extremely qualified ambassador of earth

[bitterchill]

Vancouver, being Vancouver, lacks a vibrant night life, or for that matter a dingy one. Take this alleyway, for instance. Completely empty. Where are the muggers? Where are the filthy strays? New York clicks its counterfactual tongue in grimy disapproval.

That said: the alleyway is empty. It would be a shame if something... happened to it.

Comments

[bitterchill]

"Hardly. And it certainly wouldn't explain this." Ari slams his foot to the floor, which melts into a mirrored sheen. The air before him fills with a curtain of reflective mist.

The girl behind the counter looks slightly queasy. "You..."

"I can put it back," Ari reassures her.

She nods faintly. "Well, that's good."

He turns back to Alex. "Shall we?"

[between_worlds]

"Hell yes!"

[bitterchill]

Ari ushers them through.

The curtain sighs shut behind them. Past it stands a forlorn-looking bearded man, weeping softly to himself in rhyme. "One, two, three, he's with me... Eight, nine, ten, gone again... One, two, three, I can't see... Eight, nine, ten, where's my Ben?"

His skin is translucent, and he stands before a pool of clear water. As he sings, his tears feed the pool, which ripples and grows by the minute.

Ari winces. "That's not a good sign."

[between_worlds]

"Poor guy. What's wrong with him?"

[bitterchill]

"Well, the rhyme implies his son died. Or lover, but the counting says 'son' to me. The pool of tears is a sign that he's getting more and more powerful, probably by feeding on the emotional energy of the customers. And it also looks like he's setting up a domain here, which generally happens as a reflex when a spirit's going to be attracting attention to itself. And..."

Ari crouches down to take a look at the ghost's hands. "Blood. He killed Ben, whoever he was. Which means he'll probably kill again."

[between_worlds]

"Can we stop him?"

[bitterchill]

"Yeah. I don't have my dust with me; I only really carry that if I'm expecting heavy-duty haunting. So, we can go back to the apartment and get it, or I can put this guy to rest the hard way."

[between_worlds]

"The hard way?"

[bitterchill]

"I beat him until he dies properly," Ari explains. "Using my fists."

[between_worlds]

"That sounds like a terrible idea. Let's go grab what you need from your apartment."

[bitterchill]

"Aw. But I can totally do it, I'm really good at using my fists!"

Still, Ari prepares to reopen the Way back to the shop.



"One, two, three, WHERE IS HE?" shrieks the ghost.

"Shit." Ari leaves off the Way and instead drops into a fighting stance. "Run about fifteen feet away and get on the ground. He won't sense you here, but that doesn't mean he can't hurt you. Go."

[between_worlds]

"Can he hurt you?"

[bitterchill]

"Asking questions is not running!"

The ground shakes and begins to sprout rocks that look uncomfortably like teeth.

Ari decides that this fight is one he would rather have at a later date, slings Alex over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and sprints away.

[between_worlds]

"Woah! What are you doing? Put me down, I'm fine. He can't do anything to me."

[bitterchill]

"You're immortal, cool! Being eaten still sucks!"

[between_worlds]

"Okay fine! I'll run. Put me down."

[bitterchill]

Ari obligingly deposits his cargo on a patch of moss. "We're out of range, anyway. Nice thing about ghosts is they're practically useless outside their own domain."

He looks around.

"Interesting."

[between_worlds]

Alex follows his glance, "What?"

[bitterchill]

Ari is currently looking around at the forest of tree-sized mushrooms surrounding them. Nearby, a brook of tar bubbles sluggishly along the forest floor.

"I think I may be lost."

[between_worlds]

"Really?" Alex lets out a laugh badly disguised as a cough.
"Sorry, it's just... How lost?"

[bitterchill]

"Okay, so, did I mention how space works a little bit weirdly in the Nevernever, and walking a certain distance there isn't necessarily going to take you the same distance on Earth?"

[between_worlds]

"So we aren't in Kansas anymore?"

[bitterchill]

"We are absolutely not in Kansas anymore. I thiiiiink we might be in Singapore, actually. Not totally sure. One thing I am pretty sure of is that we're in a space corresponding to somewhere underground, so opening a portal right here wouldn't be the best idea. And retracing our steps would be nice, if-"

He looks back. "If there were any steps left to retrace. Which, naturally, there aren't. So we're on an adventure."

[between_worlds]

"Then it's a good thing I like adventures! But seriously, how did we end up in Singapore of all places?"

[bitterchill]

"If I had to guess, we accidentally ran into the coexistent space of the Vietnamese place from earlier, which has a strong connection to the motherland through its foreign staff, got twisted along that connection, and then blundered into a shortcut to Singapore from there. Maybe a harbor, or something. I'd have made a note of our path if I knew, it'd be nice to have a straight line to Asia through the Nevernever."

He starts drawing out a map, occasionally squinting at the sky. "This seems to be a Wyld area, so we probably won't be running into any of my Winter fae contacts, but at least it's not Summer territory."