Advent of the Nexus: The Only Way Home

Zada had raised his glass in honor of Tim's toast and taken a proper taste of the beer and bread, both delicious. He turned when Pan and Crystal walked in.

"It is about time you two walked in. I was beginning to think it was only going to be duo, or lone wolf for that matter."

"What exactly is this...no, nevermind. So, let me see here...we have two lost lambs seeking the path to the gods and one who doesn't think the world will actually end in less than a month. Mr. Night, I presume this isn't your first fight with Omega? That would be good for you. Mr. Z'Aay, it will still, at worst, be a duo. Guides don't fight. They lead. And Ms. Crystal, unless you might like to try helping save this world, I suggest you go wait outside for a while. Tim'll come and get you when your room is ready if that's the choice you make."

Pan looks at the three in turn and then snaps his fingers like he remembered something.

"Oh, right, what do you guys think of Tim's brew, eh? Is it good, or what?"

"You really don't think its a joke?" She raises an eyebrow looking at him. Oh she'll help but she needs a tad bit of convincing she she never saw the broadcasts herself, just heard people talking about them.

"Oh, no, Ms. Crystal. I KNOW it isn't a joke. This place is quite popular, yet there are only five people in here right now, and only three are customers. That's because 90% of the residents in Old Venice are the survivors of worlds that were already destroyed by those two gods. Mr. Night happens to be one of them. Unless someone stops them soon, then this world will end as well. Another interesting fact is, my sight and your sight are different. I see paths. Paths to events, to places, to lifestyles, to deaths, and even one to the end of the world. If there is a path, physical or not, I can see and follow it."

Pan emphasizes this by back flipping over Shade, balancing on the counter edge on one foot, then somehow spinning until he'd moved far enough away from Shade to somersault forward through the air and onto the legs of an upside down chair, balancing his entire weight on one finger placed on one leg of a chair. He then lowered his feet to the ground.

"In this case, I'm just the guide for two or three others to try and stop the end of the world. The 'or three', Ms. Crystal, refers to you."

Pan sits down on a table and waits for her answer.

Unseen again a broad smile appears on Shade's face.

"Never really fought him directly but I do remember plenty of arguements as well as fighting along side of him. He's rather annoying if you ask me and it would be nice to knock him down a few notches. His ego is rather large. Ah yes his brew is splendid best I've ever had."

Shade gives the girl, Crystal, a quick look over then picked up his refilled glass and took a drink. Placing it down he straightens up a little and looks directly at Pan.

"Right now, you know me and I know of you. Let's get down to business shall we?"

"Be patient. There are two weeks left. Let's wait for Ms. Crystal's decision first, then I'll explain what the rules of my contract are."

Pan is a bit confused as to why Night hasn't fought Omega, since, judging by his account, he didn't get along well with the deity.

"Tim, any bread left?"

The old man tosses a half a loaf to Pan with a smile.

"Thanks."

Pan tears off a piece and eats it.

"Well I gues I can rest a little while longer considering my long journey here. Crystal yes? I am Shade pleasure to meet you."

Assuming it might take some time for Crystal to decided Shade took out a book from his cloak opened to a random page and began reading; occassionally taking sips from his beer and engaging Pan and Zada in converstation.

"You say you see all paths yes? Does that apply to a fight? Example if you were trying not to get hit."

"

"It does, but I don't always manage to follow those perfectly. I usually end up a little hurt, at least, after a good brawl. Sometimes I do come out without a scratch."

Pan's gold eyes flashed a bit and he decided to tune his guitar while waiting for the final decision; he had left it by the door when he entered, so he had to get up to retrieve it from the black case. Then he sat back down on the table and began tuning it.

"That's good, useful as it would be to see the path to avoiding all the danger it would definetly lose all the fun. Good fight ends with all participants alittle bruised up. Granted though that would be useful in certain situations, quite lucky for you have such a skill. All I got was a knack for getting in trouble."

From underneath his hood he lets out a light chuckle as he remembers his past experiences, trouble always managed to find him. He takes another drink from his beer and continues waiting for Crystal to make her decision, only partly paying attention to what he was reading. As his thoughts were elsewhere.

((If Z doesn't post by Friday, we're moving forward; I have plenty of loopholes to use to involve her if she comes late to the party.))

"You seem to be impressed with my eyesight. But I'll bet this isn't the first time you've met someone with interesting eyes. C'mon, share some stories. It isn't often that you can meet with the last living person of a destroyed world."

Pan struck up a tune on the guitar, something similar to this. He seemed to still be paying attention to the customers, both for reactions and for any tales Shade might tell.

"Last living person? So very depresssing when you put it like that. How proud all those other people would be to know I survived, that assassin must be rolling in his grave now. If he died.... Well your eyestight is by far the most impressive, though I have seen other abilities that are more impressive. Like turning into a dragon. Stories, lets see. Alright once upon a time there was this guy, he went all bad sought power. Heroes banded together overcame challenges of many kinds and fought him. He took on a God's form and one hero overcame all odds even death itself to save the world. Story time over for now."

Next time he saw Omega Shade reminded himself to ask about Garm who he had hoped was also dead. Out of all the other people who could have also survived the assassin was not high on his list.

"Nice guitar work there."

"Oh, thanks. So, by 'that assassin', I suppose you are referring to one of Omega's vessels? This alchemist told me a longer version of a story that sounds awfully like yours about a week ago."

The level of knowledge Pan had gathered on other worlds was actually quite frightening. He'd spoken to almost every single survivor who drifted into Old Venice. He paid especially close attention when the tales had involved any kind of god. His eyes led him to that decision.

"Though I doubt I can top turning into a dragon, I do know a way to become half-dragon. Of course, those kinds of upgrades will cost you. The Omega path, that's free of charge."

"Don't think I know any alcehmists but yes a vessel of Omega there was also a girl who was Alpha's vessel. Forget her name, didn't really speak with her much though. Odd that you know anything about him, thought the assassins were never to have been there. Guess some things can't be kept a secret. And the Omega path is not free of charge, having to deal with 'Him' would be torture. I've got plenty of other Gods I would rather be host to."

His knowledge was certainly impressive. The assassin had asked the hero to hide the fact that assassins had helped win the fight and seeing as Shade was apparently the last of his world he doubted anyone else would know anything of it.

"Can't wait to see the two of them again sure they will be happy to see me again."

"You don't know a guy named Maramus? He mentioned Omega's host was an assassin, but never anything about more than just one. Didn't hear Alpha come up either. And the Omega path isn't being the host, it's the path to where Omega is. Sorry, but I can't guarantee that a god would let you be it's host if I led you to it."

Pan began to tune his guitar again, not fully satisfied with the sounds it was putting out.


« Last edited by penguinlord352 on Sep 5th 2012 »

Zada smiled, absorbing the exchange. The Zioness had stories, he had never believed them though, it was odd. The people he had left new more than had thought, pre-haps he should have swiped a few tomes along with the sword.

"I find dragons nasty business, half dragons especially as their agility is through the roof."

He thought back, thinking about the idiot that contracted him to take out loan shark and failed to mention the dragon part...

"Zada Z'Aay...hmmm....you might not believe me here, but I can imagine, by what you say, that you encountered a half-dragon at some point? Whatever you fought, Omega will require you to go at full-throttle from the start. I just wanted to say that, since of the three of you, you come off as the most self-confident."

Pan looked right into Zada's eyes when he said this. He meant those words with every fiber in his being. He struck up a more mournful tune with the guitar, to convey this point even more.

"Oh yeah that guy was almost as wierd as Garm. Didn't speak much to him though maybe a few words but he sure knew how to fight. All the heroes did for the most part."

It had been quite sometime since he had actually thought about Garm and all the others he had travelled with so long ago; and he remembered a lot of dislike mostly toward Garm. Unfortunately it seemed that atleast one other hero was still alive.

"Great mood setting."

"Sorry, but I don't want my customer service reputation to get tarnished. It's my policy to warn customers about danger levels ahead of time if they are asking me to guide them to some kind of showdown."

Pan took the comment on the mood from Shade to mean that his warning was killing the good mood they'd had so far. He took that to heart, since he considered himself to be a professional guide.

Zada nodded his head in a short bow. "Thank You, Pan. And Shade, you should feel more confident if you seen this person in action." He stopped there, giving him a slight smirk.

"I mean come on, I'm going in blind, I'll have to adapt my skills my mid battle just to survive. You should be able to come up with a sure fire plan that fits you to a T."

He took a large gulp of beer, letting out a deep laugh, not at intoxication, but at the silly but yet seriousness of it all.

((Okay, we'll be moving this along now. Sorry I'm a bit late on this, but let's just push forward and try to get this thing going.))

"Well, it's about time we get going. We can't afford to be even a little late. Customers, prepare yourselves. We shall depart shortly."

Pan secures his guitar in its black case and slings it across his back.

"Tom, I'll see you when I return."


"Understood. Be careful out there. I'll keep Ms. Crystal safe and sound until things blow over."

The elderly bartender smiled as he watched Pan go over his mental checklist of preparations.