Scattered Dreams, Fragmented Reality » Places

         

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End of Act 1

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         Nohizar remained quiet for a while, not paying attention to any of his companions-by-chance, either by choice or by sheer exhaustion, it was difficult to tell which. So instead he remained quiet, smiling to himself as he reflected on his recent adventure. Only when Razihon broke the silence and filled it with his static filled voice, did he finally look up from his reflection. ”I do not know what they are so concerned about, I find this place quite charming.” Only now did Nohizar realize they had been talking, despite having heard and comprehended their words. He looked around and saw the strange Jester girl, Zoen and his new knight friend. With a second look around he observed his surroundings, taking in the strange and broken toys, the scenery that was almost like an homage to the lost dreams of lonely children. ”I don’t know… it looks pretty creepy. Toys aren’t meant to be broken, are they? They’re supposed to be cute and cuddley.” He said, his voice somewhat shaky, even as he got up to his feet.

Razihon merely shrugged in reaction, an infuriating shrug that usually meant the end of a conversation. Not this time, however. Instead he filled the silence between them with static. ”Don't be silly. Toys break. Toys break when they have known to much love from children. It is a natural effect. If anything, this place is an homage to the love children have for their toys and the sadness they felt when those same toys finally could take no more. I am fairly certain a place like this is perfectly safe, we should rest here for a while.” Nohizar blinked when Razihon seemed to ramble on and on instead of keeping his usual silence. The surprise at his friends sudden loquaciousness was so immense that he didn’t notice the sudden change in his friend’s smile, as if something savage had crept in there and was hiding itself, just out of sight. He was at a loss of words really, a strange reversal of their usual conundrum. One that might have warranted thought in a more suspicious mind, but Nohizar’s mind is anything but suspicious, so he merely said one word. ”Maybe…“

This time Razihon’s shrug did mean an end to the conversation and the green apparition wandered off to study a nearby teddy bear, leaving Nohizar to meet his new friends. With a smile and a sudden renewal of energy exclusive to the young he walked over with a wave. He spared a special wave and smile for Zoen, even as he greeted him. ”Hey Zoen! Why are you here? Speaking of which, how did you get here?” Without waiting for Zoen to respond he looked around again. With his second glance he noticed his new friend, uhm… Armour-guy, yeah that’s it, Armour-guy. He gave him an extra special energetic wave as well. He also noticed the strange Jester girl again, together with Princess. For equal measure he smiled and waved at them. He nodded once, mostly to himself, before he spoke, not having bothered to wait for Zoen’s reaction. He could multi-task, there were questions to be asked and introductions to be made!

”I’m Nohizar! And my friend is called Razihon!” He looked behind him and waved Razihon over, but the green spectre seemed more interested in studying some broken toys some ways away from the group, forcing Nohizar to continue the conversation by himself. ”Razihon says he likes this place, but I agree that it’s creepy. But I came here in a special way, just like everyone else I think! We must be here for a reason right? To slay a dragon or something! Look, we even have a knight and a princess here, that has to be it!” He pointed, perhaps rudely so, at Martellus and Erixianti.

Nohizar smiled with boundless excitement as he explained his own view on the situation. It was clear that his opinion on their current predicament was mostly fuelled by a wild imagination and wishful thinking. But that didn’t stop him. He was nearly hopping up and down with excitement, smiling blissfully at his new friends.

         Quinera was not happy. Her new friend had just fallen from the building. Or the building had fallen away from her. Buildings didn't do that. Someone must've done it to her buildings and that is not allowed. Nope, nope, nope. The jester went onto high alert, growling loudly, making sure that anyone who was listening knew of her annoyance and her anger. Her eyes scanned the surrounding buildings for the idiot who had decided to mess with her Tinker Tocker. No one she could see right now. But those two had gone after Eri...Those two had to be dealt with. They could hurt her and that was NOT allowed. Quinn was the one who had to look after her little friend. It was her job now. The jester had tried to grab her friend when she had fallen but just missed. Just be a tiny amount. And then those two turn up and play hero? No. No, that was not allowed. They were doing very well until the building had crumbled.

The jester stood on a nearby building, observing the group of people gathered there. Huh, people. They were so annoying. Just so...urgh. A little flare of frustration buold up inside the young woman and she snarled loudly, causing a few people to look up in confusion. The jester blended into the grayish buildings with a quick thought and change back once those curious people had looked away. Good.

Eri was still down there. She needed to go find her before something happened. But that would mean having to go down and be around all those people. All those people who probably wouldn't be too happy to see her. Quinn bit her lip hard and tasted a tang of copper as she bit down too hard. What was she going to do? She couldn't stay up here forever, that much was obvious. But really, she didn't want to go down. She just wanted her new friend back up here. Decisions, decisions. Quinera started to wring her hands, eyes flitting from place to place. She had to make her move, she had to do something quickly. Quick, quick, quick. Another stab of frustation shot through her already tense mind and the young woman threw up her hands with a scream. Why couldn't she just decide? It wasn't hard, not at all. But she was scared to go down. Just too scared of the new people and the changes and different. She didn't like different. Not at all. But then the frustration and fear disappeared as a thread of confidence and mischief played its game with her mind.

She wouldn't be scared. She would be scary.

The jester readied herself, confident. She had done this before. There was just more people this time. Most of which would run once they had seen her. No problem. Quinera threw herself off the building, seeping in the shoked gasps, whispers and fear that started to come off the crowd once they had noticed her. She was The Jester and she was not playing games. The young woman gripped onto a ridge on the building opposite and flew off, reading herself to land beside her friend. However, she never got the chance to land as a bright light suddenly filled her vision.

         “Oh?” There was a slight pause after Nohizar voiced his introduction of both himself and his companion. And while the blonde-haired man was certainly pleased that he managed to find out their names, something was quite obviously off. It has been a long time since he’d been here in this world, that is for sure, but he was still certain that this abandoned city had no conceivable sovereign among the Inner Selves dwelling it. “Hmmm… You say that, but from what I remember, this area doesn’t really have a ruler, or a king…” He murmured thoughtfully with his hand brought up to his chin. For a mere moment he seemed to be in contemplation over the fact he’d just voiced, though perhaps discreetly observing Nohizar’s reaction, but soon he laughed softly.

“I see, I see. Well of course, it is only fitting that this place would have found its sovereign, isn’t it? My name is Zoen Leed. Feel free to call me Zoen and I hope you will accept my apologies for trespassing.” So he spoke with an elegant bow in the direction of the “king” and his “great warrior”. As he stood straight again his smile was, as before, the only obvious feature on his face. After taking in the response of those two he’d encountered, whether verbal or otherwise, Zoen continued to speak. “To be honest, I wasn’t counting on remaining here in this city much longer. I was in fact heading somewhere with more people where I could hunt on clues about a certain something. Surely one of you must know the quickest way to get there?” He tilted his head slightly, though this still didn’t make his bangs obscure his eyes any less.

With all that said, Zoen had his reasons to assume that those two could prove somewhat helpful as companions if anything else. In retrospect the object that had passed through him was likely a construct born of this boy’s Sphere. Under different circumstances letting his guard down while walking would’ve probably been a very bad idea, so Zoen was secretly glad that he took no damage as the attack wasn’t intended to do him harm. For now perhaps playing along with the game of a trespasser and a self-proclaimed king with his warrior would be a much better idea. After all, do games not end up teaching children valuable lessons every now and then?

“Of course if it is bothersome I can go and find my own way to Tinker Tocker.” He concluded, shrugging his shoulders slightly and looking straight ahead at the boy. It was his move now – would he keep up his self-proclaimed title now? Furthermore, would he remain here or would he head onwards? Did he just find a potential ally heading in the same direction, or…? The answers hinged on Nohizar’s response…

         The strange apparition known as Razihon watched as a young boy by the name of Nohizar attempted to make a bird. He had been trying for the last hour and had come no closer to giving the bird even a semblance of its own will. And now that clever ideas and well-laid plans had failed, the boy had simply begun pouring his power into the bird and it had grown to obscene proportions because of it.

’Perhaps it is time to stop, you may injure yourself like this…’

Razihon’s oddly high voice came accompanied by the usual soft undercurrent of static as its voice pierced the silence of the flats around them. Nohizar sighed as he reluctantly gave up and the gigantic bird faded back into the nothingness it came from. Nozihar frowned as he thought about his current predicament. Why couldn’t he make another intelligent creature? Why would they never break free from his will like Razihon once did? He looked over at Razihon and studied it. The apparition was oddly tall, with green, ever changing, lines coating its otherwise black body. As Razihon stared with his single eye and unwavering smile he spoke again.

’That last one did become very large… perhaps you could ride the next one you create?’

Nozihar took off his hat before throwing it on the ground and lay down on his back while smiling, yes, maybe he could! He would have to try next time he created a bird. But for now he was tired and hungry. How long had it been since he came here? He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that his other self wouldn’t wake up and that wasn’t all bad. In fact, it was great! He could play outside all he wanted now. Nozihar shook his head. Thinking about it was useless, it was like this now and that was fine. He needed to focus on the important matters, like finding food! Nozihar jumped to his feet as he turned to Razihon.

‘How do we get to Tinker Tocker from here?’

Nozihar asked his question with a mischievous smile. Razihon was barely done pointing out a direction before the boy rushed off. He’d be tired within minutes and they’d have to wait in the middle of the Expanse Plane as he caught his breath, before starting it all over again. The apparition sighed as he picked up the boy's hat and slowly shambled after the boy. Today was going to be a long day.