Asolus

[Heim]

Post #0118: The Trip (Arthur)
"Excuse me?"

Unless the officers definition of "a couple" was different from his, what she described doesn't make sense. There hadn't been anything resembling a storm throughout his trip until this evening, and that storm seemed to have left without a trace, despite all indication that its effects would remain for several days... A bubble bursts in the back of Arthur's head.

A coma? But-

Was he hungry? Thirsty? He'd been preoccupied since waking up, so it was hard to tell.

"Officer, the road to nowhere is long, so I find it hard to believe that any departments around here make the rounds on a regular basis... Did someone call in about me?"

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0119: The Trip (Arthur)
“I’m just here because I drew the short straw. Got to spend my day babysitting the road crew. Luckily, no one but you turned up. Hardly surprising, given how remote this stretch of road is.”

[Heim]

Post #0120: The Trip (Arthur)
He blinks, realizing his mistake, before slapping his forehead.

Get a grip.

Of course she was out with the road crew, who would think to call the police over a parked car?

Straighten the timeline.

Realizing it would be better to get his bearings and ask the officer questions (rather than trying to get rid of her) Arthur sets about putting the pieces together.

"Sorry, I'm confused, so if you could stay here for a few minutes and answer some questions I would really appreciate it."

He and Aura had been in the car together, already within the boundaries of bad weather as a storm was creeping over the horizon. They'd both gone to sleep, and he woke up what seemed to have been a few hours later. She, along with all her supplies and the shotgun, had disappeared. According to this woman, there'd been another storm a few days prior that a roadwork crew she'd "babysat" had been tasked with cleaning up after.

Actually, he'd made another mistake. Considering the pace of his travel, he would have been several hundred miles away at the time of this first storm. Given the time of year, plus the unpredictable nature of mountain weather, two potentially road wrecking storms within a few days of each other wasn't surprising. The problem was that the evenings hailstorm appeared never to have occurred, and if it had, the road repair would have been halted at the very least.

Unaware of precisely how much time had passed while he'd puzzled things over, Arthur finally seeks to confirm something.

"Are the crew still out there? The storm this evening was pretty bad, so I was confused to hear that work was being done today."

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0121: The Trip (Arthur)
“They had to stop during the worst of the hail, of course, but they were already geared up to work into the evening. The delay just means they’ll be paving even later into the night than they were planning.”

The officer completes a circuit back to her cruiser as she answers, reaches into the cab through the open window, and returns to stand next to Arthur.

“Here, have a drink,” she says, holding out an unopened bottle of cola. “Some fluids and sugar will help you clear your head.”

She smiles again.

“Are you on your way to Nowhere? If so, we might be able to squeak you past the roadwork before morning; I know all the guys on the crew and it’s not a big deal. They finished all the structural repairs earlier. All that’s left is to grade the bed and pave it, but it’s technically driveable.”

[Heim]

Post #0122: The Trip (Arthur)
Her similarities to the owner from last night, coupled with the confusing situation, had kept Arthur from noticing the officers positive demeanor. He accepts the cola with an unconscious smile of his own, the first swig seeming to wash away at least some of his anxieties.

"I will take you up on that offer. One more thing, perhaps the darkness isn't helping, but I thought a strong hail would leave behind more evidence than a little fog. Is that actually normal?"

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0123: The Trip (Arthur)
“Maybe the hail turned to rain on this side of the mountain,” she replies. “Could be where all this fog is coming from.” She walks back to her cruiser.

“I’ll escort you to the roadworks,” she says as she opens the squad car door. “It’s a little under two hours away. From there, you should be able to make it to Nowhere with maybe an hour or so to go until midnight.”

The officer climbs into the car and turns up the intensity of the blue lights, but makes them flash a bit less. The squad car roars to life, being one of the larger models of sedans with plenty of room for a large engine. She pulls up to where Arthur’s coupe is parked at a not-quite-perpendicular angle to the road, inside the three or so parking spaces for the scenic overlook. The passenger-side window rolls down and she leans across the center console to look at Arthur.

“If you are feeling better now, we can head out, but no rush. I’m on overtime, after all,” she says, flashing her very white teeth again in a large smile.

[Heim]

Post #0124: The Trip (Arthur)
Wordlessly, he enters his own car, feeling relieved at the turn things have taken. However, just before he turns the key, a though occurs to him. He rummages through his rucksack, unearthing the journal he'd been writing in last night. He flips to where the notes from his conversation with Pulse should be.

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0125: The Trip (Arthur)
The notes are right where Arthur left them, just a little less than a day ago. The strange events of the past few days seem strangely distant, the aftertaste of the cola feeling strangely familiar and reassuring. But he needs look no further than the list of conclusions he drew from his chat with the tall, snow-white oni with the bandaged eye to recall just how bizarre things had gotten.

Arthur hears some tinney squawking coming from the squad car. Looking over, he sees the officer holding the radio receiver in her hand.

“...roger that, roadwork’s gone well, only a couple hours behind schedule. Gonna complete my patrol, should be done by midnight, over.”

[Heim]

Post #0126: The Trip (Arthur)
He shuts the notebook and starts the engine, feeling much more secure in his sanity than he'd been after waking up.

"I'm ready to drive officer!"

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0127: The Trip (Arthur)
“I’ll hit my hazard lights when we’re coming up on one of those mountain-road turns, so you know to slow down,” she yells back to Arthur over the sound of the idling engines. “Here we goooo.”

The police cruiser pulls away, at first slowly, but gradually gathers speed. Arthur maintains a safe distance, but otherwise has no problems keeping up. Before long, Arthur is making good time along the road, especially considering the poor visibility as the fog settles in for the night. He briefly flirts with some drowsiness, but the stiff chill of the night air through an open window chases off the cozy feeling.

Arthur looks at the clock on the dashboard as the roadworks slowly take form from among the vague orange glows cloaked in fog; it reads quarter-to-ten. Around a dozen men, two dump trucks, and a steamroller are at work leveling layers of gravel and packing them down, presumably in preparation for soon being paved with asphalt. The police cruiser turns on its hazard lights and toots its siren as it pulls to a halt, which prompts a couple of the men to walk over to it.

After a brief discussion, the police cruiser pulls into the other lane and the officer gets out and walks over to the driver’s side of Arthur’s coupe.

“Alright, sir, one of the men is going to walk along the route you should take through the site. Just follow him to the other side, and you’ll be on your way.”

[Heim]

Post #0128: The Trip (Arthur)
Arthur nods.

"Thank you very much for all this... Before I go, can you ask the workers if they had anyone come up the road over the last few hours?"

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0129: The Trip (Arthur)
“Sure thing,” the officer replies. She turns toward the group of workers and lets out a shrill whistle.

“Hey, did all y’all happen to see anyone else come through here while I was away?” she hollers.

The workers shake their heads.

“Well, sorry, sounds like it’s just been you today, sir,” she says as she leans on the driver’s side roof. “Just keep on this road, it’ll take you along the lake and down into the valley, where the village is located.”

Arthur nods and rolls up the window. He follows the worker carefully through the gravel of the roadworks, then heads onward down the road. The road winds on down the side of several mountains, with no sign of any other vehicles. In contrast with the other side of the mountain, these slopes are blanketed with thick stands of trees, though he only gets a few glimpses of his surroundings through the fog.

The clock reads ten minutes-to-eleven as he drives down a mountainside road overlooking Mirror Lake. on his right. A break through the trees gives a good view of columns of fog rising up above its waters. Arthur shivers at the thought of its frigid waters at this time of year, with snowmelt from the nearby slopes adding to its mass.

A sound near his feet alarms Arthur.

Spoiler: Arthur's Roll

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Reaction test, target 8, result 3.

A small stinging-feeling comes from his ankle, followed by a fierce burning washing over his torso and face. A slight slithering sound confirms that it’s likely Penny, a copperhead belonging to Pulse, that has bitten him.

[Heim]

Post #0130: The Trip (Arthur)
"Agh!"

Arthur pumps the breaks, clenching his teeth. Thankfully, no obstructions appear on the road, so he is able to stop and extricate himself from the car, awkwardly so due to the now intense burning sensation. Now outside, he cautiously reaches back inside to grab his bag, taking out and turning on the flashlight once he's done so.

"(Pant) (Pant) (Pant)."

He leans against the Coupe, shining the flashlight into the fog to test its effects on visibility. Then, he turns around, intending to spot the snake who bit him with it, before realizing that a bright light shined onto its face is likely to make things worse.

"Haaah... Was biting me really necessary? Well, what is it?"

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0131: The Trip (Arthur)
“Greetings, Arthur. Let me apologize for biting you…soooorrrry! *wink emoji* As you may remember, I am Penny, Pulse’s better-half…*ahem*...familiar. Yes, and I bit you because he’s having trouble contacting you and Aura.”

Penny’s head bobs back and forth, focused on Arthur the whole time as she slithers out from hiding beneath the driver’s seat and climbs onto the seat. Her scales, a mix of silver and copper, have a metallic luster that glints even in the foggy night air.

“The venom strengthens the connection. Unfortunately, you are likely to also experience some hallucinogenic and psi-active sensory anomalies as it attacks…*ahem*... stimulates your nervous system. Additionally, Pulse and I have to apologize because we frankly have no…zero, zip, zilch…data on how the venom will affect humans. *shrug* We wouldn’t have contacted you unless it was important, but hopefully it won’t kill you.”

If a snake can look apologetic, Arthur gets the feeling that this is what it would look like.

“The general message that I have been given is that Aura has deviated from the mission profile. Big understatement. Pulse didn’t really understand when I tried to inform him, but I sensed some distinct emotional-state variations between you and Aura as you communicated earlier. Thus, while I am not sure I can give you a good rating or rubric by which to gauge my statement, I would like you to consider Aura to be having an…emotional breakdown? Does that sound like a human term?”

[Heim]

Post #0132: The Trip (Arthur)
The now standard barrage of questions threatens to spill forth from Arthur's mouth, but his concern at various aspects of the situation keep it at bay, along with the knowledge that he might not have long before the venom Penny mentioned starts robbing him of some important faculties.

"Okay. Do you know where Aura is?"

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0133: The Trip (Arthur)
“This is going to be hard to communicate to a non-spirit being…let me see if a visual helps….”

Arthur’s head explodes with some kind of image of…time…space…the universe…??

Spoiler: Arthur's Status

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Arthur takes one dread as cosmic mysteries unfold in his optical cortex in mere seconds.

“Oof…that’s my bad. Definitely not the right call. Here, let me bite you again, I can transfer most of that back to our collective. Not urgent, I’ll hold off on the venom this time. Your nose is gonna bleed in a moment, by the way.”

The snake is correct; Arthur’s nose begins to bleed. Not rapidly, but definitely bleeding. It combines with the flush..rapidly turning into an uncomfortable, clammy feeling…and a slight pins-and-needles feeling in the leg of the ankle that was bitten, along with the cosmic mysteries.

“Alright...the pedestrian’s guide to spiritual plane pandimensionality is…I guess maybe the word is ‘continuity?’ Yeah, let’s go with that. Aura is no longer in the same continuity as you are, so I am unable to locate her. Haven’t been able to do so for several hours.”

[Heim]

Post #0134: The Trip (Arthur)
Arthur shuffles over to the open car door in order for Penny to bite him, keen to dispel the destabilizing effects of the cosmic vision.

"(Exhale)... Yes, continuity is a good word, I think. You mentioned that Aura and I were communicating... Does that have to do with the dream I had?"

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0135: The Trip (Arthur)
“No, silly, I was referring to the discussion you had here in the car during the inclement weather. She became very attached to her ward during the past few months, whether she wants to admit it or not. I think Aura is aware, but her ward has unstable spiritual energy, and it has slowly been agitating Aura’s dragon.”

Penny rears up and delivers a gentle bite to Arthur’s forehead.

Spoiler: Arthur's Status

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The earlier loss of dread is reversed by the treatment.

“I’m beginning to get a feel for you humans. Oni are, from your perspective, not particularly emotionally stable. Poetically-speaking, oni have fire for blood. Humans seem to have…well, they seem to have blood for blood.”

Penny’s head stops bobbing around suddenly.

“Did you mention a dream? One with Aura?”

[Heim]

Post #0136: The Trip (Arthur)
"I did... Since you seem interested, elaborating seems like a good idea. Before that though, communicating is not the best word for what we were doing. 'Talking' would most likely... communicate what you wanted to say better."

Despite feeling uncharacteristically anxious, and quite uncomfortable due to the venom, Arthur proceeds in explaining his dream.

"It was a nightmare. I have nightmares on a regular basis, but this one felt very intense. I mentioned it because Aura was there, and she... Firstly, it was hard for me to move, like I was surrounded by mud. Aura was even worse. She looked... horrible, she didn't respond to anything, and she seemed to be far heavier than in reality, or maybe that was just because I was so weak..."

With the details crawling back, Arthur feels more and more unnerved.

"Anyway, things ended with us stranded in the middle of a lake. We were on a sinking bed, and I was trying hard to keep her head above water... I woke up just as she became fully submerged."

Feeling dejected, he finishes.

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0137: The Trip (Arthur)
"Sorry, I never think to say things like 'talk' because I can't, haha. But, on a more serious note, I am sorry to hear that your dream was so distressing. Things that disrupt sleep can be difficult for organisms that rely on it for their physical and mental wellbeing." Penny pauses, as if to underline that sentiment. "As for the dream itself, did it seem to you that the lake in your dream was this lake just over there?" Penny points her tail toward Mirror Lake.

[Heim]

Post #0138: The Trip (Arthur)
"That would make sense. I've been en route to it for a while now, and humans tend to dream about things that have been on their mind."

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0139: The Trip (Arthur)
"Now that we are this close to it, I can say that this lake has extraordinarily bad energy. So bad that's it's not easy to tell what might be causing it. Oof, yeah, I'm going to suggest that you don't go any closer than this if you can possibly avoid it."

[Heim]

Post #0140: The Trip (Arthur)
Arthur finds himself disturbed by this revelation. A few questions come to mind, and he takes a moment to craft one which can cover the important points.

"That's troubling, so I'm glad you told me now. Is there anything else you can tell me about it, that is to say, how might it affect... beings who come into contact with it?"

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0141: The Trip (Arthur)
"I would be surprised if there isn't some kind of curse at work here. *shakes head* But if we are in your human world, then I can't really speak to the deeper nature of such things, at least not without being able to communicate more consistently with Pulse and Imara-Mara."

[Heim]

Post #0142: The Trip (Arthur)
Arthur is forced to push aside yet another wave of anxious worry.

"Alright then, so what is it that I should do now?"

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0143: The Trip (Arthur)
"Last time Aura was sensed, she was headed toward the town. Her mental state was that of someone expecting to sacrifice their life accomplishing a goal, which suggests she's forgotten important priorities surrounding the effort to secure the mission target. After we have finished 'talking,' I will administer some physiological remedies that will negate the effects of the poison and allow you to continue on your way. Please hurry, as Aura may endanger others besides herself, especially if further humans are involved and they are as physically different from oni as you appear to us to be."

[Heim]

Post #0144: The Trip (Arthur)
He can't help but look stunned.

"Okay, I need to clarify some things. Firstly, you mentioned that we are in the human world, are you certain of that? If so, where is Pulse and the rest of Aura's team? Secondly, do you have any idea what Aura is thinking, going to Nowhere alone like this? Also, why would she be expecting to sacrifice her life there? And finally... I will do it, but how is it that you came to expect me to chase after someone with a death-wish into an isolated and potentially dangerous place? Is it the case that there aren't any other options, and isn't she in another continuity?"

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0145: The Trip (Arthur)
"Alright, let's go in order of asking. *ahem* The assumption that we are in the human world is just that, an assumption. The lady with the car with lights that flash was a human, if I am able to judge by spiritual and emotional auras, as were the people working in the road. Meanwhile, we've seen no oni and I am having difficulty communicating with oni I should be able to communicate with, Aura and Pulse. Having slipped into some alternate world, continuity, or whatever it might be could potentially explain the difficulty on that point."

Arthur gets the impression Penny is taking a deep breath.

" I am guessing where Pulse and Aura are based on their last known location, navigational bearing, and stated intentions or plans. As for the rest of the team, we better hope they are not as separated as we are. Next, to speak to Aura's thoughts, I mentioned that she became very connected to her ward. She was promoted to attache and spent a great deal of time with the mission target. This individual has unusual spiritual energy, and I believe Aura also may be unusually prone to forming emotional bonds with the person whom she is protecting. Just an impression, but I can tell for sure that she was not in a good place during your discussion earlier, emotionally-speaking."

[Heim]

Post #0146: The Trip (Arthur)
"Okay, sorry to interrupt, but I think I understand. Just to confirm, continual anomalies have, potentially, separated the team. This is a bad turn of events, and you are trying to tackle the problems of the situation in order of severity, which is why you would ask me to do something like this, correct?"

Thoughts of Auras team lead Arthur to suddenly remember an important detail.

"Oh! Also, you were supposed to be accompanying Aura, and... Hebi was supposed to be accompanying me, correct? Do you believe Hebi's been lost in some similar anomaly?"

[Phelix-Mu]

Post #0147: The Trip (Arthur)
"Yes, it does seem like a truly unfortunate situation is unfolding, otherwise we wouldn't rely on you for things for which you are ill-equipped. As for Hebi and I, we came into your car for warmth, and Aura seems to have taken some effort to evade our knowledge as she left, or our detection abilities are even worse than they appear to be at present. So both myself and my pit viper accomplice are at your disposal."

A loud hiss from somewhere inside the car let's Arthur know that Hebi is at least present, if nothing else.