[Wingardia] 001 - Regalia

[Nyanfood]

Upon reaching the chestnut door, a person wouldn't notice any distinguishing features except the golden letters 001 and two peekholes -- one high and one low. This was the first dormitory room, the oldest one, and is in the worst shape compared to those built as extensions. However, 'worst' does not denote how badly it looks.

It is wonderful room with a lovely view out into the courtyard. The crab apple tree that sits right outside the balcony bears fruit within reach of the occupant. The sliding doors are made of storm-proof glass. The walls and the floors are still in excellent condition. Half of the floor is carpeted in a thick layer of dark blue and raised on a stage-like platform. The other half is mahogany, polished hardwood. The walls are papered dark blue and splattered with glow-in-the-dark paint to look like the universe. Even the drapes were blue, embroidered with glow-in-the-dark nylon threads.

There was no bed. Black, silver, blue, and white pillows of all sizes littered the corners of the carpeted area. a few comforters were folded neatly among the mess. Shelves were built into that same raised and carpeted area, painted the same way as the walls and ceiling. A tall, thin shelf bore a single picture of a red-haired man and a red-haired girl sitting at a bar and posing for the shot. The man seemed to be the bartender and was pushing a martini glass of red, frosty drink across the counter to his very small client. That client looked like Regulus... except her hair was the color of bloodred roses. Beside that picture was the martini glass as seen in the picture. She'd filled it with strawberry-scented, liquid potpourri.

Another shelf was placed much lower. It held a basket of her few cosmetic supplies, like lotion, and her three different hair brushes. A large seashell served as a tray for her smaller accessories and jewelries. That low shelf was accompanied by a black beanbag chair and a small stack of trashy romance novels, the novels hidden underneath the shelf and behind the beanbag chair. The bean bag chair was to the left of the door that leads to the bathroom.

The hardwood area bore only a long desk and a chair. A mini fridge and a microwave were stuck into the desks' cabinet portion. A printer sat on the right side of the desk. A laptop sat at the center. A stack of papers lay on the left. The desk rested against the wall with two hooks for hanging things on the right side. To the left was the door to the closet.  

[Nyanfood]

This was nothing like her home with Raid.

Then again, Raid lived in an 18-square-mile expanse of underground cavern. Quarter of it was natural. The rest was artificially dug. Comparing a school dormitory to a necromancer's secret hideout isn't exactly logical.

Neither was looking for a key hole.

She stared at the card reader for a few moments before sliding her new ID through the wrong way. More staring occurred when the door still refused to open. Three tries later, she finally managed to push through... only to trip and fall. There were steps leading down to her living space. A good amount of the interior was lowered a foot or two into the ground.

Perhaps this used to be a room designated for music practice at one point. There was a stage-like area covered in thick, plush carpeting. It looked more like a huge bed now, covered in her assortment of pretty pillows. The walls were painted dark-blue and splattered in glow-in-the-dark stars via her preferences. Having it repainted after she leaves wouldn't be a problem for her. She lived like a millionaire, really.

However, her room was quite empty. There wasn't even a bed -- she had it removed. Only a desk and a chair stood in the depressed area where there was dark hardwood. She had no rugs. She had no couches. She had no TV. It was a very, very empty room.

A lonely room.

Regulus picked herself up slowly. She'd scratched and bruised her forehead a little, leaving a little spot of blood behind her pale bangs. Her fingers deftly flipped the light switch and made the room easier to see. Note to self -- turn on the light first next time.

Taking off her shoes and setting them by the doorway, off to the side where they wouldn't be in the way, she led the way into her new home.

"The carpet area is good for sitting. There's plenty of pillows. Would you like a few drinks? Some cake?"

Even she knew hospitality... although she DID learn it from staring at the anime screen when Raid went out and left her at home with little else to do. There were only so many games zombie servants can play. Once past Candyland, they become about as useful as frappuchino in a blizzard.

From the minifridge, she pulled out a plate of cake and set it down on her desk, temporarily. The keyboard tray was empty so she began to set winglasses and bottles of what looked like alcohol, fruit juice, and the like. She was serious about drinks. Did she not know alcohol wasn't allowed?

Then again, even if she knew, she could hardly care.  

[ginseku]

Kirai was slightly surprised at how Minimalist Regalia's room was. When she stumbled through the doorway into darkness, he sweatdropped slightly, feeling bad for her. She was awfully clumsy; like a 6-year old, almost.
When the light flipped on, she was sitting on the ground. Before he could offer her help in getting up, she was already on her feet, headed off to the fridge.
"I wouldn't mind a glass of vodka, if you have any."
Kirai closed the door behind himself, looking around the room. He wanted to chuckle at the glow in the dark stars, but he didn't, not wanting to offend his host. It was a very plain room. The poor girl didn't even have a bed!
He grabbed a pillow from the ground and moved over to the table, laying it down and sitting seiza-style on it.
"So tell me something Regalia.."
When she had poured his drink, and passed it to him, he took a small sip of it, and breathed outwards.
"This is good vodka."
He took a look at the label; Belvedere. Made sense.
"Anyway, I was asking...What do you think is the most beautiful thing you've seen in your life?"
Kirai leaned back slightly, checking out Regalia's reactions.  

[Nyanfood]

"Ah, that's easy."

She corked the vodka bottle and set it back into her desk. Her own glass currently only had ice in it. Sugar was added in... along with strawberry flavored syrup, lime soda, frozen strawberries, lime juice, and just a hint of rum. She left the goblet on the table as she put everything else back where they originated.

Was her desk a black hole? There was always more space. Always. Bottomless.

A plate went over the glass. Placing her right hand over the top and gripping the thick stem firmly with her left, she stared intently for just a moment. It looked like a blending mechanism just poofed into the glass. A tornado started in it. Ten seconds later, she was sitting gracefully on the ground, facing Kirai, with a glittering glass of strawberry daiquiri, Raid Variation, in her hand.

Really, only Raid could make truly worthy strawberry daiquiri. It was the only thing she consumed. This was only to tide her over. Somethings, even the stars couldn't do.

It made her just slightly homesick.

"The Multiverse is the most beautiful." A sip. She traced her right hand down the side of her face, pushing stray hair out of the way of her cheek. The stars glowed faintly as the main light was not on and the drapes were drawn. In this dimly lit room, she really seemed to glow. It confirmed that her natural radiance was not just light reflecting off her body. She was really glowing. It looks like someone will have to protect her from the overzealous students studying about glowing protein.

"When you step into it for the first time... it is like..." It was hard to put the feeling into words. She sat quietly, thinking for a moment with her eyes half-closed in cognitive meditation. There was a story similar to this...

"If Adam and Eve had eaten the apple, but the apple was not the knowledge of good and evil... that is what the Multiverse is. You see it all... everything and anything." Describing the Multiverse was like teaching the highest form of Math and reaching even higher. English could not begin to relay it all with few words.

"It isn't difficult to enter it but staying in it is beyond mortal ability. Only the Stellar Entities, the True Immortals, can ever manage to catch a glimpse. One glance is all you need to understand the nature of the multiple universes that exist. Every dimension... every twist and turn... you immediately understand them. But..."

A sigh. "If the lack of time and space doesn't kill a person, then the amount of information surely will. That is why only True Immortals can enter. What's more, even some True Immortals will walk in and never come back out. Some of them would go raving insane, and they would have to be terminated as to not disclose information that might one day cause others to harm the universes."

More silence. She took another sip of the strawberry daiquiri. No marks stuck to the rim of the glass... meaning she was not wearing lip make up. In fact, she wasn't wearing any make up. In her opinion, only ugly people wore make up. She had too much pride to categorize herself with them.

After all, there was no way to make her face any prettier than it was now.

"What about you, Mister Kirai? I am not certain about this 'beautiful' that this place speaks of yet. Was my opinion not satisfactory?"  

[ginseku]

Kirai sat back, only taking momentary sips of vodka between her pauses. She was definitely interesting. When she tried to describe the Multiverse to him, he could feel her frustration in trying to express what it was, like trying to tell a baby about marriage and life.
When she was done, he had painted a rather colorful picture within his own thoughts. From what he could gleam out of her statements, the Multiverse was a state of superenlightenment, which could only be entered if you had the life force to withstand the years of studying you would undertake in learning this knowledge manually.
It sounded like a wonderful, strange thing to him, indeed; the mysteries of everything and anything solved at once; the answer to all.
"Well, it's not exactly a physical beauty, but it is something of personal beauty and value for sure. I know there are a few things i wish i knew, so such a place sounds rather intriguing."
Kirai took another long draft of his Vodka, finishing the goblet off.
"May I have another while i share mine?"  

[Nyanfood]

"Of course."

Out came the bottle. In went the ice. She figured she might as well keep the bottle out since he might want some more. It wouldn't surprise her if he finished off the whole bottle. When she first met Raid, he had drunk a whole barrel and was about to fight it all off. That man couldn't hold his liquor back then... but he never passed out from it either. He just kept drinking and drinking and drinking.

Clink. Plate on glass. Cubes to dust.

Pouring vodka over what looked like freshly made powdered snow was quite pretty. The way the golden-amber liquid glittered in her amber-red eyes... the way the liquid hit the insides and the water patterns destroying the white condensation in graceful, natural lines... The way that amber liquid sunk through the pure white shavings of ice and turned it pale orange.

"Enjoy."

She handed it to him simply, almost carelessly but not spilling a drop, and sat again. It always seemed to taste better over shaved or powdered ice, in her opinion.

Why did men like alcohol so much? Maybe she would understand some day now that she was human. She could become intoxicated too and see for herself if it was truly an interesting thing. Past experience had taught her that the end result, normally, was disgraceful. She would have to do it in isolation even though a human saying urged 'friendly drinking' with -- 'Wine tastes better shared between two.' Regulus thought to ask him about the matter but in the end, she figured that it would be best to ask him later.

Rampant's fire amber hilt peered through the carven ivory grip... a steady gaze. This man most definitely knew about Rivera's whereabouts. There was just one thing that was preventing him from blooming into proper form and that was the 'eye' of his creator's signature. How would he find an opportunity to ask? He couldn't very well interrupt the conversation... especially since his mistress, as omniscient as she had been, knew next to nothing about the nature of Dominus. Dominus was, like True Necromancy, something that cannot be logically reasoned by the Multiverse.  

[ginseku]

Kirai took his drink slowly, nodding once before saying, "Thanks."
He took a small swig of his drink, and leaned back slightly.
"Well. I think the most beautiful thing i've ever witnessed..."
Kirai looked off in the distance, considering a great deal of occasions he witnessed beauty. Though it was rare for him to consider such things in his day-to-day life, he found it quite easy to think of a few.
The only problem was, he wasn't sure which to share; He wanted to give a good impression to Regalia, but he didn't know which would resonate best with her; The Multiverse was a rather hard thing to top, considering he had never personally seen or heard of it before meeting Regalia.
"..Hmmm..."
Kirai lost himself in thought for a moment, allowing his gaze to wander about the room calmly.
He had an idea.
"Well, there's a tie between two times. I'll tell you the first one, and then i'll tell you the other."
Kirai took another swig of his vodka. He burped shortly, covering his mouth. He squinted his eyes a bit, and they teared up shortly after.
"Excuse me, i'm sorry about that."
He wiped his eyes with the edge of his thumb, his black gloves soaking it in like a sponge. He cleared his throat.
["Ehem. Anyway...The first most beautiful thing I've seen is the Venus De Milo, at the Louvre in France. Honestly, i'm not sure what it is about that statue; it's just a bunch of hand-shaped rocks put together. But..the smoothness and detail in that statue is just..amazing. I imagine it's one of the greatest pieces of art, if not for the amount of time and effort put into it. And..the concept of giving a God a physical form, through the hands of a mortal..it's just a haunting thing."
Kirai took a slow sip of his vodka thoughtfully, remembering how long he'd stared at that statue before leaving.
He put his glass back down and looked up at Regalia.
"The other most beautiful thing i've seen, was a concert. A Vans Warped tour concert; but not just any concert, oh no. The headliners were Metallica, Megadeth, and AC/DC. And do you know who opened first? Drowning Pool."
Kirai grinned heavily, remembering how fun THAT was.
"When they came out, the lights that they had sequenced timed up perfectly with the drums, and it was just...great. Nobody waited for the heaviest section of their song; hell, they didn't make it through the first 30 seconds. Everyone just started moshing, and when I say moshing, i mean THRASHKICKSUPERMANPUNCH."
Kirai laughed slightly at how funny that sounded.
"The way that the music and lights and a little bit of love turned into straight chaos. I think that's the most amazing part of it all; You pack a bunch of people who have one thing in common into a place, then basically showboat what they like most, and then BAM! You have chaos."  

[Nyanfood]

Puzzlement filled her face. She could understand about the statue, but to her, that was something that only mortals could enjoy. She had seen far greater 'statues' being 'sculpted' in the expanses of the universes. When a star is born, it was like watching a jewel being cut and ignited. Whenever a universe is created, the adjacent universes shift to make way in the multiverse. That was more beautiful by far, in her opinion, than a clump of molded stone.

But the concert. She didn't get it. She's never been to one, even at her time in X's fight club, then Raid's. They were always talking about some artist or another... this guy or another... but Regulus was the only one who didn't know what the hell was going on. She let it all go to smash up the next drunkard... and with that, all became well.

Music wasn't something she did or understood. The closest she had to song were spectral emissions, waves of radiation and light transmitted for basic communication or for stellar alterations and 'road building.' The closest that she'd ever gotten to 'art' as a human was splattering blood and guts all over the fight club walls. They permitted death fights. She almost always killed her opponent. Regulus, to date, had only ever fought two people who didn't want a deathmatch. All her opponents were drunkards looking to tear her tiny body to bits as after-drink amusement. To her, they were less than insects.

Thinking of that actually made her miss the days before her arrest and sentencing. She was posing as a human back then and with all her powers. She was also a good deal stronger. Inhumanly strong. Her use of strategy was admirable to the point a single wrong step on the opponent's part was fatal. Bloody Mary, they called her. She used to have hair redder than roses and redder than blood... hair that she was so proud of. Needless to say, the GDC even took that slight indulgence away from her.

"Say, Mister Kirai. What do humans do in their free time?" She began to make herself another strawberry daiquiri. "Now that I am human, I should learn to be more the like. My foster father isn't exactly the best role model to have." After all, raising dead bodies and trying to take over the universe isn't exactly... 'normal'... or 'human' for the most part. She loved Raid to death. Just that... he wasn't useful in THAT way.

"I am going to have years and years of free time. What should I do with it?"  

[ginseku]

Kirai took a small sip of his drink.
"Well, typically, that varies with the person's interests."
He took another sip, finishing off the vodka, leaving only wet slush at the bottom of his glass. He tilted it back and gulped it down in one large swallow.
He put his glass down, sighing slightly.
When he heard her second question, he paused for a moment, considering what to say.
"....Who's to say? It's your time. Carpe Dium."
Kirai paused for another moment, carefully thinking out how to word the next part.
"..I guess what I mean to say is that it is your life and your choice. You could spend it doing things you enjoy, you can spend it with people you like, you could spend it searching for knowledge..."
Kirai stopped.
"Well, maybe not knowledge, since you've seen a pretty good deal of it. But life becomes only what you choose to make it here. It all starts with you."
Kirai cracked a few of his knuckles quietly; he was getting stiff.
"You're new to being human, right?...I understand why you're asking all of these questions; you're out of your element."
Kirai took a deep breath in, raising his torso up slowly to crack his back.
He exhaled slowly.
"...If you need a friend, you can find one in me. You're rather interesting, and i'm curious to see what becomes of you. I'm sure to come across some oddities if i stick around long enough."
Kirai shot an odd half-grin half-smile across the table to Regalia.  

[Nyanfood]

The term 'Carpe Diem' applied to her minimally. What day was there to seize when she had all the days she could possibly want? More than she could ever want? She was to never die and never age. Her true torment would become 'boredom.'

Boredom is a most painful way to die... but she wouldn't even be denied the release that came with death.

"Being human is hard..." She started. Such a phrase she had repeated over and over again so many times in the past few weeks. It was difficult to not have everything she could possibly want at her disposal. Harder was the fact that she no longer possessed omnipotence. The strength that took down countless men with her bare fists and the red hair that earned her the name of Bloody Mary were long gone. She had been stripped of so much pride.

In the large scope of things, it was a very small price to pay for the destruction of so many universes and the lives that existed within them. So many minor gods were displaced for her whims. She only had to give up a plague known as 'pride' and play simple games for the rest of her immortal life, living as the countless mortals whose lives she ended so thoughtlessly... She would suffer as they did for as long as the Multiverse lived... and perhaps longer.

The glass clinked softly when she placed it onto the keyboard tray. "Care for another drink?" Vodka was meant to be taken in shots. He'd already drunk two glasses. Living with Raid really skewed her perspective on average human tolerance of alcohol. She figured everyone could drink about as much. What's more, drunk people didn't seem abnormal to her at all.

"I'm not sure about this 'friend' thing yet. Honestly speaking, I have yet to get accustomed to social concepts or human emotions." Regulus could not get used to constantly feeling her body react to everything she did. For days she couldn't even sleep because she was so aware of having a heartbeat.

"Say, Mister Kirai. What do you do in your free time?" She had to start somewhere. Without an example, she was still completely lost. 'Entertainment,' outside of television, was a taste yet to be acquired.  

[ginseku]

Kirai took his drink with a small nod, only taking a small sip before placing it back on the table. He wasn't really feeling the alcohol yet, but he knew if he kept drinking at the rate he was going, he was going to hit the wall hard; and the hangover would be absolute hell.
He couldn't have that.
"You've never had a friend?...How sad. And here I thought, 'With all the stars in the sky, the heavens must never be lonely.'"
Kirai felt strangely comfortable around Regalia; he rarely indulged people in his innermost thoughts. And here he was, gabbing on like he'd known her for a while.
"Honestly, the word 'friend' is just a label you put on someone you care for. The same way you call someone who fights by your side an 'ally'. At least...that's what I was taught."
Kirai took another small sip of his vodka, and his stomache wanted to kick it back; he held it down without showing any effort.
"Would you happen to have any potato chips, pretzels, or peanuts?.."
He needed to get some food in his stomache to dilute the amount of alcohol he was taking in.
He sat back while Regalia looked around for something, and considered what to tell her in response to her question.
"To be honest, Regalia, I don't really live a very interesting life; My only reason for living right now is to..."
Kirai paused. He considered what he was about to say, and whether he should say it to Regalia.
"..regain my honor. My name is forever shamed until I get it back."
Kirai almost shuddered at the sudden flashes of gore that blew through his mind; all the men and demons he'd killed to become as strong as he was. All the times he'd killed his own enslaved demons, torturing them endlessly day after day for his own personal gain. In this, he'd never felt guilt; He called it 'Purgatorial Redemption' for the demons, which had committed crimes against man. But suddenly, all the blood that drenched his hands were causing him to feel a great guilt in the pit of his stomach.
He stared at his right hand; His scroll slithered out slowly, like a serpent, and poked it's end in the direction of Kirai's face.
Kirai gripped his fist audibly, causing the leather glove he wore to scritch with the sound of stretching. His scroll retracted slowly.
He looked up at Regalia, who seemed rather curious about his behavior.
"Sorry. Drank too fast~"
And with that, he picked up his glass and took another swig.  

[Nyanfood]

A package of salty Sour Cream and Onion bagel chips smacked into his lap. She'd pulled it out from one of her drawers. Regulus herself rarely ate that sort of thing, choosing a liquid fruit-and-sugar diet that could make hummingbirds cringe.

There was a most interesting expression on her face. It had been innocent curiosity at first... but that quickly changed to one of hardened coldness. She had seen many look the way he did. It was a torment that many humans faced... a 'conscience.'

Stars did not have emotions. Because stars had no desires or ambitions, they were not corruptible beings. They were the most efficient workers of the Multiverse and, currently, the highest sentient beings in existence. However, for the stars it was a rule of thumb to never get close to mortals or lower beings. Just watching a planet for too long became fatal to a star's existence. Many lower-level stars have been corrupted and exiled to become Gods and Goddesses among mortals... thus creating pantheons and religions. She herself became Nike when she first descended upon men.

Regulus was the first and only member of the House of Lords to be corrupted.

It made her nervous -- that was a new sensation to feel, for sure. Looking at Kirai, she wondered if, one day, she would be forced to accept a conscience as well. Her hands were stained in so much blood. Would she become just as tortured as Kirai? More? Or perhaps, she would be lucky and remain heartless to the suffering of others for the rest of her life.

"Honor...?" That was like pride, wasn't it? When man corrupted her, it was with the element known as 'pride.' She was so proud that she wore the name 'Regulus' like a medallion in her eyes. Only now did she learn to be more discreet. A wise tiger does not show his claws... or in her case, a lion.  

[ginseku]

Kirai eyed the bag of bagel chips oddly for a moment, then passed them back to Regalia.
"I think i'll pass on these."
He took another sip of his vodka.
Suddenly, he became aware of his earlier agreement to meet Austin back in the courtyards. He took a quick glance at a small silver watch he had on beneath his glove.
He sighed. 23 minutes until sunset.
A thought crossed his mind. He felt a bit stuffy in here, and he needed some fresh air; All this drinking wasn't doing him any good.
"Hey, I've got a meeting in a few minutes. Do you want to continue our conversation outside?"
Kirai reached into his pocket and pulled out a small urn and an even smaller Vial of brownish tar-like gunk. The urn, contained Sendo Kemuri's ashes.
The vision of his mangled, torn apart body flashed through his mind. It was a vivid picture; His throat ripped out, hanging limply from the nape of what used to be his neck; His entrails decorating the spike which he impaled himself on.
It was a terrible thing to have to see.  

[Nyanfood]

"I shouldn't intrude on your meeting."

She stroked a hand through her hair slightly and made the floating tresses ripple into opalescent colors. Even she knew about politeness and the such. if he said he had a meeting, it meant that she'd better let go. The first time she learned anything about that sort of etiquette was when she wanted to go to the Necromancer's conference with Raid. She pestered him not to leave her alone until he took her to the conference site. However, she ended up causing trouble for Raid as she was instantly targeted as a rare resource and experiment material. After that incident, she sat quietly in the den of his lair and watched kid's television shows until he came back.

Regulus sighed. She missed Raid...

Quickly composing herself, she set down anything that was in her hand and led the way towards the door. Her amber-red eyes followed him in peripheral. They were exquisitely beautiful eyes, just like her person, and glittered like the jewels on her sword. Fire amber came from the fossilized sap of a specific and rare tree that is said to possess red dye. Similar ancestors still exist and only inhabits the deepest depths of volcanic Africa. However, researchers have already acquired a specimen of that plant and had completed studies on it.

Regulus' eyes were the same. They glowed like the passionate sunset and a person could stare at them for ages without breaking away. Ultimately though, they were only pretty eyes. They were not shrouded in mystery and they neither pierced nor looked into the soul. They were simply eyes.

Beautiful. Useless.

Just like her.

Her fingers barely touched the doorknob and it opened up with ease. A messenger android had been hovering there, just about to knock. She looked at it oddly. The thing was like some sort of a floating printer. Upon spitting a sheet of paper into her face, the humming piece of technology left immediately. It looked like her roommate would be late in coming from a glance at the notification.

"Would you like me to walk you there, Mister Kirai?" She asked courteously, folding her paper and setting it aside with her slender fingers. They were not long but they were thin and pretty down to the last detail. Though her words were sincere, it was impossible to tell if she really meant it when she spoke. Her voice was not an expressive one. However, it was not blatantly robotic either. It simply... was.

"You don't look so well."  

[ginseku]

"You won't be intruding, all it is is a simple exchange. Besides, theres something there that i think you'd find rather interesting."
Kirai stood up slowly, rolling his knees around for a moment to get the blood flow going again. His calves felt rather numb and cold, though he knew it to be the contrary.
He crossed the room to the door and walked through it, brushing off her last comment with a simple reply.
"It's nothing."
Kirai looked down the hall for a moment, then back the other way, checking to see who might be around; it didn't seem like there was anyone here at the moment.
"So, tell me something, Regalia, what is it like to see a star be born? Is it fantastic, miraculous? Is it mysterious? Can words even describe it?"
Kirai grinned slightly.
"The beginning of anything and everything has beauty. Everyone around here is amazed, apparently, at the face of newborn children, and at their birth.."
Kirai took a small glance at the urn in his hand.