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Inertia
Dec 30, 2021 6:17:23 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 30, 2021 6:17:23 GMT -6
Lumie suddenly shot forward, faster than Silver could react, and she landed just in front of the flames. She stuck her entire head in for a second, then pulled it back out as if nothing happened. Meanwhile, Silver was starting to react. They darted after her and reached out into the air where she used to be. They were just too slow to catch her.
“Lumie!” they cried out. “Lumie … oh, oh goodness, are you, are you okay?” they stammered as they began to notice that she was standing there completely unharmed.
“Oh Lumie,” Silver said, their breath catching in their throat. “I was so worried, please do not do things like tha… wait, how are you not injured?”
Silver took a tentative step toward the flames to test for themselves. Now that they thought about it, it wasn’t very warm in this room. In fact, it was pretty cold. Was the fire fake? An illusion? That would certainly make sense, given everything else they knew about this place and its habit of playing little tricks on its guests.
17 [137.6, 4.4] - 2
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Inertia
Dec 30, 2021 6:18:16 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 30, 2021 6:18:16 GMT -6
There was something else, though. It felt too real to just be an illusion. Blue flames. Where had they seen that before? Bah, they couldn’t remember. Silver did have a feeling they couldn't describe. They pulled one of their gloves off and held their hands out to the flame, the same way someone would when warming their hands on a campfire.
Cold. It was almost unbearably cold. It made them gasp, and take a step back. The fire was cold. What did they call it? R… something that sounded like rhyme, they thought. It didn’t matter, really, what it was called. The lapping cold flames were slowly freezing the room. Looking around, they could see a frost beginning to grow on the various features of the room.
“Lumie, I know the cold doesn't bother you, but I think we must go, I don’t think… think it’s safe.”
18 [137.65, 4.6] - 3
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Inertia
Dec 30, 2021 6:19:08 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 30, 2021 6:19:08 GMT -6
Quin had been watching quietly as everything happened. The cold flame, he could perceive it, even without tangible skin. Lumie wasn’t affected by the cold, so she wanted to test her theory. He liked her guts. She was fun! He never knew what she was going to do next. He liked that about her. Even if she was a little weird.
Silver looked back only to find the door to the room had disappeared. Of course it had. They tried not to panic. They repeated in their head that they just had to stay calm, and the solution would come to them. What was the next logical choice? There had to be another door. They walked over to the wall where the door used to be, and pressed their hand against it. Almost as if by instinct, Silver began to press on all of the walls to see which one would eventually give.
19 [137.7, 4.8] - 4
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Inertia
Dec 30, 2021 6:23:44 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 30, 2021 6:23:44 GMT -6
They didn’t remember where they learned how to do that, but it came to them right away. They must have spent a lot of time here that they now couldn’t remember. All of their memories were just one weird blur that sometimes came together to help them out of a tricky situation. Now if only they could do it on purpose…
Silver slowly moved around the room, pressing the walls here and there to see if one would pop open as a surprise door. There was no method to their madness, really. They were just going by whatever their gut said. It had been doing a good job so far, and they honestly didn't have any other ideas.
Lumie continued to stare into the depths of the wild blue flames, making Silver a little more concerned for every minute they spent without finding anything. They had to get her out of here. It was too much.
20 [137.75, 5] - 5
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Inertia
Dec 31, 2021 6:55:41 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 31, 2021 6:55:41 GMT -6
“Hah,” Silver whispered to themselves as they felt a click. The wall they were pressing on made some more clicking and thumping noises before slipping open to reveal a hallway. “Quin stay close,” Silver instructed before turning around to face Lumie.
“Lumie, hey there, I found somewhere else to explore, and, and I would like you to come with me okay?” Silver said softly. They spoke in the most comforting voice they could manage, so that she wouldn’t feel too freaked out by the whole thing.
They didn’t know how she was feeling, exactly, but the way she was staring off like that… it made them feel like something was deeply wrong. They felt like they had to shake her out of it gently, though, or it would become worse before it got better. If they just tried to force her or shout at her, that wouldn’t work. This required a more delicate touch to handle properly. Not that they were a shouting type, anyway.
21 [137.8, 5.2] - 6
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Inertia
Dec 31, 2021 6:56:50 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 31, 2021 6:56:50 GMT -6
“Lumie, please listen. We have to go, okay,” Silver reached out as if to stroke her reassuringly, but their hand went right through. She also wasn’t listening to anything they had to say. They frowned, not sure what they could do to help her. If they couldn't get her to respond to their voice and couldn't touch her, what could they even try next? They were at a loss. She could be trapped there forever, and they couldn’t leave without her…
Quin had a better idea. He floated down between her and the flames and landed on the rug in front of her. He stretched his wings out wide and flapped them a few times to get her attention. She snapped her head away from the mystical fire and looked at Quin instead. She didn’t have a choice - he was taking up as much of her field of vision as possible.
22 [137.85, 5.4] - 7
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Inertia
Dec 31, 2021 6:57:30 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 31, 2021 6:57:30 GMT -6
Quin chirped and chittered, flapping his wings and taking a few steps toward her. She flinched, as if she could feel the invisible gusts of wind coming from his wings. Suddenly, she shook her head and hopped off to the side. What was going on? She felt very confused. One minute she was walking into a nice cool room, and the next she was being assaulted by the weird little creature.
Lumie looked up at Silver for reassurance. Their expression softened instantly when they saw that she was okay. They really owed Quin one for his quick thinking. They were sure they could find some way to reward him, though they hadn’t been keeping score. Perhaps he actually owed them. It didn’t matter.
“Come, Lumie,” Silver said reassuringly, but firmly. They gestured toward the hidden hallway and took a tentative step toward it. Would she follow this time?
23 [137.9, 5.6] - 8
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Inertia
Dec 31, 2021 6:57:54 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 31, 2021 6:57:54 GMT -6
Lumie took one unsure step forward before hopping along after Silver and stopping at their side. She looked up at them as if she were asking a question, but they couldn’t be sure what she wanted. Instead, they just quietly reassured her and rested their hand where her head was again. It wasn’t clear if she could feel it or not, but they liked that it made them feel better, so they did it anyway.
“Let’s get going, before we freeze.” Silver said. They led the way, but kept their eyes on Lumie as they moved into and down the hallway. They didn’t want to lose track of her now that they were going somewhere else.
Quin seemed pleased that his plan worked, and he flew back up onto Silver’s shoulder. He squeaked happily and settled down so that he could both rest and watch Lumie at the same time. He would make sure to keep a close eye on her while they were traveling, since it seemed to make Silver so worried. He would do anything to make Silver a little less nervous.
24 [137.95, 5.8] - 9
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Inertia
Dec 31, 2021 6:59:00 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 31, 2021 6:59:00 GMT -6
The hallway popped out into another strange room with a high ceiling and huge windows. The room itself had just two large lounge chairs and a small table in the middle. There wasn’t a fireplace, like in the last room. Silver couldn’t help but to think the two put together would make an excellent greeting card.
“Well this looks… cozy,” they said. It wasn’t their idea of a good time, but they thought someone like Koda might like it. Curl up in the big chair with a nice book. Yea that sounded nice. There was something on the table, but they couldn’t make it out from across the room.
As the three of them stepped toward the chairs, the door clunked closed behind them. Suddenly, it was part of the wall again, like it never existed in the first place. Silver didn’t seem alarmed, but Lumie watched it with fascination.
25 [138, 6] - 10
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Inertia
Dec 31, 2021 6:59:23 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 31, 2021 6:59:23 GMT -6
She stuck her head through the wall and looked around, just in case she could catch a glimpse of the magic. No such luck. On the inside, it just looked like a normal timber frame covered in plaster. How unfortunate.
She popped back out of the wall just in time to see Silver wander over to the chair. They looked at it skeptically for a moment, just to check that there wasn’t anything there that they couldn’t sit on, and finally flopped down into the abundance of cushions.
The room was decorated like it came out of another era. The curtains were all very thick and heavily decorated with fringe and tassels. The wood was stained dark and otherwise unpainted. The room had a large, elaborately woven rug across the floor. The chairs were made of corduroy with intricately knit throws tossed over the top. Silver thought all of these things were absolutely unnecessary, of course.
26 [138.05, 6.2] - 11
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Inertia
Dec 31, 2021 7:00:36 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 31, 2021 7:00:36 GMT -6
Whether it was decorated weirdly or not, the chair was pretty comfortable. It was nice to sit somewhere for a moment, especially somewhere so comfortable. In a way, it almost felt like home. They hadn’t realized how much their feet had started to hurt from the cold until they sat down. Perhaps they could take a moment to relax and think about what to do next. At least it was warm again, so they had plenty of time to think and thaw.
Silver reached into their bag to look for a snack for Lumie when they remembered that they didn’t have any. They had two ethereal creatures with them all the time; why were they having so much trouble remembering that Lumie was the same? Something about her was different, perhaps. They had to admit that, as much as they liked them, they didn’t know that much about Yumenokei.
27 [138.1, 6.4] - 12
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Inertia
Dec 31, 2021 7:01:13 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 31, 2021 7:01:13 GMT -6
A creature like Quin or even Zii appeared to have all of the features they would expect from a creature. Clear legs, tails, head, ears, and eyes. Yumenokei had legs and… tails? It wasn’t clear whether the wispy tendrils on their backs were like tails or not. They also had very, very long ears, but they didn’t seem to hear out of them. Then there was the crown on their faces. Did they see from the crown? Smell from it? Was it merely decorative? Really, their featureless faces were the biggest point of difference between a Yumenokei and another kind of creature. Faces were just so important to creatures that had them, that it could be difficult to understand one who didn’t.
“Would you like to come sit with me?” Silver asked. They had a great idea, after all. They pulled a notebook from their bag and they sat some chalks onto the table next to them.
28 [138.15, 6.6] - 13
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Inertia
Dec 31, 2021 7:03:08 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 31, 2021 7:03:08 GMT -6
Lumie didn’t have a need for very posh cushions, but Silver was indicating that they would like for her to come over and sit down. That seemed like as good of an idea as any to her, and she hopped up through the back of the chair and tried to mimic the way Silver was sitting. She glanced at them a few times to make sure she was getting it right. She had her front paws in front of her and each of her back legs out to the side, feet pointing straight up. She looked over at them and tilted her head. Like this?
“Perfect,” Silver said. They began to scratch away in their notebook, taking extra care to detail her crown and the other silvery markings on her body. They scribbled in some notes about what they thought the markings might be, and how they may differ from the rest of her translucent body.
29 [138.2, 6.8] - 14
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Inertia
Dec 31, 2021 7:03:36 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 31, 2021 7:03:36 GMT -6
Was it like jewelry? Silver reached up to their chest and rubbed an amulet they wore through their shirt. It comforted them to know it was there. They knew how important jewelry could be to someone. Even if that part of them was long gone. It didn’t seem like her power came from the decorative filigree, her crown, or the ribbons she carried with her, but they did wonder if that was true or not.
“You’re quite unusual, Lumie,” Silver said. Then they giggled and said, “Or perhaps it’s me who is unusual.”
They had to keep in mind that, from her perspective, they were the unusual one. A solid, tall thing who walked on two legs and ate plants. Yet they were friends. It made them smile to think about how two incredibly different beings could still be friends. There was something about the power of friendship that broke through it all.
30 [138.25, 7] - 15
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Inertia
Dec 31, 2021 7:04:20 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Dec 31, 2021 7:04:20 GMT -6
It was fun to think about, but not very productive if they were honest. How long had they been sitting there? It didn’t seem like that long, but they didn’t want to spend too much time in any one place. Now that they could feel their toes, perhaps it was time to keep moving.
Silver wrapped their journal shut and shoved it back into their bag with everything else. It would probably be fine. As they grabbed the last pencil off the table, they noticed that there was a cup on it. It was full of warm brown liquid. Chocolate, perhaps? Silver loved cocoa, but they didn’t dare to drink something offered to them by the mansion. They had been there before. Not a good idea.
“Ah, look Lumie, this room has a door. How lucky are we?” Once again, Silver smirked at their own stupid jokes. It was about all they could do to keep themselves from going too crazy while exploring with a silent companion.
31 [138.35, 7.2] - 1
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