Dean...
His nerves were fried.
Watching Selene to make sure she didn't kill everyone in the brotherhood by accident put him on edge, though when he saw her relax as the armor contained her power, he relaxed too.
That was until he realized Marcus had been staring right at him and noticed Dean's hand graze against the hilt of his sword. Marcus had seen what he was about to do if things went wrong and glared at him.
He had a feeling that if he had felt the need to kill Selene, then Marcus would have killed him before his body would have hit the floor.
The stress he felt didn't subside even when he saw the two of them laughing and drinking together like best friends. The way they acted around each other, Marcus may be one of the only people in Duranell who wholeheartedly accepts her and has no fear for her.
That in itself worried him.
Dean could feel it in his bones that Marcus was an impossibly violent and powerful person when he chose to be. With the strength he has, he could likely wipe out entire kingdoms on his own.
Even though Selene said that she would take responsibility for keeping an eye on him, what would that really mean if the two of them ended up in a romantic relationship together in the future? Along with his strength, he had terrifying levels of intelligence to match it as in just a matter of weeks he was able to gather the resources and forge a perfect suit of adamantine armor for Selene. Adamantine was impossibly rare in the world so paying or even finding enough of it to make a full set of armor should be both financially and statistically impossible.
The only possible explanation for how he could have obtained the amount of adamantine required for it would be if he gained favor with King Aldia of Forrosa. Rumors say that the Forrosan King is a very curious and magnanimous man towards anyone who can provide him with methods or technology that could further advance the technology of his kingdom. Being that Marcus is from another universe and claims to have more advanced technology than what our world currently possesses, it would make sense if he managed to gain the adamantine by making the king an offer of Terran innovation.
That in itself could be a big problem. Dean had no idea the level support that the king had provided to Marcus. With all this in mind, if Marcus ever turned against Duranell, not only would he be a major physical threat but also a political one.
He would have to figure out the level of connection that Marcus had with the Forrosan Kingdom at some point. For now, he needed to be as unassuming as possible to not pose as a threat too Marcus but he felt that it was already too late for that.
He watched the two of them very closely as they continued to drink and laugh to their heart's content while Marcus's younger sister Thalia darted around the hall with a bored look on her face.
Hmm...
If it really came down to both Marcus and Selene becoming a threat, then perhaps he could exploit Thalia if absolutely necessary to keep the two of them at bay, not that he liked the idea. It filled him with a sense of disgust for himself for coming up with it but it was necessary to explore every option.
For now though...Selene looked happy. In fact, she probably looked the happiest he had ever seen her since he found her in that cave over a decade ago. He didn't want to get in the way of that so he decided to leave them be.
He really hoped that a situation where he was forced to kill her never came.
Moyako...
She hated having to deal with the frustration of being told to wait a little longer before having the chance to talk with Marcus. She hadn't spent two centuries on this world just to finally see the man with her own eyes only for him to immediately fall unconscious and be carried away.
For all the patience she had, it was cruel for fate to make her wait much longer after dangling Marcus in front of her like a bunch of jangling car keys.
Now that she had heard rumor of a large party for the all the members being hosted by Marcus himself, she decided to meet him there. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to where her armor or to wear something casual to meet him as she wanted to appear strong enough that he would take her seriously but she also didn't want to over do it.
Since the night had become really cold, she decided to wear a wool jacket over a black tank top, while also wearing blue jeans, and combat boots. On her waist, she fastened her sword belt before taking off.
The moment she reached the brotherhood hall, she started to hear the sounds of laughter and shouting, as well as the sounds of broken glass and fighting.
Just what the hell was going on in there?
When she walked inside, she had to dodge and avoid the chaos of what was unfolding as there were multiple fights going on simultaneously as she tried to identify Marcus among them.
When she had already made it more than halfway through the hall, trying to look for him, she wasn't looking where she was going and ran into a little girl.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't...," Moyako tried to say as she apologized but stopped when she saw the little girl's face. She looked almost exactly like Marcus, albeit with softer features. The girl's eyes were somewhat wider and her face was a little more rounded but otherwise she looked very similar. Not only that but she had the matching black hair and icy blue eyes that she herself shared with Marcus.
It seemed that who she ran into, was just as equally shocked to see her as she asked, "Who...are you? Why do you look like me."
She knelt down and said, "I was about to ask you that. My name is Moyako, maybe you've heard of me?"
The girl shook her head no.
That was kind of surprising, especially for someone living in Duranell where nearly everyone knew her name, although not everyone knew what she looked like.
"I haven't really been here all that long. My name is Thalia," she said as she stared at Moyako with an unnerved expression.
"Thalia. Can I ask you a favor?"
"That depends on the favor," she replied with her eyes narrowing in wariness and suspicion.
"I'm looking for a man named Marcus Wright, do you know him?" she said and Thalia tilted her head as if Moyako had asked an obvious question and then pointed over to the bar.
"He's over there," she said with a slightly annoyed expression.
There was a man who shared a similar build to Marcus sitting at the counter, drinking and laughing with a woman with red and white hair...
Selene Kiser...?
Wait...is he laughing with her? He wouldn't be dating her, would he?
The very thought of it made her grind her teeth in anger as she walked towards him.
"Marcus Wright," she called out to him.
He didn't respond. Either he didn't hear her or he ignored her.
She called out his name again.
"I...heard you the...first time. What do you...want," he said, clearly drunk and putting in effort not to slur his words. He didn't even bother to turn around to talk to her.
"I want to talk with you," she said as she wrinkled her nose at the smell of booze that was starting to get to her.
Marcus slowly turned around to look at her and said, "You just...wanna talk? Can't it wait til...til I'm sober?"
"By all means, sober up," Moyako said with a bit of an impatient attitude showing in her voice.
Marcus then rubbed his temples as he tried to focus.
"What do you want?" he said in a more clear voice.
"I just want to talk with you, that's all. Can you spare the time?"
He eyed her for a moment before he said, "Can it wait til tomorrow? I had this whole party planned out and everything. Interrupting it would be a bit of a buzz kill. In fact-" he said as he reached for a glass and poured what looked like whiskey into it before extending it out to her, "Why don't you join us? Having one more in the party won't hurt."
She looked down at the drink in disgust and said, "No thanks, its not my pick of poison."
Marcus shrugged and said, "Suit yourself," before drinking it.
He then met her eyes and said, "Hold on... I think I recognize you..."
Moyako's breath became caught in her throat as she waited for the next few words to leave his mouth.
His eyes narrowed before he said, "You were that one woman who showed up when I cut off Ruvick's head. You knew me by name actually. I think he said something about you wanting to meet me."
She nodded as she said, "Yes. That's me."
"Okay...? So, what's so important that you had to come all the way to see me?"
"Well, I was told to find you, and I've been looking for quite a long time," she said.
"Couldn't have been that long. I only showed up here recently," he said before taking another drink.
"Couldn't have been that long" he says...
"Marcus, I have been looking for you for the past two hundred years of my life," she said, her tone lined with anger.
"Bullshit! Two hundred years? I haven't even been alive for two hundred years, much less been in this kingdom for that long either. Are you sure that you aren't looking for someone who happens to share the same name?" he laughed as he tried to take another drink but Moyako smacked the drink out of his hand and it shattered as it hit a wall. She then pulled her katana from its sheathe and pointed the tip of it at his throat.
Marcus's expression didn't change, and in fact he looked amused. It was as if the idea of her threatening his life was a joke to him.
"Make no mistake, you are undoubtedly the one I am looking for, Enderman," she said.
The instant that name left her mouth, the sound of thunder crackled throughout the bar and all the glass in the brotherhood hall shattered, including the drinking glasses. The brotherhood members who had been partying without a care in the world, all suddenly ducked their heads in surprise and fear. Selene, who had fallen asleep from all the alcohol she was drinking, jolted awake for a brief moment and looked at them both. Her eyelids looked too heavy for her to fully open all the way and she ignored them as she went back to sleep.
However, In the instant that thunder had echoed through the hall, Marcus had pulled out a revolver and aimed it at her head.
Seeing such a weapon like that in a world like this made her laugh.
"What do you think you'll be able to do to a person like me with a weapon like that?"
With hyper focused eyes and a ruthless killing intent, he pulled back the hammer of his gun and said, "Keep testing my patience and you'll find out."
His eyes then drifted down to her sword and his eyes widened as he seemed to recognize the design.
In a deep enraged tone, he said, "Where the hell did you get that sword?"
Deciding to test him a bit more, she said, "Oh this? I guess I found it."
Faster than her mind could process, her sword disappeared from her hands and instead...found its way in his? How? She was just holding it. How did he manage to...
She noticed a spark of lighting in his eyes and understood. He had cut off her senses for an instant to take it from her.
"This sword does not belong to you. Moyako, or whoever you are, I don't really care, but this sword is not for you to steal. I'll be taking it back from you now," he said as if there was no negotiating it.
Dean, who had been watching this play out, looked at them with a terrified expression and shouted, "Marcus! What the FUCK do you think you're doing?"
Without missing a beat, Marcus shouted back at him, "SHUT UP DEAN! STAY OUT OF THIS!"
Dean blinked in surprise at being talked down to but couldn't seem to muster a response to that. Everyone else in the bar went silent as they watched their interaction go down.
Moyako then snapped her fingers and her sword burst into flames before reappearing in her hands. She pointed it at him again in challenge. He tried to shut off her senses once again but she concentrated her magic in her eyes and managed to resist it.
"So you want to take back this sword? I'd like to see you try," she said and he stood up suddenly before walking towards her in an aggressive manner.
Before he could get close enough to attack her, Thalia stepped in between them and said, "Wait! Wait wait wait! Stop!"
"Get out of the way Thalia, now!" He ordered her without looking at her.
"No! You need to stop and calm down!" she shouted at him and hearing her talk back to him seemed to surprise him. He paused for a moment and looked at her.
"Just think about it for a moment. She said she just wants to talk with you. I don't know why you're mad about the sword but maybe she has a good reason for it. Talk it out!" she said while holding a defiant look on her face.
Moyako was expecting him to snap and ignore her but much to her surprise, his expression softened and he calmed down. However, the moment he looked at her his expression hardened.
"Alright, but we aren't talking here. Too many people around," he said and she nodded her agreement.
He looked up and eyed an empty area upstairs with a table and so they made their way there.
Once they had sat down, they both faced each other with an identical glare and neither of them wanted to let up.
After a long uncomfortable silence, Marcus eventually asked, "You said you wanted to speak with me. What for? What do you want to know?"
"Like I already told you, I've been looking for you for around two hundred years," she said.
"Oh yeah, and what for? Revenge? Did I kill one of your family members in the past?" he said with a nasty tone. He was not in the mood to have a conversation.
"I...I was told to look for you," she said and his eyebrows rose in interest.
"Oh really? Someone sent you to come find me? I wonder who it must've been. Tell me...you don't happen to know the name Julian Romano, do you?" he asked.
Julian Romano? Why was he bringing up that name?
"No. Why, is he important?"
"Forget about it. I want to know how you seemed to know who I am and how you've been looking for me for a total of two hundred years when I've only come to this world a few months ago," he said and she almost felt like she couldn't breath.
"What?! A few months?! That's impossible!" she shouted in disbelief.
"Well? How old are you?" he asked.
"I'm...two hundred and eight years old," she said.
"Well, to me it seems pretty impossible that you've been searching for me for two hundred years. Although...I guess if you had been sent back in time then that would make sense."
"If you really only came to this world a few months ago then how old are you?" she asked.
"I'm twenty one years old...or hold on. I guess with the time displacement, that means I'm twenty two years old," he said.
Hearing that, she wanted to think that he was lying but that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. Deciding to prod him a bit further and find out if he was lying, she asked, "Who is that little girl down there? Is she one of your daughters?"
Marcus gave her a weirded out look as he said, "No! She's my little sister and she's thirteen. Do you expect me to have a child at eight years old?"
"W-well no...I guess not." she said with a disappointed tone.
"You know you still haven't told me the reason why you've claimed to be looking for me for two centuries. Not to mention, why do you know my name or...my other name. Care to explain that?" he asked and she turned around to look at him.
"Uh...my mother told me to look for you. She told me to look for a man named Marcus Wright or Enderman, and that finding you would lead me to my father, Sora Kaneko," she said and as soon as the name left her mouth, the dim flash of gold shined in his eyes again.
What the...
"Well whoever your father is, I doubt I'd know them. I'm more curious as to how you got here and survived for so long. I know they call you Moyako the Immortal, but what does that really mean? Are you actually immortal?"
He doesn't know...?
Moyako sighed and said, "I came here when I was eight years old. I had seen a video of you fighting a man with a sword in New York and went there looking for you. I heard that you were last seen wandering into an alley way. When I got there, a distortion in spacetime opened up, swallowed me and a few others who came with me. Next thing I knew, I arrived in Erebus and I've been living here ever since. I figured that you must have come here too but you were no where to be found until very recently," she said and he had a confused look on his face as if he were trying to piece things together.
"There was a video of me fighting Kayron...? If you saw it then...what year did you leave Terra?" he asked.
"The year 2026," she said and he was silent for a moment as his mind worked to figure things out. Just as she had thought he had come to a realization when his eyes had widened, the flash of golden light shone once again.
"Interesting... Though, now that you've found me, what do you intend to do?" he asked.
"What do I...? Well, don't you want to head back to your home in Terra?" she asked.
"Not really. I have too many enemies that are still alive there who want me dead," he said.
"But...you don't have anyone you might have left behind?"
His eyes, which were staring at the table lazily, suddenly jerked up to meet her own for a moment.
"I mean...yeah, I guess so. Though there's not a whole lot I can do about it. There's no method to get back," he said with a slightly depressed look on his face.
"B-but, there's no way you could know that for certain!" she said, letting her emotions get to her as she raised her voice slightly.
"You know Ruvick, don't you? I had already asked him if he knew of any methods to get back to Terra and he said no. Not even he could figure out a way to break through this universe and into a different one. If he couldn't figure it out, what hope do you think we have to figure it out if we worked together?"
"Even still...if we could figure it out, wouldn't you want to go back? To at least bring whoever you left behind into this world? The fact that I've come full circle and arrived at a point in time before I even left means that I could go back and fix my mistakes. I have family I'd want to bring here if I could," she said and he shook his head.
"Think about it. In two hundred years, you've come up with nothing. Ruvick, who has been alive for five hundred thousand years according to his own words, has come up with nothing. Its likely that neither of us will be able to figure out anything either. We should just move on," he said as he broke eye contact with her and looked down at the people who had started partying again. Moyako followed his eyesight and realized he was looking at Selene specifically.
His expression seemed to soften a bit but underneath it, there also seemed to be a hint of guilt in his eyes too.
"If you really believe the idea of wanting to move on, then why did you get so emotional about seeing this sword?" she said as she pulled out her katana and held it out for him.
He tried to ignore her but his eyes eventually drifted over to it and even she could tell that he wasn't fully convinced of wanting to let go of the past.
He then sighed before saying, "You know what, you're right. I guess I'm following through with my own words. You claimed that sword for yourself, so now it belongs to you. Given how well you've taken care of it for the past two centuries, I know its in good hands. I'm choosing to move on, so you should too," he said as he stood up from his seat and turned around to walk away.
Her hand gripped the hilt of her sword in frustration to the point that it started to hurt.
How could he just walk away from his old life and from something that clearly meant a lot to him so easily?
She stood up from her chair suddenly and shouted at him, "NO! I refuse to accept that from you!"
With the point of her sword aimed at him, he turned around to look at her and asked, "Okay, then what do you intend to do about it?"
"You and I are both fighting in the Contest of Champions soon, yes? If I win, you have to help me find a way back to our world," she said.
"You really intend to force my hand like this...? Fine, I'll agree to that. However, I already have my own motivations for winning. Don't think that I will just make things easy for you," he said.
"You must swear to me that you will help me if you win," she barked at him.
"I already said that I would," he said, as if to try and calm her down but she didn't feel convinced.
"I want you to mean it. Swear it!" she ordered him.
"Fine. I swear upon the Styx that if you win against me, I will help you find a way back to our world," he said.