FFM28: Illusions + Truths

Christian only had to follow the girl into Eris' domain. He did not sign up for this. Everything around him seemed to stop responding to gravity- as bizarre as it sounded. The earth fell away, at least most of it, and the rest of it appeared to just fly across the universe. There was no aspect to time, nothing.

A man, from the looks of it, broke through what Christian hoped was an atmosphere, and disintegrated before he could hit the ground, a shower of sparks rained down on him and a blackout from sound and vision followed- and then the stars returned.

Algacrypt came into view then, a shadow man with a better future than Christian would ever be able to dream of. Christian wasn't sure if the daemon could see him, or if the Algacrypt he saw was really the one that had tried to sell the world and a seven space oddities to the prettiest star herself, Jean, as a simple conversation piece and nothing more. It had been in his golden years, and Lady Stardust herself had done the only logical thing to do: she had squashed the wannabe starman until his bones made the same sounds as breaking glass. His golden years ended shortly after, as no one wanted a daemon singing about how the prettiest things are going to Hell.

It would be confirmed, later, that no one but him was unwillingly dragged passed the Gates. Hell would be particular about telling lies about subterraneanians and certain wild-eyed boys from Freecloud, the lost city of Oblivion.

Now, this Algacrypt continued to come closer, periodically. Close enough for Christian to see the cactus growing from his shoulder, like a regret under pressure. Holes from what could only be assumed as rayguns, or space rocks, dotted his shoulders as if he was a misplaced being, a spaceman turned dwarf planet at best. He was a host to spiders, crawling in and out of craters and pockets. Christian recognized them from long ago, when Mars had still been a settled place. He shuddered at the memory.

Christian turned away when Algacrypt began to dance in the same way a marionette would be controlled by a puppeteer. He tried to ignore the way all movement began to speed up, until suddenly he was running. It wasn’t of fear, but without his consent at all. He did not stop until after passing a cracked actor create fire from ashes to ashes himself, and another purposefully run himself into a pit of quicksand.

Time stopped upon his entry to a moss garden, where a being by the name of Jareth was waiting. Christian did not feel comfortable addressing this stranger by any sort of pronoun, and tripped over introducions, himself. The doors to Oblivion stood tall behind Jareth, looming and promising a fantastic voyage to the other side. Christian shook the thought from his head, with the vaguest feeling that resilient fairy magic was behind it all.

Jareth did not say much, only that Christian had taken the wrong turn. That fame would not be found here, and very specifically to be careful on his way back. Don’t sit down, Jareth informed him, otherwise he would be stuck here for five years.

Five years in a realm without a steady passage of time concerned him, and he turned his back on Jareth with a vengeance.