Welcome to Gaia! ::

Xehart threw his head back and laughed after she said that, his laugh echoing around the near empty tavern. It caused a look from the bartender, and a drunk bum that was half passed out in the corner. He was still watching Katie though, still sensing her.

"You humans, you're all the same. You never think."

Xehart tapped his temple as he said this, slowly and methodically. He was staring straight at Katie now, his gaze concentrated.

"You never question, why? Why am I a killer? You never try to fix the issue, you always just assume that it's all an evil action. You always want to play the hero, so go, go and play the little hero."

Xehart pointed to the door as he said this, his gaze still fixed upon Katie. His breathing was slow and calm as he said this, audible though, as he was taking deep breaths.

Xehart mimicked her action, placing his head on his hand, and leaning against the bar. He looked into Katie's eyes with a slightly relaxed look. It seemed as though Xehart didn't find this a tense situation at all, he was quite calm. Taking in a rather deep breath he rolled his neck around, causing it to crack, before replying.

"Hmm, who ever said that I had no reason to kill. Just because I don't feel anything when I kill, it doesn't mean there is no reason for it. Sometimes I kill for fun, but we all have our little...indulgences."

Xehart then smiled as he picked a clawed finger in a pool of some unknown liquid on the bar, and began to trace a design on the top of the bar, his claw acting like a pen, the liquid like ink.

"You'd be right there, I am perfectly insane, when I want to be. It's my curse, and my gift. You see, I'm not all quite there. And you're wrong, I had no reason to approach you, and I do happen to never have been to this city before. You see, you humans don't think, where did I just say that I come from? Oh, and you needn't be so on edge, if I was going to kill you I'd have severed your spine as you walked through the door I held open for you."

Xehart once again, shifted his position to match hers almost exactly. This wasn't a joke, it was a character trait of Xehart's, he often mimicked the actions of others he was currently engaged with. It always played with their minds.

"You say harming others so...derogatorily. To me, they're nothing. Just as you might crush a bug under your hand because it irritates you, so do I kill. Human's are so weak, so stupid in their movements. I'm simply culling the flock. "

He smiled to himself, amused, as she shook her head.

"You don't approve of these actions, do you? You could kill just as easily as I do, you're clearly a cut above the rest of the humans, why not eliminate the weakest link. All animals do it, wolves eliminate those in the pack who can't keep up with the rest, injured animals are shunned by their herd. So as the greatest animal, surely you can appreciate that. You could even start with the barman, no one would know.

I also assure you I have only been in the place for a few hours at the most. Perhaps four if you want to stretch it. I also have no motive to sever your spine, not now anyway. You amuse me."

Xehart once again mimicked her action, trying to match it exactly as she changed it, even including the raising of an eyebrow, even though it didn't really fit in with his speech.

"There's no difference for me between a human and a bug. Why should I consider a human any differently than a bug, they both die fast, and they both have no brain capacity that I've noted worthy of existence.

You're right though, I don't care about your opinion, although I must admit that it does amuse me to no ends. You're so noble, how about you take a swing at me, and see just what happens."

Xehart was already channeling energy into and around his hand in case the large woman swung one of her fists in his direction.

"You're wrong, a human can't survive alone. A human needs a "pack", they need each other, one to grow the food, one to develop the technology, one to lay on their back with their legs apart. You're disgusting animals, you may be at the top of the chain of animals, but you certainly don't deserve that spot."

Xehart did indeed like to play games, the exterior he gave to people certainly showed that. He liked to play the child, part of his madness caused that behavior in him, but within his mind lives a cold and calculating person, always analyzing.

"No, I assure you, when put alone a human would go mad. I can PROMISE you this!"

He said the last part of that statement with a slight giggle in his tone, as though Xehart might know something about being alone.

"I assure you that when placed alone for an extended period of time, even the strongest minds will snap. Why not? A snapped mind has twice as much company as a whole one.

Your statements don't affect me in the least. You've already made a judgment on me, and you don't know anything about me. I'll have you know I'm at the top of the food chain, even higher than a human. By the way, your flesh tastes terrible, despite what you'd think."

Xehart sat in his chair, trying to control a laughing fit, before suddenly getting it under control, as though it had never existed.

"Proof, what proof do you want? Look at the human hierarchy, it's based upon nothing but shiny pieces of gold, that's all you respect. You leave members of your own race to DIE on the streets, rather than making it your own duty to rescue people from the streets. To humans, you even look at street beggers as a different species, but remember, they're just like you.

I don't have to prove anything to you, and I CERTAINLY wouldn't belittle myself by stepping to your level. I know that our race is the superior, we live longer, our hierarchy is stronger, we're more organized, we work harder, I could go on, but that part of the conversation bores me."

Xehart returned to the design he had been etching on the table with the unknown liquid. It looked to be a rune of some complexity, or perhaps just the doodle of a madman.

Xehart watched her leave, after having damaged the bar, and then turned to look at the bartender. He supposed now that she was gone he could begin to have some real fun. The angry man was making his way down towards Xehart, while Xehart simply sat in his chair.

"You better be paying for that, sonny, or you're in for a world of trouble."

Xehart looked left, and then looked right, spotting no one who was active enough to fix the problem, and then looked back at the bartender. He was an old man, probably kind enough in the right circumstances. It was just a shame that Katie had sealed his fate by damaging his bar.

"I'm afraid I don't have any money, but I can offer you something else."

"Oh, and what might that be?"

The old man didn't sound too interested to hear that Xehart had no money. He was more concerned with fixing his bar. The place was doing bad enough without having damaged property.

"I can offer you peace, eternal rest."

The old man's eyes widened, but he didn't move. They never did. In an instant Xehart's arm travelled through the air, a spike moving from his palm outwards. It took less than four seconds for the spike to penetrate the old man's neck, and with that, he was dead.

His blood ran over the counter, and pooled in the spot that Katie had damaged the bar. Xehart took great care not to spill any of the blood on himself, and then, slowly removing and retracting the spike, he got up from his seat, and left the bar. When one of the drunk's came too, they'd see the corpse, but no murderer.

As Xehart left a thought crossed his mind, he had felt nothing murdering that man, perhaps Katie was right, perhaps he simply was a crazy killer with no motive. He shrugged the thought off as he stepped outside, there were better things to be thinking of.

Not by chance?

Sure, Fate worked its magic in an intricate weave day in and day out, but here? He hadnt suspected it until the very moment that Omikron mentioned it. A malevolent forgotten being? A sordid and regret filled past as something other than what they were today? In a moment, Maximos suddenly felt a miss for leaving out as much as he had. It seemed, if he read the large eye correctly, that Omikron was honestly interested in what was being said.

He met the Shadelords reassurance with a smile. He had made it all sound so simple, so easy. His past had exposed Maximos to the sneaky nuances of conversation. The tones, beneath the tones, between the lines, turning it all into a game, or a quest for truth. To hear conversation put as something so simple, was as refreshing as the tea had been. He just couldnt help but smile. There was something about this Shadelord that he admired, or maybe it was something in his manner the reflected something that Maximos missed or wished for. A simpler time. Not blind to the darkness around him, within him, but not drowned that very conflict either.

Its where Maximos wished he could be. Torn between the weight of his past, his own conscience, his own personal murdering monster, and the feeling of hopelessness behind any attempt to redeem himself while said monster exists...Maximos found his footing on this path shaky. The hero he had once been, misplaced. In its place, a man sure in his desire to make this life better, actively employed in an effort to do such, but lost in the idea of how. And why, he was truly motivated? Did Death make life better? Or was he feeding that monster inside with justified murder? Or both?

Omikron seemed to have simplicity, where Maximos lost his way in a web of a complexity that likely never needed to exist.

Regardless of reasonings, as Omikron phrased his next question, Maximos was prepared-- No. Driven, to answer to his fullest. He felt he owed the other being that. Nothing short of it would suffice.

We battled across my world. We battled for it.

Maximos confessed, with a simple smile on his face, but a weight on his tone which nearly belied the smile.

Over years, over continents, we fought, until finally a cure was found and we made our final stand. But still, Nocturne and I never truly met. Until the very end, puppets, pawns and the possessed carried out his game. But before all that...

His eye looked downwards for a moment, he took a deep breath, slowly lifting his moments ago broken arm, and gently attempting to clench a fist, resuming as his fingers curled just slightly inwards, and his arm fell again to his lap.

...in my youth, in my dreams. In here.

Using the alternate hand Maximos poked his own forehead. A gesture to the mind.

We waged our most costly battled. There was a darkness I harbored, I ignored. And he played and preyed upon it until in a moment of weakness, it broke free and overcame me.

I was his "Destroyer". And that is what I did. Thats all I did. Without rest, or mercy, or remorse, or thought, or feeling of any sort save for all encompassing desire to inflict suffering, pain, and death.

He paused. Maybe it was to let the weight settle, maybe it was to give Omikron a moment to react, or himself a moment to read Omikron's reaction. Maybe it was to gather his thoughts. But a moment later he spoke.

I killed.

His sentence stopped. Perhaps the admission was a bit heavier on the way out than he had originally come to expect. Too blunt? He regrouped, coming at it again.

I killed, over my tour...countless. But like you Omikron, I broke free. I hid my face, and my name, so that people would allow me and I fought back. I gained allies. And in that last stand, as price for our victory Nocturne cleared the board so to speak. He ripped time and space to send us away, scattering us across the worlds. I landed here, a new battleground of sorts.

Maximos smirked, a lighter heart slipping its way over his tone again.

I dont think he expected to find a world so very...busy! I dare say if Nocturne wanted to destroy Gaia he would have to wait in line.

And that made him chuckle. A sort of dark humor, but just his brand. And as the small laugh faded, he found himself amiss, side stepped from his manners. Sure rambling was one thing, but he had gone off topic, so with a smile he said.

I'm sorry. Thats a bit more than what you asked for, isnt it? I digress, yes my friend, we most definitely fought elsewhere.