Shady Figures

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

The wandering Nephalem had once again found himself stumbling into the territory of the newly established Infinity Hydra. Having come here only a few days ago--contrary to when his first and second visit had several weeks split between them--he came this time for a much more particular reason rather than to just catch up on his friend Ardere. The Guild master did allow him entrance to the Guild Hall, after all, so he saw no harm in showing up without needing anything from the Guild Master himself. The actual quest from the Nephalem this time around was a very peculiar one: knowledge. Something that the Nephalem had almost never searched for--unless it was in regards to himself or his past--this time around there was a reason why he was searching. Initially all he hungered for insatiably was power, but in his most recent times he discovered that he had almost none to gain. The most that could happen to him now was increased skill in his combat capabilities rather than increased strength, but that would all come through experience. What the Nephalem discovered was that ever since resigning as a Guild Master, his reading plummeted. Previously he spent almost all of his time doing so, and he learned that through that an incredible amount of knowledge could be attained through just opening a book.

Now the last time he visited Infinity Hydra, he noted the presence of a library, and one containing quite a large amount of books. Seeking to quench his thirst of curiosity and knowledge within his brain, the jet black cloaked Nephalem entered the Guild Hall of Infinity Hydra. Spotting no body around--for now--he still made himself at home in some ways. Perhaps looking like an intruder to one who was not acquainted or had knowledge of his existence, he made his way straight into Infinity Hydra's library, and popped the books open.

Making himself at home by grabbing a chair and sitting down in the middle of an aisle of books, the Nephalem picked up several titles that sounded interesting to him--usually regarding nonfiction facts about the world of Earthland and beyond, and preferring to stay away from fictitious matters. He had a stack of about twenty of them surrounding him within just than a few minutes, had cracked one open, and was mysteriously and shadily reading them all by himself in silence, as his red irises scanned the pages from left to right, going down with every row that it completed before turning the page. Within just a few hours he could cover about 5 whole books this way.  

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

Another page turned with the book that the young Guildless mage was reading as he read his way through the text. He gave a glance over the book's pages on to the ground next to him, staring briefly at the pile of books he had up beside him, and resumed his reading. He crossed one of his legs over the other, and moments after he did, he heard the sound of a gasp. Glancing up momentarily he saw a woman, clothed in a short sleeved black dress, perhaps attempting to get over the startle that his appearance gave her. Without speaking a word, just after he looked up at her, he looked back down at the book and resumed reading again; obviously he was getting very into it. Even after she shortly asked him about assisting him in finding a book, he gave no answer. It was something he had to think about; presumably he had enough on him right now to last well over a few days, did he need any other books? The book he held in his hands right now--ironically--was one on Bellum's history. And the ones stacked beside where he sat were on the histories of other countries as well; whether their histories as a whole of factual stories about key turning points for each country. After Bellum he planned to read Fiore, as he wished to know about his home country before anything else.

"Hmmmm....this may sound absurd, but..." he began, speaking softly but also clearly, and looking up from his book at her once more, "Do you have anything on angels and demons, perhaps? Or maybe their respective dimensions?" After finishing he glanced back down at his readings for another moment, before once again glancing up to give one more point: "Factual ones, of course. I'm not interested in fiction at the moment." He wouldn't be surprised if there were no such books or novels available that met his criteria. First off one would have to believe that such creatures existed, and second they needed to gain factual information about it, and lastly they needed to write about it. Someone as insane as that was probably not telling the truth, as he found out by reading several novels that claimed to have facts about demons and angels, when Deniel could disprove half of it with a blink of his eye. Setting aside the book of Bellum for a moment, he picked up the one on Iceberg instead. He told himself that he would go for Fiore next, but he was curious to see if the history of Iceberg lined up with the story that his parents told him. Sure enough...it did. The stories of the once lush and rich farmlands of Iceberg before being frozen over. Even a historian believed it to be true.

"And you're welcome to join me if you'd like. It would be nice to know what kinds of faces are here in Ardere's Guild." He gave away the fact that he was not a member of Infinity Hydra, but did know of the Guild Master. And if she asked for a mark from another guild....he would have none to give. Though he seemed to shrug it all off and common.

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

He flipped through yet another page in the book of Iceberg, reading and learning more about the frozen wasteland as she got up to fulfill his request. She seemed rather annoyed with him, but he did not mind; he had no reason to do much else than read. It's what he came here for, after all. She returned in a surprisingly short amount of time, a very peculiar display of her skill and knowledge of this library. He glanced up at her, and suddenly shut the book on Iceberg and placed it on the stack of books beside him. He grabbed on to the leathery book she had handed him, observing its strange engravings intuitively. Opening it up to its first page, Deniel could immediately tell that the writer was some kind of knowledgeable lunatic; one that would be deemed insane for his surreal beliefs but had some sense of logic and facts behind his seemingly delusional and insane writing on spiritual things. Who believed in angels and demons, anyway? They could not exist; it was impossible. Yet Deniel was one who could prove the existence of both, and a third race. His race. The Nephalem.

As the words of the first page filled him with a sense of wonder and awe about the amount of learning he could attain from this book, he glanced up at her and answered her much sooner this time rather than later. She extended her hand for him, and presumably the first thing he might have done was shake it. Although he could recall at some point or another in his life it was polite to kiss a woman's hand rather than shake it....he couldn't remember. Shrugging and going with what seemed to be the more polite option, he took her hand and kissed the back of it before letting go of it and staring back down at the book. He turned the page to the second one. On the right side was a picture of a demonic engraving, a rune as some would call it, with very intricate detail and designs put behind it. "Tyriel. A pleasure to meet you." Briefly tracing his hand on the black inked engraving, as text on the other side described what this mark had meant and what it stood for, a smirk developed across his lips.

"Slayers...supposedly wielding the power to defeat dragons, gods, and demons. A task no mortal should be capable of. But a slayer? It seems as though everyone is convinced they could do it." Pausing momentarily, he skipped ahead one page to see what was on it; it was filled with a giant wall of text. He turned back to the other one, so that he may finish it first before moving on; he only wanted to glance at what was ahead of him. "I never was. And perhaps never will. Those creatures will never fall as easily. However...Ardere...there was something about him. Something about him, indeed." Beginning to explain his story--or rather description--about how he met Ardere, he closed the book and the mysterious seal on the second page. "Fire God Slayer. Just the name of it is absurd; fire slaying a God? Not in a million years. Your Guild Master does deserve credit, though; he has more potential than any other slayer I have seen to defeat a divine. Something that immediately made me curious about it all."

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

The smirk that he had on his face momentarily grew, and his shoulders would shrug themselves up and down over and over again as he gave a very silent chuckle. It was his suppressed response to her seeming undying loyalty towards Ardere. He had no problem with loyalty towards Guildmasters, since he was once one. Although his former self being one also gave him an enlightened way of thinking about it all. Blind loyalty. Something I fear that all Guilds have...pathetic. He didn't necessarily dislike Tyriel, Infinity Hydra, and certainly not Ardere. He considered Ardere a good friend, and would gladly jump at the chance to help him. His dislike was within a Guild itself, what people thought it stood for, and everything else about it. Shaking loose the negative thought, she began to question him about his status and interest in divine beings, particularly Gods. If he had ever met one? Deniel had to think long and hard about that question, so much that a small frown spread across his face as he thought about it. Had he? Had he not? He certainly met two divines, but had no idea whether or not their strength could be measured against the higher powers; if they truly did attain their level of strength, or they were merely pawns facing a Queen.

He turned the page in his reading, to the huge wall of text, and then closed the book after that. "It's hard to say." He first stated, getting out the fact that his thoughts about this had been troubled from the very start. He stood up from his chair, turning his back to her momentarily while folding his hands behind his back. "I have met two divine beings. An angel, and a demon. That's not to say I have met a God or an Archdemon, no However...their power..." Visions of his battle flashed within his mind from that moment. Being surrounded in an entire citadel made of true ice, fighting for his life against an angel wielding immense power seeking to kill him, before quickly transitioning into an arena filled with demons, one in particular almost having the power to crush a continent. He shook his head once more, this time it seemed to be a little more surprised than the last. He turned to her, placing his hands on the back of his chair. "That angel and that demon possessed far more power than any Mage I have ever seen. I was lucky to kill them both and be alive today. Luck probably isn't enough of a word. I don't know if they were just that powerful, or if that's the natural way they are. Regardless; even if they were weaker than Gods or Archdemons, or just as strong, no Slayer in existence could hope to best them." He didn't know if this answered her question, or if he just accidentally dodged it by going off on a tangent. Though just to be sure, he added one more detail: "I'm a Nephalem. Born as a hybrid under a demon and an angel."

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

His expression frowned upon her for a moment, as she seemed to respond to what he had said in his mind rather than what he had told her aloud, save for the last part. His frown wasn't built of any form of anger that had quickly arisen, or hatred, but rather in an attempt to figure out what in the world just happened. Did he accidentally spill it out of his mouth without knowing? Or was it.... of course. He sat back down in his chair, and shook his head as a sigh escaped his lips. It didn't sound irritated, or frustrated, but rather just a bit one filled with despair, as if he had been beaten. "Reading my mind, are you? Naughty, naughty girl." After that a small bit of laughter escaped him. He wasn't mocking her, but he just found it funny that she managed to delve into his thoughts and now had changed the subject at hand. He found himself almost completely trapped, just because he couldn't keep his thoughts concealed. Of course he never expected he would come across someone who could read his mind. He wondered if she was doing it the very moments he was thinking of his response.

"Well, I suppose I could get a few things straight. The first of which is I know that I'm lost. More or less, anyway. My life is ultimately going to meet a bitter end: dead, no kids, no brothers, no sisters, ...no relatives. At all. I'm the last of my kind and my family. Don't care about that just yet, though." As if to distract himself from having to look her straight in the eye the next part, he stared back down at the book. He opened up the cover, and turned the page to the wall of text. And then the next page over, and then the next. He only stopped when there was a picture, and he glanced at it briefly while he spoke.

"And second...I don't have anything against either of the three. Not much haunts me...anymore, anyway. I've reconciled with my parents, and the three of us get along quite well now. I still have friends...I think. Don't know where they are, at the same time they don't know where I am. Same with my old Guild Mates. It'd be stupid of me to have something against Guilds when I used to be a Guild Master, wouldn't it?" He turned the page one last time, and he was at about the middle of the novel. Drawn on both of the two pages was a single image, one of a demon that appeared to be shadowed in darkness. It seemed to be a sketch of some sort, perhaps something that the author or someone else saw while investigating something. Drawn on it was a shadowed figure, though parts of the body were revealed, such as clawed scaled arms, horns atop its head that curved inward, and boots that had slightly raised soles on them. Immediately after glancing it he shut the book. "I don't mind friends, I don't mind family--much--, and I don't mind guilds. But I'm a realist, I guess. I've seen it all go wrong. I know it can all go wrong. And I know eventually it all goes wrong. Pledging undying loyalty to someone, the Guild Master....that's what all guild members do. Some know them very well, so I don't care. But others....they don't even know the person. And they're so keen to defend them. And I--....I need a drink..."

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

"Well....I...." He wasn't entirely sure what to say. He felt as if he caused her to dislike him with his views on everything all around; perhaps realist seemed to be too nice of a word, and he was pessimistic of it all. Though he did only reveal his negative way of thinking it, and not his positive. Tapping his finger on the books title page, eventually he finally stood up with her and nodded. "Sure. I'd love some." He following her down the stairs to Infinity Hydra's Tavern, and caught himself staring at her behind for only a moment, tilting his head sideways and admiring the temporary view. Shaking his head quickly, he made his way up to the bar, which seemed like a hurry, and got what he usually got.

"Strawberry. Whiskey. And gimme' the whole bottle." A bit surprised about him wanting the entire bottle, but the bartender ended up giving the whole thing to Deniel anyway, opening it up for him before moving on to what Tyriel wanted. Once the bottle had been opened up for Deniel, it was obvious that he wasted no time in taking his drink. He placed it right against his lips, and chugged down a few large gulps of it before placing it down and letting out a very satisfied sigh. He performed his swift drink while he had been standing up, as he was so eager to get some, and it wasn't until he finished that first large gulp did he finally sit down on the stool. "Aaaaaah! Hits the spot!" A brief laughter escaped himself as he looked at Tyriel, but more so at her chest for a moment. She's got a pretty nice rack, too. Quickly looking back up at her eyes in hopes of not getting caught staring at her chest, he took another drink straight from the bottle and stretched himself out with his arms, almost yawning in the process.

"So, looks like I spilled a lot of secrets myself. Think it's your turn to return the favor?"

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

Bringing the bottle up to his lips once more, Deniel chugged himself down another solid couple of gulps of the alcoholic beverage. Bringing it down again and off of his lips, another sigh came right out of him before briefly smacking his lips. He shook the bottle momentarily to see if he could hear just how much of it was left. Based on the sound, which Tyriel could also hear, there was not much. Shrugging, he drank down the rest of it and placed the bottle down. "Hit me with another one!" He seemed to have an insanely high amount of alcohol tolerance, as if he had been drinking for years. And while it was true that his tolerance was inhumanely high--because he wasn't actually human--he didn't touch it all too often. It was his father that did, and those centuries of drowning in alcohol of various kinds were passed straight down on to his son, who was granted the ability to enjoy alcohol much more than anyone else could, as shown with him finishing off a whole bottle and only being slightly tipsy. Opening up the bottle himself, he looked as if he were about to take another drink of it, before realizing Tyriel was still in his company.

"Whoops. Sorry..." He placed down the bottle a moment and tapped it for a few moments, thinking about what exactly he wanted to ask her. "Huuuh...well a few things could be what kind of Magic you use, what rank you are, what being the Head of Resilience means, and....what interests you so much about the library? You seem to know a lot about that area. You Infinity Hydra's librarian? Hahahah."

Notes