The Nexus Tavern (O//A)

[Py Aster]

"It sounds like I do? Good...." He closed his eyes. "I should. I had plans to marry her...that was, until events happened and she was taken away. She's dead...and her death led to the events to why I was known as the 'Man who Kingdoms Fear'." He looked around and sighed. "It was her dream actually to have a tavern. However, some dreams cannot be reality at all. War came to where she was; the old kingdom next door...Corneus. Arcadia turned it all into ash. I just hope she met a swift death...but knowing her, she went out the best way she could...."






((Edit: Happy page 100!!))

[Turnabout Spaz]

Scarlet turned an ear toward Caleb, and gently smiled.

Finally, a story.... A low sigh passed her lips as she sat up at the bar counter. She focused in on what he said, slowly drowning out the constant barking she heard.

[Kovahl Norzaar Amadan]

Hriob stares at Caleb in mild shock, then seems to deflate. Saying 'I'm Sorry' isn't really an option, this is something that happened to him long before I came here. But to lose someone like that... His mind instantly flashes to Night when she was possessed by that demon, then to her when she was under the power of 'Black Ice'... Am I moving too slow? I don't want to lose her or risk her... but what am I supposed to do? He looks worried, disturbed even, brooding for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry to hear about that... but I at least hope to help you here from here on out..." Perhaps I should work on some of Night's problems... try and do what I can... I won't let her suffer at all if I can help it.

{{Glad to be here for it, Trias. ^_^}}

[Py Aster]

Caleb closed his eyes. "Of course there's more to that tale. I just wanted it to be brief...for my sake." He started to walk towards his room. "Hirob, I want you to meet with Diane. There was an airship attack, which means the old Carten Airworks is working, and in bandit hands. I want it out of their hands...that's why I'm sending you to her. Scarlet...help yourself to this pile Hriob made at my door. I have no use for them at all, so you can go ahead and have them."
He walked into his room and closed his eyes. "Allie..."

[Kovahl Norzaar Amadan]

"Alright." Hriob went ahead and teleported to his room, grabbing a few supplies and refreshing his rather odd weapon choice of metal bearings in spring-wound belt dispensers: This time he had enough ammo for over one hundered and fifty of his 'charged shots'... and I still don't know what to call it. This is starting to get ridiculous.

Then, once he teleports back with a new Monk's Spade and a tightly-strapped satchel of supplies and books on Airships borrowed from some colleagues, he realizes Caleb is locked in his study again, and he has no idea where to look for the Dianne he just heard about. Great... yet again, I'm stuck in a pointless deadlock.

[Py Aster]

Caled walked out of his room once again. As he did, his stomach grumbled. Hmm...hungry.... He looked around as he sighed. No one's looking, right? He went to the center of the tavern and closed his eyes. He then opened them again and spoke up, a magic circle appearing beneath him. This was a chant he learned, something he wanted to show Allie, as a sign of thanks.

"I am the bone of my skillet.
Steel is in my frying pan, and fire is in my eyes....
I have created over a thousand dishes
Unknown to fast food
Not known to instant meals...
I have created many meals
Yet this mouth cannot taste anything...
So as I fillet....
Unlimited Food Woks!"

As he was chanting that erratic magic circles formed around his primary magic circle. Skillets, frying pans, woks, and ladles jutted out of the ground of the tavern.

Now that his reality was deployed, the air grew thick, not with ash, but with the scent of myriad of dishes. Coming out of the ground was an infinity of cooking utensils and ingredients, even a marlin was sticking out of the ground. The gears above were replaced by egg timers, groaning as they counted down to an unknown time.

Caleb simply closed his eyes.

[Kovahl Norzaar Amadan]

Back in his own room looking over yards upon yards of text on Homunculi, Souls, the Animus, and Spiritual Energies, Hriob had decided to wait until he could find someone to tell him where Diane was. Instead, he was researching and studying; searching for some way to help Night, Misery, and possibly Chaos. They need to absorb the emotions of a sentient being every month or so, but if someone can create an entirely sentient soul from magic, why not the emotions? There has to be some way...

On the side, he had done research on a few other topics: the Void Between Worlds, basic and advanced teleportation spells, Space-Time disturbance effects, Rifts and tears in the fabric of Reality... I want to be prepared if I have to face that assassin again... I'm already much more dangerous thanks to my still-as-yet-unnamed projectile technique, but still... If I run into her again, I either need to kill her instantly before she has a chance of reacting, or try and stick her in the Void Between Worlds: It's the embodiment of Nothingness itself, it has no world for her to embody should she feel threatened enough to try that, and at the very least I'll have the home-turf advantage.

Now, however, he suddenly felt hungry, but without knowing why. Wait... what's that smell? Is that coming from the Kitchen? Out from under a huge mess of papyrus scrolls and dusty tomes he climbs, walking towards his door...

[Sage Fox of Eight Clouds]

Ran was finishing up her calligraphy when she noticed something odd. The scent in the air was different. An overpowering aroma was coming from outside. It must be our chef She put down her calligraphy brush, and let the ink dry, the scroll she was writing on had theories on why Yukari was not able to get her immediately. She walked outside, and was greeted by a torrent of scents. Wow...she must be really good.... As she walked through the door, her eyes opened wide. This...this can't be right....

[Py Aster]

Caleb walked to a wok, pulling it out of the ground. As quickly as he did it, fire appeared beneath it and a knife formed in his hand. One by one, ingredients for a stir-fry moved onto the chopping board that had pulled itself out of the ground and hovered beside him. As he started to chop, he looked to the sky a bit.
This reality was a modification of his reality; a land where only the best of chefs would find at the end of their lifetime. It would grant all they need to make the superior dish. In a sense, it could be thought of as the ultimate kitchen.

[Kovahl Norzaar Amadan]

Hriob stood at his door, looking out upon a land of culinary might. Ancients Above he can re-purpose his Reality Fields for things other than swords... This is actually pretty amazing beyond the sheer power behind this spell!

"Hi Caleb, Sorry to interrupt but where can I find this friend of yours, Diane? I don't know where to look." Even as he pays rapt attention to his incredible surroundings Hriob manages to sound conversational and pleasant; as though absolutely nothing strange or unusual was happening at all.

[Py Aster]

Caleb had just finished his stir fry, calling out a bowl to place the meal in. In his spare time, he had gathered the finest ingredients he could, making the quality of his meals top-notch. He raised his hand and a myriad of herbs floated above him, with a mortar and pestle. "Diane works at her smithy, the 'Wolf's Steel'. You can't miss it." He began to make a marinade for meat. As he prepared the sauce he closed his eyes. "I'm hungry though. You'll have to wait."

[Kovahl Norzaar Amadan]

"No worries Caleb. I might as well stay for a bit longer and get some more information... I could use some help with figuring out where to go with a few projects I had in mind."

As Caleb starts eating, Hriob quickly tells him about the new technique he had for supercharging metal bearings into lethal projectiles and his need for a good name to refer to it by. He then asks if Caleb thinks putting someone like the assassin he had fought in the Void between realities might be a good way to keep them from connecting with the essence of a planet.

{{Yes, some inspiration for that 'charged-shot' technique was based on a Railgun, like those used in the Halo series of games, since he could use Electromagnetism as a 'side-power' of his new Lightning-Affinity.}}

[Py Aster]

"I don't name my attacks." Caleb stated. "I just do them." He started to grill venison. How he was grilling it was unique; a funnel of flames appeared and he just pushed the venison in it, basting it with his mix of sauce as needed. "As for trapping her in between worlds...do you want to render that space in-between unusable? She will cause the equivalent of a very powerful explosion that will stand the test of time due to her non-connection with the world. For her to die right, she has to stay connected to the world she was born in." He pulled the meat out. "Of course, I never saw any point in fighting one of those." After taking a small bit of it and sampling it, he placed it back in the funnel of flames.

[Sage Fox of Eight Clouds]

Ran shook her head as she walked into the space. It was just like Caleb's reality, except the swords were replaced by cooking implements. What in Gensokyo is going on...? She walked on, spotting Caleb. "Caleb...is this...your doing?" If it is, what is this man capable of? She closed her eyes. This place is as coherent as everything else. I sense no gaps in the rea-. It then hit her. No gaps.... Could that be it?