Seeking Guidance (Open)

It was weird talking about prosperous this business venture in this specific location would be with a waitress, but Steiner none the less nodded his head in agreement. Businesses like this were all about location and earning money from these specific niche shops was hard enough due to the nature of the niche that it was seemingly trying to fulfill. None the less, it took balls to open a store in a place like this, and hope it attracted a crowd, and to be honest it did attract a few people. At least that is the way that it did look at that specific moment, but more than likely this what they would consider a "peak" hour, and that was a bit depressing. Another growl from his stomach would cause an instinctual reaction of Steiner itching the top of his head in embarrassment. He was starving, having not ate anything this morning, and now sitting here in the Raw-Men shop, he definitely couldn't help, but feel the residual effects of missing the most important meal of the day.

To be honest as he lay out his money for the waitress, he could feel her judging him, and to be honest, though he felt the judgement he accepted it. He was poor and hadn't had the best of luck in finding a location that was willing to keep him on with the type of schedule he was hoping to work. He wanted to be a hero and that meant that he would need to take off at a moment's notice to take on the threats that were facing the world. As such that also meant that his schedule would have to be negotiable and that in itself was the problem. Most places out there were looking for people who were more reliable and capable of working pretty much any hour that they wanted, that just wasn't Steiner. With his training regiment and his constant need to improve himself he just couldn't find a way to be punctual or to quite honestly show up to certain shifts where he was needed.

It wasn't due to the fact that he was lazy, but rather that he just couldn't make it with the amount of pressure that Valus put him under to keep himself in peak physical condition. He groaned, placing a hand on forehead as he heard her discuss the quality of the meal he was about to order, and realizing that it probably wouldn't be enough to fill the gaping void known as his stomach. Steiner was sort of a glutton ever since he drew the sword from the stone in Europe, he believed it was due to the duality of his spirit, and the fact that he had another being inside of him who also had energy that needed to be restored. That, however, was nothing more than a theory that he hadn't quite got around to asking Valus about. It wasn't like spirits didn't eat, so maybe it was possible that the reason that Steiner usually always felt hungry was because Valus too needed a way to recharge.

"I don't think avoiding the sale's tax would be right, you guys need the money more than I do.", Steiner whispered under his breath. At times he hated having to be the nice guy, but he understood that in a world full of demons and insane monstrosities that there also had to be voices of reason. Steiner wanted to be that voice and as such that also meant that he had to obey the common laws, even the ones that would cost him a better meal, and more than probably a quicker recovery. He felt himself perk up, however, as he heard about her knowledge of people who could possibly train him in the way of the blade. It brought a smile to his face and lightened the dire mood he was currently in by bringing him some glimmer of hope at the end of the long dark tunnel he had been walking in. As he listened, keeping his eyes on the waitress, and paying attention to her words to hear what information she had to offer him, that was when something weird and completely unbelievable happened.

Where there was once a person, there was now, no one. Cut off in mid-sentence and gone from view entirely, the waitress was no where to be seen. For a moment, Steiner reached out his senses to the surrounding area, it wasn't such a wide area he could cover with his novice abilities, but it would be enough to pick up something odd if it were out of place in the surrounding areas of the shop. Yet, to his astonishment, there was nothing. Where there had once been a person, with no true spiritual power to speak of, there was now just empty space, and confusion. For a moment, Steiner's concern grew, and caused him to stand up from his table. He scanned using his vision, thinking that maybe she had been whisked away, or possibly that she had powers, but was quite good at hiding them. Nothing was surprising him anymore in terms of power in the new world he was now walking, but none the less the safety of the waitress was his top priority.

She had been diligent and had offered to help him regardless of the person he was and had even gone out of her way to help him find a teacher for his swordsmanship skills. Yet, there was more to it than that, this was a person who he discerned as being innocent, though he didn't really know her true intentions, and things of that nature, he was still concerned for her well being. As such, Steiner began to frantically search the room with his eyes, drawing a few glares from several other occupants who were surprised, but none the less were regulars and had apparently seen things like this before. Yet, for a new guy like him, this was odd, and bewildering and above all frightening. After about thirty seconds of looking around and worrying, Steiner was about to leave his table, and begin the search for the missing waitress when all of a sudden a new girl appeared in the place where the waitress had once stood.

No, this girl was the same girl in different clothes, and from the pained look upon her face he could only deduce that she was in severe pain. The rips in her clothing dyed red and scars were glowing in different locations on her skin in an unknown color to the young man. Those scars took shapes of things he had never seen before, but Steiner could understand that the fact they were glowing, and that she was in pain meant that these particular scars were not a good thing. As she came face to face with him, he could see the pain in her eyes, among many other emotions. Yet, even more so he felt an air of familiarity, as if they had met before, and that confused Steiner because he knew that he couldn't have possibly met her before this very moment. He had just met her in fact so that feeling of familiarity was confusing to him, causing him to furrow his own brow in thought, but the petty concerns of making sense of those feelings were completely washed away when he heard her speak.

"How do you know...my name...?", he uttered as his eyes went wide with a bit of surprise and then was quickly replaced by concern. It didn't matter that she knew his name, all that mattered was that she was safe, a little worse for the wear, but safe. "Are you alright?", Steiner said as he reached out to her and tried his best to give her once over seeing if there was anything that he could possibly due to help her lessen the pain she was in. Don't even think of healing her, Steiner. You are in no condition to be using your powers like that right now. Besides...something is fishy about this girl. If she is in pain, I will help her in whatever way I possibly can. It is a matter of principle, fishy or not. Valus groaned and then went back to his part of the mind, deciding it better to allow this plan to blow up in his face than to be a part of it. Steiner continued to do his examination and began to speak in relief: "I was worried when you just up and disappeared, does that happen often?"