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Post by Linyü on May 29, 2020 16:34:22 GMT -6
The figment frowned, an exaggerated expression on the stoic features of a man in his middling years. “It is no fun when no one answers, and I am only ever asking questions. Though I suppose it would have been even less fun if no one came at all. I am very glad you came, of course.”
“Get to the point,” San said. His voice was cold; he had no patience for the figment and its tangents, and the figment seemed under the very real threat of going on another such tangent now.
The figment startled again. “Oh! Yes. I am sorry. Though you are very… what is the word?” And here it cycled through several sounds that weren’t words in any language San recognized, before settling on, “Pushy! Yes, that’s it, isn’t it? Very pushy for a human. I thought you would have enjoyed it more, the memories.”
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Post by Linyü on May 29, 2020 16:37:59 GMT -6
“The river,” said San, who was doing his best not to think about the memories, and hardly wanted another reminder of them. The prospect of seeing his mother again had been at best bittersweet, and that was perhaps the least painful of the things he had seen today, of the ones that had been his own.
What Seveth would have said to the sight of the rest, he could not have said. Given the nature of his own reaction, he thought it best not to mention it to Seveth at all. San didn't like the other... presence within himself, but there was no sense in inflicting cruelty upon Seveth simply because he could, especially as they did share a body.
"The river," he prompted the figment again. It seemed incapable of giving a straight answer without wandering off the topic at hand, and San had no desire to be here all day.
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Post by Linyü on Jun 9, 2020 19:33:00 GMT -6
The figment opened its mouth to speak, but a sudden rumbling interrupted it. San tensed, feeling the floor shake beneath them, and their surroundings began all at once to distort. The cave walls flickered, then briefly gave way to something else before reconsolidating, and this time the figment didn't appear to be controlling it.
"What are you doing?" he asked tersely.
"No, no--- Not--- ---ime is---"
The figment seemed to be having issues of its own. It flickered in and out of existence entirely, in tandem with their surroundings, and the voice was once again breaking up.
"---no ti---"
San tried to focus on the voice, but there was barely enough to make out the words.
"---ver---"
Another snatch of half syllables. San's mouth drew into a thin line as he filtered through the noise of the whole place coming to pieces around them.
"---ollow the---"
"Follow the river," Rei said.
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Post by Linyü on Jun 9, 2020 19:42:44 GMT -6
Her ears were sharper than his, and she had seemed to sense something from the figment beyond what San could gather, so San didn't doubt that she had received what it had been trying to say. The only trouble was making sense of it, though presently he wasn't sure that he was interested in doing so in the first place.
But they had more pressing problems on their hands. The figment, having heard its message delivered, gave them a last weak ethereal nod before abruptly disappearing altogether. This, in turn, seemed to act as some sort of signal; all at once their surroundings snapped---
San dove for Rei, shielding her as best he could with his own body. The rumbling around them reached a crescendo, and even the ground beneath them felt as though it was shifting. San gritted his teeth, and rode it out, even as he probed his own mind for a spell that could get them out of there.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 9, 2020 19:54:16 GMT -6
You find yourself tumbling, falling- through what, it's hard to tell though.
[The next 5 posts have no reward. Post 50-55 of May. Sorry for the late roll!]
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Post by Linyü on Jun 9, 2020 20:41:04 GMT -6
He had done it once--- but it had been under duress, and he didn't remember the how of it. Even his memories of the event itself were hazy.
San could only curse his own lack of proficiency with magic. The other elementals among the Watchful Ones seemed to have full command of their abilities almost immediately. San had blamed his own exhaustion for his inability to do the same, though now he suspected it had more to do with Seveth's presence. Seveth had an easier time with the magic, but they still couldn't change places at will, and there was no recourse for him now except to use the means that had always been available to him, rather than relying on the magic of the node.
If this place went to pieces, he doubted his own body could survive. But eventually the shaking subsided, with neither of them the worse for wear.
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Post by Linyü on Jun 9, 2020 20:44:25 GMT -6
San waited a moment, listening for any further sign of danger, before easing himself away from Rei and rising to his feet. There was a cacophony of noise that hadn't been present before the shaking had begun, but most of it sounded far away, and the tremors had stopped. Rei fluttered up into the air again, ears angling this way and that, likely trying to get her bearings in their new surroundings.
They were surrounded by a room that looked as though it were made of plants.
In the place of carpet, there was a lawn; and where the walls would have been were thick with shrubs, so dense that nothing could be seen between the leaves. In the middle was a fire pit, some of the embers still burning within, though for the most part it was dormant now. There was a single door leading out of the room, into a space beyond.
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Post by Linyü on Jun 9, 2020 20:48:28 GMT -6
"We're getting out of here," San said. "Stay close." He didn't need to say anything more. Rei drifted after him as he walked towards the only exit. In any other circumstance, it might have been more prudent to investigate the area first, and their original objective had been to find some objects of worth to take back with them, but their time here had been entirely too unpredictable and dangerous. San had already made up his mind that it wasn't worth the risk, not for a few baubles of questionable worth.
And if there was treasure here, he doubted he could find it. Perhaps someone who was more well versed in magic could manage, but while he had the skills to steal from a normal estate, those skills mattered little in a building that could reform itself as it pleased. He was finding this out the hard way even now.
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Post by Linyü on Jun 9, 2020 20:53:59 GMT -6
He had no idea what kind of strangeness they would encounter beyond that doorway, but with no other avenues of travel available to him, he had no choice but to follow the path he had been given. Those were his thoughts as he exited the bonfire room. But despite his misgivings, the way out was surprisingly easy to find; no room he found himself in ever had more than two doors, the one they just came through and another leading beyond. The rooms themselves continued to be strange: one filled with firecrackers; another with tables, where the sound of hushed dinner conversations could be heard even though there was no one present. A third room was filled with fireflies, all the lights dimmed in a strange mimicry of night.
And then, eventually, he came to a door, which had a window, through which he could make out the sky outside.
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Post by Linyü on Jun 9, 2020 20:56:43 GMT -6
This was it, he thought, though a part of him still didn't quite believe it. Some of his incredulity was for the sheer strangeness of everything that had happened; the door could simply lead to another room, an impossibly large one, could it not? If this place could do everything he had seen it do so far, then it was perfectly capable of keeping them trapped within if it didn't wish them to leave.
But the doorways he'd come through were all merely that, without the door itself to open or close upon him. This was the first real door he had encountered since the place had upended itself, and that had to count for something, surely.
Another, tiny part was simply dismayed to find that the shape of the door had changed from that first startling reflection of his childhood home. But San pushed that thought away as firmly as he could.
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Post by Linyü on Jun 9, 2020 20:59:59 GMT -6
There were a great many things he didn't allow himself to think about, for his sake or someone else's. He could already feel the day's events becoming a part of that list.
He spent a fraction of a moment simply collecting himself, then opened the door.
They emerged. San went first, and Rei followed closely behind. As they walked away from the door, it closed itself of its own accord, and San turned to find himself facing a mansion, just as he had when they had begun the so-called heist. Everything about it had changed, from the number of windows to the trimmings of the exterior; only the size and general scope of the building remained the same. And San knew from their time inside that even that had been a falsehood.
The yard had changed too, though not so dramatically; it was still a yard, only now it was filled with more of the decorations he had first seen inside.
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Post by Linyü on Jun 9, 2020 21:08:11 GMT -6
There were candles, firecrackers, even rogue glasses of wine; and butterflies and fireflies wandered through the air together, though it was still daylight outside. Somewhere off in the distance, he thought he could hear the gentle sound of laughter, rising over the faint pops and whistles of sparklers.
The scene would almost have been beautiful, if it weren't for where they were.
San remained cautious as he and Rei made their way to the gate. If they could only get past that gate, then they would be in the clear; the rumors had all been very clear about that. The mansion's power extended only to the borders of its grounds, and no more.
He thought there might be more unpleasant surprises waiting for them, but it was as if, having shocked them through their journey into its depths, the place was now content to let them leave its grounds unmolested.
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Post by Linyü on Jun 9, 2020 21:17:35 GMT -6
But perhaps that was the point. Perhaps it had sensed his intent, and this was its way of showing him that he had no business being here, or doing what it was he had planned.
Well, if so, then so be it, he supposed. There were worse lessons to learn, and they had managed to escape unscathed. The waste of a day was regrettable, but otherwise unremarkable.
San didn't stop until both of them were past the gate, and out of the reach of the location's strange magic.
They would return to the apartment, reassess their options, find another way. Working conventional jobs was a poor way to make money with little education and no credentials to speak of, but at least it was safe. And while San was still recovering, he was young. He would manage somehow.
He couldn't rule out the idea of coming back here eventually, but he would be much more cautious next time.
10 [collect items (lol) and leave]
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 12, 2020 8:23:35 GMT -6
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:16:25 GMT -6
"Rei-Rei," announced Seveth one day. "Let’s go somewhere, just you and me."
Rei regarded him with an even gaze, from which Seveth could read nothing -- not that this was an unusual occurrence, not for the two of them. Seveth didn’t know all the details, but he did understand that Rei had a difficult patch somewhere in her history, and one of the consequences of that was that she wasn’t particularly expressive. He wasn’t as good at reading her as Roku -- and while he had never seen it in action himself due to his particular circumstances, Seveth was willing to bet that San knew her even better.
But it wasn’t like Seveth wasn’t learning. For example, right now the quality of the silence probably meant that she was thinking over his proposal.
Seveth smiled, and tried to look as earnest and harmless as he could.
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