Beyond the Barrier: Unraveling the Veil [Vekraihr/Juumbled]

[Vekraihr]

Silas Montblanc

Silas Montblanc

Within a manor inside the walls of the city of Kathartis, there was a lab belonging to a determined individual named Silas Montblanc. Within this lab stood a white-haired man dressed in a green button up shirt which matched his dull green eyes, and a pair of brown pants with a black toolbelt. His feet were adorned with a pair of shoes that were reminiscent of loafers, made of black leather with silver buckles atop each near his wooly sock covered ankles. On his head was a device that looked like a pair of goggles, but in place of the clear lenses were a number of differently colored lenses of varying levels of refraction and magnification. Bent over the desk, he was toiling away, putting the final engravings on the gyroscope which surrounded a brilliant crystalline sphere, which, while perfectly transparent on the outside, held many colors and facets through its interior.

Crystal Sphere

Once he had finished the engraving of the runes along the metal gyroscope, he closed up the shell which wrapped around the entire assembly. It was a beautiful gold color with ports on either end which allowed a view into the mechanism and crystal. He pulled a metal rod towards him which was attached to a handle which was linked to a strange device which hummed with electricity and power. He put the sphere onto a cradle which was also connected to the humming device and then he began to touch the edges where the sphere met with the metal rod, and it began to spark, welding the seam shut with a special metal amalgam that he had created the sphere out of. It was incredibly conductive and was one of his most useful inventions from when he had served the royal family.

He finished welding the device shut and turned off the humming machine, hanging the handle back onto a holder on its side and he moved the dark lenses from his face. He then picked up a polishing material that he would use to smooth the surface of the metal to eliminate the appearance of the seams, as well as to make it beautifully shine in the light. He then pulled out some fine engraving tools, mounting the sphere onto a bracket which held it fast without leaving any marks or indentation on the metal. He looked at his design from his notebook, and he began to engrave both strange and mundane shapes and symbols over the exterior of the sphere. It was long and tedious work, taking him several hours to finish. However, as he did, the crystal inside the device began to vibrate with a frequency unlike any he'd ever heard before.

They gyroscopic dynamo inside began to rotate without any sort of power being relayed into it, and the sphere began to vibrate in the clasp which held it tight. The crystal began to darken intensely, seeming as though it was pulling the light from the air around it. Silas looked on in fascination as the device he had designed sprung to life, unaware that at this very moment, the crystal was pulling a soul within it to power itself. In his design, he had used a language that hadn't been used for enchanting before, and it looked like no language that existed in this realm. The symbols were beautiful and foreign and felt like raw power to him, a power that he wanted to bend to his own will. Suddenly, the crystal burst to light as it had finally gained what it desired. A soul had been pulled within and trapped, a necessary component which he had not anticipated. The shrill vibration of the crystal had ceased, replaced by a serene humming as the runes on the gyroscope inside and the symbols on the outside shone faintly with a blueish white light.

Silas eyed the device with fascination, his dull green eyes having shifted to a vibrant emerald hue in his excitement and he began to pick up the sphere, holding it in his hands and feeling the latent energy which it exuded. "I....I've done it! I DID IT!" he laughed and shouted into the air with a brash excitement reserved for a younger man, holding the sphere so gently yet so firmly in his slightly trembling hands. He had no idea what he had wrought or its purpose, but that was half of the fascination with the sciences. You never knew what you were making until it was complete, and even then, its use may not be so readily apparent. Little did he know, his construction would have far-reaching and widespread implications, one that would not go unnoticed through the realms.

 

[Jumbled]

Tired eyes, as blue as the sky above, gazed upward to the brilliant flags whipping around in the air, ruffling back and forth as the wind played with them. The castle of Kathartis seemed massive when standing below it. Though the surrounding walls blocked the majority of the lively breeze she enjoyed watching, strands of soft, caramel colored hair flew around her face, it, too, wanting to join in on all of the fun. Standing perfectly still, the gentle white fabrics of her dress fluttered about like everything else; with her posture straightened as it always was, Lilith wondered to herself what it might feel like to fly.

It was crisp and cool out, which suited Lilith very much. Although snow would have been enjoyable, a bright spring day was certainly just as refreshing, she decided. Faint calls from birds beyond the walls of the city only added to the setting of such a pristine day. The clip-clopping of horses on the stone paths played along like a beat to a forgotten song and she inhaled deeply if only to enjoy this moment a short while longer.

With an exhale, much of the ambient noise finally pierced through Lilith’s fantasy, and it was made clear that she was in a very bustling city. There were shouts, shrieking children, dogs barking, cats smashing pottery onto the ground; it was enough to give a person a headache. The somber expression she shared with the wall she faced faded from her image as she turned to face the city once more. The weight of the orb clasped to a chain around her neck tugged uncomfortably downward, full of collected souls, but not full enough. It was still red, which meant it could hold more.

With a stride that almost appeared as if she was gliding and not walking, Lilith soon approached a gate that separated the lower classes from the rest. She peered beyond the man asking her to identify herself, as if she were in some sort of trance, but spoke without pause, giving the guard a bit of a surprise.

“I am Lilith Adeline Piper, Celestial Being.” she stated. As she spoke, the air around her began to swirl with wisps of fog beginning near her feet, adorned in simple white moccasins, and up to her sides, keeping its form. The temperature around her dropped rather suddenly, and her eyes began to shimmer like the ocean covered in glittering sunbeams. The guard cleared his throat, never experiencing such a person as a Celestial before. “Please,” he said with a motion toward the gateman.

Lilith bowed her head politely, and just as quickly, the weather returned to normal. With such a pretty day there was no need to alter it further than what she already had done. “Thank you.” she told the guard as she continued to stare past him as if she were fixated on something of great importance. As the gate reached the top allowing her through, she heard the guard mutter to his comrade in awe. “--a Celestial.” she caught the back end of his explanation, but that was enough of one. Her people didn’t bother with such places under normal circumstances, even if, by right of all realms, they had complete access to even the most restricted areas. Unfortunately, circumstances were not normal.

There had been a ceremony of death, a funeral, as they called it only days ago. And with the worlds so completely out of sync with each other, gathering those departed souls and carrying them back to the Energy Fields was her task. Although there were others like her, Celestials in realms gathering souls just as she did, they did not travel together, so it was a quiet mission, to say the least.

Bobbing around, a shining ball of a spirit also seemed to be enjoying the day and its wind. Slender fingers reached for her necklace, while her eyes were set ablaze like blue fire, as if they were a beacon to draw the spirit in. The little ball of light hopped along, moving toward her merrily, then suddenly, through some unknown error, it stopped as if it had run into a barrier. Puzzled, Lilith stepped forward, but in that same instant, the soul zipped away with a speed she had not predicted, turning a corner and zooming down a long road with hedges lining the each side.

Never experiencing such a phenomenon before, Lilith sprinted after the soul, her garments flowing in layers behind her frame, outlining the curves of her chest and hips as she moved. The chase was interrupted as it shot down and squeezed under a doorway. Lilith stepped back, only realizing she had bolted right into someone’s property, a manor with two stories. Outraged by the soul’s audacity, Lilith reached for the handle of the door. Finding it unlocked, she entered the home with soft steps as she tried to focus on where it had gone. With eyes still glowing, she caught sight of a sparkling trail that led her down a flight of stairs and to another doorway. Pushing the door wide open, she stood, staring into a room filled with gadgets and tools she couldn’t begin to understand.

A figure near the center of the clutter and mechanical mayhem stood much taller than she did with something in his hand. From what she could see, the ethereal dust stopped there.
“What have you done?” she muttered in a hushed gasp of a question, though her words were in her native tongue.

Lilith Adeline Piper

Lilith

 

[Vekraihr]

Silas was still all but cackling like a madman when his door suddenly burst open, his thin figure whipping around with surprising speed and he stopped on his heel, his verdant green hues focusing into the icy blue of hers. "What have I...A celestial?" he spoke in Common, though it had registered in his mind that she was speaking in a tongue that he had strangely known since his birth. "You...What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to muster up any authority at all in his voice, but it fell pretty flat. He wasn't an overly aggressive kind of person, and his appearance implied as much, which only added to the weak display of puffery before he just sighed.

"Have to remember to lock those damned doors," he mumbled to himself, still clutching the orb in one of his hands. Although, it didn't look as though he was holding onto it, it sort of just staying in place in his palm no matter where he moved his hand. The goggles on his face only added to the maddened tinkerer look he had going on, with his disheveled white hair spreading away from his head in almost every direction. Under the ground, there wasn't any of the noise from the hustle and bustle of city life. Just the gentle hum of the orb, glowing in his hands with the radiance of a soul.

Silas began to look at Lilith, and for a moment, she would swear he was studying her. His eyes raking across her every feature as his brow furrowed with concentration. After what seemed like several moments passing, a flash of remembrance zipped through his eyes. "Oh, yes...You asked what I've done...I...I don't know. I built this thing...I don't know what it does, yet...Why does it concern you?" he asked her as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He'd never seen a celestial before, and they typically didn't interfere or meddle in human affairs. And that made him incredibly wary of her intentions, as it was quite impossible for him to know what her intentions were.

"Okay, so, you see, I had this idea that I would make this device. And I wrote this new language in order to hold the enchantment and pull magic from the air to power the device. And then I designed a metal alloy which would be perfect for application in the apparatus. THEN I forged a crystal, using my own materials and compounds to make it different from anything else I've ever seen. I then etched the inside with focused light, writing intricate patterns in order to allow it to soak in a great amount of energy. I then designed a gyroscope, which acts like a dynamo, amplifying the power of the device and allowing it to interact with the material world, I think. And then the shell, I placed these etchings here," he droned on and on, gesturing and pointing and moving around in a very animated fashion, and then pointing at the etchings on the outside of the sphere, "and these should further amplify the ability of the device, however, I haven't any idea what it will do without testing." He had finally finished speaking, and for a moment, she might be under the impression that he'd said all of that with one breath due to the ridiculous speed of his rambling and the wildly animated nature in which he was going on about with his telling.

Silas adjusted himself nervously in place, giving a half-hearted chuckle and he took his free hand up towards his head and brushed some of the errant locks which had made their way to draping over his face. On that hand, she would see a gauntlet of black metal with silver trim, inlaid with intricate etching, and over his shoulders sat another piece of magical adornment. And at his waist, there was another source of arcane energy, though it was hidden in his tool belt for the time being. Whoever this man was, he didn't seem evil or malicious by any means. He just appeared to have a wild affinity for science and magic and had apparently taken his tinkering just one step too far this time.

 

[Jumbled]

The fierce glow that cut through through the lab like a piercing arrow faded as Lilith blinked several times in confusion. She hadn’t filled the room with ice or fog, and although her shining eyes were indeed a trait that Celestials possessed, she had a gut feeling that wasn’t how this stranger had identified her. She remained quiet with an arched brow as he attempted to intimidate her; he failed. Her gaze was fixed on the contraption in his hand, though the other devices he wore were incredibly distracting, not to mention peculiar.


With his second inquiry, it confirmed what she’d suspected of him: he knew her language. She slit her eyes as she took a step into his laboratory, her fingers tingling with anticipation of a fight. The man could be an enemy, she reasoned. This was the first time she had seen an actual cause for a spirit to not travel back to the Energy Fields. Ice spread down her fingers in sharp points as if they were claws. With another step forward, her arm nearly reaching an offensive position, she stopped short.


The white haired mad-man began unraveling a tale of his invention to her, each step of his story acted out in a strange dance she prayed wasn’t a mating ritual. He wouldn’t stop talking. Had this been a battle tactic, he surely would have had the upper hand on her because she stood there stupefied with her mouth slightly open in her befuddlement. He prattled on, and her eyes simply widened as she wondered when he intended to take a breath. The ice once coating her fingers had dripped onto the floor in puddles on either side of her body.


He finally shut up. Lilith shook herself out of her trance and stared at him, her stare heavy with judgement. “You’re-- you’re an idiot.” she said, not harshly, but more in a way of realization. It was surprising a small giggle hadn't followed after what she had said in the tone she'd used. She flipped her hair back behind her shoulder, walking over to the scientist while simultaneously ignoring him completely. She leaned in toward his hand and the orb, trying to decipher his etchings in the basement lighting. She could see the flickering energy of the soul from inside it, which worried her. She finally glanced upward at the man that stood much taller than her in height, though somehow if a stranger had been watching he may have thought it was the other way around.

“Who invents an object without knowing its purpose?” she asked. Though her question was rhetorical in nature, there was much accusation behind it. “I’ll be confiscating it.” she declared suddenly as she returned to her default posture and stare. Her hand stretched forward as she held it in front of him, ready to collect his dangerous toy.

 

[Vekraihr]

"What do you mean, an idiot?" Silas barked back at her, taken aback by her insult and his verdant eyes widened with bewilderment that she would dare call him an idiot. Well, he had forgotten to lock the doors...And his lab was strewn with piles of trial devices that failed in spectacular fashion...And he almost lost his hand that one time. She could see him getting lost in the list of his own mind, his green eyes suddenly going very distant and he grew still. He wasn't even breathing at this moment, and from an outsider's perspective, it would certainly appear that he had just kicked off right there on his own feet. Suddenly, he breathed in and became animated once more, the brashness in his eyes having dimmed a bit. "Well, I might not always make sense," he attempted to brush off the comment as he sniffed a little bit.

"You see, we scientists are pioneers in our fields, and we must experiment in order to learn! How do you think new knowledge is gained?" he said proudly and she would swear he grew taller in the moments those words were leaving his mouth. He certainly thought quite highly of his craft, though he was rapidly snapped back to the situation at hand as she demanded he release custody of the orb to her. "No," he said sternly, obstinately. "No, no, I don't even know what this does, much less do you," he said while narrowing his eyes suspiciously at her. "Besides, who's to say YOU won't use it for evil?" he declared as though an incredible epiphany had struck him, and he pointed his gauntleted hand towards her with an accusatory finger.

"You're an idiot yourself if you think I'd part so easily with a decade's worth of work," he added to his statement boldly and he held the sphere behind his back with his free hand, as if an attempt to keep it out of her reach. The hum of the sphere began to grow louder as the energy of the soul was starting to seep further into the crystal and resonate more within its structure. The sphere was growing in power as the soul began to fully become one with the apparatus. He began to feel aheat in his hand that was behind his back as the metal ball hummed and sang different notes through the air, emanating waves of vibrations through the air which made the back of his teeth hurt for some reason.

 

[Jumbled]

Lilith wondered whether the scientist would fall over if she poked him. She was half tempted to do it, but maintained her restraint until he seemed to wake back up from his statue-like state. Men were strange, she thought as she tilted her head to the side. Or, perhaps it was just this man, specifically. She had observed many people over her years, and this young man with a mop for hair was certainly unique to his species.


As he boasted about his profession, it looked as though he’d puffed out his chest the way an animal would. He was clearly proud of what he did, and she suppressed a smile from gracing her soft, pink lips. She instead, licked her lips and released a sigh as if to chase away any thoughts of playfulness.

“I look evil to you?” she asked with complete amusement. She had all but forgotten her intimidating intrusion into his home, eyes glowing like a beast hunting its prey. It was growing more and more difficult to keep a straight face with this buffoon. She stared at his gauntlet as he pointed at her, and with a quick swipe of her hand, she had grabbed hold of his finger, pulling his arm up as if she were holding a dirty rag between her thumb and finger. She squinted at the design for mere moments before releasing him in shock.


“Excuse me. . . ?” she hissed. Her own insult thrown back at her left a bitter taste on her tongue. She glared at him as he began his game of keep away. “You need to give that to me right now before it’s too late!” she insisted as she reached around him, failing to find his hand. Her head twisted to the side as a painful humming filled her ears. It felt as though her head was trying to split into two and she stumbled forward into the scientist, her face bumping into his chest.


Something was happening to the soul inside of the cage he had built for it, and by the sounds of things, she was too late to withdraw it from its prison. She tried to push herself off of Silas, but some force was keeping her snugly against him. She grunted, gritting her teeth through this pain and awkward situation in general. “Get off of me,” she muttered through her teeth, as if it were suddenly his fault and not her own.

 

[Vekraihr]

Silas was gritting his teeth a little as the noise grew more intense, though he didn't seem as phased by it as she was. "No, you don't look evil...But I don't believe the two are mutually exclusive," he said with a pondering look on his face and he adjusted the goggles on his face a little. He then grunted as she grabbed him, though she would feel a magical reverberation run along her arm as she touched the enchanted metal. Whatever magic he had woven within was potent and amplified by the strange alloy that would feel almost like cloth, though she was absolutely certain it was metal.

"Too late for what? You need to get out of here in case this thing goes bad. If I die, it's just the casualty of progress. If you die with me, it's a tragedy which shouldn't have happened," he reasoned at her, the absent-minded and boisterous man before her somehow having a credible argument against her sudden intrusion. He could feel the device growing even warmer in his hand. It was starting to hurt, and he bit the corner of his lip to keep himself from gasping out.

Silas would watch as this petite, lovely creature suddenly doubled over in pain and her head fell against his chest, and a remorseful look fell over his face as he looked down at her. He attempted to take a step away from her but noticed that he couldn't separate his form from hers. "I'm trying," he said sternly as she pushed at him and told him to get off. The nerve of this woman, barging in here, making demands and then falling against him and demanding he remove himself from her. And she was supposed to be the reasonable one in this situation, he thought with a shake of his head.

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light took over their vision, Silas slamming his eyes shut, or at least trying to. They were already closed instinctually as the flash had happened, it was just so bright that he could still make out the shapes of things through his eyelids. For a moment, he felt as though he was melting, his body feeling formless and soft to himself. He felt as if he was being tugged somewhere, very rapidly, as the sphere in his hand emitted a tone so high that it was inaudible to his human ears. The shapes he was seeing through his eyelids suddenly became unfamiliar. The blinding light began to fade away, replaced by a less intense light and an arid, dry feel to the air. Silas opened his eyes and gasped to find that they were directly in the middle of a vast, yellow sand desert.

 

[Jumbled]

With her senses completely under attack, Lilith could do nothing to prevent what was about to happen to her and the inventor. What in the realms had he created?! Blinding white lights filled her eyes and she quickly shielded her face against his chest seeing as she was already stuck against him anyway. Her hand gripped tightly to the fabrics of his tunic, as if holding on to something was going to keep her from spinning off into the strange vortex that had eaten them up.


Suddenly, her feet sunk down and the feeling of sand filling her shoes caused her to lift her head. Her hand still clung to him as she peered out into one of the worst case scenarios imaginable: a desert. The rest of her senses began to correct themselves, and she sorely wished they hadn’t. It was so hot.


Her body tensed and as she held her head up, it threatened to fall back down onto Silas’ chest. “Take… take us back…. Immediately.” she attempted to command him. She was certainly the opposite of intimidating currently. She wondered if he’d brought her here to kill her. Now realizing she was holding him still, her hand began to ice over, and she pulled at him roughly, down toward her face. “I will not let you kill me here.” she warned him as her eyes glared into his. He must have had more knowledge about Celestials than she realized. He teleported her right into a trap, and she didn’t possess the means to get herself out of it.


Her hand ceased releasing icy power and she pushed herself away from him hard, trying to gain her own footing. Wobbling, she dropped onto her knees, feeling as if her entire body was giving out below her. She wiped her forehead with a hand, panting from the dry air that filled her lungs. She could try to realm jump, but it was risky to try that when she’d done it so recently to arrive at Kathartis in the first place. It seemed like being dried out by what seemed to be two suns, or getting ripped apart in a half-cocked realm jump was her only option. Well, if he didn’t strike her down right where she sat.


“If you kill me, you will face consequences. My people see all.” she muttered, staring down into the sand. “And they will treat you as a terrorist with that weapon you’ve created with soul-fusion.”

 

[Vekraihr]

Silas looked around with a mixed look of shock, horror, and curiosity on his face and he shielded his eyes from the intense sun for a moment before he remembered that he had shaded lenses in his goggles and he flipped them over to protect his eyes. He looked down at the hand that was gripping his tunic, then up to the Celestial being and his look began to slowly approach concern. She didn't look that well and was having a hard time holding herself without his support and he sighed a little bit. He'd read something on this topic, he was sure of it, though he couldn't remember what the important thing was in this moment.

He stepped his feet up out of the sand, one by one, as though that would help keep them from sinking in. It didn't help at all, his fine, buckled shoes filling slowly with the irritating substance. "Well, this is just fantastic!" he said angrily, though she could hear that some part of him was happy that his device did something other than immediately destroy them. He then heard her demanding of him things which he was not capable of and he furrowed his brow, almost oblivious to the fact that she was pulling him down with an icy grasp. "I-I told you...I don't know how this works..." he said as he looked over towards her with his dark amber lensed eyes, though she wouldn't be able to see that he was looking into her eyes.

"Kill you? Why would I kill you?" he asked with a sharpness rising up in his voice, sounding irritated and wildly confused before being caught off guard as she pushed at him. He would tumble face first into the blistering heat of the sand and he called out in muffled agony as he began to flail and rapidly climb up to his feet. "Damn it! What in the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled loudly and without realizing it, the circlet that was around his neck had become active, and his voice had become as booming loud as a strike of lightning mere feet away. He winced in response to this and covered his own ears, before looking down at his circlet. "Damn thing," he muttered softly, though it sounded like someone shouting still as he pulled the flexible metal band up over his head, the two ends meeting at his forehead and the glowing energy began to recede.

During this time, Silas had failed to notice that the orb he had designed was just floating in the air close by him, seeming to follow over his left shoulder wherever he went. "I'm not going to kill you, why in the heavens would I kill you?" he asked her with an exasperated tone in his voice, brushing some of the sand which was still stuck to his face off, his flesh slightly pink from the heat of it.

 

[Jumbled]

Lilith could barely move. There weren’t many Celestials that could survive through heat like this. She needed help. The scientist’s voice amplified and split the air with a loud boom. She shrieked in pain, covering her ears, trying to avoid his torture. Even if she was to crawl away, she couldn’t get far enough from him in time. She was going to die here by his hands. Or perhaps his voice. She wondered if her ears were bleeding.

She looked up at him fearfully, unable to see his eyes. Silas looked like a monster with all of his gadgets attached to him. Her focus shifted up to the orb floating around his shoulder. Was she really supposed to believe that he didn't do this intentionally? One didn't just accidentally fuse a soul into a device, right? She shifted her eyes to his face as his voice had calmed to a normal volume. Her hands dropped away from her ears, though they were still ringing. She felt as though she was going to topple over just as he had when she pushed him.

“Please, I beg of you,” she began, her mouth dry and gritty. She tried to lift herself up off of the ground, the sleeves and light fabrics of her dress falling down to her shoulder as she did so, revealing far more skin and cleavage than she would normally show. Her hands only sunk down as if the desert was trying to devour her whole. She swallowed hard, finally climbing to her feet, wobbling as she did so.

There was no use in trying to use her icy powers in such a place. The heat would win such a battle and she would be even weaker than she already was. “If you do not intend to kill me, then, why have you taken us here?”

Even her posture was suffering. The usual, prideful and tall (well, short) woman stood with bent knees and hunched shoulders. She panted, looking up to Silas for answers. "Why?"

 

[Vekraihr]

Silas watched Lilith with deep concern and worry on his face and he rubbed his forehead firmly as if trying to think of a solution to a very difficult problem. He then moved his hand over towards the orb and he began to turn and inspect it intensely, his facial tone changing from concern to intense study. He hadn't any idea why the orb had brought them here, nor did he understand fully what it was made for. All he knew was that he had created it, and it worked for the time being.

"I really need to find a way to get this thing to fire up again and get us out of here," he said in a calmer than normal tone, even his voice shifting from the more carefree and jovial bounciness to a flat sternness. He looked over towards her as she began to plead with him, seeing her trying to lift herself off the ground and in the process, expose more of her skin than he'd seen. A deep crimson blush spread over his cheeks and she felt him grab hold of her arms in a gentle but firm way before helping to pull her to her feet and he leaned her up against his lithe frame.

"Got to be something here," he muttered, the calmness in his voice having a hint of some other emotional pitches now, though they were too minute to easily discern. His face was still warm as he traced along the exterior of the sphere and suddenly, it whined back to activity. The high pitched noise it emitted when active began to ring out around them and he looked over towards her with his goggled face as she started to ask him why once more.

"What do you mean, why? I. Didn't. Do. This." he said with a stern stoicism, his face contorting with frustration at her continued insinuations. He was no evil creature that would dare drag a person to their doom. Well, an innocent person, that is. As he held the orb, he felt it growing hot once again and this time, due to the fact that it was still warm from the last jump, she would hear it begin to sizzle against his flesh as he touched more of the patterns on the outside. He looked as though he was tracing something, and the burning was causing some of his skin to get left behind on the orb as he traced along it. As his finger stopped, the orb flashed a brilliant light around them once more, more blinding than 1000 suns. The heat of the desert was gone, fading into the distance as they were pulled once again into this extradimensional space.

Silas' eyes were tightly closed again, though the lenses helped to filter out enough of the light that he no longer saw any shapes through his eyelids. Suddenly, he felt his feet land on something soft and only very slightly yielding. He opened his eyes to see green grass and earth, surrounded by a verdant canopy of trees which continued on for as far as he could see.

 

[Jumbled]

Once again, Lilith found herself pulled against the man with fluffy white hair. She could feel more of him through his clothes this time, and became a little nervous as she leaned on him with her hand on his chest. This was the opposite of killing her, obviously, and although she wanted to push him away again, he felt nice. This was far better than the sand. It was a shame he didn’t know what he was inventing when he was inventing it. Something to increase the cold, or decrease the heat would have been an extremely useful item.

Her soft brown hair stuck to her face, and her head nestled back into Silas’ shoulder. Tired blue eyes looked up at his more serious expression, flinching as he barked back at her. So he did have a backbone. She looked away from him, angry she was scolded, or was it embarrassment?

Whatever he was doing to his little floating toy, it seemed to be working. He was actually getting the two of them out of the wretched sands and heat. Luckily, Lilith could feel her body pull harder into Silas, and she could hear the pitch of the sphere. She rolled herself hard into Silas, holding onto him tightly with her face pressed against him to shield her eyes. She definitely preferred realm jumping. That teleporting thing was awful.

The two of them left the sinking sands, trading them for lush grass and shade. Forgetting how closely she was to Silas (again) she sighed with relief. Her body rushed with cold air, zipping up and whirling her hair, and Silas’, straight up toward the trees. It was only for a couple of seconds, which was enough to properly regulate her body temperature again.

When the air settled, Lilith removed herself from Silas and began to straighten herself out, patting her hair and clothing down. She then stepped out of her shoes, picking them up to dump out all of the sand. She crouched as she worked, looking up at the scientist curiously.

“You really don’t know what you’ve done, do you?” she asked. Her tone wasn’t rude this time, thankfully. “My name is Lilith, by the way, in case you care.” she finished. She couldn’t help herself. Slipping her shoes back onto her feet after brushing the soles out with her hand, she stood up with her hands propped against her hips.

“There’s a lot of things going on that you simply don’t understand because it’s just not common knowledge. I need that soul you’ve taken from me. It’s my mission to collect souls, and bring them back to where they belong. So, you’ve interrupted my work, and you’ve stolen life force that isn’t meant to exist in such a way.”

 

[Vekraihr]

Silas gave a relieved sigh as he saw both of them there in one piece, his finger stuck to the orb where he had finished drawing along its surface. He began to pull, and a slight sound of flesh tearing lead to Silas' finger coming away from the blazing hot orb. She would only get a glance before he gripped his fingers up towards his palm, but the flesh from the tip of his finger to the first knuckle from the tip on the side opposite his nail was all but gone, burned away by the orb as he forced it into action to take them away.

"I told you, I don't know..." he said with a soft sigh and he masked the pain in his voice with a sardonic tone, lifting his gloved hand to his head and rubbing his forehead with his brows pinched together. "I'm Silas...Silas Montblanc...In better circumstances, I'm sure this meeting would be a pleasure," he said with a polite and courteous tone, one practiced from years of study, dinners, and events with nobility. He stood there with his body slightly slumped forward and he moved the lenses from his eyes so that he could see in the shade of the forest better. His vivid green hues had dulled to a grayish green color, a testament to the frustration he was currently feeling with the situation, as well as with the pain of the finger which was radiating all the way into his shoulder.

"Indeed, there are these things which I do not know...But we seek to know them, which is the reason for our pursuits...Unlike some humans, I seek knowledge to make a positive difference in some way," he spoke with conviction now, and she sees his eyes flare to life briefly before dimming back down once again as he sighed. "I wish I knew how to give it back, I really do. Because I would. Had I known a soul would be trapped in here to languish, I wouldn't have built the damned thing. But it's done, and what we need to do now is figure out how it can be undone," he said, not noticing quite that he was lumping her in with the task of undoing, which implied that he wished to work with her.

He shifted uncomfortably in his fine shoes, feeling the sand still within them and he stepped out of them slowly and he crouched down and began to dump them in much the same manner she did, though he did so one at a time with his gloved hand while keeping his hand with the wounded finger tightly shut. His eyes would occasionally glance up towards her and even more briefly towards where she'd been more exposed than usual, the image still fairly fresh in his mind.

 

[Jumbled]

“Silas,” she repeated his name, letting it roll off of her tongue. She hadn’t met someone with that name before. His discomfort had not gone unnoticed, either. Her eyes shifted as she glanced at his closed fist, then to the captured soul in the orb. Was it feeding off of him? She couldn’t honestly tell what had happened, and he wasn’t sharing.

Lilith considered him carefully as she watched his eyes shift colors. She remember back to him understanding her language and wondered his origins. Was he somehow descended from a Celestial? She couldn’t be sure, he didn’t possess the standard abilities, and he seemed fine in the desert. So who, and what was he, really?

Lilith’s hands moved away from her hips as she crossed her arms in front of her breasts, feeling heat from his gaze. She cleared her throat as if to change some unspoken subject, then looked away from him and out into the trees.

“If you’re wanting me to adventure with you, do undo this mistake of yours, then you’re going to need to fix that hand. I can ice over your fingers if you’d like me to. I can keep it from melting.”

She looked back at him once again as he fumbled with only one hand and both of his shoes. “Unless you have some sort of skin-regrowth machine hiding on your person also,” she added. It was hard to say what precisely he could and could not do.

“And. . . where are we?” she suddenly asked. She couldn’t tell for certain, but she didn’t think they were in the same realm as Silas’ home.

 

[Vekraihr]

Silas shifted a little bit on the heels of his feet after he had finished dumping the sand from his shoes and he looked up at her as she crossed her arm over her chest, blushing again as he'd realized he'd been seen looking where he shouldn't have. "I'm sorry," he said gingerly as he bit the corner of his lip a little and he shifted a little more before starting to pull his shoes back on with his good hand. He'd tuck his hair behind one of his ears a bit, his ear even going a bit of a shade of crimson as he looked down away from her to save him from any more redirection of his blood.

His eyes had started to take on color again, she would notice, it pleasing to him that she was offering to help him out on this venture and he noted how she would say his name, it sounding unusual coming from one such as her. "Skin regrowth machine? Don't be silly," he said with a laugh and he shook his head a little, waving his injured hand about absentmindedly and she would see the weeping wound from the severe burn he'd gotten. Some of his muscle would be visible and he winced as he moved it.

"I'm not entirely sure where we're at right now...We're going to have to get out of the forest in order for me to get us some bearings," he said, knowing that if they were on the planet he called home that he could use the stars at night to figure out where they were. He began to rummage around in a bag on his belt with the gauntleted hand, muttering under his breath about being sure he had something. "I always have some," he said as he looked through the bag, she hearing the soft clattering of little glass vials. "Aha!" he exclaimed as he pulled out a small purple vial with an eyedropper lid.

"Would you be so kind as to apply this to the finger?" he asked her as he tilted his head a little, handing the vial out towards her with a small smile. His hand was shaking, though, as he tried to hold it steady out towards her. He was in a lot more pain than he was letting onto, though he was tempered against it due to all the other times he'd injured himself with an experiment.

 

[Jumbled]

Lilith watched Silas with curiosity as he rummaged about his own person like he was digging through a satchel. It must have been troublesome to carry so many things and still not know where anything ever was. She waited, staring at the finger that bled and pulsed as he seemed to do everything in his power to completely ignore it. There was no doubt in her mind that he was in pain, and yet he remained as composed as he possibly could while standing there with her.

A gentle breeze blew through the forest, the sweet scent of flowers filling her nostrils as her hair fluttered about the way it always seemed to do. As Silas finally found what he was looking for, he asked for help, and her deep blue eyes took in his structure, noting the subtle shaking of his hand with the vial. She reached for it with an open palm, letting him drop it down into her hand.

She was suddenly very close to him, her side pressing against his torso as she turned, holding onto his wrist with a firm, yet somehow delicate grip. Her skin was cool to the touch as her fingers steadied his arm. Her other hand balanced the bottle and untwisted the eyedropper in very fluid motions. Upon asking him how much to apply, she carefully followed his instructions, then looked up at him, studying his eyes for signs of relief. Her hold on his arm remained, as did her body against him.

“Why did it melt your flesh…?” she demanded, though her voice remained soft in the peaceful setting in which they stood.

 

[Vekraihr]

Silas enjoyed the smell of the flowers and the gentle breeze which was blowing through, and she would see a small smile tug at the edges of his lips. As she came over to him, he placed the vial carefully into her hand, looking at her with his verdant green hues which were still dull in color, but more vibrant than they were just moments ago. His light tremor became more apparent as she stood next to him, pressing against him she could feel his entire body lightly shaking with the pain of his finger being half melted.

However, the presence of her feminine form wasn't lost on SIlas' mind or body, a light blush filling his pale cheeks as he looked at her with warmth in his eyes. "Alright, so you'll need to put about 5 drops onto the wound...Just squeeze that bulb and let it go and allow it to fill...Then hold the tip over the wound and squeeze the bulb very slowly and carefully. As the fluid hit his skin, she would hear a slight fizzing noise as the mixture began to violently bubble as it hit the wound, rapidly expanding to cover an area much larger than she had applied it to.

As she studied his eyes, he was slowly looking over her form with a mixture of curiosity and intrigue, the same gentle blush on his cheeks still. As the foaming liquid encapsulated the tip of his finger, his shaking began to subside and he gave a soft sigh of relief as he felt the pain cease its shooting up into his arm.

"The magical backlash from it being used so quickly in succession must have caused the damage to me," he said softly as he looked over towards her eyes, his green orbs darkening a little and becoming more vivid, akin to an emerald. "Thank you so much," he said to her softly as he leaned against her a little bit.

 

[Jumbled]

“Yeah, no problem…” she responded, her words lingering in the air as if she may have wanted to say more than that, though she remained quiet.

Lilith allowed her eyes to stay locked with Silas’ for what seemed like a long while, watching them transition from one shade of green to another. She could feel his body press against hers more than it had been, and could see the flushed coloring of his cheeks. Suddenly feeling awkward, she broke her gaze and looked back to his hand, noticing the covering that came from the eyedropper. Had he invented this, too? It seemed too specific or exact to be something he’d made, compared to the soul-sphere, but she admitted to herself she certainly didn’t know this man very well.

Removing her fingers from his wrist, she stepped away from the inventor, twisting the eyedropper back into place so that she may hand it back to Silas. “Here you are,” she said. She idly tucked some of her hair behind and ear, not knowing where to look. What was wrong with her? She was a Celestial. Why was she suddenly acting so out of sorts?

She cleared her throat and ran a hand through the hair at the top of her head, looking around for whatever direction they should attempt to go. They couldn’t just stand around there all day. They needed to get back to Silas’ lab, or really any lab, and sort this whole issue out as soon as possible. Though, the more she looked around, the more she was convinced they’d been sent to a different realm by the orb. Years of watching over the lands somehow gave her that impression, though she’d never thought she’d need such knowledge.

 

[Vekraihr]

Silas looked at her expectantly as he felt she wanted to say more, but nothing ever came and he gave a nod as if to affirm himself that there was nothing to be spoken.

Silas noticed that she was locking eyes with him, his eyes looking up to hers and he blushed a little more, breaking his gaze from hers and looking down at his hand as well. The foam on his skin had subsided and she would notice a white substance coating his finger, keeping the wound covered and she would notice it had a light shimmer to it as if the material had some properties other than just being a coating.

"Thank you so much," he said to her sincerely, taking the vial from her hand and tucking it back into his belt and he ran his fingers through his hair to get it out of his face once again, leaving it a little more tidy as well. He looked around a little bit before picking a direction, seemingly at random, and he started to walk in that direction as he hummed a bit. The ground was a bit soft underfoot and moist, making a bit of noise in combination with the grass that his feet were sliding through.

"Well, let's go, shall we?" He asked as he tilted his head a bit, looking back at her with his deep green hues, not really knowing where he was going other than just wanting to get out of the forest so he could look up into the sky without any obstruction. The orb was hovering after him, hanging around his shoulder as it seemed to be drawn towards him, perhaps an effect he had enchanted to it.

 

[Jumbled]

“H-hey! Wait, where are you even going? Do you know where we are?” Lilith demanded, chasing after Silas with his long strides carrying him further ahead of her than she’d been ready for. Walking along a soft land, she tried to regain her posture and pace, looking more elegant and floaty once more, but every time she managed, he was yards ahead of her again. She looked at the floating orb that followed behind him like a pet, then wondered if she looked the same way.

“Will you-- Hey! Slow down, okay?” she said, half of her statement switching to her native tongue in frustration. This was a problem she’d faced back home as well, since most of her kin towered over her in the same fashion. She huffed and caught up to Silas, keeping steps beside him the best she could without exhausting herself.

The landscape grew less dense and began to open up into a huge valley with a lake off to the side and a small town nestled further off in the distance. The buildings looked different, shining in pearly whites and shimmering golds. Why did such a town look so incredibly rich? Her gaze shifted back to the water as she realized they were, indeed, not back where they had started.

“So, Silas… how much do you know about realms..?” she asked him hesitantly. She knew that he was bright, and could speak her language, but most people outside of races that could realm jump didn’t know much of anything about these other worlds, or even that they existed at all.

“I mean, do you know that the fables of your fantasy writers are, more often than not, nonfiction?” she asked, trying to clarify better.

 

[Vekraihr]

Silas heard Lilith calling but didn't pay it any mind as he had a task in his mind and he needed to get it accomplished right as of that moment. His eyes were scanning the trees methodically, she seeing his head moving every which direction and seeming to navigate towards the quickest and easiest way out of the forest. He could hear her attempting to keep up with him, at times slowing down as well, which he wasn't sure what that was about, though he didn't glance in her direction much.

As she spoke to him half in the common tongue and then half in Celestial, she would see his strides slow and he looked over at her and gave a slight grin. "I'm sorry...I thought you would be able to keep up," he said softly as he scratched the back of his head a little bit. "I was under the impression that the Celestial race was very agile and quick," he said softly, unaware that it may have been a sore spot for her due to her height.

Silas watched on as the trees and underbrush became less and less dense around them, hearing the animal noises giving way to the sound of lazily drifting water. He looked over towards the lake with his green eyes wide with wonder, then spotting the town in the distance and his brow furrowed with concentration as he even leaned forward a little in place. A little too far forward, sending him spilling onto the ground with a "thud" and he cursed in one of the languages of the lower life forms on his planet, the goblin.

As Lilith began to talk, Silas looked over at her and his green eyes filled with intensity as he began to hurry himself back up to his feet, dusting himself off and he stood up straight and looked directly into her eyes with intensity. "Well, I am aware that there are stories...And there are some of us who invent who believe there to be other planes of existence which are sealed to us, but sometimes open due to strange occurrences or powerful magics...Some have been scried into...Celestials come from a different plane, do you not?" he spoke rapidly with the fervor of a man with incredible inquisitiveness.

 

[Jumbled]

Lilith stopped long enough to prop her hands up on her hips and shift her body in such a way to signal her irritation. “Well, that’s very stereotypical of you.” she huffed. “I was under the impression that scientists were supposed to be intelligent.” she jabbed at him as she resumed her pace. “I’m not going to expend all of my energy to keep up with your long legs. And I’d sooner Realm jump out of here than stay with you, were it not for the problem you’ve caused me…” Her eyes shifted over to the orb, floating around as if it were Silas’ new pet fairy. She wondered if he’d known the soul before it had left its body; the person it once was.

Silas landed flat on his face. Lilith stared blankly at him for a while, quickly looking away before asking her questions. Such seriousness was obviously no time for laughter, though she fought hard to stifle her laughs.

With his quick recovery, he began rambling again. She held her breath as he prattled, trying to see if it was possible for her to hold it as long as he spoke, because he certainly never seemed to breathe in this form of excitement. But his spewing of words stopped shorter than Lilith had expected, and she took in a fresh breath before answering him.

“Right. So, most of your people think that Celestials come from space. As in, they look up and see the stars, and we are those stars. That’s not… exactly how it all really works, though we do each have our own star. When we die, they fall from the sky. It’s really beautiful, but incredibly sad.” she said, pausing in her own melancholy thoughts while gazing upward. One would almost believe she could see the stars even in the bright sunny sky.

“Certain beings with more powers than most, sometimes called Mystiics, or Deamons, even Fae, have abilities, or powers that set them apart from standard humans. One of those abilities is called ‘Realm Jumping’ which is what you’ve somehow achieved with your invention.” she said with a gesture to the hovering orb. “We can’t just do it whenever we want though, because there’s a cooldown process… and if we try too soon we can be torn apart… Though… your toy only melted a little flesh. I mean, in theory you could even fix that to make it--” her thoughts trailed in the wrong direction, causing her to stop talking and instead clear her throat. “We aren’t in your Realm.” she finished quite bluntly.

 

[Vekraihr]

Silas stopped a little at the jab, but resumed his pace as soon as she did, shaking his head a little bit. He listened to her as she spoke of Realm jumping and his brow cocked a little with curiosity. Gears began to grind in his head once more as he walked along and he stroked his fingers through his hair once again, this time with frustration as he tried to think on some of the texts he'd read in an attempt to recall any information he could about other realms.

After his rambling, his intense gaze turned curious and soft as he looked deeply into her eyes as she spoke. He could hear the sorrow in her voice as she spoke of how her people were to pass and his green eyes softened a bit more as he felt sympathy towards her. He watched as she cast her eyes upwards and then she resumed speaking, listening to her speak of being which he'd read about in certain texts and once again his gaze strengthened with curiosity as she continued to speak. He then blushed a bit and looked away bashfully as he'd take what she had said about his invention as a compliment. Even going so far as to suggest improvements, it seemed. He was starting to grow on her, he thought with a grin and he looked up towards her again as she finished her thought.

"W-wait...Y-you mean...mean I...I have...?" she would hear him stammer, almost at a loss for words before he turned his gaze towards the orb and he lightly touched it and then looked back at her. "I-I've discovered a means to...Realm jump, you called it?" he asked her as his eyes burned brightly with the intensity of someone who's accomplished something incredible, his heart hammering in his chest as his mind began to race at the implications of what he'd created. "Do you know what this means? If I can find out some way to map the coordinates of the realm to the diagram on the orb, I should be able to take us anywhere!" he shouted out excitedly, probably too excitedly as his throat was still a bit hoarse from the brief time they'd spent in the desert.

The desert...Where she'd been so unwell when he'd accidentally sent them there. He wondered if she was alright and she would see his gaze turn from curiosity to concern as he gazed at her before he knelt down onto the ground, pulling the focus from his toolbelt and placing the metal circlet over his head. His off hand held the scepter-like object, which began to hum with energy and glow, along with the glove and circlet. He placed his fingers onto the ground, and suddenly the earth there began to shift and mold as if it were clay. He began to focus more and a shape began to form and then become more defined as the earth molded and changed composition until there was a tray with a pitcher and two goblets on either side.

He touched the scepter to the top of the pitcher and spoke in the arcane tongue and the sound of water spilling within rang through the air. Once it filled, the water stopped at his will and he began to fill one of the goblets before handing it towards her. "Drink, you must be awfully sore," he said, the excitement that had been in his voice taken over by concern for the moment.

 

[Jumbled]

“W-well, yes.” she responded cautiously, watching as the scientist’s eyes filled with both excitement and pride. “That’s basically the gist of it. You’ve invented a way to realm jump without standard powers to do so... But it seems the cost is a bit too much…” she gestured to his finger. “Let me be clear, we are not going to keep toying with this orb of yours. It cost a soul, and will throw off the balance of the realms if you continue to take more of them.” she warned him as her hand clasped the ornament at the end of her necklace. She still had her own mission, and she couldn’t forget that.

Perhaps the soul came to him because he was a Celestial, like her. But, no. He wasn’t a Celestial. He just… randomly understood her native tongue. Lilith frowned, though her expression quickly changed as Silas conjured a drinking set. Was that also an invention, or did he possess magic as well? Or, was it water? She stared at the goblet and slowly extended her hand to grip onto the magical cup.

Lilith felt a warmth spread over her cheeks as Silas’ tone changed to that of a far more mature sounding man. Was he suddenly worried about her? He hadn’t cared to walk with her before, and now he wanted her to re-hydrate? Just who was this Silas? She lifted the rim of the cup to her lips, eyeing him suspiciously before sipping the water. However, once the liquid, cool and refreshing, touched her tongue, she closed her eyes and drank all that was there. She hadn’t had water that lovely since her visit to a central realm as an adolescent.

“Th- that’s remarkable.” she muttered, her voice completely in awe. “You’re a man of many surprises, aren’t you?” she asked, looking up at him with a slight gleam in her eyes. “Tell me, what are you..?”

 

[Vekraihr]

Silas nodded slowly as he listened to her, seeming to take what she was saying very seriously and his brow furrowed as his face contorted into a pensive posture. "Indeed...I hope the one soul is enough, then, for if its light fades, I shall destroy the device that it may not take another," he said softly with a conflicted tone, though she could tell he wasn't very happy with the thought of either thing happening. Silas ran his fingers through his hair slowly as he watched her drink with expectant eyes and as she began to drink, his face shifted back to a beaming smile and his emerald eyes glimmered softly.

It would be apparent to her if she had any magical sensitivity that he'd been using magic, though it was heavily augmented by the devices he carried, allowing him to amplify it further and cast it in a more direct fashion in order to accomplish what he'd desired. His eyes took notice of the warmth spreading over her cheeks, it flustering him a bit and he looked down bashfully before pouring himself some water from the pitcher and he began to drink it in slow, large gulps.

Conjured water was always the best, tasting so clean and pure and having that delightful coolness of a spring, without the hassle of needing to have one in the first place. As his eyes trained on Lilith once again, she began to speak and a light crimson spread over his cheeks as she complimented him. Though, he didn't attempt to look away from her this time. His eyes, filled with bashfulness, stayed trained to hers and he bit the corner of his lip a little bit.

"T-thank you...Very much..." he sputtered back with embarrassment thick in his voice, not knowing why he was finding her behavior so effective on him at the moment. "I...I'm an inventor...A human...A magic wielder...I uh...I'm of the Montblanc family...There is this one legend that has been passed down through the ages of my family, but it's utter nonsense and you wouldn't want to hear of it," he said, starting to regain his composure a bit, though his cheeks remained flush. He saw that her cup was empty, and he lifted the half-filled pitcher towards it and began to pour for her once more.