[@Pineappletumble] [@Song Book] [@Alisdragon911]

Koru's words took Hardwick by surprise, and he shuddered at the suggestion. [color=0072bc]'They're not a Pantheon. Well, not [i]my[/i] Pantheon. I used to be a God-fearing man, but now I'm not so sure if my God really exists - or ever did.'[/color] Anxiety clawed at him like a ravenous beast, and he looked frantically up and down the bar for any sign of Ayeka. Drinking more was rapidly becoming unsustainable, but he needed the whiskey like an amputees needed a crutch; it was the only thing standing between his shaken nerves and full-blown insanity.

[color=0072bc]'You see, the Great Old Ones... They're not from here. They're from somewhere else, somewhere beyond the realms of time and space. It's...'[/color] Hardwick pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the cold sweat that had begun to cover his forehead. [color=0072bc]'... It's difficult to explain in mortal terms.'[/color]

He glanced over Koru's shoulder - a newcomer was resting on the bar not far away, staring idly at the pair with a almost doe-eyed curiosity and innocence. Her shabby grey dress had seen better days and her hair was messy and tangled, yet there was some indescribable quality to her posture that reminded Hardwick more of a small woodland animal than a grubby drifter.