Completed From the Top, Down (Phobius)

[Kuvarakh]

xxxxxxx75th of Summer, 514

Architectrix

Phobius was prompt as ever. Kuvarakh supposed the youngster was eager for the change of pace he'd been promised. He wasn't always this punctual, which could hardly be blamed on a poor work ethic in a city like Alvadas. 'No...' Kuvarakh corrected himself, '...not a city LIKE Alvadas. There IS no city LIKE Alvadas.' he smiled.

He turned to the young man, "Phobius, my boy, I've decided to take you with me to the Mansion today. Now, I want you to understand what I've been hinting at lately. The mansion...well, really the entire property, is alive! It has been aware of a great number of passing years, and expects the courtesy and respect you would give a venerable elder. There will be a figure that will most likely present itself to us. His...well I assume it will still be the figure of a man, rather than a woman. I honestly don't know if this is an indication of any sort of 'gender' regarding the sentience of the building itself..."

He paused in consideration, then realized he'd left his comment unfinished. "...uhh...where was I? Oh yes, the figure is called "Aceren". He will most likely be in a uniform of some sort. The grounds outside are mostly represented by The Greenhouse. I have always had the impression of a female sort of personality for her...I mean...The Greenhouse." he smiled, thinking of the kindly attitude he'd always experienced under her sphere of influence.

But then he grew serious. "Now you need to know that there are parts of the Mansion that are NOT friendly. Aceren made that very clear to me on the first day. Which is why I want you to stay outside. It's possible for the building to rearrange itself, so it could trick you into going into one of the hostile sections. Just stay outside and there should be no problem. I am hoping that doing such work as this will build trust with the house to eventually wear down this hostility and create genuine amity with the entire estate."

He regathered his orientation, "Anyway, we're going to do some chimney repair. I need to stop at the Lumbermen's Guild to pick up a heavy-duty block and tackle and lift tray, as well as the mortar mixing gear and bricks and such. We will be taking the cart, obviously. All I really need you to do is stay on the ground and load and unload the lift, with either the new supplies going up, or the scrap coming down. We will bring the cart around back for you to dump the scrap on." He clapped his hands and suppressed a grin at the noticeable drop in Phobius' enthusiasm.

"First though, we need to go and GET this stuff. So Lumbermen's Supply House first, Mason's Supply House next, and then off to the Mansion. It sits on a sizable estate, so unless the buildings have repositioned themselves, there will still be a ways to go after we pass through the gate." He noted Phobius look of uncertainty. "That's right, the buildings CAN expand or contract to cover various percentages of the entire scope of the property they sit on. This will give you a chance to learn a bit about the discipline of Architectrix, my boy. Consider yourself lucky. This is something quite rare!"

x

[Phobius]

To say that the building was massive would've been too much of an understatement. To the young Inartan boy, who still considered himself a courier-in-training, this particular building looked as though it had gobbled up Alvadas' largest and most robust shops, homes, and taverns. Kuvarakh hadn't said much about it to him, nor had he told him much about what his tasks of the day would be, but the man had been crafty in saying just enough to pique the boy's interest and send his imagination reeling.

Ultimately, it had been those fantastical hopes that had brought Phobius rolling out of his bed that morning. He'd gone stumbling about his room, a bit of sleepiness still resting in his limbs and blurring his eyesight as he went digging through what little possessions he had for his clothes. Rushing, he'd gotten himself dressed within chimes, secured his neck with his blue scarf, and smoothed down his bedhead a bit before he went running out the door. It had still been in the wee bells of the morning, and the inn was silent, its lobby empty save for the kindly Ms. Georgia, who always seemed to have a smile on her face reserved especially for him. He returned it and gave her a goodbye-wave before he left.

Kuvarakh had gotten to their designated meeting place before he had, but Phobius wasn't discouraged. It only made sense that he'd be there, first; as far as the boy understood, the entire property belonged to the alchemist. And if it didn't, well, he'd obviously done things with it, before.

Phobius chose to take a seat on the ground as the man spoke, his eyes attentively set on his face as he listened to every word, with the unwavering focus of a student listening to an admired teacher. And though the things that he was saying were a bit difficult for him to wrap his head around, he tried as hard as he could to understand, which took even more attentiveness.

One particular phrase stood out to the boy, right away, and his brain seemed to decide to center in on it.

The building...is alive...?

Kuvarakh had said that the entire property was a living being. This sent Phobius' mind reeling, again. Could it think? Could it feel emotions, like anger and sadness and happiness, like people and animals could? What about speaking? If he went up to it and said "hello," would it greet him back?

Peeking past the alchemist, Phobius took another look at the looming house and tilted his head, as if he expected it to sprout legs and start to dance.

And really, if it was alive, why couldn't it?

The alchemist went on, giving the building's supposed name—"Aceren" was a pretty nice-sounding name—and warning that certain parts of it could be unsafe. Phobius couldn't help but wonder about that, his eyes still glued to the apparent entity. Why would it be unsafe? He couldn't see a reason for it to want to hurt people, unless people had somehow bothered it, before, and had ruined its trust in strangers. Perhaps the house was just inherently angry. And if that was the case, how sure was Kuvarakh that it would let them do work on it?

Even from afar, Phobius didn't think that the building looked dangerous. It was visibly aged, and had probably been some great architect's prized work, but nothing about the towering edifice sent the boy dangerous vibes.

Just how long had it been sitting out here, anyway? Were there other buildings nearby that were alive, too? Did Aceren have any friends that he could have talked to, over the years?

Maybe Kuvarakh would know.

Curious as he was, Phobius fought down the urge to ask as he waited for the man to finish speaking and instructing. The reveal of what his real job would be did, in fact, put a damper on how eager he'd been feeling up until this point, but he said nothing about it, choosing instead to nod and show that he understood. They'd be off running errands before they actually got the chance to work on the building. It was a bit upsetting, especially considering the boy's new mindset.

Getting to his feet, he brushed some grass off of his knees before looking up at Kuvarakh, his amber eyes full of child-like concern. "Umm...you said that it's...he's...been here for years. Did other people come and visit him? I mean, to me it seems like he could be kinda lonely, sitting here for so long with no one to talk to, except for maybe the Greenhouse..."

Then he paused, and seemed to bite his lip a little before adding "Maybe, if he had a friend, there wouldn't be any unfriendly parts inside."

"Speech-Common" | "Nari" | Thoughts

[Kuvarakh]

Architectrix

Kuvarakh was somewhat surprised that the actual estate building had made itself visible, even to the small degree that it was. What little you could see of it through the trees, however, did give a good impression of its size. When Kuvarakh had discovered the mansion, it had been through mysterious "invitations" that had come floating down out of the sky.

He'd been ready to dismiss it as another humorous prank of Ionu's. But the indicated location had fortunately not been far. Kuvarakh had been allowed in, along with a handful of others, to wander as they willed along forested paths, marked occasionally by signs showing the directions to various parts of the overall estate.

Looking back, Kuvarakh was very lucky to have chosen the Greenhouse. He explained this to Phobius as they traversed the manicured walkways in the cart they'd borrowed from the shop. Often, hedges or flowering bushes blocked the view of the mansion. And when they parted long enough for a glimpse, the mansion seemed no closer. Kuvarakh stifled a grin, waiting to see if Phobius would perceive this effect. He himself suspected a bit of Greenhouse playfulness, she entire garden, lawn and grounds were under its influence. Honestly though, he could not discount the possibility that the Mansion building itself was truly "backing away" from them, bit by bit.

To pass the time, as he waited for Phobius to realize the distortion of distance, he recounted how the Greenhouse had basically trapped him on the back lawn, insisting, with gestures and obstacles, that he do some yard work, and effect some repairs on the Greenhouse structure itself. Certain tools had basically "followed" him around the massive, hedged-in lawn, from which there was suddenly no escape path to be found, until it clicked in the Nuit's mind what was expected from him. It was not difficult to describe, to such a young man, how the Greenhouse had given the impression of patient parents, sternly but indulgently waiting for a somewhat disobedient child to do his chores.

From that bit of work, Kuvarkh described how he had been swept away into an incredibly detailed Illusion, or actual replaying of a lavish party long ago. Kuvarakh admitted that he had intended to check some historical records to see if it was actually possible that so many famous people had ever been in Alvadas at any one single time, but had not gotten around to it. It seemed to him that an hundred years or more separated some of them. But his actions at that "party" had earned him the opportunity to effectively "bond" with this magnificent estate. He had been awarded the sliver that bestowed Architectrix, and both he and the mansion had realized what a perfect match they were.

All this was to give Phobius the understanding that this mansion had plenty of experience with a variety of people before its "fall". According to Aceren, the only people it encountered after that were the deceivers that only befriended it to exploit its historic richness and steal its wealth. For this reason, it must be a long time before the building wold believe in any altruistic intent on the part of any visitors.

"It is not my desire to show off, or gloat, but I have amassed a considerable number of mizas. And I intend to see it invested in friendship with this incredible estate. Work at the shop progresses steadily, and, being a sort of immortal, I see no cause for hurry to reap any kind of "gain" from this developing trust. When Aceren feels I have earned something, I have no doubt he will let me know. But I hope you understand, that though you have permission, as my guest, to visit this remarkable property, it is unlikely that it will bestow anything upon you for quite some time, regardless of your genuinely friendly and outgoing personality."

Kuvarakh smiled genuinely at his last comment, then it pained just a bit. "To be honest, It could be said that I am "using" you for just this purpose. I really can't imagine this entity not taking a liking to you. But for now, stay on the grounds alone. If I need you to enter the building I will come for you. I truly appreciate you helping me with this. This place needs to meet trustworthy and friendly people, and I feel you meet both of those standards. But it will be slow going."

x

[Phobius]

Phobius couldn't remember ever being surrounded by so much green, before. He'd traipsed through the spindly, snow-covered woodlands that made up the outer fringes of Wind Reach, usually wandering about for bells on end whenever he'd become stressed or simply needed some alone time. The boy was quite comfortable around the many plants and animals and, until this day, appreciated the small things that nature had to offer.

As he and Kuvarakh made their way through the Greenhouse, Phobius found himself marveling at every plant that they strolled by, from the smallest clusters of shrubs to the erratic ferns and hedges that were practically bursting with flowery buds. Every so often he'd reach out and touch something, enjoying the silky smooth feel that the leaves seemed to have when he trailed his fingers over them. And rather than bounce back from his touch, the plants almost seemed to meet it, in a way, extending themselves an extra inch or two whenever he came near.

At one point, the boy poked at a vine that was creeping along the ground, and drew back in surprise when it began to curl around his finger.

When he wasn't stopping to sniff flowers or feel vibrantly-green leaves, Phobius was eagerly listening to the alchemist's stories about his adventures with the house. It sure seemed adamant about being taken care of. The boy wondered what had happened to the previous caretaker. Depending on how old the mansion was, it made sense that maybe he (or she) had died and given the duty to someone else. Or maybe they'd simply grown bored with it and had decided to move onto other things. Maybe Aceren had gotten annoyed with them and kicked them out.

Taking another look around, the boy nodded and decided that Kuvarakh had done a really good job of keeping the place neat and trim. He wanted to tell him, but kept himself quiet as the man talked and talked. The Greenhouse being compared to a child's parents merited a questioning look, but it didn't seem like the alchemist noticed, so the boy ignored his confusion for the moment being. He wasn't sure what chores were, but figured that they couldn't be too different from bendi, those odd jobs that made up a good chunk of his time when he was little. 9 times out of 10 they ended up being excursions to the more distant areas of Wind Reach, and Phobius took whatever chances he could to go strolling through the forests outside.

The alchemist went on, remarking on how he'd built up a sense of trust with the mansion, and how he intended on devoting even more time and effort to solidifying the friendship that had formed between them. Phobius couldn't help but feel a bit envious of the man, in that moment. More specifically, he found himself to be envious of the bond that had been made between him and the house, punctuated with years of work. They'd barely been on the property for a bell, and yet the boy was already eager to befriend the lively estate. But Kuvarakh was probably right in remarking that it'd take time for the building to develop any sort of amicable feelings toward him.

Phobius could be patient. At the moment, however, he was feeling more determined than anything.

I'll just try super-duper hard.

The boy beamed at the man's later comments, choosing to stare down at his lap with an almost bashful abruptness. "That's okay. I like helping," he replied after a moment, making himself look up so that he could give the alchemist a smile. "And I won't go inside. I promise."

Truly, the boy meant it. He wasn't one to go back on promises that he made, and as powerful and potent as his sense of curiosity was, he could suppress it as per ordered, so as not to upset his benevolent employer and feel ashamed of himself.

He stole another glance at the mansion, and after a few ticks of concentrated staring, seemed to finally notice how distant it was. Unusually distant. Hadn't they been getting closer and closer to it over time...?

"That's weird," Phobius murmured aloud, still staring at it. "It looks so far away...but we're heading toward it..."

Tilting his head as some hedges seemed to lean in and obscure the already poor view that he had, the boy wondered if the mansion was maybe nervous around them. Either that, or they were somehow managing to scare it. Phobius frowned.

"So...no one lives in the house, right now?"

OOCI'm starting to get a "The Shining" vibe from this place... Next thing I know, there'll be hedge animals, confetti-filled elevators and...and men in dog costumes...lol.

"Speech-Common" | "Nari" | Thoughts

[Kuvarakh]

Architectrix

"Nope. Not right now. I hope that I may redirect the mansion's orientation toward being a..."host"...once again. But for now, the only one living in the house IS the house. I try not to come out too often, of course. There's nothing so tiresome as someone you're sick of seeing dropping by every day. And I expect this is true of this mansion as well." Kuvarakh grinned with a slightly pained expression, then pinched a couple dying leaves off of a flowering bush.

He leaned in close and spoke to the plant, "But you're not sick of me, are you. Not yet anyway." he added with a wink. Several windows opened above and a light gust broke through to ruffle his hair, gray and stiff as it was. He laughed and extended his arms as if hugging the wind, turning slowly. "Aaah yes, Miss Greenhouse, you were the key. I still have hopes of finding that vine you wanted. Rare, I know, like you dear."

The sunlight increased, enhancing the flickering reflections of blossoms, and splotches of color dappled and danced on the many panes. Kuvarakh asked Phobius if he'd like to water the plants while he returned to the cart to bring it the rest of the way around to the back. Between the two of them they got the watering done and the heavy duty block and tackle scaffolding brace and lift set up.

A couple of bells after that, Kuvarakh began bringing bricks up, listening carefully for any creaking sounds indicating that the apparatus was being overloaded. Satisfied by the tone, and stability of the brace arm and platform, he hollered down for Phobius to start sending up small loads of bricks regularly. He, at the same time, would load the platform with small loads of the ruined masonry that he was chipping and hammering away from the water-damaged chimney, to send down. It was rock pile work, but it needed to be done.

As the morning passed well into midday, his concentration was occasionally broken by calls up from below. It sounded like Phobius had questions, but when he leaned near the edge to ask down for the young man to repeat himself, his red-headed assistant said it was nothing. It happened a second time and Kuvarakh again asked down if Phobius had said something.

Either the young man did not hear him, or it was not important enough to repeat. Kuvarakh shrugged and went back to chiseling away soft, weakened mortar from a layer of sound bricks, noting that this would be where he would start reapplying new mortar the next time they came out. He figured that the boy was probably imagining all sorts of hidden treasure rooms and secret passages. 'Well, why not?' He thought to himself. He'd enjoyed his share of imaginary treasure hunts when he was young. And he'd never had a subject with such possibilities as this.

The third time he heard something from below, he simply looked over the edge. Phobius was gazing at the side of the mansion. From his viewpoint, Kuvarakh could not tell what sort of attitude the youngster had, but there seemed to be something a bit off about him. The depressions in the grass before him made it look as though the kid was taking steps back, away from the building.

"Hey, are you okay?" he called down.

x

[Phobius]

The brick work wasn't nearly as terrible as Phobius had been expecting it to be. Truthfully, he'd already had an idea of the mind-numbing boredom that would come with operating the lift, but no sooner had the young Inartan begun to load the thing did he realize how familiar the feeling was to him. Not the boredom, necessarily, but the work. It wasn't a job that he could recall having done before, but Phobius was used to such menial, physical labor. The life of a drudge in Wind Reach demanded such; after all, the boy had been cast into the pits of Inartan society when he'd been a mere boy of thirteen. Day in and day out, he'd work, work, and work some more, with nothing much to look forward to other than sleep and a couple of possible meals. Laboring was the boy's nature.

So Phobius, eager to please and ever compliant, heaved piles of bricks onto the lift and waited around without once complaining to the hard-at-work alchemist above.

That didn't lessen the boredom. Nor did it weaken the fact that, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, he just couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being...watched.

It was odd. Really odd. The sensation seemed to have sprung up from nowhere, seizing Phobius' blissfully wandering mind. All of a sudden, the boy felt anxious and uncomfortable where he was standing, as though something, or someone nearby was peeking out from somewhere and staring right at him. Some monster, maybe, or a wandering ghost...and the more Phobius thought about it, the more anxious he became. After a couple of chimes of standing and doing nothing, the lift once again came lowering down to him. The boy bit his lip and stayed quiet as he loaded it up, though there wasn't much he could do to hold his tongue once he let the bricks be hoisted back up.

"Kuvarakh...?" Phobius called, sounding a little hesitant. "I know you're busy and all, but I...I dunno, I feel kinda...weird."

No response. A moment later, the man did lean over and holler back down to him, asking him what was wrong and if he'd said something. But the boy simply shook his head and told the man not to worry about it. "That's okay. It's nothing."

Nothing. Phobius was hoping against hope that that was all that it was. And yet, some confident little voice deep down inside of him was telling him that he wasn't being paranoid, and that he had every right to be as worried as he currently was.

He was being watched. The feeling had become too powerful to ignore or explain in any other way.

With this certainty in mind, Phobius began to look around the visible estate grounds, narrowing his amber eyes as he searched for the guilty creeper. Whatever thing it was that was around, he'd need to find it soon and warn Kuvarakh about it. It was possible that they were both in trouble, now, depending on whether or not the thing was dangerous.

The boy focused as hard as he could, eyeing as many far away places as he could make out. But the search soon proved fruitless; either the thing had managed to make itself invisible, or he really was just overreacting about things and had let his anxieties get the best of him.

Frowning, Phobius let his gaze drift up to the only other apparent "living being" with them, at the moment, the colossal mansion. He squinted at the peeling walls of its exterior, and the aged shingles that layered its many roofs, a majority of which were tilted at an angle that made Phobius think of the ruffled feathers of a bird.

That was when an idea came to him.

Maybe it's the house...

The boy blinked. It would make sense if it was the house that'd been watching him, this entire time. And if that was the case, could Kuvarakh feel it, too? Or was the towering building focusing all of its attention on him...?

But...why would it be doing that?

Phobius tilted his head, thinking. Then, slowly, he raised a hand and slowly waved at the mansion.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting, if anything, but no sooner than a few ticks later did the curtains lining the building's windows suddenly swish back and forth, as if they were being billowed by some strong wind. ...Indoors.

It was almost as if the house was waving back at him, in its own creative way.

"Kuvarakh...?" Phobius called, raising his voice a little with the onset of uncertain distress. "I think something's in the windows..."

The alchemist in question gave him no response for a while, dealing with his duties, and Phobius waited a bit before calling his name, again. When the man finally did lean over and say something, however, the boy had shifted his focus to other things, leaving the man to simply shrug it off and go back to what he was doing.

A flicker of movement from yards away had caught the boy's eyes. Curious, he took a few steps forward and away from the lift, his eyes continually switching from one part of the mansion to the other. Then Phobius' eyes drifted to the ground at his feet, and he squinted.

At first, he assumed that he was seeing things. Ionu's trickery could reach this far out in the city, couldn't it? The great God seemed to like toying with his head. But then Phobius stared down a bit harder, and soon realized that no, he wasn't being tricked and he wasn't seeing things. The grass around his boots was actually growing, the tiny stalks stretching up to loom above their thousands of millions of brethren just to coil around his shoes. Shocked, Phobius darted backwards, tearing his boots from the grass' holds. He then stared down at the torn, skinny stalks, worried. Had he somehow hurt the house? Would it be mad at him for ruining a patch of its grass..?

Phobius began to fret over this, shaking his boots free of the debris, but then the rest of the grass seemed to move, bending forward in the same direction as though some breeze was blowing that he simply couldn't feel. His eyes followed the grass, watching as the stalks seemed to turn and bend, turn and bend, until the entire lawn seemed to be pointing at something. Leading toward something...

The house!

Sure enough, it was true. The grass seemed to be leading up to the mansion's front steps, and within ticks the shrubbery was doing the same. Phobius' eyes widened in mixed awe and fear as he stared ahead. It...it wants me to go inside. It wants me to walk over and go inside. But Kuvarakh said that was dangerous...that the house can trick people...

The boy began to take a step back, his eyes still on the front entrance of the mansion.

It's a bad idea. I shouldn't go. I won't. Kuvarakh said...

Another step back. A moment later, one of the doors suddenly opened a little, as if beckoning to him. Phobius slowly shook his head at it and, surprisingly, it closed. But then the grass was bent by another invisible breeze, and the stalks tilted in a new direction, leading over to the side of the mansion.

"Hey, are you okay?"

The man's voice was startling, but Phobius didn't react at first, still in a slow retreat.

"It wants me to go in," the boy replied, muttering loud enough to be able to be heard, his tone laced with fright. "It wants me to...but I don't want to...what if it wants to hurt me...?"

Yet another step back. Phobius had gone past the lift, again.

"I don't..."

"Common" | "Nari" | Thoughts

[Kuvarakh]

Architectrix

There was a strange contradiction in the air that Kuvarakh didn't perceive at once, but something was most definitely "off" down on the lawn. Squinting, Kuvarakh was certain that Phobius was speaking, but a curiously inconvenient gust of wind whooshed into his ears, drowning out the young man's words. It was not until he noticed Phobius stepping back again, and looking around at the ground that he realized the inconsistency.

The grass itself, and even some of the shrubs, were not consistent with the wind. The wind had been strong enough to roar in his ears with sufficient volume to drown Phobius' voice out. Yet below, the grass was lying to the side, in defiance of it. And what's more, it was lying as if on its own power! There were no ripples from the wind. Nor was it the entire lawn, just a cone, with Phobius at its point, widening in a path towards...the side door!

Kuvarakh tried to shout down to Phobius to stay where he was, but the wind seemed to steal the breath from his lungs. Sudden fear that he had, in some way, injured the mansion with his hammering seized him with panic. "Don't hurt the boy! He is only doing what I asked!" he called out to no one in particular.

He thought for a few ticks about trying to use hypnosis to "inject" his words into the roof, and by extension, the mansion, but did not want to take the time to gauge any effect. Also, he had not yet told the mansion's avatar, 'Aceren', that he possessed that ability. He'd been worried that such a skill could be misused by the hostile parts of the structure.

It appeared those hostile elements were in play as Kuvarakh stood to make for the gabled hatchway that gave access to the roof. His footing was suddenly treacherous as ice and he fell. A spike of fear stabbed his heart at the thought that he would slide off the edge, but it seemed that the slippery surface was only on the narrow line between himself and the hatch.

Now he knew something was at work here. He rose again, a little more carefully, and stepped beyond the edge of the glistening path and ran wide of its slick influence, jumping back to land close enough to grab hold of the open hatch.

In spite of his own sense of being beset by hostility, there was an ambience of hopeful patience. It was much the same as when he'd first encountered the Greenhouse's personality as "she" tried to make him understand that he was to do her the clean-up service she needed before he would be able to leave. He felt a moment's puzzlement at the contradiction in attitude, but put it aside in favor of aiding Phobius.

He would have sworn that the wind somehow created an exasperated sigh in his ears as he fell through the hatchway and stood, wary of suddenly slippery floors, to make for the doorway out of the huge attic.

The door swung shut on its own. there was the sound of a lock closing, sealing him in. Then an even worse sound, the sound of his own voice, from outside on the roof, telling Phobius that it was okay to go in the house. Stunned fury at the perceived treachery gripped him and he spun on his feet to rush back out and warn Phobius of the mansion's trickery.

But the mansion was a step ahead of him...

Though Kuvarakh had just come through the hatchway to the roof, it was no longer there. He stared around in confusion, finally seeing it at the far end, part of the wrong wall, and through its dormer window he could see the brickwork of the chimney that did not need any repair.

The door went nowhere, he was locked in. As if to torment him further, he heard his voice, muffled through the wall, calling out again to Phobius that he should go ahead and come on inside, that he would meet him in the Dining Hall.

x

[Phobius]

Phobius thought that he could hear Kuvarakh's voice calling out to him. Or maybe it was just the wind, as the gusts seemed to be becoming more and more violent as ticks went by, buffeting the boy's katinu and making him grip his scarf to keep it from flying away. How had it become so windy so quickly, like that? And how come the grass wasn't being blown back?

The gears were most definitely turning in the boy's mind, but his logic went as far as recognizing the occurrences as strange. The full picture hadn't revealed itself to him, yet, and he couldn't really grasp a further understanding of it all.

Still holding his scarf to his neck, Phobius turned his head and called for the alchemist, again, raising his voice above a nervous mutter so that he'd be heard. "Kuvarakh...? Are you still there?"

Then he went quiet, waiting and straining his ears to listen. A good chime of silence was what he was rewarded with, save for the lowly whistling winds and the rustles of leaves and branches. A sliver of worry began to worm its way into the boy's mind, and as he stood there, his eyes searching the top of the roof for the man, he couldn't help but wonder if something had happened to him. Something bad.

Am I...alone, now?

Phobius stifled a small wail at the thought; he absolutely dreaded being left alone, and the fact that it was so sudden wouldn't make it any better. But why would Kuvarakh just leave him by himself? Even if he had to go and do important things, the boy liked the think that he would have let him know, first, to prevent the same anxiety that was assaulting his mind right now.

Maybe he was alone. Alone with the colossal, living mansion and the grass that moved on its own and the strange, howling winds...

Then, out of nowhere, came the alchemist's voice, assuring him that it was okay to go inside of the house. Phobius, though relieved, blinked at being given such permission. Hadn't the man warned him about the house, before, and how he wasn't allowed to go inside, ever? He'd said that the house would try and hurt him if he did. Phobius could even remember promising that he wouldn't dare to go inside. And the boy didn't like to break his promises, especially the ones that he made to other people.

But now Kuvarakh was telling him that it was okay...

"Are you sure?" Phobius called after a moment, his hands still grabbing at the woolen scarf, despite the winds having died down.

The alchemist in turn replied that yes, he was sure, and that it was completely safe. He then urged him to walk on in, again, saying that he'd meet him in the Dining Hall.

A large part of the boy was still anxious and unsure, and for a while he didn't move from his spot, nervously nibbling at his bottom lip as he thought. He'd made a promise...and he never broke promises, but...but it'd been a promise to Kuvarakh, and now the man was telling him to go against that promise, which probably meant that he was okay with it being broken...

...right?

It was the only reasoning that made sense to him, and the only explanation that made the boy a bit more comfortable with the idea of going back on his promise. Phobius lowered his hands from his neck as he started to walk, staring at the ground most of the way as the grass bent and turned to lead him along. Within chimes, the tiny green stalks had brought him around to the mansion's side, where a door much plainer than the ones at the front stood, a single lantern hanging on the wall space above it. The boy tried for the handle, and was a little surprised to find it unlocked.

Now that he had an actual reason to delve into the house's inner walls, Phobius found some of his earlier curiosity returning in waves, pushing nearly all of the anxieties and fears out of his mind as he stepped over the side entrance's threshold and let himself in, gently closing the door behind him. He was immediately met with a spiraling stone staircase, and proceeded up without much hesitance, his pale fingers skimming the grainy surface of the walls as he went.

The boy ended up in the foyer, and was stunned by the sheer elegance of the place. It'd looked pretty from the outside, but on the inside it was even better, if not a little grey. The ceiling seemed to be miles above his head, decorated with antique-looking chandeliers and intricate paint designs. The floors were of a milky, fine marble, and Phobius found that he could look down at his own reflection in them, despite the thin layer of dust that coated it and just about everything else. There was a grand staircase that led to the upper floors of the mansion, its railing composed of rich-colored wood that the boy dared not to touch, no matter how tempting the urge. He took a moment to walk around, admiring every small thing his amber eyes could come across and focus on.

"You're very pretty," Phobius remarked at one point, only to go still and scold himself. "S-sorry, sorry! I mean, ah...you're very handsome. A very handsome house."

Did the house even have a true gender? It was a building, but...Kuvarakh had been calling it a "he" for some time, now, so Phobius figured that he needed to address it as such. He didn't want to offend it or make it angry at him. "Thank you for letting me come inside," the boy continued after a few ticks, smiling warmly up at the ceiling. "I won't break anything of make things dirty. Oh...but I'm looking for a friend. He...he told me that he'd be in the Dining Hall, and I don't...really know where that is...could you help me, please...?"

In response, a huge pair of doors to the boy's right opened up, all of a sudden. Phobius turned and stared at them as they moved, his eyes widening a little. Then the smile returned to his face, and with another "thank you" he walked through. Still looking around, the boy began to call the alchemist's name, quietly hoping that the mansion had let him into the right area.

Unbeknownst to him, the doubled doors quietly shut themselves behind him.

"Common" | "Nari" | Thoughts

[Kuvarakh]

Architectrix

Kuvarakh ran to the gabled door in disbelief. He stared at the brickwork beyond it, as if he could will it away. He turned around in aimless anxiety. "Do not USE me this way! The boy trusted me to keep him safe. I have done nothing to you to merit this treatment. Nor has HE." He shouted, anger beginning to crowd out the worry. He had not used hypnosis in the Mansion yet, but his determination to keep his word to Phobius compelled him. He had already manipulated the boy's memory and perception regarding the acquisition of his current body. He couldn't endure the thought of abandoning him to the Mansion.

He did not know how much of the estate was represented by the avatar, 'Aceren'. But the figure had given him a promise of sorts regarding any work needing done. Kuvarakh could not understand why it would now go back on that promise, when it was not in its interest to stop him from making needed repairs. He pressed his hands against the wall and generated air pressure with suppressed exhalation. This was how he expelled the djed bubble he used to overlay hypnotic impressions on another person's mind.

In this case, he did not exactly know what to target. Nor was his intent to alter anyone's attitude. He was simply desperate to establish some communication. Did any part of any wall suffice to contact the sentient presence in the building? He did not know. There was nothing for it but to try.

He pushed the djed bubble into the wall, expanding it to such degree as he could without losing focus on his thoughts. "Stop this act. The boy is promised safety. This promise was made TO me, and BY me. You can trust me. You HAVE trusted me. I am here keeping my word to you. Trusting me equals trusting the boy. So harming him equals harming ME. You do not want to do this. Let him go so that I can continue to keep my promise to you."

He was staggered by a sudden backlash of anger. The glass in the gabled window cracked as if punched. Kuvarakh stepped back in shock. He whirled around in confusion and did a double-take at the realization that he was no longer alone in the room. Aceren was there, in an unusually military looking uniform, complete with a sheathed sword. His face was red and scowling. "We have harmed NO ONE!" he barked, slashing the air diagonally in front of him.

"You speak of 'trust'..." the figure spat the word as an accusation, "but YOUR actions give US pause as to how much trust we can safely extend to YOU. You are the stranger here, Kuvarakh. And though you were chosen from among many, over a long time, it is nothing that can not be rescinded if we find you have withheld the truth from us!"

The initial shock wore off quickly in the face of what seemed like an unprovoked scolding. "What 'truth' have I withheld?" Kuvarakh snarled back, taking an angry step forward. "And why take it out on the Phobius? If you are angry with me, come to ME with your complaint, do not trick my friends into danger. He is helping me here. With no one loading the lift at the ground level, I will have to make endless trips through your hallways carrying bricks. The job will take ten times as long!"

Aceren held his hand up, to pause further comment, as his gaze became unfocused. He seemed to be listening. Kuvarakh noticed a slight shimmer in his image where it touched the floor. Kuvarakh crossed his arms in indignation as he waited. This brought a renewed scowl to Aceren's face. "Spare me your bruised pride, Kuvarakh. I say again, we have not placed this "Phobius" in any danger. It would be the last thing we would wish. Partners or not, do not fool yourself into thinking that YOUR sensibilities are OUR highest priority. I am not at liberty to tell you everything. I am not the face of every part of our presence here. Not all of us trust you yet. And if you are going to make demands of trust FROM us, you had best be ready to extend the same. The way in which you contacted us was an unpleasant surprise."

Several subtle things slipped Kuvarakh's notice during Aceren's tirade. First was the odd inflection the avatar applied to the name 'Phobius', as though the name implied some attempt to deceive. Also, that some of the avatar's anger was frustration at being prevented from speaking more plainly. And lastly, that the mention of "the way in which (he) contacted" the mansion, did not refer to the attitude, but rather, the method.

x

[Phobius]

"Kuuuuuvarakh...? Where aaaare you...?"

Phobius cupped his hands around his mouth as he continued to call out the alchemist's name. The Dining Hall, if that truly was where he was, now, was pretty massive, and the boy almost jumped a little when his voice seemed to echo off of the walls, small was it was. The man had told him to come here...and he'd said, very clearly (despite all of that wind) that he'd meet him here...so where was he? Did the mansion have more than one Dining Hall, maybe...? It was definitely big enough for a few more of them to exist.

It was also big enough for the boy to get lost in, if he didn't pay enough attention to where his wandering was taking him. And with this thought in mind, Phobius brought himself to a stop. Amber eyes wandered about the room, passing over the elegantly-painted walls and muggy glass of the arched windows, until they fell upon the dining table. As if stressing the room's massive size, the table stretched from one end of the hall to the next, flanked on all sides by cushioned chairs with backs nearly as tall as the boy, himself. A thin, cream-colored strip of cloth had been laid across the table's center, and on top of it sat a few lonely vases, the flowers within them withered and grey. Unable to help himself, Phobius trotted over to the nearest one and reached out to poke it, immediately yanking his finger back when one of the shriveled petals fell. I bet this all looked really nice, a few years ago, he mused, frowning down at the plant. But this place has been empty for a really long time...it's probably lonelier than I thought.

Much lonelier than he'd thought. All of a sudden, Phobius began to feel like an ant that'd wandered into a dollhouse. The walls, the doors, the furniture, the drapes...everything around him was just so big, and as far as he knew, he and Kuvarakh were the only two souls that were in the house. Save for the house, itself.

The boy just felt so...small. Uncomfortably, terribly small. And he was aimlessly walking about in the belly of a behemoth that seemed, to him at least, to be becoming more and more intimidating with each passing tick.

Having gone still as he stood beside the dining table, his gaze still settled on the fallen, aged petal, Phobius came to the conclusion that wherever Kuvarakh was, it most definitely wasn't in here. Which meant that there was no real point in staying in the hall any longer; if he was going to find the alchemist, he had to get moving and go into other rooms to search. They still had work that they needed to do, outside.

At that moment, a soft, somewhat distant voice reached the boy's ears.

"You look a little lost, young man."

With a start, Phobius lifted his head and twisted around. At the far end of the hall, standing in front of a pair of doors opposite to the ones he'd come through, was a woman. An old woman, to be exact; the Inartan boy squinted a little, and could just make out the grey-and-white hairs on her head, fresh snow that was stained with soot and shaped into a messy bun.

How long had she been standing there? He'd been distracted for a moment, lost in his restless thoughts, but couldn't remember having heard the doors opening or the sounds of feet tapping on the floor. Phobius wasn't sure what to do, now, merely blinking at the woman and keeping himself tethered to where he stood.

Kuvarakh said that the house would try and trick me, the boy said to himself. He said it might hurt me. This lady doesn't look mean, but...but...

But that was just it. She didn't look mean. In all honesty, as Phobius began to head over to her, having overcome his initial hesitance, getting closer revealed that the woman looked as if she were very nice. She had a round, friendly face, with eyes and a smile that were both warm and made the boy think of honey, for some reason. She looked to be a bit shorter than him, too, which was funny, and was wearing a simple apron and a shapeless, flowery dress. To Phobius, the woman seemed harmless, looking as though she'd barely hurt a fly , let alone lift a finger to try and harm him.

"I guess I am a little lost," the boy replied, managing a tiny smile of his own as he came to a stop in front of the stranger. "My friend told me to come and meet him in this room, but...I don't see him anywhere. Do you know where he is, maybe? His name's Kuvarakh. He's a lot older than me, and taller—" Phobius emphasized this by raising his hands above his head and getting on his tippy-toes, which seemed to broaden the woman's smile. "—and he's got some stubbly-stuff on his chin."

He wasn't sure if she'd know, but thought that it was worth trying. As he waited for her response, Phobius wondered if the house had maybe sent the woman to him in an attempt to help. It was a hopeful concept, if nothing else; the boy still vehemently wished for the living edifice to see him as a friend instead of a foe.

The woman was quiet for a moment as she thought, tapping a slightly-wrinkled finger to her chin and pursing her lips. "He does sound a little familiar," she said after a moment. "Hmm...you know, dearie, I just might have seen this friend of yours, nearby."

Phobius lit up at her words, his heart beginning to flutter with joy. "Really?"

"Yes, I believe so. I could have sworn that he was in here a moment ago. Looking for you, if I'm not mistaken."

Shoot! I just missed him! "Then he's probably still close. Could you maybe help me find him, ma'am...? This place is so big...I just think I'll get lost if I walk around too much. And then Kuvarakh might have to come and find me, and he'll be annoyed and...and I don't wanna make him angry..."

The boy's words grew quieter and quieter until they seemed to fade into the air as he finished speaking, his gaze shifting down to the ground. The alchemist had given him permission to come inside, but if he'd already been this way looking for him, there was no doubt in Phobius' mind that the man was becoming annoyed. He probably didn't want them in the mansion for too long, as the chimney work still needed to be finished. The boy almost winced as he imagined the sheer disappointment that'd be in the man's eyes when they met up, again. How else would this all end?

Suddenly, Phobius felt hands gently take one of his own. He looked up, again, only to see the woman smiling up at him. "Why of course I'll help you, dearie," she reassured, patting him a little. "And I can promise you that we'll find that friend. I know this place like the back of my hand."

"You really will...? Thank you thank you thank you!" The boy exclaimed. Then, unable to help himself, he dove forward and smothered the woman in a hug. She seemed to jolt in surprise, but let out a laugh as she squeezed him back. "My, aren't you a sweet child. What is your name, young man?"

"Phobius. It's Phobius," he replied, letting go of her to step back and introduce himself. "What's yours?"

"Phobius...? What a lovely name. ...Oh, feel free to call me whatever you'd like, dearie. It doesn't matter to me."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure. Whatever you'd like."

Phobius blinked at her, surprised. No one had ever told him that, before. Did she even have a name? Maybe she did, but she just didn't like it. Instead of questioning her, however, the boy thought for a moment. Then a huge smile grew on his face, as if he'd had some sort of reality-shattering epiphany. "I'm gonna call you 'Grandma'!"

"Grandma it is, then. Now, let's you and me start looking."

"Common" | "Nari" | Thoughts