Geb sat at the table of his gallery. He looked at a fine painting that one of his employees had found in the basement while he was gone for the weekend.


This was definitely a rare painting.

The place was just about to open, too. Soon he was sure he would get plenty of customers. Standing up, he watched the clock as he walked over to the door, unlocking it as soon as the hand of clock hit the 10 AM sign, displayed in golden roman numerals. Stepping back, Geb would stand and admire the rare frog painting once again. What a magnificent specimen.. but, soon, as people came in to the gallery, Geb went back into being a good host and greeted them. Hopefully they found this frog just as thrilling and beautiful as he did..

Having arrived just yesterday, Alice decided this early morning that she would do something about that problem. She didn't know Oak at all, didn't know anyone here at all and thus she would simply have to get to know the city and it's ins and outs.

She was just preparing herself to leave it was almost ten o'clock in the morning and she was finishing up the braid of her long orange coloured hair in front of a mirror. She was dressed in a cream coloured shirt with a pattern on the middle of stripes, dots and all the likes and a dark blue tight fitting jeans. She took her black trenchcoat and headed out. She didn't feel like eating breakfast and immediately went into town after she left the guild.

There was not too much to do here, or well that was her opinion. She found Baska more boring though so Oak was doing fine at the moment. That's when she heard a few people talk about the gallery, so she headed that way because it sounded like something interesting. There were a lot of paintings, she didn't really know where to look, Art wasn't really her thing but it was always nice to have something to do. She looked around at the people inside, maybe they were even more interesting than all the paintings.

It had been a few days since the incident that occurred in the market district. Things had calmed down and Roman regained his composure. The drugs had finally flushed out of his system and he was able to gather himself before going out in public. Leaving his apartment he could see the destruction down the street was being repaired. The sounds of construction work filled the air as he made his way towards the Art gallery opening up this day. He had been keeping tabs on the place because he did tell a friend he would come visit when it opened. Friend was still a foreign thing to Roman, something that he was still learning to accept into his life.

Regardless of how he felt Roman had a promise to keep. He was a man of his word. He once shared a conversation with someone in Crocus gardens about the place. People frequently were in and out of the gallery. Apparently it had gained some notoriety for some of the more abstract art works that hung up on the walls of the halls. Roman was in his usual attire and cleaned up a bit after his run in with the Rune Knights. People on the streets of Oak had become weary of his existence ever since the market district got destroyed. People knew better to be in his way. Considering it was Oak the Rune Knights knew better not to overstep their boundaries here. For once though Roman had no intentions of causing trouble, for this was a place owned by a friend. He walked up to the front door of the Gallery and pressed on the doors making his entrance inside. Looking around for a moment he could see that some people had already beat him here. It wwas technically the grand opening of the place from the looks of it. There were banners everywhere and people from all walks of life walked around.

Several individuals found themselves looking at various pictures. Geb was at the front door, a familiar scent but yet somehow altered. He did not look the same as he did before. Seems he went through some life modifications. He no longer stunk of a dragon slayer. Walking into the front door he would only greet Geb.

“Long time no see, I can tell there is something different about you.”

Bianca had been thinking about something since her visit to the pub that had recently opened up in Oak Town. According to what the others were saying, the owner of this pub was called ‘Lucifer’. Since Bianca admired people who paid attention to the details, she went about asking who this person was. They described him as someone she was certain she had met before. Of course he had a unique appearance, wearing half moon spectacles looking like a librarian. As they described his face, she already had a flashback of her meeting this person. He seemed like a conserved person, she remembered.

Waking up an hour before the gallery would open, Bianca dressed up and got ready to give it another visit. She hadn’t left her room since the day she got back from Baska, only reading and experimenting in the kitchen to see if she could consume anything other than blood and be full. It wasn’t working though. She still needed to hunt late at night. Like an animal; a nocturnal one. There was no going back now and she already knew it. She made the choice to become what she is now.

As the gallery wasn’t too far from the guildhall, she decided to walk. She had some bread and milk for breakfast, although it gave her stomach satisfaction for an even lesser time than when she was human. It barely satisfied her, to be frank. As usual, walking in the streets would bring her a lot of attention given the fact that her outfit made her look like she was about to go to war. She always dressed this way. It was almost like her uniform now. But she was used to the attention so she could ignore it easily.

The gallery was already open when she arrived, people entering and exiting through the large double doors at the entrance. Bianca stopped in front of the establishment as if making sure she was at the right place, then stepped inside. She noticed that there were more pieces being displayed now than before. Looking to her right she recalled the tiny cafe that she had met the ‘Lucifer’ person. An expression of satisfaction masked her face. Was this all she came for? Actually, yes. She literally walked from the guildhall to the gallery just to refresh her brain about the meeting with Lucifer. But since there were new pieces to see, she decided to stay a while.

Bianca floated around the gallery, looking at new art with the other guests although she was receiving attention once again not only because of her outfit and the lily, but also because she was quite tall for a woman. That aside, she liked looking at paintings and artworks. It made her feel that she could pretend there were nice things in the world. Sometimes, that is what she needed to keep herself in check.

As she continued to observe the latest arrivals, she found herself standing in front of a pretty strange piece that seemed to be the featured work of the day or something. Despite the fact that it was literally a frog eating chicken(?), it had caught the attention of more people than the other pieces in the entire gallery. “What the hell?” she muttered, staring at the crowd in front of it in disbelief. Shaking her head slightly, she began to turn away and that was when she caught a familiar face. “Hello Roman!” she greeted with a wave and delighted smile, hoping he noticed her. She liked meeting people she already knew, there were so few of them.

A lot of people showed up. First off, there was the girl that he thought was a prostitute in Baska. Then again, that theory was never debunked, so she still could very well be one. He would keep that in the back of his mind, as Roman showed up, seemingly recognizing him. Perhaps it was Geb's smell, since Geb could remember that when he was a slayer he had quite the sense as well.

"Ah, hello my friend. Indeed there is, why don't we talk about it as w-" however, Geb noticed another woman speak up to Roman. She greeted him with a smile and wave. A friend of his? "I see you have a taste in white hair there, Roman." he noted, as he would turn around to face the painting of his frog. "Now, before we begin, I'd like you to name this frog painting on the wall. Choose any name, Roman. The honor is your's!" he said, as he pointed to the rare painting of the frog eating chicken fingers. He hoped that Roman would find a suitable name for the creature, as Geb was quite fond of it. The precise strokes, yet natural feel.. indeed, this frog was a masterpiece, perhaps even a god.. admiring the painting for a second, he turned back to Roman to hear his answer. Some other guests had noticed what Geb said, and were looking to Roman now.

"Go on. The crowd is waiting!"

It was getting busy it seemed after she had entered. More people were coming, greeting each other and she remained walking alone. Something that was quite pleasant if she would have to admit. However she didn't like art as much as she would have thought too. She simply looked around at the first few paintings and art before she heard a small commotion close to the entrance. Rather curious she walked back to see what was going on.

"... Choose any name Roman. The honor's is yours."

That's what she heard and she stared at the painting that she had seen the moment she entered and it wasn't her cup of tea. However she was curious about what this Roman person would call it so she remained standing, looking at the girl, the possible owner and than the last one must be Roman to name the painting. She had never seen them before.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and simply let her eyes gaze from one person to another, the crowd was waiting indeed. She should leave after this.

Standing at the entrance of the door Roman would only smile in response to the folks greeting. It was a warm feeling to have those who saw him in a non-threatening way. He saw Bianca in the midst of people. He would only wave before speaking. “Hi there Bianca.” He returned the greeting before looking at the picture. He had such a attitude that was fitting for such a nice day. Was not to warm, yet it was not to cold. So it seemed that everyone was in a good mood. Geb would speak about having a taste in white hair, as if he was interested romantically into his comrade. “Afraid that is not the case, she is in our crowd if you know what I mean.” He was hinting at the guild, hopefully he would catch onto what Roman was referring too. He looked over at the frog on the wall before walking into the gallery. People were touring the area and he saw the frog picture. He thought for a moment and just blurted something out. “Grenn.” He did not know where the name sprung from, but it was something.

Roman's eyes cut back across to the crowd and he gave a small chuckle. He openly shrugged as he walked into the gallery area where others would be walking around. He saw one peculiar orange haired girl who smelled out of place. A sense of smell that was akin to a dragon's gave him the ability to pick out familiar smells. Phantom Lord carried a certain scent among each of its members. One that he would imprint onto his mind to pick out others in a crowd. Roman wanted to wait for the crowd to disperse before speaking about the guild to them. He wanted to form a team of Phantom Lord members that would travel the land causing trouble. However, not to many were interested in teaming with a mad man.

Bianca beamed when Roman returned the greeting, but was slightly confused by what the other male said. Having a taste in white hair? As far as she could see, the only person with white hair in the gallery was herself and an old lady. She pretended not to hear it because she thought it was awkward, but Roman immediately responded by letting him know that she was in the ‘same crowd’ as them which confused her for a moment. Her brain formed a million different meanings out of what he said and one of them included the purple haired stranger being in the same guild as hers. She wouldn’t have difficulty remembering Geb if she hadn’t just lost her God Slayer powers.

The unfamiliar male then began to talk about naming the frog in the painting, or was it the painting itself? She was in deep thought when he spoke about it, but his voice brought her out of her mind and back to reality. Roman didn’t take such a long time to think about it. He simply said, ‘Grenn’. Bianca allowed a small giggle to escape her lips. It sounded funny because the purple haired clown was probably expecting to hear some exotic name. “That sounds like the perfect name,” she said. She couldn’t help but give them both a wide smile. To be honest, she was happy she could meet her one and only friend in the guild, if she could even call him a friend yet. “What are you doing here today?” she asked, to anyone who was willing to answer.

The name was trash. Geb was dissapointed in Roman, just a little. He wanted it to have more of a name that started with a P, himself. But, he did let him name it after all.

Apparently, this woman who called to Roman was named Bianca. Geb would take this chance to test out his scouter. He first investigated the woman named Bianca. He spoke up to her.

"Bianca, was it? Power Level of 938. Not bad." He said, as he then turned over to Roman. There were only 4 strong power levels in the room - Geb himself, Roman, Bianca, and one other."Roman, you yourself seem to have a power level of 934. A bit lower, you been slacking?" he asked, as he then found the final power level, the young woman with red hair he had met in Baska. "And you, young lady. You seem to net yourself a power level of 209. Certainly higher than a civilian." he remarked to her from across the room, pointing at her lightly.

Geb then snapped at one of his staff to his right. Todd, prepare us a room. I'd like to speak with these mages, if they would allow me..?" he asked, gesturing to them to answer if they would accept or not. Hopefully they would, however. Geb had some big plans for these people. He had been looking for some people to help his cause, and now he had people with high power levels all in his gallery at once. Would this not be fun?

Alice was still standing in the crowd that was thinning out. Apparently not very interested in the name the guy had given. She was more focused on the painting than on the people around it until she heard the name Bianca. Her eyes darted to the woman that she had met once before and a small smile appeared on her lips. she hadn't recognized her, which was weird considering the fact that Bianca had her own outstanding beauty, everyone that met her once should always remember her.

She didn't continue to listen, it was just something that happened until she heard a snap and got a sense over her that someone was looking at her. Her brown eyes went from Bianca to the person that was standing quite close to her, especially considered Alice was on the other side. The smile disappeared and she simply stared at him, after he called her some sort of power level. She had no idea what it meant, no idea it was low, considering the other two since she obviously didn't hear that. Everything seemed to go so weird, since the guy asked for a room and she should come along. Her eyes went back to Bianca and she raised one eyebrow, not entirely sure what was happening but it must be Phantom Lord mages otherwise it made less sense than she really hoped.

She shook her head, "I have no idea what you talk about. Sorry." with that she turned her back towards the three of them and walked away. She shouldn't become to familiar with the other mages.

Exit.

Before anyone replied with an answer to her question, the purple haired man began to say some confusing things that put a slight frown to Bianca’s face. Power levels? “What…” she muttered, giving him a very puzzled look. Surely no one understood what he was talking about. And that thought was confirmed when the orange haired girl said that she didn’t know what he was talking about. Relieved to hear this, the bewilderment on her face disappeared and was replaced with some kind of confident annoyance. “What the hell are you talking about?” she asked, not really expecting an answer from him. She then turned to Roman. He seemed to be close to this guy Bianca had never met before - or so she thought. She didn’t know because of the new appearance and everything.

Since she wasn’t really in the mood to socialize anymore after the awkward situation with the power levels and whatnot, and the fact that the orange haired girl had already taken her leave, Bianca decided to go elsewhere as well. “I’ll see you later, Roman,” said Bianca as Geb was asking for a room or something. With a wave and a friendly smile, Bianca headed out of the gallery, roaming the streets before deciding on where to go now.

Everyone was fucking leaving for some reason, so Geb just got really asshurt and flipped them off. "Fine, your choice." he said, as he would walk to go attend to another area of the gallery. Jesus, people were so rude nowadays. Couldn't they have the decency to come in and chat for a little bit? Oh well. Geb sighed and would proceed to walk away, his jimmies being very, very rustled at this current moment. Perhaps he would calm down a bit later and search for more paintings in the basement of the gallery. Or, maybe he would take a break and go on a vacation. Who knew, he guessed.

EXIT