Nothingness slowly sparkling into a disembodied feeling, as if drifting in shifting currents of light. The not quite sight sensation showing me a view of blurring lines of light, endless darkness and the inexplicable sensation of a membrane structure holding something, no everything together. The foreign knowledge flooding me as if absorbed by something seen into something known.
The currents suddenly straightened out into some bizarre order now pulling to a destination instead of merely drifting about. The membrane pushing in, squeezing and stretching at the same time, as if trying to pull a solid through a grater, both squeezing to fit through the holes and stretching around the lattice in some strange mockery of sanity and logic.
A snapping sensation, suddenly cutting off the sense of squeezing and stretching. Light, colour. Smell and a soft breeze. Voices in the distance. Sight coming back to fill my vision with the view of a courtyard made from striated stone of all possible colours in a flowing organic style, mixed with mathematically precise geometric shapes, a strange mix of order and ordered disorder, all seen from the top of a water feature in one corner, looking out on flora of all kinds and a group of what would best be described as sentient’s.
Trying to express anything in this disembodied form i found myself able to move in a floaty manner, slow to be sure but still movement. Now armed with my freedom i bobbed around my corner of the courtyard. Looking down into the water i saw a rippling reflection of what i had seemingly become, a hovering iridescent ellipsoid, spinning like mad around the shortest axis. Well that’s new i thought to myself, at least i’m shiny right? I always liked iridescent materials, not half bad all in all but probably not permanent based on the mix of shock, awe and anger on the gaggle of disparate people approaching my shiny self. Not being the social type to put it mildly, i froze in place, if you disregard the incessant involuntary spinning, ending my impromptu self reflection. Pun absolutely intended.
The silence hang heavy in the air, an oppressive thing that seem to have taken root deep in the hearts of the group in front of me. The moment lasted until a figure came running from seemingly nowhere, approaching the group while huffing and puffing. Even though the group in front of me could only kindly be called diverse the approaching woman stood out like a sore thumb, not least due to the radiant smile on her young face. She looked, for the lack of a better word, completely fucking ridiculous. Dressed in what could best be described as a jesters outfit with the intent to highlight what might normally be hidden with large and small holes alike dotted around her outfit in a clearly intentional attempt to show off as much naked flesh as possible while still hinting at the style of a jester.
She was met with a mix of sneers and cold looks while she bent over, hands on her knees panting heavily. An older woman in a pure white robe of thick fabric stepped out of the crowd to stand in front of the panting jester. She cleared her throat as if to start on a long winded sermon a disapproving look on her face as she looked down her nose at the jester. Holding up a finger in the face of the older woman in a gesture of ‘Just give me a fucking moment okay?’ the jester calmed her breathing over what felt like several minutes, the look on the older one growing stormier by the second, whispers breaking out in the group standing behind her. A glare cold as a glacier and burning with the fires of hell shut them up real quick. When she looked back the jester stood on her tippy toes, so close that their noses almost touched.
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“Good morning deary” the jester said in a calm tone as sweet as syrup.
Sending the older woman reeling back in shock that turned into cold fury in an instant, making the jester fall to the ground in an exaggerated laughing fit, rolling around as if being tickled by a thousand feathers, happy tears spilling down her cheeks in rivers. The sound filling the courtyard so fully that it drew a few chuckles from the crowd due to the infectious nature of that laugh.
Shoulders hunched the older woman was clearly stewing, her face growing redder and redder, metaphorical steam rising from her eras and nostrils. No, now that i looked closer that was actual steam rising from her. That drew a laugh from my actual metaphorical lips, coming out in a sort of distant echoing way, as if heard from the other end of a kilometres long canyon. That shut them up real quick, having been reminded of my shiny presence, not the jester girl however, her laughter didn’t stop until the silence of her fellows was so cold that it practically made the ground frost over. Looking down i saw that yes, it had in fact actually grown a thin sparkling layer of ice. Weird but besides the point.
Her laugh having moved past awkward last century the jester finally shut her mouth, now adorned with an impish grin as she stood and followed the gaze of the others to look at me. Spreading her arms wide, her smile growing even wider she spoke in a resonant tone.
“Welcome, welcome! A round of applause for our new arrival everybody!” She started clapping profusely, realising after several seconds that she was the only one. Letting out a tired sigh she turned to address the group.
“You could at least pretend.” she said in a huff “Like seriously, we get a guest for the first time ever and all you can do is glare? Come on, you are all better than that yeah? Okay maybe not you old hag but you others really should be more excited!” Giving a pleading look to the crowd and a harsh glare to the older woman who tried to lecture her earlier.
“And you should by no means be happy about an INTRUDER in a place where intrusion should be completely impossible” said the older one, glaring right back but in a far more haughty way.
“Ah deary nothing is ever truly impossible, you should know that by now.” the jester gave the older woman a sickly sweet smile. “Besides we have a procedure for this eventuality don’t we Tarran? I seem to remember reading in some old missive that you addressed this possibility of a GUEST with a new form… which one was it now… Ah yes form 1672 version 43 yes?” She had been addressing a short man with his complexion that of stone, a long beard flowing from his otherwise hairless head in a way that made it seem to be a solid thing, carved instead of grown.
Stepping forward to stand next to the jester and pulling a scroll of bone white parchment out of thin air the man named Tarran “Hm, yes you do seem to have that right Iris. Although we are now on version 65 of form 1672 but i am aware that nobody reads my missives about updates to the form codex these days.” Ending his formal sounding speech with a cold look over the crowd that made them stir in something akin to shame.
Putting her hand on Tarrans shoulder Iris the jester proclaimed “Now fellows! Shall we begin? Any objections my dear Erosoldra or shall we let our guest fill out the form so that we can all get back to our lives?” A stone cold glare was all she got from the older woman. Turning to me she gave a flourishing bow, clearly intent on showing off as much of her figure as possible. “As you have heard from Tarran here i am Iris, the jester, joker and joke as it were and that brooding prude is Erosoldra. As for the others we will leave that in the hands of the future but suffice it to say they are all veeery important, kay? That being said, what pray tell is your name dear sparkly guest?