The Sun shined brightly through the windows of the apartment that he was staying in. Seika had spent days and weeks plotting and planning this very moment. It was something that he and Hitomi had poured countless hours and bottles of wine over. Ironing out the various details and acquisitions necessary to make it come to life. Of course there were still hiccups and set backs. Jove's visit in Oak insured that point in particular. But in the grand scheme of things they were ahead of schedule and ready to push forward.

Sighing from the foot of the bed, Seika sat in full regalia. He was dressed like he was preparing for battle, and in a way he was. It would be a fight to convince some of those coming today that what he was proposing was even worth their time or interest. Sure he knew that certain fellows would follow him to the ends of Earthland if he asked them too, but those weren't the ones he was worried about. It was the newer members of his inner circle that he was wary of. He had no idea where their allegiance lay nor what their own goals and aspirations were. He only knew that for now, he could at the very least try to make them an offer that they couldn't refuse. After that, only Sol knew what could happen.

Getting up from the bed, he began to head out of the room, yelling out to Hitomi that he was going ahead to get ready. She had spent all of the previous evening easing his worries and ensuring him that it all would go as planned, but Seika couldn't help but feel that everything that could go wrong, would go wrong. Stuffing down this feeling however, Seika would put on his game face and head down to the pub, ready to begin the next stage of his life.

Ugh, Baska. Tempris hated Baska. Even worst, she hated the Boar hat Pub. This was when everything horrible that happened to her started. Meeting that sinner Erebus, meeting a certain Vampire, and being kicked out of the Rune Knights. Heresy all of it. Yet, fate continued to deep itself funny and send her back. So she decided she was going to try and screw with fate. Using her key, she or she say now he, turned themselves into a boy before they left their room in the local inn. It was a form he did not take often but it proved to settle the masses since all of their fighting took place under their true alter ego. Over the years, This form aged a bit better though it did not give them any height.



Boy Tempris was wearing large black jacket with a large hood with reddish orange designs resembling flames and the symbol of Illumin on the upper back of the jacket. Underneath that was a black gakuran jacket with a reddish orange belt and black hakama pants. Completing the outfit was a pair of reddish orange kyahan tied with 3 black bows in front, black tabi with reddish orange soles. Finally he also had his necklace with contain all of her gear and gave her a Red halo which hovered over his head.

The boy was inside the pub sitting alone a the bar with a drink in front of them. There was a slight blush over their face but nobody was saying anything about it as the last person to hint at it was unconscienced with a broken arm and leg on the wall several meters away. Yep, this was the same place he hated. Oh how he wish she could just burn it down to the ground.

Code:


Since spoilers are broken

Tempris used her Inversion key and entered this topic as a boi.


The sunlight danced across the land, it danced along the calm waters of the lake not too far outside of town. Well, the water seemed calm for the most part as Sho breached the water disturbing the waters. Slim Jim was off swimming in a deeper part of the lake without a care in the world. The two had been staying in the wilderness outside of Baska. Sho could have easily afforded an apartment or inn but he enjoyed being around his wyvern companion too much to leave him to his own devices. Not that Slim Jim couldn’t take care of himself but Sho just enjoyed his company. More than the likes of humans, life was simple, calm, and relaxing around Slim Jim. Not that Sho hated people he just preferred the easy life in between fighting, doing missions, and training. Sho was washing off in the local lake treating it as his own personal bath for the moment. Due to the water being so clean he knew he could trust it. Not to mention he cleared out those pesky infected boars a couple of days ago.

He washed himself using a bar of soap he bought in town he had to be in tip-top shape for what was to come. Today was the day he was going to meet Seika and the other prospects in the local pub, The Boar Hat. He had never personally been himself but he hoped they had good booze and good food. It didn’t take long to wash his whole body including his nether regions real well. Gave himself an extra scrub for good measures. He liked the idea of smelling like spring on a new day. Meanwhile, Slim Jim was floating around in the water enjoying his morning soak per usual. Sho rinsed himself off and got out of the water. He grabbed the towel in his goods and dried himself off. He quickly got dressed, excited to meet new people on this day. Hopefully, nothing would go wrong, at least that's what he hoped. To be on the safe side he attached his helmet and saber to his waist while putting on his leather plated vest.

He grabbed what looked like slime but in reality, it was hair styling gel. He ran his hands through his hair slicking it back only leaving a single, long bang to hang in front of his face. He was ready to go to the Boar hat. He set off towards the Boar Hat in Baska with haste, leaving his companion to soak in the water. He took a deep breath, "Alright let's get this day started!"

Exhaustion wasn't the word for what she was feeling as she shuffled around under the plush covers on the bed she had shared with Seika for a night. Hitomi had heard her beloved call out to her as he was getting ready to go speak with others about an idea they had been pouring countless nights over together. Having been awake for a good portion of the night with him just reassuring him everything would go fine she knew he would still be on edge. With that said she let him get ready as she slept in bed for a bit longer until beams of sunlight seemed to pierce the covers and forced her up and awake.

Rubbing her eyes for a moment after waking up, Hitomi dragged herself out of bed and into a shower, cleaning herself and basically just getting ready for the day. Once she was out of the shower she brushed out her violet tresses and placed them up into a neat bun. Dressing down in one piece violet-colored leotard with a pair of black jeans over them and some boots on her feet, she was ready to greet the rest of the motley crew that Seika gathered, plucking Kusanagi from its stand on her way out.

Link to a more or less accurate image of what she's wearing.. her gettin ready lol

Nerves at absolute maximum, Seika forced himself through the door of the Boar Hat Pub. The feeling that greeted him was cheery and warm, as it always was. The Pub was relatively famous for its brews and raucous parties, not so much for the food however and as a side note form the author, never eat the food. There seemed to be far more than the usual crowd in the pub, it was actually packed to the brim with the various patrons all enjoying themselves that morning. It was a little odd to see this many folks inside considering the food was absolute dog water but hey, happy hour was still a thing.

There was a shock of blonde by the bar that seemed out of place. He knew it wasn't the bar owner as there weren't any cute girls around for the young man to harass. Pulling up to the bar next to him, Seika would motion to the barkeep to get him a lager. The man behind the bar nodded to him, his foxy features drawing a grin out of Seika as the man leaned against the bar stoop to size Seika up.

"Captain-Commander! To what do we owe the pleasure today? Surely you aren't here to challenge Escanor in who shines brighter yet again?"

Chuckling at the thought of ever besting the man who stood at the pinnacle of what human excellence could be, Seika only shook his head and drew his drink up to his lips, "Not today Ban, no... Today I do something that has been in the making for a long time." He paused for a second, reaching to his side to pluck the emblem that showed he was a man of the law, a protector of Fiore and a champion for justice, before placing it on the bar's counter and returning to his drink, "I'm hanging it up. From this day forward, no matter what happens, I'm no longer a Knight of the Kingdom"

The white haired man stared incredulously at this before barking out a gout of laughter that seemed almost forced if Seika didn't know the foxy man. Letting off a few chuckles of his own, he enjoyed the mirth given as he stood around waiting for the remainder of his potential crew to show themselves. Time was ticking.

He took a sip of the disguising liquid. It was two-thirds empty by now and the boy was pretty proud at how he was handling it. At least that was a positive thing, if you ignore the earlier outburst that was. It was at this time that a man sat next to him. Already, he was growing irritated since fate deemed him to be here and he did not want to be near anyone. But the man's voice turned that building fury into mischievous laughter and emptying his cup.  
"Another shining example of how terrible that sinful group is." The boy said before lying his head down in his arms on the table. He already forgot he was in his male persona thus the man probably would not know who he really was. That was okay though. "Was this a sign from your sun god Mister, or maybe perhaps you were abandoned for some frivolous reason?" The boy shifted their head so they could see the man out of one of their eyes. "It might have been two years, but things like this never change. Nope. Most unfortunate... Most... Miserable." One last chuckle left their mouth.

Sho walked up to the pub's front door, he pushed the door open revealing The Boar Hat pub. It was pretty lively even though the food was rumored to be terrible. No doubt the drinks had to be good if that was the case. People from all sorts of walks of life show up to enjoy a good brew even if it was early in the day to do so. Sho noticed Seika sitting at the bar talking to the barkeep. Due to all the commotion going on he wouldn’t be able to make out what they were saying. Sho walked across the bar and sat on the stool next to Seika and the Blonde Haired lad.

“Morning, Captain, barkeep.” He said before looking around at the bar. The blonde lad began to speak. Sho wasn’t too sure who he was but he was talking to Seika as if he already knew him. Maybe he was one of the prospective members of the Guild that Seika was making. From the sounds of it, the kid was religious and sounded a bit familiar. Clearly, they were too happy about being in the Boar Hat. The barkeep slipped Seika his drink which prompted Sho to ask. “Just some rum if ya got it.”

“No problem.” The barkeep said while pouring a large bottle into a glass and sliding it down to Sho. He took a sip and it went down smooth. No doubt some of the smoothest rum he had tasted in a while. “So who else are we waiting on Captain, I mean Seika? Man that is going to take some getting used to.”

She wasn't sure if she was the last of the group to pop up in the Boat Hat Pub but she knew she certainly wasn't the first. Having never met the people she would be working with in the future, Hitomi was a little excited to see some new faces and get to know some new names. Moving quietly through the rowdy crowd and towards Seika, she placed her arms around his neck from the back, letting her hands rest on his chest, placing her face on his shoulder so that they were practically cheek to cheek. Her exhaustion was showing but she was graceful about it.

Is everyone here? Am I the last of us to arrive? Her voice with its usual tone whispered into Seika's ear to combat the overall loudness of the area. She could only wonder why this was the location chosen but in the end, it really didn't matter too much. For her, this was just introductions and from what she understood it would take some convincing to get some of the people invited to even join in on the idea of a new guild, especially one run by a former rune knight.

There were a few things that would have surprised Seika that day, however hearing a munchkin spout off nonsense that reminded him of a different, yet similar munchkin was not one of those things.

Eyebrow arched, Seika turned to regard the smaller boy. There was a level of familiarity there that Seika couldn't quite put his finger upon. The blonde hair was unique but the owner of the pub also had said hair color so that wasn't much to stand upon. The odd get up reminded him a lot of Joya in its mannerisms, could this have been one of the aids for Hitomi from when they were back in Joya? Eyes squinting in thought, it would be Sho's call out that got him to turn away from the enigmatic child. Turning to clasp his subordinate in a greeting, Seika would happily welcome the young man to the bar alongside him. The young man's correction of his name and title went over Seika's head as Hitomi walked in a bit afterwards, prompting Seika to begin his search for Tempris since she was the last one to arrive now.

"It's good to see you both, but it seems we're still missing our little Firecracker." He spoke in a joking tone but he was actually starting to get a bit worried, knowing just how destructive Tempris could be if left alone and was properly motivated to do some damage.

"Oi... she's...." The boy raised his head at bit agitated only to finally realize who he was. "Ugh... yall are too noisy of a group. So I'll take my leave." With that the boy got out of his seat and left the pub. Once out of sight, the boy would go to a seclude room inside of another nearby building and activate her inversion key to swap to her normal gender. She would then Wardrobe key to change her outfit to something a bit more causal. She work a simple blue sundress black spats, a straw hat with a blue ribbon wrapped around it, and brown boots. Then she used her skeleton key to move herself back to pub so she would appear to have came out of the bathroom. She still had her necklace on which gave her a yellow halo over her head. She also had a light blush over her face still.

"Oh... Seika, Sho, You're both here. Took you forever. Being late is sinful! So terrible... I hope nothing has been troubling you on your way here. I pray, such struggles, such suffering isn't plaguing you..." The girl clasped her hands though a mischievous grin grew on her face.

As Tempris finally exited the bathroom, the sound of the rattling at the door could be heard. Someone was apparently was trying to open the door and wasn't doing a very good job. In that moment a loud clap of what sounded like an explosion ripped through the bar as the door to bar was thrown inwards at high speed directly towards the restroom where Tempris was currently walking out of.

Someone had kicked or punched the door in so hard that it had flew off the hinging and flew into the bar and into the distance. Walking through the door was a man that most of Baska's underworld would know at this point, given that he had already done everything they could afford for him to do here. Standing at seven feet tall, wearing blood red full plate armor, with helmet. On his shoulders were large spikes that held down the pelt of some large animal, large enough to have it go down towards this seven foot tall man's ankles. The interesting thing keeping the pelt on the spikes were the human skulls, pushed ontop of the pelt to keep it there. On the man's right side was a three foot long hammer in just the hilt, and nearly a foot longer if you included the head of the hammer.

The monster looking man turned slightly towards the door hinge, before turning and looking towards the rest of the room. He was hoping that no one realized that he was trying to push on a pull door, but he would pay for the door later as he looked around. Eventually he found the group of people his contacts have told him about.

After going over to the bar for a moment, throwing a small pile of cash down for the door's replacement. Reaching over and taking the strongest looking chair he could find he went over and sat down next to the group of people that Tempris was just going to walk back towards. He then sat down on the chair next to them without saying another word.

The barkeep passed some rum in Sho’s direction. His hand caught the mug as it slid down the counter. Sho quickly took a sip realizing it was sweet with a hint of booze in the background. It was delicious even more so than what he was used to drinking. ‘Maybe I should invest in their rum.’ he thought to himself. Then the others began to arrive, the boy spoke about the group being too noisy and went off to do whatever. Sho smiled at Seika and turned around on his stool to see Tempris waltzing in. “Oh there she is, hey Temp..” before he could finish his words someone came barging in and moved across the room before pulling up a chair. A rugged individual Sho could only hope that he was there for the guild founding as well. He seemed strong, at least the aura he gave off was massive. Not as big as Tempris’s or Seika’s but still pretty big. He said nothing as he sat down. Sho didn’t comment on the subject and just took another swig of his drink. “Everyone here yet? Can we get this started?”

It was starting to get lively in here as a door burst open and a young girl appeared. Hitomi pulled up a  seat from one of the nearby tables, refusing any alcohol today, she wanted to be sober for this. Since it was mainly Seika's idea she wouldn't say much unless a question was asked of her. Her eyes briefly glanced over at each person who had joined the circle and she didn't know any of them besides Seika. A smile softly rested as to make her appear friendly even if she was dead tired from last night, if anything she could use a coffee rather than booze. Leaning back in her chair she let her mind wander, hoping that she would be able to make connections with what could be her newfound guildmates...Of course if everything went well, some of them could easily just say no to the idea.

Wiping his brow, the giant of a man turned his head to regard the small child that seemed to get up and leave abruptly after claiming that they were all 'too loud'. Feeling a bit put out at that, Seika would shrug before taking his drink back into his hand and knocking it back. There was some commotion that followed, with the telltale sound of a small child whimsically mentioning his name just before the door to the establishment burst open and was sent flying into the direction of said child. Sunlight would stream into the boar hat following behind the spectacle, shrouding the perpetrator in a blinding glow but that would not deter Seika for reaching for his weapon, not at all worried about the door heading for Tempris as he knew she could handle herself, however if this person who entered wanted smoke, well... He wasn't called a Fire Demon Slayer for no reason.

Ragnar was standing there, quiet and waiting for someone to tell him something that he didn't gather from finding this place. As he sat there, he waited for a moment before saying " Is this the founding of a new guild or did I end up in the wrong place? " Ragnar was legitimately curious at this point, because everything he gathered told him he was in the right place but maybe he was given faulty information.

Maybe these people hated Ragnar and he was lead into a trap, though he kinda doubted that one because he didn't really sense any hostility about them well outside of the fact that they were clearly badasses in their own way. That he got plenty of from the people around here, and that was a good enough reason for him to want to see if this was happening or not.

The key members had gathered for the most part. Everyone brings something new to the table. This kind of thing got Sho excited to be a part of. It wasn’t every day he has attached to something more than himself. He had been so used to just being him and Seika all these new people were a welcome sight. Sho took a big drink out of his cup before turning around to speak to the individual who spoke up first. “I don’t think you are in the wrong place just waiting for everyone to get here that is going to be here.” Sho replied before looking around the room. “I am not looking for a big turn out but this is everyone right? No need for big numbers to take down targets I reckon. Especially if everyone here pulls their own weight, excluding the civilians of course.” Sho placed two fingers on his temple and gave a salute to Ragnar and Hitomi. “I’m Sho Shimura. Pleased to meet all of you.”

The man who kicked in the door a bit ago had spoken, she didn't not notice him she just wasn't going to acknowledge his grand entrance. Since he hadn't introduced himself she wouldn't get to address him after he finished speaking but then again she didn't need to as another man who had sat next to Seika ended up speaking right after. Continuing to sit quietly in her seat she would nod at the man named Sho. Hitomi waited until he was done speaking before standing up herself to gather the attention of the group her way. Hello, I'm Hitomi Minamoto, I won't keep you too long but if you were not certain you were in the right place I'm here to erase your doubts because you are in the right place. Hopefully Seika can run through our goals quickly because I'm frankly very tired.... Seika, the floors yours love. Moving over to Seika and standing behind him, she would give a smile before going silent.

Blinking at the man's confusion and Tempris' now lack of consciousness, Seika would release the hold over his magical energies before sighing. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Shaking his head at the small grouping of individuals who had either caught his eye, or pledged some form of loyalty to him, Seika once again felt slightly overwhelmed at the sight of the few individuals he would eventually call his guild mates. It wasn't every day that one formed a group that was intended to topple gods you know.

Inhaling through his nose, he would beckon them all close to himself, their table now set as ground zero as Seika walked over and scooped up Tempris to bring her back into the fold. He would gesture slightly, fingers extended as they literally burned a golden rune into the table in front of them. Immediately after the rune was formed, Khnurn would get straight to brass tacks, already having convinced or shown most of them, sans Ragnar the threat and danger they were going up against.

"The world as we know it is going to be facing a threat that is quite frankly, unprecedented in terms of scale, danger and power. Most of you have witnessed this threat, or at least a portion of it first hand through traveling with me, but I've discovered that I can't keep attempting to fight off this threat alone. I need help, allies, assistance, whatever you want to call it. As loathe as I am to admit it, Sol is not enough. The other Gods... are not enough. But I don't want to give up on the safety and salvation of the world. So I want to keep fighting. But to keep fighting, I need people that are willing to go to the brink and possibly beyond with me. It's more than likely a one way trip, but if we don't fight, we die anyway."

It was relatively short? Not so sweet, but to the point. Seika wasn't sure if any of them would follow him after that spiel, but it was all that he could do to get help for the fight in the future.

[Exit]

After introducing himself Sho let the others speak, Seika removed himself from the counter and grabbed Tempris, and moved over to a table. He placed a rune on the table it burned itself into it. Sho grabbed his drink and sipped on it while he watched the fireworks. No doubt Seika was about to drop some knowledge on them. Sho grabbed a chair and pulled it up so he could listen intently Seika explained the gravity of the situation and this caused Sho to take a big swig of the beer before speaking. It was short and to the point so Sho made sure Seika was aware that he had his allegiance. Sho was a ride-or-die man for his friends and this was his moment to pledge himself to something greater. “One-way trip? Sounds like fun. Might as well fight considering we die if we don’t anyways. So I am all in.” Sho finished his glass and stood up from his chair. He placed the mug on the table and dropped some jewels to pay for his tab. Seika left shortly afterward no telling where he was going but Sho had his things to take care of. “I will be around don’t worry.”

[Exit]