Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Welcome," a warm voice greeted, eyes smiling behind sunglasses as a dark-haired man waved from down (and behind) the bar. "What can I get you...?"

Azana, meanwhile, was cleaning up dishes and putting the rest of the meal away. It always tasted good as leftovers...and it seemed to have been a big hit.

Tyler chuckled lightly at Zippo, though the consequences of two of them were a mite frightening. "Blue causes spontaneous clone formation...I wonder if this will double our pace...?" But that thought trailed off for a moment, washed away by being the epicenter of much attention. That nickname again, the pull and weight of a young child, the soft support of a feminine voice and a light squeeze, more discussion from Amir.

He looked down to the riddle. "...pen from a fiddle...find the fiddle...why would--" A small, knowing smile crossed his face, and he shook his head. They'd been approaching it all wrong. So had he, for an instant.

"...an exchange. You need the fiddle to get the pen. Only question is, where would this guy keep a fiddle? And an important one as this one seems to be?"

"Maybe," she grinned, slightly forced through her own trepidation. "I'm glad everyone's behind me..." She flipped though, showing off some sketches of the regulars, including a half page with various poses of tails. Not every artist could have live models for tailed bipeds.

I hope I don't need them to be...

Sosol accepted it graciously, sliding it into the locked Honor Box. "Mixed berry wine," he repeated, closing his eyes and taking a moment. It sounded familiar, but it had been a while since anyone had asked. "Mixed...berry...ah!" He grinned, concentrating. Off the back of a shelf, covered in a thin film of dust, a bottle made its way forward, out into midair, and into his grasp.

"Thought so," he nodded, wiping it clean and double-checking the label. He poured a glass, casually setting it on the bar. "I hope it's a good one...can't say I've drank much of it myself. Just a sip or two when it first came in."

Outside the Inn, a man dressed in white and pale blue approached the building. He stopped, looking aside to the late autumn garden with a sneer of judgment and contempt. "An affront to the Order of Seasons," he muttered bitterly. "I will dispatch the proper authorities after I'm done." Ahead was the building itself, a strange hodge-podge of beings from all planes and alignments. A true Neutral Ground...it was beautiful, if it didn't also house his current quarry. The Order had to be maintained...and if he could rid himself of a Chaos Beast in the process, so much the better.

He reached the door, giving it an authoritative knock.

Azana narrowly dodged the fleeing demon, looking to the kitchen door. "What the hell...?" She walked out to the main room and feeling the chilly draft from outside.

"...a customary greeting," he muttered, stepping in just enough to close the door behind him. No need to freeze the residents in the process. His eyes scanned the main room of the Inn, finally landing on the approaching agent. "Rather bold of you," he commented, looking her up and down.

Azana had a hand on her hip, hardly a distraction from her lightly shaking knees. She'd never met him in person, but he had heard...and with that empathy trick before, she could feel him weigh on her shoulders. "You know what this place is...and I know you'll respect the rules, and my role here."

"That is true," he nodded, though his eyes narrowed at her. "...my, that doesn't suit you at all." A glimmering blade of light appeared in his hand, one he used to point to a spot just above her sword necklace.

"What're you--" She froze, having a flashback to the last time she had been this close to a weapon. "...you wouldn't dare..."

Sosol bristled, glaring daggers at the newcomer from across the room as a faint glow came from his forearm. This wasn't right...he wouldn't break the rules. He WAS the rules...the leader of the Order Keepers, Law himself. Was it a test? Was he trying to provoke her? It didn't matter; one move, and he was evicted.

"This is not a fight," Law declared calmly, his voice booming without volume, "and this is not a knife." The thrust was quick, no hesitation or remorse behind it.

Azana let out an inaudible gasp, eyes wide in stunned silence. Her head lowered slowly, color draining from her face in the glowing light of the blade.

Sosol didn't even excuse himself to the customer. He came over the bar with his full force, colliding with Law and, much to his surprise, knocking him all the way back to the door.

"One rule...ONE. RULE." He repeated, the door cracking under his psychic force as Law held steadfast.

"Open your eyes, Oracle," Law answered, voice commanding as ever. He had allowed himself to be distanced, the psychic would realize, so as not to hurt the beloved bartender.

"...um...awkward..." Azana had come back to her senses, blinking in surprise. She tried to grasp the hilt of the blade, but it grew ephemeral under her touch. "I'm okay...um, I think..."

The force vanished immediately, Sosol looking back and forth between the two in a delightful mix of relief and utter confusion. He staggered back a couple of steps, not used to letting loose so suddenly, and fixed his gaze on Law.

"Thank you," he muttered, dusting himself off and walking past the bartender. "Maybe now I can finish." He gripped the hilt with no trouble, the sword flashing once before he extracted it. Impaled on the blade was a writhing mass. It let out a miniature squeal of agony before dissolving into dust. "Order Prevails."

"And I didn't think I could get any more confused..." Azana muttered, a dazed amusement to her voice as she felt her knees grow weak beneath her.

Sosol, on the other hand, stormed up past Law and brought his wife a chair. "Would it have killed you to simply explain first?! What was that, anyway?!"

"Well, you seem to have answered your first question with your second," Law replied, folding his arms.

Violet stared, wide-eyed at the whole scene. Her hand, meanwhile, moved furiously, sketching almost automatically the scene before her.

"Az...!" Tyler gasped, unable to move before Sosol had. Hard to do so with a child in your lap and a woman at your shoulders...but she seemed to be okay, which was good. He would have asked the same questions as her husband...but he wasn't exactly on Law's good side, he could guess. Best to let the straight-and-narrow sorts handle it.

Malachai breathed a sigh of relief, glad for the lack of bloodshed, even happier that he wasn't the focus of the man's interest. Carefully, seeing as Sosol was well-distracted, he got a glass of ice water prepared and served it, if a bit shakily, eyes averted.

"Oh, they're upset, then...should I wear earmuffs?" asked Adam, looking up to the commotion, caught in surprise and horror. Today had been harrowing enough, but this took the cake. Taking a bracing breath, he stood up and approached the newcomer. "Pardon me, sir...but who are you, and what was that?"

Adam frowned, a bit perplexed, and looked himself over a moment. "...So...if you're Orrin's boss...you...oh! Oh, yes, well..." he grinned sheepishly. "Can't help one's nature, but for nurture, sir."

Mal gulped, smiling in a shaky half-panic. "Are you here to see Lord Orrin and Lady Charlotte, then?"

Malachai sniffed the air, frowning. "Yeah...they've been gone a while, really...but I bet he could help." said the demon, nodding to the chibi on the counter.

Due to the chibish metabolism, Zippo had not only returned to his normal colouring, but his double had evaporated. He stared up at Law, eyes bright and shining, madness reflected back to the being's gaze. "Bureidokuraamsu." smiled the chibi, tail lashing cheerily.

"...Breadcrumbs..?"

Zulma had no clue what was going on at all! She saw all the members of the GMO react very strangely and immediately to the arrival of the new comer 'Law'. Her golden gaze stared at the man, trying to figure out if he was a threat or not. She did not have her katana on her but she strangely felt as if she had to be ready to 'defend' her friends all of a sudden.
"Azana!!" she shouted as her friend was...wounded?! Sosol reacted immediately, but Azana was...fine?
The Innkeeper was puzzled.
She listened when Law introduced himself and moved closer to Azana, Sosol, Adam and Law, it was obvious by her face that she was not happy.

Jeff felt the change in the atmosphere and he lifted his eyes from Violet's amazing drawings.
"You have improved." he was just back from training so his blade was in his back.
He frown at Violet's reaction and put a protective hand on her shoulder.
As he saw the hit coming to Azana, he jumped to his feet and drew his blade but did not attack. He was ready however to back up Sosol who was defending his wife. He froze when he realized Azana was not hurt. What was going on?!?! Despite the man's explanations, he did not put his sword just yet.


((Sorry about all the edits))