Day 21
Belmere
After teasing Sylphine for a bit too long, Pirika finally started legitimately helping out and guiding her towards Bliston's location. From the looks of it, he was still inside the city--astonishingly, in a rather busy area where people were selling magic-based items. Trouble was, it was quite a distance away, and the roads leading there were quite confusing. At this point, Sylphine was seriously considering flying over there, regardless of how big of a scene she would make.
But then, another message came from Pirika: Wait...Bliston's coming back out of that store. He's with two other people. Uh...I think one of them is with us? Not that I really paid her much mind. The other person, though, is wearing a black cloak. I have a feeling he's not with us at all.
The green-haired maiden let out a long sigh, despite how people probably would have found it weird for her to do so out of nowhere. Great. Where are they going?
Hm...I'll keep my eyes on them. Maybe you can meet them on their way?
Considering how many wrong turns I've taken at this point, that's hardly likely, Sylphine responded irritatedly. Oh, well...let's try anyway.
Bliston and his strange companions traveled to another part of the city and entered a bar. From how Pirika described it, it sounded like it was a very...shady part of Belmere. Nonetheless, Sylphine adjusted her course as best as she could, trying to reach that bar.
On her way, however, she passed another bar--one called the One-Eyed Bowman. As she neared the building, Sylphine could hear a man screaming something about a map. Already, that was unsettling enough, but when that man came out on the streets and started harassing random onlookers about it, she decided it was time to bail out and quickly hurried away, somehow managing to get safely to the edge of the crowd.
A few minutes more of walking, and the scenery around her changed quite dramatically. Instead of vendors trying to sell unbelievably fancy objects, there were now performers on either side of the street, as large crowds watched them with fascination. There was one man bound in chains and letting out bizarre screams as he struggled for freedom. On the other side, there was a lady swinging around a rod with a flame on one end, even tossing it up a few times, with careful, practiced motions. In fact, a large number of these performers were goofing around with fire.
To Sylphine, though, it felt as though she had accidentally stumbled into some kind of devil's circus, especially with all the light from the entertainers' fire casting bizarre shadows everywhere. ...they find this kind of stuff to be fun...? Moving her eyes back to the street, she tried to push through the crowd and reach Bliston...
But somehow, someone with a bottle in one hand threw up his arms in drunken joy. The moment she noticed that man next to her, Sylphine swiftly tried to dodge, but by some bizarre coincidence, the man's hand snagged her hood and pulled off, exposing her green hair for everyone to see.
Immediately, there were a few people who gasped, confused at her strange appearance. Obviously, a few people even thought she was one of these entertainers as well. However, as though removing her hood had also sucked out all her nerves, Sylphine immediately bolted down the street, desperately hoping the actual entertainers would keep their audiences' attention long enough for her to get away.