Our magic is a universal solvent. All of Galendar’s material can be bathed in it and reduced by it.”

Urthar stepped back to let Adela try again. The woman’s knack for Void magic was startling to say the least. Then again Urthar had the sneaking suspicion that her lineage was probably from one of the Outer Gods and not one of the Firstborns that they had spawned and who typically sired such half breeds.

The fact that she was so effortlessly good at this befuddled Adéla as well. She wasn’t exactly an expert when it came to magical theory, but one idea surfaced as she prepared another bolt of energy.

Focusing the, in her mind corrosive, energies into a bolt of what she understood to be essentially anti-energy, she let fly at the golem again, this time taking into account Urthar’s advice about dissolving the target, rather than blasting it apart. She wasn’t destroying it with raw power, rather… violently disassembling a machine without bothering to keep the parts intact for rebuilding it. The bolt flew true and slammed into the golem, finishing off what she hadn’t been able to do before and she watched with glee as it crumbled.

Practically beaming, she turned to Urthar, “And, how was that?” And then her question came back to her, “And also, do you think the reason I couldn’t use Galendar’s magic whatsoever could explain how I’m able to do all this easily? You haven’t said anything, but I can tell this shouldn’t be going so quickly or smoothly. Perhaps I’m hardwired for the Void?”

Urthar pondered for a moment. “That is a serious consideration, it would make sense given your total lack of magic up to this point.” Studying the rubble Urthar continued to ponder. “I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised, it’s just unfortunate that you have such a small pool of magic and a normal will.” Urthar absently summoned another golem for further practice.

It was amazing that Adéla had ended up at the Tower, it was at least relatively common in the rather rare instances of the Aberrant bloods appearing for their initial transformation to get them killed. Adéla was probably one of the only Aberrant bloods not only in existence but she was unique in that she was receiving any training at all. Urthar’s thoughts turned to the Lieutenants that had escaped after the first war. If he had felt the Outer door open no doubt they had as well. And if they had found other Aberrant bloods… That train of thought did not bode well.

Turning back to Adéla, Urthar pushed the Golem back to its alcove. “You still need more training, as good as you are, you will need to be able to defend yourself and other Aberrants will resist your magic. Lucky that you are quite versed in martial combat, that will help as many of the other Aberrants rely on their magic and brute strength.”

This time Urthar took up the Golem’s place on the other side of Adéla. “Anti-magic. The only form of Galendar magic that our kind can use as it is actually a derivative of void magic. Megelis is one of the most powerful Anti-mages that I have ever met. I doubt if you will be able to achieve that level of proficiency as quickly but it is important for you to learn how to use it.” Urthar conjured up a void blast. It was significantly more concentrated than Adéla’s. “As long as you are in your human form, if you fail to turn it aside then it will simply tear off your human form. Keep in mind that our outer skin is protective in nature, but if you get hit with something incredibly powerful it will still hurt your Aberrant form. Now, when you draw on your magic filter it through Galendar. The idea is to degrade the spell, think of it as dissolving the incoming magic much the same way you did the golem. You don’t have to meet it with exactly the same amount of force that is being used, just enough to get the spell to fall apart.” Pausing for a moment Urthar continued ‘You have two other options: meet it with exactly the same amount of force or more and this will cancel the aggressive spell. While it's a highly intensive way to do it, it is a sure fire way to keep you from getting hit. The last option is to hit the spell with less force but instead of trying to dissolve it, add a direction to it, it will adjust the trajectory of the incoming spell. Dangerous but an option when you are desperate.”

With that Urthar held up his hand and fired the Void blast at Adéla.

“All I’ve had to work with for the past eighty six years has been martial prowess, tech, and smarts.” Adéla commented, looking over at him, “I like to think I’m half decent at all three.”

She wasn’t fully prepared for the blast as Urthar sent it, and reacted instinctively, similarly to how she might’ve had it been a physical attack. It’d been an old and painful lesson that simply meeting raw power with raw power wasn’t the smart way to do things - the simplest way perhaps, and certainly an option, but not really one for her. Before she’d recieved her cybernetics and subsequently achieved far greater strength than most anyone could unaided, she’d been fairly low on the totem pole of physical prowess.

As such, she’d ingrained in herself an instinct to simply redirect whatever came at her. Why bother meeting force with force, when you could redirect the attack and throw the attacker off balance?

So she did so. Channeling the magic in her body again, she sent out a pulse of her own energy to intercept the blast. Hitting it away from her, a thought came to mind and, with a second pulse of energy against the now redirected blast, sent it hurtling back towards its caster. She hadn’t been expecting that to work, and it hadn’t been entirely intentional, but now she was curious to see how the Master of Word would react to something she didn’t even know was possible, let alone could do.

Urthar smiled and brushed his hand through the air. The bolt of magic disappeared into a warped version of Urthar hand. “very good, you’re learning.” It was certainly an interesting response to the magic being hurled at her. That being said she still had much to learn. “You’ll excuse me if I neglected to include simply absorbing the magic, it is much more difficult than it seems. I think that is enough for now. If you wish to practice anything else you are welcome to use these rooms and you may call on me at your leisure”

'Did he really just leave without taking me out for breakfast?'

The thought crossed Bunny's mind as Izual left her apartment. He was a really sweet guy and all, but he didn't know a damned thing about being romantic. Grouchily, the green haired woman wrapped the bed's sheet around her body before getting out of bed. She wasn't going to be a constant one night stand for him, no matter how good he was! If Izual was going to be with her, then he was going to treat her right. At least take her out for breakfast! Her feet carried her over to her sniper rifle, propped up against the corner of the room. Cradling her Longbow with loving arms, the young Paladin strode out onto her tiny balcony. From this vantage point, she could see everything along the main road. Finding her lover would be a breeze.

Perching the rifle against the balcony's metal railing, she hunched over and peeked through the scope. There wasn't a huge crowd along the streets right now, although Bunny was sure that would change later on, considering the upcoming wedding between Christian and Raven. Thoughts of the wedding reminded her that she still needed to get a dress for the reception. Maybe she'd go with a sea green color? Or perhaps yellow? Bunny would definitely need help since her color choices tended to be limited on a account of her vibrantly green hair.

From what she could see through her scope, there weren't many horned denizens walking around. In fact, she happened upon Izual's form rather quickly due to a familiar pair of undergarments wagging in the air. Immediately, Bunny's face went red with embarrassment. '...Did he really walk out like that? How can he be so dense?!' Her head was filled with questions that she couldn't answer. The Paladin carefully lined up her target reticule with the back of the Hellspawn's head, and without too much consideration, pulled the trigger.

A rather loud thump resonated out from the rifle's muzzle and a yellow line of condensed particles accelerated out faster than the speed of sound, impacting Izual with enough force to knock him face down. The poor Knight never even saw it coming. Involuntarily, as if every muscle in his body was being shocked, he began twitching and writhing around on the ground. People started to scream and holler at the sound of Bunny's gunshot, and most of those around immediately fled the vicinity. The woman was used to the spectacle, recounting the many times she'd eliminated a target in broad daylight. She never thought she'd have to do this to a lover though.

Satisfied, Bunny quickly dressed herself in her usual military outfit, did her hair, and made her way outside to ensure the horned man was okay. Hopefully, Izual got this message through his skull.

Izual was still stunned by the time Bunny got to him, a couple well-to-do locals attempting to stay his seizure. "He's okay! Move along, please! I'm a Paladin, don't worry. The situation is totally under control!" a cutesy tone rang from the woman's voice, shooing the onlookers away. Standing over the Knight, she was actually surprised to see that he was still convulsing. "I thought you'd be fine by now with the endurance you show in bed..." she muttered in disappointment. Sighing, Bunny supposed she'd have to get him medical attention or else he'd be like this for half the day. So much for a breakfast date!

Flipping him over and grabbing his ankles, the woman began to drag the paralyzed Izual towards the Tower of Stars with surprising strength. Luckily, it wasn't too far off.

---

By the time Bunny had made it inside the Tower, checked both of them in, and dragged Izual into an elevator, she was sweating and out of breath. The Hellspawn didn't look like he weighed all that much, but looks were definitely deceiving. On top of that, she was also lugging around her sniper rifle. The trip down gave her a moment of reprieve and a chance to breathe a little. So maybe her idea to shoot him hadn't been the wisest idea. However, Bunny wasn't going to deny that it hadn't felt great. He'd walked out on her too many times like that! It was about time he learned a lesson!

A soft ding alerted the Paladin that she was finally on the floor she needed to be on. Groaning at the prospect of hauling Izual around more, she cracked her knuckles and got to it. Exiting the elevator and pulling the Knight's body out with her back to the hallway, she noticed the lighting was much more dim than she remembered. Then she felt a soft push against her back as she bumped into someone. "Eep!" she cried, immediately dropping Izual's feet to the ground and turning to face the unidentified person.

That unidentified person turned out to be two people. There was the menacing, tall, and bulky looking half-orc cyborg along with a similarly terrifying woman with bangs covering her left eye. She'd never seen either one of them before. Behind them, large doors led to gods knew what. In fact, the entire hallway looked like a cellar. "Oh... this is definitely not the medical bay." Her grey eyes suddenly went from Izual's flailing body to the two scary people she had walked into. Coming down to the last level with an incapacitated person definitely did not look like she was up to any good.

"Err... I'm Bunny, a Paladin, and this is Izual, a Knight. I shot him! I mean, I mean... Like, I didn't kill him. He's just stunned for a little while. I'm trying to get him medical attention!" she explained poorly, wincing at her own description. Suddenly, she spotted that her panties were still hanging from Izual's horn. Her hand shot and out and plucked them from their resting place before pocketing them. "Those are mine! Err.." She quickly covered her mouth to prevent her from saying anything more.

'Too much information, too much information!'

Bunny just knew she was about to be arrested or something. There was so much wrong with this situation.

---

Collab with @Themerlinhawk

---

The day was bright, and the wind was strong, in the cemetery. Ao'drial stood alone, walking among the graves. The dark-haired elf knew each and every one of those buried here. From graves hundreds of years old, to ones much more recent, it was a catalogue of friends he had failed to save. Sometimes, he came here to simply remember each one, to make sure their faces and names didn’t get lost to the ocean of time. However, today was a special day. It was the anniversary of the day he had lost his oldest, and best friend. ‘Livvy…. the poor Human who had first accompanied him on his travels. Neither of them knew what they were getting into, or what would happen. Now that he was much, much older, Ao could only look back at the past, and wish for change.

Heading over to her weathered tombstone which stood in unusually sharp relief, he placed his hand on the top of it, and murmured, ”Dearest Olivia… My only hope was ever that you found some measure of peace before you passed.” Sighing, he tossed a single white rose on the ground in front of the stone, and turned to walk away.

The flapping of dark feathered wings heralded Crow’s arrival. Standing further back he observed Ao’s movements among the tombstones. The cemetery was one of Crow’s least favorite places. It was a place for memories as opposed to a place of learning. Leaving Ao long enough to finish his walk Crow took note of the name on the tombstone. Approaching as Ao walked away Crow caught his attention. “I hate it out here. Were you close to her?” The statement was direct and lacked tact but it was to the point.

Ao looked at the… interesting individual in front of him, golden irises scanning the man’s form. Definitely a bit of djinni in him, with something else he couldn’t identify. Maybe orc or something. Anyway, the man had asked him a question, and Ao would respond. Ao couldn’t stand people dancing around the point, but this question was one he could answer.

”Can’t see why you’d hate it, to each his own, I guess, but yes, I was. It was centuries ago that she died, but I like to come out here in honor of her and all the others who lay on this plot,” Ao waved his hand at the gated-off section of the cemetery, and continued, ”I knew them all. And they all died. So I feel as if, over the centuries, I owe them this much, at least.”

Slowing his walk, until he stood in front of the slightly shorter man, Ao looked deep into his eyes, the golden irises a mark of his heritage of the djinni. ”You’ll find, man, that when you get to be as old as me, you’ll have a lot more regrets than you think you will. So, what can I help you with? I can only assume it isn’t for a social call.”
“I’m looking for people to join the Honor Guard for Shard and Raven’s wedding. I’ve recruited the Knights who can fly but we still need a few dozen for the ground and onboard Blackwing. You are on the list of people who Shard wanted me to ask. So I’m asking.”

Ao looked at the man intently at the mention of Shard’s name. Whatever it was, Ao could almost certainly spare time for it. ”Well, if the man himself asked for me, then I could hardly refuse, no? Not that I would in the first place, but… damn. I’m actually pretty honored that I’ll be there in the first place, much less being a part of the honor guard. So count me in.”

It was odd realizing that Ao was older than him. It seemed strange but he was actually a relatively new addition to the Tower’s Knights even though he’d been there for a few centuries. The cemetery was really starting to grate on his nerves. He could hear the dead just out of earshot. The veil was thin here unlike the morgue. It was odd to say such a thing since the morgue was practically the center of death in the Tower but for some reason the study of death seemed to dilute its effect on thinning the veil.

Looking up Crow watched as Vulture circled in the air above him. “Its because I can hear them. I’m a Necromancer, and I’m a Ghost Walker which means that I can usually see the ethereal dead and I can hear them most of the time. Even the ones who have passed through the veil. Cemeteries have thin Veils so it's easier to hear them.”

Ao listened to the necromancer’s statement silently. ”I have met one of your kind, once. She was absolutely mad after three hundred years of living in the remains of a fallen people. She said something about the screaming dead. So I can understand why you’d not enjoy this place.” Nodding at the graves he had just walked through, he said, ”However, that brings me a modicum of peace. I don’t know if they can hear me or not, or if they blame me, but I’m glad there’s a chance at all that they might hear.”

“Do you want to know?” Crow cocked his head at Ao as he surveyed the tombstones. “I could part the Veil if you wished to speak with them.” It was an unusual offer but it was part of why Yishreenok had given him the power for that purpose after all. To deal with the dead was the reason.

Ao was startled by the offer. Talk with his long-dead friends? His comrades, his family? He…. wanted that, but he wasn’t quite sure if it was such a good idea, disturbing them. ”Well, only if they’re willing, and it wouldn’t disturb them, but yes, I would.” How many times had Ao wished that he had gotten one last chance to speak with them? How many times had Ao suffered under the fist of Unvaris, unable to find closure? He had found it, but it still left a hole, an empty feeling. If… if he could just speak to them one last time, then he could find true closure.

“Who do you want to speak to?” Crow held out his left arm and Vulture landed on it. It was all but a crash landing as the large awkward bird was not good on the landings. “Its easier if its just one person but I can call up as many spectres as you wish to speak to so long as Yishreenok doesn’t object.” Reaching into his bag he produced a single silver bell. Tarnished from age the item was strange to look at it seemed to tug at the strings of the soul pulling at the edges of life. “Probably best to start with one. As for objections we won’t know until I pierce the veil. Probably best to stay away from calling up someone you have your doubts about.” With that Crow tilted his head questioningly.

Ao stopped breathing for a second. This was really happening. Who did he want to talk to, most of all, out of all of them? Without question, it was Olivia.

”Her name is Olivia Alibester. If- if you could let me talk to her….” Normally he wouldn’t be this emotional, but… this was ‘Livvy he was talking about.

Crow pointed at her tombstone. “That’s her right?” Crow walked over to the tombstone and pointed. It had the name but he wanted to be sure before he lifted the veil for Ao. “I can bring her across for a little bit, but something more permenant would require more setup. An anchor. Other things like that. Add then of course there are matters of paying for her to come to this side permanently…” Crow trailed off as he looked at Ao. “You’ve never met a real Necromancer have you?”

Ao nodded. ”That’s her grave.” Then, he shook his head. ”I don’t want her back forever. She deserves her rest. I just… want to talk to her again. And I have met plenty of Necromancers. Just none as powerful as you. Remember, it’s a big world, and there are more Death Wardens than there will ever be Ghost Walkers at any given time.”

Crow raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t know, you’d have to ask Lazarus. He’s Yishreenok’s Avatar. Frankly I’ve only ever done what Vulture tells me to do; so I don’t know all that much about the other Necromancers.” Ringing the bell over the grave he pulled on the veil parting it. Crow’s eyes blazed with black fire he suddenly sprouted wings of black fears and dark fire. “The Croweater demands an audience with the dead. Return and face the world you left behind. Plunging both hands forward Crow peeled back the veil slowly before stepping back. “If she comes she will appear shortly if she doesn’t then she either doesn’t wish to come or she is not on the other side of the Veil. If that is the case she is trapped somewhere on this side of the Veil.” Stepping back Crow walked a polite distance away.

At first, nothing happened. Ao was confused, didn’t he say she would appear- Suddenly, she faded into his vision, and Ao gasped. ”L-Livvy?” Falling to his knees, Ao gaped as she appeared before him, just as he remembered her in life. Long brown hair, perfect face, cute freckles, deep brown eyes.... He had forgotten how beautiful she was.

”Ao, I know why you wanted me to come.” She shook her head and smiled, leaning in close. ”It wasn’t your fault. It never was. So stop blaming yourself, darling, for my choice. Go on with your life. Stop coming here every year, while I enjoy your voice, you’re not truly living while you hold on.

Ao’s heart was breaking, but he managed to nod, choked up as he was. ”But- but-.... I understand, ‘Livvy. I will still miss you, you know.”

The smile she gave in return was absolutely heartrending, but she said, as she faded into the great beyond, ”I wouldn’t expect anything else, Ao. Live a good life. I’ll be waiting for you.”

The spirit of the woman passed through again, leaving Ao alone, kneeling on the ground, in a well-maintained graveyard, with a Necromancer of unknown origin. While he was shaken up by the appearance of his first love, he stood, determined look on his face. Turning to Crow, he said, ”Thank you. Now probably wasn’t the most appropriate time for that, but I really needed that. Now, if I’m right, which I usually am, we both have something to do right now. Thank you, and good day, sir.” Ao quickly walked off, and when he reached the gate to the cemetery, he turned and said, ”Let us never speak of this again.”

Crow nodded. “As you wish.” Turning to the grave again The Croweater reached out and closed the veil. With another wave of his hand he sealed the veil. “I’m sorry you lost her.” With that Crow turned and walked away letting himself peel away into a Murder of Crows returning towards the Tower.

Outside the cemetery, a black motorcycle waited in the street, parked exactly where Ao had left it. Pushing a button on his keychain, he unlocked the brakes, allowing the wheels to move, and hopping on, he put the keys in the ignition, and turned them, feeling the purr of his bike between his legs. Grabbing the handlebars and leaning low behind the windshield, he ripped off down the streets, driving towards the Tower of Stars, weaving in and out of traffic, people, and other road hazards.

He wished that he could always feel this free, as he did when riding the ‘Beast.

Kids aren't alright

Week before main event



Sharp, brain drilling sound crossed room again and again. Virgil opened his eyes and immediately closed them with his hand because bright sunlight that came through window was as greeting as thugs knife between your ribs. Few seconds of silence and Virgil almost fell asleep again when the same screechy, soul penetrating sound reached his ears. Any other day, that sound would say only one thing: Someone is calling him on holo phone. But today, that sound was more similar to screams of helps of thousands tortured soul in deepest corner of hell. Virgil with his other hand finally managed to locate his shades on small table near him. As shades landed on his nose darkening room he finally managed to open his eyes and look around "Why i even bought that bed...most of the time i wake up in this chair...". He slowly moved almost full astray with his left leg trying not to turn it over. On small reading table near him where he found his shades were lying small book "Otto von Nilsson: Guide on Etiquette and Customs or How to be a Gentlemen" that he finished reading yesterday and small bottle cork "Oh yes that is why i feel like this...". On right side near his sitting chair empty bottle was lying. Virgil picked it up and for few seconds was looking at it. It was beautifully made bottle but label on it clearly stated: 'NOT FOR FOOD! POISONOUS LIQUID INSIDE!' and as it was not enough under the warning that was written in big bold red letters there were skull and two crossed bones. Virgil lifted his shades with left arm and rubbed base of his nose "I really need to sort out my labels...or one day it will end bad". Same sharp sound for third time pierced his ears "Coming coming just stop!".

As he blinked towards phone Virgil clearly understood that this was mistake. As he landed near phone Virgil almost smashed his head into the wall and had to grab table to regain his balance. For a second he was just standing there trying to gather his will to answer, that phone and look as it best. After few second he reached for touch screen and pushed 'Answer'. In a blink phone projected a beautiful woman in hear early twenties. She was wearing formal military suit and hair were made into tight knot on top of her head. "Good Morning Sir. I was trying to reach you for some time. Is everything alright?" asked woman with no emotion in her face. "Don't worry...ehh...i was just busy.So can i help you somehow?". "Busy? Really?...Anyway you have new assignment so please come to tower for a briefing". "OK...thanks i will be there shortly" Virgil reached for 'OFF' button and as woman projection disappeared he made his way towards his bookshelf where his potions were stored. After quick search he took small bottle. Inside you could see a thick almost white liquid. Virgil returned to his chair and finished everything in it in one sip.

"One..." Virgil breathed in. As he was breathing out he started to feel burning sensation in his stomach. "Two..." with second sip of fire spread through all his
body. "Three..." for last time he inhaled with all power of his lungs and as he breathed out white smoke started to pour through his mouth. As Virgil closed his it after smoke disappeared he could feel that fog in head started to clear out and his body was regaining its power.

2 hours later

Virgil at last reached tower. He was strolling through courtyard with cigarette in his mouth and hands in His pocket. He noticed that people were starting to prepare for wedding. As Vigil went deeper in to the tower he could see more and more people cleaning everything. As he was passing few guys that were cleaning windows suddenly thought struck him "Is this why i was summoned...Dammit if will have to clean this place ill cut my wrists...". After few more minutes he finally reached his destination it was just another boring looking black door in bureaucratic part of tower. He knocked few times "Yes, please come in it is not locked". Virgil did not bother to open door and just blinked inside. He was in this room so many times that could tell even smallest detail about it. "You know that i do not like when you do this?" same woman from the morning now was in front of Virgil. "Yes and you do not know how many germs there is on that handle...so ill better avoid touching it...so what is that assignment. I hope you will not make me to scrub your office?" as Virgil was saying that he collapsed on a sitting chair with sarcastic smile on his face. "Don't worry there are more skillful...and responsible adults who can do it. Here take this tablet it has all info you need to but in short few members from royal family in Iron City asked for Tower assistance to get rid of gang lord that is selling drugs to their kids and destroy content of his safe". Virgil rise his eyebrow as he took tablet "Iron City? That is at least 3 day ride...Kids? Seriously? And what is whit that safe?". Woman behind desk just shrugged her shoulders "I have no idea and honestly i do not care. It is your orders and i have more serious work to do than listen to your pointless questions. I booked a train for you this evening so do not be late".

4 days later

Heavy drops of rain was hitting Virgil hood. For few hours now he was sitting on this roof under the heavy rain looking at people who were entering building on other side of the street. It was a warehouse in the past but now it was called "Butterfly" the 'most posh and exclusive club in Iron City' as a guy on street told him. Virgil took out tablet from his inner pocket and went through info in it again.

Butterfly is run by "Bloody Roots" gang. Although it is considered as VIP type club "Bloody Roots" use it as a drug distribution point. Their leader is middle aged human by the name Whitby Townsend. He is highly paranoid individual who spends almost all his time in club surrounded with his thugs. Your job is to eliminate him by any means necessary and destroy everything you will find inside his safe that is located in his room inside "Butterfly"...

Virgil stopped reading and took his binoculars. Another car stopped near entrance. Virgil zoomed in like all others tonight people who entered club were wearing good expensive clothes and covered their faces with carnival masks. And still bouncers somehow knew who they were because they did not check a single person. Now Virgil zoomed on bouncers. One of them clearly was an orc in his prime...another...Virgil zoomed even more. He could not say what race he was but one thing was for sure...he was ugly as hell. "Okay it is time to go" he strapped binoculars to his belt and slide down the ladder to the street. After few minutes he was near south wall of club. "Okay now i just need to remember hows that damn toilet looks". One thing in tablet was a photo of toilet inside of club. It was marked as the best place to enter inside.

Second later sharp smell of urine, vomit and other body fluids reached his nostrils. Virgil opened his eyes. In front of him he could see a man who clearly failed to notice a guy who appeared from think air just behind him. But from the sound he did over the sink it was clear why. His all body was shaking from vomiting. Virgil looked down and lifted one of his feet. The bottom of his boot was covered with vomit "That girl...owes me new pair of boots...". He left toiled and after short walk reached dance floor. It was huge place and it was packed. Hundreds of bodies were jumping and moving as huge stereo system was spitting thing that nowadays kids call music and there was another thing here. As soon as he reached main area he could clearly smell the acidic smell of "Dead Man's Root". It was used as the base to this new drug that "Bloody Roots" were pushing in this club. Virgil knew this root very well and he knew that even high level shamans and sorcerers try to avoid it as often as it possible. It was very potent hallucinogen that could give you really strong hallucinations and with right herb mix even work as clairvoyance. But its downside was that it was very addictive and could easily twist your mind so badly that even strongest healers would not be able to help you. There were enough documented cases when wizards had gone mad because it and either killed themselves or made such a havoc that someone had to end their life.

"Okay Mr.Whitby Townsend...I'm coming to get you"

Shiba Smiled and after a good half hour of talking to his parents Shiba stood up with a sigh "well I need to go make sure im ready for tomorrow guys. Ill be back soon mom and dad" Shiba said softly before he started to walk back to his room. Today wasn't a very eventful day but then again the real event was meant to happen tomorrow anyways. Shiba decided to go and see if his fathers suit would fit him. After all most of his other cloths fit Shiba fine even with the gauntlets. Shiba stole another apple from a wandering maid carrying a fruit basket to see if this apple tasted any better, still no success.

Once Shiba finished the apple he threw it in his trash can in his room this time instead of throwing it out the window again. Shiba looked through his closet and found his fathers old suit. It would need to be ironed to make sure it looked nice but Shiba needed to try it on first and foremost. He found out that while it was a little snug it still allowed for good movement and wasn't to tight. Shiba decided that he would need to let out the arms a little since the gauntlets made his arms width nearly double. It was a plain white suit more fitting for waiting at the alter rather then guarding it but it was not without its charm. The only thing that made it stand out were the holes in the back meant for his own wings so he could still fly in it which was convenient since his cloak had the same thing. Shiba then took off the suit and got to work sewing it to make the arms longer and ironing it down so their weren't any wrinkles. Hey Shiba had to live on his own most his life he didn't know how to do this he couldn't live alone...

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The large, gunmetal door with dirt spots and vents on the top and bottom steadily slid closed. Once there was no longer an opening, the mechanic quickly typed in a passcode on the T.I. Alarm system and pressed her ring on the scanner. She had embedded an obfuscated code in her ring, which was simply a duplicated code from her ID card. The A.I.s in the Tower and potentially some of the more advanced hackers were the only people capable of configuring the numbers and accessing her records from her identification code. Granted, there wasn’t a lot on file about her. Perhaps some of the disasters she caused, places she’s visited, her involvement with the Tower, but nothing about her birthplace and parents. However, the code was simply an added upgrade to her demonic sigil ring given to her by her father. Perhaps, there was more to her ring than what was provided on the surface.

With so much to do and never enough time, productivity and efficiency were an absolute. With biometric voice and fingerprint access to her workshop, the Lord of Storms and whomever he assigned to oversee Lethal and her work could and would visit her when their schedules allowed it.

Moments after their first meeting, Christian Highfell sensed Lethal’s withdrawn temperament. He was a powerful man and never failed to be one move ahead of the atramentous nature residing in her. Out of loyalty and discretion, Gibralter gave the man an insightful perspective of his companion. Subsequently, the two bluntly requested an area with a charging station, a workshop, and security storage for a Mecha. Christian granted the two audacious newcomers access to the lowest level warehouse, that had been previously used to store failed projects, unused equipment, and other ‘fanciful’ items. The Master of Stars let them transform the floor to fit their needs and requested a weekly report from Lethal.

After some time, the warehouse had evolved into Abiteth’s sanctuary.

With her hands shoved in her pocket, the silver haired woman made her way to the Elevator, through the dark confinement that separated the warehouse assigned to her and the main building. Taken aback but her expression completely still, Lethal observed the Elevator open.

With her back facing the mechanic and cyborg, the fit yet scrawny, green haired woman, pulled an unconscious, twitching hellspawn. Excitably and with a rifle on her back, the woman turned around with wide, gray eyes as she realized this indeed was not the medical bay. Drowning out the bubbly woman’s words and the sight of the immobile man on the ground, the mechanic brought her stare to the item on the woman’s forehead. Goggles that very much resembled her’s hanging from her neck.

Was that her FORESITE prototype?

As the suspiciously friendly woman named ‘Bunny’ turned her head to the side in embarrassment, she revealed the FS logo on the strap of the goggle. Ghostly slow, Lethal turned her head to look up at the cyborg. Her piercing red eye never turned away from his muscular face, as she venomously muttered, ”Didn’t burn them I see.”

---

Gibraltar’s head turned slightly to meet Abiteth’s eyes before completely returning to the two in front of them, ignoring her statement. His hand went up to his visor and he scanned the human and hellspawn in front of him, accessing Archive’s records.

Name: Unknown
Alias: “Bunny”
Rank: Paladin

Name:Izual Anzhela
Alias: The Starslayer
Rank: Knight

They were who they were saying, though “Bunny” not having a name was slightly odd, he’d let it pass as he raised a hand to calm the young woman. ”Paladin,” his voice was firm and authoritative to grab her attention before easing in tone, ”Calm your storm.” He immediately made his move towards the convulsing hellspawn and placed his fingers firmly into the humanoid’s neck. His biometric scanners then assessed the damage to his body, they were minimal though he had received the equivalent damage of a 50,000 volt taser.

”The knight is fine, he just needs to be resuscitated.” Placing his hands over Izual in the same manner as a defibrillator would be, he slowly charged up electrical magic in his palms before stating in a firm voice, ”Clear!” and releasing the energy. Electricity shot through the man’s body, causing him to jerk from the sudden current coursing through him, but the stunning convulsions stopped. Assessing the young man again, Gibraltar was satisfied, knowing the young man would more than likely be up soon, and he stood up to face Bunny.

”Paladin,” he stated to her again, ”I am Gibraltar, Knight Captain, this is Lethal, also a Knight,” he said, pointing to himself and then his companion. The half-orc was unafraid to say Abiteth’s name, but he was aware of how she felt about her name being known to others, only in their privacy did he call her that, or if the situation really demanded that he required her attention. ”Normally, such incidents of ‘friendly fire’ would be documented with the Tower, however, I am willing to let this incident slide, under the premise that you answer where you acquired your goggles.”

Gibraltar wasn’t going to be called a liar for his actions, he had tossed the prototype goggles, reluctantly, upon Abiteth’s request. The only way she could have possibly acquired them was if she was somewhere along the incinerator disassembly area at the time. He was also curious to see if she had discovered their use and purpose and if so, had they suited her needs?

---

The intimidating woman the cyborg introduced as Lethal absolutely terrified Bunny. She said nothing and stood there, smoking a cigarette without expressing a single emotion. The green haired woman couldn’t figure her out at all. Was she going to rip her throat out or filet her arms off? Whatever the silver haired woman’s intentions were, Bunny didn’t have a clue.

The cyborg, Gibraltar, seemed much more approachable, albeit he was just as emotionless and frightening in terms of sheer size. However, his intentions were for good, considering he had stabilized Izual’s condition.

”Um… I don’t know if I would go so far as to say this was friendly fire. He didn’t take me on a breakfast date! I think that’s fair enough reasoning to label him as a hostile!” Bunny argued, leering at Izual’s form. The Hellspawn was stirring and slowly coming to his senses.

”Man… What kind of stupid name is ‘Lethal’? Izual mumbled as he began to pick himself up. Apparently he had picked up some of the conversation while he was out. ”I mean, seriously, that’s Top 10 Worst Names ever. It’s like… No. Just no. My dad’s name was Izuzel and that’s still better than Lethal.” he continued, almost as if he didn’t recognize that he had been unconscious before this.

”Izual! You idiot! You can’t insult a lady like that! That’s so rude!” Bunny cried, smacking him across the face. With a huff, she turned back to Gibraltar and thought about how she had acquired her neat goggles. ”I remember falling onto the disassembly line about a year ago. I don’t remember exactly how I ended up there, but… Things happen to me that I don’t understand. Like the time I was taking a bath and the entire tub collapsed. That was terrible!” she began her tale with a burst of enthusiasm.

Thumbing her chin and sticking her tongue out, she tried to recollect all the details on finding her goggles. ”Anyway! So where I fell there was a bunch of junk. Things you’d expect to find, like plastic wrappers. I found 10 credits and those goggles in that junk though, right before I was about to die!” she detailed, clapping her hands together in amusement. ”I managed to get out by jamming the line with a bunch of loose nuts I found. They were mad at me for months after that! Bunny was perhaps a bit happier about that last detail than most people should have been.

---

The sight that fell before the mechanic was horrific. The exuberant woman made Lethal puke on the inside, while the halfwit hellspawn should of stayed unconscious. While the devil boy picked himself up, the mechanic glided closer to him. Slowly. Unnervingly. To most people, Lethal’s apathetic aura and half burnt face made their stomach sink. This creature before her was not phased. Kneeling down to meet her red eye with his stare, she allowed smoke to escape her unmoving lips and hit his face. Her intention wasn’t to intimidate him.

No, why would she? He was meaningless.

When Lethal got this close to others, it was merely for observation or... to slit their throat. She took in his appearance. His eyes. His horns. His demeanor. The kid may be a fool but he did have the audacity to state his ignorant opinion. Boldness was something the woman could appreciate. That simply meant possible scenarios he could die in. How thrilling. With her right hand, she pulled the cigarette out of her lips and let the ashes fall to the ground.

”Shame, you’re still alive Starslayer.” There was a brief moment of silence. After she got a good look of him, the mechanic picked herself up and walked to the Elevator. The sound of ROB’s footsteps could be heard as the woman went in between the two individuals that have never been down here before and pressed the ‘Up’ button. It seemed the Paladin and the other Knight didn’t notice the tiny robot following behind her. Putting her cigarette back into her lips, she uttered, ”Those goggles are obsolete.”

---

Gibraltar watched with mild amusement as the Bunny struck Izual, a small grin forming on his face; he liked the girl’s fire. He turned his attention to Izual, ”You’ll come to understand why she is named ‘Lethal’, Hellspawn,” as he began to stand, ”Though to put it bluntly, Starslayer isn’t much better.” He walked towards the elevator, following in Abiteth’s footsteps and gesturing for the young woman to follow, ”Speak with me Paladin, I wish to learn more of your endeavors over the past year with my companion’s work.”.

---

As Lethal observed him, Izual gave her a confused glance back. Was she trying to intimidate him or something? She was just a tiny girl… Why would anyone be afraid of her? Lethal’s smoke trick didn’t even get a reaction. He just stared blankly at her. ”Why does everyone keep staring at me today?! I mean, sheesh. I’m walking down the street, minding my own business, and people are calling me names and looking at me funny! Then I wind up here!” he wondered out loud.

Bunny glanced at the complaining Izual and sighed. ”You’re here because I shot you! And everybody thought you were a creep because you had my panties on your head.” she explained while helping him to his feet. Together, they followed Gibraltar into the elevator.

Upon seeing the tiny robot enter the elevator, Izual immediately snatched it up, a wide grin on his face. ”Oh man this thing is cool! I always wanted something like this when I was a kid.” The Hellspawn started playing with robot’s hands like an action figure. Suddenly, the contraption’s lense aimed up towards Izual’s eyes.

”Come to bed, honey.” A high pitched, robotic voice told Izual. Before the man could even react, two red beams flashed into his dark eyes. Pain lanced through his head and Izual immediately dropped the robot, crying out ”I can’t see! That robot blinded me!” Dramatically, he unsheathed Novabuster, which was tall enough to reach the ceiling. Fortunately for the rest of the group, there was not nearly enough room for him to start flailing around with his sword.

Meanwhile, Bunny was going on a rant about her many adventures with her goggles to Gibraltar, feeling slightly more comfortable with him around. Lethal was still giving her the creeps though. ”I love these goggles! They give me a nice HUD that monitors my shields and vitals, and I can throw cute, little arrows over my objectives! Once, after I labeled a man and followed him for days. He thought he could hide, but it was his brains all over the wall in the end! Not mine! As the elevator moved upwards, she seemed to blur through about a dozen other examples in rapid succession before she noticed Izual’s plight.

”See, that’s what you get when you make love to a woman and don’t take her out to breakfast, Izzy! Maybe that’ll teach you. Also put your sword away! You’ll poke Lethal’s other eye out! She ordered the Knight, slapping him across the head again. She didn’t seem notice the seriousness of Izual’s injuries right now.