The wooden door of the botanical creaks as it swings open, Aarius stepping out with Lyanna resting against him.
Evening sky washes the dome in a soft orange hue, light spills across the stone pavement, and the noisy street calms down. Jessene lingers at the doorway for a moment, still processing the events of the day before quietly retreating inside.
This definitely wasn't how I expected the day to go.
Aarius adjusts his grip on Lyanna, her weight shifting slightly against his back. Despite everything that happened, a strange sense of satisfaction settles in his chest; Subtle, but undeniable.
His eyes wander, catching the rows of small shops line the street, their windows glowing faintly in the light of lanterns hanging on their ceilings. Trinkets, fabrics, tools, food—each catching his attention for a second too long. The excitement from earlier, which seemed to have dulled down a bit, begins to stir again, but this time in the form of nostalgia.
He pauses, steadying himself.
Oh this is going to be interesting.
He steps forward onto the pavement, gaze sharpening as he begins to scan the area for a suitable place to get some rest.
Aarius's body jerks-
"JESUS"
His spine tingles in a cold sharp tickle as Lyanna squirms in place, still in deep slumber.
Aarius freezes as he tries not to slip, holding onto Lyanna so she doesn't fly off, /Both literally and figuratively/. A deep sigh releases his breath, and Lyanna squirms again.
A faint grin pulls the corner of his lips.
Yet again… I don't mind this.
Chilling air brushes past him, perking up the hairs on his skin; Still observing his surroundings for somewhere to set up base.
Ok, so… So… Sooo…Soooo—Nope I got nothing. How the hell did I not notice any motels or something…
Lanterns following the lining of the street flicker on, even though it looks as if manual lighting is necessary. Aarius obviously noticing this,
Eh, How did they manage to do that?..
His gaze drifts through the numbered stores, whilst still racking himself over how the people of this place managed to automate lighting when there's no mana to circulate.
Huh.
The lower consciousness making his impulses want to question passersby, he keeps the thought to himself.
They encounter the junction of the Inner street and Outer-Ringed Street and it seems there's less crowd there. Aarius slowing down, takes a second to recall what he noticed there.
There was a small hut there, but I'm not sure if they'll let us use it.
He changes course and heads to place he remembers.
I don't think anyone is living there, but it's just a bit too much in the open… I need somewhere inconspicuous.
He shifts lightly to the left; Out of the inner street.
But I should be able to use the grassy area in between this inner street and outer street. It's somewhat covered up, because trees can somehow grow here, I should be able to make a small room for us to get ready in.
Crossing over the street pavement, they land on the entry to the woodlot ahead. The dense grove feels unnatural inside a dome, but Aarius takes the convenience anyway.
He covers Lyanna from the scraping branches overhead, and the touch of her head feels peculiarly… comforting; A warm sensation that he's used to. Aarius doesn't think deep into it, just a smile to a lost memory.
Trees wrap past them, Aarius cutting the side of his arm, catches sight of a small open area North-East bound.
Oh thank god.
His mind wants to rush the path there, however the compact nature of this 'forest' forces him to keep his pace; With his main concern placing Lyanna at the center.
Leaves and tiny branches lowering down brush past as they get closer and after a few grueling seconds,
Yeah no, this is not going to work.
Revealed to a small, tight spot between the trees, disappointment fills Aarius as the situation sets in.
The hell am I gonna do now, because I am not heading back through this shit.
He takes a second to process his thoughts and focuses on his thoughts.
Might as well make some space.
Space warps into thin lucid blocks in order with Aarius's imagination mixing his emotions. The cubes align together to morph into the picture of his imagination and form a metal axe.
"Sad that I can't adjust the movement of an object, otherwise I'd have been able to get this done faster"
From his previous experiences, the result came that he has the ability to give any object of his creation initial velocity. Thus, the only solution for this predicament came out to a simple axe.
With not much room for movement, Aarius circles in place.
"Now how do I do this."
I don't have much wiggle room here, so I'm not sure how exactly to do this.
His eyes travel up the surrounding trees, and he reflects on all the possible solutions he has.
Trying to swing here, not gonna work. So, what else do I have.
A sudden cold sensation to his right, immediately sends him on a high run. Jerking head-first in its direction, the axe jumps to his right hand. The momentum from the swing locks the axe on a tree trunk and without a word, he stares through the dense forest as visibility is on a chokehold.
Arm extended, Lyanna's grip tightens, and even with the adrenaline pumping, he remains steady.
Glancing through the field in front of him, the cold sensation lingers, which is… odd even though the atmosphere is still warm. His eyes defocus—
"Ohhh"
Blood drips down the wound from earlier, and he lets his body relax.
In relief, "Was scared at shit for a second there"
Forming a circle of regeneration, the wound heals in mere seconds.
Letting the circle deconstruct, Aarius turns his focus back to the issue at hand and is finally revealed to a solution.
He shifts his focus between his sight and imagination, to the point where imagination blends with reality. The frequency build up becomes slightly bearing on his mind, but through shear will, he holds onto it.
The ring morphs in a fluid like motion to separate into individual portions and forms objects similar to daggers.
The picture of the daggers flying at the specific speeds overlap. All instances of the daggers at .5 second intervals with a time accuracy of 98%, are displayed in his imagination. With the surrounding area mapped onto his mind, the picture becomes stable by the second, and within the span of 6 seconds,
"Done".
Coming back to reality, the daggers slice through the range of trees around them.
Traveling nearly a few meters off, Aarius stops them in its tracks by forming wooden blocks that instantly break the momentum.
A sudden silence envelops the space—Only the sound of settling leaves remain. The slight unsettling crackling shifts the air, and within a second, the trees around the immediate vicinity crash down; The noise drowned out by the trunks covering their own fall.
Rushing to cover Lyanna again from the dust thrown around, Aarius starts to get lightheaded.
"I do not want to do that again…"
I really need to get better at this.
He takes a deep breath, and using merge, collapses the trees into miniature balls so dense they instantly run holes down the soil.
I think I'm going to throw up now—
His stomach juices regurgitating up, Aarius hurries to get Lyanna down. Her thin-curly-hair skims down the top of her nose, almost waking her up; And immediately after she touches the grass, Aarius bolts away and lets the rainbows flow.
2-3 minutes in, his body starts to relax.
I am… so fucking… tired.
Bleeding sweat out of his body, he lays down with an Aquant circle flushing him down. Gurgling out the water, the circle deconstructs and he covers his face with a mix of emotions confusing him.
One hell of a place I ended up in.
The tall trees sprouting up is strangely comforting to him—Bringing him back to a more peaceful time. A time where life was much simpler. Never a need to be on high alert every waking hour.
So many things I wanted to do. So many things I wanted to do with her…
Not in that way—shut up.
His head sliding down to the sight of Lyanna sleeping,
Meh, I don't 'hate' this either.
I've lost things, I've gained things, mostly lost, but… one thing I did acquire is this,
Materialized blocks swirl around his raised arm.
This,
The blocks splice into smaller pieces, swirling around faster.
And finally this,
The split blocks converge and condense into a sphere.
I-I'm still absolutely shocked I have these skills, or whatever they are. I can Create Matter.
How. Why. I don't know, I still don't know how to process this. I can create anything I imagine, obviously with its own bullshit consequences.
He scoffs as his arm covers his eyes.
Hehe
"Fucking amazing."
The silent hum of music playing on the streets echoes past the trees as the ground conducts the sound to his head.
But I still do really miss my Bass.
Taken aback into those times, under the cover of his eyes, those memories flow like a river before him—
"Ar?"
A familiar voice resonates with him, a very familiar voice, tossing him up.
"WAIT"
Lyanna sitting down with her legs crossed,
"You ok Ar?"
Out of breath from the sudden shock, Aarius takes note of his misinterpretation.
"Yeah, almost fell asleep there"
"I could see that. I don't think we're up for this."
"Up for wha—Oh I nearly forgot"
Aarius pushes himself up,
"Then we should get started, don't wanna make them wait"
I think I'm prepared enough to use Creation again—,
"Ar, why is there white stuff here?"
I think.