Dean...
Selene was supposed to bring Marcus back to the brotherhood hall for tonight for him to meet but they've been gone for most of the evening that he almost didn't think that the two of them were going to show up after all. Once the sun had already gone down he had decided to give her another half hour before he went home but it was much longer before she showed up with Marcus in tow.
At first glance he wasn't much to look at physically so Dean wasn't sure what to make of him just yet. She had told him that he killed Malthael's dragon body but that dragon bastard was so powerful that he had some doubts about that claim even if it was Selene's word in his favor. Especially so after it took so much out of him just to kill his human form.
In fact...Maybe he should give him a test, hopefully push him to his limits and see if he really did end up taking that unruly bastard of an Archdragon down.
Selene walked towards him with Marcus following after and she said, "This is Captain Dean Smith of the Darkmoon Knights."
Marcus looked at him as if sizing him up which made Dean puff out his chest for a moment until he realized that he was supposed to be the one sizing Marcus up, not the other way around. Marcus's eyes then drifted over to his katana resting against the counter next to him.
"Where did you get that?" he asked as if shocked to find that he had that kind of sword. As if...he'd seen one like it.
"Oh? Are you interested in it?" Dean said as he tried to play off his nervousness at Marcus's expression. It almost looked like he was about to be accused of stealing the sword.
He then pulled the sword out of its sheath in a manner as to show it off but Marcus didn't look impressed in the slightest.
"I didn't know they made Katanas in Erebus," Marcus said and it surprised Dean to hear that, after all not even he knew what this kind of sword was called but he had heard the word before. It was the name that Moyako herself called her sword. He had always assumed that it was just the name that she had given the sword itself not that it was the name describing the type of sword it was.
He then pulled out his own sword from its sheath and held it out in front of him, squinted them in concentration, and the shape it transformed into that of a katana.
"Whoa, what the hell!" He shouted in confusion as he had never seen a sword that could change its shape and form like that before, "How did you...?"
"I'll tell you about it some other time. I'm just curious as to how you got your hands on a Japanese sword. Are there other swords here like it?"
"Well according to historical records this is the only one of its kind in the entire world but I've heard that 'katana' is what the hero Moyako calls her sword so I'm guessing that they are the only two. Aside from the one you are holding now."
"I keep hearing that name everywhere I go. I really need to learn more about her as soon as possible," he said, almost to himself as if he'd been searching for her.
"I'm sorry...I'm a little lost here. Who the hell is this guy? What's his deal?" Dean asked Selene without even trying to be quiet as Marcus raised his eyebrows at his brashness.
"Well...much like Moyako, he's not from this world or universe at all. He and his little sister came from a place called Terra. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that they came he and Moyako came from the same place."
Dean had to hold back his laughter at such an absurd statement. Moyako was a household name at this point, known throughout every small village and empire across the planet and her presence on this world has been recorded to be nearly two whole centuries. To even suggest that some random man who suddenly shows with claims of bringing down the Archdragon Horror known as Malthael...it was too absurd for words. He would have to see Marcus's power with his own eyes to determine if it was the truth or not.
"Alright enough! Its time to for me to gauge your strength and see just how much of what Selene is claiming to be true," Dean said with gruffness and a stern expression.
"That's fine with me. I prefer that method actually," Marcus said confidently as he put his sword back to its original shape and placed it back in its sheath.
Dean frowned at that and made his way outside with Selene and Marcus following after him. He then stopped in the middle of a courtyard behind the brotherhood hall. He then pulled his katana from its sheath and pointed it at Marcus as he said, "Now, release your magic. I want to see if Selene's claims are true or not and if they aren't and it turns out that you're just riding on her word then we will have a problem."
Marcus...
He couldn't help but frown as he felt offended by the way Dean was treating him.
"What is your problem with me?" he asked.
"Excuse me?"
"It seems like from the very moment you even heard about me you had already decided not to let me join the brotherhood," Marcus said with an irritated tone but Dean scoffed as if what he said was nonsense.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said as his eyes narrowed. Dean knew that Marcus knew that he had him all figured out and it made him nervous.
Hmm...
Fine. I'll play along with your games.
"If you really wanted me to show you my strength then you should have asked nicely," he said with a slight taunt and Dean glared at him.
"χειμών πνεῦμα, full release," he said calmly and as he let go of all his restraints he tried to compress all of his energy into his entire body so the energy didn't spill all over the place and terrorize everyone in town. The only person he intended to intimidate was Dean.
He was usually pretty tolerant of those with wounded egos but right now he was more concerned about being rejected since Selene had promised him that they would protect his sister if he joined. Dean's refusal would put both of their safety at risk so he needed to be put down a peg.
Dean...
Not a moment after those strange words left his mouth the air around them started to feel heavy, there was a thickness about the air that felt almost tangible. It felt as if he could reach out his hands and hold it in his hands. Then it started to feel so heavy until he thought the weight of the air was going to crush him to death. As he looked at the ground he noticed that it had shattered under Marcus's feet and cracks had started forming all around him and spreading out.
Selene looked completely unbothered by it because of course she was but Dean was struggling to remain standing under the pressure being released from Marcus's body. It eventually became so heavy that he had to release his own magic just to remain standing. He reinforced his arms, legs, and torso with a condensed flow of spiritual energy and when he locked eyes with Marcus he was met with a smirk as he then balled his fists and his piercing gaze seemed to bore through him.
The ground under his feet were ground into dust and Dean fell to one knee as he struggled to even remain conscious.
"E-enough! Stop!" Dean shouted and Marcus calmed himself down while Selene looked at the both of them without a care in the world as if none of what just happened bothered her in the slightest. He stumbled as he tried to stand up but he started having motion sickness as his sense of direction and center of gravity felt scrambled. He nearly vomited but held it down as he propped himself against a wall to catch his breath.
Selene walked over to him and asked, "Are you okay? You look pretty worn out."
"I-I'm fine," he lied.
She didn't sound all too concerned as she then asked, “So? What do you think of him so far?”
Dean was silent for a moment as he looked back Marcus who was watching him carefully while waiting for his answer.
"Selene...I can't, I can't let him join," he said, his words sounding strained as he was still recovering.
"What? Why not? I thought you were doing this test to see if he was powerful enough for you but now that you were barely able to stand while he showed you his full strength you reject him?"
"Selene you don't understand," he said before he quickly glanced back at Marcus and then quieted his tone as he continued, "That man is a freak of nature. Something that absurdly powerful cannot be accepted into the brotherhood."
Selene then started glaring at him in irritation as she said, "You accepted me didn't you? I'm multitudes stronger than he is and you seem to have no issues at all with me."
"That's different and you know it," he tried to say but Selene scoffed at him.
"How is it different? When you took me in it was because I was a refugee of the war just like so many other children. You were even ordered to kill me because of how scared other people were of me but you didn't and instead you brought me into the brotherhood and eventually made me your vice-captain. Well, I decided to take Marcus in after he fought and nearly defeated Kayron by himself. I extended my hand to him so that he could be at ease knowing that his little sister was safe. Do you really want to put the burden of turning him away on me all because of your cowardice in the face of his magic which is weaker than mine? Are you planning on rejecting him to please your own ego just because he was able to finish Malthael off when you fought so hard just to bring down his human body and not finish the job yourself?"
Ah shit...
He couldn't argue with her logic especially not after she had already given Marcus her word that he would be taken care of. Any attempt to argue with her would be his loss. She had already seen right through him. In fact, she probably already knew he was bullshitting Marcus this whole time when he demanded a show of power.
She was right. It really was nothing but an act to please his own ego and he hated himself for letting Marcus get to him.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
"Fine dammit! But make no mistake Selene, you will be responsible for making sure he stays in line. I'm putting him in your hands so if he screws anything up, it'll be your mess to take care of. Do you understand me?"
She nodded as she said, "I already had that in mind when I invited him to join. I promise, I will not allow him to become a problem for you or the brotherhood so long as he is under my care."
That was a good enough response as any as he nodded back in confirmation and said, "Good, I'll be heading home now. Be sure to close up the hall for me. Can't be shirking our duties to maintain the place now can we?"
Marcus...
As he watched Dean walk away Selene stared at him as he left with her mouth open and her eyes narrowed in anger.
"I can't believe the nerve of him!" she complained as she ran her fingers through her hair before tugging on it in frustration, "He gave such a horrible attitude towards accepting you into the brotherhood and when he finally relented he dumped the work of closing up on me?! That lazy arrogant bastard!"
She was so annoyed that she stomped her foot on the ground and flames flared briefly across the length of her hair.
She then took in a deep breath to calm herself down as she then said, "Fine...I'll take care of it."
"Do you want me to help?" he offered and she turned around on a dime.
"Really? You'll help me clean up?" she asked him as she gave him a puppy eyes look and he started to regret having offered to.
"Y-yeah...I'll help you out," he said as he caved to the way she was looking at him. He didn't even know she was capable of that. He had overheard her heated conversation with Dean and realized that she had many ways of winning her own arguments if she needed to. He didn't want to be on the other end of one of them if he could help it.
It didn't take less than half an hour for the two of them to clean up the brotherhood hall and close up its doors as they headed back to her apartment.
"So...tomorrow you'll be looking for a house right?"
"Well yeah. You can't expect me to sleep on your couch the whole time now can you?"
She looked a little disappointed to hear that for some reason but then said, "Hmm...That's true. It would be rather disappointing if you couldn't find one right away, especially for you and your sister. I doubt she wants to stay cooped up in there for much longer."
Yeah...
With that thought on his mind he wondered about all the other things he intended to do to make his new home feel like their old one. He wondered if there were ways to recreate pictures from memory in this world so that he could decorate his new place with them and retain some of what he once had.
He continued to ponder on this right up to the moment they made their way back and he fell asleep on the couch.
When the following day arrived he was able to get in touch with a realtor of sorts surprisingly quick and easy. The obstacles he had to deal with in America just to buy a home were bothersome compared to the ease he had here. All the realtor seemed to care about was whether they were paid which was not an issue for him.
It only took a few hours and three houses before he finally decided on one house in particular.
He had asked for a two bedroom house with two bathrooms, a wide living room, and a spacious kitchen. When they came across the third house he noticed that unlike the other two houses that were made of stone and wood this one was made of brick and steel frames which made it sturdier than most homes and also more expensive for it but still well within what he was able to afford.
As he walked inside he found himself walking through a short hallway that opened into a wide living room on his right with a carpeted floor that had two stairs surrounding it which descended to where the couch would be positioned and an entertainment center would be placed.
On his left was a wall with a large gap in it almost like a window but it was a counter top that showed the kitchen behind it. He then walked back to the hallway and took the left as he made his way through another short hall way. In this hallway was a closet on his left and the entrance to the kitchen on his right. He walked into the kitchen and there was another entrance on the other side which opened into the two bedrooms. He walked through the kitchen and looked over the counter that showed the living room on the other side and realized that this would be where the food would be served as it also had various cabinets for stories silverware and plates. If he wanted to he could probably store the spices and other cooking items in there but no, plates and utensils would be better suited to this side of the kitchen. He turned around to examine the other part of the kitchen and although there was a wide countertop in the middle of the kitchen where he likely could set up chairs as a dining table, it would most likely be best just for preparing the food itself.
Behind that was the oven on the left and the sink on the right. The oven seemed to be powered by wood but he could always modify it himself later on after he purchased the house and as for the sink it would be even less of a chore to make a dishwasher.
Overall he was pretty impressed by the layout of the living room and the kitchen so he moved on.
He then made his way into the master bedroom and it had a nice spacious area for a bed and also a walk in closet in the wall directly behind him as he walked inside. There was a window on the left side wall as he was entering which was where he decided he would put his bed.
On the right of him was the bathroom and when he walked inside he let out an impressed whistle sound. As he walked inside he noticed the marble sink and the fine tile flooring. The toilet itself was a little confusing as he lifted the lid and found that it wasn't filled with water. When he pressed the flush lever down flames erupted from it and the realtor panicked.
"You are supposed to shut the lid before you dispose of waste!" he yelped.
"Ah, sorry. Toilets aren't made like this where I come from," he said in an apologetic tone.
"Hmm...out in the countryside are you?"
"Not exactly but lets move on," he said as he made a mental note to modify to toilet himself so as to not accidentally set his clothes on fire after using it.
He then noticed that the bathroom did not have a bath but rather a very spacious shower room.
To be honest with himself, he didn't like baths that much anyways so he was grateful for a shower room instead. The swinging doors that opened up into the shower room were made of stripe patterned frosted glass. The walls of the shower room were made of black granite with pine wood built into the walls to look like branches or roots. It was an interesting decorative choice to say the least and when he rubbed his hand against the wood on the walls he realized that it was very smooth and had been processed so that water didn't adhere to it.
The floor of the shower room was also made of pine wood planks and didn't offer that good of a grip in case it was slippery with water which would be something he could fix easily. As for the shower head, there wasn't one but rather many holes on the ceiling of the shower room that he figured, when the handle was turned, would shoot out pressurize jets of water. However, he could not see a single handle to turn on the water.
"Um...how do I turn on the water for the shower?"
"You would feed magic into the crystal on the wall embedded in the metal piece and it will pour out as much water as you want, as hot as you want, at any pressure you want," he said patiently.
"Fascinating."
As he moved on to the second bedroom it was almost the same in where everything was positioned in the master bedroom although it was slightly smaller in size. The only difference being that as he walked inside, the closet was in the far corner of the left wall and the bathroom was on the far corner of the right wall.
When he was satisfied that he had seen the entire home and wanted to purchase it, he had settled on a payment and was able to buy the house by the end of the day. It was shocking how easy and quick he was able to get a new home and for that he was beyond grateful.
It only took him a few more hours to buy a new buy a new couch and bed and even less time to move them into it. Tomorrow he would spend the day buying more spices and foods, getting clothes and plates and utensils and over all turning this place into a real new home for himself.
All that was on his mind though was sleep as he made his way into his new bedroom and collapsed onto his bed.
Which promptly broke as one of the bed legs snapped under his weight.
He groaned in annoyance into his pillow as he stretched out his leg over the bed and kicked the floor sending his Dragon Glass across it to fix the bed leg and prop it back up.
He had a lot of work ahead of him to make this house accommodating to him. For now though, sleep...