[IC] - Fantasia

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:40AM

"Right, to find a deus. Let's see, maybe we can stir up some trouble for someone who's been stirring up trouble around this place. He's a daemon so I need to get someone to help."

Avi leaned in close and whispered into Joel's ear. "You're not going to ask her, are you? You know she'll get really angry at you if you wake her up this early."

"Yeah, I don't care if I wake her up early or not. Besides, she told me that I could call her anytime I want for her help." Joel turned his attention back to the siblings. "So, you familiar with a crappy-looking two-story library around here?"

[Miniking1]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:40 AM

"YESS!" Anthony threw his fist up into the air. "We're going back AND we have a group!"

"Yes, we just came from such a place." Valerie answered the two.

"Wait..." Anthony paused. "Why are we going back? The old man doesn't have any books on deus. In fact, that's kinda why we left."

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:41AM

"Well, what you don't know-and aren't supposed to know-about the library is that there's a secret room where a Valkyrie lives. She's a friend and she owes me one for saving her ass a couple weeks ago. We'll need her help if we're going to take on a daemon If she isn't there, I guess we'll just borrow a few weapons to make up for it."

[WriggleRid3r]

Pio's Apothecary and Clinic | Scrapyard District | 8:43 AM

---

The journey did not take too long thanks to the absence of any events worth mentioning. Pio visited a general goods store ran by a middle-aged man with enough gusto to fill the entire city, located a few minutes of walking distance away from her apothecary. There, she purchased some dry bread to shoo away the gnawing hunger and clean bandages for her patients, using half of the money she received for the two items. Then, she went to a repair shop owned by a cranky old handyman to check the pricing on fixing her heater. Unfortunately, she didn't even have one-fourth of the money required to pay for the repair, so she sorrowfully bid goodbye to the old man before coming back to the apothecary to see Yosho cleaning up the mess.

"EEP!" Pio screamed when she saw the men Yosho killed. She saw a lot of people die while running the shop, but each death was none the less scarring for her fragile mind. "Wha- WHAT HAPPENED?!"

[Miniking1]

Streets | Scrapyard District |8:41

"I've got my own weapon." Valerie brung out a small length of her gray chains. They faintly glowed blue and gave off a slight chill. "But Anthony and I haven't been in a fight before, so I've never used these on another person..." She looked down at her chains for a while before looking back to the man and woman. "My name's Valerie, and this is my brother Anthony. If we're going to be traveling with you two, I think you should at least know our names."

[Alayosho]

Pio's Apothecary and Clinic | Scrapyard District | 8:43 AM

Yosho was doing a fine job cleaning up the blood. The bodies he'd set together in a group off to the side. The floor, despite Yosho's efforts still looked terrible, considering Yosho had no idea where or how to get water. Instead he was just soaking up as much as he could and depositing it in a bucket. His kills were very clean and quick, but they left blood regardless.

The door began to open and Yosho's body withdrew into the tension one feel when something is uncertain. Was this a friend, or foe? His head darted to the side and his left arm paused, ready to grab his blade. Much to his relief, a charming, if not worse for wear, young girl had walked in. He was about to say hello when--

"EEP!", She screamed "Wha- WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Yosho didn't flinch. He wasn't surprised at all. Afterall, that was a perfectly appropriate response to the situation. Yosho stood, turning to face the girl. He was hauntingly casual about the fact he was standing among blood and bodies. Despite showing no hostility, his eyes still seemed to probe Pio for weaknesses--the perfect chance to strike. Everything about the young man in Pio's shop marked him as a warrior, and a far cry from the boy who came in to get tonics and salves for the merchant.

"Sorry. These men came in here looking for me, and talking about raping you. So I killed them." How Charismatic, he was! Yosho spoke plainly and simply, feeling no remorse for doing what had to be done.

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:42AM

"Good idea. I should probably give you mine too. The name's Joel, Joel Arken." Joel flashed a cocky smile.

"And I'm Avi. I suppose my surname would be Arken as well." Avi bowed slightly.

Both notably couldn't stop looking at the glowing chains that Valerie held.

[Miniking1]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:43 AM

There was a long pause after the two introduced themselves to Valerie and Anthony. Anthony waited impatiently next to Valerie. Valerie was looking around, wondering what to say next, when her eyes found what Joel and Avi were looking at.

"Oh, my chains. I'm sorry for not explaining why they glow. I believe they're tied to my emotions." Valerie held up her chains. "Well they're blue now because I'm calm, and they get cold too. And when I'm angry, they turn red and get hot. When we're running from someone, I make myself scared so they turn black and conceal noises, but we also head into the shadows to hide."

"Hey, do you think they'll turn pink if you're embarrassed or green if you're jealous Val?" Anthony questioned his sister. "Also, can I feel them? You've only let me feel them when they're black."

"No Tony. If it's too cold, you might get sick, and if it's too hot, it might burn you." Valerie told her brother before looking back at the others. "So uh, I'm curious. If you two share a name, does that mean you're married, or related?"

[Kilelicus]

Streets | Residential District | 4:43 AM
BGM: SimCity 3000 - Updown Town
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4vRJF8L4SY

---

"So, tell me again where we're going?" Dahlia asked passively, following Deus slowly down the streets of Fantasia, she slowly glanced around at all of the figments sharing the streets with them, many looked human. Many looked less than human. Some were outright amorphous blobs.

"To a friends house," Deus started, "I haven't visited her in awhile and I wanted to make sure she's doing alright. She lives in the Scrap district and things can get pretty dangerous there. Hey wanna see something cool?" Deus said, casually materializing a black film noir fedora in his hand and placing it on his head. With his Trenchcoat, he looked strikingly similar to the private investigators and other protagonists of old 40s films.

"That's an awfully shady look for you, Deus." Dahlia observed, "So if this place is so dangerous, why are you bringing me?"

"You've gotta learn somehow, don't ya? Magni have strong wills. You've already got the Imaginary Power for it, just need to have the heart."

"And how is putting me in danger going to...." Dahlia began to question before...

"NO IDEA!" Deus interrupted, "But it seems to work. At least, it provides experience. Provided a lot of Magni in this world are either lazy or jerks, they all have a strong belief in themselves. There aren't nearly as many Magni as there are Impotensi like yourself, but..."

"What did you just call me?"

"Impotens. Means you can't manifest your thoughts."

"....Oh."

"But..." he continued, "If you want to manifest your thoughts, you have to believe in yourself."

Dahlia flushed slightly as Deus pointed out her utter lack of self-esteem. He seemed to know a lot more about her than he should know maybe... No. There's no way he had learned anything from the dreams she always had about this place. Dahlia pondered the situation at hand as they traveled.

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:45AM

Avi bit her lip, thinking about her answer to the question and the subsequent response from the siblings.

"No, no, nothing like that. I'm... actually a Figment, Joel's Figment to be specific."

"If anything, she'd be closer to being my sister." Joel cut in with a slightly distracted gaze.

[Miniking1]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:46 AM

"So we're gonna take on a Daemon... Those are like the bad Deis, right? How dangerous will it be?" Valerie unconsciously looked to Anthony.

"I bet we'll go to their hideout, then ambush them from the shadows. They won't even see us coming."

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:47AM

Joel grinned from ear to ear upon hearing Anthony's response. "I like how you think, kid."

"Don't forget, we need to go and get her to help first. Let's go to the library."

[Miniking1]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:47 AM

The siblings began to follow Joel and Avi.

"So, what happens if this person doesn't feel like helping?" Valerie asked them.

[Lunasa Prismriver]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:48AM

"If she doesn't feel like helping, I'll get her to give us some guns. Even though she should help because she owes me."

[Miniking1]

Streets | Scrapyard District | 8:49 AM

"We're going after a Daemon right? Are they the one I'm supposed to learn from? Or are we attracting that one Deus you said sometimes comes to keep the peace?" Valerie asked.