Animal

Dray looked back at Orion as he essentially said goodbye before the boy left the ship. Wishes for safe travels are always welcome, but coming from someone in Orion's position makes it a little awkward and unsettling. "Thank..you...?" It was an uneasy reply given Orion's statement itself was uneasy. Dray was kept safe, yes, but at the cost of witnessing a destructive prophecy unlike anything he's ever witnessed. Not to mention, it was really Lucas and his friends that kept the boy safe. It was their technology, their weaponry, their ingenuity and their overall effectiveness compared to Orion and Feuer Krieger. The rest of the group bested two dragons before the flaming spirit could enact the finishing blow on either. For Orion to say anything regarding Dray's safety was just... Disrespectful... Well said. Dray directed his attention back to the Kids Next Door, shifting his tone to a more positive demeanor as well as he could. "Thank you for seeing what you can do," Dray started, "Just drop me off at the nearest sign of civilization when you're ready." If anyone could dissect the purpose of these weird crystals, it was this group of boys. Some method of convenient handling of said crystals, along with additional supplies, was needed if Dray was to continue his journey West. It still wasn't clear what exactly was waiting for him when he made it there, but his voices told him it was important and they've never led him astray. The ride on the ship was much calmer than the acrobatic ride as the first dragon appeared. It was less like being caught in a violent storm and riding in just a regular ground-based vehicle only in the air. The working of the vessel were much more audible in this calm state, only emphasizing the amount of work put into this machine. Dray had grown uncomfortable sitting next to Orion. The unpredictability of Feuer Krieger and the man's general demeanor just made it less appealing to be in his immediate proximity. The best place that Dray felt was optimal was next to Double-9 as there was a direct view of the group's...prisoner? He wasn't restrained except by the walls of the ship and it was unclear as to where the Kids Next Door would take him; they never told Dray. Regardless, it felt surprisingly safe sitting next to the team's sniper. "You're probably the most appealing person in this group, Double-9." Dray lifted his hair, extra curly due to how rough and rapid the day had gone. He continued to speak, "I trust that you won't let Orion out of your sight. Don't let him make one wrong move." He re-checked Double-9's one last time out of curiosity. Without the crystal, his still looked like an entity made out of eyes from the boy's perspective. Looking at the stark difference between both versions, it was evident that one was clearly a weak definition; no form or organization. The crystal showed a much more defined version, emphasizing the best of someone's. There was a long, awkward gap of silence after Dray's initial comments, as if his words were left unfinished. Speak... But what should be said? Dray thought about something to fill the silence he found so awkward. Then he came up with something, it was a pretty small topic to bring up but it was something. "Hey, I know now that Double-7's name is actually Lucas. I'm curious; what's your real name?"

"You know, I always thought I could get ahead of someone before I met them face-to-face. I honestly thought were dumb for giving me your name in that vague-ass note you sent; you can learn so much about someone from their name alone. However, I commend you for proving me wrong." Nazo Hori's voice came from the blind spot of this mysterious man as he descended the steps; Litalis was his name as it read in the "invitation". Nazo was dressed in his best black suit and his trusted fedora, preparing for what seemed like an impromptu job interview. The message Litalis sent was extremely ambiguous as it spoke of stagnancy and change. It seemed incredibly questionable as such dialogue was mainly reserved for cults and failing businesses, but it was appealing to read. Before Nazo's now deceased girlfriend Celeste passed away, she spoke of the winds of change that were coming to this world. The wind cares not for who stands in its path, just flowing in whatever direction it wishes. Whatever lies in its wake was not a casualty of the wind, it was the results of a test of endurance. Those that failed were left behind, the meaning behind that statement varying from person to person. Nazo was naturally reminded of the words his lover spoke before she died and he felt a similar feeling from this potential encounter... ...Plus, he was severely bored and needed something to do. Still, he naturally did not want to be indoctrinated into some sort of secret society, so Nazo decided to do some digging into this Litalis' history. "I found absolutely no information about you before I came here," Nazo said lightheartedly, sounding almost impressed with how Litalis managed to dodge his investigation. "My usual confidants couldn't get anything on you, my normal databases didn't have anything, I couldn't even snag a rumor about you off the street. It's pretty difficult to stay off the grid in this day and age, but somehow you've managed to do so." Nazo had taken some extra precautions before coming to the note's listed address. He had scoured the outside of the antiquated building before entering, staying aware that this encounter could very well be a trap, or go downhill in some way or another. The building's age did not go in favor of its integrity, rather the lack thereof. The warehouse had an alternate entrance on the opposite side of its main entrance, exposing its bottom floor, "Technically, you left the back door open, by the way; that's why I'm over here. Frankly, I would have preferred a coffee shop as opposed to this filthy rectum of a building, but whatever." While his comment exaggerated the condition of the warehouse, its quality was severely lacking. The workings of what was probably a populated work environment were long gone at this point. The ceiling above the two men looked ready to collapse at any second. It was more and more apparent why nobody would come here, if just for the environment alone. "Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners? My name is Nazo Hori; pleased to make your acquaintance." Nazo extended his right hand to Litalis for him to shake it. While it may have seemed like an innocent and respectful gesture, it was really a way to gauge what he was dealing with. If this man had some sort of extremely dangerous power in him, the situation as a whole would become just as dangerous. Nazo's defense against that type of assault would probably result in a tactical retreat at best and an...asymmetrical fight at worst. On the other hand, he could steal a nice spell from the guy and make this meeting worth something if it goes south. It all depended on how long Litalis would hold that handshake.

Did I take too long for you guys?

[Basic Information] First name: Nazo Surname: Hori Nicknames: N/A Race: Human Gender: Male Age: 28 Marital Status: Single Orientation: Heterosexual Text Color: #00cc66 [Physical Characteristics] Eyes: Green Complexion: Fair Height: 6' 2" Weight: 136 lbs. Hair: Brown, short-cut. Voice: Smooth, airy, not very deep. Attire: Varies, but he is rarely seen without his trusty black fedora (uptight people will know it as a Stetson, but that doesn't matter). Body Alterations: None. [Backstory] The following is an excerpt of an interrogation session between interrogator Nazo Hori and a prisoner of the state. The prisoner is muzzled and suspended from the ceiling upside-down while Hori is pacing around the room speaking. You know, I was like you once; came from humble origins, fought for a cause I believed in, thought I could do anything I set my mind to. Well, that last one is still true, but you get the idea. I grew up with my dearest mother and a photograph of my father. We barely managed to get by in life with all the work mother put in; Gaia knows my scrawny ass couldn't help her. What my scrawny ass could do, though, was enlist in the Terran army. As you can see I only gained so much muscle from my time there, but the knowledge I gained was worth more than any mere man-strength. I learned how people work, I learned how to properly strategize, I learned how to break a man without breaking one of his bones. At one point, I was in the very same position you're in right now and I know that it works. I was a lot like the people that brought you to me; strict, uptight, by the book, orderly. Then I met my soulmate. Ah Celeste, she was a beautiful woman. Kind, bright, funny, with the best goddamn smile you'd ever see in your life. I let the military tie me up inside and she loosened me up. She practiced wind magic; I met her while she was practicing and she blew my hat off my head. Cliche and sappy, I know, but hey that's love. Sadly our love couldn't withstand the tests of life. About two years into our relationship she grew deathly ill; horrible disease. It makes your body corrode and give up on you. I, rightfully so, was scared shitless trying to find out what I could do. Some...wizard/doctor person told me about this magical chalice that could purify water and make it cure the worst of diseases. Naturally, in my panicked state I rushed to find it. I found the damn thing, but I...took too long. It was only a six hour trip to the middle of Bumfuck, Nowhere to grab some cup. Yet, I came back and the disease had done too much damage. No amount of filtered water could save my dear Celeste. Since then, nothing's really been the same... At this point, Hori removed the prisoner's muzzle and proceeded to use two card-based spells. One lit a fire directly beneath the prisoner, while the other released some sort of contagion into the prisoner. Now let's get back to why we're here. Those cards I used have little spells in them that I steal from people. It's a cute little cantrip I picked up before Celeste got sick. Some dude in an alley tried to rob me, he had a fire spell on him, we roughed each other up a bit, now you have that little fire on the floor. Maybe that's why my dad was never there; he had a dirty secret he wanted to keep. Anyways, that little puff of air was Celeste's Dying Breath; it's got that same disease in it that killed her. It'll hurt long enough to do what we need to do. With all that said, the smoke from the fire will start choking you and that nasty germ will start to make you rot. Those two are gonna have a race to see which kills you first. I suggest you tell me what I'd like to know before we figure out who wins. If you do, I have a card that'll cure both; that damn chalice had some use to it. The interrogation continued as originally planned, eventually resulting in a successful extraction of information. Hori did keep his end of the promise and allowed the prisoner to drink the healing water. The prisoner later died of smoke inhalation and internal organ failure via decay, suggesting that the water was not as potent as promised. [Personality] Lots of people describe Nazo as "an asshole"; none of them are wrong. While he always puts on the facade of an amicable and sociable person (a really good facade at that), there's always this air of ill will about him and he revels in every moment of it. He just loves to start drama whenever he has a chance, be it in a very underhanded or fantastical way. He's not completely insane, though; he's very deliberate with his actions and he does have a limit of how far he'll extend his abilities. He doesn't want to watch the world burn, but he'd love to see how far it'll bend. Even with all those negative qualities, Nazo has his moments of kindness. Many would consider it mercy as those kind moments are rarely genuine, but he puts up a really good act of being truly kind. Alignment: Chaotic Evil Likes: Handshakes, being a shoulder to lean on, his card collection, watching people get screwed over. Dislikes: Being bored, goody-two-shoes-fun-spoilers, rainy days. [Abilities] Nazo has the ability to mimic the abilities and spells of people he makes physical contact. The duration of time that he can use the ability scales with the amount of time he's touched the person he's mimicking. It doesn't have to be by hand, either; he can be sneaky and just lean on someone to get the same result. However, direct contact via his hands does accelerate the process. If Nazo maintains contact with someone long enough, he'll spawn a card that permanently houses the ability for future use. These abilities also apply to certain magical artifacts, again scaling with the amount of time he's touching the object. He refers to all of the abilities he mimics as "stolen spells". Stolen spells are not direct copies, but they do mimic the properties of the original ability only to a lesser extent or in a slightly different way. If someone he's mimicking possesses multiple distinct abilities, Nazo cannot choose which one he takes. He can copy multiple abilities from the same person, though he does get "duplicates" on occasion. When this happens, Nazo can combine the duplicates to empower the original spell he's stolen. Otherwise, he cannot combine stolen spells. [Weapons] All of Nazo's spells are stored in special cards he creates. He owns a magical deck box that stores all of the cards he's obtained. The cards themselves vanish when Nazo uses a spell, but they reappear in the box after being used. Since the cards and the deck box are both magical in nature, he'll never run out of cards to store spells, or deck space to store the cards. Even if Nazo somehow misplaces his box, it will always reappear on his person. [Active Threads] coming soon...

Dray retracted his hand and backed away as Orion's arm ignited for seemingly no reason. It was evident that bringing up the unusual woman triggered something in, "Feuer...Krieger...That's how you really say it, right?" The thing already had a name, he may as well address it as such. There was no use in messing it up if Orion dedicated his entire being to it, as he said. Apparently, the man and his armor had a skewed and volatile relationship with each other. It wasn't too surprising given that Orion's power was clearly minuscule compared to the blazing spirit. If Feuer Krieger was such a dangerous and angry thing, why commit your life to him? "If he were actually yours..." Dray started, stopping himself before he said something he'd regret. It felt wise not to instigate anything in the flaming armor while it's already agitated, so he decided to drop the subject of the woman. Lucas had directed the group to a nearby cave. While Dray couldn't see much of the interior, he could tell that the cave was ripe with gold and other expensive commodities. The remnants of a long forgotten civilization were still plentiful as the three boys entered. Dray kept Orion on the ship with him for precautionary reasons, plus he still had questions for the man. Looking through his crystal then looking at the large one Orion was after, he pondered the question that held the least risk in his mind, "What are these crystals...?" he said, not really directed towards anyone, "Why do they let me see more things?" The boy held the crystal close to his eyes once again. It didn't necessarily enhance his vision like a pair of glasses, but it seemed to shift his perspective like a pair of binoculars. The rustling of metal interrupted this train of thought as the Kids Next Door returned to the ship practically coated in gold and jewelry. Dray never did manage to get a good look a Double-9's and Double-5's since he got the crystal. At first, Double-5's was rarely visible as it seemed to hide from view. However, through the crystal it manifested as his shadow; a large humanoid extension of the young boy's body that, while it stayed close to Double-5, moved independently on its own accord. Double-9's looked drastically different through the crystal compared to its initial appearance. Instead of a mass of ever-shifting eyes that looked in all directions, Double-9's was another humanoid only it was coated in mechanical lenses. Two large lenses on its head acted as its primary "eyes" while the dozens of other lenses scattered along its body moved independently, constantly surveying the room. Curious... Indeed. The aspects of theirs were similar to their initial forms, but now they were much more uniform, much less abstract and all of them were humanoid. What exactly were these crystals and how did these changes in appearance matter to Dray? Hopefully Orion knew, otherwise he'd have to find someone in the world who would know. He could afford to do it since he wasn't going to stay with this group for too much longer. The amount of action involved and energy used that day was a little too much for Dray. He couldn't join Lucas and his crew if this was just a Tuesday for them. Plus, he still had to continue his journey West; that was his biggest priority over everything. Part of him wanted to join just so he could maybe gain some confidence, but that journey was more important. Leaving Orion seated, but keeping a close eye on him, Dray walked up to Double-7 and tugged on his shirt, "Um, Double-7...or rather, Lucas." Dray started rather meekly, "As much as I'd like to join you guys, I can't. I have my own...mission that I'm on. Thank you for keeping me safe while you did your crazy stuff." The boy adjusted the crystal and plush squid in his arms; carrying them both was started to weigh on Dray's arms. "But before I go, can I ask you for a backpack of stuff for the road like food, water, a toothbrush...and maybe a way of using this a little easier." Dray held out his crystal to Lucas, pointing out how clunky and awkward it looked. He didn't want to let it go because of how it changed his vision, but it would be a little bothersome to carry in his hands alongside Mr. Squishy. If anyone could simplify the use of these, the boys could. The ingenuity needed to make their weapons could probably apply to this.

I know I have been a little silent recently...again... But my time has been occupied with some IRL stuff. Nothing to worry about, it’s just keeping me busy. Should be back on track by Monday

Thanks... Why'd you bring up redacted info that I didn't ask for? If it's something you won't expose, why show it?

Hey Hollow, I just had a great idea. How adept are the boys with making crafty contraptions? I wanna test their limits. Is it possible that they could make goggles out of the Exalta Crystals for Dray? I know it sounds a little selfish to ask since Orion’s not getting anything, and I apologize for that, but my boy only has one hand holding his stuffed squid and he’d prefer having two.

@HollowCipher You know that’s literally a Chaos Emerald, right?

Absolutely; don’t hesitate to send as many ideas as you please.

Fitting this type of book into a hub thread would be a little tricky because of what It is. Remember, The Tome is the character, not just a macguffin. Chances are, I’ll have to conjure up a bunch of expendable NPCs to surround The Tome and act as plot progression for the most point. We’ll have to work out the interaction between The Tome and BookEnds. I envisioned the start of the story, not even just for you but for anyone, to be either via word-of-mouth or just out-of-the-blue. From there, I don’t have much...

@KittyvonCupcake In all seriousness, having an organization like BookEnds investigate an ancient tome bent on conquest via mental manipulation sounds fun.

The Tome is bound in leather and blood, not a mere shelf. Attempt to contain it if you dare, but it would be no easy feat.

I know I offered up a scythe in the past, but I just keep finding junk in my belongings that I think you guys will like. Does anyone want this book I found? It seems pretty unique from what I've seen so far.