Little Bird — Roleplayer Guild

@EchoWolff

For Jamesson Beltran to say things had gotten weird since he had left home would have been the understatement of the century.

Since he had ventured out from his humble corner of the world, not even a month prior, "weird" had only been the tip of the iceberg. As soon as he had set foot beyond the borders of his province, he felt the odd sensation of passing through a fall of cold water; it was as though he had passed through a veil, a massive cold spot that he couldn't explain with what rationale he had; he had never felt anything quite like it before. And things only seemed to get stranger as he ventured further out along the road. It started relatively tame... a few shadows amid the trees that seemed to shift in the corner of eyes; strange lights that flew about in the night that he couldn't pin as mere fireflies; the sounds of creatures in the distance that didn't match with anything of Earthly origin that he knew of. On a few ocassions he thought he had seen something like a bug-sized human fluttering about with wings on its back, though at the time, he dismissed it as fatigue from his travels causing him to hallucinate. 

Things only escalted once he finally arrived at some bastion of society. He had stopped by a small town a couple of weeks ago, only to find the locals peculiarly taken aback by his arrival. He might have thought it normal for a small town if not for the fact that he wasn't the only travelers passing through, yet was the only being eyed with suspcion; even the others wayfaring souls seemd to be dissecting him with caution and scrutiny. It was only when he bought some foot and drinks at a shop that he noticed that the people there were different. The shopkeep, otherwise human in every visible sense, had a pair of short, curved horns protruding from either side of his head. Others in the town had their own strange features, such as pointed ears like the elves from fairytales, and the short, stubby gnomes of the same origins. That afternoon had prompted a stay at a local inn, hoping that a good-night's sleep in an actual bed would ease him out of the dreamlike experience. 

But that hadn't worked out so well for him; he awoke to much the same, and more. It wasn't long until he was forced to resign himself to the fact that he was in a different land, with different people. He reminded himself that there was a reason so few people left where he had come from, and just as much reason why none of the ones that did ever seemed to come back. Not that it made him any more comfortable, of course; he was committed to his venture from home though, foolish and unnerving as it was. 

Even as unsettling as the brief layover had been, he couldn't be too put off by it, as it was there that he had come upon the job posting for The Nova Hotel. The Inn Keeper had even promised to send word along that Jamesson was on his way.

Now, the young man stood at the front steps leading up to The Nova. It was a massive, castle-like monolith that stood over most of the city, such that it was clearly distinguishable as a center of activity and commerce. 

As he stood, stone still just outside of a large set of double doors, he looked down at the flyer, gripped tightly in his hand. Alright Jimmy. It's simple. Just walk in, ask for Cythena, and tell them you're here about the Porter position. But was it really that simple? He looked around him, seeing more and more odd types of people clamoring by him up the steps and into the hotel. He thought of the words on the flyer, which stuck out to him just as much as anything else he had experienced. 

"Due to unforetold circumstances--"

That had been an uncommon way of phrasing it, Jimmy had thought when he first read it. 

"The Nova Hotel in Alengras is in need of a new Porter to join its elite and illustrious staff. The position will entail assisting guests with transportation of luggage both to and from their assigned rooms, providing information and direction in navigating the corridors and grounds, and aiding Front Desk, Room Service, Cleaning, and Maintainence staff as needed. Applicant must be in prime condition to lift and move heavy loads, either physically or otherwise--"

Jimmy hadn't been sure what was meant by "otherwise."

"The ability and willingness to follow instructions is a plus, but not expected."

The last part had really left Jamesson scratching his head... but if it meant he was about to be hired on by a lenient and patient employer, who was he to argue? Besides, he couldn't say no to a job that would pay, room, and board him on site. 

He took in a deep, yet apprehensive breath, and proceded up the steps. 

Crossing through the doors was like passing through another veil; the same sensation of being doused in cold water reiterated itself as he entered the front lobby. 

Yet it was eerily empty. For all of the people he had seen entering, there was no one around at the moment; he wondered how long he had really been standing outside stressing about his decision. 

"Hellooooo! Are you lost?"

Jimmy jumped at the sound of a voice that seemed to come from nowhere, yet everywhere. He looked around himself in a full circle, but saw no one else nearby.

"Oh! Up here, silly!"

He looked up, and immediately fell to the floor. Floating upside down above him was the visage of a young woman, playfully smiling as she looked straight down at him. Seeing someone suspended in middair was shocking enough for Jimmy's mind; doubly so when he realized that he could partially see through the woman and up to the ceiling. "JESUS!" he excalimed, recoiling lower to the floor. 

"Noooo." The woman pivoted downward until her feet were below her head. She waved a hand as if to say "oh you!" and chuckled. "I'm Anna," the transparent woman stated, more matter-of-factly. 

"N-n-never mind who you are!" Jimmy shakily rose to his feet. "W-WHAT are you?"

The woman's gaze sharpened slightly upon him. "You're kidding, right? Pull the other one.

"No. Really." Jimmy's tone grew louder. "What are you?"

"Hmmmmm..."

The woman hovered a trio of short circles around him; he was filled with the feeling that he was being dissected like an animal in a science experiment. 

"Oooh." Anna spoke after a long moment of deliberation. "I see. YOU'RE one of THOSE people. It's been a while since we've seen one of your kind.

"I'm sorry..." Jimmy grappled with his thoughts to find the right response. "What kind of person am I to you, exactly?"

"Huh" Anna fave a half-fake sigh. "Uninitiated. Unfamiliar. You're mind's eye, she poked a ghostly finger through Jimmy's head, creating a sensation akin to brain freeze until she removed it. "Is only just opening up to like OUR world... MY world. So tell me. What brings a young boy like you to these parts?"

Jimmy dusted himself off. Finally, he began gaining a fleeting sense of composure. "I'm here about a job posting." He waved the flyer in front of Anna's face. "For the Porter position. I'm looking to speak with Cythena... Voidscale. Are they around? Someone a few towns over said he'd send word about me."

"Ah. Yes. She is around. She's in her office; that's behind the front desk." Anna drifted towards the reception desk. "Follow me. I'll let her know you're here."

Anna didn't wait to see that the boy was following her. She simply floated through the desk and then through the door back into Cythena's office. "Hey boss. There's a straggler for work out in the lobby. He looks absolutely out of his element. I'm pretty sure he's one of THOSE humans.

D

D's steps up the stairwell quickened with each upward stride as he ascended to the Archives. To his surprise, he felt himself gaining momentum and energy as he moved; his newfound power was only just setting in, swelling his stamina as it peaked. Labored and gasping breaths settling into a smooth rythmn. The aches and pains in his muscles subsided entirely. The racing of his heart, which at first had burdened him, became nothing short of normal. 

He crashed through the door into the Archives, nearly parting it from its hinges as it swung into the wall with a resounding banging of metal on concrete. Despite the exertion, his arrival saw him with no fatigue to show for his efforts. He was in top form, and that was a best case scenario for what he faced on the other side of the threshold. The others that the figure downstairs had told him about were ebroioled in a battle against entities similarly wreathed in shadows. D noticed immediately that at least one of the others had been left either injured or dead.

As soon as he set foot into the Archives, the entities, which had seemingly been dealt with, coalesced before his eyes into a massive singluarity. D ducked and dodged as the newly formed being thrashed its tendrils, narrowly avoiding getting caught. Keeping the lionshare of his focus on the entity, which had clung to the cieling, D looked around at his presumed companions... one seemed to be restraining their enemy; another shot a bolt of some form of energy; the third had pulled out and fired a gun. Next to the others, his own power felt useless given the situation; what good was all of his newly birthed prowess if he couldn't even reach the damn thing? 

"Hey!" he called over to the one restraining the entity. "If you can get it onto the floor, I should be able to handle it." If the other two could hurt the thing enough, maybe, D thought, he could put down the last hit on it.

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