Intra Cetum (Peregrine x Grumpy)

[Peregrine]

Sebastos considered Briar's new words carefully. They were much more detailed now, but it had the feeling that her list was by no means exclusive, just as Briar's 'see' had not truly meant she wished merely to look at it.

Eventually, and after much careful consideration, Sebastos decided the best way to interpret her request was to simply assume that she wished to live within the Sanctuary, until her words directly proved otherwise. This was not an ideal conclusion, especially seeing as Sebastos still desperately hoped to obtain her help. But, her living here was not necessarily mutually exclusive to the idea of her helping, nor did it mean she would never wish to leave.

Consoling itself with such considerations, Sebastos shimmered briefly in agreement, before directing a mindthought to both Briar and the Skyreacher. 'Can you help us descend, please?'

And then, to Briar alone, 'Follow me please.'

Sebastos instantly began to move towards the strange, broken 'wall' of mirrors that allowed them to see parts of the outside world. Unlike how it had been for the rest of the trip, this time the wall was no longer solid, but instead might as well have not existed. In an instant, something reached out to coil around Sebastos and Briar, like a hand with a hundred, long, thin, delicate fingers. And then they were floating in the air, lowering towards the refractive colors of Prisma.

Unconcerned with their height or precarious position, Sebastos continued to cheerfully communicate with Briar. 'You are correct that I am not entirely fond of the concept of language,' Sebastos replied, shimmering slightly even as it continued to cling tight to the Skyreacher's "hand", wound among it like a strange, liquid serpent. 'It is imprecise at best. Although I hope not to the level that would require self-mutilation. All the same, I hope to attempt to teach you mindthought at some point. Most Beings cannot understand language.'

Prisma was rapidly approaching below them, and before long the Skyreacher set the two on the ground. Unsurprisingly considering its appearance, there was no give in Prisma's ground. However, the ground itself pulled heavily upon Sebastos, who instantly melted into a puddle of darkness upon touching the ground. It took a couple of seconds before it was able to reform into a humanoid shape.

Prisma itself radiated with a sourceless light, which offered no space for shadows. It left everything appearing unexpectedly flat, and made Sebastos' inky blackness seem all the darker. The air was completely still, and filled with a faint sharpness that was almost metallic in nature.

Even before Sebastos fully finished reforming, a part of the ground a short ways in front of them suddenly humped up, suddenly looking as fluid and pliable as water. A moment later, and the gem bubble burst, revealing a small creature only as large as Briar's head, as colorful and translucent as all the surrounding gemstones.

It vaguely resembled an insect, except it only had four spindly legs holding it up. A massive carapace covered its back, with random parts growing out from it. At what could only be presumed to be the front, since it was pointed right at them, was a large sphere. It unfurled abruptly, like a rapidly blooming flower, to reveal sharp teeth in a gaping maw.

'This is Prismagota,' Sebastos offered, by way of introduction. 'It will lead us to the Sanctuary.'

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Briar felt her head tilting subconsciously as Sebastos pushed itself through one of the cracked panes that made up the Skyreacher's 'interior', for lack of a better word. She'd been under the impression that they were solid, impassable affairs: another reminder that the rules here did not function as they did back home. Another reminder that she was very much a stranger in a strange land. Mustering her courage, she followed her travelling companion's instructions and willed herself to step through the semi-solid glass and out into whatever was awaiting them beyond.

Immediately, she regretted this decision.

For a horrible, terrifying, all too long second, Briar seemed to hang there in the empty void. Before gravity got a say in the matter, however, something vast and delicate was reaching out to snatch her out of the air and bear her onwards with Sebastos.
"Fuck! Fuuuuuuuuuuuck--"

As Sebastos chatted away, almost casually, through it's particular means of communication, Briar felt her stomach lurch horribly as they were born down towards the incandescence of Prisma. It wasn't falling, exactly, but it was alarmingly not far off it. When the Skyreacher finally deposited them down on the surface of the sanctuary, she had to take several uneven steps and then clutch her knees for support. Sebastos was busy reforming itself into it's somewhat human-like shape: she twisted her head round to fix him with a panicked glare. "Please just... just warn me, if something like that's gonna happen again. Okay? I'm really, really bad with heights."

Before her companion could respond, a new arrival appeared on-scene. Some sort of cross between gemstone deposit and insect. A small part of Briar felt she ought to be disturbed by the sight. The rest of her was simply enthralled by the alien beauty of the thing, the way light and colours seemed to dance across it with every movement.

The teeth were, however, somewhat unnerving.

"Does... does Prismagota speak?" Not wanting to appear rude, she turned to it. "Umm, hi. I'm Briar."

 

[Peregrine]

Watching the way Briar greeted the Prismagota sent a small rush of satisfied emotions through Sebastos. It didn't have any way of knowing whether her greeting originated from curiosity, respect, or simply training in good manners, but it was a pleasant start regardless. If she came to like the Beings, even if it was only one of them, she would likely be all the more inclined to help when the moment came.

Sebastos turned towards Prismagota, sending a rush of mindthought towards the Being. It was an amount of information that was incomparable to the careful trickle it always offered to Briar. After all, Beings were familiar with mindthought. To them, it was natural, and there was no pressure or overwhelm that would accompany even a tidal wave of information. As a matter of fact, it was generally seen as polite to offer as much nuance in the exchange as possible, as the alternative was seen as one being secretive or lacking in consideration.

Through the rush, Sebastos conveyed Briar's identity, her importance, and, most importantly, her somewhat hesitant but ultimately—or so Sebastos chose to interpret it—heartfelt greeting.

'Warmest salutations, briar-who-is-not-a-plant.' the Prismagota greeted in return. It shuffled slightly back and forth, four feet tapping out an unusual rhythm against the crystal ground that was rather sharp, but not painful to the ear. 'This Prismagota will lead you to Sanctuary across surface roads. Please follow with confidence!'

It was only upon this second encounter that Briar would have the opportunity to realize that Beings had voices. Without comparison, Sebastos' mindthought might seem completely bland, like the voice in Briar's head that narrated any story. However, with a point of comparison, it could become clear that Sebastos' 'voice' had character to it. It was traces of stillness and coolness and vastness, like looking across a range of mountains on a dark night, fog filling the valleys while the wind occasionally stirred the branches of pine trees.

By comparison, the Prismagota was sharp and uplifted, a stone formation in a deep cave that grew eternally towards a ray of light in the ceiling.

It was, after all, no coincidence that Sebastos had 'titled' itself thusly, rather than identified itself as such. To the Beings, identity had far more to do with that nuanced mindthought than the title which resembled human names.

The Prismagota turned, and began to scuttle along ahead of the two of them. Meanwhile, Sebastos turned to Briar, intending to supplement its rather lackluster explanation.

'Prismagota does not understand human speech. Few Beings do, as we only truly learned of its existence after our encounter with the Mages." Perhaps Briar had missed its explanation on the way down, but Sebastos still chose to supplement with additional information. 'However, we will ensure that at least one speech-understanding Being is present at the Sanctuary at all times, after all otherworlders who wish to have arrived. In the meantime, please rely on me to convey your words as best as I am able.'

Sebastos began to follow after the Prismagota, before pausing one final time. 'As an addition, you will shortly be asked to walk off what will likely appear to be a cliff in your eyes. Please understand that Prisma does not have gravity the way a planet does. It merely has down. Towards the crystal. Surface walking.' Sebastos tried three different methods of conveying the nature of Prisma, but it wasn't truly satisfied with any of them. Eventually, it had no choice but to resign itself to this imperfect explanation.

'I know it will likely be a challenge, but, as Prismagota said, please follow with confidence. It will not lead you somewhere unsafe.'

 

[Hecatoncheires]

As always, Briar found herself more than a little intrigued by the word choice of the Beings she came into contact with. 'This Prismagota', implying there was more than one. Much like how Sebastos had introduced itself. A title, a designation, rather than an individual Being's name. Perhaps names, in the sense that humans understood them, were something of an alien concept to the strange entities she had been coming into contact with. She always had the sense that she was only seeing the faintest of brush-strokes when it came to their communications with her. The tip of a very strange, entirely alien iceberg. Perhaps they didn't think her worthy of this more in-depth contact. Or perhaps they were just being polite.

She blinked, realising that she was spacing out and staring off into space for a moment. Not that this place could be called a 'space', in the traditional sense of the word. Prisma was a place where Newtonian physics went to die, it seemed. Die and be reborn into something far stranger. Gravity didn't seem like the right term for it, but there was something pulling at her, keeping her grounded, almost goading her to continue on towards… if there was a word for it, she couldn't bring it to mind.

With their introduction now concluded, Prismagota (the Prismagota?) began to scuttle off further into their strange surroundings. Sebastos cut in to give her a slightly more expanded briefing, which she nodded along to politely right up until the moment when the phrase 'walk off a cliff' was conveyed to her. Her eyes snapping open widely, she twisted her head up to try and stare panicked daggers at her companion before her rational brain could remind her that Sebastos didn't exactly have a face in the traditional sense of the word.
"You know, there's this expression back where I come from. Something human mothers usually yell at their kids during arguments. Goes a little something like the kid saying 'well my friend Toby told me it was okay!' To which the mother invariably responds, 'well if Toby told you to walk off a cliff, would you do it?'"

She paused for a moment, the deer in the headlights expression receding from her face and being replaced with a low chuckle. "Appreciate the heads up, I guess. I'll try not to scream so much this time."

The Prismagota (Prismagota?) awaited them just ahead. Briar fell into step next to Sebastos, the two of them stark against the radiating light of Prisma's landscape. It wasn't long before Sebastos' prediction came true: their companion came to a stop next to the glassy edge of the structure they stood on, perched precariously as it twisted about to regard her.
"The Briar-who-is-not-a-plant will follow onto surface road now. Fear unnecessary."

And with that odd little reassurance, it stepped over the edge and vanished from sight.

Nervously, cautiously, Briar inched her way over to the edge of Prisma's surface, peering slowly over the side. Then she blinked, seeing Prismagota staring up at her from what, by conventional laws of physics, ought to be a cliff-face. It hung from the side of the structure, a path winding and corkscrewing down below until the combined illumination of the surface washed it from sight. "Fear unnecessary," it repeated, then turned on the spot and started walking down the side off the cliff towards the light.

Briar felt the beginnings of a headache as her brain attempted to properly comprehend just what the hell she was looking at. Then she quickly reminded herself that this was an exercise in futility.

Letting out a long, shuddering exhalation, Briar forced herself closer to the apparent edge of the cliff.
"Okay," she breathed, "here we go. Fear unnecessary, all that good shit." She thought back to those times she'd been made to do swimming lessons by her father, standing on the edge of a diving board and being just a little too nervous to make the jump. Nothing to it, her father had told her, just had to let gravity do it's thing. Admittedly, gravity had absolutely fuck all to do with what was going on here. But she figured the principle still applied.

Forcing her way past all the self-preservation instincts blaring klaxons in her head, she threw one leg out dramatically over the edge and waited for gravity to pull her down into the abyss.

Only on this occasion it didn't.

Instead she seemed to take a lurching step over the edge and onto what ought to have been the cliff-face, the 'surface road' the Prismagota had spoken of. Immediately her inner ear threw it's metaphorical hands up and decided it was going for lunch: vertigo kicked her in the stomach and she found herself staggering. Nausea and a wave of dizziness washed over her as she attempted to keep moving, just focusing on one step at a time as her body tried to re-adjust to an entirely new set of laws when it came to the governance of physics. "I'm okay," she groaned, "I got this."

It was as much to herself as it was to Sebastos, who she presumed would be following behind her and probably more than a little perplexed by her behaviour. It had probably never seen a human vomit before, now she thought about it. Not an experience she was keen to share, all the same. Ignoring her broiling stomach and the disorientating rush of dizziness that accompanied every step, she continued on after Prismagota.

 

[Peregrine]

Sebastos watched Briar at the edge of the surface road with some measure of uncertainty. It was clear that its attempt at explaining the true nature of Prisma had failed, but hopefully it wouldn't be a catastrophic miscommunication. After all, Prismagota has not been incorrect when it had assured Briar that the situation was completely safe.

Sticking close to the ground in a loosely formed dark puddle, Sebastos oozed over the edge onto the surface road as though passing over a bump or rock. The change in direction didn't bother Sebastos much. While not as suited to Prisma as the Prismagota, who rarely bothered with surface roads and preferred traveling through the crystal itself, Sebastos was still used to shifting direction casually. The vast majority of the Shadelands was made up of the same dark ooze that had formed the walls around Briar's temporary quarters, and that often made up and down as much a matter of perspective as anything.

Shaping up once more, Sebastos drew close to Briar, trembling slightly in concern at her staggering. 'Are you alright? it asked, carefully refraining from touching her despite its desire to stabilize her shaking form. It very much doubted they were close enough for physical contact yet.

Watching Briar momentarily stumble after the Prismagota, Sebastos trembled once more before following after both of them.

The Sanctuary had been positioned at the very end of one of Prisma's great crystal formations. Here, the corkscrewing helix of crystal began to draw closer together, before finally curving together into one bowl. The Sanctuary had been built within that bowl, the houses built all around the basin. It was such that, when one walked into the village, looking straight up would reveal the far side of the Sanctuary, while the middle point rested somewhere above the horizon, the roofs pointed sideways.

Even outside of the fact that it looked like the entire village had been folded and twisted by the hands of some god, the Sanctuary was out of place in Prisma. Perhaps the most notable point of dissonance was the fact that the houses, little more than cabins in truth, had been built entirely from a flecked grey crystal. Compared to the bright and colorful Prisma ground, they stood out like canker sores. However, there was no denying that the houses resembled mage architecture, with slanted roofs and square windows.

Each house had been spaced a fair distance from each other, the spaces in between them filled with further architecture that half resembled common human décor. A blue crystal had been carved into something that resembled a fountain, albeit completely lacking any trace of water, while several green crystals had been shaped into bushes and trees.

In the distance, it was possible to see a couple human-like figures moving carefully around the village.

Sebastos moved up beside Briar, gesturing towards the whole amalgamation with a single long, amorphous limb. 'Sanctuary, it stated, briefly leaving the mindthought simply at that. However, a moment later Sebastos continued.

'You may go and experience as you wish, Briar, just so long as you do not try and leave Sanctuary without some form of guide. Prisma is not a dangerous place for humans compared to some territories, but it should not be randomly traversed. Please forgive this restriction.'

And that was that. At least for now, Sebastos' duties were finished. In order to preserve the independence and freedom of the Sanctuary as much as possible, all of the Beings involved in its creation had agreed that the Beings' presence within should be as limited as possible. Unless Sebastos was requested to enter to help aid communication or mediate a disagreement, it would not enter.

The only exception was the Prismagota, who would be acting as servants and maintenance workers for the safety of the Sanctuary.

'I will be nearby, in a space more comfortable for the Shades. If you have need of me, ask any Prismagota and they will find me and bring me. Have good experiences.'

 

[Hecatoncheires]

One foot in front of the other. That was all she had to do. She'd done it untold thousands of times before, after all, this occasion wasn't any different. At least, that's what she was trying to convince herself. To that end her eyes were closed for a good few moments as she began to walk, focusing her attention entirely on the ground beneath her feet. Solid. Dependable. Seemingly horizontal. Another few steps and she risked cracking open an eye again. A little better now, but her mind still buzzed with the memory of sudden inversion just a few moments before. A concept dizzying in all sense of the word.

Briefly staggering, she almost reached out to lean on Sebastos for support. Something makes her hesitate away from the gesture. A wish not to look frail, combining with the memory of who the Beings have been to her up until today: one entity's apparent sincerity doesn't detract from the fear she had felt towards them previously.
"Fine," she insisted, "I'm fine. Just peachy. Just takes a bit of getting used to, is all." She took another hesitant step after the Prismagota, then another, feeling her travelling companion hovering behind her like a mother watching a toddler wobbling next to the side of the road. A little embarrassing, but there was something at least a little reassuring about it's presence. She wouldn't go so far as to call Sebastos familiar yet, but it was at least acting like it might try to catch her if she suddenly toppled over.

Not that she would. One foot in front of the other. That was all she had to do.

The world around them seemed to constrict and draw together, the coils of crystal forming up in a spiralling shape before them. The word 'heart' popped into her mind, unbidden, and seemed entirely appropriate for the sight growing before her. With each next step, her inner ear seems to slowly adjust to the sensory beating it just took. With each next step, she can begin to see more clearly the details of the Sanctuary her companion was speaking of.

'Uncanny valley' wasn't exactly the right term, but it did strike at the core of the matter. The Beings of this place had gone to considerable lengths to create an approximation of Mage domiciles and buildings. They'd even tried to mimic plants and trees, water fountains and other fixtures. She certainly couldn't fault them for their efforts, but there was something more than a little… off about the whole affair. Beyond the fact that it was all built from crystal, of course. Though that might be part of the issue, when she thought about it: there was a determined precision to the construction of it all that you could never find in a true human settlement anywhere. Even in her own world.

Still, it beat the strange liquid cell she'd woken up in earlier. That much she was certain of. Turning her head to glance at Sebastos, she nodded carefully after it ran her through the ground rules of Sanctuary. "No forgiveness needed. If that… turn from earlier is anything to go by, I don't think I wanna go running off on my own here anyway." She flashed it a quick smile. "'Have good experiences'. I think I like that phrase. Gonna steal it." Focusing her attention on the humanoid figures ahead of her, she began to move forward (still a little hesitantly) with a wave of farewell. "Enjoy your break from babysitting, Sebastos. I'll catch up with you in a bit." As she walked, she turned it's words over in her mind a few more times. Had Sebastos called itself a 'Shade'? Tied to the Shadelands it was speaking of earlier? More designations and terms for her to squirrel away and chew over. Or perhaps the residents of this Sanctuary could shed a bit more light on the situation.

 

[Peregrine]

The Sanctuary was clearly still empty as Briar moved deeper into it. The opaque crystal houses funneled the gentle wind, causing a faint whistling to fill the surroundings. However, the village wasn't completely empty.

A man with ashen-dark skin was sitting on a crystal fence in front of a house about a third of the way into the curved center of the Sanctuary. His head was bent forward, causing ragged blond box braids to fall in front of his face. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, and a brooding atmosphere surrounded him.

Occasionally, his eyes would glance up, gaze vaguely intense, as he scanned the surroundings warily. Just like Briar, he was wearing old mage's clothes, but there was a slight bloodstain at the hem that proved their unfortunate origin.

Whatever he was thinking about, he clearly wasn't happy about it. However, his brooding was abruptly interrupted when the faint sound of footsteps echoed between the buildings. His head shot up, eyes widening slightly, before he stood up from the fence.

After only a moment's hesitation, he walked away from the house, eyes slightly narrowed in concentration as he followed the echoing sound.

It took a few minutes before he was able to track down the sound of the footsteps, but eventually he and Briar came face to face. As soon as he caught sight of her, the tension seemed to run out of his shoulders.

"Thank the four stars," he said to her, his voice a smooth bass. "I was starting to think I was going to be surrounded by nothing but freaks and demons until they finally killed me."

Now that he was facing Briar, it was impossible to guess that he'd ever looked like a wounded predator, ready to lash out. Instead, he looked far more like a puppy at that moment, moving towards Briar with a small bounce in his step. "Are you alright? Did they do anything to you?"

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Briar could not help it. The brief, surprise flash of relief mingled with joy as she laid eyes on another human being, an actual bona-fide human being with arms and a face and nothing that was made from sentient oil or some other disturbing alien insanity. There was something genuinely, unapologetically reassuring about the sight of someone familiar, someone who fit into the rapidly crumbling view of the world she had once held, given that all she'd had since coming to from the battle was the Beings. This felt safe, and she was feeling the tension she hadn't realised she'd been carrying for the last few hours beginning to dissipate already.

Then she clamped down on such feelings. Hard.

Human didn't mean friendly. That was a lesson she'd been taught repeatedly since she was dragged out of her life and into this insanity. Human could be a whole lot of things. Briar was reasonably confident, given that he was permitted here in the Sanctuary, that this man wasn't with the mages, but she wasn't about to let her guard down yet. Past experience had taught her the folly of trusting to quick. Instead she sized the man up quickly, trying to get a sense of him. Quite a bit taller than her, dressed in clothes that were serving him a lot better than their previous owners. Likely another escapee, someone else the Beings had taken. Not unattractive either, she had to admit, and there was a certain charm to the enthusiasm of his approach that ably straddled the line between cute and overly forward. She wasn't getting the sense that he was an immediate cause for alarm. Hell, he looked even more pleased about her appearance than she had been about his.

Still watching the guy carefully, Briar shook her head.
"Patched me up some, apparently. Then brought me to this fucking Escher painting of a place, said it was a safe haven of some kind. We the only ones here?" She blinked, realising she was diving straight into the matter without the pleasantries he was probably hoping for. "Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm Briar. Nice to see another human face." She stuck out her hand for him to shake. Might as well be sociable: he was more likely to have answers that way.

 

[Peregrine]

"Melech Mesfin," the dark skinned man replied, glancing somewhat curiously at Briar's outstretched hand. There was a trace of appreciation in his eyes. However, he didn't meet her gesture in the way Briar would likely expect. Instead of clasping her hand with his own, he rested his palm against hers, the tips of his fingers resting on the inside of her wrist. Likewise, her own fingers came against the skin of his wrist, where a strong, steady pulse beat under his skin.

A second later, and his hand withdrew, a warm smile on his face.

A second later, and Melech seemed to recollect himself. His smile twisted into something far more sardonic as he considered her earlier question. "I have seen no one else so far, although the freak that brought me here implied there would be others. Who knows if they'll make it here safely."

Melech shook his head, before glancing around the Sanctuary. His lips twisted further, and he reached up unconsciously to tug at one of his braids. "This place gives me the creeps," he stated. "But I suppose it'll be better once it's not so empty. I guess we had best get used to it, since it seems like we'll be stuck here for a while."