Timetable, April 1
10:00 The Frozen Refuge of Valuria, La Friglas Region.
11:00 The Rivers' Cross of Myerdas, Ensia Region.
12:00 The Thallian Treat of Valikoto, Thallian Region.
13:00 The Demon Empire's Colony of Parfuhmerie, Thryllasian Region.
14:00 The Jeweled Branches of Huang-Penglai, Shrinijing Region.
15:00 The Mirage City of Achrata, Shurmian Region.
16:00 The Empire, Cirquish.
17:00 The Communers' Mansion, SMT/Onmyoji.
18:00 Talonguard, Ashan.
19:00 Tech Square, CN.
20:00 The City of Chen
The mourning of a decadent man...
Stairs of Heaven, Psytronius, The Frozen Refuge of Valuria
As expected, the whole of Psytronius was abuzz with last-minute preparations for the festivities — squadrons of golems marched across the city to put up decorations, supported by small flying robots & drones imported from elsewhere. The first couple of guests, mainly ones entirely from out of the universe who knew the Psytrines well, were also making their arrivals, taking the time to watch the particularly rare sight of an unfinished Psytrine project & giggling just a little over it, not hushed at all by what few natives there were. It was good to be transparent, they thought, so there ought not to be any harm in showing just a little relaxation, though some of the Domeses had it covered maybe a bit too well.
The Gatekeeper, mounted on his lizard & with his dragon friend Seiryuu accompanying him in a shrunken form, had been one of these early arrivals. "Let's try to not be too troublesome, you two," he said, stroking both of their heads, "As per usual, we'll be seeing an awful lot of places, so don't run off, now..."
"Hah! It is your lizard you ought to be worried about, you know! The fool is distracted by a mere butterfly fluttering in front of him," Sieryuu pointed towards a monarch butterfly that the mount was indeed focused upon, "Ah, that reminds me... Jefferson's wife, was she not of this species as well?"
"She was a monarch-looking lady, yes. Big orange wings..." The Gatekeeper let his lizard move towards the butterfly, & they began to ascend the stairs as the creature eventually landed on his spiked armor. Smiling despite his obscuring mask, he summoned a bouquet of yellow flowers to let the butterfly feast upon its nectar. "I wonder what is it about the beauty of butterflies," he began as he watched the butterfly, "They are bugs, but they seem to be more graceful than most."
At that, a small swarm of hummingbird hawk-moths fluttered near him, desirous of their own snack, but The Gatekeeper merely gave them a grim gaze at first. "I remember you..." he said, looking around & converting most of the flowers in his bundle into honeysuckles that the hawk-moths began to drink, "Weren't you the beloved creature of Jefferson's dear old son? What did ever happen to him, I do wonder... Hmm, I don't suppose you've seen him recently have you?" Despite the jagged edges of his armor, he reached up & stroked the top of the flock, which gravitated towards his hand in an attempt to receive his love.
"There is an assassin who looks an awful lot like him, but his personality is nothing like Jefferson's son's..." he continued, enamored by the hawk-moths & hoping that they might yield some useful information, "Hmm, what say you lot? I know it is a bit of a stretch, but you are all descendants of the ones those two loved, so I'm willing to bet..." The flock fluttered near his ears, seemingly communicating with him. "Oh! That is very peculiar indeed! You mean to say that there is not one person with his soul, but four?"
"Our dear Jefferson," Seiryuu began, biting the air to dissuade a hawk-moth away from him, "was consumed by grief with the loss of his son. That he might try something as strange as this is not unexpected, especially for a, frankly, emotionally inept man like him. Hubris has been his downfall, that much is certain."
"Hmm, but we should not be talking of such unfortunate matters on this day!" The Gatekeeper declared, "Perhaps I will try to reunite Jefferson with his son — or sons if that is really the case — but... this is Jefferson. Maybe he wishes for the past to remain the past." He sighed. "Deities know he'll never get it all back. But maybe this time, the hawk-moths will truly be his omen of luck..."
If all turned out well, Jefferson would see his wife one more time.
Only, she was a Cirquish, & in dying, had lost all memory of her relationship. That was the law of the Cirquish world: to die is to begin anew, & nobody had ever really died truly if they were being remembered. Bearing witness to one's funeral cortege could be fact enough, or as for Jefferson's wife, he held her memory dear within him, honoring her with monarch butterflies & frequent pledges of Psytrine support to the Cirquish realms for whatever their fanciful needs were.
But now, now he would never love truly & dearly again, so long as he refused to let go.
... demanding pleasures to fill a void he can never replace...
Sousundowa Carême's Restaurant, Psytronius
"Kevin!"
"Ah, Mont-Blanc, here we go again," the yellow Immature Sweetness twin said in French, sighing with a hint of laughter, "I swear, they are always like this! His brother flashed him a few hand signals, & he nodded. "Grain Mom!"
"Kevin darlin'!" she called out from the kitchen, "Better take off your headphones, or it's me who will be givin' you a spankin'!" With that, the boy thrashed his head back, peeling off both his hood & his headphones & eliciting a curt smirk from Mature Grains. "Good, darlin'!" she said, nodding as she looked towards his sister, "What was it you wanted him for, anyway, Hallveig?"
"Well, we can't be stealing a seat for that long, can we?" she replied, letting the melting energy surrounding her hands dissipate, "Either way, I think I'd like to check out the festival with him."
"But sis, it's so boring out there!" he whined back, climbing out of his seat & metaphorically melting onto the floor, looking up at his sister with amber puppy-dog eyes, "Come on, can't I stay inside for a day?" He rolled around on the floor. "I already disinfected it!" he countered when he noticed that Mature Grains was about to speak up.
"No, no, it wasn't you, darlin'," she replied, looking towards the door & the enormous swarm of hummingbird hawk-moths, "Ah, Herbs, think you could feed the hawk-moths?"
"As you wish," he said, wiping his hand on some towels, "Spices, hold down the fort."
"Hah, I've got nothing to hold! Everyone's out explorin'," she chuckled as she watched her husband spin his hand around, summoning a bundle of jasmine flowers. Then, he walked towards the door & decided to teleport through it, at which point the moths began to crowd around his bouquet. "Ah, basil throne!" he laughed as he watched them fight for their nectar, "Hold on, hold on, I will summon a larger garden for your feast." He moved to the side of the entrance, put his hands to the floor, & jumped up, causing a lush lawn of jasmine to spring forth from the cracks. When he arose, he brushed his hair aside, watching as the hawk-moths feasted upon the flowers.
"Hmm, what a joyous sight, a flock of beautiful creatures like that!" he said as he reentered the restaurant, "I'm feeling pretty lucky now."
"Didn't Jefferson send out a pretty big flock when... you know..." Immature Dairy asked, helping the purple Immature Sweetness twin prepare a sundae.
"He did. I wonder if D'aillisioux saw 'em..." Spices said, adding chili & cinnamon to a simmering, red-hot pot, "Can't imagine how bad it musta felt, 'specially for a man like him. 'Ey, Immature Seafood, your call!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" he shouted back, walking towards the pot.
"Oh, I'm sure you are," Immature Spiciness countered, smirking as his friend began to blush, but he continued onward anyway. Before he turned to his work, he was smacked upside the head with an enormous lobster pincer, & turned around to see Mature Seafood's glowering expression. "Oi, stop playing these games with him," he ordered, his deadly gaze penetrating deep into him, "You keep this up, & I've a feeling that a rainbow concussion isn't the worse he'll get."
"Sheesh, no need to be so serious," both friends said, firing suspicious glances at each other.
"Jinx!" Spiciness called out first.
"Aw, fish cakes!" he slammed his fist into the stove, causing the hotpot to begin tipping over, "W-woah, woah, woah!" He caught it, but a small bowl's worth still spilled out, throwing out a small clam that somehow fell within enough force to cause his head to turn upright & weaken him. Before his grip could slacken all the way, Spiciness rushed behind him to support him. "Now's not the time, bro!" he said, pushing him & the pot back up & continuing to hold his
Meanwhile, Kevin & his sister made their way out of the restaurant, pausing by the swarm of hummingbird hawk-moths that then stopped drinking & suddenly turned towards Kevin. "Wh-what the!" he yelled out, putting his lance in front of him, disturbed by the synchronicity of the bugs, "I'm... what are you planning to do?"
"Kevin, I don't think they're hostile," his sister said, walking towards them with her fist glowing, yet they remained on their jasmine flowers. Though she could not see it herself, she felt a lethal glare coming from the moths, & she backed off, at which point their gaze turned into a much more relaxed one, one that still wanted Kevin. "D-do you feel it too?" Hallveig asked him, looking away to open her fist & shake it in the air to disperse the magical energy within it, "I think they want you, for some reason... Er, Kevin. Kevin!"
He was already walking towards them, his lance behind his back & his lantern creaking as it swung in the air. As his sister dashed to the side on a wave of molten rock, she noticed that his amber eyes seemed to be mesmerized by the hawk-moths, which continued to stare at him, wanting him to move into their flock. "Kevin..." Hallveig muttered out, unsure of what to do versus the intense, desirous gaze of the moths. Swallowing her fear, she made her first few steps into their garden, not noticing how the sea of flowers & moths moved aside as she & her brother began walking towards one another. "K-Kevin," she whispered as she got within a few steps of him, "Wake... wake up!" Her brother did not obey, & when he walked into the center of the garden, he froze, & Hallveig stepped back in fear. Wh-what's going on! she panicked, terrified that her brother might have gotten trapped in another nightmare, Oh, this better just be a joke!
She began a slow, apprehensive advance towards him, her finger near her mouth as she waited for something terrible to happen — perhaps, as he had told her, a mass of red flesh would suddenly erupt from below him & swallow him up within its unholy prison, as had happened that strange night.
Her failure to protect her dear brother was going to drive her mad, & as she realized this, she rushed towards him atop another wave, refusing to let this chance be the wrong chance. "Kevin! Wake up!" she pleaded once she got in view.
Then, the hawk-moths all fluttered away into the sky, the jasmine wilted, & Kevin collapsed into her arms, his amber eyes losing their color as they stared, like a doll, into the air. "K-Kevin! KEVIN!" she screeched out.
... yet to cast off the old self & push only onward...
Luminary's Marketplace, Psytronius
"Come on, you guys, hurry up!" Roger teased as he swung around on lanterns strung between the lamps, watching Dana make her way down the stairs to the marketplace.
"Roger, they aren't going to run out anytime soon!" his sister replied, bat in hand as she ran to where her brother was, who was still swinging & jumping & running all across the marketplace & its roofs, "& neither do you need to run around like a monkey across the roofs!"
"M-man... he's weally got a lot of enewgy," his friend Gordin Erikson remarked, his endearing rhotacism clear to anyone nearby. He was a simple freckled Friglan lad with a messenger's bag, blonde hair, & blue eyes who wore a blue windbreaker & jeans. "How does he do it, Dana? I can bawely get out of bed, but he seems like the kind of guy who'd spwing wight out."
"Accurate!" Dana said, nodding.
"Well, you definitely won't be getting out of bed if he's in it!" her friend Bridget Edelweiss said, smirking as Gordin began to blush. She was a Friglan girl just a few weeks his elder, but was easily a head taller than him, & far stronger, having been raised to be a Valkyrie. With her wild blonde hair, the dagger sheathed at her side, & her clothes that were a mix of comfortable normal attire & armor, she was already looking the part.
"Ah! Fow the wast time, Bridget, I'm not wike that!" Gordin turned away from her, covering the radiant pink that stained his pale cheeks, "Why do you keep doing this fow m— erw, I-I mean, to me!"
"Ya can't run away from the truth!" she lunged forward & wrapped her elbows around his neck, causing him to look away from her chest, but unfortunately at Roger, "See? The male gaze is a trustwo—"
"Sh-shut up!"
"What are you guys talking about?" Roger leapt down from the roof he was on, scratching his face with an innocent expression, "Why wouldn't he be able to get out of bed if I'm sharing with him? I know I wrap myself around people while I sleep, but it's not like it'd be that hard to escape."
I don't know, he'd probably like it too much to leave, Bridget considered saying, but before she could respond, she felt Dana's hand just slightly tighten over her bat, & her deadly gaze became utterly lethal. "N-nothing, Roger, i-it's just a small joke!" she said, feeling Dana's stare of judgment grow more & more in danger, "N-not a joke, it's um... J-just forget what I said, 'kay?" A pause, & Bridget feared for her life (as was Gordin, who would be collateral damage & another to the death toll).
"Okay, then!" Roger said ignoring the sighs of relief from his Friglan associates as jumped back into the air & onto a shop's roof, "Come on, let's get moving, you just have to see this new shop! It's got so many cool toys... I think it's Cirquish!" Before the rest of his group could see where he was leading them, he took off into the narrow streets of the Luminary's Market. "Ah, lemme call him back," Dana said as she glanced into her crystal, "Just a moment..." Her brother returned with a leap over the stores, landing on the pavement with a graceful, nearly silent finish.
"Ten..." Gordin breathed out dreamily, looking away from everyone as his blush grew even more.
"Geez, you really are hopeless," Bridget said, smirking, "Anyway, Roger, howsabout you lead us to that store you were talking about? We better get going before Gordin falls down."
"Why would he fall?" Roger asked as he began walking towards the store with the others in tow, "He's not clumsy, or anything."
"A-ah, I'm just kiddin' around, don't worry, Roger!" she said, well aware of his sister's lethal stare behind her, Can't that girl let me have a bit of fun with this boy? He's eleven... well, so is Gordin, & he's a prude too. Gods, why am I surrounded by such weak boys... She sighed, releasing Gordin from her hold as the four kids made their way to the store deep within the marketplace.
Eventually, they found it — a gold-colored building with a door frame into a pool of water, where an old man in a formal suit, riding atop an umbrella, floated towards them. "Hey, wasn't this whewe that 'Apwewljuice Science' place was?" Gordin asked as they neared.
"Ap-ap-ap what?" Bridget exclaimed, laughing at her friend's childish voice, "It's Aperture Science?"
"'Apwewljuice Science', y-yeah?" he said, blushing yet again.
"Aperture!"
"A-apwewljuice!"
"Cut it out you two, don't piss off Eugen," Dana ordered them, glancing at the man & his perturbed expression, which reverted to his usual unreadable one, "Though... I don't really know if he would get angry."
"Hi Eugen! Say, you got anything cool for us today?" Roger asked, bouncing on his heels as the man smiled, offering his hand out to the boy, "Oh, you want me to come in? I don't know if I should use your umbrella, though... & there's my friends." The man merely nodded, & Roger took his hand, stepping onto the umbrella without his friends & sister. Then, when he was fully on it, a Zèbre hopped out of the pool, gesturing towards the other three to come closer with the usual Zèbre playfulness. When they did, she turned around & tapped the floor of the entrance, then vanished underwater as three platforms of yellow stone appeared, with each of the kids taking one. "Hmm, this is kind of weiwd," Gordin looked towards Roger.
"No, it's Cirquish!" Roger replied as the umbrellas & barges began moving throughout the story, obedient to their riders' desires as they examined the merchandise inside.
"I... weally don't get it," he continued, picking up a small golden ring on the counter, "Hey, mistew, what's this wing?"
"He says it's a ring of fire," Roger explained.
"Huh? 'Says'? I didn't heaw a thing!" Gordin willed his magical energy into the ring, igniting it & his entire arm with a flame that he hardly felt, "W-woah! What the!" He swung his arm, watching as a burning iron flail suddenly sprouted out of it. "W-wowee, this is so cool!" he said, waving it around a few more times, "But, I think I'd wather have ice magic, anyway."
"In that case, pass it t'me!" Bridget said, ramming into his barge.
"W-wah!" Gordin screamed out as he fell into the wall, & then into the water. Immediately after, a man in a red coat descended from the roof riding atop a wooden horse, fished the boy out of the water, & placed him back onto his barge. "H-hah!" he said, shivering & beginning to instinctively take off his soaked clothes, "It's so c-cold!" Eugen merely rolled his eyes at him, gesturing for Roger to do something. "Right, on it!" the boy said, focusing his magic & summoning a heat shield that immediately evaporated the water off of Gordin.
"Hey, now, Gordin, let's not be too swift here," Bridget teased as he began to remove his shirt.
"W-wait, wait! It's not like that! I thought we wewre in La Fwigas!" her friend countered, putting his layers back on, "You know what ouwr pawents said: 'Wet clothes on a wet Fwigan—"
"Is a dead Friglan!" she continued, "Only, we're not in La Friglas. We're in this old guy's shop, & you aren't going to fweeze to death orw anything."
"I-it was instinctive!"
"Instinct of love, maybe!"
"Quit it you two!" Dana ordered, turning back from the thurible she was examining, "Eugen, I'm sorry if those two are being a disturbance." The man shrugged, indicating that he didn't really care.
"Dana, I think you're kind of being a uptight with them," Roger said, lying down in the umbrella.
"S-sorry," she said turning back to the thurible, "I'm just... worried, I guess." Her brother nodded, watching as a hummingbird hawk-moth suddenly flew inside. Then, several more, all crowding around him. "Oh! Eugen! Do you have any, uh, honeysuckle or something? Hawk-moths love them!" he said, letting a few land on his gloved finger, "Hey, they seem pretty focused on me..." He reached behind him, grabbing a bundle of honeysuckles that Eugen had summoned with an unseen smile, & began to feed the moths. "Don't you think they're just adorable?" He asked as he watched them feed on the flowers.
"Hey, uh, mistew?" Gordin interjected, his barge moving near them, "Do you know if you have a wing kind of like that one, but based on ice magic?" He nodded, pointing towards a ring adorned with wing-like details & a crane on top. "Thanks, mistew!" he said, floating towards it & putting it on his finger, letting his magic flow into it & summoning a snowstorm above his head, "Wowee! I love it!"
"& I'll be buying the other ring, Eugen," Bridget said as Dana took the thurible off of its rack.
Soon enough, all three kids had purchased their items, & they all exited the store in a cheerful mood. "So, Gordin!" Bridget began, eliciting an eye roll from her expectant friend, "I'm guessing you need the snowstorm for when you, you know..." He merely blushed, glancing at Roger & eliciting a smirk from Bridget. "Might need it right now, in fact."
"Sh-shut up..." he said as they entered the park in the middle of the marketplace, watching the swarms of hawk-moths that were patrolling the area, feasting upon the countless flowers there, "Wowee, they'rwe beautiful!" He stepped towards Roger, who had stopped moving. "W-wogewr," he whispered, standing close to the other boy & taking his hand, "C-could you take off youwr glove? I know this is supewr weird, but I... just kind of wealized I've nevewr felt what youwr hand felt like!" Gordin could feel Bridget's cursed gaze bore into his back, excited at her ship becoming vaguely real.
"W-wogewr?" Gordin said, looking around them & realizing that the hawk-moths were all staring at them, "Wh-what's going on! I don't like this!"
"Agh!" Dana suddenly shrieked, falling to her knees as Bridget rushed to her side.
"D-Dana, hey! Now's not the time to die!" she said.
"Oh my god, m-my head!" she began wincing in pain, whereas her brother collapsed to the floor as the hawk-moths fluttered off into the air.
"Wogewr!" Gordin caught his friend's head just before it struck the floor, & he watched in terror as the gleam above Roger's head was extinguished & his heterochromatic eyes became gray & lifeless, "O-oh, no!"
"Give him mouth-to-mouth!" Bridget teased, earning a lethal glance from Dana, who returned to writhing in agony on the floor as the Friglan stood metaphorically frozen in terror, only for Gordin to obey anyway, having figured it to be... reasonable, "Hah, fell for it!"
"Sh-shut up, this weally isn't funny!" he replied, eating a mana crystal from his messenger bag, "Come on, come on...!" He gently let Roger's head fall to the floor, & began channeling his energy as crystals of frozen air began to float around him.
"Frigid Sanctuwawy, go!" he called out as the crystals reflected light onto Roger, freezing both of them in a glacier that shattered immediately after, remaining behind as several patrolling barriers of ice, "N-no good! He's out, completely!" Gordin reached down to feel his pulse, glancing back at Bridget, who was trying to comfort the agonized Dana.
"He's... dewe's no puwse! No puwse!" he said, his panic worsening his pronunciation.
... with such typical ambition...
Gate to the Cirquish Worlds, The Golden Capital
"So... this is where they're all from, huh?" D'aillisioux said to himself as he let go of Hazel's hand, examining the curious portal in front of him, a portal where normal was its antithesis. From all ends of it came something sprouting out, then another & another, creating a sort of chaotic mosaic of colors that bent forward like two wings, flanking anyone coming out or going in, & wherever one looked, it was something new & bizarre — a strange giant here, a strange flame here, a strange wave here, a strange eye here...
Strange.
The portal itself was multicolored & multipatterned as well, looking like some sort of glass quilt constructed with no heed as to what might look good next to what or even how their different ideas clashed, yet melded. It was utterly incomprehensible if you yourself were not Cirquish, yet D'aillisioux found it familiar, & he felt that he could identify which domain each part of the portal was from.
"Looks kind of weird," Hazel said.
"W-weird! It really isn't, Hazel..." he countered, pouting as he looked away from her, "They're-they help me in combat, & well, everything that I do. They're really useful, but I've never gotten to thank them. Hopefully I get the chance today, b-but I wonder why nobody's coming out of it..."
"The timetable says we'll be going there, anyway, so I guess it's just more convenient for everyone!" she replied, grabbing his hand, "So I guess that they're all these people here?"
"Mhm! Here's the Jester!" he pointed towards a muscular black man near the end of the portal's flank that was wielding a white-&-red pole, "He's-he's really cool! Hopefully you'll get to meet him later, I think you'll like him. He taught me how to do shadow puppetry. See? Watch!" He took an antique-looking lantern left beside the portal & set it up against a wall, letting red curtains encircle them both.
" This reminds me of the s-story he told me… about how he & his prince were alone at the shore after he fell off of a boat."
"Hmm? Why did that happen?" Hazel watched as D'aillisioux readjusted the lantern, the boy's expression knit into one of concentration as he thought about how to position it perfectly for his performance.
"Apparently a few decades b-back, the prince & his sister barely escaped their parents' as-assassination, " he said, taking off his gloves & pushing the lantern farther back, to increase the sizes of his shadows, "He was g-going to escape on the same ship as her, b-but he fell off & got injured, so the jester had to stay with h-him."
"That's so sad!" Hazel inched closer to his hand, which was creating a bouncing bunny, "Hey, I just realized, it's really been a while since I last felt your hand, & considering everything we've been doing, & gone through, & all that…" She reached out & grabbed his hands, yet positioned it just so that it looked like she was petting the rabbit. "Y-yeah, I'm really sorry," he said, letting the sensation of a pure touch overwhelm him, & he felt as though Hazel was absolving him of his sins, sins that a perfect little Doll boy his age should never have had to remember, never have had to endure, "Work is just s—"
"Shhh," she grabbed his mouth with a smirk, "Let's just… stay like this, okay? If you're still here with me…"
"Then that's all that matters."
It was a mantra from so long ago, from an era of impurity & of punishment, a nightmare for him whose visage he could see as he lied in bed, watching as the warmth of his room fell away to a familiar chill... He thought nothing of that time, though — all that mattered right now was Hazel, his beloved who gave him a reason to still have hope that he could make & could relax in a new, better world. He let her hand melt into his, flooding him with the peculiar warmth of an earnest touch, "Hah... y-you were right, this feels weird."
"Just let it be," she said, smiling as she watched D'aillisioux's almost pained expression, "Did I do something wrong?"
"No, I just c-can't remember when you last did this for me," he mumbled out, looking away from her.
"Come on, look at me!" Hazel smiled as she snapped him back towards her, removing her hand from his, "It's really no fun if it's just me! But... back to those shadow puppets, right?" He nodded, watching as she moved away to make room for his performance, his shadow rabbit looking just a little sad as its loving hand fled from its sight, its ears flopping down & its face looking rather crestfallen. Hazel, though, merely laughed in response, petting it again & causing it to perk right back up, then rushing in to give D'aillisioux a quick peck on his cheek.
"A-ah!" he shrieked out as his face became a radiant pink, jumping a short distance back & causing the red curtains to expand to accommodate his movements.
"Well, I can't be the only one giving something, right?" she joked, "I thought you'd see it coming, anyway. I thought work would teach you better."
"D-don't tease me like that," he ordered, looking away, "P-plus you're really good at surprising me..."
"Even after all these years?" she fell into him & was immediately after pushed off, "Hey, be more gentle." He gave a joking glare back at her & returned to his shadow puppetry, this time with a bird flying through the air. "Ah! Hold on, I have an idea..." he took out his rapier & began aiming it at the lantern, "Maybe I can carve some stars into this. I-I think that would look nice, right?" Hazel nodded & he thrust his sword into the lantern, only for some invisible force to halt him, yet he felt no hostility in its grip, "Hmm? S-something..."
"D'aillisioux, what are you, ah, doing out here, all alone!" a portly man with a thick Italian accent said as his arm materialized on D'aillisioux's as the curtains converged & soared up.
"M-Mauro!" the boy yelled in delight, letting the man hug him & eliciting a booming laugh from him.
"Careful, mister, he doesn't like being touched!" Hazel said, getting up & trying to hold back the man's arm.
"No, Hazel, i-it's fine!" D'aillisioux replied as Mauro launched him into the air, catching him back with another hearty chortle, "It's Mauro, he's-he's a friend of mine."
"More than a friend! I am a-uh good friend of his father as well," he continued, setting down the boy, his impressive physique towering well over him, "Ah, dear old Jefferson! Say, how is he, my child?"
D'aillisioux responded with a perplexed reaction. "I… I don't know what you mean?" he said, his voice a little mesmerized by some distant, long-forgotten memory just barely out of his reach, "I… it sounds familiar, but I don't know."
"Well, we all need a bit of, ah, rediscovery after we are lost…" Mauro said, offering him a cryptic smile of his own and pausing as he thought, "Do you remember, ah, nothing?" D'aillisioux merely nodded with a blank expression, not really thinking. "That's-ah the trick, my child!" he patted the other's back, "Now then, ah… Who is this pretty young girl you have here? I don't suppose she's your lover or something, too?"
"I'm Hazel!" she pushed aside D'aillisioux, who hung his head down in an attempt to hide his rosy blush, "& yeah, I guess you could call me that…"
"H-Hazel!" he hissed out, eliciting a hearty chortle from Mauro, who picked them both up & set them atop his shoulders, "W-woah! Mauro, she's-she's really not my—"
"You can't hide-a your heart from me! I've, ah, had my own fair share of lovers, don't you know. It's a whole little scene in my story, you know!" The embarassed D'aillisioux began thrashing his legs forward, hiding his face in his hands as Mauro began shuffling back & forth. Though his Cirquish nature meant he was able to maintain balance, for their sake he pretended to struggle. "W-woah, Deli! Careful there, haha!"
"S-stop teasing me!" he begged, "I-I don't like… I don't like it!"
"Mauro!" came the stern voice of The White Clown, "Stop that. We are here for a formal event."
"Do not be so rough on him. We have not seen D'aillisioux in in so many years, of course Mauro will be trying to play with him again!" Mr. Loyal scolded him.
"Ah, no, no. He's, ah, right," Mauro replied, setting down both kids, "Well, sorry about all ah that, D'aillisioux." He began to walk away, along with the rest of his circus. "&, uh, treat your girl well, ya hear!"
"Sh-she's not my—" Hazel, smirking, cut him off with a quick kiss on his cheek, sending him flying into the air with a shriek that all of Mauro's entourage saw, sending the majority of them to the floor roaring with laughter. Just before he landed, he summoned a bed, bouncing on it & then finishing his acrobatics with a flourish in front of Hazel, his determined scowl more so endearing than threatening. "D'aill-D'aillisioux, you really shouldn't be so af-afraid of love!" Mauro told him, still laughing just a little, "But! We best be, ah, going, so for now, my child, ci vediamo dopo!"
He watched as the clown & his entourage began to get up & leave, his hand beginning to fumble into a weave with Hazel's, who, with a little chuckle of her own, began hugging his whole arm. When they were out of sight, Hazel pulled away & looked back at him with a smile. "D-don't do that again," he ordered with a pouty expression, refusing to look at her.
"I can tell you liked it…"
"N-no I didn't!"
"Yes you did! You're blushing so much, you know!" she pushed her cheek against his, "God, your cheeks are so hot!"
"Stop it!" he tried to give her an embarrassed peck of his own, only to headbutt her & push her away, his blush growing even pinker, "S-sorry!"
"Ow… It's fine," she said, rubbing her head & taking his hand again, "Oh! Your gloves are still off. Come on, lemme help you!" She ran to where he left his shoulder-length gloves on the floor where they had been earlier, returned, & widened the entrance of one glove. Smiling, he looked away & pushed his meek hand into the glove, then repeated with the other." Th-thanks," he muttered out, staring at the floor, "Let's get go—"
Hazel responded with a headbutt to his cheek. "H-hey!" he said as he stumbled away, his downcast frown now an amused smile as Hazel laughed to herself, her cheery expression reinvigorating him with a newfound strength & joy.
"I would've given you something else, but I didn't want to let you off for headbutting me…" she gave him a mischievous wink, watching as his vibrant blush came back. He began stammering, but eventually hid his face in his hair & began a run towards the stairs leading out of the portal hub in Psytronius, Hazel not far behind. The two of them then exited, as it turned out, not far behind Mauro's group, with the clown turning back with a pleased wave & smile. "Why are you two running?" he asked with a smirk, "Well, ah, more like D'aillisioux!"
"He doesn't wanna accept me!" Hazel replied, hands behind her back & winking at both of them as her friend began to wildly wave his hands to dissuade Mauro from further questioning.
"N-no I wasn't! I-I was just, um… " he looked around, his blush making what happened obvious, "I-I don't love her, wh-what do you mean?" Mauro responded with a hearty chuckle as Hazel rushed behind him to hug him, causing him to yelp in surprise, especially as her hand accidentally found its way past the buttons of his shirt, though at least he had another layer safeguarding his torso from less knowledgeable onlookers.
"Haz-Hazel, not there!" her hand slipped away, but she remained hugging his chest, easily lifting him a short distance into the air, "W-woah!"
"Oh, you two are such joys!" Mauro approached them with a dismissive hand wave back to the rest of his party, "I'lla be back with you guys later. It's, ah, not everyday that I get to meet one of Jefferson's kidsa, you know! Maybe I can help jog his, ah, memory a bit, you understand? It's the best that I can do fora Jefferson!"
"Very well, Mauro," Mr. Loyal said with a smile, "I understand… Jefferson was a great friend of yours." As the circus exited their view, the clown turned back to D'aillisioux, gesturing for them to follow. "So, ah, D'aillisioux, tell me, what have you been up to for all these years? We've beena so worried for you, ever since we found out you went missing."
"Y-you've definitely confused me with someone else!" he said watching as a hummingbird hawk-moth suddenly landed on his nose.
"Really now? I…" Mauro paused, watching the hawk-moth's wings open and close, its eyes staring deep into D'aillisioux's, "I… n-nevermind!" He waved his hand to disperse further thought, but he himself still felt something peculiar, an achievement for the normally bizarre Cirquish folks. I feel… multiple of him, somehow, he disguised his thoughts & contorting expressions as curiosity at the hawk-moth, the other boy endearingly paralyzed at the sight of such an unfamiliar creature, Jefferson, what have you done to your son?
"D'aillisioux, look!" Hazel pointed towards the sky as a swarm of other hawk-moths began to descend from the skies, "Its friends are coming too!" The other two turned up, watching. Then, Mauro felt something. Something terribly sinister. Something filled with jealousy that wanted his friend's son back.
At any cost.
"D'aillisioux, run!" Mauro ordered, turning back to see his entranced expression as the hawk-moths began their inexorable march downward, "Ah, something'sa... s-something's wronga!" He glanced towards Hazel, then back at the swarm. "D'aillisioux!" she shrieked out, trying to shake the other to no avail, "D'aillisioux, wake up, wake up! Please! Th-this isn't funny!" With the way she pleaded, the clown felt certain that this was not the first time this strange duo had, in some way, been cursed into a horrid sleep — he had already heard many a story of Parfuhmerians or Psytrines that, by some stroke of misfortune, found themselves in some other world, unable to escape from their dream.
"Come on, come on…" Mauro began to bounce on his heels, anxious to figure something out to save him, "Uh… Lit-Little Angel! Helpa me, now!"" He reached a hand towards the heavens, and a beautiful woman angel dove down to receive his hand. "Thank you, thank you!" he pointed towards the other Doll-boy, "Him, he-he's—"
D'aillisioux collapsed into Hazel's arms, & the hawk-moth horde fluttered out of sight.
... is to forget what makes you, you...
The Foundry, Psytronius East
"So, um, Elijah!" Aericree began, trying to match his master's speedwalk, "What… what happens during the anniversary? I-it's my first time, so I think I should be ready, you know?"
"Imagine your average day in Psytronius…" he began, turning around, spinning his umbrella, & planting it into the floor, "But slightly more colorful & with a lot more people that aren't nearly as intelligent, or at least as willing to learn. It's really not that impressive, but of course this time around, I've got a hunch we'll be seeing something."
"A hunch?"
"For starters...but " Elijah opened the door to one of the balconies, looking out at the hordes of butterfly hawk-moths hovering above the Foundry Park with a quiet awe.
"Wh-what's for starters?"
"Right, right, sorry," the elder Doll maker, "These hawk-moths… Do you know their story, Aericree? It's a tragic tale, involving your, ah, father, Jefferson.
The boy shook his head no. "Well, you weren't his first son. He had one before you, a… delightful little boy named D'aillisioux," Elijah explained, letting a hawk-moth land on his finger & plucking a honeysuckle from nearby for it to drink from, "When he & his friends were ten I believe, one of them got sick. Terminally sick."
"How'd that happen? I thought you guys could cure anything!"
"Oh, not this pathogen! Vicious little thing it was," the hawk-moth began draining the flower of its nectar, its proboscis weaving in with a frightening fervor, "Like this little fellow. But anyway, one of them… oh! Here he comes now!" Aericree turned around to see My Saccharine Prince's stiff body moving towards them, his older mechanical parts unlike those of his more modern counterparts. That, however, was not the reason for his stiffness. "Elijah! Oh, a hawk-moth," came the Doll's cheery, childish voice, accompanied by a mechanical tilt of his head, "What are you two doing out here?"
"Telling our dear friend here the story of the hawk-moths," Elijah replied, petting Prince on his head & eliciting a delayed smile, "& of you, since you did play a rather key role in it."
"What do you mean?" another tilt, "I was never the main character of it, & I don't think me getting sick would have—"
"Ah, that's the thing with Jefferson. He is unable to accept any failures," Elijah turned around back towards the park, the split ends of his coat hovering in the air for a moment, "If we could not cure you… he'd think of it as a failure on his end. You were in our care, & thus in his. So of course…" Elijah clapped, the hawk-moth still following his flower even as it moved. "Curiosity drives the man. Or, perhaps better, fear of the unknown & a greed to understand it, so the Orchid Bay Containment Bay had to go ahead — he would not let another under Psytrine custody die except by his knowing order!"
"& tragically, his very decision was his first child's demise," Elijah paused to stuff a chocolate in his mouth, "He really loved these chocolates, Steven van VOC always bought these on his business trips to give back to him."
"But… that's really tragic! I can't imagine how bad he must have felt…"
"Oh, it was bad, all right!" the Dollmaker walked towards the balcony, "He lost his wife, too, & she was Cirquish. As I'm sure you know, they aren't too keen on forming bonds with those outside of their worlds, & even less keen on marriage & children. Hmph… Jefferson was one of the lucky few to charm a Cirquish woman, but tragically, they do come back, yet... never the same. They lose all memory of those outside of their world, & they can never quite form the same bond again."
"Mhm!" Prince nodded & smiled, "But she was a really nice lady! We were always jealous that D'aillisioux had such a cool mom. She had these huge butterfly wings coming out behind her, & I remember one time D'aillisioux got sick & we came to his house with him wrapped up in her wings as a blanket. That wasn't the only thing she could do though! She could run for a crazy long time & do some really cool stunts too. That's how Cirquish people are! All of them, even the fat ones!"
Aericree chuckled at that. "Wait but… how did D'aillisioux & his mom die, then? Isn't Psytrine security really, uh, safe?"
"Safe against what we know & what is similar. Problem is when we get something we don't know or something that's different, & I guess that's what happened that day," Elijah looked back with a solemn smirk, as though unsure of what emotion he was supposed to be displaying, "Can't remember the exact witness reports, but I think… I think something got out or something. By the time the nearest Domeses came over — Ophelia Paracelsus, literally the next room over, mind you — they were already hurt far too much for any healing. Or… No, no, that's not quite it. It was a curse, we guessed, to suppress healing, & the two of them were long dead by the time Ophelia got a more experienced healer up there. All Domeses have a way to heal, even Ophelia, somehow." Aericree opened his mouth to speak, but Elijah stopped him. "Portals… didn't work. We don't, uh, question it too much, but no healer got there in time."
"Ophelia defeated the… whatever it was just barely, & then she collapsed too. When Jefferson & I finally found them… went mad would be an understatement. I had to restrain him, else he would've blown up the whole lab!" He chuckled. "But we found her body on top of D'aillisioux. She died trying to protect him, as I'd expect from her." He sighed. "It wasn't enough, of course. I'm guessing they couldn't run either… it was a tragedy all around," Elijah pulled his hat over his eyes as the hawk-moth fluttered off, followed by him chucking his honeysuckle to the side, "But not long after, we were trying an experimental Doll material."
"Multiversal Fabric!" Prince continued, "We thought it'd revolutionize the Dollmaking business, but when D'aillisioux soul possessed the Doll…"
"Firstly, it lasted a week, then not long after we, uh, we lost the laboratory to something. We've a lot of somethings that cause us problems, & it's honestly... irritating, to say the least."
"Couldn't you guys just, uh, make it somewhere else?" Aericree asked, intrigued by this show of Psytrine weakness.
"Nope! Primordial Universe only," Elijah put his elbows on the balcony railing, "& of course, when Jefferson lost this version of his son… well firstly, he released a bunch of butterfly hawk-moths since D'aillisioux loved them, & secondly, when I asked if he would remake the Containment Bay… he said no. He said it wasn't worth the risks, that it cost us too much to maintain & that so much dangerous stuff thrown together into one area would end with disaster." He paused. "Obviously, he just didn't want to face his failures again, only…"
"Only what?"
"Prince, do you have the data sheet?"
"With pleasure, Elijah!" he flashed his master a robotic smile as he took out a tablet that he began scrolling through, "Right here, Elijah! 'October 31, D'aillisioux. Material: Multiversal Fabric. Manufacturer: Unknown. Soul: Enigma, but feels familiar.'"
"I think it's obvious where we're going, Aericree," Elijah noted, staring out at the park & the hordes of golems & golemancers hurrying here & there, making their final preparations for the festival, "He will be our first Johari, if Jefferson approves." Aericree found Elijah's prideful tone just a little grating, but he brushed it off & began to think of what his master was implying, closing his eyes to focus wholly on his task, only to be distracted by the sliding of a balcony chair over & the pouring of tea. "Would you like some jasmine tea, Aericree?" Elijah asked.
"Not right now, thank you!" he turned away & took a blind step forward.
"Careful there, don't wanna get smacked by one of the honeysuckle brambles," Elijah said.
"Qu-quiet!" as Aericree spun around, his arm caught on a branch behind him & tore it off, "Whoops!" It began spinning towards Elijah & his tea, but he snatched it out of the air with a smirk. "Well! You inherited your father's anger," the Dollmaker said.
His eyes gleamed as he awaited the boy's response, who was already fuming. "I can't think if you're distracting me, you know!" he hissed, his baby face making him look more endearing than dangerous, "Lem-lemme think in peace..." Elijah nodded, smirking as he awaited the other's response. "Oh!" he began, smiling, "He's… that Doll's actually D'aillisioux, the original one, right?"
"Correct!" Elijah got up from his seat, placing his tea & plate on Prince's cap, with a careless hand, "Problem being… let's just say Jefferson never quite let him go after he lost him. He still has the soul. You know the jewel in the center of his chest?"
"He has a lot of jewels, so…" he shrugged, "I never noticed."
"Well, that center one, if you look close enough, first you'll see a butterfly hawk-moth, but if you somehow scanned it — mind you, he'll never let you — it's D'aillisioux's soul."
"He was opposed to me reconstructing a new Doll after losing the first one, though," Elijah stared back into the Foundry, his usual confident smirk disintegrating into a deeply dissatisfied frown, "As a Dollmaker, I feel… dishonored, to say the least. You know how Doll souls work, Aericree. Well, you've only been my apprentice for a few weeks, but you have been one of the brightest young men I have had the pleasure of working with." The boy nodded. "Infinite souls. Same soul means same body…" he replied, "Same soul means same memory."
"That was the exact problem. If I made a new D'aillisioux, we would have two entirely different ones out in the world. I've seen this old one, and I think it would tear Jefferson apart to see his son like that. Especially if he saw another son intended to replace him, as though he, the original, was not enough! Well, I don't think he ever expected to meet him again, but now…" He trailed off and turned back to the hawk-moths.
"Now the original one is back. The troubles don't stop there, though," Elijah turned back to Prince & picked up his tea, the Doll's eyes gleaming with childlike idolatry, "He never could let go all the way, as I said. So, he integrated his soul into other projects of others, namely Roger and Kevin… speaking of which, it is Roger's birthday today. We timed it so that he and Dana would have theirs on the anniversary, since they are more or less the faces of Psytronius." He paused to munch on a biscuit in his pocket & then gestured for Aericree and Prince to follow him back into the Foundry. They walked in silence for some time, until eventually they came to the front entrance of the building, with Prince rushing ahead to open the door for them with a childish smile. "Thank you, Prince," Aericree said.
"You're welcome!" he said, holding onto the door's handle with one hand.
"Right, th-there's one other thing, Aericree…" Elijah looked down at the floor as the three of them began to exit into the area in front of the Foundry — a manorial yard with a circular path around a central fountain, with everything bordered by a small garden filled with honeysuckles & other flowers that the hawk-moths enjoyed.
"What… what is it? You sound kind of nervous!" Aericree looked back at him with a nervous smile, followed by Prince tilting his head, "Oh, the hawk-moths are getting… w-why are they getting closer?"
"Well, Aericree...'" Elijah planted his umbrella into the floor & looked at the approaching hawk-moths, which had begun abandoning their flowers & were now fluttering towards the terrified Aericree, "You… Jefferson put D'aillisioux's soul in yours. That's why your eyes are that shade of amber. You used to have merigold orange, from your mother, Mrs. Gonzalez."
The color vanished, & Aericree collapsed.
