Flashback Meeting in Illusions [Crypt]

[Makoto Moonwater]

5th of Summer, 508 AV Makoto wandered among the vendors, trailing behind his foster brother, who at that moment, was telling him to keep up. "Who knows what would happen if a 14 year old kid like you got lost?" he said, glancing over his shoulder. As his brother continued, Makoto was distracted by a stall, next to a vendor selling exotic animals, that sold some blades. He approached the stall looking around, mouth parted slightly in awe. "What are you gawking at?", came a sudden, gruff voice from beside him. Makoto turned to see who it was, tensing almost unnoticeably. When he saw that it was the owner, he relaxed into a light smile. "I was just taking a look at your wares, since they seem to be very good.", he replied with his easy-going personality. The owner looked at him thoughtfully for a few moments, taking in what seemed to be a young grass lad, by the look of his clothes. "Is that so? Well, tell me if anything catches your eye." With that, he vanished, almost as if he had vanished into thin air. By this time, he had forgotten about keeping up with his family, and taking stall keeper's, Makoto began running a critical eye over the rather large assortment, of blades. He picked up a dagger, testing its weight as his foster father had taught him. He placed it down, nodding to himself, finding that its balance had been comfortable in his hand. Next, he found a rather nice, ornamental knife, as beautiful as it was deadly. Seeing a malevolent glint as it caught the light, he put it down cautiously. This process went on for quite a while, as Makoto tested and considered each blade in its own way. Finally, with a sigh, he spread his choices on an open area. "That took you a while, but I see you want practicality, though are you sure you want that many?", the owner asked, running his gaze over Makoto's choices. Laid out were two wrist knives, a dagger, and two punch daggers. Makoto gave a slight, simple nod. After making his purchase and had stowed them away, he thanked the man, paused to gather his bearings, before walking in the direction he had last seen his brother go. He headed down a slightly smaller street with a few smaller shops, not quite worried about whether or not he would find them soon, humming under his breath. As it was, he did not notice when the street behind him vanished, replaced by a courtyard with a gurgling fountain.

[Crypt]

"I say, good sir, put that sword down this instant!" Crypt was currently arguing with what appeared to be a shadow on the wall of a ramshackle apartment block. Unfortunately for the currently occupied Drykas, said shadow was holding a very fine and very sharp sword and pointing it at him. Crypt was beginning to sweat, though he maintained a calm expression. The shadow replied with an extremely high-pitched voice. "Shut up, you impertinent fool! I'm the person holding the sword, you misbegotten brat, therefore you have to do my bidding, not the other way around!" Crypt sputtered, still trying to move out of the way of the blade the 'person' was holding. All his attempts were futile; Maras was not budging from his spot located behind Crypt, and the sword would move with him if he attempted to escape the shadow by fleeing towards the left and the right. "Person?" The sheer astonishment of hearing an illusion of Alvadas claiming so was evident in his voice. "You're nothing but a petching illusion I had the misfortune to meet while walking on the streets, you non-existent thing! Why did you choose me, of all that walked past you? How can you even prove that you exist?" The shadow remained silent for a few moments, slowly appearing and disappearing before poking Crypt on his left cheek, allowing a drop of blood to appear. Crypt winced, but remained where he was. "... Now you've done it!" The sword-wielding shadow appeared to be weeping; it was a rather strange sight, as tears shimmered into existence and dripped onto the pavement. "All my life I've been told that I was someone special," the shadow began, ignoring Crypt's protests that the shadow had only burst into existence when Crypt was roughly a few feet from the wall. "And now you come here and tell me that I don't exist? I have feelings too, you know! I'm thinking, therefore I exist! And I'm here talking to you - what does that make me? Non-existent?" Crypt simply walked away, allowing the shadow to wallow in her sorrow. It was getting really annoying, and his headache was intensifying. Just as the shadow finally fell silent, Alvadas shifted once again, and the street he was on turned into a courtyard surrounded by a large variety of flowers, all appearing to be grinning at him. Feeling water seeping into his boots, Crypt looked down and saw that he was currently ankle-deep in a fountain. The urge to scream vulgarities at the top of his voice won over the last vestiges of his logical personality, and he commenced the rant.

[Makoto Moonwater]

Makoto heard a man's voice, and what vaguely sounded like profanities coming from behind him. Looked back, surprised to see that there was a fountain and a courtyard. What really surprised him was the man who happened to be standing in the fountain. He looked like he was from one of the clans, though he wasn't sure why. He turned, walking towards to him, curious. "Hello!", he called to the man as he reached the courtyard. "Are you alright? What are you doing in the fountain?", he asked as he ran his gaze over it, absently noting that it was a fairly large fountain. "Are you from the Drykas clans?", he asked, wondering what clan the strange man was from. Though he thought man, he seemed to be only a few years older than Makoto himself. "Do you have a Strider?", he asked, looking around the courtyard. "I could have sworn that there was a street here just a moment ago..." Makoto approached some of the flowers that were giving off exotic scents, some overly sweet, others that didn't seem to match its appearance. He walked back towards the fountain, leaving further investigation till later, and sat a few feet away as to not get splashed. He then began laying out a blanket and setting out his belongings on it, for he needed to reorganize them into a lighter way. He placed his cane next to his bow, quiver, daggers and knives. He set out his other supplies, and began to arrange them to fit more easily into his backpack. After he was finished, he opened some of his food, offering some to Crypt. "Better keep up our strength."

[Crypt]

As Crypt was about to spout several rather creative variations on how Alvadas was such an arse at times, he was abruptly cut off by a small child with black hair. "What? Of course I'm a Drykas, don't you see my windmarks?" Crypt rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, allowing Makoto to see the words and letters, all tattoed in different colours, covering most of his arms. "You must be blind - Maras is right here. Anyway, the streets have shifted once again, which is a common occurrence in this city. Almost anything can happen in Alvadas," Crypt's eyes observed the features of the young stranger that had approached him. "Now, the question is, what are you doing so far from Endrykas, lad? I know that you belong to the Clans, but Cyphrus is a long way from Alvadas." Crypt watched with some curiousity as Makoto removed a small assortment of rather curious items a person his age should not be carrying. Especially the daggers and knives. The bow wasn't of any concern; many started learning its use from a young age. But those weapons... Interesting. So young, yet already carrying such items. Well, this is a harsh world, so this may not be too unusual. Crypt declined the food, instead removing a waterskin from his backpack, taking a swig from it.

[Makoto Moonwater]

The fourteen year old blinked when he saw the Strider, bewildered at how he could have missed him. He gave his head a quick shake. He turned his gaze to the Strider, giving a slight, polite nod to the mount. He turned his attention back towards Crypt. "I only asked out of courtesy," Makoto explained with a good-natured smile, "and I came with my foster family to do some trade in the market... As you can see, we got separated." He frowned slightly, thinking of how his brother had seemed to vanish. "I guess the streets changed just before I turned the corner..." He sighed, wondering how he would he able to find them. He looked up at the older stranger, and smile. "My name is Makoto by the way, from the Sapphire clan." Makoto noticed the stranger's interest in his newly acquired weapons, and proceeded to remove one of the punching daggers from his pack. "Do think this was a good pick?" He held it up in a manner which allowed the light to glint along it's sharp edge. it had a simple, but tasteful design carved into it's hilt, and fit comfortably in his palm. I wonder if I went over-board with buy the blades, he thought himself, laughing at his own impulsiveness silently in his head.

[Crypt]

"I see... Seperated? Your brother must have wandered off somewhere. I suppose your foster family has only been in Alvadas for a short period of time; they would be otherwise holding on to you as tightly as they could, knowing that being lost here is as common as grass back home." Crypt made a small bow to Makoto, acknowledging the latter's greeting. "And my name is Crypt, of the Diamond clan." Taking the punching dagger from Makoto's hand, Crypt examined it carefully, running a finger along the carvings on its hilt and smiling slightly in approval. Hefting the dagger in his left hand, Crypt noted that it was slightly off-balance, but would do fine as a weapon. He handed it back to Makoto. "Quite an interesting dagger; I've never seen one of this before. Not one I'd use though. Where do you get your goods?"

[Makoto Moonwater]

"I guess they didn't expect to lose me so easily," he said with a slight shrug, devoid of the defensive reaction that most other boys his age might have displayed at the implication of needing to be 'watched' and 'cared' for. "I don't think I know anyone from the Diamond clan... except for you I suppose," Makoto added the later with a bit of a sheepish smile. "There was a stall that caught my eye, as I was walking with my family." He paused at a sudden thought. "I think that was when I might have been separated," he said slowly, murmuring quietly in thought. He shook his head a bit, returning to his previous train of thought. "Anyways, the vendor was selling a stunning range of weapons, and it took me awhile to narrow down my choices." Makoto held up the dagger which Crypt had returned to him, displaying it as he continued. "This is a punching dagger, which is quite useful in close combat or brawls... Not that I intend to be involved in a brawl, but you never know." "not that I have close combat skills... yet," he added silently. "Truthfully, the seller struck me as a tad bit strange... He seemed to keep disappearing," Makoto said, before becoming silent, recalling the odd fellow.

[Crypt]

"I assume you haven't had much time to mix around with the rest of the Clans. Do it when you get back; you might be surprised at how much useful little tidbits or skills you pick up from them." As Makoto continued to explain how he was separated from his family, Crypt's eyes wandered over to the many exotic-looking flowers dotting the hedges surrounding them and the fountain. Walking over to them, he picked up one and allowed the strange fragrance to wash over him, closing his eyes to fully enjoy the scent. Distracted by the sheer variety of fauna, Crypt only caught the last few words Makoto had spoken. "What? Disappearing? That isn't really common, especially in the Bizarre, but you may see a lot more of that in Alvadas. Things shift, Makoto. Things change a lot, and some not for the better - OH PETCH!" Crypt's eyes snapped open, awakened to the reality of their situation. He began turning his head around, observing their surroundings while continuing to spout curses. After he had somewhat calmed down, though a nervous tic was apparent on his counternance, he muttered another vulgarity in Vani under his breath before turning to Makoto. "It seems that, my young Drykas, we have wandered into the Garden of No Return. No, we won't really be lost here forever. We won't be starving or thirsty, the fountains and many fruit will see to that. But what we will experience is a large amount of frustration, and perhaps ennui, as we encounter the same section of this maze over and over again. I've entered this maze only once, but it took me a full four days to get out. With only a few bells of sleep." Crypt started to pace around the fountain, his face displaying his worry, "You'll have to wait much longer to be reunited with your family, boy. It'll take a long time to get out; the people I've met that talked about this place say that many a fool has wandered inside, and came out five days later, exhausted beyond imagination and with insects everywhere. I saw a tree with mirrors growing on it when we first stepped inside this damned place unknowningly. If we can find that, well, I assume we're close to an exit. When will your family leave Alvadas?"

[Makoto Moonwater]

Makoto nodded in agreement with the older Drykas' earlier comments, making a mental note to do so when he returned. He also agreed that it had indeed been strange, and that it was likely to become even more so. These thoughts were confirmed as curses began spilling from Crypt's mouth. Though Makoto was half Vantha, his Vani was rather poor, so even though he could hear it clearly, he did not understand the vulgarity to its fullest implication. Even so, Makoto's expression was almost comical, if their situation had not turned so quickly into a predicament. He had been a bit startled, but soon relaxed slightly. He listen to Crypts words closely, frowned at the title "Garden of No Return", and thought, "Well that's comforting..." Makoto was not overly concerned as to their survival in any case, for he had more often then not enjoyed some similar challenges. He tried to recall such a tree as Crypt had mentioned, but could not remember more than a faint glimmer of it. "My family planned to leave the day after tomorrow... However, if I am still missing after three days from our planned departure, they will return to the clans", he thought for a moment. "I'm beginning to think that they knew that i might get lost, since they said that they would be waiting for me in our clan..." Makoto glanced at his new companion. "I don't suppose we'll be making it out of here before the three days are up, judging from what you said... So they'll be expecting me to make my own way back." He gave a slight shrug.

[Crypt]

"If we get out in time for you to meet your family, then we're extremely lucky. Seems like you'll have to go home alone, Makoto. I can't bring you there myself, since I still have... business in Alvadas, but once you cross the Suvan Sea with the help of one of the sailors - Svefra, I hear they're called - and step foot into Cyphrus proper, an Ankal should detect you very easily and send someone to get you back. Sounds easy, but there may be complications." Crypt ceased pacing, his face turning blank, emanating calm outwardly. "Right. I'm going to try to do... a survey of sorts to see if it'll help - I didn't do it last time, so maybe this might help just a bit." Brushing away a few dead leaves from the ground, Crypt sat down with legs crossed, closing his eyes and assuming a meditative posture, muttering a few words underneath his breath as he did so. "Calm down. Calm down. Concentrate, Crypt, and see. See the world as it is, and not illusion." Drawing upon Djed, Crypt felt first the aura around him, shifting constantly such that contradictory messages would be sent to anyone that tried to determine his personality or character - not the result of his manipulation of his own aura, for he was far too inexperienced to do such a thing, but as a result of his illness -, and then expanded his Auristics sense. However, due to his relative inexperience with the Art, he could only sense other auras faintly; dim shadows were all they were to him. And yet... An abyss? A hole from which nothing escaped? What's this? What is this curious feeling? No, it's not doing anything to the auras or Djed around it, it's more of an empty space. Nothing is... Hold on. It feels empty, but one can detect a hint of its aura within. Yes, a mirror on all sides. It reflects the weak Djed around it such that it appears to be a void, creating a space around it. Quite possibly the mirror-tree. I... can see it. It it's shaped more like a normal tree, with the exception of the fruits, of course. Now, how do I go about finding - Ouch. Wincing as the blood rushed to his head, Crypt began experiencing a throbbing migraine on the left side of his head. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts somewhat, Crypt stopped the flow of Djed used to analyse the surroundings. It was slight over-giving, but he had over-taxed his brain in trying to analyse, trying to understand the nature of the mirror-tree. He would not be able to use his Auristics until the headache faded, and it would only be for a few seconds at most after that. It would recover fully in a few days' time, but meanwhile he could only use it in short bursts, deciphering only the smallest bits of information obtained from auras or the general outlay of auras around him. "Makoto..." Crypt began, speaking more softly, "Follow me. We'll have to walk around randomly and hope to Ionu that we get out of here in one piece. Unfortunately, I could not determine the exact location of that peculiar tree, but I will know when it is near." Placing a hand on Maras, Crypt steadied himself for a bit as he felt a small amount of fatigue, then set off on a small path leading to the left.