Great Escapes lead To Greater Beginnings

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

Draconis. The only truly populated city in Iota. The place was...rather dead right now. Granted, it was close to dawn when he arrived, but regardless. He had traveled across the ocean diviting Iota from Megalo in search of a place in this pocket dimension where he wasn't a wanted man. He found it here, in the rather dingy slums of the sole stable city in Iota. He chose the slums, full of dilapidated and "Abandoned" Buildings for a reason: Lack of conspicuousness. He needed to hide..but it was dawn, so he could at least risk a smoke. So, leaning against a nearby building, using his finger as a lighter since his had been lost to the ocean. He held his flaming fingertip to the edge of the cancer stick in his mouth, lighting the end before cutting off the flame. He took a deep breath in, the burning tobacco inside of it glowing an eerie orange-red before he removed it from his mouth and blew darker than normal smoke out into the air. He was going to take a smoke break for a good hour, hopefully get at least three down to knock off the edge. Yeah..he should probably cut down on them.but when they don't affect you, it's kinda hard not to abuse the ability to smoke as much as you like. And that was exactly what he was doing now.

[Elodie]

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion....

Stealing food gave a strange adrenaline rush, well in Estrella Rios case, a chance to do whatever she wanted. The young adult hid right behind a brick wall and poked out her head every two minutes to see if the fruit vendor wasn't looking around, it was one of those rare days that a fruit vendor from the Village of Sklira would sell his fruit to the poor inhabitants of Draconis, well the ones who had money anyway. The Rios household didn't have much money since Estrella spent it on shots at the local bar, It wasn't the girl's fault! She wanted to have fun and buy drinks for her friends and the hot guys there, well that was what she thought anyway. There was barely any money to buy food now, thanks to the Nephlim's carelessness.

The young woman re-tied the black bandanna on top of her bright pink hair (Which was dyed) , it was stupid of her to be stealing food since she was the only one in the poor city of Draconis that had bright bright pink hair and the security would recognize her she has been in juvenile hall multiple times. Not for anything harmful, threatening to kill a neighbor's cat and throwing a brick through an ex-boyfriend's window wasn't all that harmful, was it? She stifled a laugh when she was reminded of the day she almost hit her ex's head with a brick. She heard the fruit vendor walk towards the brick wall to find out what the noise was about, Estrella winced as her wings sprouted right from behind her back but springed into the air despite the pain. As she took comfort on the rooftop of the wall, she crouched on the ledge and looked over to see that the vendor was looking around in the area she was hiding.

Now was the time! Estrella stretched out her black wings and swooped down to the vendor and quickly stole six apples, four cantaloupes, two pears, and one big watermelon. Oh, how she hated that money exists, it drove people insane and the people that did have it spent it on stupid expensive shit like a golden mirror, when you can just buy a simple mirror for less than thousands of dollars. As the Nephlim tried to heave the watermelon under her arm, she heard a big "Hey!" and decided to run. She ran past some of the wealthy citizens who were going on a morning stroll, she heard more fast footsteps right behind her. It was useless for her to run since she had wings.

WHOOSH! The young adult finally flew to the sky, purposely dropping a few apples to the poor children who grinned their toothless grins as they attempt to take big bites out of the fresh apples. Oh, they're gonna find me soon! She thought as lose strands of pink hair flew into her face. The security in Draconis didn't tolerate criminals or juvenile criminals, which was why Estrella was so desperate to leave the poor city. She embraced freedom but acted it on in stupid ways especially when she thought 'stealing' and 'threatening' others was 'pure rebellion', for a young adult she does not know the true meaning of Anarchy. The only way to get out of the city was magic collage but she was officially done with school and it's rules, she even had the dyed pink hair to prove it. The schools were much worst, everything was so cheerful even though the students and teachers were poor they always found a way to be happy. The happiness sickened her, especially the rules that you had to follow to stay in the school. The woman was a school-dropout and she was proud of it.

Estrella flew down to where the slums were and found her younger siblings and a few other kids standing outside of her home playing with sticks. The sight made her hate Draconis even more, if only she could do something about the slums.. The girl swooped down and her wings quick and painfully folded themselves into her back since her siblings were scared of her wings. As her siblings ran towards her, she quickly gave them the fruits and they ran into the house to eat. Estrella caught the scent of smoke, maybe it was one of her barbuddies outside for a smoke. She followed the scent and found a strange purple haired man smoking a few cigarettes very quickly. Estrella raised an eyebrow, she knew just about every face in the slums but she has never seen this man before. She liked how he was persistent about smoking the cancer sticks one by one it was as if he didn't care about dying. "Hey," She would address the man as she leaned against the building. "Mind if I have a smoke?" She jerked her chin, gesturing to the cigarette he was holding.

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

He had been smoking fairly peacefully for about twenty minutes before someone came up to talk to him. In that time he had smoked three of them down to just nubs. He had about..five left in that pack. So, when she asked if she could have a cigarette herself, he simply pulled the pack out of his coat and tossed it to her, slicking his black hair up and away from his forehead before going back to smoking, not having said a word. Yeah, he had seen her fly around and steal all that food, and he was kinda hungry, but he didn't have to eat to survive, he wasn't a mortal man. So yeah..he was okay with just his nicotine dosage. However, he had clearly started to pay attention to her. He hadn't done much moving around as he watched her fly around and steal all the food she took however, so he was still leaning against the wall as people started moving out and doing their day to day business. It was interesting to see how, even in the slums like this, people still found hope. He supposed that it was characteristic of humans, that they strove to find hope in everything. Personally? He didn't see how they pulled off such a feat. Hope was a fleeting thing, and to find it so often..it made him envy humans. But he hated envying things...So, It seemed that he was to become more grumpy.

[Elodie]

Estrella quickly caught the pack of cigarettes as the stranger tossed it to her, as she pulled out cancer stick she glanced at the man from under her bangs. He didn't really say a word to her, he might have seen her fly down and give fruits to her brothers and sisters and probably felt bad for her. She scoffed at the thought and held the cigarette between her middle and index finger and placed it in between her teeth. She brought out one of her lighters and lit it up with the flick of her thumb, she hasn't smoked in about two weeks since she couldn't afford any of the cigarettes in town. She brought the lighter to the tip of her cigarette and suddenly started inhaling the smoke, she took out the cigarette and watched the steam exhale out of her nostrils. She had no idea what brand the stranger used but the flavor was really really good.

The Nephlim tapped the ashes out, she tossed it on the floor and stepped on it. As she brang out another one, she decided to talk to the stranger who didn't move from his spot on the wall. "Not much of a talker, eh?" She asked as she put the cigarette between her teeth and repeated the same step as she did before. "It's odd to see white boys in the slums, you're from the magical college I assume?"

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

"Not much of a talker, eh?"

No, no he wasn't. He also wasn't just some random white guy, like she seemed to think, judging on what she told him. No, I'm not from that college of magic. In fact, there is nothing that school could teach me that I don't already know. He said simply without so much as making eye contact with the other person. However, he did want his pack back before she smoked the rest of it. It wasn't like he had that sole pack..but he didn't want it to go to waste. He wasn't so rude as to snatch it back though. But..if she threw one more onto the ground after taking a single puff from it, he would. Those things were hard to come across, considering he practically had to make them himself. That was expensive, so it made sense that he didn't like doing it. To be fair, Im not even from around here, or from this place as a whole. He said simply as he dropped the butt of the cancer stick he just finished smoking, replacing it with another, lighting it in very much the same way he had the last one. He wasn't much of a talker, so the pink haired girl would have to be carrying this conversation.

[Elodie]

The man wasn't from the famous college in the wealthy part of Draconis that taught seeking magic users how to use magic. There was a fee you had to pay to get into the college it wasn't big nor small though. The stranger didn't give the Nephlim any eye contact, Maybe the man was shy or an introvert? She was an introvert as well, an extroverted introvert at that. She tossed the pack of cigarettes back at him and leaned against the wall looking up at the sky, she impatiently tapped her foot wondering what else she can say to this man. "Well, if you're not from here, where the hell are you from?"

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

"Well, if you're not from here, where the hell are you from?"

Oh, now that was the million dollar question, now wasn't it? Where was he from, exactly? Well..it was time to see how much this girl knew of the omniverse. Ever heard of something called a breach? If you have, that makes things much easier. But, considering that most mortals, and some non-mortals seem to not know about them, I'll explain anyway. This place..and by that I mean this entire planet, Tedranog..is not exactly a planet. It is its own dimension, within a pocket of something called the void. And the void connects every dimension and universe into one omni-verse. Breaches are tears in the void that lead from one pocket dimension or universe to the other. I ended up getting shoved through one such breach, one that was naturally formed. I ended up on Megalo first, and after a few days, came over here. That's all I'm going to say. He explained as he tapped the ashes off of the end of his cigarette. He had explained rather fully his knowledge of the omni-verse, and it wasn't often that he imparted that knowledge to another. But, he knew she probably wouldn't believe him anyway. Things like that tended to be too much for people to wrap their minds around. As was he. It wasn't all that strange, but it was also easily understandable. The omni-verse was..a complex thing, and understanding it was even harder. One had to really think hard to get it. So he would understand if she couldn't fully understand the concept.

[Elodie]

At this point, Estrella felt a little high even though she only smoked two cigarettes from the man's pack. She looked at the stranger when he explained something about pockets and breaches, must have been bragging about his expensive brand of jeans as well. She went back to inhaling her third cigarette and exhaled the smoke through her nose before laughing at what the man told her. "Bro, bro," She would say through wheezing, "You sound so fucking high right now!" She hunched over, still laughing. "Another dimension? Pockets? Breaches? Dude...." All of this was hilarious to the free-spirited Nephlim, maybe the man needed to lay off the cigarettes for awhile!

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

When she was so quickly affected by his cigarettes, Ptolemy sighed, snatching the pack away with a look of disdain. I'm not the one who's talking like a suntanned beach idiot, now am I? Your the one who's high, not me. He said as he jammed the pack back into his coat. He couldn't believe how easily those with lungs got high on his cigarettes. they didn't even have that much of any weed or other narcotic drugs within them...well..then again..he didn't have veins for the THC within the weed/tobacco mixture to go through..she did. Okay, so it wasn't that hard to believe. A breach is a split between worlds..usually it appears normal, but you'll start noticing snippets of other places showing up where they shouldn't. Their hard to spot unless you have a massive one on your hands, but if you look hard enough, you'll see them quite easily. Any time you see something that looks out of place, its a naturally formed breach...at least, thats what I've seen. I've heard that things like that happen here quite often, so I came here in hopes of finding one that leads me back home. He said as he tugged the collar of his jacket up over the thorny tattoo on his neck. He still showed a severe lack of emotion, which was strange. But, it was typical for him. She would learn that soon enough.

[Elodie]

 "Ah... Hm, I can help you find one! I have good eyes." She would say.

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

Despite offering her help..she still sounded very high. He didn't like that. Hmm..maybe if you can sober up quickly enough, you can help. But, I'd be able to feel the rending of the magic energy in the area. Finding the general point of the rip, that would be easy. But..finding the location would be much harder, so I appreciate the offer to help. However, high as you are, it wouldn't be a good idea to go looking around like your wanting to. He said as he pulled the sleeves of his jacket down further. He didn't hate the tattoos he was born with, but they did tend to make things much harder for him to get around without notice. He wafted away the smoke in the area, making the stoner inducing THC in smoke form become scattered on the wind. He looked over his shoulder slightly at her. She was still..kinda high. It was just a matter of minutes before she got clear headed though. That was good at least.

[Elodie]

Estrella sighed and walked out of the smoked area, a minute later she was sober enough to follow him. She noticed that the man had tattoos, tribal ones perhaps? Even if they weren't tribal, it really looked nice and unique. "So, what's your name?" She asked him as she caught up, he was a really fast walker for one. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, waiting for the man's reply.

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

Well. She came out of that quite quickly. He had expected her to sure, but a single minute was impressive, he had been expecting slightly longer. However, she soon started following him as he pushed away from the wall and started heading towards the center of the town. She also asked him his name. So, with a slight sigh, he decided to humor the girl. It's Ptolemy, what about you? He asked as his eyes shifted all around, most likely trying to find the rifts he spoke of earlier. However, he also felt that she was staring at the areas where his tattoos were. While it was interesting, it wasn't special enough for him to warrant taking the jacket off, especially since it was rather chilly at this point in the morning...okay, so he just didn't want to take the jacket off. Was that really a problem? But despite his reluctance to take it off, he was still searching for a breach. So far though..breaches were proving to be a hard thing to find, even for his eyes.

[Elodie]

"Estrella Rios." Was all the Nephlim said. Estrella looked on the ground to see if there were any rifts, but she couldn't just help to see how extremely bony this man was. Sure, the poor side of Draconis was skinny but it looked like he hadn't had a meal in three months and that can hurt just about anyone.. "Hey, you're pretty bony for a tall guy. Do you even eat?"

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

When she asked him if he ate, Ptolemy seemed to get a look of focus in his eyes as he tapped his chin. Yeah..about a half a year ago. That's the advantage of not being a mortal man. You don't need the nutrients from food. To be perfectly frank, I don't necessarily need anything. Not air, food, or even water. In fact, its why you rarely see my chest rise or fall. I've been alive long enough to know how to prevent that instinctive reaction from happening. Its helpful considering that it lets me dive much further under the water than any human could go. He explained simply as he examined the area around more thoroughly. And before you call bullshit on that, take a second to think about how you have wings, atop with the fact that I can sense divine blood coursing through your veins. I don't think that hearing any of what I just said a bit ago can be disregarded, all things considering, Estrella. He said before looking back at her with an entirely serious look. He knew that most people would just disregard what he had said..but she was part angel. There was at least some room for belief from her.

[Elodie]

Estrella waved off all of his explanations with her hand, "Look, all I asked was if you could eat or not, I don't care about your chest rising or some shit..." She retorted with an eyeroll, she was walking towards the pub when he said something about her having angel blood. She pulled at her plugs and turned around, crossing her arms staring at Ptolemy as if he was some stranger that she met a few minutes ago... but he was, "I swear, you're from the magic college.. Quit being so smart and let's get you something to eat.." She turned around and started walking toward the pub, this guy was starting to annoy her with his long speeches and his big words, she knew he must have been smarter than her and she didn't like that one bit.

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

When she turned back around, Ptolemy smiled. He knew he was getting on her nerves. It was kind of his specialty. But..his natural vocabulary, along with the fact that his human self loved long winded speeches. But he knew he should probably tone it down for now..he didn't want to too terribly infuriate the woman. She was just a teen after all. He followed after her mere moments after she left for the pub however, throwing his now stone cold cigarette onto the ground. Well..if she insisted on getting food. He didn't have any form of currency..so she'd have to pay. He wasn't going to tell her that though..because he felt it well before he could see it. There was a tiny breach within that pub. Good. He would eat, because he enjoyed doing so, and then he would open the breach and they would leave. Simple. Yeah yeah, I know, you guys only go to school for so much. Sorry that the original me liked to at least sound smart. He said sarcastically as he followed her into the bar, his eyes shifting quite a bit as he tried to find the breach in the area.

[Elodie]

Estrella ignored his comment about him sounding smart, at this point she was about to stop helping this smart ass and just go home. "Hey Lucian," She exclaimed to the bartender who was washing one of the glasses, occasionally adjusting his bowtie with one hand. She slid in the chair behind the counter, "Any specials for my boyfriend and I?" Lucian, the bartender looked up and frowned when he saw Estrella and Ptolemy, "Estrella, you didn't pay for anything the last time you were here.. I'm not going to give you anything, so it's best if you'd leave." Estrella pouted, but she knew what to do to make the bartender change his mind.

She smirked and slowly unzipped her light blue hoodie, but Lucian saw what she was going to do and gave her a 'one moment' signal and ran to the counter and gave both Estrella and Ptolemy both menus and walked to the kitchen. "Sheesh, someone's on their monthly," She muttered as she picked up the menu and flipped the pages. She was worried, but she didn't want to show it, what if she was banned from the pub? This was the only affordable pub in the slums and she didn't want to lose the privilege to drink to her heart's content whenever she's stressed. The last time she was here, she "bought' drinks and shots for her friends and walked out leaving the bill empty. This wasn't the time to loathe the idea of money, She and 'Skeletor' had to eat..

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

As he was given the menu, Ptolemy nodded and took the thing, leaning against the wall nearest where they were standing as he flipped through the rough pages of it. There wasn't much on the menu, so he just ordered a burger and some decent wine, giving the guy who came with the menus a plain, unmarked silver coin. I hope this is enough to pay for the meal. The metal itself is easily rare enough to get you a decent price. He said simply as he took out an unlit cigarette and began to twirl it in his fingers, rather than trying to smoke within the pub itself.

[Elodie]

Lucian walked back to the counter and widened his eyes at the rare coin, and took it without hesitation placing it in the cashier. Estrella smiled, glad that she didn't have to pay. "I didn't know someone as pretentious like you was so giving." She remarked with a scoff as she ordered a big hamburger with a beer seeing that Ptolemy already paid for the meal.

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

When she called him pretentious, Ptolemy had to work to stifle his smirk. He had a really smartass comeback for that one..and, with a slight cough to clear his throat, more out of habit than anything, he spoke up. I'm not pretentious, I'm worldly. There is a difference. He said as he looked out the main window of the pub. Besides..its not like the people in this area will get a lucky break in terms of earning a living. I know how a slum works. There are places out there that are made purely of slums. He said quietly as the glass that was right in front of his eyes darkened, and glimpses of wrecked buildings, surrounded by mist and shadow could be seen. He quickly waved his hand to clear the image away soon after, in hopes that nobody would have noticed. In reality, the darkening of that glass was much more dangerous than he let on. It was a direct connection to the universe that all shadow selves are birthed from, one that is toxic to those without the power to use their heart as a weapon. The place was inherently toxic because of the fact that it directly assaults the spark, and the heart. He couldn't afford to let it open in a place like this. However, his concentration was soon broken from that however, as he heard the soft clink of plates against wood. Their food had arrived.

[Elodie]

Estrella grinned as their food arrived, she snatched the beer from the waitress's hand and lifted it to her lips. The waitress rolled her eyes in disgust and placed all of their food down and walked to the kitchen to get the next order. Once Estrella chugged it all down, she wiped the liquid off her upper lip with her backhand and sighed. "That was delicious.." She muttered, as she picked up her hamburger and started eating it, she turned her head to see if Ptolemy was eating... He barely even touched his food, "What are you trying to do, keep your slender figure? Sheesh dude, live your life! The food isn't going anywhere."

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

"What are you trying to do, keep your slender figure? Sheesh dude, live your life! The food isn't going anywhere."

Hearing what she said almost immediately broke Ptolemy out of whatever daydream he had been in, but it wasn't visibly broken out of, he simply ground his cigarette out against the wooden banister, and then picked up his burger and took a..surprisingly large bite out of it. A good quarter of the burger vanished down his throat in one bite. Granted, it had nowhere to go, and would be disintegrated in a endless pool of shadows..but it still tasted good. After that, he picked up the wine by the stem of the glass, taking a sip out of it, all the while keeping his eye on the breach that he glimpsed near the door.  I wasn't eating because I was trying to tell if there was a breach just to the right of the entrance, or if it was just a crack in the window...Im fairly certain that it is a breach however..just..smaller than what Im used to seeing. Meet me outside after you finish eating...and you can have my food too if you want it. He said as he took the glass of wine and walked out of the restaurant...after a few moments of closely staring at what Estrella would assume to be nothing, he would smirk slowly and drain the rest of his wine in one giant gulp, placing the glass on the windowsill before he reached forward..and his left hand disappeared. This was bound to freak out the other woman, but she'd be even more freaked when he yanked his arm down, and the wall nearby seemingly vanished into blackness. which made ptolemy take a step back, eyes widened. Not only had the breach had been forced open, but it was clearly visible to the humans..and because of that, they would need to hurry, lest whatever the powers that be in this world descend on them and punish them gravely.

[Elodie]

Estrella narrowed her eyes at Ptolemy, as he walked out of the bar. After she ate, she took out a few sloppily folded bills and put it on the table. She tore a piece of Ptolemy's burger and ran out of the bar, she looked at Ptolemy and then the rift. "Well, it looks like you found what you were looking for," She said "Without my help.". She gave him the burger, "For your travels."

( #NoMuse #Half-Assed)

[Ptolemy Ravenway]

"Well, it looks like you found what you were looking for, without my help."

When she spoke, Ptolemy turned around, interrupting her quickly. Now now, that's not entirely true. If you hadn't lead me here, I wouldn't have discovered this breach, and you wouldn't be getting the offer I'm willing to make. You seem like someone who can hold their own if they need to. And, even if you really can't, you can at least take to the sky and run. And I imagine you don't enjoy spending your life in the slums of some halfway impoverished town. He said as he took the burger from her, wrapping it back up and handing it back to her. So, I say this. Come with me. It's been decades since I last traveled with someone. He said as he sent out a pulse to sense any extremely powerful source of energy around them. As it passed through Estrella, he sensed potential, but she didn't resonate properly enough to be someone who had unlocked part of their true potential. She wouldn't be too affected by synchronization, and he was never affected by it, which was good enough for him. Thankfully, mercifully, the powers that be had not reared their heads yet, and likely wouldn't do so for another few minutes. Also, I don't mean to pressure you, but if you don't make a choice in the next few minutes, we run an extremely high risk of insulting the powers that be of this world. So, if you can, make your choice quickly. He said as he lit up another cigarette, bringing it to his lips and taking a long drag off of it.

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