The Search of Tedragon

Solomon wandered around the streets of this unnaturally perfect city. His long black hair flowed with the ever so light wind that was funneled in between the buildings. His deep green eyes surveyed everyone passing buy and something just felt off about it all. This place was just not his cup of tea. His long sword hung loosely at his hip, and his pistol was hidden in a holster underneath his vest. A cigarette burned slowly between his lips and no one bothered to get in his way on the busy street. He was a tall, dark figure of intimidation and fear who was being closely watched also, but it bothered him none. He had eyes for only one prize, the Magic College.

He only hoped he could be in and out fast enough, and not cause any trouble. The patron God of this world did not like extra dimensional foreigners he had heard. He tried to recall the name, but could not. He cared very, very little for Gods. Never had to worry about any where he came from.

When his smoke ran out, he tossed it to the ground, stomped on it, and grabbed the arm of a man who just so happened to be beside him. A small bald man, who looked up at the 6' 3" Solomon with his harsh eyes and massive scar and nearly crapped his pants. "Where is the college for magic?" He asked, none to nicely, staring down at the shivering little man.

"T-two blocks down and keep going to your r-r-r-right!" He barely managed to spit out. Satisfied, Solomon let him go and kept walked. Amused at the mans reaction, and that of the guards who had been watching him for about four blocks now. They were ready to pounce, but they quickly lost sight of Solomon when a group of merchants walked by and obscured their view for only a second, but it was long enough and The Mercenary was gone, vanished.

That is, only to reappear in front of the College. Solomon put a hand on his necklace and looked up, "Better give me what I need. Fifteen hundred years is a long time to look for something."

Surina was enjoying her time in Draconis. It was amazing she was even able to get in the over populated city. Getting in just has a regular person was hard enough but Surina was not a regular person. She took up a lot more room then anyone on else on the ship she had arrived on earlier. Not to mention the fact that Surina didn't have any money. The only reason she got to Draconis is because she had long conversation with the captain of a ship back at Brysur. The captain had taken a liking to the snake girl and offered her a free ride to Draconis. He knew her kind was cold blooded and figured she would enjoy the convenient of Iota due to the fact that it was never cold there. Not to mention Draconis had a lot of people and he figure Surina was quite the people person.

Now here she was in Draconis a place that seemed to be heaven to the penny less Lamia. She slithered around the crowded streets her shiny red scales reflecting the sunlight which drew more attention to her. Though not negative attention. Draconis was one of the cities that didn't mind Lamia and for that Surina was very grateful. Surina couldn't talk to each and everyone one of the people here so she stuck with socializing only with the ones that caught her eye or looked interesting. 

Then Surina heard something that caught her attention. "Better give me what I need. Fifteen hundred years is a long time to look for something." Said a good looking man looking at the magic college. Surina didn't normally like guys with long hair but this mans long black hair went well with his overall look. Surina slithered after him her soundless movement making her seem sneaky. She moved up behind them then around him to only to end up in front of him. There wasn't much space between the two. It would be very uncomfortable for anyone who valued their personal space a concept Surina couldn't grasp. "Fifteen hundred years? You look more like you're in your thirties. Either way did it really take you that long to reach this place? That's a nice necklace by the way." Surina said to the man. He was good looking and she wanted to spend some time with him. He looked like that type of person who would be a little unnerved by a Lamia such as herself. If that was the case maybe she could change his perspective.

Solomon stared at the newcomer, a snake-woman. She reminded him of a younger looking version of a monster that ate one of his brothers back at the temple before he caused the oxygen in her lungs to combust. Was not a pretty sight, or a pretty clean up. However, this woman seemed to be not like those monsters from Assalia at all and on the contrary she seemed very friendly, if without a concept of personal space. He would admit though, she was cute. The human bit at least. "I am in my thirties, or at least, this body is." Solomon said coldly, but not harshly. When she commented on the necklace he made no reply but simply put the silver rose necklace underneath his shirt, away from sight. "I am not from around here. I come from a world far, far away." He said in answer to why it took him so long so find such a seemingly easy to find place.

He was in a bit of a rush, but this girl and her lack of personal space rubbed Solomon the right way for once. Maybe he envied her youthful ignorance, maybe it had just been too long since he had a conversation that wasn't about Death, time, or work. So he decided he could waste a few more minutes in small talk, however horrible he was at it. "What is your name child and what, if I may inquire, are you?" He asked the serpentine girl.

"I am in my thirties, or at least, this body is." This comment instantly perked Surina's interests in more then she already was. The comment seemed to imply he jumped from body to body. Such a thing was only achievable with soul magic. Why would someone with soul magic want to learn more magic at the college? Did he know soul magic was forbidden. If he really was as old as he says he is there is no way he wouldn't know that. In fact someone as old as him shouldn't already know just about everything there is to know about magic. His next statement answered these questions somewhat. "I am not from around here. I come from a world far, far away." The statement sounded crazy but it made sense.

Surina noticed he didn't reply to her compliment about the necklace and instead tucked it away. Surina didn't take offence to that. She was a stranger and the necklace could be very valuable to him. If Surina had a valuable necklace she would probably do the same thing. "What is your name child and what, if I may inquire, are you?" The man asked without bothering to give his own name. Surina wasn't surprised by the question at all. Even several non aliens native to this planet had never seen or heard of Lamia before. In fact probably more than half the of the worlds populace had never seen a Lamia. They general aren't liked due to their monstrous appearance and relation to snakes, not to mention their fast speed, strong tail muscles, and venom. The only places they are tolerated were big cities such as this one. Coincidentally this city was the only place you could buy Lamia anti-venom. Anyone who didn't know much about Lamia's probably wouldn't know they had fangs hidden in their perfectly normal human looking mouth. "My name is Surina and I'm a Lamia." Surina said answering his question. She awnsered the question at the same time she began coiling her tail around her own tail until her entire tail was coiled around itself several times over.  It was a Lamia's version of sitting but unlike humans or bipeds which needed a chair or had to crouch to the ground a Lamia could do it anywhere. "So how come you've come to a magic college looking for something? I figured someone of your age would already know everything there is to know about such things."

Solomon, preferring to stand, watched the girl Surina coil in on herself to make a personal place to sit and for a second mused at the evolutionary design that went into such things. "Surina the Lamia. My name is Solomon Black." He said, knowing it was impolite to ask without giving but that it was even worse to receive but not give. This girl did have a hundred and one questions and after so many dealings with Immortals, Gods, Aspects and others, Solomon took this lack of knowledge as a breath of fresh air.

He debated telling her the truth, but she would either flat out not believe him or become increasingly scared. Most mortals never know how to deal with the fact that they are not alone in the Omniverse. Instead he decided to give her a form of the truth, something he was getting quite adept at. "My age is a curse and not of my own doing. When you live long enough you learn that death may be one of the greatest gifts of life." Solomon said as he looked away from Surina and up at the College. His search for ways to bring his sister back had brought him many places, but once he heard about Soul magic he thought it was at least worth a look. Without any real knowledge on where to start, he went straight to the college, hoping there would at least be a trail to follow. "Surina, child, what do you know of Soul magic?" He asked bluntly. Aware this may be a foolish move but if all else failed he could turn back the clock.

"Surina the Lamia. My name is Solomon Black." Solomon said introducing himself. Surina thought the last name was funny simply because she figured all last names were supposed to like not mean anything. There were just names. However last names like black which was an adjective just seemed odd because it meant something more than just being a family name. Solomon then answered her question. "My age is a curse and not of my own doing. When you live long enough you learn that death may be one of the greatest gifts of life." "I disagree." Surina replied. She had though about if she would like to be immortal or not and came to her own conclusion. "The only reason being immortal sucks is because while you live on every one you know eventually ides and everyone you meet after that will eventually die as well. The longer we live the more our day to day lives become automatic thus speeding up our perception of time and by consequence the speed others die. Now if our friends and family were immortal such suffering would not occur and it wouldn't be a curse." 


After this Solomon had a question one that made Surina go wide eyes for someone to be so bold as to bluntly state their intentional search for such a forbidden thing. "Surina, child, what do you know of Soul magic?" He asked. "Shhh" Surina replied. If he knew of the existence of soul magic then he knew it was forbidden so Surina felt no need to remind him. Simply shushing him was enough of a reminder. Surina whispered her response. "Yea I know what what soul magic is better than most without skill in it. Its the magic the uses the souls of the dead in order to achieve things normal magic can't at least that is the reason most who dare search for it want it for. It can also be used to do things normal magic can do but on a far more powerful scale. The person who raised me knew how to use it but he refused to teach me.

Surina then brushed the subject of and decided to change it. Surina uncoiled around herself and instead coiled around Solomon once. She wasn't actually touching him though such a thing was considered an aggressive action among her race. This was considered more like a half hug a normal hug was just a normal hug while an intimate hug was a normal hug but with the actually wrapping their tail loosely around them, but this was a half hug. If she had coiled around him more than once it would have meant she was romantically interested/flirting which Surina wasn't far off from doing. "You know one way to break the speeding up of time is to break your automatic life and do something drastically different. What do you say we get a bite to eat?"

Solomon's outward expression never changed, but he knew she was right. Fifteen hundred years ago immortality did not seem so bad when he had a best friend to do it with. Even if James was a volatile animal of a man, he was Solomon's brother in arms. He had to hand it to the Lamia, she had her mind in a good place. Now, when she silenced him he was about to take it all back but when she said next interested him more than finding a lead at some college. She knew a Soul Magic user, and that made her plenty valuable. Before he really had a chance to prod further she coiled around him and asked him to go eat.

Solomon watched her coil, moving his head and torso to follow her as she did so. Her movement was a wonder, he must admit. "Sure. You lead the way." Solomon said. He could use a meal as more time to ask about what he came for. Plus, she seemed pleasant enough. He could not fathom why a bubbly girl like her had any interest in a old man like Solomon though. He was cold, distant, not exactly the friendliest looking person and still she continued to stick around. He might even attempt small talk.

"Why are you here? From the way people keep eyeing us, you aren't exactly something they are as used to. Which makes me guess you are not from around here either." He asked nonchalantly.

Surina gave a big grin when he said sure. She then led the way out of the village. She didn't have any money so she hunted for her food. It didn't really occur to Surina that Soromon might not be able to eat raw meat, so they continued along. 

As they moved through the city Solomon asked her a question. "Why are you here? From the way people keep eyeing us, you aren't exactly something they are as used to. Which makes me guess you are not from around here either." "Its always been my dream to live in Draconis a dream that has only recently come true. Draconis is actually the city most accepting of my kind. There aren't very many of us because we are heavily discriminated against in most parts of the world. So yea I guess I'm a bit of a rare specimen."

Once they reached the outside of Draconis and into the wilderness Surina began hunting. She had heard horror stories of the things people have encountered in Iota and thats only from those who lived. She wasn't going deep into the woods so she figured she would be fine. After some time she was attacked by a 5ft tall dire wolf. It attempted to sink it canines into her but Surina was faster wrapping several layers of coils around the dog and squeezing it with such strength its eyes actually popped out of its head. Surina went to face Solomon only to finally realize he might not eat raw meat. "Umm, can you eat raw meat?" She asked knowing the answer was probably no.

Solomon personally thought they were going to a restaurant but once he actually put thought into it he realized that probably was not her scene anyway. Keeping his mouth shut, he followed and listened. A bit of a rare specimen she said, and Solomon knew exactly how that felt. He never replied to her, and she probably was catching on that Solomon was one who said very little but she liked to talk and that filled the dead air.

When she headed into the woods Solomon thought he might get a decent set up going, making sure no one was around to see he sat down as the ground raised to meet him, transforming into a comfortable looking spot to sit. He removed his sword from it's sheath and stabbed it into the ground next to him and sat down, awaiting Surinas return.  When she did return and ask him if he ate raw meat he shook his head, "It is fine. I can cook it." He walked over to her kill and tore it's leg off as easily as one would tear paper Then he waved his hand over the meat and as he did, the skin and fur fell away, the meat cooking itself well done. Solomon nodded at Surina, and took a large bite. Groaning as it tasted actually very good.

Surina had expected as much but at least he could cook it. She was shocked to see him rip one of the legs off and then cook it instantly with magic. Surina coiled up with her kill in the middle and simply began eating it not doing anything to it just eating it. Surina had eaten cooked meat before, she thought it tasted nasty in comparison. Fresh raw meat was much taster. 

As Surina ate she thought back on Solomon's question about soul magic. He was rather bold to be searching for it but then again he seemed really strong already. He probably didn't have to worry about being killed for breaking the law. Though Surina was stronger than most physically, she was no match for a magic user. Surina was curious why he was trying to learn soul magic. "So, Solomon right? How come you're searching for soul magic?" Surina asked before taking another bite into her food.

Solomon took another bite out of his leg and and turned to watch Surina tear into the carcass like and animal. He wasn't one to judge, eat how you like it. He did not even need to eat, he only did so when he liked the taste. Little habits of his mortality that remained.

When she asked about why he wanted soul magic he laid it out plain and simple, "My sister died some time ago. I want her back." He said, suddenly losing his appetite and putting the leg down. He looked at Surina, she was a nice enough girl and really did not deserve to get caught up in Solomon's hunt, but after so long and looking so hard he couldn't stop now. So many have died, and so many he had killed in the name of his obsession with not being alone. For James and for Annabell he could not give up, no matter what he had to do.

At this exact moment, another Solomon in a different world had just shed his body and gained an audience with Death. Solomon may not have to do anything with Surina after all. He would coast a bit longer, if Solomon's venture with death proved to work, then all will be perfect.

"Ah, that does seem to be the most popular reason and for good reason I suppose. Its hard losing a loved one and knowing you can get them back with a form of magic that's forbidden can many times be enough for one to pursue such an art. Most who succeed though don't get the life they were expecting. Their friends and family know the person died and there was only one explanation for coming back from the dead. That left total seclusion from the world the only life style left and that was no life to live. It my personal opinion that its more beneficial to the person to move on in life. Though I am guilty of wanting to learn soul magic myself my reasons are different. I suppose your case is also a little different. Your home isn't on this world so you can easily learn what you need to know and then leave without fear of persecution."   

After Surina finished her food she didn't know what to do. She wanted to spend more time with the man but the vibe she was getting was he had a goal and if she wasn't productive towards that goal then he had no reason to stick around. Surina didn't want him to leave though. She would even go so far as to say she had a crush on him. She supposed she could bring him to the person that raised her but she was really sure he wouldn't tell Solomon anything. Then there was after he discovered he wasn't getting what he wanted from him Surina would probably be stuck on Magalo all over again and she highly doubted she would get so luck as she had gotten this time. Still Surina couldn't help it. Her emotions were too strong. Besides maybe things would change as he got to know her more. "You know if you really want I could take you to see him. The guy who knows how to use soul magic I mean."

Solomon heard her words about having to hide away and for most people that would be a reason but with Solomon he was alone. However, he could tell that despite thinking that what Solomon was doing was ultimately wrong she was still willing to help him, without even having to ask for her help. "If you wish." Solomon said, but wanting to postpone just in case he did not need her help he grabbed his sword and motion back to the city. "That can wait until tomorrow however. You came so far to see Draconis and you should enjoy it." His voice was emotionless, but hopefully his sincerity came through.

He looked at Surina, all wide eyed and youthful. Her dream of being here had just come true. Solomon tried to remember what he dreamed of when he was a teenager other than just improving his skills as a monk and impressing the teacher. It was too far away but he knew something Surina might enjoy. "Close your eyes and hold your breath child." Once she had, Solomon would walk over and place a hand on her shoulder, finding the highest point in the city and focused on it. He then stepped away a few steps and looked at her, their hair blowing in the strong winds.

They now stood on top of the highest point in Draconis, capable of seeing the entire city in its entire glory. "Open your eyes now."

"That can wait until tomorrow however. You came so far to see Draconis and you should enjoy it." This response from Solomon was not what Surina had expected. Perhaps things could work out between them after all. Her optimism grew at this thought. "Close your eyes and hold your breath child." He said to her. Surina did as she was told and closed her eyes and held her breath. Surina was especially confused about the breath part though. Was he trying to make her antsy because it was working. Surina nearly gasped when the man stuck a hand on her shoulder instead she just tensed her muscles. Surina could feel, smell, and hear the sudden difference in the environment though she still wasn't quite prepared for what she saw when she opened her eyes. Surina squealed and quickly coiled up. Not only was it a comfortable position but it also offered superior stability to even quadrupeds. The reaction was purely instinctual. Once Surina had recovered from her shock she looked at Solomon with awe. "Only the best magic users in the would can teleport." Surina looked down at the streets and the many people walking about. They looked like ants from way up here. After that she began to look a the scenery beyond the city. It was amazing how far she could see. In fact she could swear she saw something flying really deep into the Iota wilderness.

If Solomon still showed outward signs of emotion, he would have smiled at the sight of the girl getting so happy to see the city from such an angle. To give Surina more room to slither about on the rooftop Solomon stepped off the edge, walking on thin air. His jet black hair move with the wind and his coat also but his eyes never left the Lamia. Part of him wondering why he was putting an interest in this girl. "I would not call what I do magic." Solomon said. He long ago learned the difference between magic and how he bends the universe to his will.

He looked away and surveyed his surroundings. Draconis was quite the spectacle from a birds eye view. He would have to keep quieter however, he thought as he stepped back onto the roof. Too much spacial manipulation might attract unwanted attention from the Gods. Still, one more shift in space shouldn't create too much noise but after that he'd have to stay hidden for a while.

The mercenary looked at his new found companion, "Is the view as good as you'd imagined?" He said approaching her.

Surina suddenly realized that this roof had to be really strong since she hadn't fallen through it yet. She supposed Draconis had the money and the minds to make such a strong roof though. Normally Surina weighed far too much for any roof. Solomon then said something about it not being magic. This really perked her interests. While she didn't know how to use magic she knew a lot about it and one of the things she knew was they had already discovered every form of magic there is. This was proven when observing the dragons. Though they showed unbelievable more talent and ability in magic they never used magic that wasn't already known. This meant only one of two conclusions one of which seemed more likely from his story so far. "You aren't even from this dimension are you?" Surina asked the man. If he truly wasn't from this dimension then he probobly already knew that whatever magic he held before that didn't exist in this realm would slowly fade away. From what Surina had seen so far it seemed he would lose most of his skill in magic.

 "Is the view as good as you'd imagined?" Solomon asked her. "Its even more than I had imagined." Surina replied. Surina suddenly got really worried. If this guy could teleport currently then he could just teleport them all the way to Megalo. That would ruin her chance to bond with him on the journey. Thankfully the sun was starting to go down. Which she hoped would give her one more day. "Can I get down now? Its not that I don't enjoy it but I'm not use to being this high in the air. Not to mention this is the first roof not to collapse under my weight. I feel like it's going to give way any moment."

"Glad you liked it." Solomon put a hand on her shoulder again, allowing her to close her eyes and hold her breath before moving them to a empty area in the city where no one would freak out from them showing up without warning. Again he backed away and allowed her to come to terms with her new surroundings and he told himself this was the last time he did this unless necessary. Solomon's power was weakened but would only be so for a few more days before synchronization was complete and he would be back at full capacity in this world.

Solomon looked at Surina. "No I am not Surina. My world is another." He said, looking around. "Sun is setting, we should probably find somewhere for you to spend the night." He said as he looked around for any signs that would give a clear give-away for a hotel, but realized they may not accommodate a Lamia. Turning back to her, he extended a hand. "Come with me, I'll get us something five star."

Thankfully Solomon took her down from the building. He then suggested finding someplace to sleep for the night. One of the things Surina like about Draconis is even compared to the other major cities Draconis was the least discriminatory of all. They would actually accommodate a Lamia however the issue is Surina like all most all of her kind didn't user currency so they never had money for such things. Despite this Solomon said he would find them something five star. Could this day get any better? Surina followed Solomon's lead.

Solomon took Surina around town, a little rusty on finding lodgings. It took Solomon fifteen minutes to locate the nearest hotel, and another thirty to reach it on foot. When he walked through the door he approached the clerk, and asked for a room, reaching into his coat pocket he pulled out enough currency to fund the hotel room and then some. When he and Surina were finally in their room he was a little impressed. It was not bad at all, extremely large, and plainly so built for a Lamia. It was indeed five star.

Solomon removed his sword belt, and placed it in the corner and then removed his vest. Showcasing a gun holster that he also removed and placed beside his sword. He quickly found the bar and poured himself a drink, whiskey. Cracking his neck he turned around and looked over at the girl, "So. This is five star in Draconis."

They spent some time looking for a nice hotel and thankfully it didn't take them much longer than 15 minutes. They walked in and instead Solomon asking for a room he dropped down a very large amount of money. The clerk said nothing she just glanced at the Lamia that seemed to be with the man and grabbed a specific key before giving directions for the right room. Surina idly wondered how he had so much money. How long had he been staying on Tedranog? Did he pick up a really good job somewhere?

Solomon and Surina made their way to the rented room. Surina was rather shocked by how nice and clean it was. Not to mention spacey. It was the first bedroom she had ever gone in where she didn't feel cramped. She could actually spread her entire body and still have room. It was like a master master bedroom. Surina was even more shocked when she took a look at the bath room. There was an entire small heated pool she could fit her entire body in. Saphira was too busy ooohing and aaahhhhing to notice what Solomon said. She was really debating trying out the heated pool. She had something else to do first though. Surina slithered up to Solomon and gave him a hug. It was more than just a regular hug. Surina wrapped her tail around Solomon lightly. It was more intimate than a normal hug though Solomon didn't know this and Surina didn't care if he did or not she was just going to enjoy her hug. 

[OOC: Like this but without the squeezing:

Solomon finished the last of his whiskey before Surina hugged him. Hugs were something he was not used to and just kinda stood there confused on what to do and tried to hug her back only to find he was tied up completely. He just let her go about it, had been a few hundred years since someone had even thought about hugging him. Still, he was relieved she enjoyed the room.

He kept holding her, and as he did so, images were flowing through his head. Nothingness, Death and an irritated Solomon so close yet so far. Replicating himself was always a strange occurrence, especially when he did so thousands of times over. For ease of purpose, each Solomon was his own person and there was no real Solomon. They all were and all mentally linked to each other but usually the links were shut doors. Only opened to relay important information.

Instead of starting more conversation, something he was not good at, he waited for Surina to make the next move.

After a great deal of time Surina finally let go of the man. The fact that the man acted almost the same way another of her own kind would when being hugged like that only seemed to deepen Surina's affection for him. "I'm going to go check out this pool/Lamia bath." Surina said before heading into the bathroom. After filling it up and coiling inside Surina became so relaxed she was near falling asleep. She spend several hours in their before returning to the bed room and coiling up to sleep. Lamia's didn't need a bed they slept on their own tail. However there was another bed in the room for any guests that wasn't a Lamia.

Surina didn't actually go to sleep though. She waited until she was sure Solomon fell asleep. When she was sure he was asleep she would move over to his bed and gently coil herself around being careful not to wake him up. From there she would fall asleep hugging him all night long.

While Surina went into the bath, Solomon poured himself another drink and sat down. Quietly thinking to himself as she relaxed in her bath. When he was sure she would not come out anything soon he stood up and images were thrown into his head yet again. Darkness enveloping him, a crystal, some cryptic images but most of all a location. Unfourtunately Death was even more cyptic, but Solomon did not care. They got it, and they were all going to meet at that spot in three days time.

Solomon finished his drink and pondered for a while, unbeknownst how long time was passing as he sat there and though. Doing nothing for long enough for Surina to get out of her bath, as she came out Solomon would look outside and see the moon high. Deciding he should probably go to bed, not out of a need for sleep, but because sleep was one of the few things that hasn't changed since he was mortal.

Getting ready for bed he removed his shirt, displaying more scars on his extremely built but relatively thin body, from when he was completely human, though none as large as the one on his face. A stab wound on his lower abdomen, that showed on both sides, and secondly a large gash above his heart from an ax wound. He did not have to keep these around, but he was human they were his past. He climbed into bed and after an hour or so he finally drifted off, waking up as Surina coiled up to him but deciding not to brush her off.

Surina woke up before Solomon had or at least she was pretty sure he wasn't awake. Surina was still wrapped up around him both tail and arms. There were a few reason why Surina didn't want to get off. First was she didn't want to wake him up, second she was enjoying it, and third he was keeping her body warm. So she just stayed there and enjoyed it till he wakes up.

Solomon awoke to the old, yet familiar feel of a woman's embrace. How long has it been since he allowed himself anything close to a night with someone. Fifty, sixty years maybe and even longer if you do not count paid company. He groaned and went to stretch but found himself closely held by the Lamia and most of it cam back to him, even the 40 of whiskey he drank before bed. He rolled over to face Surina, "Morning," Solomon said in a sleepy but still neutral tone, scratching his scar. Looking at her and seeing a glow he couldn't help but comment, "You seemed to have a good sleep."


"Why do you like me? You seem a little young to fancy an old man like me, even if I was only thirty." He said.