Unexpected Salvation

[Deimōs]

Deimōs braced for the blow from a blade that would never come, the sounds of fighting suddenly fading away from his ears. Opening his eyes, he saw before him a black void contrasting with a bright white silhouette. It felt to him like the being was somehow grinning despite its facelessness. Thoughts raced in his head upon seeing the being.
'Am I dead?'
'What god is this?'
'It doesn't look like any god I know of...'
'Maybe it's that one 'true' god those Elandrians like to tout about?'
His musings were interrupted when the being began to speak. The thing, Omni, he noted it was called, gave vague explanation for his current situation, though it raised more questions than it answers. From the sound of his explanation, there would be competition for this omnilium stuff, whatever it was. Before he could question the situation more, he suddenly found himself on solid ground, surrounded by a white expanse. Deimōs turned around, surveying his surroundings, to be met with a large fountain behind him. It was quite large, made of a strange dark purple metal. The piping was frantic, branching out from a central point some ten feet above the base of the fountain. The pipes straggled out every which way, branching off each other like the tendrils of a neuron. He stared up at it, wondering how so much mass was held up by the singular pipe leading upward to the twisted mass. Perhaps nothing in this place made any sense, but what would be something he'd just have to figure out.

[Nanako Dojima]

She wakes up from her nightmare, quickly sounding a screech, and reaches for her blanket. Her blanket isn't there, though. Neither are her bed or room. Nothing but a void... Is she still in a nightmare? The being named "Omni" isn't real. These thoughts now rushing through her head are driving her crazy. She's only six!

She curls up into a ball on the ground, with tears streaming from her eyes. She starts whimpering quietly, not knowing what is happening. It feels too real to be a dream! Omni isn't important or ever was. As far as she knows, Omni is probably just some "boogeyman" out to get her. The only thing that matters now is getting the motivation to stand up on her own two feet! Since her cousin is brave, maybe she can be too. She doesn't know if Omni will be back, but she can't even think straight! What is a girl to do? One thing is certain, though: she can't cry forever. Her tears slow down and she notices a giant, green, human-like figure in front of her on the other side of the fountain she is lying down next to. The young girl doesn't realize that she herself is at the front of the fountain. She becomes somewhat frightened, and the tears come raining down again. Does Omni have friends that will help him hurt her too? What will they do to her when they see her? Do they see her now? How much longer until she can wake up from this nightmare...?

Nanako is trapped; she has nowhere to run, no strength to move, no one to call to... and is waiting desperately for a voice to tell her that it will all be okay. She is stuck on repeat, playing the same tune.

[Deimōs]

Deimos sat before the fountain for a while, thinking over his current situation. It was definitely the oddest situation he'd found himself in, though not by much, but the whole idea of it still seemed impossible. Before long, his contemplation was broken by a shiver as it shuddered his way down his body. While he could get away with not wearing a shirt back in the hot weather of Elandrais, the Nexus was significantly colder. He thought back for a moment to what Omni had said about summoning things from omnilium. He'd try to summon a shirt that actually fit right for once, he decided. Before he could attempt though, a scream rang out through the air. The sound cut Deimōs out of his thoughts, instantly putting him on high alert. He whirled around to where the sound came from and reached to take his staff off his back, reaching back to grasp only air. His hands raise in front of him, his military training taking over, before spotting the source of the sound.

His hand dropped back to his side as a puzzled look spread over his face at the sight in front of him. A human child was lying there crying on the other side of the fountain. His defensive posture dropped completely when she looked up at him, tears in her eyes. It took all of two seconds for his heart to melt completely. It took all of another two second for dad mode to completely take over he slowly made his way over to her, hands lowered and palms up a show of peace. He was pretty used to human children crying in reaction to him. Or elf kids. Most kids really, but he tried not to let kid's reactions to the 'big scary green man' get to him. He edged slowly closer to the kid, starting to speak in his most reassuring voice. 
"Hey paidí, what's wrong? You don't have to cry, sweetie, I'm not scary, I promise. Did you just get here too? I bet it was that Omni guy that scared you, wasn't it," he said. By now he'd moved within a few feet of her. He left her some personal space and sat down cross-legged across from her, putting himself at just above her eye level. He stuck a gentle smile on his face and awaited a response from the girl, hoping he wouldn't freak her out more.

[Tarius]

Tarius approached the fountain from the dunes portal after taking the time to clean all of the wretched sand off his armor, giving it its shiny gleam once again. He was thinking that he should start planning to do something since his armor was finally cleaned when he noticed that there was a giant green man sitting next to a terrified little girl. Unknowing of the situation, Tarius assumed that the giant was the source of the girls distress. He dismounted and neared the two, Tarius ready for any hostile movement from the green man.

Careful to make sure he would not be seen by the two, Tarius crept withing hearing distance to see if the duo were talking. He had to stop to listen to the green giant's soft spoken words, "Don't worry, you're safe. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you." 

Understanding that the girl was safe, Tarius dropped his 'combat ready' position and stood up to his full height. Doing so caused his armor to shift together, producing a loud clanking sound. The giant green man and the child instantly turned their heads to see Tarius standing only a few feet away. The girl shrieked and buried her head in her hands while the big man stood up to face what he must have thought was an enemy. 

"Who are you and what are you doing?" He questioned aggressively.

Trying to defuse the situation, Tarius held up his arms and said, "I mean you no harm. I was merely travelling through the area when I noticed you besides this distressed child. I wasn't aware of the situation so I decided to come investigate and introduce myself."

Taking his helmet off to try to look less scary for the child, Tarius held his arm out to the green man and officially introduced himself, "I am Tarius. And who are yoAGH!"

 Tarius was interrupted by the man suddenly grabbing him and lifting him off his feet into a giant bear hug. The little girl saw this and giggled, the man noticed this and held onto Tarius for even longer, saying, "I'm Deimos, and I've been with this little sweety trying to calm her down, and she seems to like it when I pick you up!" 

Deimos finally dropped Tarius onto his feet and they both looked at the now happy child. "Who is this little girl anyways," Tarius asked.

[Nanako Dojima]

Nanako can finally hear a voice. It is soft, gentle, but not what she expects. She hears kindness and compassion in the voice and she slowly opens her eyes to see the monster in front of her. It is sitting in front of her!! Although, it doesn't look like a monster anymore. This monster is smiling and comforting her. Her tears begin to stop and she finally answers the "not-so-monster-anymore". "I.." She stutters a bit, still in the same position, trying to make eye contact with it. "I don't know where I am. I'm having a scary dream. I just know it!" She speaks in a nervous tone. Nanako is showing small signs of psychosis. She doesn't actually have psychosis, but the state she is in gives off the negative vibes. Anyone can assume she might not be totally with it.

Suddenly, A tall knight appears and the two seem to make friends within seconds.

She is able to assure herself that they aren't out to hurt her, and it seems like they want to help her. She musters up the rest of her tears and lifts herself onto her butt. She gets a better look at the two and situates herself into a sitting position. She smiles back while closing her eyes, giggling quietly to herself. "I see now. Your two are the heroes in my dream to save me." She says in a delirious way, elongating all her vowels. "I'm Nanako. Nice to meet you!" Her face gets red and her hands grab the side of her thighs, rocking her side to side. It is making her feel a lot better, talking to the two before her. There is still some confusion in her mind, but as long as they keep talking to her she will be okay.

[Deimōs]

Turning back to Nanako, a concerned look overtook his face once again at her mention of being in a dream. He knelt down again in front of her, trying to think of a way to explain something he didn't really understand himself. Eventually he just decided on the truth of the situation, lying about it to make her feel better would probably blow up eventually.
"Nanako, I don't know if we're to be your heroes, we might be, but you're not in a dream. I don't know what's going on either, but it's real," he explained, scratching at his beard. His eyes flicked between Nanako and Tarius for a moment before settling again on the girl in front of him. Standing up, he offered his hand to her to help her up.
"Whatever is going on though, we'll figure it out, I'm sure of it. We can do it together, none of us have to go through it alone, so we'll all help each other. We'll be okay," he stated, not nearly as sure as he managed to sound. He spared another cursory glance toward Tarius, not quite sure what to really think of him. He hadn't come from around the fountain, so he must have come from somewhere else. Since Nanako and himself had arrived at the fountain, it was probably safe to assume that people first entered at the fountain. Given that Tarius hadn't arrived at the fountain, but come from somewhere else, he'd already been here, he reasoned. If that was truly the case, then Tarius should know at least something about what was going on.

Deciding to leave the questioning for a later time in which he was in a better position to deal with it, he turned back to Nanako. He kept the same smile on his face, hoping she would take his hand. He wasn't too keen on staying in whatever this place was with the bizarre fountain. New arrivals could be problematic as well, he figured, given the way Tarius had chosen to approach them without alerting them as opposed to just approaching them plainly. New people were probably pretty unpredictable, so it would probably be best to move away from where they seemed to arrive at.

[Nanako Dojima]

Deimōs's words instantly snaps the child back into reality. It is true what he is saying. The world finally seems real and Nanako understands that it isn't a dream. The two others look more like fictional characters like the books she reads. Knights ready to save the princess at a notice moment. Her face becomes more sullen and serious, as she reaches for Deimōs's hand. She grabs it very firmly and lifts herself up from the ground, staring directly into his eyes. "I'm really scared." she says quietly, shaking noticeably. She looks up at Tarius with the same expression and asks "Are you coming too, mister?". It still seems like a dream but assuredly enough for Nanako, it is real. She feels safe around the two. Sure, her father isn't there but they make her feel safe.

[Tarius]

Tarius knelt down to get to eye level with Nanako, giving her a wide, friendly smile as he did so. "There's no reason to be scared, little princess," Tarius said with a wink. "We will protect you from any sort of nastiness that seeks to do you harm." He stood back up and looked curiously at Deimōs.

Tarius had never seen someone such as him. Deimōs was larger, and greener, than any of the other primes he had encountered so far. He also had incredible strength to be able to pick Tarius up without much effort. Other than his size and color, the only thing that really distinguished him as separate from human were his tusks. Tarius determined that differing race did not matter in the grand scheme of things. In the Omniverse, he was sure to see many more strange creatures, friendly or not.

Looking between Deimōs and Nanako, Tarius said, "I know of a place we could go. We could travel to Camelot, it is a medieval type place ruled by a king. It is also much safer than some of the other verses." Tarius placed his helmet back over his head and whistled for his horse that he had left behind. "So, what do you two think," he questioned as the horse galloped towards them.

[Deimōs]

It wasn't until Nanako stood up that Deimōs realized just how small she actually was. She just barely came up to his hip. The observation made him huff out a little laugh, he often forgot just how tiny human children were. In comparison to pretty much every human he'd ever seen though, Tarius was huge. The man was only about half a foot shorter than him, if he had to guess. Maybe he wasn't actually human and just looked it, he pondered.

Hearing Tarius's suggestion of heading to Camelot confirmed his suspicions of Tarius being not quite new to the Omniverse. He seemed to be at least helping them, though, unless he was leading them into some kind of trap. He looked to Tarius for more of an explanation, curious about the world he was in.
"So," he started off, "You said verses. That means there are other places than this and the one you speak of? Also, what does medieval mean? I'm not familiar with the term," he questioned. He truly had no idea what really to expect from anything here, and we wasn't too keen to just step into a situation with no knowledge of it. It did seem to be the best course of action at the moment though, as Tarius had said it was relatively safe.
"Given that you said this Camelot place is safe, I would have to agree that we go there first. What do you think, Nanako?"

[Nanako Dojima]

It is hard for her to handle. Verses, medieval, big words in general. It seems better for her just to remain quiet and let the grown ups talk about it. This doesn't mean she has nothing on her mind. Some of her concerns involve, whereabouts of her father, her cousin, how she even got to the omniverse. These are mysteries waiting to be solved. In time they should reveal themselves. Camelot does sound like a very peaceful place, she thinks to herself. She turns to Deimōs. "It sounds very pretty. It sounds like it's pretty too." She says with enthusiasm as she nods. It sounds like a fairy tale to her just like everything else.

In fact, she notices that her two heroes do seem kinda weird. This thought has nothing to do with the current situation. It's not relevant. Maybe her thoughts are running around because she misses her dad. Albeit, he never gets home on time! Nanako remembers that Yu keeps her company most of the time and well, things changed. All she has are the two heroes in front of her. "Everyday's great at your junes.." she says too quietly so no one hears her. She stares at the blank canvas, remembering the life he has up to this point in time.

[Tarius]

Tarius listened to the two before him while his horse traveled to the fountain. Addressing Deimōs's question, he said, "I too am unfamiliar with the term 'medieval,' however it was the only description I was given by another prime. And yes, there are eight verses that connect to this area, the Nexus. I just got back from one called the Endless Dunes, it is a verse that is hot and sandy."

Tarius stroked the horse's mane as it finally reached them. "I suppose I should give you a name. We will be spending quite a bit of time together on our journeys. I will call you Spirit."

Looking back to the two he said, "So Camelot it is. The trip will take some time, even with a mount, so I suggest you summon something that is comfortable." Looking to Nanako he asked, "Who would you like to ride with, me or Demōs?"

[Deimōs]

Deimōs raised an eyebrow at Tarius's less than satisfactory clarification, as well as the general vagueness of the situation. He figured he'd find out what it meant eventually, it wasn't of too much importance right now.
"Endless Dunes? Not my kind of place, so I'm glad we're not going there," he stated. "So we summon things with this omnilium substance that Omni gave us, correct?" he questioned. He looked down at his hands, moving them around an invisible sphere as though he were doing something as simple as creating a fireball. His concentration was at least in the right place, as thankfully the orb of omnilium he'd seen earlier reformed in his hands. In his mind's eye, he began formed the image of his old mount. It was a rather monstrously sized deer-like creature with twisting horns, known to his people as eláfi. After a few minutes of concentrating the being stood before him, dark brown fur speckled with black taking up the majority of Deimōs's vision.

Deimōs smiled at the sight, glad that it turned out well. He wondered though how exact omnilium was at creating things. Would it be the same in personality or perhaps even memories as his dear Chári he'd left behind? He added that to the ever-growing mental list of things to figure out. Instead of worrying too much about it, he instead walked over to the beast and stroked its flank with a gentleness belied by his size.

[Nanako Dojima]

It sure takes a lot of work for Nanako to decide who to follow. They both seem really strong and protective too, but she decides to side with Deimōs.

"I think I'll go with Deimōs.. But please promise me that I can ride with you later on. Ive always wanted to ride a horse but never had the time to do it." She says with a smile, giggling to herself. This is a new experience for her. Riding a horse is new for her. She has so many things she never did. She needs to try it at least once. "Is it a boy or a girl horse?" she asks curiously.

She watches the Deimōs create things with his omnilium. "I wonder if I can do that.." She thinks to herself. Omni did say something along those lines, but it is all a blur. She just remembers crying and that Omni is some bad guy.