A brilliantly-gilded wooden door appeared at the end of the street, with just as well-decorated of a man stepping out of it. As he closed the door behind him, it disappeared entirely, leaving Xzavior Smith standing alone in the street. He could sense the battle against the hollow still raging on. Odric was a part of this battle, Xavier knew. The scrubby-looking wizard had practically jumped up and sprinted to the action when the hollows had arrived.
Xavier wasnโt sure what Kreios was doing, probably something regarding the current events in Soul Society. As Xzavior looked across the street to Tomโs dilapidated ranch-style house, he was fairly confident that he was the first to arrive. That was fine. Tom was a little boring, but he was good company in his own way. He always seemed content to let Xzavior ramble on and on about wizard business that did not concern him.
Sometimes, it was nice to speak to normal people, Xzavior felt.
And Tom Reynolds was nothing if not normal. Nothing interesting about him, besides his willingness to rent out his basement for a pauperโs fee to an eccentric group of wizards, and listen to the rantings of the Wizard King.
In truth, Xzavior felt a little guilty for not keeping in touch with Tom. He was sure that knowing the three mages of the order was the most interesting part of the poor manโs life.
Xzaivor strolled across the street, and up the stairs to Tomโs front door, rapping three times on the wooden door.
Xzavior waited for what felt like minutes before he heard the lock click, and a singly, weary-looking eye peered out from a crack in the door. The eye widened as it caught sight of Xzavior. Xzavior responded with a slight bow, hand over his heart.
The door shut, and Xzavior heard the rattle of a chain lock before the door opened again, allowing him entry. Xzavior stepped through the door and into the dimly-lit living room of Tomโs house.
โTom, my old friend. Iโm afraid we must inconvenience you by using your basement once againโฆโ Xzavior said, as he stepped past Tom and into the room.
Tom did not speak, but only nodded as he left the room. Xzavior seemed confused, but was pleasantly surprised when Tom returned with Tea.
Xzavior loved this guy.
Xzavior sipped his tea, pleased, and continued.
โThe standard rate?โ
Tom just nodded again, yawning.
He was a man of few words, Xzavior knew. Only speaking when he had to. Xzavior chalked it up to intimidation in the presence of such a dapper and powerful mage.
He knew Tom had spiritual senses from somewhere, as he had interacted with Shinigami before. But, to Xzaviorโs knowledge, that was the only spiritual thing about the man.
Besides the ability to see spiritual beings, he had no spiritual abilities. Perhaps that was why Xzavior liked him so much. He was just spiritual enough to understand Xzavior, but not spiritual enough to pose a threat.
And he was so gracious, allowing the Order to use his basement. Never asking questions, or prying. Simply taking the ryo and making himself scarce.
Tom did not speak a word as they both silently sipped their tea.
When they had both finished, and after a few additional minutes of awkward silence, Tom finally spoke.
โThe basement is yours. Enjoy.โ
This was all Tom said, as Xzavior stood, taking the hint that Tom wanted to be alone, as he often did. Xzavior suspected that the man suffered from depression. In any case, Tom knew that nobody besides those of the Order were to enter the basement. Xzavior knew Tom was good for protection, even against more-spiritual beings. He and his fellow wizards had seen to that.
The Wizard King stood, and made his way across the house to the basement door. This door, of course, was a portal to another realm, though Xzavior was positive Tom was unaware. He himself had enchanted the door, so that the basement existed on itโs own plane.
As Xzavior stepped through the door, and began to walk down the stairs, he felt the reishi in the room change. He was no longer on Earth, but somewhere else, in this case, the Valley of Screams.
The basement could exist wherever the first person to enter chose, were they privy to its secrets. Xzavior preferred to place it in Northweald, where he was sure they were safe from prying eyes.
As Xzavior entered the basement, it was dark, and dank, and basically everything bad about a basement. It smelled of mold down here, as it always did.
โWell, this wonโt doโฆโ Xzavior mused aloud, waving his hand, as the entire room redecorated itself, appearing as a Library, with shelves stacked to the ceiling with books, and a set of comfy-looking chairs arranged in a circle, facing inward.
This was the meeting place of the Trans-Dimensional Order of Mages. T.O.M.
It was still funny to Xzavior that they had met a man named Tom to allow them to use his basement for T.O.M. meetings.
Word Count
Previous Count: 14701 This Post [Raw]: 864 Multiplier: x1 [864] New Total:15,565
While Xzavior was waiting for the T.O.M mages to arrive, a single sheet of paper would slip under the door way and into the basement, before refolding itself into what appeared to be a magically scribed paper crane. The moment it was formed, it immediately beelined towards Xzavior stopping to flap it's paper wings in front of him and then immediately an oddly pitched feminine voice would be heard coming from the crane itself.
"Sorry T.O.M, I'm a little tired up between interrogations, date night, and family problems. Unless I can bring a friend, I may not be able to meet you for a little while. Of course, I'm sure you all can manage without me just fine."
The crane would say, while occasionally releasing high pitched screeches before it would immediately begin to tear itself to shreds right in front of Xzavior's eyes. A small puff of flame and smoke eradicating the remainder of the pieces into ash before they even hit the ground.
Although not stated, this was obvious to be a response from Kreios.
Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2021 2:32 pm
Odric Kaylen Eldeghast
Reiatsu 304 | Speed 50 | Strength 20 | Defense 30 | Stamina 20 | Intelligence 40 | Spiritual Power 174 Odric makes his way across Karakura town after the hollow had been dealt with. With that task done, he was free to answer the Blankโs call. He enters the door of the house, startling some people outside who see the door just open and then close on its own. He walks through the house until he reaches the door to the basement. He opens the door, nodding a greeting to Tom as he does so, and then enters. Once down in the basement he looks around to see only Xzavior. โKreios isnโt here yet?โ He takes a seat in one of the chairs and Yaketsuku Ikkatsu appears on his shoulder. He strokes the zanpakuto spirit as he waits for the third and apparently slowest member of the group to show.
Health 375/375 | Spirit Energy 180/180 | Clarity 35 | Movement Speed 50
Word Count for Post: 130 * 1.5 = 195 Word Count Total for Character: 10,958
A door swinging open at the top of the stairs leading down into the basement, and soon after the light foot steps of everyone's favorite late to arrive Shinigami would be heard. Kreios casually skipping a stair or two with each step as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, and uses the railing to reorient himself to be looking into the room that he was only casually familiar with. It had been a while for them to need to gather, so it was not some place that he frequented all too often. He grinned openly as the full appearance of the room had finally come into his view, as if it's basemently appearance was more of an illusion than reality. "Oh! I'm here!" Kreios says with a wave of his hand as he casually snatches a book from one of the book cases and then pulls up a seat beside Xzavior. He hadn't really paid attention to how long it had been since he had told them he wasn't going to be here right away, but now he was here, albeit with one less person than he had been expecting to be with before now. "Had a guest coming with me, but they appear to have vanished off the face of the realms.. So now it's just me again." He says as he slowly rolls his shoulders and cracks open the book he had retrieved, thankfully it was something he hadn't looked through a hundred times already. Kreios began to casually flip through the pages as he read, waiting for this all important meeting to begin so that he could hear what they had to say and head off to finish his own situations. There was still the matter of the whole, Captain challenge, for the future after all. He needed to achieve that rank so he could continue onwards with his progression and access the remaining kidou that Soul Society had to offer for him. Kreios looked up from the book after a few minutes of silence and cast his golden gaze upon the other member that was in the room, Odric. He hadn't really given himself time to speak to the male recently, but he knew a general bit about their background at least. Which made things easy for them to get along, it was always good when a deserter didn't full on hate the place they came from, made communication and understanding each other a bit easier to handle. Kreios chuckled quietly as he looked over the male, and then returned to the book at his fingertips.
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