Re: Thought Dispersion (A SuvixMasq RP)

[quackers are yummylicious]

“Cloud?” Jun questioned, his curiosity piqued. Part of him thought that that was better than water, though his reasonable side told him it just meant he could go splat instead of drown. That was so much better, after all. “I guess that explains why it’s called Cumulus Harbor.”

He absentmindedly started drumming his fingers on the seat next to him, rather impressed with how smooth the ride was. Sure, Rien’s world didn’t have any of this technology, but his did and this world still did it better. It was rather impressive. It kind of seemed like this was some sort of alternate dimension to his own world. Maybe there was another Jun hanging around somewhere. That would be neat.

[Masquerade]

"That would explain a lot," Rien agreed with a nod. She was a bit disappointed at the lack of scenery, but then again, they were underground. Luckily, the ten minutes passed fairly quickly. The train began to slow down a bit as the voice sounded over the intercom.

"Now approaching Cumulus Harbor. Brace yourselves."

Rien tensed up a bit and gripped the edges of her seat as the train came to such a sudden stop that if she hadn't been warned, she probably would been sent sprawling. Her first thought was that they should definitely have the train slow down some more before doing something like that, but at least it wasn't a complete disaster. Her thoughts of the subway were significantly less than they were before she had ridden, though she still found it to be a pleasurable experience. She watched as the door popped out and slid open. There were several people on the platform outside waiting for the other cars to clear out so they could get on, granted there turned out to be only a couple of people in one of the other cars. Rien stood up and straightened her dress. "Come on, Jun. The harbor awaits us!" she exclaimed joyously as she stepped out upon the platform and walked forward a bit. The setup of the station was similar to the last one, though there was a light draft coming from above where the steps led out to their new destination. It smelled lightly of salt...

[quackers are yummylicious]

“Rien, slow down!” Jun cried out, doing his best to follow Rien and successfully bumping into quite a few people. Did she forget he was blind or something? Oh well, he didn’t really want to be an inconvenience. Still, it would be nice not to get lost in an even more unfamiliar place. Considering he wasn’t quite sure how to get back to Paradise, it would be for the best not to get separated from Rien.

“The harbor isn’t going to go anywhere!” he reminded her as he stumbled off the platform. It didn’t really help that the underground was so echo-y. It was days like this that he really hated his disability.

[Masquerade]

Rien turned swiftly and took hold of Jun's arm, a nervous smile plastered on her face. "S-sorry, Jun. I got a little carried away. You'll have to forgive me," she apologized as the other people that were standing on the platform finished boarding the train. The doors closed and the one minute warning resounded through the station. Rien led Jun off the platform and past the booth until they reached the stairs. She took a deep breath and ascended them, still leading Jun along. The last thing she wanted was for him to get lost, especially since she had never been to this place. Upon reaching the top, Rien's jaw dropped. There it was--a sea of clouds just like she thought. The boats that they had seen from afar back in Paradise were much larger now that they were up close, and they were actually floating on the clouds just as easily as if they were water! All about were fisherman and sailors, loading up their ships or taking off cargo for delivery. Seagulls soared above, cawing and swooping down to snatch any spare food lying around while a couple of ship captains were shouting out commands to their crew. Other people were browsing what appeared to be a large market where seafood was primarily sold, but she saw other stands selling fruits and vegetables along with souvenirs and such. All the buildings seemed to be built from stone with red-topped tin roofs. The town itself wasn't that large. The docks stretched out for quite a bit--there was plenty of room for large and small ships alike. Beyond the docks and a bit further down in the town was a road that led to a small beach with sand that seemed to glisten in the sun. In the opposite direction, to the west, there was as large mountain with a huge hole in it. A few gruff-looking men in yellow hardhats were loitering around outside, or at least from what she could see.

"This is it. They really do have a sea of clouds here, Jun," she said to him. "The ships they have float on the clouds...it's like a dream. And they have a market. And a beach. It's amazing," she told him, giving him a general idea of what was around since he wouldn't be able to see it for himself.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Jun was rapidly clicking his tongue, trying to take in all the new wondrous things that surrounded them. This place was noisy, though not a bad noisy. Just some aimless chatter here and there, and the sounds of people working. It wasn’t that bad. “See anything suspicious?” he asked, struggling to remember their primary mission with all the new sights and smells. The market was really starting to smell good.

He leaned towards the smell, sighing contentedly. “I want some of that food,” he announced, his stomach growling as if on command. That had to be one of the best smells, like, ever, he decided, though it might just have been the fact that he hadn’t eaten yet today speaking.

[Masquerade]

"It's hard to tell what would be out of place in a place like this," Rien said absently, placing a finger to her chin in thought. Everything seemed pretty fitting for a harbor. She decided that she would just let Claire know everything they saw. If something stood out later on, she make sure to remember what it was seeing as how they had come to the harbor under the guise of trying to find the source of the Council's troubles. At the mention of food, Rien smiled and walked with Jun over to the market area. It was then that she noticed that these people were dressed rather casually, and not entirely in white. Most of them had varying shades of blue as the main color of their outfits as opposed to white. It must have been to represent their love for water despite there not really being any water.

"What would you like to eat, Jun? They have seafood, fruits, and vegetables," she said, gazing at all the delectable foods. The seafood was fresh, and the fruits and vegetables looked unbelievably healthy. Whoever grew them really knew how to cultivate. Then again, everything in this realm seemed to be perfection.

"Yeah, and all those things are raw," a gruff, but kind male voice sounded next to Rien. There was a tall, well-built man in his mid-thirties at least dressed up in a chef's outfit complete with the hat and apron. "I got a grill going in my stand just down the way. Bring your ingredients to me and I can cook up somethin' good for ya," he offered with a grin, waving to both of them before heading off to his stand.

Rien waved back at the man, so happy that these people were so nice. "Oh! I forgot to mention that everything's free here. I learned that yesterday after talking to a baker down on Amethyst Avenue. Said they had no need for money; it was the root of evil or some such," she explained to Jun, just now recalling what had happened with that encounter.

Back in Paradise, Kazu wasn't regretting his decision to help Claire out at all. While the councilwoman took to the roads, Kazu preferred to check out things from above. He had a reason to scale buildings now without having to stealth himself. The assassin dropped down from a really tall building into an alleyway where he had noticed an odd machine. "Wow, so many flashing lights. I wonder what it does," he said to himself, walking up to the thing to observe the control panel. There were no clear cut buttons and no instructions, so he decided to back off a bit, crouching down to look at some gilded letters on the base. There was an 'S.' and an 'N.', but a dark smudge covered up something in the middle. Grabbing the very edge of his cloak, he wiped away the smudge. His jaw dropped the instant he saw the middle letter. "This is...." It read:

S. I. N.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Jun continued sniffing, trying to pick out whatever smelled the best. That was hard, everything smelled really delicious, especially after he was so used to starving. When the man had said that everything was raw, his heart dropped a little, but he quickly recovered when he offered to grill them something. They didn’t have to pay anything for this food, apparently, so that was even better!

“Uh...one of everything?” he laughed, only half joking, before wiping his mouth on his sleeve as he realized to his embarrassment he had been drooling. At least he was a little neater than he was yesterday, otherwise he really would’ve looked like a mess, all savage-looking and drooling over food. “What looks good? Don’t say everything!” The more he thought about food, the hungrier he was. Some sort of grilled fish was sounding good, but he wasn’t actually sure what they had out.

[Masquerade]

"Well drat. I was going to say everything," Rien said quickly, holding back a laugh. She approached one of the stands where they had fish. "Pardon, sir, but what are these odd-looking fish?" she asked the vendor, pointing at a light colored fish that appeared to have wings coming out of its sides, but upon closer inspection they were just fins. Regardless, she had never seen such a fish before in Alidaire.

"Those are skyfish, my dear," the vendor replied politely, taking two plates and slapping one of the skyfish onto each plate before handing them over to Rien. "If you've never had them before, you have to taste them. Their meat is light and airy...almost like a cake. It's unreal. Yet, it's very filling at the same time. You'll see what I mean," the man explained with a smile. "Try having some mango and pineapple seared on the grill to go along with it. Taniel, the man you just talked to, is a master of the grill. I'm sure he'll hook you up real nice."

"Well thank you very much." She bowed her head politely to the man before putting both plates in one hand carefully and guiding Jun along. "I hope this is all right with you. I think it sounds wonderful. Plus, these fish are kind of heavy, so I'm sure they'll fill us up quite nicely," she said merrily as she reached a fruit stand. The stands were in so close proximity that the woman tending it already had some mango and pineapple sliced up. She took the plates from Rien and loaded them up with the sliced fruit before handing them back. "Would you like anything else to go with yours, Jun, before we head to the grill? If you name it, I'll try to find it."

[quackers are yummylicious]

Jun frowned in thought, scratching the stubble that was already starting to form on his face. Fruit, fruit, fruit... “I like grapes. The...uh...red ones,” he offered, momentarily forgetting what his mother had said the color was. That didn’t exactly feel good. “Not grilled though. Can you even grill grapes?” he wondered aloud, starting to confuse himself the more he thought about it. Grilled pineapple would be good, though. Mango too.

“I can hold a plate, too!” he protested suddenly, realizing there were two plates and he wasn’t holding one. Plus, Rien was guiding him along, so how was she holding both plates? Probably magic, he concluded. After all, Rien’s world was a magical sounding place, so it was only natural that she had a little magic under her belt. But that didn’t make it fair for her to carry both plates!

[Masquerade]

"Of course. I would have to guess that grapes probably wouldn't taste too great even if you could grill them," Rien replied with a laugh, looking over the fruit stand. The female vendor had bagged some and placed them on the top plate. "Thank you, miss," Rien said thoughtfully, taking that plate and handing it to Jun. "I was doing just fine. I used to work as a waitress sometimes back home. Balancing plates is no hard task to me," she stated proudly, though it was better if Jun held his own in the case that there was some unforeseen accident. She led him over to where Taniel had his grill stand and she handed him her plate before pointing at Jun's.

"You can't grill grapes right?" she asked the man sheepishly, watching as she tossed her fish and fruit slices on the grill making sure to leave room for Jun's.

"I'm a master of the grill, girlie. I could probably grill anything you gave me and make it taste at least a bit good, but I wouldn't recommend grilled grapes. They're better off raw and fresh in my honest opinion," Taniel replied, bowing his head slightly. "Does the young man want his grapes grilled?" he asked Jun with a hearty chuckle.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Jun shook his head, looking rather alarmed and embarrassed. “Nah, this is fine,” he laughed nervously, adjusting his blindfold as he did whenever he got nervous. “Thank you for helping us out,” he said politely, wondering how everything got done if people just did what they enjoyed. This world was a bit confusing to him since his own was so heavily influenced by money.

He took the bag of grapes off of his fish, deciding he didn’t want to try them grilled, and clicked his tongue a few times, before dropping the fruit in his pack for dessert. The food was quite good here, so he figured the usually sweet fruit would make a good dessert.

[Masquerade]

Taniel laughed at Jun's somewhat unsettled response and took his fish, slapping it right on the grill. Both fish were sizzling quite nicely along with Rien's fruit of course causing both aromas to drift into the air and mix together in an elaborate dance forming a wondrous smell that would make anyone's mouth water. Rien's certainly did. Why was it that the food smelled and tasted so good in this realm? Figuring it wasn't a matter for questioning and instead a matter for enjoying, she grinned eagerly as Taniel cooked and eventually put the grilled food back on the plates. "Here ya are, my good fellows," he said to them.

Rien took Jun's plate and handed it to him before picking up her own. "There's a beach nearby. Would you like to go sit in the sand and eat? I can't think of a better place to be honest," she asked Jun sheepishly seeing that there really wasn't a place where people could just sit and eat food. Most probably did it on the ships or on the beach like she suggested.

In Paradise, Kazu had managed to find Claire over by the mountain passage and dragged her back to the machine. "Son of a bitch! It looks just like one of our generators!" the woman cursed, slamming a fist into the nearby wall. She glanced the thing over, crouching down to read the golden lettering. "S.I.N. What a giant load." She sighed. This had to be it. There was no mistaking something this obvious. The good thing was that the Council's troubles were pretty much now over thanks to this guy, Kazu. She doubted she would ever suspect such a thing. Whoever crafted the machine did so with the Paradise generator model in mind so that none of the citizens or even the Council would think something was up with it. That means someone really thought this through, she thought grimly to herself as she started to walk away. "Can I ask you to watch this thing?"

"Uh, sure. But I could go ahead and destroy it if you want," Kazu replied with a shrug. He thought the Council, especially Claire, would want the thing gone as soon as possible.

"No, no. I'll be right back. I'm going to go get Purgatory so I can do the job myself." With that, she departed the alleyway and headed back towards the Council Building.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Jun nodded, smiling. “That’s fine,” he said, quite excited for his meal. It smelled amazing and it was hard not to eat it just standing up. “Lead the way!” he shouted happily, turning his head and clicking his tongue in hopes of finding the beach. His echolocation, however, did him no good, and he ended up spinning in a complete circle, a bit lost in the sea of stands. Maybe it really was best if Rien led the way.

[Masquerade]

Rien gladly obliged, laughing as Jun turned in a complete circle. She took his arm and led him out of the market area and down some stone steps leading to the beach. The sand was so soft for some reason. She had to wonder if it was real sand, but knowing this realm, it probably was. She took a seat right on the sand with Jun, her plate sitting in her lap. The food looked grilled to perfection, and she decided to pick up a hot slice of pineapple and place it on her tongue. She took in a deep breath as the slightly charred but super sweet and tangy flavor overwhelmed her. How...how could it have been that tasty? She wasn't chewing. How could she destroy this masterpiece? She let it sit on her tongue for a few moments with a goofy smile on her face before finally breaking it with her teeth and swallowing. She took her fingers and pierced the fish, tearing off some of the meat. Placing it on her tongue next, she was astonished. It hardly felt like anything was weighing on her tongue at all. She chewed the meat slowly almost as if she were chewing air, but she definitely felt it as she swallowed, the light salty flavor still lingering her mouth and mixing with the flavor of the pineapple.

"I must say that the fish is exquisite," Rien commented, pointing at her skyfish for emphasis. "This place has such good food. It should be a sin," she joked, giggling a bit at her humor. "Sorry if that was in bad taste," she added quickly, though she was still struggling to stop herself from laughing.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Jun snorted at Rien’s joke, before picking one of the fruits up--maybe the mango?-- and biting into it. Yep, definitely mango. Some sort of heavenly, angelic mango that was dancing across his tastebuds. A blank look crossed his face for a few seconds as he lost himself in the taste, before he quickly regained his senses and started chewing. How could free food be this good? The instant ramen samples his mom had gotten from work weren’t this good, and they were both free! This whole no-money thing was kind of confusing. “This is good,” he stated simply, awestruck at how good the food was.

“This is a hell of a lot better than mutated rabbit jerky,” he elaborated, since that was pretty much what he ate all the time. There wasn’t a lot to eat out in the wasteland, and Paradise was a welcome change to that. Maybe he’d actually put some meat on his bones. Having seen his appearance the night before, he had been appalled to realize that he looked only slightly better than a Holocaust victim, though that was probably because he wasn’t being exposed to so many illnesses.

[Masquerade]

Kazu waited patiently by the machine. It wasn't like it was going to grow legs and start walking away...or at least that's what he thought. So many crazy things have happened these past couple of days, I wouldn't be surprised, the assassin thought drolly to himself, tapping his foot against the alleyway pavement which consisted of more gold. After this thing was destroyed, the Council would be able to double their efforts in investigating ways to get him and the others home. It was really Claire's initiative that got him on the path to finding it, so he had to make sure to thank her when he got the chance. Seeing as how he'd still be spending quite a bit of time in Sanctuary, he'd be able to work at thanking her properly. Maybe with a gift or something...

"Out of the way!" a shout came from the end of the alleyway that led out onto the street. Claire was standing there with what appeared to be an enormous sledgehammer. Upon the hammer head was the word 'PURGATORY' in black. She watched as Kazu hastily scaled the nearby building and she ran, dragging the sledgehammer across the pavement. With a roar, she lifted the thing up and brought it down full force as soon as she was close enough to the machine.

To Kazu's astonishment, the hammerhead starting spewing fire as it descended and crashed into the machine. There was a loud explosion and Claire was sent flying back, her shoes grinding into the ground as she tried to stop herself from being knocked over. The assassin jumped to the ground and tried to get a closer look at the machine. When the smoke cleared, all that remained was a heaping pile of wreckage. He clutched his head suddenly, feeling a wince of pain.

The anomaly has been resolved.

"Did...did you say something?" Kazu asked Claire who was approaching him. There was a questioning look on her face.

"No, but are you going to be all right? Your body is flickering. What's--"

Kazu yelled out in pain and crumpled to his knees. There was only one time that he could remember where he felt pain as excruciating as this, and that was back in Amber City the night before he had awoken in Sanctuary. He hugged his own body tightly as it began to fade, the entirety of it becoming transparent. Beside him, Claire was shouting something, but he couldn't hear it. Instead, everything became black and he fell unconscious.

Rien was about to question Jun about the mutated rabbit jerky, but then she remembered that he had mentioned there being a lot of such creatures roaming about his world. She smiled at him and was about to take another bite of food when she noticed that she could see right through her hand. She dropped the food in the sand and stood up quickly, but instantly fell to the ground on her side. She screamed and could see Jun just now starting to flicker. It was going to happen to him too, and probably the others as well. She wanted to warn him, but as she opened her mouth, all of her muscles relaxed, her mind succumbing to unconsciousness.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Hearing Rien scream, Jun looked over in alarm, quickly noticing her transparent appearance as well as his own. “Wh-?!” he began, before the horrible pain overtook him again. His cry of alarm turned into a scream of pain, and he dropped his plate of food to the ground as he writhed about in the sand. Finally a numbness over took him, and he felt himself drifting into unconsciousness. What exactly was going on...?

Quin was curled up in her bed, trying to force back the emotions that just kept spilling out. Once she had started crying, she couldn’t stop, and now she was just a mess. She opened her eyes from her hiding spot under the covers, looking at the rock she kept tightly clutched in her hand. While the rock itself was as familiar as ever, her hand seemed to be disappearing. She let out a shriek, the all-too-familiar pain that she’d felt in the elevator returning. This time she was much more open to it, simply allowing it to overtake her, rather than fight unconsciousness. It wasn’t worth it.

[Masquerade]

Twilight Villa, Darnavan...

The smooth sandstone bricks were rather warm despite the sun not being at a pinnacle in the sky, but rather in the distant horizon bathing the entire village in shades of orange, yellow, and gold. The sky was red like fire as if it were ablaze. Beyond the village rested several farms, and beyond that were nothing but barren land. In the distance to the north stood a cluster of jagged rocks that may have been mountains, their pointed peaks aiming to tear into the sky itself. Clouds that looked more like smoke seemed to float high in the air, but one cloud in particular very far away was as black as could be--very ominous. The village itself was rather large, all the buildings expertly crafted from brick, sandstone, or a combination of the two which seemed to accentuate the twilight. A beautiful bell tower rose high into the sky in the central plaza, and a wondrous mansion rested beyond it. A myriad of different plants were planted in flowerbeds along the side of the mansion, all of them covered with orange and golden flowers. The trees around the house were evergreens, and what sparse nature could be scene in front of the mansion was dwarfed by what rested in the courtyard. Even more shrubs with flowers could be seen, some with pink, yellow, and red flowers. Regardless of color, all of them filled the air with wonderful aromas, pungent and heavy in nature. The soft sound of water hitting water came from a brick fountain in the center of the courtyard with a sandstone column in the middle that was spraying the water into the air for it to come back down to the water in the base.

Sitting on the edge of the fountain was none other than Kazu, looking out at three other bodies lying on the sandstone that made up the ground of the courtyard. Rien. Jun. Quin. They were still unconscious, lying next to each other in a row just like last time. Kazu had awoken at the end and immediately got up. He didn't stray too far from them like last time as well. When they managed to wake up themselves, they would need to know that he was still around for them to accurately make sense of what happened...which was something the assassin was still trying to piece together in his mind. There was Claire, charging the machine that was plaguing Sanctuary by cranking out sinful items. She had smashed it to peaces with that giant ass sledgehammer. And then....someone said something. What was it? He had been interrupted in trying to figure out where the voice came from by the pain that overtook his body, and of course the unconsciousness that would soon follow. They were randomly sent to another world. That had to have been the only thing that could have happened. Now the question was why? Why did this happen again?

"Is it trying to get us back home at least?" Kazu pondered aloud to himself. Maybe it had ripped them away by freak accident, and now it was trying desperately to get them home. As farfetched as the idea sounded, it was what sounded best at the moment. It meant that maybe they'd get home eventually as long as they just remained calm. Or maybe they had landed on a world now that had the means to get them home...though he wasn't about to get his hopes up. Sanctuary seemed like the perfect place for that kind of thing to exist, but they couldn't figure out anything about this...Thought Stream which happened to be the apparent source of their troubles. Kazu sighed and just rested his chin in his hands as he waited for the others to wake up at last.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Like the time before, Quin was the second to awaken. Rather than just laying there like she had last time, she sat up, looking around and quickly realizing that this was far from her home. She almost felt like breaking down again at the sight of yet another unfamiliar place. This wasn’t her home, nor was it Sanctuary. They’d been transported again. She turned her gaze up to Kazu, holding back all the anger and sadness that was threatening to explode out of her. “We’re in another world, aren’t we...” she asked him, sighing to herself and standing up. Were they just going to be punished to roam from world to world until their demise?

Her train of thought was interrupted when Jun sat up, looking around in a panic and clicking his tongue rapidly. “Who’s there?” he demanded, hoping that these people were his companions, though one could never be too sure.

[Masquerade]

A few moments passed and Quin was up and alert which would have been a good thing if they had reappeared in a threatening world, but as far as Kazu could see, this place was about as peaceful as Sanctuary, even if the scenery was vastly different. "I hate to say it, but yeah. We're definitely in a different world," the assassin answered the girl honestly. He knew that she knew deep down that the Thought Stream had tossed them into a different place. "I've been racking my brain trying to figure out why all of this is happening. No luck," he explained with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. He hadn't gotten worked up the first time the Thought Stream dumped him somewhere and there was no point in getting worked up now. He noticed Jun had woken too and was a bit more alarmed than Quin.

"It's all right, friend. It's just me, Kazu. The others are here as well," he told the blind fellow so he wouldn't have to worry. Rien was still out cold like last time, but not for long. Kazu cupped his hands and dipped them into the fountain to gather a bit of water. Walking over to the sleeping girl, he splashed the water into her face causing her to gasp suddenly, scrambling up to her feet and glancing around warily. "Good morning, sunshine. Couldn't have you sleeping the day away."

Rien retrieved a handkerchief from inside her dress and dried her face, scowling. "I hardly thought that was necessary," she stated sharply towards Kazu. Lowering the handkerchief, she saw the others were here as well...wherever here was. "Oh no...what happened? Where are we?" She felt a slight headache at trying to remember what had happened. It was just like that night back at the castle when she had fainted due to the intense pain. Then she had woken up on Sanctuary. Then she was eating some good food with Jun. Pain. Waking up on...a world that definitely wasn't Alidaire.

[quackers are yummylicious]

The blind man seemed to calm down upon hearing Kazu’s voice, laying back down with a thud. This was exhausting... Why couldn’t they just go home? Rien and Quin both seemed on the verge of snapping, and that wouldn’t be good. Was some sort of higher entity messing with them just for shits and giggles? He groaned, fighting the urge to start cursing out the sky. “So what now?” he asked, quickly growing tired of this world jumping.

Quin had slowly wandered away from the group, looking up at the bell tower. It wasn’t nearly as tall as any of the gleaming skyscrapers of her home, but it did leave a sense of familiarity. How many worlds would they be forced into before they went home? She didn’t want to do this forever. She just wanted to go home and hug her parents.

[Masquerade]

"I'd say the best place to start would be finding out where the hell we are." Kazu shot a glance at Rien who was a bit perturbed. "It's just like last time, girl. We have no idea where we are. I'd suggest just lounging around here until we're uprooted again, but uh..." His voice trailed off as he pointed at the mansion in front of them. "My guess is we're in someone's back courtyard. We're bound to be found out eventualy," he stated with a heavy sigh. The mansion was right there. Maybe someone lived there that could give them shelter. It was about as good as anything. He raised a finger to the rest of the group to indicate that they should stay there. There might be a chance that whoever lived here might be angered by their presence in his or her courtyard. One could never know. The assassin strolled up to the back door and rapped upon it hard enough to make a decent noise. With his keen hearing, he made out footsteps that were getting louder and louder until someone opened the door.

Standing in the doorway was a rather short gentleman who was wearing a black top hat upon his balding head. He was dressed in rather fanciful attire: a violet waistcoat with a ruffled, white dress shirt underneath. A handkerchief was neatly folded and placed in the front pocket of the coat. He wore black dress pants and matching shoes. A golden pocket watch chain could be seen dangling out of his pants pocket. The man looked up with squinting eyes. "You must be the ones the gardener told me about. Those fellas that decided to take a nap in mah courtyard, harr harr harr," he said in an amused tone, holding his belly while he laughed weirdly. He pushed Kazu to the side and let his door close, walking over to the others.

Kazu made sure to tail behind him, his steel clawed gauntlets gleaming in the sunlight. The man seemed fine with how things were, but the assassin was not about to let his guard down.

"How is everyone this fine evening, eh?" the short man asked the random people scattered about his courtyard. One was off to the side admiring the bell tower. Another was wearing a blindfold. One's face was still a tad wet. They were certainly a questionable bunch.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Jun sat up, before pushing himself to his feet as he heard the man talk. He wasn’t quite sure where they were, since his echolocation didn’t reach too far, but he was pretty sure it was a garden or a town square or something. Nobody really bothered to explain things to him. “Um...peachy?” he responded, scratching his head before fiddling with his blindfold. “Mind telling us where we are?”

Quin turned her gaze from the clock tower to look at the man, before looking back up at the clock tower. Part of her wanted to levitate up to the top and look down, even though it surely wasn’t ninety-four stories tall, like her bedroom was. Hearing Jun ask about where they were, she returned her focus to the group, the question actually striking her interest.

[Masquerade]

"You're in Twilight Villa, of course. You must be from another city far away if you do not know of this place," the fellow said with another hearty chuckle, walking up to the fountain peering deep within. Upon close inspection, there were actually several fish within the fountain. A few swam to the surface at the sight of the balding gentleman, not like the others would be able to see.

"I hate to say it, but it's a bit more extreme than that," Kazu put bluntly. "Not sure if you'll believe it, but we're not from this world."

The man turned around, his head tilted in curiosity. "Another world, you say?! My, well, allow me to welcome to you the world of Darnavan!" he exclaimed with the hugest grin he could muster. People from other worlds? Things like this certainly didn't happen everyday.

Kazu was a little crept out by the man, but decided to just be thankful for the fact that they were actually welcomed in this world. "Yeah, thanks and all that. We don't exactly know how long we're going to be here. Do you have lodgings? Like a hotel or inn or something?"

"Nonsense! You're all welcome to stay in my mansion," he said quickly in response, strutting towards the large building and gesturing to it with his hands. "Doesn't that sound like a much more grand idea?"

[quackers are yummylicious]

“A mansion?” Jun repeated, his mouth dropping. He’d never been in a mansion before. The realization dropped in, and he spun around, clicking wildly and locating the large building. “That’s a house?! And we get to stay there?!” he gasped, sounding like a small child on Christmas. “What does it look like?” he demanded of no one in particular. He’d spent the majority of his life in a cramped apartment, so the idea of living in a mansion even for a few days was quite appealing.

Quin muttered a “thank you” to the man’s welcoming attitude, figuring he would take no offense if she sat on his bell tower if he was all for the idea of letting them stay at his house. She clenched her rock in her pocket, jumping a few inches into the air, and letting the air beneath her feet push her upwards. At first, she moved rather slow, but as the space between her feet and the ground increased, she gained speed until she reached the top of the bell tower, promptly sitting down on the roof. Definitely not as high up as her room, but it would do.

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