Boarders with Borders (Phobius, Aislyn)

[Phobius]

"Is there anything you like in any particular light?"

Huh. It was a simple enough question, and Phobius opened his mouth to respond before promptly falling quiet, realizing that he actually had to think about what to say. What he wanted to tell her was that he liked everything, but, despite how true that was, it was a pretty vague answer to give. There was no limit to the number of things in the world that brought him joy; new things were popping into existence everyday, after all, and though he had no way of keeping track of each and every one—be it a foreign sight, sound, or smell—it was still possible that he could like them.

Of course, the boy was just as liable to play favorites as anyone else was. Some things made him happier than others did, just as some jokes could make people laugh harder than other ones. It wouldn't be easy to separate them from the rest, though...

"I like snow!" Phobius exclaimed after a moment of thoughtful silence, a bright smile on his face. "Oh, and Winter...! Winter-snow. I mean, all snow is great, but most is in Winter. It's soft and pretty to look at. There's no snow, here, but...that's okay."

The boy furrowed his brows a little before going on.

"I like when it's warm, too. And I really like being outside, 'cause there's space and birds and grass and stuff. Annd I like walking, and running. Maybe not swimming, though...I never swimmed, before. And flying...well, back home, special people went riding on big eagles, so that's kinda the same, but I never did that, either. ...birds are nice. Do you like birds, Miss Maya?"

Phobius looked expectantly into the woman's eyes as he spoke, wanting an answer, but he didn't really give her enough time for one. Within seconds he was talking, again. "I like birds a whole lot. I like lots of animals. Hobbies, though...uhh...ummmm...can eating be a hobby? Eating and walking? I can't think of other ones."

Another short pause.

"Do you have another home, Miss Maya?" the boy asked, a sudden curiosity trickling into his gaze. "Or did you always stay in Alvadas...?"



"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

[Aislyn Leavold]

”Snow?”
She hadn’t expected him to say snow. She’d expected a hobby or something- Aislyn had said drawing; She’d expected Phobius to say something of the same kind. Running, dancing, something like that.
Snow, though.
The boy did have a point. Winter in Alvadas was always beautiful, cold or not. It had a certain elegance to it; the snow was sometimes laced with colors of other rainbows. Hues of purple, shades of green… Ionu had a way with color. Which, of course, was understandable, with such a power such as his. Illusions, after all, were often centered around color. Aislyn mostly dabbled in visual illusions, on top of being an artist. So, of course, she knew her way around colors, but that didn't mean she didn't have an appreciation for plain white.
Though with the way Phobius described it, it seemed anything but plain.

When the boy wanted to be, he was about as animated as it got. Aislyn barely had time to get a word in as he tossed questions left and right. First it was winter, then it was summer, then it was birds… It was obvious the boy liked birds.
Then again, with the rather one-sided conversation they were having, the boy could very well have liked everything without Aislyn taking notice.
At Phobius’ question, though, a sudden picture popped into her mind. For a second, Phobius looked expectant for an answer, but not long enough for her answer to really take hold.
”Crows. I like crows.”
She wasn’t exactly an avid bird watcher, but the one bird she’d studied carefully was a crow. And, she didn’t kid herself, it was entirely due to the form in which Ionu had took during her marking. Sure, not all crows were incandescent rainbows, but still, the event had given her a special appreciation for the bird, despite the other negative impacts the night had caused.

Phobius continued for a good few more ticks, and Aislyn could have sworn he didn’t breathe throughout all of it. A few short pauses between rapid conversation, and the boy finally rested, ending on a question pointed towards Aislyn like a double-edged sword.
"Do you have another home, Miss Maya? Or did you always stay in Alvadas...?"

It seemed like a simple enough question, and Aislyn was glad it wasn’t more pointed towards home itself, rather than the location of where home was.
”No, I’ve… Always been in the city.” Technically that wasn’t true. As far as she knew, she was born just outside the city, prematurely to a mother that hadn’t planned for a child at all, but that didn’t seem appropriate to mention to a boy that had just wanted to know where she lived.
”Alvadas, born and raised; What about you? Have you ever been outside the wonderful city of illusions?” She paused, for a minute, pondering the possibility that Phobius had moved to the city completely alone. The idea didn’t seem to fit him, but it was still a possibility.
She could have sworn the boy had mentioned something about some other city he’d once ventured to, but she couldn’t remember it to save her life.

As she gave the boy time to respond, Aislyn cast a glance over at the doorway Kuvarakh had disappeared down. He seemed to be taking longer than it would’ve taken to just ‘Take a look’. After they’d finished talking, She decided, they’d go investigate to where Kuv had disappeared.

[Phobius]

Ooooh...crows. Phobius had only ever seen the birds in pictures; from what he could tell, people liked to talk about them in stories, a lot, and they either ended up large enough to carry a full-grown man or small enough to sit on someone's shoulder. They were smart, too, and occasionally talked, though the boy doubted that they actually could, despite how amazing that would be. Smiling at Miss Maya, Phobius tried to think back to all of the drawings that he'd seen coating the walls of her home, curious as to whether or not there'd been some crow sketches that he had glanced over. But there were too many papers to pick through, so he gave up a few ticks later; maybe once their stay at the mansion was over and they were back in the city, he could ask to get a better look at them all. It'd be nice to sit down and browse through all of the woman's drawings.

It was a bit of a surprise to hear that Miss Maya had always lived in Alvadas. For some reason, Phobius had expected her to be the kind of person who liked to travel around, a lot. Not that it was a bad thing to only stay in one place for your whole life. She'd picked a great place to live.

"Have you ever been outside the wonderful city of illusions?” the woman asked a moment later. The smile upon the boy's face faded a bit, but he didn't hesitate to respond, somewhat used to the question by now. It was easy enough to answer, and he didn't mind talking about where he came from, quite pleased with his home, but...well, at times it was a bit difficult.

"My home's Wind Reach," Phobius replied. Then he hesitated a little, as if he'd said something wrong. "I mean...it was. I left a few seasons ago, in Fall, I think...so now Alvadas is home. But...Wind Reach is kinda still home, too..."

He'd run into a dilemma. Did the mountainous city still count as his home if he didn't live there, anymore? Sure, it was where he'd been born and where he'd spent a majority of his life...but now he had moved on, settling himself comfortably in the city of illusions, and as the days passed Phobius had begun to feel more and more like he'd found a much better home.

"I like it here more," the boy said, having thought it over for a few ticks. "Wind Reach is nice, but...the people here are lots nicer. Like you, and Kuvarakh."

As if suddenly remembering their alchemist friend had come into the mansion with them, Phobius leaned forward and peeked past Miss Maya, his gaze falling on the doors that the man had went through a short while ago.

"He went to get water, right...?" the boy murmured, his eyes glued to the doors. "It's been kinda long..."

"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

[Aislyn Leavold]

Wind Reach?
Aislyn hadn’t heard of the place before.
Then again, there were a lot of places she could only assume she hadn’t heard of before. The list of cities she knew of was easily counted on one hand. Alvadas, Riverfall, Ahnatep… Ah… Now she knew about Wind Reach, so Wind Reach. That was four.
The woman made a mental note to investigate more cities next time she was at the Sunken Conundrum.

For now, however, she wasn’t at the Conundrum, and her only source of information (though Kuv’s earlier mention of a mansion library certainly seemed appealing) was Phobius, and Phobius wasn’t done talking yet.
Unfortunately, what the boy was saying wasn’t exactly all that factual. He seemed almost angsty about the idea of ‘home’. Aislyn could relate.

The way the boy addressed this ‘Wind Reach’ didn’t seem very inviting. Even as he referred to it as his home, his words seemed cautious. Or indecisive. Either way, the thought ended with silence from both parties. Was this ‘Wind Reach’ dangerous in some way? Had Phobius come to Alvadas for solace? There had to be some reason for just packing up and leaving, hadn’t there? He still seemed to hold the place in high regard… So what had made him leave?
For a few ticks, her questions were met with silence.
Phobius thought, and Aislyn listened.

After what seemed like forever, the boy continued.
"I like it here more. Wind Reach is nice, but...the people here are lots nicer. Like you, and Kuvarakh."

The people in Wind Reach must have been really mean for Aislyn to be considered ‘really nice’.
”Thank you.” Pause. What next?
After more silence, the woman noticed Phobius wasn’t looking at her anymore. Instead, his line of sight led to the large doors Kuvarakh had disappeared through.
Oh yeah.
Kuvarakh.

”It’s been kinda long…”
The boy was right. Looking for water shouldn’t have taken this long. And it was right to be worried, wasn’t it? They were in the middle of a mansion that had not only the ability to supposedly speak, but also to change shape at will, if the earlier earthquake had meant anything at all. Not exactly the safest place to be, and certainly not safe alone.
Being lost in this place was not an outcome Aislyn liked the idea of.

”You’re right.” Sliding off the couch, Aislyn waited for Phobius to move before following in Kuvarakh’s footsteps to the doors. He had gone this way, right?
There only way to find out.
Aislyn turned the handle.

Click.
Click. Click click click click.

Apparently, rapidly shaking the door handle did not make it any less locked.
Not that the idea made any less sense than the fact that the door was locked at all.

"But- Kuvarakh went through here? How did it lock? Was it on some timed mechanism or something or-" Should she be saying this in front of Phobius? "Did he lock us in?"

[Phobius]

OOCGah! Sorry this took so damned long. Forgot it was my turn. e__e

Phobius watched as Miss Maya rose from the couch. So she thought that the alchemist's disappearance was strange too, huh? Well...maybe "disappearance" was the wrong way to think about it; he'd simply been taking too long in the kitchen, and it was a little bit worrying that he hadn't come back, yet. The boy could remember how large and spacious the room was from the last time he'd been in it, but it wasn't like Kuvarakh could have gotten himself lost. ...or could he?

Not wanting to hover over her shoulder, the boy stood back and gave the woman some space as she went to fiddle with the door handle. But the doors themselves didn't seem to want to budge, and he took a few steps forward to get a glimpse of what was going wrong, blinking when he saw how Miss Maya was tugging at it.

"But- Kuvarakh went through here? How did it lock?"

The words made Phobius' eyes widen a little, and he stared at the door handle, almost looking as though he was attempting to will the mechanism to unlock itself. It wasn't supposed to be locked...unless maybe Kuvarakh had accidentally done it when he'd gone inside...? He doubted that the man would have done it on purpose, if Miss Maya was even talking about him when she asked if "he" had locked them in. The only other "he" around was the house, really...but why would it want to lock its doors when the alchemist was still in the kitchen? And if it had done it, was it trying to keep him in or keep them out...?

Frowning with the onset of worry, Phobius cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted for his friend. "Kuvarakh...? You in there? We can't open the door! Hello...?"

He waited a little, but when there was no response he lowered his arms and turned to Miss Maya, a look of quiet distress upon his face.

"Maybe...maybe he went upstairs?" the boy suggested. "I mean, I dunno why the doors are locked, but...the house likes to change rooms and make things confusing, a lot. So maybe Kuvarakh tried to leave but went somewhere else..."

It made sense in his mind. Sort of. After all, during his first visit to the mansion he and the alchemist had managed to find each other after a good bell or two of aimless wandering, while the halls and rooms (or so he had come to suspect) warped around them. To Phobius, it had been the mansion's way of playing a joke on them; an upsetting, slightly terrifying joke, but a joke nonetheless. It was possible that it was trying to do that again, now, though he couldn't come up with a single reason why.

"We can try looking," Phobius went on, giving the towering wooden doors a final glance before turning around and heading for the nearest set of stairs. It wasn't like they had many other options; getting into the kitchen was near-impossible, now.

"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

[Aislyn Leavold]

"Kuvarakh? You in there? We can't open the door! Hello...?"

So the door was locked after all. Either they had been locked out, or Kuvarakh had been locked in. By who, it was unknown. Perhaps an automatic lock, but that seemed unlikely. The alchemist wasn’t that stupid. Rather smart if Aislyn’s impressions of him were correct. Not the kind of person to foolishly let a door lock behind him. Which meant it had been on purpose. Neither Lyn nor Phobius could have locked it, either. So who had?
The only way to find out was to figure out where Kuvarakh had gone.

Meeting Phobius’ eyes, Aislyn found him in even more disarray than she was. He was obviously distressed, but not hysterical, at least.

When he suggested checking upstairs, Aislyn set into action. Not a full out run- not yet- but an increased pace than before. The mansion had not been what she had expected; first tremors, then locking doors, now the disappearance of Kuvarakh. The situation was not ideal, and was certainly growing more sinister as they went.
Beating Phobius to the stairs, Aislyn quickly reached the balcony that held the second set of doors.
Once there, she waited, refusing to touch the handle until the boy caught up with her.
If this door didn’t open, it would be evident that finding Kuvarakh would be more of a puzzle than they had expected. No, not a puzzle.
With the size of the house and the supposedly shifting rooms, the predicament was more like a maze.

From Aislyn’s prior experiences, she was not a fan of mazes.

Several times before, the woman had been lost in them, with and without other people there to hinder her progress. It was as if mazes were a sort of stigma in her life, a sign of danger. Or a foreboding way of Ionu warning her. She wouldn’t doubt the idea of Ionu sending cryptic situations her way for a second. It didn’t seem unlike the deity to be so indirect as to push only subtle signs her way.
But if this was the deity’s idea of a warning, it didn’t seem like it was going to work.

Once Phobius stood beside her, Aislyn pushed through, turning the knob with the hope for the best.
The most unfavorable thing that could happen was the door refusing to open, right? There wasn’t much else to prepare for.

And if such a situation arose…

Perhaps Kuvarakh didn’t want to be found at all.



OOCI'm so sorry for everything about this post. How late it is, how short it is, and how low quality it is. But, unfortunately, I really don't want to put off posting for any longer.

[Fable]

The door opened as easily as any, sliding without sound to reveal a large, mostly empty room. There were two beds situated equidistant from each other, a hearth that divided the room in half, placed against the very back most wall, and two large, empty frames that hung on the left and right walls, facing each other with blank stares. The wooden floor, plain and simple wall paper, and unadorned molding seemed entirely out of place with the lavish foyer the two had stepped into when they had first entered the house. The only thing about the room was undeniable was that while it lacked the impressive bombast of its cousin, the bedroom was comfortable. The fire was lit, and the sheets appeared fresh and clean, lightly layered over full mattresses that boasted comfort over chic style.