Chaos Descends

Milo stretched and embraced the morning sun as it pierced the night sky.  As he descended from the sky, he eyed the guild hall of Errings Rising, somewhat familiar with the terrain.  The atmosphere warmed the lower he flew and eventually he landed on the guild steps.  He had walked here once before, unsure if anyone even knew who he was.  He had visited some time ago only to officially join and receive his mark, but never stuck around to meet the guild's members.  As the sun rose and illuminated the land, his features became more visible.  His hair was a dark shade of purple with a silver streak and speckled with white, and his ghostly blank eye was piercing even in the dark.  Now that he thought about it, it had been a while since he had been within the boundaries of Earthland, as he had been traveling the stars for more time than he could remember.  Upon his arrival, the guild was sparsely populated, and Milo began to wonder if he came to the right place.  He found his reflection in a window and straightened himself out, dusting off the ice that had been collecting on his shoulders from space, and brushing the hair from his face.

[210]

On the days when Beira wasn't wandering around the world and getting into all sorts of trouble, she could be found at the one place she could call home, hidden somewhere in the Errings Risings library, where she read any and all things she could get her hands on. Her fascination with books was so intense that a part of the library had been transformed into some sort of makeshift living quarters. When she wasn't reading, the God Slayer was wandering through the great halls, often moving unseen and unperceived, thanks to her Anima Umbrae spell. For the Utgardian, there was much to think about, and it was easier to think when she wasn't being disturbed by people. One of the quirks of being a member of a dark guild was that there was a large dearth of people in line to receive hugs, and it became even easier to be undisturbed when people were unaware of your presence.

It was at one of these points in time, when the God Slayer silently haunted the halls of Errings Rising, that she came across some strange looking fellow in the halls, preening himself before a window. Obviously he was a guild member, else he would have been ejected rather unpleasantly, to be euphemistic. Normally, she would have walked past, as usual, and gone to do some background research on this newcomer, but she noticed with mild curiosity that, like herself, he possessed a silver streak of hair in his purple locks. Though Beira's hair hue was something much on the opposite end of the color wheel, the similar feature made her pause. She would reveal herself to this person, interact with him, simply because she was curious.

Beira seemed to materialize into existence behind the man, saying nothing. Whether he saw her appear to coalesce from thin air via the reflection of the window before which he stood, or he noticed her when he turned, the man would see the short, sparsely dressed mage standing silently and watching him with curious eyes.

[341]

Milo sensed another presence behind him, and did a double take to search for the person.  He craned his neck around, and to his astonishment noticed a considerably short, curious-faced mage sizing him up.  "My, my," Milo began. "I was beginning to think I wouldn't see another face around these parts."

Perhaps it was his poor memory, but the mage before him reverberated with a familiar energy.  As he met eyes with her, he could have sworn he knew her, but could not associate a name or a face.  It was almost as if he had known her from another life.  He hid the feeling away, believing they must have merely crossed paths before, perhaps on one of his more elaborate travels.  "They call me Milo," he chirped.  It had been an awful while since he had last seen a person in flesh, as he was recently traversing planets on a job, and sparsely encountered anything but animals and spirits.  "I promise I'm no intruder," he joked, and brought his fists together to reveal the mark of Errings Rising.  Light danced on his fingertips when he swiftly moved, excess magic dripping and evaporating in an instant.  "I don't suppose you know if there's a tavern open nearby."

But, as soon as he met eyes with her, Milo's lips quirked and his curiosity peaked.  He, somewhat rudely, crouched and gazed into her eyes and examined her facial features.  "Say, I don't believe we've ever met before, but I feel like I've seen you somewhere before," he explained.  "Maybe we've seen each other in passing.  Have you ever been to Tetsukazu? Or Nazo perhaps?"

---

OOC:

In reply to the stranger's comment about his fear of not seeing another person for a while, Beira made no verbal response, only tilting her head slightly. Unless he belonged here, it was improper to attempt small talk without identifying himself and his purpose. Although Beira was sure that if he didn't belong here, the guild's defenses would have either misled him, or made short work of him. Which is why she had not been hostile. At least, not yet.

The strange man introduced himself, and Beira did so as well, in exactly the same fashion he had done so. "They call me Beira," she replied. "Welcome to the guild." He had a mark, so she was fine with that. Despite never having seen him before, she was not a guild ace, and as such was not responsible for the influx of members into the guild. "There are some... semblances of taverns down the mountain, but the locals are no fun to interact with, and their grog is thin."

The God Slayer did not move, as Milo examined her face. "Tetsukazu, I cannot say," she replied to his question. "I have been to Nazo, however. Do you go there often? Are you from Earthland, or from beyond the stars?"

[210]

Milo noticed the visible confusion on Beira's face, and realized how physically close he was to her.  He immediately backed away and let out an exasperated chuckle.  He cleared his throat and briefly apologized, then smugly smiled.  "Ah.  That's a good thing you've not been to Tetsuzaku.  I've had some, in short, 'bad' business there.   Needless to say I have a bit of a rough reputation out there."

Although he was glad to hear about nearby taverns, he was disenchanted by the 'no fun' locals, and frowned at that prospect.  "That's too bad.  Perhaps I'll have to spend more time exploring Earthland for more interesting people.  Not sure if you've ever been, but Shinku is a wonderful place to start a bar fight.  A bit dark and grimy, but you forget about that as soon as you walk into a pub."  At the question of where he was from, Milo parted his lips to think of a witty reply, but fell short for once.  In earnest, he wasn't really sure either.  He was certain that he was born on Earthland, but he couldn't remember much of his early youth.  Ever since he learned to fly and that he could traverse the stars, he hadn't returned to Earthland save to join a guild and for work-related purposes.  "I travel around the stars fairly often.  I guess you could say I am from here, but I spend more time out there-he pointed to the sky-than I do down here."

"Anyways, not to bore you with my lineage," he snickered.  "I'm sure you're wondering what a stranger is doing here.  Well, when I first joined Errings Rising, I bought an apartment, just for sentimental purposes.  But, I recently received a message that if I didn't return, it would be foreclosed due to disuse.  And of course, I am not about to let that happen.  Perhaps you could join me, I'm sure there are some old...friends waiting for me that might need to be dispatched."

Beira tilted her head to the other side now, a smile creeping up on her lips, as the new Errings Rising guild member tried to dissuade her from visiting Tetsuzaku. "Oh, somebody has been naughty, huh?" she asked. "Why should that affect my desiring to go there? Unless you've really gone and done something to make the Tetsuzaku locals eager to boil anyone they deem a stranger. That wouldn't be the case now, would it? And don't worry, it seems most of us holed up here are in the business of giving ourselves unfortunate reputations."

The Utgardian made a face when Milo mentioned Shinku. "Ugh," she said, expressing mild disgust, "if that place is anything to go by, the people there are certainly lacking in manners. In any case, I'm sure you're correct about the part where you mentioned getting bar fights easily. Still, it's an ugly sight, Shinku is. Not a place I'd like to spend a vacation, if I can help it."

It seemed either the fellow could not remember his past, or he was unwilling to tell her. Beira shrugged. "It's not like that piece of information will pay the bills anyway," she intoned, then added honestly, "but your talk of spending more time among the stars is quite... intriguing, to say the least. Maybe you could inform me on a number of topics related to traveling beyond the sky. I think I want to write a book on such matters. I hear it gets difficult to breathe once you get too high. How do you manage it?" She was sure that she could survive in outer space, what with her ability to subsist on cosmic energies. She wondered whether Milo had a similar ability, but she was sure they could not be possibly related.

The invitation to meet some friends that needed dispatching sounded like it had the potential to be an amusing exercise. Though Beira was sure she was not dressed for the occasion. "Is your apartment on the castle grounds? Or do we have to hike down the mountain? If the latter is the case, I'll need to get dressed to go out. If not, do lead the way. I should like to be acquainted with these... friends of yours."