Sanctum Café | 4:05pm
Maya didn't come here often. To be quite frank, the fairy didn't have a lot of money. A smooth, creamy cup of coffee was always a treat for her. Though today, she was here for a different reason. Maya knew of Sanctum Cafe's mysterious transportation gates. In fact, the world portals had been present before the coffee shop. Only later, did supernaturals decide to build the Cafe around the mysterious gates and declare the ground neutral. While many gathered at the Cafe for transportation, others lived on its grounds as a means of safety. Our fairy was simply at her wit's end. She'd been searching for a cure, for a terrible sickness not of this world. But which one? Ocean blue hues panned around one of the many rooms that held doors and foggy portals. "New York." She spoke quietly to herself as if trying to decide her new destination. Her gaze once again roamed, "Australia, Japan," a pause, "Florida Keys."
Well, some of these locations sure were specific, some even down to a street name. It left Maya to wonder, who built these gates. How did Sanctum come to be? Those thoughts were shaken from the Fairy's mind as her ocean blues swept the vicinity once more. This room wouldn't do. To her knowledge, most of these locations were still of this world; Earth. Maya needed to travel outside this world, outside this realm perhaps. In all honesty, she wasn't sure what she needed. The Fae was being reckless. What did she know about Earth nonetheless a different world? The answer was zero to nothing. Maya had grown up in the forests of Katalam. The forests were the extent of her knowledge.
Slender caramel-colored fingers coiled around a pillar at the entrance of the next room. Well, this one was a little different. For starters, Maya didn't recognize any of these places. Even their names had characters that appeared to be out of the human alphabet. Ocean blues panned from one location to the next. Which one should she pick?
A deep inhale could be heard as Maya took a few steps forward. She'd settled on a portal. Her deciding factor? She may as well have closed her eyes and pointed. With nothing more than the black tank top and khaki cargo shorts upon her, Maya took her final steps forward; diving into the unknown.
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Darkness. That was all there was for what seemed like ages. Slowly, Maya's features began to react. Eyebrows furrowed and relaxed a few times before eyelids fluttered, eventually pulling themselves open. Where was she again? Right, she didn't even take that much care to read the sign before she dove through. A small groan escaped the Fairy's lips as she shifted her head to the left, allowing her vision to return. Sitting up slowly, Maya placed her hand alongside her temple as a minor ache from world-hopping ebbed away. She'd made it, but where exactly was she?
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All around the darkness pressed in. Or so it seemed.
The longer Maya pondered this the stronger the feeling of claustrophobia welled up in her mind.
Too it seemed that the air was becoming stuffy and thick.
Or was that her imagination?
At some indeterminate point, between wakefulness and sleep, Maya is blinded by light flooding the space. Eyes snapping shut protectively against the intrusive light, Maya can smell fresh air wafting in, along with it came the scents of earth and loam, and green growing things.
Too sounds of nature tickled her ears. The sigh of the wind through leaves, bird song, and distant animal cries.
Squinting against the brightness, she can see there is a hole in the floor, about three feet in diameter and from the ceiling hangs a slightly swaying fireman’s pole.
Only the pole was way too small, only about a finger’s breadth and seemed to be more rope like rather than solid.
On the cusp of movement, Maya finds a man, at least she assumes it is a man by the general build and look, has abruptly appeared standing over the open space, reminiscent of someone about to enter an open manhole in the street. However, that is where any resemblance stops. In the man’s left hand, the pole rope was curling up upon itself to form small loops in his hand. It was also pulling the floor inwards to fill the hole that was. In his right hand are a pair of goggles that reminds her of skier’s snow blindness protection wear, only looking more science fiction or fantasy like.
She was sure those goggles were taken off at the same time the hood of his ankle length cloak was pushed back.
“W̸̧̙̞̰͎̥̩̠͕͖̼͎͔̠̆̿̀͑͒͐ͬ̓̈̑̄͢͟͠ͅĥ̌̇̅͂͒̂́̀͠͏͔̝̥̘̞̟͎̻͚̤͖͎̠͍ơ̡̥̹̻͓͇͍͗̏̔ͮ̎ͫ̾ͧ̚̚͠͡ ̷̤͓̪̭̩̳̝̼̥͚̲̥̗̔ͤ͂̒͟a̷̵̡̱̬̝͖̩͉̩̔̌͒͌ŕ̸̴͂ͧ͑̌͝҉̜͎̘͚̘̣̠͍̜̬̕ê̴͑ͧ͗̋̾ͫͭͧ́͏̭̦͈̙̳̥̪̹̟ ͭ̅ͩ̆̇͂ͧͯ͒́̊̇̃͗ͯͪ͏̧̼͇̖̦ẏ̴̨̨̛̝̱̞͚̤͔̮̯̗̘͎͑̽͑̄̐͒̽o̽͐ͩͮ̈ͫ̎ͥ̈҉̸̵̴̲̟̱̳͟ů̝͙̰͖̞̙̻͎̼̏ͣ͐̕̕?͇̯͙̹̤̹͙̼̤̠̯̞͚ͤ͐ͭ̀̂ͯ̓̐̾ͮ́̚͘͢͞”
The words uttered were rich and full of connotations and complexities in a language both new and old to her. The voice that uttered it, smooth, soft and a deep. A baritone maybe.
She innately understood their meaning, at least part of their meanings as the statement bounced about in her head.
(“W̦̝̪̤̤̭̱̺ͤͨ͋͡h̹͕͉̬̺̫͖̫͒̈ͪ͟o̭͌̀̎̑̿ͮ̃ͩ ̘̖͗̍͢a̹̬̫ͩ̌̈́͜͡ͅr̗͈͇̲͖͚̉ĕ̸̷̖͎̥̦̮̼̖͇ͮ̑̾̅̆ͬ͑ ̜͎͇̩̑̎̍ͩ̏͒͝ͅȳ̤̱̼̊ͥ͢͝o̴̩͋̀̂̈́͗̊ͅu̎͋̅ͫ҉̫͕͞?̴̶̜̎͒̒̑̄ͫ̄”)
There was magic at play here. Magic that was altering her perception, or at least her ability to perceive things in this realm… wherever this realm was. Magic that was sooo familiar and close to her that she ached to touch it… Magic of the Fae realms… mixed and tangled with other powers.
(“W͚h̢̙̬̮̜̤o̻͍͉͡ ̭̠̩̰̼̜̺ạ̘̠͇̬̦̥r͡è y̜̘̬o̵̘̣̼̻͕̬̗ù̩͍̝̳͎?҉”)
Good question, who was she?
Did he want her name? Her self-identity? Her mixed blood magical race? Something else? All and more?
(“Who͘ a͝r̛e yo̴u̷?”)
Well who was he?
The eyes that looked upon her were intense now. Focused.
But she knew in the first moment when he’d seen her they were filled with wonder and amazement. Curiosity and astonishment.
Like what one might express when looking at the impossible; a rare tropical orchid blooming in the icy northern tundra.
Hazel they were, bright and intelligent… old? But slightly different. And each was a touch different color. One more blue and silvery with the other… more green and golden.
Deep.
The face that held them was a mask of blandness now. A world class poker face. Pale and holding just a hint of sharpness. Suggestive of… something.
But she’d seen the moment of unguarded bewilderment.
Standing about six feet in height with an average built and weight he was as nondescript as one could be. He simply had no presence, and she knew if she were not looking at him right now, he may simply fade into the background like a sublime servant does. On the streets she’d never have noticed him.
And that was a bit frightening. For like his expression, that presence she’d felt melted away to nothingness.
No.
Not nothing. It was withdrawn and hidden away.
His poised stance suggested nothing. He was simply standing there examining her; eyes lingering on the necklace and her clothing, or lack thereof.
It was not an aggressive or passive stance. It simply… was.
Dangerous.
That was a word that came to mind from the depths of her beating fairy heart.
His attire looked like it came from a modern movie set for a big production fantasy world. The Wheel of Time or Lord of the Rings.
She could see some weapons, well probably weapons not props, attached here and there, but what seemed to call to her senses where his hooded cloak and matching boots.
The material almost… sang to her.
Snapped out of her musings the man had asked her the same question for a second time.
“Who. Are. You?”
This time there was an edge to it.
Maya sat up, her round blue hues blinking into the darkness until the stars in her vision disappeared. It was dark, terribly dark. Had she made a mistake by coming here? She was beginning to think so. A heavier than normal exhale escaped the Fairy's lips, a sound that seemed to echo outward until muffled by whatever the darkness held. For a moment, her stomach churned. It was the feeling one would get after being terribly spooked. Perhaps the feeling one would have if they were going down a hill on a roller coaster. Her right hand reached over, clasping hold of her upper arm and running her grip the course down to her wrist. She was intact, that was certain; nor had she felt much pain from her travels. Then it was time to begin. Where was she?
The unusual scents were the first thing that hit her. While the items giving off the smells weren't all that unusual; they were simply scents she didn't smell everyday. Pulling herself to her feet, Maya stood for a moment to collect her barrings. Right, her necklace. Fishing into her right pocket she pulls out a necklace, the pendant appears to contain a beautiful golden dust. The material seems to radiate a dull light of its own. Unfortunately, it does help but doesn't seem to guide her far.
Curse her Fairy abilities, there were times she wished she was more like her mother; able to generate holy light at will. Thus she was stuck with an affinity to the ocean, yet never dared to venture too deep into its waters. Her fingers began fiddling with things on the table, only using the necklace her mother gave her to get a better look. This world... was not too far off from her own, was it? These people had the same basic utensils and living expectations as most creatures did on Earth. Maya's gaze trailed off to the left and into the darkness. The only worry she now had, was who's home had she fallen into...
Darkness greeted Maya. Absolute darkness. Sitting up made her see stars dance in her vision, but that was the only light she could make out.
Stillness and silence Absolute in both cases. Except her the rustle of her clothing and the sounds of her breathing… and of course the pounding of her heart.
Tactile and olfactory senses did register stimulation.
She sat upon a firm surface that was neither hot nor cold and felt like… fabric? Silk maybe, but it cannot be pinched or moved. The air itself was a comfortable temperature, if a slight bit humid.
Her nose however, picked up a great deal of scents that only now did she become aware of. A great deal may be an exaggeration as the air was quite still… or had been until her breathe disturbed it.
Now she could small a few things. And the more she focused on that the more discerning her sense of smell became. The strongest were from herself of course, her sweat, natural musk, coffee, some subtle hints of spices and brine.
From around her though, she could start to make out the subtle smell of leather, some woody hints, barest hint of oil, sharp tang of wine or maybe berries, probable incense and smoke, and last but not least a muskiness that was… interesting in its complexity.
Standing up she is unable to touch the ceiling she assumes is above her even with a little jump. Pacing about Maya finds that she is in a chamber of some sort that is round and has a curved dome like ceiling, if the feel of the curved walls is any indication. They too feel like the same material as the floor.
She guesses this space is some fifteen feet in diameter. Her search reveals no doorways, windows, or hatches. All along the perimeter there are items that taken as a whole would indicate the space is meant to be occupied.
She located and felt, a small table with flatware, plate, cup, and bowl, a rolled up and tied soft fur bundle of some sort, a wooden chest containing fabrics and leather, a cabinet and hutch with food stuffs and other items found in a pantry plus unknown containers and items.