Welcome to Infinity Hydra's Christmas Gala ~

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

"I need to start wrapping this up..." A deep and mysterious voice nonchalantly stated as he stared, quite literally, into the jaws of a beast. A pair of beady red eyes gazed at the dripping saliva right in front of him, from the upper jaw of jagged teeth down onto the lower region; about six feet in height, it seemed as though the figure was just as tall as the jaws of the mighty beast. The figure itself was, of course, the Black Devil: black scales and armor on various parts of his body, insect like wings on his back, and of course his broadsword on his hand. It was nothing out of the ordinary for the day of Deniel; he assumed this Take Over form quite often, as he was very much comfortable with utilizing it in one-on-one combat scenarios, especially against monstrous creatures that towered over him like skyscrapers. And this case was no exception. The jaws of the monster in which he peered into, almost like a black abyss, belonged to a creature of enormous strength that he had been sent to hunt down. Standing at around two dozen meters tall, and having to bend its body and head heavily down just to have its jaw be on the level of Deniel, the difference in size between the two creatures was phenomenal. The opposition to the Black Devil, which was only a little less than two meters tall, was covered in reptilian scales, spikes, and stood on two massive powerful limbs as its hind legs, coupled with a tail that drooped down its backside, and of course a pair of colossal arms. And moments after the short staring between the two, each side first emitted a low growl which then erupted into two savage roars that challenged each other for dominance and might. And then the fight begun.



"Goddamn it I'm gonna' be late." Taking hurried steps towards the Mountain Village, and at the event that he had been invited to only a few days ago, Infinity Hydra's Gala, Deniel attempted to throw on as much clothing as he could. Only a few minutes ago he was fighting a terrifyingly monstrous beast, and in the end his body had been coated in blood, so on the way back he took a very swift dive... The events in which he took down the beast were a series of gruesome attacks and strikes which ultimately ended in a decapitation and a pool of blood. Immediately after taking its demise the Black Devil took off in flight, going across the lands as swiftly as its insect-like wings could take it. The quick dive that he took in order to at least clean his body from the blood that covered him was a river, in which he stayed in for only five seconds before emerging and continuing to fly.

The first thing he did before arriving near Mountain Village was deactivate his Take Over and throw on a white shirt. The last thing he wanted to do was be more late than he already was, so he didn't bother getting a location where he could exchange clothing. Instead he focused on a much more primitive method, and put on his suit over his other clothing. The only thing that he obviously couldn't put something over himself was his black cloak and jacket, but for those he resorted to another primitive method: put them in a tree. Just as he was hopping up and down attempting to put on a pair of slacks over his cropped trousers, he practically ripped off his two upper body garments and threw them straight up to hang among tree branches, noting their location to find them at a later time. Following his shirt and his slacks, he put on a much more presentable coat, one that matched with him to create a full suit. And before entering, the most he could do was attempt to straighten out his hair with his hand, spiking up the backside and brushing his bangs forward.

In a matter of moments of throwing on clothes over his regular clothes, the only thing that he was unable to change were his combat boots--though they did clash with the rest of it fairly well. And upon finishing he straightened himself out for a bit of a more presentable look, and finally arrived at the Gala. Given the amount of people that were already there, it was more than obvious he was late.

"Shit...I'm late."

Notes

A beautiful song was playing in the background as Tyriel stood next to her friend Ardere, who spoke his cutely dressed daughter. She giggled softly as Malva protested to being dressed the way she was and Ardere telling her to behave. The relationship between them was interesting, but Malva was certainly Ardere's daughter and he cared for her so much.
She smiled and swayed gently to the music that played. Everything was coming along so amazingly.
Shu had asked her about how she was feeling as of late, and sensing the caring regard from her, who had known about what happened she just nodded, " Oh Shu i am fine dear, i appreciate you asking. It has been hard but my friends make it better."

Her attention was stolen as she was addressed by one of the newer members of Infinity Hydra. Unfortunate she had not had the time to get to know everyone who had just recently joined, but Tyriel smiled and returned the gesture.
"Nice to meet you Jackal. I am Tyriel... if you did not already know haha." she smiled and rubbed the back of her head. She pressed a crystal glass against her lips, sipping on the bitter wine that laid within. She decided to change her drink of choice for this evening, as tonight was not a night to get plastered.

She eyed everyone in the area, finding that they all mingled here and there, some dancing, most hovering around the ice sculpture. She hoped that they wouldn't really notice that it was a dragon instead of a Oroborus. She cursed silently for that part mage who couldn't deliver his word; She would definitely not plan on paying him again!
The woman hummed softly to the tune that played, harmonizing with it's sounds; finding it similar to the song she sang for Baal when they had went out swimming.
Her face flared in a soft blush as she remembered that night, and hated herself for feeling what she did about him.

He left, and she would not be so dumb to give a man her heart again.
Tyriel excused herself from Jackal and Shu and walked away from the crowd and stood on the balcony that laid just on the right of the entry to the Guild Hall. She felt a bit flushed and warm, perhaps from the alcohol and amount of bodies in the giant Guild.
Tyriel's eyes perked up as she seen Deniel walk through the two double door's.
The corners of her mouth turned up in a smile and she walked to greet him immediately.

" Deniel! Hello, i am happy you made it. I was not really expecting that you would, but i am pleased otherwise. "

All that Shu could do when Tyriel answered her was smile and sigh softly - albeit it was moreso out of relief than anything. The young woman was worried about a lot of things these days, ranging from the incident with the entire guild crumbling under an attack to Baal's disappearance. Many incidents and occurrences gave off an air of mystery to quite a few situations, results, and consequences. None of them pointed to a specific destination or clue as much as the waitress attempted to ponder on it. There was still too much to look ahead of - a multitude of possibilities awaiting just to be discovered out there. And the tension in her muscles from the stress piling on would only whittle away bit by bit.

It wasn't until another voice chimed in to their conversation did Tyriel speak up once more. With the turn of a head, violet orbs examined a face of the likes she wasn't familiar with. This was most likely a new member, or someone she just hadn't met yet. There were still plenty of people within the premises of the guild that the mage still wasn't familiar with, and she was still trying to become more comfortable with the idea of being more outgoing. It seemed for only a moment that the woman would slip away into the realm of her thoughts, eyes closing for that short time before opening once more as the man's voice seemed to be directed at her. The shy side of the maiden began to make itself apparent, her voice soft and stutters interrupting what would be a clear sentence.

"O-Oh, hello, Jackal! I-It's a pleasure to meet you as well. My name is Shu and I'm one of the waitresses f-for the guild's Tavern. I do hope th-that everything has been well for you here so far?"

It was needless to say that the woman was definitely caught off guard by the willingness of someone to interact with her. 'Twas for a small, singular moment that the mage had gotten lost in her thoughts - having come to the conclusion that the new individual was only here to socialize with Tyriel. However, the black haired woman smiled softly in return to Jackal's own with a tilt of her head. She was happy and rather flattered to be a part of any form of socialization on this wondrous night, even if for only a mere moment. It was within the span of a few more moments that the hostess excused herself from the two, capturing the waitress' attention for a mere second or two as she drifted away from them before returning her attention to Jackal.

Shu just kept hoping that Tyriel would be alright, and that this night progressed on with some form of ease.

The young woman had just found herself sitting, waiting in a moment of silence. Violet orbs blinked in a form of curiosity and concern for the person before her, finding that the individual was a bit hesitant if not nervous. It was even on the man's tan skin that his smile faded away from his lips for what seemed like a nonexistent second before it returned swiftly. Shu could only patiently sit on the chair with her hands resting on her lap, her concern ever-growing.

Jackal's smile transfigured into a grin, his voice portraying a much more clearer sense of hesitation. There was even a blush slowly creeping its way onto his face, clashing with his skin tone as he seemed to be doing his best to keep the composure he set for himself. In reaction, the waitress spoke softly at Jackal's words upon finishing - leaning forward with a hand outstretched halfway in worry for his well-being.

I-Is he falling ill? I-I wonder if he has a fever. . . M-Maybe he should sit down.

"I-I don't mind spending the rest of my break with you at all, Jackal. In fact, I-I'd like to get to know you better, t-too. But your face is red. . . A-Are you alright? I'm more concerned about you and your w-well-being."

It was in that moment that the young woman spoke up once more upon finishing, letting her hand hesitantly rest against Jackal's forehead with focus. "M-My apologies for this. I-I just want to m-make sure you're okay." It was in the passing moments that she still carried on, oblivious to the reason why Jackal was reacting in such a way. There weren't the slightest hints or clues surfacing around in her system, for the roars and cheers of the people around didn't allow such clear thought processes. The noise was going to be constantly overwhelming in the passing hours of the night, although Shu knew she had to do her part and job like everyone else here.

Feeling a sense of warmth eminating from Jackal's forehead, the waitress found herself creasing her eyebrows with a sigh of worry - completely missing any reaction the man may have had beforehand as she cast her gaze to him. "Y-You're feeling a bit warm, Jackal.", she shared with an obvious vote of concern.

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

At first he felt a little bit worried about the fact he was late, perhaps disappointing the certain someone that had the courtesy of inviting him to this...peculiar event. He recalled the time where he was invited to attend a very similar occurrence with Sabertooth, and had been personally invited and allowed to attend. He pondered for only a moment or two what exactly made him so special as to be personally invited to such...happenings. He let that thought go as he was suddenly greeted, and a little surprisingly, by the woman who invited him; Miss Tyriel. Or at least that's what he called her in his head. She appeared to be a little more enthralled at his appearance than initially anticipated, but naturally she did have her doubts about whether or not he would show. Her mistrust wasn't entirely unnecessary, as Deniel himself didn't plan to show, but instead would make up some kind of excuse the next time he saw her. Eventually a little conscious thing inside of him just kept on nagging at him to go, so he did it anyway. And...here he was.

More or less impressed by the surrounding view, and by the view of the gown surrounding them, he decided that staying probably could be the better option. At least free food was something he could look forward to. "Yeah, sorry for being a little late. Monsters out there are either getting tougher, or I'm getting weaker. He scratched the back of his head and also rotated his neck a little bit, just to get a small cramp that developed out of it for a bit. As he did so, he felt something itching at him in his upper body area, something a little unusual in his clothing that he hadn't felt before. He attempted to ignore it at first when he arrived, but now it was starting to bother him and getting a tad bit unbearable. "Excuse me for a moment...something is itching at me. I need to take care of it."

Hurrying off and away from her towards the nearest balcony for Infinity Hydra, which might have been on the second floor--he honestly couldn't tell where he was from time to time--he faced away from where everything was happening, and opened up his coat. After that he saw what had been bothering him: the first problem was that he buttoned his shirt up all wrong, and there were a few twigs stuck inside of it, most likely made from his journey back. "Damn it...." He swiftly unbuttoned his white dress shirt and removed the twigs from them as well, careful not to ruin or destroy any of the fabric from it; something he would have never done in his normal clothing. It was more or less a reason why he disliked wearing such outfits in the first place. After removing the twigs, he carefully buttoned his shirt back up--hoping to get it right this time. "Formal outfits...sheesh."

Notes

It was impossible for the woman to contain her joy that Deniel had made his appearance. The view of all the happy and conversing individuals was making her feel rather lonely, as she had no company to distract her. An conversation was greatly appreciated at this moment.
She perked an interest as Deniel made a mad dash away.
What was he doing?

She followed him up the long traverse set of stairs.... though he probably made pretty quick work of them. Once she got to the top it was easy to find him standing out the open doors, his shirt off as the man inspected them for obstructs.
Her face grew bright red and she tried to push past the lump in her throat.

Tyriel hesitated in the door frame to the balcony, watching as he placed his clothing on once more. "Deniel, is everything okay?" She pushed out a small giggle, trying to get past this unease she felt.

Her mind flashed back to the library and she felt even more flushed. Her hands clamming up and her heart fluttering at a billion miles per hour.

She walked out and tried to force her gaze onto the horizon instead of him.
It was a beautiful night, and the snow fell so softly around the two of them.
A bright moon lit up the snow capped mountains and Tyriel smiled softly.