I Dare Say that the Color of Stars are Blue[Star Piece Quest]

[Demetri Malius]

The thief gave a low yawn as they came into the room, listening to Ezzy's remark. He had already removed his mask and lowered his hood upon entering Camelot. After all, he must make his his mundane presence known in order to for his cloak and dagger style to even have an effect. His hair was ruffled, stained with a few specs of blood,  his face ashen with soot and soft red burns. He smiled at Ezzy's remark. She seemed excited to get to work on the Thieve's Guild, but he was long worn out, haven't had a good day's rest since his time in Nippur. With a few steps he passed by a late night drinker at the bar, making his way to the bartender, who always seemed to be cleaning a glass. 

"Good evening Master Demetri, back from a long day of exploration?"

"I suppose it can be called so, Ezzy and i have suffered some injury, we will be tending to ourselves upstairs, bring me up a light ale when you find yourself the time, might help me sleep a bit."

"Of course, I shall bring it up shortly."

After his quick request, Demetri turned to Ezzy, looking her up and down for a moment before speaking. "You feeling alright lass? That nick seemed to cut pretty deep."

"I'm perfectly fine, nothing that won't heal in good time, love~" She responded with a smile.

With a nod Demetri motioned towards the stairs, allowing Ezzy to make her way up them, Demetri following behind as they each claimed their own room, preparing for rest.  Demetri watched as Ezzy smoothly opened her door and stepped out of view, pausing for a moment before turning to his own room. He turned the knob and pushed the door open, the creak echoing in the hall and his mind before he stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

"There seemed to be something Off about the succubus on our way back. I couldn't quite place it."

"Aren't you always?"

"Of course Creator, but there was something else this time, something that wasn't there before."

"I'm sure it is nothing to worry about, we are both fatigued from the battle, surely some rest would help us all."

"If you so believe, Creator."

With that, Demetri unbuckled a few straps and pulled off his leather bracers, bent and completely singed, much like the rest of his outfit. A small patch was missing where he must have made contact with the wyrm while burying the blade into it. He tossed them to the side before tending to his chest piece, cautiously pulling it off, huffing a bit in pain as it stuck to the cloth he wore underneath, clenching his teeth a bit. IRIS began to peel herself off of her Creator and become a small floating sphere of blue particles, watching Demetri loosen his armor. It seemed that everything in this vast world was harder to kill but he, but he was glad his skill and speed were blessed in return. He pulled aside his dark garments to reveal a rather large and swollen bruise on is chest, one that hurt to the touch.

"You should not take as many risks in battle, Creator. I understand that your life is not as precious as it was before, with the ability to come back from the dead at the Fountain in the Nexus, but you should remember that it is not guaranteed."

Demetri remembered the words of the Smiling One, that his life was guaranteed so long as he maintained the being's interest. If he wanted interest and drama, then he can have it. Demetri would make sure to show off his skill at every opportunity. Perhaps one day he would find the being and find out why this whole place existed. It was still a great wonder to him, and in contrast to many who found themselves poorer and weaker than their past selves, Demetri had never been more skillful or talented.

With a groan he did wish he had tougher skin, but he soon gave a sigh and loosened his armor on his legs, letting the remaining pieces fall to the floor before he slumped over the bed, allowing his thoughts to wander and sleep to consume him. 

It wasn't much later that he opened his eyes to a large mug of ale on his bedside, a mug that was taken up in a split second as Demetri angled it upwards, sitting up on the bed, gulping it down. It seemed to wash all the ash and soot out of his mouth and leave a much better taste. Once he downed the beverage he gave a sigh and looked at IRIS, who hovered beside him, humming softly and seemingly staring at him.

"Awake already, Creator?"

"I believe so, but it almost feels as if rest doesn't hold the same relief as it did before. You mentioned that one can use omnilium in order to greatly increase recovery from wounds, correct?"

"Oh, yes, I did mention that early on. Why don't you try it?"

With a nod the thief focused on building up his omnilium, taking it into his hands before rubbing his chest through his shirt, focusing on repairing the snapped bone, along with wounded organs and skin. He felt the omnilium fill in the gaps between his wound,, mending ever so slowly but so soothingly. As he did so, he pulled off a bit in order to speak to IRIS.

"Any suggestions as to prevent me from taking damage like this? I think I am starting to get tired of my face being pounded into some type of rock."

A soft murmuring giggle could be heard from the floating AI, "Of course, I already starting working on a prototype buckler and blade for you, Creator. If you wish, we could test it out after you recover from your wounds. I also allocated some omnilium for testing my previous blast wave ability program called 'pulse'."

"I have faith in what you've done IRIS, and yes, I bleive we can find someplace to test out the abilities nearby. For now, I want to discuss some things, and tell me anything you have found recently on that possible job we discovered last time we were here..."

For a while the two spoke, until dawn had come and past and the sun peeked under their door, discussing future plans as well as strategies for battle. After realizing that his chest felt a lot better, Demetri dressed himself up in brand new leather armor and set out downstairs.

"Milk, if you please."

"Of course, which would you like?"

"Oh, whole milk of course, I am no milksop."

"So you assure me."


"Bartender, I am a big boy. I know of which drink I prefer. Now please, before I tire of this charade, may I have my drink?"

Demetri entered partway through a conversation that an early woken man had decided to take with the bartender, apparently for some milk. Such an odd drink to ask for at a tavern. Demetri waved his hand at the bartender, asking aloud.

"I thank you for the ale, by chance have you seen Miss Ezzy come down at all?"

"I have not, Master Demetri."

"Let her know that I am out and about when she wakes."

"As you wish."

With a nod Demetri glanced at the young man at the bar, raising his eyebrow a slight bit. He looked so... familiar. Demetri tried to shake it off as he walked out of the tavern, heading out of town. He and IRIS passed by numerous townspeople as they ventured out into the green fields just outside of town.

"Now IRIS, activate and show me what you have created. Impress me."

"Of course, Creator!"

She floated to his finger where she gripped onto him and flowed onto his body, again as his cybernetic, almost woven armor. Demetri focused as she stretched over his eye, showing him diagnostics and how to summon the items she now allowed him to possess. In one arm he flicked out his wrist, a sharp blade expanding and reaching out, before a chain whipped around it, grinding against it snugly and rotating to give a soft whirr. He gave it a swing,m hearing it cut the air, before deciding to try the buckler. His left arm locked in place as a cybernetic plate expanded and stretched outwards in a circle,his chains wrapping around it, giving the shielding device a rough surface. He practiced a few techniques from his old world, even testing the blade against a few trees. 

"They are very satisfying, you mentioned one other thing?"

"Yes, my pulse function, I will be able to control it for you, but all you ned to do is request it."

With her words, Demetri raised his arm and planted himself in place as he aimed at a tree, multiple plated erupting from under his leather armor to charge a blasted that shed much of the tree of its leaves, though its branches stayed sturdy, swaying from the force.  Most likely could know an enemy back a bit.

"You may also use it around your whole body, but I will warn you now, it will use much of your energy."

"Good to know, now, let us go see if Ezzy has woken up yet, yes? I want to begin on our quest to find this item of value to these scientist in the inner city."

After dissembling his weaponry, Demetri and IRIS both ventured back to the tavern, to which they still only found the man from before with the bartender. 

"Bartender, is Ezzy still not down yet."

"Well after some conversing with this man here, Master Demetri..." the bartender spoke, seeming quite concerned, the man at the bar turning to look at him. "This man is the woman you used to know as Ezzy. He now calls himself Ezrihel."

Both AI and thief froze for a moment as they processed this information.

Ezrihel simply smiled and extended his hand with a bow. "Greetings, Demetri~."

A low whisper came from IRIS.

"I apologize Creator, I was misled. The Prime is not, in fact, a succubus. Clearly he is an incubus."