Beyond The Star Sea

No hostile reactions, meaning he'd judged this group correctly even without using his powers. Good, good. Heh, maybe he'd actually managed to make a group of nascent friends, rather than just business associates--he did seem to get along quite well with these three. Of course, gregarious as he was, he got along pretty well with most, but it usually wasn't this smooth.

Arkay smiled and nodded at Sumia. "It's a deal, then. I, quite literally, owe you one now. Later tonight, I'll contact my sister Sumire and get everything in order. Hisako will love you--she's always wanted to meet a Bio-droid, actually--and I'm sure you'll get along with my siblings... when they're around. Sumire's a bit of homebody, so she should be around a lot, though even she's got this... consulting gig with the police."

The others... kinda touch & go. His brothers were often away adventuring god-knows-where, and Nerine was... around, but dealing with the whole 'transforming into a full-blown succubus' thing. They'd like Sumia, he believed.

"Now, I think I'd better go get situated in one of those guest rooms Carlie mentioned, if you don't mind," said Arkay. He began walking towards where he recalled the guest rooms were, sending the others a casual wave over his shoulder. "Anyone wants to talk, my door'll be open."

Once the initial fuss died down, the group began to disperse and do their own thing, Sumia went to a fit of cleaning which she insisted on doing herself even though Galan had offered to help. Cleaning oddly or not just didn't seem to be a thing she did simply to keep up in her home but something she did enjoy doing as a hobby of all things. Maybe odd to some, but everyone was different.

A few hours later Galan headed into his room for bed, Carlie mention in passing not to think too much about a certain woman. He partially brushed it off, though hurried into his room. Sumia didn't go to sleep instead she was knitting the old fashion way along with a basket just beneath her feet as she sat in her chair.

Carlie thought the only thing missing was a pot of oatmeal and children running around before it became a full on commercial. It still amused her of the contrast how dangerous she knew the woman could be and her daily attitude and demeanor.

For a moment, Sumia didn't respond as the younger woman approached in a white t shirt and shorts. "Carlie? I didn't expect you up still. Did you want to knit with me?"

It wasn't her thing, normally but every once in a while didn't hurt and sometimes she had to admit it could be relaxing. Almost no one did knitting anymore by hand, it was a dying art back at Acor with the tech boom and other worlds it was gone completely. It was such a niche skill but Carlie could appreciate it.

She took a seat across them, taking her own parts to start. Sumia didn't say anything in response to this, merely continuing her work occasionally offering gentle corrections before going back into her own mental sanctuary. Carlie knew Sumia enough to know when she was thinking.

"It's quite." Sumia finally said, still knitting as her gaze turn out the window. "There is something about the feel of a world like this compared to parts of Daynus and other worlds I've been on. The weather, if any is artificial along with most of it with even the air not being the same. It's different, but I never..really could decide if its a good different. Maybe I'm just old fashioned."

"It's not bad, but is different." Carlie agreed. "We always have a bit of nostalgia for mother nature and its not bad. But we also have to remember there's a reason a lot of sapient races ended up leaving their simple tools for something else. Nature is beautiful, but its also dangerous and merciless too."

"True. Nostalgia is something I'm very aware of.." Sumia trailed off, her blue eyes turning a bit sad.

It was more subtle unless you didn't pay attention, if only Carlie didn't have the advantage of knowing them as well as she did on top of being observant. "..You're thinking about them again aren't you?"

In response, Sumia  said nothing at first. "It would have been Silvia's birthday today, she'd be about Hisako's age right about now if they had lived along with my husband. It's been years since then and I feel I should..be more past things then what I am."

"Everyone is different." Carlie said, shaking her head. "You're not on anyone's time table, you're on Sumia's time table. Besides its not you've been a shut in since then, you've been doing your own thing since then."

"Its so strange.." Sumia began again as Carlie went silent. "How contradicting us sapient beings are. I love this house because of the memories from my family, but I also hate it because it reminds me of the same thing so I can't decide if I want to part with it. Part of me is tired of being alone, and the other part is scared too. And w-when.."

Whatever Sumia was going to say seem to die in her throat as her voice wavered as her eyes watered.

Carlie said nothing as she went to give her surrogate aunt a hug. "Shh."

The other woman stopped resisting as she allowed it to happen before gently easing Carlie off after a minute, wiping her eyes. "..Thank you. I hate you seeing me cry like that."

"You remember what you told me? Even the strongest people need a release from time to time, even you. You're like a super hero almost, I couldn't ask for a more awesome aunt."

Sumia slowly smiled. "I suppose I should take my own advice, shouldn't I? Thank you Carlie. I just need some time to myself."

The young Acorian patted her on the shoulder. "Anytime. I'm gonna wander around if you need anything."

In response Sumia said nothing as Carlie left.

She decided to see if Arkay was up, his light seemed to be on so maybe and he Did say the door was open if they wanted to talk.

So she chanced it and knocked. If he was somehow sleep, she'd leave.

It hadn't take him long to get himself situated. Really, all that he'd done was get a feel for the layout--the nearest bathroom, especially--and then take a very quick trip, by means of teleportation, home to get some essentials and knick-knacks. Within the hour, the guest (?) room felt... sort of like home. Not exactly,  but close enough to help him relax. And relax he did, getting in some light psionic training meant to hone his precision. Quite literally, he laid down on his back and threaded needles using telekinesis and clairvoyance. It was an idea that had occurred to him recently, and he'd gotten... pretty good at it.

After an hour of this, he contacted Sumire, by means of telepathy, to get things set up for Sumia. At first, Sumire objected, saying that taking care of Hisako was no big deal, but she relented soon enough, and Arkay could tell that she was grateful for additional free time. She'd still play a part, of course, just... not as much.

Next came Hisako herself. As expected, she was excited to meet Sumia--not just because she was a bio-droid, but also because Hisako... took an unusual amount of interest in her being retired from the Sisters of Grace... well, once he'd explained what they do, anyway. After that, they'd just... talked. Nothing particularly interesting to outside parties, just... father-daughter talk. What she'd learned at school today, interesting things she'd seen, how she was feeling, homework help, and even some talk about some cartoons she liked. Gradually, Hisako's responses became more and more delayed and sluggish, until they stopped altogether. Arkay knew, instinctively, that she'd fallen asleep. Using a combination of clairvoyance to confirm that--that was indeed the case--and his telekinesis, he saved Sumire some effort and tucked her into bed. He couldn't exactly kiss her good-night, but hey, how many dads could say they could tuck their kid in from a few blocks away? Not many, he wagered.

Finally alone, both physically and mentally, Arkay reclined in his bed and stared at the ceiling. He had a good feeling about this job. The people he'd be working for and with seemed like good folk, and easy to get along with. Plus, bodyguarding was pretty easy work for someone with his skillset. Fending off a thirsty fan every so often would be child's play, and even out on the field, where things were likely to get more dicey, he was well-equipped for handling most threats.

He was a bit... surprised, however, by one thing. Carlie--or rather, his attraction to her. Yeah, sure, he'd been madly in love with and had a child with a Molzon--literally a catgirl you'd find out of an anime--but, really, Molzon... were pretty much humans with a cat tail and ears. Arkons? Basically indistinguishable from humans. Hell, even Bio-Droids pretty much looked like humans, so him finding Sumia cute wasn't unusual. Acorians, though, while quite human-like in character as far as he could tell, were humanoid, but not human-like in their appearance. And yet... he found Carlie very attractive.

His succubus blood probably had something to with it, and that it wasn't worth fretting over. Really, it just meant that he had a ton of options when it came to women, didn't it? More options were always good. Though he was... unsure on how to even make even tentative advances on Carlie. He had noticed some... peculiar tail movement Carlie seemed to make when her eyes settled on him, but those could be anything from nervousness about him to, well, attraction. That Acorians--well, the ones with long tails, anyway--had some form of tail-based body language was a near certainty to him.
Eventually, there was a knock at the door. Ah, so someone had taken him up on his offer to talk. If he had to guess, it was probably Carlie outside his door, since she had the most reason to want to have a 1 on 1 with him. Confirm that her first impression of him being a good guy were correct, ya know?

With a slight exertion of his will, the door opened slightly. "Come right on in."

...

Come to think of it, he probably should've put his shirt back on before letting them in. Ah well, he was still wearing his pants, and he wasn't ashamed of his body or anything like that. Though if it was Carlie, her reaction might be a good way to gauge her... level of interest.

"Evening I hope.."

Carlie trailed off slightly as she noticed Arkay without a shirt slightly taking her off guard as her eyes lingered slightly before shaking out of it. She was attracted to them but she wasn't just going to stare them down the whole time.

It wasn't like she couldn't let her mind do the other half of the work.

"..Hope I'm not interrupting. Just wanted to drop by, its not a bad time?" She asked after the brief pause of her speech she recovered just as quickly.

Arkay caught the pause and the lingering gaze. Same distinct tail-movement, too. Alone, the pause could have been interpreted as, well, surprise... and to be fair, that likely still played a part. But the lingering gaze and those tail movements? Combined with the pause, it gave him an idea of what was going on in her head, finally.

His own gaze lingered on her a bit longer than normal, as well. The pants and T-shirt combo... nice. Not as sexy as, say, a babydoll or the panties & t-shirt style, but he was certainly enjoying the view. Certain parts of him enjoyed the view even more than the rest of him; couldn't really be helped--he was a man, after all, and had literal sex demon blood in him... he couldn't help being a bit of a, heh, horny devil.

Flashing her his usual charming smile, he shook his head. "Nope, not at all. Just relaxing after tucking Hisako into bed." He swung his legs over the side of the bed, stood up, telekinetically grabbed his shirt from where he'd left it on a nearby desk, and then put it on. As luck would have it, it was just long enough to obscure that... certain part. Satisfied that he wouldn't embarrass himself, he turned to Carlie and approached her. "Sorry if I seemed more focused on the others earlier. I'm not normally in the habit of ignoring beautiful women, but Sumia's entrance was impossible to ignore and... heh, well, I could tell Galan was inexperienced with women and needed some advice. Bad. Though, on that subject, I've been wondering..."


He stopped a few feet from Carlie. "Are relationships like the one Galan's aiming for common, or is it considered unusual for an Acorian to date outside their species?" He cocked his head as he caught a whiff of some pleasant, unknown aroma. Perfume, or... perhaps Carlie's natural scent? Whatever it was, it smelled nice... really nice. "Hm... perfume? Nice."

Carlie was slightly disappointed Arkay put on a shirt but she understood and respected why he might want to put a shirt on. Both for modesty and the other problem most men had that 'other' issue when dealing with women they were attracted to, if that was part of the reason she was more flattered then offended. Which was to say to the later, not at all.

"It's common now a days now that Acorians are a space faring species so there's more room. There's ratio difference with the females out numbering the males by a decent amount, couldn't tell you off hand the exact percentage. That's to say, half Acorians are very common now. Heh. Maybe my little bro will have a bunch of half cow Acorian kids running around one day if it works out."

She thought of, and was maybe going to expand a bit more when Arkay got closer throwing her original train of thought off along with his last words. "Thanks? I honestly don't notice I even have it on half the time. Fun but useless tidbit: In our culture scent is especially important. You all hear the phrase of making a good impression, but I guess for us since our smell is sharper its a bit more. You'd be surprised on the things some can tell a bit of on scent alone."

Hm, so the Acorian species had a skewed sex ratio like the Molzon. Interesting. One would think that Fisher's Principle--the tendency for populations with skewed sex ratios to gravitate back towards a 1:1 ratio--would come into play, but perhaps there was some immutable in both species that ensured a lopsided sex ratio? Or perhaps there simply hadn't been enough time for that equilibrium to reassert itself? In the end, it didn't matter--it was just an interesting bit of trivia, and nothing more. "Ahh, I'm sure Galan will sweep her off her feet and have a cute little family soon enough. Or... a big family, maybe." Arkay grinned and chuckled as the thought of Galan being tailed by a... herd of half-acorian kids came to mind, though he had to admit that he hadn't the slightest idea of what those kids would even look like. Humans--er, Arkons--with horns, maybe?

...mmm, there was a good chance he'd find out eventually, if his hunch about Galan's chances was accurate. They usually were--one of the best indicators of latent psychic ability was unusual accuracy when it came to hunches. It only stood to reason that trained psychics would have even better accuracy, yeah?

"And personally, that's not a useless thing to know at all. I might have to deal with more Acorians in the future, and knowing how to make a better impression will help." He paused and thought for a moment. "Though I've been told that my natural scent is pretty pleasant, so I've never really needed to wear cologne. Figure I can thank my succubus blood for that."

Arkay lifted off the ground and floated over to the bed, landing gently with his hands clasped on his lap. "Anyway, I figure you're here to take me up on my offer to talk 1 on 1, so... pull up a chair, sit on the couch, or, hell, join me on this comfy bed. Fancy anything to drink?" He motioned to a nearby mini-fridge, which he had retrieved from home. Nerine had, at his request, stocked it, so there was a pretty good chance there was at least... one 'weird' thing in there, but it should mostly be RK cola, some alcohol, and a few snacks.

She probably wanted to get a better handle on him as a person, and he was interested in learning more about her, as well. Still, while he'd made and meant that offer, he hadn't expected anyone to take him up on it. And he definitely hadn't expected Carlie to show up at his room and unintentionally making him feel... hot and bothered.

"For a drink? Water is fine." It might of been kind of boring but it was simply what she was in the mood for besides it wasn't like she was at party. Whether she actually drank at such a occassion was another story; usually she avoided the bigger ones that wanted her attention. Too many people trying to put on airs in those types of parties, or certain people trying to get into her panties.

Carlie sat down a chair, moving it closer to where she was by her guest as she mulled over just what she wanted to talk about. "I want to get to know Arkay is a person, not just my bodyguard. I'm not going to pry too much into things as we just met so start off simple. You can ask me something then I'll ask you something. That sound fair?"

Water was a good choice. Really, the best choice. Soft drinks tasted good, but... all that sugar. Same for sports drinks and fruit juices, though at least the latter was full of natural sugars. And alcohol... well, it went without saying that she wouldn't have chosen that. They'd only met maybe half a day ago, after all. Never mind that Nerine wouldn't have stocked any, given his tastes.

"One refreshing glass of water comin' right up," said Arkay. He motioned with his hand and several things happened simultaneously. The fridge opened and out floated a large container of bottled water, and a pair of glasses that had been sitting on top of the mini-fridge floated up, righted themselves, and then leveled themselves with the water container. With an audible *pop* the container opened and poured two glasses of water, resealing itself, then floating back into the mini-fridge, which closed shortly after. The two glasses then carefully levitated over, one stopping next to Carlie, and the other being snatched out of the air by Arkay.

Arkay nodded at her request. "Sounds entirely reasonable. So I guess I'll start..." Trailing off, he scratched his chin in thought. It didn't take long to think of a good opener. "Well then, why did you decide to become a reporter? I have my own ideas of why, based on what I've observed, as well as your reputation, but hearing it directly from you would be best." It was a pretty obvious question, really, but right now he was... distracted, to say the least. Thank god she...

Ah fuck. Even human women can tell when a guy's in a mood just from the scent of his sweat. Sure, he wasn't sweating all that much, but this close... well, whatever, if she brought it up, he'd explain himself: a long dry spell plus succubus blood plus a very attractive--one might even say foxy--woman equals hot and bothered. Nothing he could really do about it.

Carlie suspected a question of that sort coming, even so it took her a moment to think of the best way to respond. There was, after all, a lot of factors that went into why she got into this sort of business to begin with. The why was simple to a point.

"Because if not me, then who?" Carlie finally started after placing her glass down. "The truth can be more powerful then any weapon, and that's why I've noticed a lot of leaders like to lie or disort the truth to fit their own angle. Corporations in particular." The last part was said with some resentment, apparently not having the best opinion of them in that regard at least.

She shook her head, now wasn't the time for that as she continued. "Anyway, another thing I noticed is money has Way too much damned influence in these things. It's not a universal, Acor is decent about it but we aren't perfect. So basically, I guess to dumb it down I wanted to give people my opinion on things and let them decide with trying to be objective as possible. But for my question I'm curious..."

The young woman's green eyes focused back him. "Since you're an outsider, how different is this universe compared to back at home? Anything similar?"

A desire to help, a desire to have the truth to be heard, and... perhaps a desire to be heard in the first place. Understandable reasons, and just about what he'd guessed. And he could sympathize. Money was, in his opinion, just about the ultimate superpower, at least when it came to effecting wide change. Psionics and certain magics, used carefully and wisely, were the only things that really compared, and usually going that route was very, very illegal. Most societies, after all, didn't look kindly upon subverting free will.

Arkay said nothing in response, though the answer had given him further respect for the woman. Next came him, and it too was a pretty obvious question. After all, who wouldn't pass up to learn about an entirely different reality, especially an intrepid reporter like Carlie? Closing his eyes, he thought about how best to describe his home to the Acorian. After a moment, he opened them and focused his gaze on her.

"I can tell you without reservation that Meus Ceus is a far more... stable place than the reality I came from. It's not an apocalyptic hellhole or anything, and it's not a bad place to live, overall, but... I myself was directly involved in stopping an entity--the Queen of the Dark Moon--that wished to, as far as I can tell, kill everyone in the universe and beyond. Within years, I was indirectly involved in several more incidents that could have escalated that far... or further. One of those incidents, in fact, was instigated by one of the companions that had fought alongside me to stop the Queen, because she had literally been driven insane by her own power and decided to, I shit you not, wage war on both heaven and hell." He paused and sighed, rubbing his eyes. "God, Alice, right until the end you never thought things through."

A moment passed in silence, and then he continued. "Believe it or not, Arkons, as well as Alusarians, exist in my reality. One of my best friends back 'home' is an Arkon, actually. Dated one, too, before I met Senara."

A grin flashed across his face as he recalled that woman. Sure, she was no Senara, but he had definitely had some fun times with her. Their parting had been relatively clean and amicable, and last he'd heard, she'd found herself a good... mate. Yeah, he'd never really gotten used to that nomenclature.

"Hm... power users tend to be more common back home, as well as more powerful on average, but mortals tend to have a hard limit. It's not impossible to overcome that, but it requires extreme measures like... becoming a god or, in my case, being exposed to the energies of an Archangel for two decades. Though people from my reality do have the advantage of much, much faster growth, in terms of our powers. It's entirely possible, back home, for someone, in a month or two, to go from barely able to put out the power of a firecracker to being able to repeatedly output enough energy to destroy a city, if they put their mind to it." That rate of growth came with its own problems, though--like being ill-prepared, mentally, to responsibly handle that sort of power. And really, most power users opted for a more gradual learning curve, thank god.

"In any case, that I did not take Hisako back home after Senara's death, despite the rest of my family, at the time, being there, should tell you which reality I prefer," said Arkay. "Now, my turn... hm... well, what do you like to do in your free time?" It seemed like a superficial question, but how one chose to spend one's free time did tell a decent amount about a person.

While he talked, Carlie gave Arkay her whole attention as she absorbed the information she was getting almost wishing she brought a pen and pad. She could remember a lot of these things off hand by memory if she put her mind to it, that was a gift she had and this job she had meant honing on it and improving it through her career.

The talk about his native reality was fascinating, and slightly troubling at once.

Meus Ceus was not immune to large threats but she honestly couldn't recall the last big one that had been native. In fact to her knowledge it had always been outside things, like the Old One's and the like that didn't exist here natively. There was the would be pirates, maybe a galactic tyrant like Frieza but nothing that was going to end all existence. At the least even with bad actors of that nature they had self interest and preservation to appeal to if nothing else.

What surprised her the most was the knowledge of Alusarians and Arkons existed in his reality. The implications were more surprising then he would know first hand. "Arkons and Alusarians were made by the Nalga, the most advanced race we know of in Meus Ceus but they vanished. To hear about the fact they were advanced enough to Multiversal travel is incredible, but not surprising. I'm just not sure why they repeated the process there. I mean, from what we know Arkons were made to deal with Abyssal Demons more specifically. Alusarians? Historians and scholars can't make up their mind."

Though on the other subject of what he mentioned about power averages got the gears in her head running. "I can see how that could be an issue if the average is that higher with growth being That rapid. If they didn't have a cap with that kind of growth, that could potentially be pretty bad. A lot of races are more like, we'll me. We would be terrifying for a normal human to fight and such, but we can't exactly go around bench pressing buildings. Some like the Arkons Can have ridiculous growth but it usually needs specialized training or conditions."


As for the last part, it derailed slightly of her internal musings of Arkay's world. There were several things she supposed depending on her mood. "Good question. When I'm not working, I actually like to read and write. Yeah, I technically write already with my work but I mean more along the lines of stories. When I was little, I used to read a lot more because in those I could let my imagination go where I wanted to. Sumia read to me back then a lot which I guess got me on my addiction since she was so good at voices."

That memory caused her to smile, those were good times. Far more simple, too. "Heh..you know Sumia been to earth before which influenced her taste in some things. She got into this earth game called Dungeons and Dragons, she liked it and got me on that. Really I just like more low key things like that. When I'm off the job that's more my thing, and while I like being around people I can take it or leave it. Sometimes I just want a day or two for Carlie time y'know?"

Most people she thought could use that, though some she had noted couldn't stand being alone for periods of time but she wasn't one of them. "Okay, my turn. How did you get a Rish Sheppard of all things and how long you had em? Gotta be a story to that right?"

Arkay was not as oblivious to the implications of Arkons (and Alusarians) existing in both realities as one might believe. Upon discovering the existence of those races in Meus Ceus, he had come to believe that either these 'Nalga' were capable of travel or transport between multiverses--if he, an individual psychic, were capable of it, why not a hyper-advanced race like the Nalga were claimed to be?--or the head honchos of each reality were drinking buddies and swapped notes. Somehow, he felt the former possibility was was more plausible and... less silly.

But why would the Nalga repeat the process? Maybe Abyssal demons were a common problem, and the Nalga had taken it upon themselves to do whatever they could to help. In this case, jump from multiverse to multiverse and create the Arkons and Alusarians in each one, to act as... defenders. That was his best guess, but with the Nalga AWOL, who could really say?

Carlie's hobbies were... at once surprising and unsurprising. He'd of course expected her to be well-read, and her job in and of itself involved a great deal of writing, but he hadn't really expected her to write... stories, presumably of the fictional kind. Arkay himself... really didn't have time for hobbies these days, between work and raising his daughter. Guess that made him a sort of boring, if responsible person, then? Heh, funny, most who'd known him when he was a teenager and young adult would have pegged him as anything but boring and responsible. The part that was surprising that she was into Dungeons and Dragons, of all things.

"Dungeons and Dragons?  Heh, definitely didn't expect you or Sumia to be into that sort of thing. I've never played it, myself, though that's because it's... almost a 350 year old game in my world, and was discontinued centuries before I was even born." His face went blank for a moment. "Oh.. er... right. I forgot to mention that it's the 2300s back home, at least in my universe.  Heh, sorry, I'm a bit distracted at the moment."

Her next question was about how he got ahold of his dog. He hadn't really been expecting this particular question, but in retrospect it was an obvious one. Rishies weren't particularly common, after all, and the paperwork and process to get one legally was a freaking nightmare. Hell, the paperwork to register it was a nightmare. "What's there to say? Hisako and I went to the pet store and she said 'I want that one, daddy!' and within the hour we had our own dog-tank." He was just joking, of course. Getting a Rish from a pet store was... extremely unlikely, unless it was some sort of black market pet store. And even then...

"Heh, kidding, obviously. We've had her about... four years, give or take. I... found her during one of my earliest jobs as a merc. An elderly couple hired me to track down their son, his wife, and their child, a little girl, who had disappeared without a trace after renting a secluded cabin in the wilderness. Left for the vacation, and when the time came for them to come back... they never showed. I accepted the job, of course, and went to investigate. The cabin had been... not even ransacked. More like destroyed. Just... holes torn through solid logs, half the thing collapsed. It wouldn't take me long to meet what had caused that damage." He paused for a moment to recollect what had happened. "The forest, I noticed, was deadly silent, and as I followed a trail leading away from the destroyed cabin, I could... ya know that eerie feeling you get when something's watching you? Yeah, that's, at least in my world, psychic in nature, and so I get that feeling. Except I was getting this feeling from literally all directions. Occasionally, I'd hear the sounds of movement--something stalking me. And when I reached out with my senses, all I got was this... this sense of hunger."

He sighed and shook his head. "Anyway, eventually, I began to hear the very distinct sounds of a battle. Not one involving anything human, but the sounds of animals fighting... something. As I pressed on, I happened upon a pair of Rishe Shepherds fighting--" Another paused, and an horrifying, deformed creature appeared in Carlie's mind, sent by Arkay. "--that. Or to be specific, many of those. It's called a Wendigo, a cannibalistic monster that's born when an evil spirit possesses and twists an individual that's committed cannibalism. Anyway, the two Rish were on their last legs when I found them, and, ultimately, both died from their wounds, but when I entered the cave they'd been protecting, I found... well, what remained of most of their pups, save a single survivor, who was all that stood between a wendigo that had gotten through her parents and an absolutely terrified little girl--the sole remainder of the family I had been sent to look for. Had I been just a few seconds slower, that puppy and the little girl likely would've been ripped to shreds and eaten. But, I wasn't, and while the puppy was injured and the little girl... very hungry, very thirsty, and sick, I did manage to get both out of the forest, though we did have to camp out there for a night. And let me tell you, that entire night was like something out of a horror movie. Just... me, a sleeping girl and puppy, and hundreds of pairs of glowing eyes staring at me from every direction, watching and waiting for me to lose focus or, worse, nod off."

Placing his hands on the back of his head, Arkay's gaze drifted to the ceiling. "Once the girl was with her grandparents again, I got in contact with Nobus, informed them about the... infestation, and, in the end, worked with them to eliminate the wendigo. The amount of manpower they could spare at the time was enough to deal with the situation, but there likely would have been casualties without my help. Made a huge chunk off of that one, and they even helped expedite the background checks and paperwork needed to own a Rische. Originally, I wanted to let the little girl have Verina--that's what I named her--but she was extremely allergic to dogs and... her grandparents lived in an apartment, and Rische Shepherds, as you might expect, are... not a breed suited for apartment living. So, ultimately, the pup fell into my hands." A smile spread across his face. "Brought her home, got diabetes from Hisako's reaction--biggest smile I've ever seen on her face--and they've been constant companions ever since."

"Anyway, my turn again... ah lessee... any fears or phobias I should be aware of?" Knowing what sort of things made her lose her composure or freak out would be helpful, so he could react as fast as possible in case it became an issue.

That creature wasn't something she wanted to meet in a dark alley after seeing a mental image of it, which almost caused her to flinch from surprise. She was used to a great many quirks though suddenly having a mental images in her head was actually an first in her career.

Overall the story made her a bit sad after hearing a family had been ripped apart with their dogs doing their best to protect the rest of what was left before succumbing to their wounds. At least there were some survivors instead of being completely wiped out. The only question that lingered in her mind is what the family had been there out in a remote area to begin with. Maybe it was just to get away from everything? That was possible.

The last portion confirmed at least it had a somewhat happy ending, even if not completely with what happened. She smiled faintly. "I'm glad she was able to find a good home at least. Seems in a way you lucked out with that one. Just wonder why there were so many Wendigo there, I don't know much about them but that doesn't sound normal.."

"Phobia? I guess if I had to take one of the main things, X Parasites." Carlie replied. "It was on one of my earlier reports and along the way I got stuck on another planet Eclov. It was suppose to be a simple thing on corruption of some corporations there, but there ended up being a infestatation of sorts. I was really lucky I got away and.."

She shook her head. "..Just saw a bit of the stuff they can do. Let's just say I don't have any desire to run into them ever again.." After a moment she spoke up again. "All right, other question is a simpler one. What made you decide to move here?"

"It isn't normal," said Arkay, his gaze returning to Carlie. "Wendigo are usually found in packs of three or four. They'll kill and eat just about anything, but greatly prefer humans. Individuals... are typically eaten, while groups are typically herded into a place that a wendigo can easily get into and escape, but a normal person cannot, trapping them. They'll water their prisoners, but not feed them. Eventually, the hunger drives the prisoners mad with hunger and they'll go for the nearest food source--each other. From the winner is born a new Wendigo. Nobus did an investigation of just how those things passed under their radar, and they determined that they'd been steadily building their numbers for approximately a millenium. Only a few would be active at any given time, while the rest hibernated underground. There was also evidence of a cannibalistic cult operating deep in the wilderness at one point, which obviously contributed to their numbers. Why anyone would willingly become... that, is beyond me. Maybe to become immortal?" Not a good trade-off at all, in Arkay's opinion. Wendigo weren't stupid--most were cunning in the way a predator was, and a few even retained the ability to talk, but giving up one's humanity to become a monster? No thanks.

When Carlie mentioned her phobia, Arkay was... actually sorta perplexed. Sure, he'd encountered things in this world that were mere fiction in his, but... freaking Metroid, uh, stuff was real here, too? Heh, maybe he could team up with Samus Aran someday? That'd be awesome. "I... huh... okay, didn't expect it to be X parasites. In my world X Parasites and Metroids and... stuff are fictional, being important elements of a game series called, uh... Metroid. But don't worry, if we run into any, I'll protect you no matter what."

Carlie's next question was a simple one to answer, no matter how one interpreted it. "Here as in the space station or here as in Meus Ceus? If we're talkin' the former, it's probably similar to why you have an office here--it's a pretty central location, which means that I can get where I need to go quickly and pretty cheaply. I admit, it's... not the safest place, and once I retire I'll be moving someplace more... hm, idyllic, but until then it's as good a choice as any. Now, if you mean Meus Ceus in general, there's a lot of reasons, but... it's mostly a combination of this reality being more stable and safe, as well as... heh, well, I sort of like the novelty of being a sort of 'explorer' for my reality, ya know?" He paused for a moment, then added: "Besides that, as a psychic, I trust my intuition, and my intuition just... told me that my life would be better if I made this place my home."

Finishing off his water, Arkay sat the glass down and thought about his next question. "Hm, to be honest, I'd normally be able to field a few more questions, but they're all too personal for how long we've known each other, so I think I'll skip my turn. So... go ahead and ask away." As he'd said before, he trusted his intuition... and his intuition told him that Carlie was a good person. Certainly, she had faults, as did everyone, but that little voice in the back of his head was telling him that she was on the level. Plus, it helped that she was a... hot scoop, so to speak.

Heh, hot scoop.

That was very disturbing to hear about some cult being behind the larger then normal Wendigo numbers she heard about. Why would anyone want to become a monster that was a empty vessel of a being? Even with a amoral person, it seemed self defeating to attend immortality only to be slave of the most base desires.

Not an existence she could imagine, much less consider sane.

At the last question, there was a pause as she thought of the questions she could ask, finally she decided on something he mentioned earlier. "All right, then I guess my other question would be who was Alice and Queen of the Dark Moon exactly?"

At the mention of Alice, a grimace spread across Arkay's face. "Alice is--was--a companion of mine, as I said. She was a tremendously powerful witch that could manipulate the elements, as well as darkness, in many powerful and esoteric ways. She was also a hot-headed nitwit that would always find a way to make a bad situation worse. Because she got some... curious ideas in her head about how Elohim--God--and the metaphysics of the multiverse, she drove herself insane and committed many, many crimes in what she claimed was an attempt to establish a more just cosmology. In reality, she mistakenly believed that she was bound for an eternal hell and simply sought to save herself. She... died years back, brought low by a group of heroes that was at once similar and dissimilar to the one she and I had been a part of. There were fewer of them, but they were older, wiser, more tempered... and in many ways, far more dangerous. But theirs is a story for another time. What you need to know is that Alice--or Epsilon as she was calling herself by then--lost. Lost the battle and her life, in the end. A sad end to a... once-ally, but her path and decisions were her own, and she reaped the results."

"As for the Queen of the Dark Moon, it's... a story that started long ago in the past. I'll skip over the creation myth involving Elohim and Lucifer and the war in heaven for brevity's sake, but after all that, Elohim created the first mortal sapients--the first ones--in the universe. Yes, universe. At the time, there was but one in my reality, instead of a multitude. The first ones were quite human-like in appearance and nature, but being newly created, the energies of creation slumbered within them; however, they could only make use of these energies subconsciously. As they lived, dreamed, thought, toiled, and grew, these energies reacted and, eventually, entities not born of Elohim, but his creations, were born. The Dreamer, the Child of Woe, and the Queen of the Dark Moon." Arkay paused to let Carlie process this information. One might even consider it a secondary creation myth for his reality. "Each represented an aspect that the newly-created sapient races held in common. The Dreamer was their nightmares, terrors, and fears made manifest, the Child their sorrows and angers and pains, and the Queen their lusts, wants, and desires. There was a fourth entity, whose name is lost to history, that was born from mortals' desire to protect their loved ones, as well as their universe. While the first three were malevolent and soon began moving to unmake creation itself, the fourth was benevolent, but weak. It sought out YHWH--Elohim--and his heavenly host, and begged for them to intervene. YHWH, despite desiring his creations to solve their own issues so as not to interfere with their free will, was moved enough to help the Fourth. And thus were born the Incarnations of War, Nature, Time, Death, and Fate. These five were to be shepards against the Three's manipulations. Fate, to protect the races from the Geas of the Three, Death to protect their souls once they passed on, Nature to keep creation from being perverted, Time to protect reality from being twisted, and War to help arm the races to defend themselves. These were... mantles of power taken up by mortals, in order to counteract the mortals. But they were, ultimately, mortals facing demi-gods, and as time went on, they were spread thin combatting the three's influence. Eventually, the three were able to gain even more allies by cracking the Gates of Hell, letting lose multiple demons who were more than happy to join them. Belial, Legion, and others served under the Queen, the Child, and The Dreamer in order to stay out of Hell. Lucifer had his hands full keeping the remaining demons in hell while also sealing multiple breaches that had been made. If they all escaped, he'd be Lord over only himself, and he would not--could not--stand for that to happen."

Another pause, this time to catch his breath. Explaining who and what the queen was taking longer than expected, and he was sure he'd accidentally left parts out. He was reciting this all from memory, after all. "Finally, after years of fighting, the Five came together and, with help from the Fourth entity, created a perfect being to aid them against the Three. They called him Grinthorn. He fought the Three. He was stronger than the Five were individually, and he could fight with any one of the Three and win. He just couldn't face all of them at once. It got worse when the Queen spread her power into seven personal warriors, known as the Seven. These Seven became the Three's Generals, and they lead their minions well. Things became dire enough that the early races had to join the fight against the Three and their minions. However, the longer this war--which would later become known as the Reality War--raged, the more the universe began to unravel, despite the Five's best efforts. They were losing, even with Grinthorn and the early races fighting with all they had."

A third pause, again to let Carlie process the story. Arkay took advantage of the lull to pour himself another glass of water, which he greedily gulped down in one go. "Don't worry, almost done. Ahem. Eventually, however, it was the early races that tipped the scales. They had grown clever and fairly powerful, and they were able to do things the Three never expected. The Queen, the strongest of them, fell first. A combined effort from the Draconians, the First ones, the Wrah, Grinthorn, and the Five finally did her in. The Draconians and the Wrah took on her minions and her abominations while the Five dealt with Belial and other Fallen Angels and demons. That left Grinthorn to engage in one on one combat with the Queen and her Seven while the First Ones used their advanced technology to spring their trap. Harnessing their entire race's energy, they were able to strike the Queen a massive blow by siphoning off her power and turning it against her. When this happened, Grinthorn cast the Queen down and slew six of the seven. It was not without cost, however. The First Ones made the ultimate sacrifice, with their entire race dying, the Wrah homeworld was reduced to a burnt-out husk, and the Draconians had lost billions--and perhaps more--of their people. Using the Queen as bait, Grinthorn lured the Dreamer and the Child, both lost without the Queen's guidance, into another trap. The Dreamer's very nature to warp reality was hard to fight, but thanks to the the Incarnations holding off the Child, the Solarans, another early race, were able to create a pocket universe called the Dark Traverse that, like the Dreamer, warped reality. The Dreamer was cast inside the Dark Traverse by Grinthorn and then sealed away."

So many damn pauses. "Finally, the Child, alone and drowning in her fear, lashed out with her power and began creating a massive black hole--if completed, it would have dwarfed any known black hole, even the supermassive ones in the cores of galaxie--to simply compress the entire universe into a singularity, effectively destroying it. It was a futile attempt. Before she could complete it, Grinthorn and the Incarnations overpowered her and cast her into it, forever trapping her within a cage made and sustained by her own out-of-control power. However...by the time it was all over, the universe was well on its way to unraveling on its own from the energies released. It was then that YHWH, answering the prayers of his creations, created the multi-verse to better contain the energy within creation while also spreading the various races he had created throughout it. With this, the Incarnations also moved the Solarans into another universe to better stabilize their world and better contain the Dreamer. The Child and her prison black hole were frozen in time and placed into another dimension as well. Finally, the Incarnations and Grinthorn scattered the Queen's energy throughout the multi-verse while casting her and her surviving servent, Bedlam, into the Void outside reality. And, when at last things stabilized, YHWH created his last race, which was man, and set them upon all universal versions of Earth. He then gathered all the remaining energies--creation or otherwise--that the Reality War had unleashed and bound it into three Keys, called the Omega Keys. These Keys were placed on Earth, where the humans were to watch over them and keep them safe."

Arkay exhaled, his explanation of the Queen and her history, for the most part, finished. "Mind, when we fought her, she was but a shadow of her former power, but she was nonetheless well beyond any of our group, individually. And by the time we fought her, she'd already unleashed a genocide upon the Earth. It was... undone, but as far as I know, billions died over the course of a few hours. Anyway, that's... pretty much it. Might've left out a few things here and there, and it took a while, but since the Queen is integral to my reality's early history, I felt that giving you the whole story was better than just saying she was some... evil super-tulpa, more or less. Any more questions?"

All this news was a lot for Carlie to take in as she listened to rapt attention of what was essentially a creation story of another reality. It wasn't an story about a simple corrupted corporation even if she thought most of them were but something bigger. As fantastical and exciting as the story was, it was also a lot harder for her to connect to and feel as much as she would with a smaller story. After all what did you say to something this..above you?

Intellectually, she knew in the grand scheme of things on perhaps the 'cosmic' scale wasn't as important and that was fine. Carlie wasn't interested too much into it and didn't stress too much about the higher metasphyics of the universe. As long as she could leave a small impact however small in the areas she thought was important it was fine. Still hearing such grand stories would make you wonder on things far as perspective. Not that she'd want be some big player in the universal hierarchy anything.

Dealing with the normal ass hats in this business was bad enough. Cosmic sounded like trouble she didn't want or need.

"I understand a bit more. That's..bit crazy. And heavy." Carlie finally said once her brain was functioning again for a decent response. "I'm glad you seemed to have found some peace here in Meus Ceus with your daughter. We're not perfect, but I really like it here. Of course I don't have much to compare this place to. One person's hell is another utopia and all."

Carlie stretched slightly, drawing slight attention to her chest which strained under the shirt not that it was an intentional move. She stood up. "I don't have any questions for now, but hey I'm sure I'll have more stuff to pick your brain about later. In the mean time, I'm going to get some sleep and check on Sumia. You need anything before I go?"

Unsurprisingly, Carlie seemed kind of... dazzled? at the story about the Queen and her cohorts. Not surprising, as she'd likely thought the Queen was some uppity and abnormally powerful mortal... like Alice. "Yeah, it's probably not what you were expecting, but since the Queen and her 'siblings' are pretty integral to my reality's history, I felt the cliff notes version wasn't appropriate. And, well, I also felt you deserved the entire story, too."

And Carlie was right... it had taken coming to Meus Ceus to find some measure of peace. Back home, it was true that he was a hero and celebrity, and his life hadn't been bad. But coming here, meeting Senara, living with her... losing her... all that... in those brief few years, he had matured more than he had in all the years of his life before that. And since then, he'd matured even further, actually... taking responsibility for things. Lots of guys, when faced with the prospect of being a single father, just... ran, and a lot of people would have expected him to do that, but he'd actually managed to shape up and become pretty good at the whole 'dad' thing.

Arkay was about to comment on the 'finding peace' thing when Carlie stretched. He was 99% sure this wasn't intentional on her part, but his inhale immediately after he caught sight of her chest straining against that shirt was a bit sharper and deeper than usual, though he smoothy transitioned it into a (fake) yawn. "Sleep sounds good. I'm glad we had this talk, though, since it helped me get a better read on you, as well. And I have to say... so far I like what I see." In multiple ways, he might add. Given how well he seemed to get along with Carlie and the others, this would probably be a pretty enjoyable contract, at this rate.

"As for anything else I need..." Arkay trailed off, closed his eyes, and cocked his head to the side. After a moment, he opened them and met Carlie's eyes again. "...hm, nah, I'm good. Just try to avoid spending the entire night thinking about me instead of sleeping." His tone of voice was slightly flirtatious, as was the smile he wore. Sometimes, he just couldn't help himself.

Carlie didn't mind the comment, she smiled slightly as a mischievous glint entered her eyes. "Hm. Can't promise anything, after all how do I know you won't be dreaming of me all night? You have a good night. We'll have to do this again some time."

She knew Arkay was at least physically attracted to her and they got along pleasantly enough so maybe there was something to it. On the same token though she wasn't in any sort of rush considering she didn't have the absolute best luck with relationships. Though to be fair she hadn't actively been looking for one in her most recent years either.

It would be best to play things a bit slower end for a number of reasons, but there wasn't any harm in some flirting and such, she did have to keep up that from time to time.

Maybe. Time was going to tell. No matter how things turned out she was sure the introduction of Arkay into their lives would be interesting one.

*  *

Sumia was flowing around the kitchen as she worked, all too preppy for Carlie's taste as she shambled into the kitchen; buttoned shirt and jeans on for a more casual look. Despite that it seemed the 'meeting the day' wasn't matching her energy level at the given moment. She needed her morning caffeine and other emergency energy boosters before she was ready damn it!

..Or maybe she just needed to go to sleep earlier.

Galan at least had the good sense to act like it was an ungodly hour as his face was firmly planeted on the table, hand still grasping a fork with the empty plate that tragically had no food. No doubt the brave soul couldn't resist the aroma that was Sumia's cooking, but his body told him to cut it out.

"Morning! How are you feeling? Are you ready to grab life by the horns?" Sumia energy while on the high side was too much for Carlie to say in her grumpy morning phase.

And the comment while innocent Carlie found amusing because Galan. Alas she meant nothing by it, Carlie could tell when she was teasing.

"I will when I wake up fully. What's on the menu?" Carlie plopped down at a comfortable spot.

"Pancakes. I really liked them when I visited earth and I know they're one of your favorites since you were little. " Sumia didn't turn her back as she talked. "I hope Arkay is an early riser, I certainly wouldn't want his food to get cold but I understand not everyone is a morning person."

"Sweet dreams," said Arkay, as Carlie began to leave. His eyes, naturally, were drawn to... certain areas--though he took particular notice of the tail. Now that he'd gotten a good look at it, it was actually quite the beautiful tail. Nice, very nice.

Ever the gentleman, Arkay opened the door for her with his telekinesis, closing it once she'd exited the room. Alone again, he decided that it was best to get some rest. But with how excited he was, that might be difficult for a while long. There was the physical excitement, yeah, but beyond that he was excited at having met someone new and interesting. It would certainly be fun to see how this... tension between him and his new employer evolved.

Eventually, Arkay did fall asleep, and he had... most odd dream about Acorian Pirates.

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Arkay awoke, as he often did, fairly early in the morning. He stretched, jumped out of bead, and headed to the bathroom to take care of his hygiene needs. Morning brushing, brushing his hair, a shave, if need be--that sort of thing. After he finished up, he returned to his room, took a bit too long to decide on an outfit--during which he heard the telltale sounds of some of the others waking up and going through whatever their morning rituals were.

Eventually, he settled on something that looked good on him, but was also casual and comfortable. Properly dressed, he headed downstairs and was immediately greeted with the sounds of Carlie and Sumia talking, and the pleasant aroma of pancakes. Not a bad choice; pancakes were quick and easy to make, while being pretty tasty.

As he entered the kitchen, he gave the others a slight wave. "Good morning, everyone! I trust yo--" Arkay paused as he saw that Sumia was the only one that really had any energy. Galan was... still asleep, he was pretty sure, and Carlie, though apparently awake, seemed groggy. He made a mental note that she was not a morning person. "--ou all slept well?"

He pulled up a chair and sat down. "Oh, Sumia, I got in contact with my family last night. Everything's all set up for you. Don't be surprised if Hisako bombards you with questions, though. Especially about the sisters." In a way her interest in that particular subject was endearing, but given what he knew, it was also concerning. If she joined when she came of age, he would be proud--they seemed a force for good based on what little he knew--but what father would be entirely fine with his child choosing a potentially dangerous life like that? Still, after a certain point, he'd have no say in the matter.

His gaze fell on Galan and then Carlie. He couldn't make eye contact with Galan, semi-conked out as the young man was, but he, of course, did make eye contact with Carlie. He flashed her his usual charming smile. "So, you three have any interesting dreams last night? I had one about... Pirates, of all things. Pirates and their booty." He'd spare them the lurid details of the dream, especially since it sort of lost narrative coherence about halfway through and got... very weird. And sexy. But mostly weird.

Sumia smiled as she greeted the young man pleasantly. "Morning Mr. Schneider. Or do you prefer just calling you Arkay? Either way make yourself comfortable break should be done soon, I should think." Galan was knocked out and Carlie was waking up, Arkay seemed to be up without complaint so at least one person was more a morning person besides herself.

"Really? I'd be delighted to get to know them and answer any questions they have." The Sisters of Grace she did enjoy her work but it could be dangerous so maybe she could gently nudge them in another direction but not force it. Whenever she came of age, it wouldn't matter what she, her father or anyone else thought. So if nothing else, she'd give a honest answer of what that kind of life and others would lead.

The good news is, Abyssal Demons didn't appear much at all anymore. This meant the Sisters mainly did other work besides, some was harmless but others was still dangerous.

"You had a dream about pirates and booty huh?" Even in her half awake stake, Carlie couldn't help but pick up on the other little bit. "Whatever floats your boat, sounds interesting and I can't judge with the stuff I had as a dream. Of what? Secret."

"Arkay's fine. Mr. Schneider is too stiff, too formal for my tastes, and it... also makes me feel a bit old," said Arkay as he (telekinetically) poured himself a glass of nice, cool water--just the thing to chase away the morning dry mouth. He downed half the glass in one go. "It'll happen eventually, probably, but for now, I'm still a spry young man, as far as I'm concerned."

Honestly, between his demon blood and whatever lingering aftereffects Ramziel's presence inside of him for 20 or so years would have, he had no idea how long he'd live. His best guess was 'a long-ass time'. But hopefully not long enough to outlive Hisako--no parent should have to outlive their child.

He turned his attention to Carlie. "Secret, huh? Heh, I won't pry, but I think I have a hunch about what--or who--your dream was about," said Arkay, a playful glint in his eyes. He wasn't certain, but if her 'secret dream' did involve him, he was... flattered and happy that he'd made such an impression on her so soon. Still, he had to maintain some sort of professional veneer. Emotions, after all, could--would--cloud his judgement, and in this line of work he needed the clearest judgment possible.

"So, anything special on the agenda, or will this just be a normal day?" Either was fine, and he figured it'd be the latter.

Anything special? To Carlie's knowledge there wasn't much on the agenda far as anything out of the ordinary but she did have a supposed tip. "Not too much. I have some contacts that told me they may have something for me so I'm going to meet them and see what they have. If there's anything for us we'll see. What about you? Is there anything you want taken care of?"

Sumia moved into the table area, setting some plate downs gently patting Galan's back once after setting down his plate. "Lina's here."

The words had the desired effect as he stirred. "What? Again?" He realized after the fact quickly he wasn't where ever he was at as he tried to play it off. "Oh..uh morning guys. Sorry I was really tired and I'm not sure why."

Carlie's grin spread across her face. "..Interesting dreams I take it?"

"Uh..I guess so?" Galan wasn't sure how to phrase it either wise and he definitely didn't want to go into detail.

"Anything to take care of on my end? Hm, let me think on it for a moment." To his knowledge, he didn't have anything major to take care of. Not even interacting with Hisako, which could be taken care of over telepathy. Mind, he'd prefer to go visit her, but, being Carlie's bodyguard, he'd need to take her along, and... Hisako might get the wrong idea. Or perhaps the right idea. Still, it was only his second day of knowing her and while he wasn't the type to take it agonizingly slow, even that was a bit... too fast for his tastes. Attraction--as well as love--was something to be savored over time, not gulped down.

When Sumia woke up Galan, Arkay turned his attention to the young man, his smirk mirroring Carlie's. Yeah, he knew exactly what Galan'd been dreaming about. Not that he was one to talk, with that pirate dream of his. Still, he didn't really have anything to say about the matter, so he turned his attention back to Carlie, having come to an answer.

"To answer your question, I don't need to take care of anything. Guess I'll just keep a close eye on you while you investigate that tip. I can also help verify whether it's legit or a dead-end, possibly." Possibly. A... tipper could truly believe that their tip is true or useful, only for it to be mistaken info or outright false. "Beyond that... after we follow up on that tip, we could get lunch and go for a walk. My treat. How's that sound?"