voice

[soulsword]

[ Illyana sounds vaguely amused when her voice comes on the feed. Then again, when doesn't she sound vaguely amused? ]

Raise your hand if you were naïve enough to touch a mirror that reflected a weird version of yourself. I'm conducting a very important and serious research survey. [ No she's not. She's just curious...]

For the id--[ wait be polite Illyana! Or at least try ] foolish ones that did, what was it like in there? What do we make of this new addition to our boring little city? I liked the sharks more. Even if some people were too afraid to ride them. [ You know who you are. You know. ]

Wonder what sort of accident caused things this time...

Comments

voice

[asthecroweflies]

You know, love, calling someone an idiot and foolish are just as harsh, yeah?

[soulsword]

I didn't call anyone an idiot. [ She stopped herself!! ]

[asthecroweflies]

There's not a lot of difference between calling then idiots or fools.

...and I wasn't afraid of the shark.

[soulsword]

If you weren't afraid of the shark, then I wasn't going to say idiot.

[asthecroweflies]

Seeing as you believe I was afraid of a shark, then you're admitting you were calling them idiots.

[soulsword]

Are you admitting you were afraid of N'astirh then?

[asthecroweflies]

No. I wasn't afraid of the shark, alright? I was afraid of being thrown from the shark and left to chum the sand for all its mates.

[soulsword]

Ah, of course, such a difference. In that case, I was not going to say idiot, I was going to say for the idyllists that were silly enough to touch the mirror.

[asthecroweflies]

It's not comparable at all, love, but whatever. Believe what you want.

[He wasn't afraid, damn it.]

Any news on the Mirror world? [Because a subject change was in order.]

audio

[castoredux]

[He hesitates to respond, because he doesn't like her tone. It does something to grate on his nerves.

Or maybe he just doesn't like people.]

It was dark.

[That's almost an answer.]

[soulsword]

Ah, how informative. Thank you.

[castoredux]

It's true. Even if you brought a light, it was dark. Big moon, too, that never set.

[soulsword]

That is strange. So it's always night there?

[castoredux]

I was there for a week and the sun never came up.

[soulsword]

An entire week? How unpleasant for you. How did you come back?

[castoredux]

I don't know.

[And that sounds like the truth.]

I was just here. Guess there's a time limit.

[Better than being trapped in Tartarus forever.]

[soulsword]

A time limit would suggest something very unstable. How curious. Did you run into anyone or anything there?

[audio]

[bufubulous]

[ Yusuke still doesn’t know what to make of Illyana… He didn’t think he ever would, frankly. But he winces at her less than kind description of those of them who had. ]

While I cannot deny it was a foolish thing to do, I believe it worked out in the end. [ He frowned lightly, glancing at a canvas that had a painting he did not create. ] To answer your question, I would describe it as rather oppressive and winding… Easy to get lost in, almost as though it were designed to be a maze.

And the food was terribly disappointing.

[ What, it was! That seemed important to the teen. ]

… Though on the topic of the sharks, I actually find them rather charming to look at. I intended to paint them before the mirror excursion.

[soulsword]

[ That's pretty much how everyone reacts to Illyana, so she's fairly used to it. ]

And how did it work out in the end? [ That was a curious thing to say. What did he think he got from the situation that made it work out? ] Adding that to other descriptions, perhaps it is designed as a maze to hold people. [ She chuckles at the mention of food. ]

That sounds like something Roberto and Sam would complain about in Limbo. [ And they wouldn't be wrong about it. Food there had also been terrible at one time. ]

I think they are too! Some people aren't used to such excitement though. [ Alas for them. ] N'astirh was a good mount.

[bufubulous]

Well… We all were returned to the city after being in that other place? It isn’t as though we were trapped there forever… And I did happen upon Halcyn, so she’s been returned here as well. [ Yusuke, in hindsight, realized he maybe should have said something about that to everyone in general… But he had presumed Halcyn would say something about being back once recovered from her time there. ] They stated that they owe me a favour of some kind, though truthfully I am unsure what one would ask of them at the moment.

[ He wondered what food in limbo was like then. ] It was terribly bland, barely any flavour to it at all. If the food in Limbo was like that, I should think I understand their complaints.

[ N’astirh? Mount? The teen paused before continuing. ]

You rode one?? Oh, that must have been quite thrilling, and a sight to behold! I rather wish I had seen that. It might have been quite inspiring.

[soulsword]

You found Halcyn? [ How interesting. ] So it was a mistake of theirs. [ Or was it something else? How curious. ] A favor, hmm? Were there limits placed on this favor?

[ She looked even more curious now. ] It can be like that. Demons often eat each other so they had little need to cook human food. [ And it wasn't like they'd ever learned to try to impress her as a kid. Now though...now they tried here and there. Amazing what a tiny bit of fear did to gain respect. ]

They are still here if you would like to go for a ride.

[bufubulous]

Indeed, I did! [ Not that his entry into that other place had been in order to find her. That had been… Well, more or less a coincidence. Though he’d been glad to help to get her back where she belonged. He couldn’t imagine that it would be good for Aterat to lose one of its Aspects, regardless of the messes they sometimes made. ] They never mentioned limits, though I imagine it would be only reasonable for them to tell me if what I asked wasn’t possible when the time came.

[ Demons eating other demons… That was rather horrifying as mental images went, mind calling back to some more grotesque paintings on the subject of demonic entities. ] Hm… Perhaps that has something to do with it. Maybe the food is only provided for those who need it there at all? It satisfied hunger, but that was about all that could be said for it. So it didn’t seem meant for enjoyment?

[ Yusuke hummed, clearly giving the idea proper consideration before he answered. ]

No, I think I should rather see someone else ride them so I can consider how that might be painted.

[soulsword]

Ah, that does sound like something they might do. Then they would claim they hadn't known they couldn't do that. [ She has the worst opinion of them ever. ] Don't suppose she told you how she ended up in that place in the first place? [ She's guessing not if he hasn't mentioned it. Sounds like another case of them not knowing what happened. ]

You've probably got it. Just made so people there don't wither up and die. [ Weird but interesting. Was there someone over there that wanted to make sure people didn't die? Or was it just the nature of the place? ]

Sounds like something my brother would say.

[bufubulous]

She did not… I believe the experience was rather taxing on her, so she wasn’t particularly much for conversation during the attempt to get her out of the place.

[ But she was probably right about the favour, though. Yusuke wasn’t sure what to expect from an answer from them on the subject, so he had a feeling he should be careful with what he asked for. ]

That seems about the extent of what it was good for… Which I realize perhaps should be something to be thankful for after being trapped there for a week, at least.

[ But he sure did appreciate the food here more. ]

You did say he was an artist, so I suppose it would make sense that we would be of a similar mind on the subject. The chance to explore a new subject of an art piece is rather thrilling, after all.

[soulsword]

Hmm. I suppose that is interesting to note as is. If it was taxing for her there must be something quite odd about that place. [ What precisely it was though would be the true question. To be taxing to someone that was meant to be something of a god to this place seemed quite extreme. Then again, they hardly seemed like all powerful beings. So perhaps she was giving them too much credit. ]

Starving to death would be quite the unpleasant way to go.

[ She paused for a second and then grinned. ]

Come by the beach. I can ride for you to paint.