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

[Demetri Malius]

IRIS listened to Ezrihel explain his state of mind upon entering the realm of the omniverse, mentioning a bit about his home world before turning back to her, requesting her own account of events since her summoning to the omniverse by her Creator.  She gave an affirmative hum as she perched on Ezrihel's shoulder, forming almost a camera-like shoulder mounted camera, her bright glowing blue eye watching him closely. 

She then questioned of the world he came from, and he began to speak of his background and history before the omniverse, about what he was and the environment he grew up in. It was all really intriguing, finding out so much about it, but there seemed to be so much more. Hearing him go on about past events reminded her of her time in the Tangled Green, alongside Crow, Jan, and everyone else in her group that ventured to go see the Smiling One. She wondered where they were all at now, and what might have been if she had made it along beside them. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted as Ezrihel soon finished his vocal biography, to which IRIS had to take a moment to completely process all the info. She replayed his voice in her shards of circuits, taking note of his nobility, among other things. So apparently, he had lived different lives, reincarnating after each death. He must have a quite vast amount of knowledge then. She might have to press further later, but she shouldn't be too forward. His family seemed to have traveled to some new world, where they were gaining much of the free land. What an interesting thought, perhaps one day there would be new land in the omniverse that had been unexplored before? She and Creator would have to explore more about that possibility. As for this Lucian fellow,  he seemed rather curious, something seemed amiss about him. She wondered if they would meet at all, either by Ezrihel's summoning or by Omni himself. It was always so confusing thinking about who gets pulled from which universe, especially when wondering, why? What is the key factor that all those that make it here share? How can we predict others coming to this place, perhaps from our own worlds?  It was all so interesting. This was another fact worth taking note of, this Lucian, and what exactly he and Ezrihel did with each other...

Not too far behind the AI and noble man, the thief continued to form the dataverse uplink, listening to Ezzy ramble to him about her identity and existence, her sanity delicately trying balance itself between reality and hopeless despair. It made it hard to concentrate on the uplink and recall station, given that it took most of his attention and willpower. She even managed to panic to the point of nearly cuddling him from fear, to which she immediately apologized for. With a more relaxed tone, she asked about his skill background and reasoning. After finishing the device, Demetri gave a sigh, patting Ezzy on the shoulder.

"Lass, you need not worry about your state of mind at the moment. Clearly, you have much to come to terms with. As for my skills in thievery and such, I learned at a young age. Allow me to tell you in greater detail once we head outside."

With that, they continued upstairs, gathering supplies from the bartender and heading out the door. Demetri resumed his story as they began to walk outside.


"My father was a thief. A respectable one as well. He taught me many skills when I was a young child through many convoluted chores and such, but I can see he was simply trying to conceal the training from me so that I may live a normal life. See, he 'retired' once he met my mother, having gathered enough wealth to gain a small amount of nobility, settle down and have me, his one and only child. Much of my veiled training was simple masking of presence and basic combat skills, but learning that at a young age set the foundation for the next stage of my life, because you see, my father never really escaped his past, and with settling in one area, it found him pretty easily, hit hard too. My whole family and life fell apart, and I sunk down to the bottom of society, where my name was lost to all but my own mind."

He waited a moment for his companion to assess his words before he continued.

"I ended up in the streets by the age of nine years, where I focused on picking locks and pockets for a living, for survival. Stealing from the bakery, looting nobles for gold to buy clothing and other supplies, I always made sure not to get caught. I was a patient young boy, quiet and intelligent from my parent's teaching. My mother was a smart woman, knew her politics and whatnot. But furthermore, I began to realize my own skill and take on bigger challenges, not just for survival, but for greed and satisfaction. I even took on gambling, learning how to cheat the system, whether by mathematical means or simply rigging the physical elements. Sometimes both. It was then that I decided to find out more about my father, and by some rare find, I meet my Uncle, a fence for local stolen goods. He taught me more and furthered my skills while telling me about my father, even helping me to find the ones who tore my life apart. But that story is for another day. My young adulthood is riddled with controversy and dark times." He gave a bit orf a stretch as they wandered out of town, the long dirt road ahead of them.

"Maybe the next time we have off time, you can teach me a thing or two about what you've learned? It would give us something to do in our spare time, and maybe it will help me find a purpose and drive." Ezzy spoke up, a soft smile on her face.

"Perhaps, though you should think about what you want to learn, after all, much of the skills I hold require large amounts of practice. Just let me know when you wish to learn, and I shall teach you, so long are we are in a safe--"

"Are you two twitterpated love drums going to catch up, or should we slow down?" Ezrihel called out from ahead. Demetri hadn't even realized they fell so far behind.

Ezzy seemed to blush beside him as she answered and they hurried along to catch up, afterward asking more about her existentialism.

"The way I see it, there is no difference where you come from in this world, only where you go. Does being a secondary really change that much about how you feel about yourself? If Omni wished to do so, he could have the same done to me, gone in a split second. I've seen it happen before to those that 'lose his interest'. Not sure what exactly catches it, but I don't intend on losing it anytime soon. "

He waited patiently for Ezzy to form an opinion on the matter before speaking again.

"If you want to talk more about it, IRIS may be better suited for such conversation, she has actually had more experience than I, being that time slowed for her in the Tangled Green. Granted, she fell inactive, but still, it accounts for something, she was on a quest to see Omni, along with a group of other secondaries," Demetri paused for a moment as they stopped at a roadsign, getting closer to their destination. "Doesn't seem to be much further."

IRIS whirred as Ezrihel answered her question. My, had she known that such an interesting man was hidden underneath that devilish succubus, she would have been trying to get him out! She really enjoyed the man's outlook on life and his general attitude. However, upon mentioning her body, she became slightly nervous. 

"N-no I just, it's my fault really. I lost my host body back in the Swamp of Sadness in the Tangled Green. I was actually on a mission to find Omni... and... I failed. I wish I had done better, but, if you truly wish to speak to my Creator and work something out, that's fine.."

Demetri, meanwhile, heard Ezrihel speak to him telepathically, and he responded aloud.

"I had been planning on doing so, but with my limited knowledge on advanced technology, it seems I fall short on giving IRIS the proper body to meet her full potential. If you truly do wish to help, then I suppose I have no issue with building a shell for her with you, so long as you know what you are doing, not that I doubt you, but I am not quite sure myself how IRIS functions, after all, see almost seems to have grown past the limitations of my own mind."