paixaorpg | A new arrival [Completed]

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Current Location: Niflheim gate

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A new arrival [Completed]

Character(s): Soma, Lucifer, anyone else who cares to jump in.
Content: Soma's arrival through the Niflheim gate, meeting the Original Lord of Darkness, various & nefarious other happenings
Setting: Niflheim gate
Time: Week 2, early morning
Warnings: Potential mild swearing, probably about it.

Soma was awoken, not by his alarm clock, but by the sun falling across his face. Shielding his eyes automatically, he sat up, flinging aside the covers and making to get out of bed.

Only to find he was not -in- his bed. Beneath his hand, he felt wet grass, and there was a very distinct early morning breeze blowing.

Now fully awake (and standing, though he would later have no idea how he'd gotten that way), Soma took stock of his situation. He was, surprisingly, fully clothed (and armed, though he knew for certain that he'd left Laevatain in a case at the foot of his bed).

Before him stood a gate that, in his sleep-fogged vision, was distressingly familiar. "Oh God, not this place again..." he muttered, palming his face. After rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he made note of the decorative nature of the gate (it looked like it was made of ice), and realized that it was -not- the gate to Dracula's castle.

But...

What -was- it?

From what he could see, his first guess was 'city'. There were huge domes surrounding it, whatever it was, and a steady stream of people going in through the gates. Seeing nothing better to do, Soma followed them in...

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...Pitiful. Lucifer rounded on the gate again, just walking close enough to it to see if he could leave. It was interesting, every time he did that the citizens of Paixao seemed to turn attentive. He suspected, if he tried to leave, that they would attack or interfere.

The former devil stopped, however, turning his attention to the people coming in. Curious, almost none of them looked like the Paixaoians. In fact, most were quite different. More thought would have to be put to this, but for the moment he couldn't feel anything of Yahweh, or of the Angelic Host, or of Hell.

And that meant that he was a very satisfied ex-lord of darkness and Hell.

As Soma passed through the gate, he felt -something- wash through him. Knowing the feeling all too well, he sighed a deep sigh, wondering if he would ever be rid of the curse of Dracula's power.

This influx of power, all of it quite dark (for such is the nature of Dracula), was enough to draw stares from several of the natives. Among them, he noticed a single entity whose own internal darkness rivaled his own, though it was shielded; a demon? If so, why was it not attacking?

Shaking off the feeling, Soma walked on past the gates (along the way, being assailed by an elderly man who had pressed something small and silvery into his hands).

Lucifer slid his hands into his pockets. Well, well. Newcomers, all of them, some of them with that wonderfully dazed expression of a kitty who'd just been dropped into a shark tank. Not all of them would swim, of course. And even those who did... well. It was just the law of any universe (Yahweh's or any other) that even those who did swim weren't promised long life.

"...hm," the first of the fallen hadn't bothered to extend any of his senses. He trusted his eyes and ears well enough these days. They had been enough to point out Duma and well enough to have served him when he had been setting up the Lux.

Power came with a price, as always, and Lucifer was attempting to side step this rule, these days.

As he took a few more steps past the gatekeeper (after telling the guy his name), Soma noticed for the first time the strange, glowing beings wandering around the area. There weren't many of them here, it was true, but just looking at them made Soma shudder.

They were strange, by Soma's standards. A couple of them were bright analogues to demons he'd faced before, while others reminded him of nothing so much as dogs and cats. The one -big- one reminded him a bit of a scorpion, but it was staying away for the moment...

Shunting them to the periphery for the moment, he focused on the demon-slash-man who had first caught his attention. Feeling, perhaps, that such a person could maybe answer some of his questions, he wandered over in Lucifer's general direction.

"...and who are you?" Lucifer addressed Soma without really giving the other any sort of recognition or look. He wasn't overly concerned with the other. Perhaps, earlier in his life he might have given the newcomer a smirk, a smile or a trite reply.

Instead the former Lord of Hell simply asked for a name and was content with that. Here, so far from Yahweh, it was easy to feel relaxed. Out of his Father's eye, so to speak. Too bad there were no sunsets here, however.

Soma blinked a bit. "Soma Cruz. Umm... I don't suppose you could tell me where the heck I am? I thought for a minute there it was Dracula's castle again, but now I know better..."

The stranger's manner was... odd. Almost like he'd seen more and done more than he cared to think about, but didn't want to let on that he was anything more than normal. Definitely not the sort of dark person Soma was used to; normally, they'd be making their "I am villain, hear me roar!" speeches by now. But this guy wasn't...

Soma Cruz. Didn't ring any bells. Lucifer shrugged mentally, and dug into his pocket for a cigarette. Then came the matchbook, and then he lit the cancer stick and shook out the match. Would have been simpler to just light it with a bit of Hellfire and Brimstone, but really, after a few million years, that gets old. The discarded match was tossed to the ground.

"...Dracula? Well, you're quite misplaced then, Mr. Cruz," Lucifer commented with a slight tilt of his head. Where, exactly, he couldn't supply the other, however. "...the sheep of this city call it 'Paixao'. If that helps you." His tone clearly said 'I don't think it will.'

Subaru has a tendency to wander, both in thought and also physically. He is not exactly sure where he is or how he ended up where he is. It was never a problem back home, he could always get to where he wanted once he notices that he is not where he should be. But here, he is truly lost. Letting out a soft snort, he snubs his latest cigarette but does not take another one. It is still early morning and he smoked five already.

Just when he is about to turn and wander away again, however, he turns sharply around as he notices an extremely strong presence in the vicinity. His gaze falls upon two men, both standing out distinctly from the crowd due to their coloring. Subaru knows that both are extremely strong, but he is curious anyway, even though distinctly scared one of them might decide to kill him. He does not want to die yet. Not here, not yet, not by him.

Walking closer to the two people, Subaru keeps his hand in his pocket, in case he needs his Ofudas. In the back of his mind, he can hear Seishiro's warm voice speaking to him, you don't have to do this. Overhearing snippets of the conversation, Subaru cannot help but be interested in a particular word one of the men said, "Sheep?" He still likes animals, they comfort him, more than smoking does, actually.

Soma gave him a look that said quite plainly 'Huh?' and eyed the cigarette. "Paixao..." he repeated, shaking his head. "Definitely never heard of it. What do people call you, anyway?"

The scorpion-looking glowy thing was edging closer; Soma kept watch on it out of the corner of his eye, mentally judging the distance before it would be in range of jabbing him with that dagger it called a sting.

And then, a third person wandered over. He had that timid look about him, as of someone who is curious but also afraid. And considering what he was approaching, he had every right to be so...

More amusement showed itself on Lucifer's face, but as always it was the sort of amusement which was clear that he belonged to an exclusive club and no one else was invited. "...Lucifer. They call me Lucifer Morningstar... among other things." The 'among other things' included a host of titles that he had long ago gotten tired of wearing. Or at least, did not answer to. Though he found some of them more amusing than offensive. Such as 'Prince of Lies', when had he ever told a lie?

"...and yes, sheep, little onmyouji." It wasn't hard to read that in the little boy who had approached. Those kind had fallen into his realm before, or ventured willingly or sent others. Either way, Lucifer was hardly a stranger to them.

Subaru fights the urge to step back in alarm as the man smoking a cigarette addressed him as 'little onmyouji'. It is usually dangerous for another to know who you are, that would mean they know your weaknesses too. And yet, Subaru is not here to fight the other man, he is just curious, and lost. In an attempt to calm himself down, he lets go of his Ofudas and takes a cigarette instead, lighting it with fluidity that comes with practice.

"Who are you?" he says while exhaling the smoke. He only has one more cigarette left, and this place does not seem to sell any. Such a pity.

Soma blinked at the man's name. A demon? Named Lucifer? Feeling the distinct need to sit down, Soma turned instead to the other person. "I'm Soma. Am I to gather that smoking is the going fad around here?" he asked, gesturing at the cigarettes both men now held.

The scorpion was now about ten feet away, and taking a much more definite interest in their little gathering...

Interesting, Lucifer raised an eyebrow at Soma. A blink, interesting, and the other, the onmyouji seemed to be taken aback as well. Ha, this had suddenly got more interesting. "...it's just to pass the time, why, are you morally opposed?" Another grin. Oh, he hadn't meddled with someone's head in a long time.

Though, an onmyouji and a ...whatever Soma was. This was odd, and then there had been the thing and Duma. Demyx and Dib. What an interesting collection of people, and all without Yahweh. "...say, onmyouji. If you believed in God, where do you think we are?"

He is probably hallucinating, like he does most of the time, but he could swear he heard the golden-haired man introduce himself as Lucifer. If that is so, then Subaru needs to answer well. Even though it is highly unlikely, there is no fault in being cautious. Regardless of what he believes in, Subaru knows where he is, wherever he is. He exhales the smoke from his mouth with a snort, "Hell," he looks away from Lucifer, "anywhere is Hell."

Then gazing at the two of them intensely, Subaru repeats his question, "who are you?" If they know him, it would at least make him feel less intimidated if he knows who they are as well. "You didn't answer my question."

Giving Lucifer an 'Is this guy for real?' glance, he looked again at the newest person. Lucifer had addressed him with some sort of title, though Soma had no idea what it meant despite Mina's repeated attempts to teach him Japanese.

"My name is Soma," he repeated, sighing internally. Either the kid was too focused on Lucifer to notice, or he was dense. Either way, it didn't bode well.

Meanwhile, the scorpion had approached to just outside strike range, and was just sort of... -standing- there. As if waiting for any of them to make a move.

Lucifer blinked, and then laughed. Hell? The little onmyouji thought this was Hell? Hardly. Though, it could be argued that to be Godless was to be in Hell, but as Lucifer had found out, Hell was far fuller than God's presence than anyone would wish.

"...Hell? Little omnyouji, you're quite mistake. I know Hell quite well, and this is hardly it." Oh, right. Question. He could answer it, if he wanted to. But that seemed far too generous right now, and as amusing as they were he wasn't in the mood to give them more than they had earned. Besides, he had told Soma his name, that should be good enough. The former devil sent his gaze between the onmyouji and Soma.

Subaru scoffs in annoyance at Lucifer, although he is starting to speculate that he might not be the one hallucinating. Maybe this man who claimed to be Lucifer is not exactly right in the head. Subaru may not be perfectly right, either, but he doesn't go around claiming that he is the devil. Although, his strong presence might prove Subaru wrong. "Stop calling me little," he snaps at Lucifer.

It reminds him of how Hokuto and Seishiro used to treat him like the baby of the family. He is not little anymore. He will be big enough to be an eyesore to Seishiro soon. He won't just be a speck of dust.

Shaking his head at the pair of them, Soma turned to face the scorpion. "What sort of creature are you, anyway?" he asked it idly, cocking his head to one side.

At which point, it scuttled forward and attempted to skewer him.

"...YIKES!" was his rather salient comment as he ducked to the side. Almost like an automatic reaction, Soma's fingers danced with electricity; knowing the feeling well, he extended his hands toward the monstrosity, a word coming unbidden to his lips as the lightning leapt from his hands to engulf the creature, which promptly disolved into a cloud of luminous green goop.

"What the HELL was that thing?" he asked, panting as he stood back up.

Lucifer turned his head as Soma turned to the creature. Huh. That was all he had to say, interesting. He had yet to encounter those before, and it was almost a shame that Soma had squashed it so quickly. No chance for a study of any kind, and on the other hand... lightning. Interesting.

"...who knows," He shrugged, though he did move closer to the pile of goop, not close enough to touch, and examined it. ... interesting. A bit of surprise showed on his face, "...this is quite the opposite of the manufacturing of pain..." He commented to himself, completely ignoring Subaru or Soma for the moment.

Subaru quickly jumped away when Soma suddenly yelled out and ducked to the side. He was too distracted by both Lucifer and Soma that he did not even realize the strange creature coming. Silently, he reprimands himself for being so careless. Hokuto did not say anything in his head, neither did Seishiro. Strange.

The strange goop is interesting, for lack of a better word, but Subaru is not stupid enough to be touching it. This Lucifer-person did not seem to be the stupid kind, but it turns out that maybe he is. Subaru finds that he does not really care about the goop, despite how interesting it seems.

"Does anyone know where to get cigarettes?"

Soma shook it off even as the lightning died away, shuddering as the voices in his head momentarily howled with delight.

By the time he had his senses back, Lucifer was inspecting the puddle of goo and the other guy was asking for a cigarette. Shaking his head to get rid of the last remnants of insanity, he dropped into a catcher's crouch, thence to a kneeling position. Luckily, whatever it was had not chosen to let its soul merge with his... but Soma had definitely seen it going -somewhere-...

"...and what are you, then, Mr. Soma? That was quite a display," Lucifer had finished his inspection. Whatever it was, it was certainly made of light. Hardly a bother, though, unless it harassed him -- then he'd just dispatch of it. Oh, and the little one wanted something.

With the patience an elder has for a child, the former devil sent his gaze over at Subaru. He smiled an indulgent smile, "...Smoking is bad for your health." He commented, blowing smoke.

Subaru hates the look that Lucifer gave him; it is the same one that Seishiro gives him. Lucifer looks at him as if he is not worth his thoughts, that he is just a little kid who is not worthy enough to be killed, so he will just play with him. Taking one last drag of his cigarette, he drops it to the ground and snubs it. He pulls out another and lights it, almost automatically. Inhaling the smoke, he exhales it with force in show of defiance.

"I'm not smoking for my health," he smirks like a bratte smart-ass would. "Where can I get cigarettes?" Subaru knows that this man can probably snuff out his life with the snap of a finger, but he finds that he does not care.

Soma looked over at Lucifer with a bemused, tight smile. "Would you believe I'm the reincarnation of all evil? Or so I've been told..."

Shaking his head, he looked at the other guy. "Those will kill you, y'know. And I don't believe I caught your name, short stuff."

The look about him was like a rabbit facing down a wolf. Or, more appropriately, a rabbit facing down a panzer...

"Feed your own habit, boy," Lucifer leans on the word. Not because he finds it really worth his while to taunt the onmyouji. But he is sure that it will get a reaction out of the boy. His gaze flicks to Soma again. Reincarnation of evil, huh? God was slipping. Letting those things get back to life. Or was that Death's job. Oh yes, the little offshoots of Yahweh's will that called themselves the Endless.

Pity they were all just delusional.

Subaru twitches a little at how Soma just called him 'short stuff'. It is less about being called short than about how being short is being insignificant. "I don't have to give you my name," he mutters through gritted teeth. Subaru cannot pinpoint exactly who is the stronger one from the two men, and it might be Soma who is more dangerous. He does not really want to upset any of them into killing him. Not them.

He then quickly switches to Lucifer who called him 'boy', he wonders what it is about him that people always look down on. He needs to be strong, so they would stop it. So they would see him as a real threat, not just a little bump on the road they can just step over. "It has been quite some time since I was a boy," he replies bitterly to Lucifer.

"That's really quite rude of you, demanding to know who we are and then withholding the same information from us. Or do you -like- being called things like 'short stuff' and 'boy'?"

It was slightly ridiculous, Soma calling the guy anything of the sort. He was only a couple inches shorter than Soma, and appeared a couple years -older-. But if he was going to be tight-lipped...

Well, Soma could play that game too.

Lucifer just offered Subaru a bland smile, "I'm sure it has been, boy." He tapped the ash off of his cigarette. Hrm. Well, they seemed to have gotten rather snippy and bratlike all of a sudden. Really.

"He doesn't need to give us his name, it's irrelevant, just like him," The ex-devil gave Subaru another smile. He was just trying to make Subaru explode this time.

Subaru gives a look to Soma that says he does not care about being rude. He... used to care, but not anymore. They can call him 'short stuff' and 'boy' all they want. He does not care about them either. Lucifer, however, hit something in his heart. "I am not irrelevant!" He lashes out at Lucifer angrily.

Looking sharply at the two men, Subaru tries to calm himself down, "Are you or are you not going to tell me where I can get more cigarettes?" Subaru thinks it is about time he leaves these two alone. They are too dangerous.

"I might, if I knew. But the way your attitude's running, I doubt it. Now, scurry along like the insignificant peon you are before someone makes you cry."

Soma couldn't help needling the guy, now that he'd shown himself to be an emo little runt instead of a man. Something about that whole group of people just rubbed him the wrong way, and he could never quite figure out why.

"I think you're right about him. He -is- irrelevant..." said Soma, turning back toward Lucifer.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow at Subaru. It was one of those deliberate measuring motions, the one which usually made his demonic followers swallow whatever words they were going to say. This was the devil weighing your soul. "...little onmyouji, you are outclassed by far. I suggest you keep your child's anger out of this conversation."

They say that it is never cold in Hell. But Lucifer has never been one for stereotypes.

To Soma, he offered only amusement. As far as he could tell the other was quite young, but if he took another look there was something different. But, as always, Lucifer didn't find it of interest to him. "...a reincarnation of evil? I'm sure that's bound to be interesting." He took another drag of his cigarette.

Realizing finally that lashing out in anger will get him nowhere with these two very powerful beings, Subaru frowns a little before putting on a passive face. It hurts. Being called 'irrelevant' hurts, but he will not give these people the entertainment his misery seems to provide.

"You really are the Devil, aren't you?" Subaru tries his best to not appear as if he is mocking the golden-haired man. "I'm sorry... for yelling," he says carefully, "I have a... question, that I need to ask you, if I may."

While the answer is probably no, Subaru hopes anyway. The Devil probably does not care about how much he is hoping for him to say yes, but Subaru needs to know. He really needs to know.

Shrugging a bit, Soma replied, "It has its ups and downs. Mostly downs. Like this," he said, pointing at the oddly luminescent puddle of goo. "Things like this are always trying to give me trouble. Happen to know what it was?"

To be perfectly honest, Soma was -not- evil. Not even really mean. But when you're in the presence of the First Fallen, the Lightbringer himself, it never hurts to make an impression.

Even so, Soma found that he did not particularly care all that much. Something was... indefinably -wrong- about this whole place. He couldn't figure out what, but it was there all the same...

"...Depends on your definition of devil, boy," Lucifer replied to Subaru, "And if you're about to ask about a dead person, I don't know. So don't bother." He didn't keep up with the souls in Hell, especially not now. He didn't even live there anymore, as he had tried to tell Christopher Rudd and just about every other person he had come across.

Now, what to do about them? The onmyouji he didn't give half a rat's ass about, the 'reincarnation of evil' however he found rather interesting. What evil exactly, if anything? There had been the earlier mention of Dracula...

"And you'll not find God's touch anywhere in this land," Not the particular brand which was Yahweh's name. The same brand that was woven into everything Creation. That wasn't here at all, disconcerting to some, but to Lucifer, it was Heaven, to be blasphemous.

Subaru still keeps up his passive face, even though he is very disappointed that Lucifer is not willing to answer his question. Subaru wants to know about Hokuto... because that little girl said she has never seen anyone like Subaru where she is, so maybe... "Very well," he mutters just above his breath, "Thank you, anyway."

Taking out an Ofuda and sending his Shikigami ahead of him, he turns around to find his way to Yuzuriha. She reminds him a lot of Hokuto, and she was also going to go to Tokyo. Maybe he can offer to pay for her shopping, he has money that he never uses.

Subaru gives Lucifer and Soma a final glance over his shoulder, "I will tell you if I find a way out." He is very upset at what they said to him, but they are not from here as well, so they might want to leave also. With that, he jumps up to the roof and follows his Shikigami to where Yuzuriha should be.

Soma raised an eyebrow at Lucifer's mention of the absense of God. Well, that explained alot, to be truthful. Certainly the subtle feeling of wrongness. But...

If God had not made this world...

Who had?

The puddle was fast drying in the early morning breeze, and as Soma looked up, he could see several of the people just kinda -staring- at him. As if he'd committed some horrible act by defending himself. "Erm, I'm not one to run from most things, but perhaps we should find someplace less crowded to converse. These people do not seem kindly disposed, now that their pet glowy thing is dead..."

The first of the fallen watched as the onmyouji made his way ... well, away. Odd little boy, but Lucifer had no doubts that he's dealings with either of these two wasn't done. From his estimation this couldn't be a huge city, if it was so fake like that. Everything had its limit, and with that limit came familiarity.

"...you say that as if we're speaking of something that matters," This was him making it clear that he didn't give horseshit about God or lack of God or the puddle or the people of Paixao. They were only people.

Soma shrugged, standing back up and stretching a bit of a kink out of his back. "Maybe it doesn't matter to you. But, personally, I'd prefer to get the hell out of this... -place- as soon as possible. There's too much light here for my tastes."

That wasn't entirely like Soma; normally, he'd prefer light over darkness. But this unnatural abundance... no, he didn't like that one bit. It made his skin crawl, as if standing behind him were something horrible to balance out the light in front of him.

Well... then again, he -was- talking to Satan himself...

Lucifer looked around, blinking at the light. It might be nice to be able to stand somewhere where the urge to squint wasn't present. However, before he was the devil he had been Samael, and his title The Lightbringer. Most people seemed to forget that, these days.

"...if you wish to continue our conversation then I have no intention of stopping you. Though I'm as unfamiliar with this city as you," Meaning, he was telling Soma that he'd have to pick a direction and move in it. Lucifer had no opinion, as of right now.

Soma looked around the available bits of the city, making a note of the gate's location for future reference (upon later discovery of the journal's map feature, he would find the phenomena considerably familiar, given that he'd used much the same system in Castlevania, albeit with a scrap of paper and a pen...) and generally looking for the most convenient eatery. Waking up in a strange world among strange people will tend to do that.

His focus settled on a cafe not too distant, and the path to it was relatively free of large, menacing obstructions. Pointing toward it in a general way, Soma shrugged. "Looks like as good a place as any. Maybe we can get a decent breakfast while we talk... even if we don't particularly have anything to talk about."

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A new arrival [Completed]

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