Inertia

Eventually, they made their way to the gate. Silver often paused outside the gate, and contemplated why they were doing what they were doing. It was almost like a little ritual of sorts. Stop at the gate. Stare. Consider the existence of magic and it’s level of sentience. Continue on regardless. This time, however, something was different.

They simply pushed past the gate and headed inside without thinking of it twice. Did it have something to do with Juniper’s presence, or were they merely bored of the ritual? It was hard to tell, really, and even if asked, Silver was unlikely to give a straight answer to the question.

After a few years of exploring the mansion at different times, Silver was starting to get familiar with the different themes that overtook the place. They didn’t really understand why it happened, but it seemed to change about once a moon. This particular cycle was Inkantana. The time of… time. It was quite beautiful, they thought.

7
[139.55; 2.4] - 2

Had they ever said that aloud before? It felt weird to say. While they hadn’t doubted that they came to that conclusion a long time ago, had they ever explained it so plainly? It feels like they must have, but they couldn’t remember. They pushed the discomfort at the thought of forgetting to the back of their mind, and continued their explanation.

“We could explore the gardens, or go inside, and inside… well, it’s not what you might expect. It’s very unusual in there, and … stuff happens. It’s ah, it’s interesting, I promise.”

With that incredibly graceful explanation out of the way, Silver rubbed their face nervously, and quickly blurted out the next bit. “Do you want to go inside, or outside?”

They often let their companions choose the direction of the upcoming adventure. For the most part, it didn't really matter what they did first, and if they chose every time, perhaps their own bias would get in the way of some kind of novel discovery. Or perhaps they just hated being put on the spot and it was simply easier to let fate decide.

9
[139.65; 2.8] - 4

There are few beasts who've come to find the essence of the Mansion, and all of its wonder, something worth checking out or exploring. Some smaller ones would make their ways through the vegetations, while others simply carried on their way, following their own trail.

An Enileaf rubbed itself along a few feet away, minding it's own as it rubs (with a soft purr) against harder, warmer surfaces available. Farther still, a rather softly-looking pair- feathers a light fluff with every gentle breeze- picking at the available grass and bobbing along. What a peaceful scene..!

The firefly festival was a strange and beautiful time at the mansion. If they could remember in time, Silver always made it a point to spend some time there to see what was new. The chaotic nature of the event made it so they never felt like they had seen everything worth seeing. Did it constantly change, or were they just going through the rabbit warren in a different pattern each time? Whatever the case, they were getting the urge to explore again.

One of their favorite parts about going on a mini adventure was that they could bring a companion with them, who they could get to know better by testing out new experiences in a… reasonably safe environment. Silver had been to the eccentric’s mansion plenty of times during their life in the city, but they still felt like there were many mysteries that were yet to be revealed.

1
[141.35; 2.2]

“Are you ready?” Silver asked idly as they approached the gate. They weren’t really asking Eddie to hear her answer, but more of a formality. Perhaps they were checking with themselves as to how they felt. For some reason, the gate that led to the mansion grounds always made them hesitate. It was as if crossing the threshold into the mansion’s magical aura was an active decision for them, and they always had to take a bit of time to psych themselves up to it.

Eddie was staring at something beyond the gate that she couldn’t quite make out. It was glowing and dancing. Probably a firefly, though she didn’t actually know what a firefly was. To her it was just a mysterious orb of light bouncing around in the distance. She wanted to see what it was, so she tugged on Silver’s shirt and pointed to it.

3
[141.45; 2.6]

Silver took note of the way Eddie was squinting into the light and took that as a hint that they should go inside. Perhaps the weather would be different there. Not that there was any guarantee, of course. One of the strange things about the mansion was the blurring of what ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ even meant. There was no guarantee that they wouldn’t open the door and step into a replica of the deep ocean. Though that had only happened once, and never during the time of the fireflies.

“Stay close,” Silver cautioned as they approached the front door. They had her in the crook of their arm for now, but they knew that she could get excited and fly off after something with no notice at any time. Not that their warning would really do anything to combat that. She would do whatver she wanted, regardless of what they said. All they could do was try to help her.

5
[141.55; 3]

“Ah, see what, what I mean?” Silver said. Suddenly they felt justified in being cautious, even though nothing bad had actually happened. It was just a weird trick of the light. There was no actual harm being done.

They carefully stepped through the room, looking for the gaps in between the candles to get through to the other side of the room where there was another door. They were focused on the ground so that they didn’t step on anything, but they had forgotten that there were also candles in the air until one hit them on the head. It tipped over and dribbled hot wax onto their forehead.

“Aah!” Silver squeaked, jumping with their tail puffed up wide. They quickly tried to brush the wax off of their head only to find that it was cool to the touch. It wasn’t hot at all. They had expected to be burned, but once they calmed down and saw the situation for what it actually was, they noticed that there was no actual harm.

7
[141.65; 3.4]