Upon the conclusion of their conversation, as well as a few minutes of resting beside each other, Andromeda got up and explored the imagined home that White had created in her mind.
From the moment she arrived, it seemed oddly familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on what exactly it was giving her that feeling. She asked White about it, but the only answer she could give was that she just followed her heart. From the outside it was a fairly modest place, which looked as though it could only have maybe two rooms maximum, but it was inside that revealed the deception. The doors had no basis in reality or logic, and could lead to one of a few different places, all on a whim.
White of course had a room, which was seemingly normal minus the lack of bed. Though considering they didn’t need to sleep here, that made sense. She did sport a few bookshelves full up to bursting with books. Actually, that was something she noticed all throughout the house, bookshelves everywhere. Some were filled with books containing of line after line of text, while others seemed to contain details pictures of things Andromeda had seen or remembered, and against all logic a few of the books even contained things like sounds, tastes, and sensations. How this was or why she nor White really had an answer too. It was just something that happened.
Seeing as White’s room wasn’t much to look at, Andromeda wandered a bit until she reached what looked like another bedroom at the end of the hall. She opened the door to a very surprising sight, it was a mess fit for a child’s room. There was a stack of various books laid carelessly on the desk in the room, as well as a crate of various toys and knickknacks, both familiar and strange.
Things you might expect. Puzzle boxes, coloring books and pencils to color them with, and picture books. Things that a child might have. But then there were things that were out of place, broken glass, shards of metal, dirty scraps of fabric. The kinds of things that nobody at all should deal with.
It was kind of surreal. White had said that Whisper had asked for some things she had read about in the books White had written, but didn’t explain why. As she pondered this she noticed that there was a swath of papers strewn about on the floor. Andromeda reached down to the nearest one and looked at it.
It was a ragged scratching of lines on the page, using what looked like a blue colored pencil. Alongside the scratches was another set of scratches using a yellow pencil. At one particular point, there was a part where it looked like the frantic scribbling had two lines cross, one blue and one yellow, which left a small green combination. On the other side of the paper was a massive blob of green made from the use of both pencils. Andromeda looked over the other papers on the floor and saw a similar sight, colors of all kinds used and mixed together.
It made her wonder, just what was Whisper trying to do? It was clear that she was drawing, but she never mentioned any interest in it, and White gave no suggestion that this was happening either.
Andromeda put the thought from her mind. She was originally going to clean everything up, but then she remembered long forgotten memories of being miffed to find her own room disturbed when she was younger, and she decided against moving anything else. If Whisper was doing her equivalent of growing up, then it wouldn’t be wise to interfere with that.
Andromeda stepped back out and closed the door, despite everything she was seeing technically being a figment of her own mind, it felt like an invasion of privacy to snoop too far.
When she turned around, White was standing in the hallway.
“So?” White asked, she was standing there, her arms crossed with a smile on her face.
“So what?” Andromeda asked, this made White’s smile droop slightly, but she recovered quickly.
“How do you like my work?” White continued.
Andromeda looked at the space around her. It was realistic by every metric. Every inch of the imagined house was practically indistinguishable from reality. When she suggested this idea to White, Andromeda had no idea she would take it this far. Anyone would think they were still in reality.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“I can’t say with words what my heart feels thinking about it.” Andromeda said, though coy this seemed to please White. Then instantly, the space around them changed and they seemed to be standing in the living room again.
Instead of questioning it, Andromeda noticed that the room had been rearranged slightly, the furniture pushed back, and a table placed in front of them.
“I wanted to talk with you about our plans, we’re walking into a trap, so I think we should prepare.” White said.
“Isn’t this a bit much?” Andromeda said, she gestured at the table that resembled a war table more than a day planner.
“Part of thinking more is thinking things out, right?” White said.
-----
The storm that locked the ship down had passed and allowed the crew to take a welcome lunch in the mess hall. Few questions who Eli was or why he was already there, and the few who cared to ask got an answer of “Bad Timing”.
The ease by which he got away with this was in part due to Whisper’s influence. All it took was a gentle push to get everyone to ignore his presence. The one exception was Aldir. He grabbed two sandwiches from the mess table once they were prepared and brought one over to Eli.
“Hello friend, fancy seeing you here!” Aldir said, setting the sandwich on the table in front of Eli.
“Weren’t we supposed to eat our own food?” Eli asked.
“The mess cooks don’t mind over much if you pay them for their services when the captain isn’t looking. You looked hungry, so I got an extra.” Aldir said, pushing the sandwich forward. Eli was hesitant, but figured that rolling with it couldn’t end too badly. He agreed, took a bite of the sandwich, and the two of them got to talking.
“So friend, what brings you and Miss White to such a place?” Aldir asked.
“Not sure, I’m just the muscle she hired to keep safe.” Eli said. It was both a lie, and technically the truth, but it felt strange to say so casually.
“How odd, mages usually travel alone, or with a small army.” Aldir said.
“I couldn’t tell you, it seems like she has half a mind to throw herself off a cliff when I’m not looking.” Eli said, this wasn’t a lie.
“I can understand that, The Magi have a way about them that doesn’t mesh well with others. Very selfish people, all told.” Aldir said, Eli noted a bit of bitterness in his voice underneath the politeness. On that, he could agree.
Aldir shook his head and smiled.
“Aha… Sorry, I’ve soured the mood a bit. Allow me to change the subject, tell me about yourself.” Aldir said. Eli was still wary of this man, but something about the way he spoke did a lot to put him at ease.
“Well, My name is Elias Boreus, though my friends call me Eli. I lived with my parents until a few months ago and took up work with a merce- I mean, Traveler Guild. I hadn’t been with them for more than a month or two before I got put on this job. Besides that, I’m pretty boring.” Eli said. Putting the entirety of his life into two sentences depressed him in a way he couldn’t explain.
“Ah, don’t say it like that. You’re young among men in your profession. The story of your life is only in its beginnings.” Aldir said.
“Yeah, I’m sure-”
Eli felt an intense sensation fill his entire body, the clarity he felt under Andromeda’s Aura came to him amplified by tenfold. Time around him seemed to slow down, and in that slowed perception he could hear the sound of shattering glass to his left. He didn’t even turn around, just tilt his head slightly, not a moment later a kitchen knife breezed past his nose. His hand shot up and grabbed the knife by the handle before it flew away. The clarity left him and time returned to its normal flow.
He and everyone else looked to see what happened. The chef had been boiling something and the glass topper had exploded, sending the knife that the chef had foolishly sat atop of it flying. The attention then was turned to Eli, who was still holding the knife. A few brief moments of confusion filled the room as much it did Eli.
Eli stared at the knife in his hand like it was a ghost that had just come to take his soul, but everyone missed this nuanced expression and thought he had just masterfully showed off his experience.
Little to his knowledge, ever since they were admitted to travel on the ship, rumors had run rampant throughout about the nature of the strangely dressed mage and the unassuming looking man armed to the teeth who traveled with her. The rumors were further fueled by the impossibly similar rumors of a similar pair traveling through Betel Stretto in the days before.
Upon witnessing such an event from Eli, everyone realized what they were dealing with.
>What was that?<
Eli heard Whisper’s voice resound in his head just as everyone was crowding around him. He couldn’t respond before everyone started questioning him themselves.
However, before the deluge of questions he was woefully unprepared to answer overtook him, Aldir raised a hand and gave a stare, then everyone stopped and returned to what they were doing. Once the commotion had died down, Aldir gave Eli a complicated look. Not disappointed, not upset, but also not impressed or surprised.
“I think we should speak somewhere private.” Aldir said.