[IC] - Fantasia

[Kilelicus]

Deus's Apartment | Fantasia | 8:23 AM
BGM: Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhBkViAPF0I

---

Several minutes later, Dahlia was fully dressed and Deus had a red handprint plastered on the side of his face. They sat at the table in the middle of Deus's kitchen, Dahlia begrudgingly enjoying her breakfast while Deus fidgeted silently in his chair, eyeing his own plate hesitantly.

"So, Deus. You wanna tell me what gave you the feeling that it would be a good idea to strip a girl naked without her consent?" Dahlia asked, irritated.

"Well, er... uhm....." Deus stammered...

"Come on, spit it out."

"I didn't really realize being naked was such a big deal."

"............... How..?"

"Never had to deal with it being an issue in the past, and I've never been embarrassed about it. So..."

Dahlia promptly planted her face on the tabletop, causing the tableware to kick up and dishevel slightly.

"So this, um... Actually... how did I even end up here?" she asked, shifting slightly in her chair. This world was completely alien to her. She hadn't the slightest idea of how she had ended up here. She just remembered feeling like she was.... dying... "Am I dead?"

"Nope. Well sorta. In your case anyway. Your physical body... ah... old physical.... um.... you shed your skin, basically. The body you're in right now is as real as the one you were in a couple days ago, but that one is... well... dead. Yep. You technically died in a Bathroom Stall." Deus said, with a shrug. "But you're still alive, so it's okay."

"But that doesn't answer how I ended up here?" Dahlia reasserted.

"Oh, right, well... you kinda... lost your grip on reality. Completely. Your mind rejected reality and the Low Road... that was that.. black void you got sucked into..." manifested itself before you, sucking your soul right out and giving you a new body. So while your heart stopped in your past body, you're still kicking in this one. Doesn't happen to everyone."

The idea that she had basically died and been reborn in a new body identical to her original one was off-putting for Dahlia. It almost felt to her like she wasn't inhabiting her own skin anymore, and that made her squirm a little bit. She lazily poked at her breakfast with her fork before shoveling some of her eggs into her mouth.

"Well... I suppose I can forgive you for stripping me. Wait.. why DID you strip me, anyway?" Dahlia asked.

"Well, your clothes were drenched in sweat, and you were a little dirty from your fall, so I wanted to clean your clothes and bathe you so you'd be nice and clean when you woke up!"

"...... You... bathed me without my permission? You... touched... me...."

"Oh dear..."

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:31AM

As Joel and Avi made their way back to the abandoned warehouse, they passed by a building with a moderately large crowd in front of it. Going from person to person in the crowd looked to be a young boy who appeared to be asking them something.

Joel wandered into the crowd to find out what the boy was asking and was surprised to find that he was asking about the deis.

Joel shook his head as he placed his hand on the boy's shoulder to get his attention. "I wouldn't waste my time on finding a deus if I were you, kid."

[Miniking1]

Scrapyard District | 8:32 AM

Mid-way between asking another person if they were a dues, Anthony was confronted by a man who told him to quit wasting his time searching for one.

"I know. I wanna try parkour and make a group with friends, but Val says we can do all of that when we find a dues." Anthony told the man as he pointed to Valerie, who stood further away on the wall than before. Her eyes were fixed on Anthony, but she looked to her sides occasionally.

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:32AM

Joel frowned and scratched the back of his head. The boy did not want to give up on such a pointless endeavor.

"Thing is, there's only a dozen known deis and most of them aren't even in the city. The only one that actually does things around here is The Deus and even then it's pretty hard to track him. Say, why do you even need a deus in the first place?

[Miniking1]

Scrapyard District | 8:33 AM

Anthony saddened upon hearing from the man that there weren't many deis in the city. "Val wants to find a deus so she can find out how to do more things. Then when she gets good at it, she'll try to help me become one." Anthony's smile came back. "Wait, do you know where we can find a deus?"

Valerie couldn't hear Anthony's conversations from here, they were mostly quick and went: 'Are you a deus?' 'No.' 'Ok.' But this one went on much longer. Valerie stopped looking around and kept her eyes on Anthony, trying to read the conversation with her eyes. It wasn't working.

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:34AM

Avi had been hanging back from Joel as he spoke to the boy, she began watching the girl on the other side of the street long before the boy pointed her out to Joel. She swiftly moved up to Joel and whispered into his ear. "Joel, that girl on the other side of the street... I don't know, I just feel uncomfortable looking at her. It's like she's hiding something."

Joel turned his attention to the opposite side of the road and momentarily locked eyes with her. "I know what you mean. From what I can tell, she's a magnus." He whispered back.

"I'd rather not stay here too long, she could be dangerous.

Joel nodded to Avi before turning back to the boy. "I don't know exactly where you can find Deus, but I do know that he occasionally comes to scrapyard district to keep the peace, or what little peace is left."

[Miniking1]

Scrapyard District | 8:34 AM

"Keep the peace... Ok" Anthony ran back to his sister.

Valerie had become very tense. She locked eyes with the man. He was her height, slightly taller. His outfit suggested he wasn't threatening, but Valerie was cautious. She eventually heard her brother next to her.

"Val aren't you listening? That guy says there's a deus that always comes to keep the peace." Anthony said into her ear and pointed back to the man.

"Sorry, I heard you Tony." Valerie relaxed. "So we start a fight or wait for some thugs to do so for us." Valerie said as she sat back down.

"Aww, we're waiting some more!?" Anthony sat down.

"Yes..."

"Well I'm done waiting!" Anthony exclaimed and stood up suddenly. "I'm asking that guy to help us find a deus." Anthony began walking back into the crowd.

"Wait, Tony." Valerie was too late to stop him. She ran up and took his hand just as they entered the crowd. Valerie began to say something, but stopped and stared at the ground as Anthony lead her back to the man.

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:35AM

The boy ran off to his sister after mumbling something about keeping the peace.

"Somehow, I feel like I shouldn't have said that." Joel began to work his way out of the crowd.

"Hopefully, he's not going to do what I think he's going to do." Said as she followed Joel through the crowd.

Joel stopped in his tracks when he saw the boy walking back with the magnus. "Well, I guess I have to finish what I started."

[Miniking1]

Scrapyard District | 8:36 AM

As Anthony led Valerie back to the man, she looked around. The crowd paid no attention to them. They quickly forgot about the boy asking around and started conversations about their plans for the day, among other things. "We're just asking for help." She thought to herself. "Nobody else will be interested in this."

When they reached the man, Valerie took a breath to regain her composure. "Hey. My brother here says you know how to find a deus... Well, we need to find one and learn about them to help a man write a book. It's our thanks to him for helping us earlier."

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:37AM

Joel grinned upon hearing the girl's reason. "Now, now, that's not the real reason you want to find a deus, is it? Come on, be honest with me, what kind of powers are you hiding, magnus?"

[Alayosho]

Pio's Apothacary | Scrapyard District | 8:37AM

A knock came to the door of Pio's clinic. Of course no one was around, which was exactly what the knocker wanted.

"You said they took him here?" A voice sounded from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, Boss. Rat like him couldn't afford a real hospital if he wanted." Another voice replied to the supposed "Boss".

A loud crash sounded in Yosho's ears as the door was kicked in. A group of three men came into the shop portion of Pio's establishment. One of them called out for service and received no reply.

"Good. Let's find that punk's body. We'll make an example out'a him. Ain't nobody who messes with Johny Expendable." Johny declared.

"That's right, boss!" A goon echoed behind him.

Yosho was in the neighboring room on a bed of sorts. He could feel his sense coming back to him. He could feel his heart begin to wake up and his mind sharpen. The rustle of objects and clatter of things being stolen by the men excited his sesnes, making them demand blood--demand death. It wasn't resting or thinking that brought peace to Yosho's mind. Even mundane tasks failed to fill the gap created in his heart. It was just like Lex told him once--he was a killer, and to deny that fact would drive him insane. Yosho didn't like it, though. He didn't want to be a killer. He wanted to protect and help people live their lives normally. Where exactly would he find the line between murder and manslaughter? Was he defending people if no one was around?

"Hey boss, what if the girl shows up? This probably don't look good." A goon said.

"Well we'll just have to have a little fun with her if she gets in the way...." Johny's voice continued, but the worlds coming after his initial declaration were useless.

"Don't mix up morality with killing people. When someone has to die--they have to die...." Lex's voice echoed of Yosho's mind.

They have to die.

Yosho's eye's opened. He took a deep breath, feeling the limits of his body. He sat up and looked around his current location. It was a small off-shot from the main room, hardly able to be called a "clinic". By the way the men's actions and voices resounded in the main room, it was likely the main room wasn't much larger. The set up was perfect for a swordsman. Yosho stood and walked over toward the door leading into the main room. The boards creaked in disdain and caught Johny's attention. Johny attempted to ask for who was there, but Yosho refused to reply. Johny and his band of thugs didn't deserve to hear Yosho's name. Yosho opened the door, eyeing each of the men. Johny was pale as a ghost, and the other two slowly reaching that chalky color. In Johny's hand was a gun, an object Yosho didn't recognize at all. The other two men hand knives.

"Y-you're alive?!" Johny cried in shock. "I shot you dead!"

Yosho's eyes kept digging holes into the men, tearing them appear mentally and understanding their strengths and weaknesses. By the way they held their weapons, Yosho could tell none of them had any formal training. Johny's tool was a projectile-based weapons. Knives were held weakly in the hands of his lackeys. Johny rose his weapon, pointing it at Yosho. He wasn't going to fire yet, though. He was too uncertain. He killed Yosho once, afterall, why would shooting him again do anything?

"What the hell are you?" Johny demanded. "Answer me!"

"No..." Yosho said, then sprang forward, drawing his sword off his back as he did so. Nightsplitter materialized for Yosho as he reached back, having previously been out of sight. Johny fired two shots. The first was easy to dodge, as Yosho dodged Johny's decision to shoot, not the bullet itself. In that time Yosho knew the speed and damage just one of those could do to him. It was a little more than frightening. Yosho had to play a bit safer to get close, feinting to the side as the next bullet killed the air where he was. Johny's trigger finger wasn't very reflexive, just scared. It was only two more quick steps for Yosho to get into striking range, and one more pocket of air slain by a stray bullet. Yosho's sword slid through the air more gracefully that a messy bullet, removing Johny's thumb from his hand and forcing him to be unable to hold the gun.

As Johny cried out, Yosho's blade came back around, slicing one goon's neck open as it flowed through Johny's frontal cortex and stopped with its tip poised in front of the last man's head before he could even react. The man had never seen a person move that fast. Just what was this boy?! Before he could voice a complain, he found the area between his eyes punctured by a quick jab.

Yosho put the man who was bleeding out out of his misery and looked around....

"i should clean up..." Yosho frowned, sheathing his sword, which vanished as it was let go. Yosho looked around for a bucket and rag and began to clean....

[Miniking1]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:38 AM

Valerie was in a bad position. Not only was someone accusing her of being something special, but they were in the middle of a crowd. If this continued, she'd start to be judged by the strangers around her. She wouldn't have any clue of what they each individually were going to do or think about her. It was like being trapped in the darkness with creatures of all sorts. She was afraid. She didn't want to be here.

"Val, are you okay?" Anthony asked her sister.

"Y-yeah An-Anthony, I'm f-fine." Valerie realized she was sobbing. She looked around before re-addressing the man. "C-Can we talk someplace else?"

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:38AM

"Excuse us for a minute, I need to talk to Joel." Avi smiled warmly at the boy and girl. The fake smile immediately dropped when she turned around to walk away with Joel following.

After they got a significant distance from the two, Avi shot Joel a murderous glare to which the latter held up his hands innocently.

"What? I didn't know she'd react like that."

Avi let out a loud sigh. "Please restrain from your usual mischievous tricks, Joel. We'll just help them find their deus and we'll be on our way, got it?"

"Y-yes ma'am."

"Good, now let's go back. And remember, play nice."

"Avi's scary when she's angry..." Joel mumbled to himself as he followed her back to the siblings.

Avi returned with the same warm smile, but Joel seemed more passive than usual.

"So, uh, we'll help you find your deus. I don't care about whatever you're hiding anymore."

[Miniking1]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:39 AM

The woman accompanying the man excused herself and walked away with him. Valerie tried to make her way out of the crowd but Anthony held onto her and kept her from leaving.

"Come on Tony, there's too many people here and it's uncomfortable." Valerie tried to pull Anthony with her softly.

"So. We're so close to finding a deus. We've gotta wait for them." Anthony pulled on Valerie's hands tightly.

The two came back and addressed the siblings in a softer manner. Valerie stopped struggling to leave and instead wiped her eyes.

"Sorry about my sister whining. She's 'uncomfortable' with this crowd and stuff, even though they aren't even paying us any attention." Anthony said.

Valerie looked around. He was right, they were still going about their own business. Even the people she tried to move through hadn't even been phased by them. She breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry about that. Since you already know, yes I'm a...deus, but I'm not a good one, so you don't have to spread the word or anything." She scratched her arm and continued. "We sort of do want to help a man write a book about them, but it's more to help us. We're grateful that you're going to help us find one, so uh... lead away?"

Anthony nodded his head in approval as Valerie finished up. He gave her a few pats on the shoulder and was rewarded with a soft punch in the arm.

[Kilelicus]

Deus's Apartment | Fantasia | 8:30 AM
BGM: Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhBkViAPF0I

---

Several minutes later, again, Deus had another reddened portion of his face, resembling a hand print, on the opposite cheek. He whined slightly as the girl before him shifted uncomfortably in her chair and huffed.

"Well... since these social expectations are new to you... I suppose I have to let it slide." Dahlia said, begrudgingly.

"Sorry...." Deus whimpered.

"But now that I'm here... how... do I get back?" Dahlia pondered.

"Back? Back where?" Deus asked, slightly confused.

"Back to my world, Deus..."

"Oh... oh. Um...."

"And I swear to god, if you tell me there is no way for me to go back, I'll make your ass match your face."

"Well... there is one way..."

"And that is...?"

"You have to become a Magnus."

Dahlia blinked momentarily, what did he just say? she's have to become something? That sounded like it might take awhile or completely change who she was in the first place. She elected not to fret about it immediately and instead gather more information.

"A what?"

"A Magnus!"

There was a short, awkward pause between the two before Dahlia realize he wasn't about to elaborate without some sort of prompt.

"What's... a Magnus?" she asked.

"Oh, that's what I am. Magni are people who can manifest just about anything they want in this world with a thought."

"So.. you're like... a God?"

"That's what my name means, so yes... I think." Deus confirmed.

"How will that help me get home though?"

"Oh I can also travel through portals of a sort. A more powerful is needed to get the the Real world. You also kind of have to reaccept reality, and that's easier said than done. That portal nonsense was actually how we survived the fall off of Maker's Rise."

I forgot about that... Dahlia thought to herself. "Well... can you teach me how to become a Magnus?"

"I can, but it will take a long time."