Erebus waited and didn’t necessarily walk up to anyone but he watched others return, finding his time bought all to himself, he hadn’t thought about who he should approach first. However, one guild mate in specific who joined in the last two years was Nuala— she was a Daemon to Erebus’ understanding, which meant when he spoke to her, he made it priority to realize that she was far from a mortal entity and was in fact half demon. Despite this, Nuala had one very un-demon like quality that the Summoner placed trust in. She didn’t give him the same vibes some others did, not when it came to staying loyal to the guild itself. After all, a whole roof full of villains and you could imagine at least one was a Judas— a traitor waiting to fold on the rest.

Nuala on the other hand, was remembered being someone who minded her business and was always back here watching the Guild Hall. When he noticed her entry on the building, he walked from his spot, passing by Achlyss and assumed a spot near her to conversate — lighting a cigarette in his mouth.

Erebus could be interpreted as unruly and rude for lighting up tobacco around a lady, but since he didn’t differentiate her as any different from a man or a woman, and more so a monster in pretty female skin; he kept it as real as he would with any of the boys. Despite that, he still took a slight bow when he addressed her, snapping the zippo lighter closed and smiling behind a scruff patch of facial hair. “All good things with you I’d imagine. It’s been— what? Six months since I was here. Everything holding up fine?” He asked her. Curious as to what she specifically had been up too, and interested in part with his own plans and her potential aide— he drived a carefree approach.

Erebus was an enigma in the fact he rarely did ask for assistance in his work, but he was fairly sure Nuala spent her time at the guild. Perhaps they could talk about making some money on a quest or two, but that wasn’t the main intention in speaking to her. She was one of the very last guildmates who enlisted into Odin’s family. A fellow S-rank threat and, like himself in the past, a master Rogue. Perhaps it was in that, that Erebus took to friendship with this daemon. Whatever the case, he was no racist to non-humans and appreciated their company more, he found more humanity in Odin than he ever did in the Rune Knights— a lifeless entity, with more humanity. Irony. The majority of his other guildies were undead vampyres or harnessing demonic assets of some kind as well.

Compared to everyone else, Erebus was merely a human. Simply a wanted Outlaw, always chasing his time. Perhaps Erebus found good company around them in a strange way. Like a bunch of innocent people, simply hated for surviving on the life and mercy of their unnatural lifestyles and disorders. Erebus knew not many things of the girl, but that she was allegedly from the Abyss. Somewhere Zagan sent Erebus too— while it was merely a second in this world, it was a decade there. And on top of that, he was curious how she got out.

He was even more curious how Zane seemed to get in after being gone for two years, and if two people had reached Hell and climbed out, surely there was something there worth stealing. That would be a good topic to discuss with her, assuming she didn’t completely ignore his greeting.

“It looks like for the first time ever, all of us are in one place. Kind of scary, imagine what everyone here could do in one combined wave.” Erebus paused, tilting his head while his eyes furrowed in thought and he turned to look at the others. “I wonder if we’ll ever see that happen.” Erebus grumbled. Admittedly, he was upset that his last Bishop was two years ago. He desired to hunt them, and found it stagnating to spend a year in jail simply to funnel out criminals as army fodder. Yet, without them... How the hell was he going to fix that fucking Fountain downstairs. Erebus couldn’t bother to maintenance this place, it had 100 floors and everyone else seemed negligent of that kind of work.

The daemon’s dusky aura slipped into the room almost unnoticed and her watchful gaze swept along each and every figure – no one here was a threat unless they chose to be and the woman made sure to remember that. Eternal Nightmare’s practices differed greatly from Daeva Eye, where the members had been a tight-knit group of comrades and although Nuala did not mind the lack of camaraderie, she never left her private chambers unarmed.

She perked up when Erebus approached her and took a moment to remember what she knew about the man. A human criminal with an ever-changing appearance and an infamous reputation that preceded him, Erebus Gresham was very much what you would describe as a 'pain in the ass' to any existing Rune Knight. His bounty was enormous and in Nuala’s eyes a clear indicator that he either didn’t know how to be subtle, didn’t want to be or simply got caught by accident all the time. Whichever it was, he would make for a terrible partner during a heist and the thief had stayed clear from him for that precise reason.

Still, that didn’t mean she disliked the mage – she simply didn’t know him yet. "Erebus," she acknowledged him with a hint of a smile and a small nod. Nuala continued to watch the room, but even from the corner of her eye her focus lay on him now. The daemon had spent the majority of the past two years in Savannah – business only, as there was nothing in her rural homeland that she found pleasure or comfort in. She had traveled alongside a friend for a while and their time together had given Nuala an interesting glimpse into the mind of Jove Augustus, who was a Rune Knight in his own regard. Despite their alliances, the thief found that the two had more in common than one might think.

“Everything is fine with me,” she said truthfully and emphasized her words with yet another nod. “I crossed the border from Seven around two weeks ago, where I spent some time after departing Savannah.” The Sevese were talented and beautiful people, deeply plagued by the creatures that roamed their homeland. Magic wasn’t as common there and while Nuala had no trouble protecting herself, she often witnessed that others did – not that she cared much. “The Sevese hide their wealth, but time and luck proved to be on my side. It was quite the treasure hunt.” When Nuala spoke, her voice carried a sense of satisfaction with it and clearly her heists had gone well. The daemon had specialized on art theft a decade or so ago and developed a good eye for items that would fetch a high prize, especially here in Fiore.

“And you? It sounds like you were gone for a long time,” she said and turned to look at him. He looked older now, eyes weary beyond their years. “For your standards, I mean.” Nuala added nonchalantly and suddenly wished that someone had prepared drinks. There was something unsettling about Erebus, about every human member of Eternal Nightmare and she couldn’t help but scrunch her nose at his comment regarding their collective prowess. She knew he was right, but that wasn’t what rattled her nerves. It was the thought that someone who was entirely human could step into a room filled with immortal monsters and somehow manage to fit in perfectly.

“You sound hopeful,” was all she could manage at that.

Being on the roof, Erebus could t get to a drink, but knowing what he did of the Daemon he could imagine that’s what she was thinking about when she answered him at the end. “Hopeful is an understatement, I’m tired of Rune Knights following me through towns like stray animals... We should have already done something about the King.— Clearly, I mean we have half the strongest body of entities in this continent within the confines of this tower, standing on this very same roof together, and not one here as eager as yours truly to play war games with the government? Boring.” He inhaled on the fumes, lifting an eyebrow in petty thought. His tilted glance, returned back from the others to the ground and he appeared to wave it off as his attention looked at her now, after all she was looking back at him when she addressed his person, it was only good manners to give his attention to the daemon. He turned to her, facing her body now instead of at her side as before. She wore combat boots on leather pants and a high-tight ponytail of silver, some traces of lavender in there maybe? Erebus couldn’t help it, but think she’d star well in a action movie or make for a good drill instructor. He smiled under a friendly mustache over his lips.

The Summoner on the other hand looked like he repaired sky-ships for a living, a trench jacket hung low past his waist— stopped at his mid thighs and for his chest he wore a dingy white tee with grease smeared against various parts of the wrinkled seems. Erebus did share her interest in combat boots however, but his outward appearance could be ratio’d as a laborer while hers as a Leader (perhaps some kind of combatant he figured). That was perfectly fine to him though, Erebus was an instigative enigma as opposed to the ones that prevailed above. Odin for example, couldn’t be touched while Erebus pulled dirty work for the guild and spent time in prison to distract mages from his colleagues bigger or more personal plots. Nuala herself seemed more of a loner like himself, but a good mix between where Odin stood in these halls and where Erebus stood for this guild— she probably had more physical power like Odin and so wasn’t as close to danger here. But Erebus was a human and viewed as mortal, the sly bandito of the Nightmares living life by a gamble— always alluding a bad roll of snake eyes.

In his psychotic game, sheer trickery was the deciding factor of survival. So he was a deceptively cunning character, that alone must have been the rattling feeling Nuala probably sensed.

“I was recovering blue prints on some ancient technology. I’ve almost finished my project, but I’m not quite there yet. It’s been long by any standards, working out the kinks you could say,” He brought his hand to the coat pocket above his heart, snagging a crinkled box of cigs and flicking the but-end of the one between his middle and index away. “Folly smoke Nuala? Or is it true you only drink.” Should she want one, he’d pass to her from the open box and flick up his zippo by the thumb, should the daemon deny— he’d light his own, chain-smoking them down to relish in the intoxicating relaxant that was also killing his body over time. “Treasure huh? If not ale or women— why such a distance? I could care less about the jewels over there— money can be stolen from anywhere, you know this.” He waved the thought away and went back to his own critical thoughts, it was clear to a perceptive eye he was trying to recall any Sevese myths or things that might lend a clue as to what she meant precisely as treasure, but asking outright would be suspicious. They were both theives in life, and a thief was defensive of it’s loot.

“The King? Ah, I don’t know,” the woman said with a shrug. Nuala agreed with Erebus for the most part – the Rune Knights were a pest, they always had been. Their self-serving sense of justice and the questionable law system they enforced on their own whim was bothersome and not just to the dark guilds of the country. Still, the daemon had never once considered getting rid of the King herself and therefore effectively doing everyone else in the country a huge favor. “I guess I’m too selfish for that,” she admitted with a meek smile. “I don’t see myself taking care of everyone else’s problem when I could simply..,” she paused for a moment there and contemplated her next words.

“...wait it out, yknow?” Immortality certainly had its benefits.

She could see how things were different for Erebus. A human’s lack of time often was their driving factor, the one variable that nudged them into being so efficient and enthusiastic about, well, everything. In a sense, that was probably why the other man always looked as though he was tinkering on something. He didn’t seem like the type to sit around idly and while Nuala certainly appreciated a hard worker, everyone needed a break once in a while. Still, it was good that he didn’t seem to mind getting his hands dirty. If she could make any assumption based on the way he presented himself and the situations he got himself into, it was that Erebus Gresham didn’t think himself too good for something.

She gave him a crooked smile, nodding along as he explained his most recent finds and projects. When he offered her a cigarette, she chose to decline politely. “It’s true I don’t smoke,” she explained. “I don’t like how it makes my chest clench up.” That was about the truest explanation for her dislike towards cigarettes she could give; she didn’t mind when others smoked though. When Erebus questioned why she chose to travel so far for her work, Nuala raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I, uh–,” she stuttered, but quickly regained her composure. Of course he was right, and rightfully calling her out on it too – there was really no need for her to travel anywhere, especially since she’s had obligations with the guild in Fiore, but for better or worse: Nuala enjoyed traveling. And she wanted to get away from things for a while, needed to even. Every few years Fiore would start feeling awfully crowded and unpleasant to be at and while she would never openly admit that it always has something to do with a major change in her life – like her split from the Captain – Nuala had always been the skittish type.

When things got too serious, she would always run away.

Clueless as to how to respond to that, she began fiddling with her fingers. “I don’t know, it’s just a big world out there, y'know? Why only stay in one place?” Going by how she avoided his gaze, it wasn’t the best or even truest answer, but a legitimate one nonetheless. “I don’t plan on going anywhere in the near future though,” she quickly added. “Odin seems to have some things planned for the guild and I’m looking forward to it.”

Erebus pulled his hand from outstretched and offering— back to his lips as a closing understanding. Nuala didn’t burn, but she certainly drank. A notable token to her personality. Erebus craved the sweet bodily feelings that substances would exalt him too. A beauty in disguise of poison, but for her a quite literal antidote. Assuming she couldn’t die from liver diseases. Erebus squinted, bringing himself to a wonder while she spoke. “You have all the power that we regular men dream of. It’s so foreign to me— that your choice with which to do so against horrible entities is merely patience, is to just watch? Truly Nuala, you think as God— but in your defense, you aren’t responsible.” Erebus broke his focus, having realized his mind fumed with rage and turmoil. Hatred for a world that ridiculed and relapsed in murder... rape.. suffering.

Shame.

Erebus was a vile person, ruthless and cutthroat nowadays was the only way to get respect from god-like starches of the planet. But professionals had standards, and he wished to make a more just world at least on the general human level. Erebus sought world order. His thirst for this control, this freedom of the higher. The plunge of authority— it was all to re-write things anew. More fairly even. So his means of being a Nightmare had a little more depth than the next person’s out for a payday. Erebus hated aristocracy. Law — even Order— was just fine. He could dine to it— but obeying pompous pigs? You had to be joking.

Nuala seemed to fluster as he spoke on about her venture and Erebus couldn’t help but feel a sense that she didn’t get checked on often. The Rogue probably hadn’t seen much of anyone so he assumed it was a case of jitters, but he smiled, chuckling and flicking the cig away, as it had burned to its bottom. He patted his chest and the excitement at decree of Odin’s venture enticed Erebus and his interest as well. He waited for her to close her sentence and looked across the roof to Odin, as he spoke to Venus and Zane. “Odin is one of a kind... A driven man who didn't walk with Death, he undid his afterlife for this. You can’t hate anyone for that. I’m here for all of his plans, but I am mostly in this for myself. There’s not a lot of Wizards as tact for chaos as Odin is reliable with it.”

Erebus spoke highly of Odin, he had grown to know the Lich. Saved from a handful of near death experiences, though Odin too put Erebus in the danger asking him to venture anyways. He turned his attention back to Nuala herself. “You know I asked what you were doing, because I want to know what your story is about too.” Erebus paused. “That’s why you went is it not? To learn who you are, and find some reason to keep improving.” The Mage was throwing vague shots in the dark, but with these types of presences, you really had no choice, but to get nosy; up-close and interpersonal. Something Erebus himself didn’t let others do except the rare occasion he did give out information, but with a daemon it seemed almost fun to dig for clues to one’s existential purpose. Intense in the way you would engage a Lion as a gladiator. Then again, Erebus only perceived her as a beast because he had seen the Abyss from a Demon Lord himself. Zagan’s Tsukiyomi was beyond comprehension and yet it existed.

This horrible place his mind went— was the birthplace of demons. Anything living there couldn’t possibly be sane, in recall alone Erebus would wreck his bedroom in fits of mania, escaping to the night to beat up insidious people and calm his upset spirits. The Nightmare attributed most of this as darker balance for one as they aged. It accentuated the villain that lived inside this vigilante, and it also fed the ego that allowed him to speak to an immortal maiden as though she was a normal woman his age. There was nothing segregating his human mind from the level of intelligence her immortal mind was, and so he would push that all inducing fear she could have once cast on him away. He was at the table with all of these beings, and needed their help too. Perhaps then, he’d make this Nightmare a more close friend.

“Nuala what are your goals beyond just helping Odin?” — Erebus had his reasons for asking. Nuala clearly has a reason for living, but a mere man could only wonder what a Daemon could be existing for.

“Actually, that’s not true.” Nuala said calmly and offered her guildmate a smile. “I don’t have magic.” Magic was rare in Savannah – at least the kind that could be controlled, forged and molded into a variety of things. In Nuala’s homeland magic had always been wild and dangerous. It was nothing the mere mortals of her tribles liked to mingle with – so they didn’t. Neither had she throughout her almost century long life. The silver-haired woman had never once possessed magic, nor felt any desire to and while she could certainly handle magically infused items and such, the thief didn’t believe that she’d make much of a sorceress to be honest. Still, even in parts like Fiore where magic was utmost normal and commonly seen, she often found herself wondering how people could treat something so fascinating, something with such power with such ease.

When Erebus spoke to her, she realized he was the same as them. Unbothered and unimpressed by the gift he possessed – or maybe he was simply unaware. “What I mean is, I think you’re doing fine for yourself. Immortality really means nothing anymore these days, especially when you’re as vulnerable to a knife as the next person.” It was true that Nuala, aside from growing older than the people around her, didn’t think too much of her immortality. It didn’t mean much when you could still die after all.

She nodded when Erebus spoke about Odin, deep in thought. She had never thought about it – or Odin – that way, and while she respected him, he was simply Odin to her. “I actually only came here because my own guild disbanded,” she eventually admitted with a shrug. Daeva Eye’s rule over Dahlia, Magnolia and Hosenka, as well as the guild’s demise was known to many people around the country, so there were really no secrets to be held in that regard. She only avoided talking about it because it pained her to be reminded of what had become of the people she cared about. Well, at least Venus was still here.

“Odin owed me a favor anyways, so he was left with no choice but to let me in.” That was kind of the gist of things; a few years ago, the thief had found the Lich outside of a small town, spread about with several of his bones missing and himself buried in the dirt looking rather miserable. Feeling unusually gracious that day, Nuala had paused her training to help him collect all of his parts and he’d been well disposed towards her ever since.

Embarrassingly, she didn’t really have an answer to his question. Before Daeva Eye’s fall, her goals had been to see the guild succeed and to rule over the east, all of which she had accomplished until things fell apart. Now, Nuala was once again lost and the guild served as her anchor, to keep her from wandering too far away again. “I.. I don’t know–” she said meekly, kind of hoping he wouldn’t judge her for that, or ask any further questions. To her luck, their guild master was now calling for them to gather however, and it seemed that they had finally decided to move away from the roof and go downstairs for some drinks.

Nuala followed behind Erebus without as much as another word.