2nd l o s t s o u l ~ [Voice]

[mmmfilletofsoul]

Greetings, residents of Luceti. I am called Cheyenne, and there is something I wish to ask of you all.

By tomorrow, it will have been a month since my arrival in Luceti. I have, for the most part, remained unseen. I would have continued such a manner of living for the benefit of others here, but circumstances make such a lifestyle impossible for a

Comments

[ voice ]

[hakoiri]

I see . . . so it's a generally harmless process.

[ A beat as he slowly takes all of this in. He doesn't have a reason to doubt her. ]

I'd be happy to aid you, Cheyenne.

[ Action ]

[hakoiri]

Understood. I await your next instruction.

[ With that he takes a sit around the fountain, and closes his eyes. And keeps them closed. ]

[ Action ]

[mmmfilletofsoul]

[For awhile, all is silent. It takes Cheyenne a few minutes to adjust her eyes for the proper illusion, and once she is ready, she gives the o.k.] Open your eyes.

[And when Alf opens his eyes, he won't see Cheyenne. He won't see the village or the square. Instead, he'll see a field of brown grass, turned gold by a setting sun in the distance. The sky above is a soft maroon color and purple clouds dreamily float throughout. The fountain he was sitting on has become a large, flat stone.]

[And sitting beside him is Cheyenne, once more blindfolded.] You are free to move and speak in the illusion, although your physical body will do neither. Likewise, I am not really sitting next to you, nor am I truly speaking to you. It is rather akin to a dream, in that sense.

[ Action ]

[hakoiri]

[ And when he opens his eyes, they considerably widen at the sight that greets them. He feels the stone beneath him.]

W-wow . . .

[ Noticing Cheyenne then, he nods slowly, then rises and takes a step forward. He looks around and takes in the new surrounding -- it's much more different than he thought it would be. ]

It certainly almost feels like a dream.

[ He turns back to the stone, where Cheyenne should be sitting. She said she's not really sitting there, but. It's all kind of surreal. ]

[ Action ]

[mmmfilletofsoul]

[Cheyenne isn't nearly as impressed. The only thing she's looking at is Alf, sitting on the fountain in the square. But illusion!Cheyenne gets to her feet and stands atop the stone. Notably, although the grass is obviously blowing in the wind, Alf shouldn't be able to feel the breeze.] My illusions are usually stronger than this. At their strongest, you are not even aware that an illusion is taking place, and all your senses are fooled into feeling what you see. Your mind becomes completely immersed in the world you see before you.

[She stretches out her hand and swats at the air.] To break out of such an illusion, it requires more than the mere knowledge that the illusion isn't real. You need to fight against what you are seeing.

[She looks down at him.] Although I do not wish to give you reason not to trust me, at the same time, I feel it is only fair for you to understand the weakness of my illusions should the need ever arise where you would need to break from one yourself.

[ Action ]

[hakoiri]

[ His gaze trails to the grass. It's a little exciting to think about how "usually stronger" and lack of awareness on illusions would feel -- and a little puzzling. Maybe even frightening. ]

Completely immersed . . .

So I must recognize the illusion for what it is and fight against it. [ In turn, he looks up at her. ] You indeed haven't given me a reason to distrust you. But I appreciate your consideration, and the knowledge you're sharing with me. Thank you, Cheyenne.

[ Action ]

[mmmfilletofsoul]

[Illusion!Cheyenne says nothing. In fact, it looks as though she's starting to disappear. The world around quickly begins to fade until, with a sudden flash, Alf is once more sitting on the edge of the fountain with Cheyenne is standing in front of him, tying her blindfold back on.]

I do hope I made the transition out of the illusion slow enough. I have heard that ending them abruptly can be far more disorientating than allowing them to fade gradually.

[ Action ]

[hakoiri]

[ Alf feels a bit disoriented, if only due to his lack of experience with the illusion's abilities. But it's not bad, and he finds himself blinking up at Cheyenne as he quickly regains his bearings. ]

Uh -- yes, it was slow enough. . . . That was an amazing experience.

[ Action ]

[mmmfilletofsoul]

You think so? I believe I chose a rather bland illusion to start with. They truly take all forms. The most common are meant to be mirror reflections of ones own memories. A creature may even relive a moment in its life, unaware of the existence of the illusion itself.

Of course, using ones memories also has a dark side, depending on what sort of emotion an illusionist is hoping to incite.

[ Action ]

[hakoiri]

It isn't just what I saw -- it's the ability itself that I also find awesome.

. . . But to think one may even relive a moment of his life, that's a powerful gift.

[ He doesn't suspect Cheyenne to use it maliciously, after all. ]

Re: [ Action ]

[mmmfilletofsoul]

A gift? ...I suppose that is a way one might interpret such a power.

[A small smile.] It is not very often that I hear such kind words given to my illusions. Rather, considering the purpose they are designed to serve, I have heard them referred to as a sort of curse.

[ Action ]

[hakoiri]

Considering the care with which you utilize your abilities among other reasons, I don't think I can call it a curse of all things.

[ Action ]

[mmmfilletofsoul]

And yet, had I never been given the power to create illusions, I would not be an illusionist, and there would be no need to feed upon souls in the first place.

...although, it is very likely that I would not be alive either. It all depends on how one looks as things, I suppose.