[House of Broken Mirrors] What Makes a Monster? (Sei & Yan)

[Seidaku]

Slender arms around his waist were an anchor dragging at him, slowing and eventually stopping his panicked flight. With shaking fingers, he felt at his eyes, sure that, despite his ability to see, he would find ruptured, ruined orbs waiting for his finger tips. No, he was whole. He was whole and he was sound.

His own arms encircled Vhanet's waist in an instinctive response to her embrace. Just the physical act of contact had a calming effect, and his breathing began to slow. They were still quick, shallow breaths, but his vision was no longer gray around the edges, and the terror clawing at his mind began to loosen its grip.

When he finally opened his eyes, he stared over the top of Vhanet's head at their reflections in the mirror. Just their reflections, no longer haunting visions of future mistakes. He held Vhanet tightly, silently thankful for her presence here. As he pressed her against him though, he caught the flash of steel reflected in the mirror. Clutched in a small, golden skinned hand was a narrow, straight bladed dagger, the cutting edge of its blade darkened with a menacing looking liquid of some sort. In confusion, he looked up to meet Vhanet's eyes through the mirror, a reflection of a reflection bounced between the mirrors flanking their hallway. Rather than the comforting warmth and affection he normally saw on her face, her features were twisted into a snarl of fiendish delight, a cruel smirk at what she was about to do.

With a terrified squawk, he planted his palms on her shoulders and pushed her away, across the hallway. He...

Was running through the House of Broken Mirrors, fleeing something that he saw only in fleeting glimpses out of the corner of his eye. The narrow hallway of mirrors twisted and doubled back on itself, splitting and forking impossibly. Behind him, he heard the tinkling chime of breaking glass on stone. Closer now than last time, it was gaining on him, and he was tiring out.

His breath came in labored gasps, and sweat streamed from his body, stining the dozens of small cuts that laced his skin. He did not know how much he could keep running. Mindless, animal terror was the only thing that kept him moving now, he had passed well beyond mere physical exhaustion.

A red blur flashed across the mirror in front of him. It was behind him. It was getting closer. He struck the mirror hard enough to jar his teeth, arresting his flight as he spun back to face the creature pursuing him. He caught a glimpse of razor sharp teeth and scythe long claws before he closed his eyes and pressed his fists to his temples, "It isn't real, it isn't real...

"...It isn't real. It isn't real," repeating the words like a mantra to ward off evil, Seidaku none the less waited for a knife blade in the stomach, or in the throat, or somewhere even more painful. When he finally opened his eyes though, what he saw validated the truth of the words he had been repeating. Gone was the cruel light in Vhanet's eyes, the malicious twist to her mouth. He could still see that Vhanet in the mirror, snarling hate at him. But the woman in front of him was the same woman he had met in the Sunken Conundrum. Who had pretended to know Reimancy just to be able to speak with him. The same woman, he realized, that he loved.

And with that realization came the strength of conviction. The terror and the panic were still there, clawing gibbering at the back of his mind, urging him to run, to flee and hide and leave Vhanet to her fate to save himself. But that terror was no longer controlling, no longer guiding his actions. With more confidence in his tone, he managed a weak smile at Vhanet and said, "None of this is real. We just have to, ah, make it to the end, and then we can leave."

OOCIn this thread, the paragraphs in italics are flashbacks. Seidaku is remembering a previous trip into the House at the same time this is occuring. I apologize if this confused anyone reading.

[Yanessavhanet]

As Seidaku embraced Vhanet she turned a bright smile up towards him, not only for the illusion of caring for him but also because she was pleased with how well things were working out for her. She could understand why Seidaku had been so terrified of this place, as easily disturbed as he seemed to be, but there had been no reason for her to fear. What dark things could this place show her that she wouldn't delight in?

Gazing at Seidaku's face as she was she saw the surprise there quickly as he saw something else in the mirrors. Curious she turned her gaze to the side, wondering what she could see in a mirror, and she had to fight to keep from chuckling as all she saw was the two of them holding each other. Had the house given up trying to disturb her?

Her mirth quickly vanished at the scene that started to unfold in front of her eyes. The sphere of absolute darkness was familiar to her now, and the sight of it in her body caused her to freeze in fear. Not only was it the most horrifying, to her, way to die, but it was also completely possible to be happening. Was it an illusion, or had Seidaku snapped under the strain of the illusions? Before she could turn her trembling eyes downwards to see if it was real, she wasn't even sure if she would feel it if she was pulled into that darkness, Seidaku turned from embracing her and shoved her away. Combined with the fear of what she had just seen Vhanet ungracefully fell back onto the floor and scrambled a bit away, her breath coming in quick panicked gasps as she looked down to see if she was now missing her lower body.

Everything was there though. The only harm that had come to her was the slight pain that had happened when she fell, and that wasn't even enough to get her excited, much less cause actual damage. Still, she couldn't stand to watch the rest of the scene of her death play out on the mirror, and so she turned her entire attention to Seidaku as he spoke to her. Even that couldn't completely block the sight from her eyes, and she shuddered as she nodded and spoke without thinking, "Y.. Yesss...It'sss all just... Just an illusssion..."

It was after she'd finished speaking that she realized what she had just done. Speaking without her accent often proved problematic, but here in the House of Broken Mirrors with Seidaku it could prove deadly. Her eyes widened as she stared up at Seidaku, not even daring to breath as she awaited his reaction.

[Fallacy]

The house seemed to enjoy showing them images of what could be, what might be, and what is. Although the perspective was rather twisted, warped, an illusion to the reality of Alvadas, there still was a hint of truth to what it had to say. Like a wicked trickster its images flashed and the house seemed to speak in riddles. If one would look closely, listen, then maybe they could figure out the nature of such a place and why what happens here only happens here. What made this building so special? What made it the horror of Alvadas, and a place of attraction for risk takers? What allows it to rape sanity? What, I do ask you, makes this building tick? What makes a monster? Yes, that was the question indeed, and like any good riddle the answer is hidden within the question itself.

As the snake would fall to the floor it wouldn’t be particularly hard but soft and absorbent, the playful house catching her in the best way it could. Even with her words the house seemed to play with them letting them echo throughout its halls even when just a second ago no echo could be heard with Seidakus speech. The house let her accent flow throughout it, and consequently let it pierce Seidakus ears more than once. Like a cassette stuck on replay the words echoed over and over and as the wavelengths stretched it thickened the accent until silence returned to the house. Her voice once echoing seemed to be warped, in later stages, into some twisted laugh. The Mirrors were having too much fun.

If Seidaku would listen closely he would hear almost accusing words as the mage stared at the woman, “It isn’t real” The once comforting thought could turn into a dagger as he faced the woman he thought was human. There seemed to be a lot that was not true about the woman that he kept company. From the first lie of her knowing reimancy to this one, this one about her race, how much more will Seidaku blindly take before waking up to the reality that the house presented him with? How much more need be unveiled before he could see the snake in human clothes? Though more importantly, more interestingly how was the temptress going to cover herself this time? Who would want the company of a lying snake?

“It isn’t real” would echo again in the mages head, the statement seeming to have more truth to it than he once had though. In the city of illusion nothing was as it seemed, and here nothing was as it was. Though there still was one question: was the false reality, the veil of lies that Vhanet weaved strong enough to endure this ray of truth? Syna often shows more than she should, and in this light the air was tense with judgment being passed.

[Seidaku]

"Y.. Yesss...It'sss all just... Just an illusssion..."

Words echoing his own sentiment, spoken from Vhanet's mouth, but not in her voice. There was an odd accent to the words, an unfamiliar, dry rasping that elongated the esses into a hissing serpentine lisp. As though attempting to add emphasis and import to the accent, the House seemed to catch up the words and hurl them back at the two of them, over and over again, subtly different each time.

Her eyes had widened in surprise at hearing the sibilant hiss, but was it the shock of disbelief, or of recognition? Had the mirrors added another layer of illusion or stripped away a veil to reveal what lay beneath? The hissing accent was exotic but not unrecognizable. He had heard the sound of it before, in the stalls and paths of the Bizarre, from traveling merchants selling wares from far off lands.

In a moment of truth, possibly to add weight to a further deception, the mirrors replayed an earlier deception. Last Season, the first day he and Vhanet had met, something that had tickled at his memory but had never been flushed into the light. Vhanet had made him think that she knew Reimancy in order to speak with him. But he had felt the wind on his skin, watched the leaf dance and then rise into the sky to vanish against the sun.

With sudden realization, the clockwork mechanisms in his mind locked together in understanding. Ionu's gift. Illusion. Was Vhanet one of the one's touched by Alvadas' patron god?

"What are you?," he asked, not unkindly, but more blunt perhaps than he had intended. He winced when he realized how his words must sound. Blushing in embarassment, he tried to amend himself, "That is, umm, not 'what', but, umm... How? With the leaf, and your, ah, voice...?"

[Yanessavhanet]

Vhanet's body tensed slightly as her words echoed throughout the house, not enjoying being played with as much as she enjoyed playing, but she kept her focus firmly on Seidaku. She was still shaken by the vision that she had seen earlier, and if Seidaku showed any signs of using Voiding she was prepared to quickly run for her life. Even if he didn't try to kill her that was a pain she was not willing to accept. Still she didn't move to run just yet, as there might be a chance for her to still keep playing the game.

At Seidaku's blunt question Vhanet quickly turned her gaze away, focusing her gaze on the ground and curling in on herself a little. This was the opening she needed, and the time that her work with his feelings would pay off. Even when Seidaku attempted to ask his question better she kept up the act of being ashamed.

When Vhanet finally did answer she still kept her gaze away from Seidaku, and she gave her voice the wavering touch of being on the verge of tears, "I'm sssure you know of Ionu'sss gift... the ability to create illusssionsss... I have that gift," she fell silent for a time as she curled up her legs to her chest, hugging them close as she buried her face between her knees, "That'sss how I pretended to know Reimancy, and why you've not heard my accent before."

She fell silent again after that, clenching her fingers tightly against her arms for a time before she spoke softly, her voice possibly hard for Seidaku to hear, "Asss for what I am... Have you heard of the Dhani?..."

It was a gamble, pulling this act off and taking her gaze from Seidaku, but the way he had attempted to rephrase his question seemed to show that he had developed feelings for her. Hopefully this would be enough to play off of those feelings again, but her body was still tense to flee at the first touch of cold emptiness she sensed.

[Seidaku]

His attempted indignation withered and died in the face of Vhanet's obvious distress and shame. She had lied, but just from the first words of her revelation it was obvious that she had done so for a reason. Of course he had heard of the Dhani. Rumors had them as liars, cheats and deceivers, devious and bloodthirsty monsters that would torture a man for their own wicked amusement and then kill him for sport.

Yes, he had heard all of the fearful rumormongering of what monsters the Dhani were.

With an effort of will, he kept his attention away from the fading echoes of her lisping words and the images of horror being replayed on the mirrors around them, "I have heard, ah, heard of the Dhani," he answered quietly, "How, umm, evil they are."

"But," he added, more confidence in his tone, "Those rumors cannot be true, for, umm, one reason above all others. A society founded entirely on the selfish pursuit of, umm, malice and cruelty could not survive. The fact that there are still, ah, still cities of Dhani puts the lie to those rumors.

Seidaku broke eye contact with a grimace, "I won't pretend not to be, umm, bothered by your lie...," he was quiet for almost a quarter of a chime before he sighed, "But I can, ah, understand the necessity for it. Close-mindedness and fearfulness are, uhh, distinctly human traits."

One other admission stuck in his mind, less important than her lie, but much more interesting. Vhanet was gifted by Ionu with the ability to create Illusions. If they got out of the House of Broken Mirrors alive, he promised himself to take the time to be properly intrigued.

[Fallacy]

Notice This thread has been inactive for more than 30 days. I PMed Vhanet and asked her to post with no reply. This thread will be closed until activity picks up. I have too many threads waiting to let this one drag on any longer in its pending state. If Vhanet posts then by all means this thread will continue but it will be on 'the back burner' compared to the other moderated threads. DS Fallacy