thehauntedfrequency | fairyland fun! (your levels of fun may vary)

I’m not sure if that’ll work if anyone happens to decide to glance up, but I have no objections to being carried.

[One day Emery will learn to do a proper levitation or ray wing spell, but he has no inclination to make that day today.]

Far as I've experienced, most people are too caught up in their lives to look up. Except kids. [and what kid's going to be out after bedtime to tattle?]

[Emery laughs.]

You have a point there~! And who's going to listen to a kid?

Right. So it's nothing to worry about. [he stuffs art and thief supplies into his satchel.] Go ahead and wind down; we gotta rest up before nightfall.

Got it~

[And Emery plops down on the floor next to Zel so he can lean in and give him a kiss.]

You too. Don't stay up all night- all day- packing or whatever.

[he can't help but smile a little, his face heating up. he rolls his shoulders a little.]

It'll be fine, don't worry. [he'll make sure to not be too meticulous as to require the daylight to do it, giving Emery the opportunity to sleep without the sun poking in through the drapes. as far as a proper rest for himself, it...might be tough. the prospect of a new realm, even with Emery's talk grounding it in reality, still has his wanderlust abuzz. how similar will it look and feel to this land? to the continent beyond the broken barrier? how will his magic-infused body react?

...will there be clues to a cure?

he tries to tamp down his expectations on that one, because if there was something to that, Emery would've suggested it already. so...

yeah...

yeah....................]

[Rest assured, if Emery had heard about anything in the fae realm that had to do with reversing transformations, Zelgadis would certainly be the first person to know. But most of what he’d heard about transformation was “Oh, you’re a shapeshifter? How unusual! Most of us have to use illusion magic.”

Not very useful to Zel’s condition, and he doesn’t want to raise Zel’s hopes without a good reason, not with how obviously important the matter of Zel’s body is.

Before bed Emery goes down to have some dinner and pick up more gossip from the locals. An offhand comment about Cordial Hill gets him two different accounts of why people gave up living on the hill itself- account no. 1 is that the place is probably haunted and that people have seen strange lights and heard distorted laughter at odd hours.

Account no. 2 is that the soil on Cordial Hill is rocky, and rather acidic from the cedars, so that it’s a pain in the ass to do any gardening as well as a nuisance to haul water up the hill.

Emery is careful not to favor any one side in the debate and dutifully relays both theories to Zel before turning in.

He sleeps lightly despite the fatigue from staying up all night, and it’s rather a good thing that Zel is considerate enough to keep the curtains closed and generally let Emery snooze the snooze of the innocent.]

[the day crawls by with that anticipation set on his shoulders, but this isn't Zel's first rodeo in this regard.

that said...the sun can barely finish sinking into the horizon before he's stirred, having slept sitting upright (mistake: he's sore now) and needing to slowly climb to his feet, crack his shoulders, and step over to lay a careful hand on Emery's shoulder to wake him.]

Time to go.

[time for Emery to take the lead.]

[Emery’s first order as the fearless leader?]

Nnh.

[Charisma at its finest.

But yes, he is waking up now. Sitting up and yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes and all that.]

Mm. Morning Zel~ Let me get ready, alright?

[This is unfortunately not going to be one of those mornings where Emery just happily throws on whatever and follows Zel out the door- he’s got a meeting with Calanthe scheduled and for that he’d rather be as put together as possible. Thus, Zel will have to endure Emery taking his time getting dressed, dithering between this shirt and that shirt, working to put together something that’s simultaneously pretty and reasonably practical for hiking around a hill.

Whether Zel decides to endure this inside the same room as Emery or standing around outside in the hallway is immaterial to Emery, who is taking the task of assembling today’s outfit very seriously. The upshot is that Emery at least won’t be fussing too much over his hair- since they’re going to be flying out there his hair’s going to get mussed up along the way anyway.

And eventually Emery is satisfied so after one last glance in the mirror, it’s finally time to leave the inn.]

Thanks for waiting~

[letting himself watch Emery primp and preen as he does in such a way is something Zel ought to do more of, he thinks. was he always this concerned with his attire? surely not, but he can't be a hundred percent certain...

still, he makes note of the choices made and discarded, the particular order of things tucked or buttoned...should that be the order in reverse for it all to be undone?

thoughts for later.

for now, Zel gets to his feet, rolling his shoulders until he hears a bit of a crack (he needs to stop sleeping upright), and nods, following after him to pay for the days stayed. he shrugs mildly at the confusion from the innkeeper (it's night, why are they leaving now) and proceeds after Emery out into the early evening.

after a few blinks, his eyes adjust to the darkness and, when Emery is ready, takes hold of him by the waist and casts Ray Wing, raising the both of them up and away in the direction of the doorway Emery had found just hours prior.]

[Emery is growing quite accustomed to being carried around by Zel all Superman’s-Girlfriend style, although doing this at night is a bit of a novelty.

Zel probably remembers the moment from when they visited the temple of desires where Emery looked for a second way in, a.k.a. Did Some Weird Fae Shit that made it hard to look at Emery. Emery starts doing it again as they approach the hill, which probably feels very weird when Zel’s still holding onto him.

Emery tightens his grip on Zel (perhaps unnecessary with it being a Ray Wing but nevertheless) and reaches out with a free hand to point at the trees below.]

The light’s different here. Can you see it? The space between planes is thinner here.

[is it different? Zel's gaze sharpens as he looks around in the direction Emery's pointing, slowing their pace. he could lie and say he's certain, but he can't just assume he can even glean what Emery sees.

'space between planes'...reminds him of his astral studies. of pocket dimensions. in that sense, he wonders if he were to cast something like Ferrious Breed, would something happen?

thoughts for later. for now, he slowly brings them down.]

I can't really see it. [though he wishes he could.] Light? Like a natural source or a magic one?

[Emery hums.]

It’s sunlight, I think. But it’s not very bright on this end.

[Once they’re near enough to the ground to be safe Emery slips out of Zel’s grip and scurries forward, sticking along the side of the path.]

It’s just up ahead… Ah-ha! Here it is.

[Emery calls up a lighting spell because even with the sunlight that’s leaking through the entrance it’s quite dark out here, and it doesn’t seem like Zel can see that sunlight.

The glowing ball floats above Emery’s hand and shines forth on… A short stone wall, barely more than a foot and a half wide, partly blocked by branches. The wall stands on a slope and if one squints around the sides one can see a few stone steps embedded in the slope behind it, timeworn and sunken into the ground.]

How’s it look to you?

[Zel follows a few paces behind, head on a swivel to detect not just signs of this mysterious entryway, but any interlopers or signs of danger. the houses are defunct and abandoned, but that would just make them handy for ne'er-do-wells...

Emery's call draws his attention, prompting him to move closer to blink at the wall.

how's it look? at first glance, pretty nondescript, but Zel holds back on judgment to give it a more careful look-over.]

...It's strange that it's standing on its own in this mess of branches. [he tilts his head to try and peer past it.] Like it was specifically left this way.

Right. I don’t know exactly how they constructed this thing, but I’d bet they wanted it to look odd enough to stand out, but not like an entrance to those not in the know.

[Emery’s doing the Weird Fae Thing which makes him hard to look at again. He’s a little bit in the fae realm right now, although still mostly in this one, enough that he can talk to Zel and move around.]

Can you see past it? The best angle is over here- [Nudging Zel into position.] It’s not just the light that’s different. The wall’s a gate in the fae realm, and there aren’t any trees in the way. There’s a proper path up the slope too.

[Zel lets himself be moved, squinting.]

I, I don't--wait. The stairs? Is that what you mean? [it makes him feel almost cross-eyed, staring so intently, that he's unsure he's just blurring his vision to make it seem like that.]

Er, well, there are stairs on both sides, but the ones on the fae realm look like they’re actually being maintained, and there are more of them.

[Describing what Zel is supposed to be seeing in addition to what he’s already seeing doesn’t seem to be helping very much so after a moment’s thought Emery decides to go a step further.]

Okay, I’m going to try going on ahead. You watch me go in and try to follow, alright?

[Emery sidles in front of Zel and walks towards the wall. He takes a few steps and just when he’s about to collide with the branches in front of the wall, he vanishes.

…At least, from a certain perspective. From Emery’s perspective the branches fade away and he’s able to open a gate and step fully into the early morning of the fae realm. It's nice out here! Scrubby hillside. Goats going 'baaaa.' He walks a little ways up the path and then turns to look back into the human realm to see how Zel is doing.]

[it's hard for Zel's logic-brain to accept Emery just vanishing like that, but his magic-brain is rather excited about it. he hesitates just a beat, finding himself holding his breath before advancing forward, bracing for some gag where he'll just smack his face on those branches or tumble over the stones or--]

-?!

[whoa.

he nearly does stumble just out of reflex, gawking around after a few blinks to adjust to the change of light.]

It... [...] Wait, this is it?

[he straightens up, looking more confused by the second.] It looks...like some regular landscape.

[he might've been expecting inverted colors or nonsense, okay.]

You did it!

[Emery’s so pleased to see Zel fully here that he darts over and practically throws himself onto Zel in an excited embrace. Which is a bit oof, at least for Emery, what with Zel being rock, but Emery’s happy enough not to mind.

The fae realm is indeed pretty mundane looking around here. The goats do have three horns each, but other than that they’re recognizable as goats. And the landscape is just… Cordial Hill as it might look if chunks of it were converted to scrubby pasture.

As Emery described though, there is a developed path and stone steps leading up and down the side of the slope. Where the narrow bit of wall was in the human realm, there’s a full sized stone wall that extends several meters in either direction, and an open gate behind the two of them.

There’s also a tiny stone hut up in the corner of the pasture, which has a figure sitting outside it which might be a person or it might be a statue. Hard to tell since they’re so still- and Emery hasn’t really noticed them since he’s been so focused on Zel.]

I knew you’d figure it out sooner or later, but wow, you’re quick. Calanthe had to drag me by the hand when I first entered the fae realm. I guess that’s a practiced sorcerer for you~

[His boyfriend’s so smart and talented and cool!]

[Zel winces - for Emery's sake - and straightens up to hold the other's weight while he's still gawking around, finally noticing the oddity with the goats.

it takes a double-take, but he does notice the humanoid figure not too far away.]

Right. And we're not going to be expecting hostiles, you said?

[Emery loosens his grip on Zel slightly and gives him a puzzled look.]

Hm? Nope. Are you concerned about the goats?

[Emery takes a reluctant step back, still holding onto Zel’s sleeve, and glances in the direction that Zel seems to be looking. Oh! Looks like they’re not entirely alone.]

Sorry if we’re on your land! We’ll be clearing off in a moment!

[The figure… makes absolutely no response, just continues to ~~live slug react~~ sit there. Huh. Well, Emery’s heard that shepherds can get a bit weird from spending so much time with only sheep for company, so maybe this person has something similar going on.

Anyway.

Emery slips a hand into Zel’s and moves to tug him down the path.]

Come on, Calanthe said the village is down by the lake~

[he makes a face. look, he doesn't know how fey goats operate!! jeez...

tugged along by one hand, his other one fumbles to tug his hood up. never hurts to be careful, especially when he can feel the gaze of that shepherd as they hurry along the path cutting through what is probably their land.

Zel peers around uncertainly, as if expecting something else to be amiss or askew as they go.]

Run through what you were asked to do again...? [to keep it completely clear in his mind. and so elle doesn't have to parent-up thru the thread to find it again it's been 86 years]

[It’s a lovely patch of countryside they’re in, and Emery remains blithe as he leads Zel along.]

The Field Lord wants me to gather some "private" information from a rival lord who lives nearby. Which lord, or the specifics of that information, Calanthe didn’t say, but we’ll go over it when I meet her in town.

[The gist Emery got is that he’s got to do some spy work. Which he’s actually done before, albeit on humans. He wonders if the fact that he’s working in the fae realm this time is a sign of increased trust… or maybe decreased trust if the Field Lord wants him closer… Or maybe he was just the most convenient underling at hand.]

I’m not sure if she meant I’d have to steal some documents or get some people to talk, or both.

[flatly:] Nice of her to clarify... [stealing is...okay, maybe he can see Emery stealing in certain conditions. but interrogating?

...

...okay. if it meant sweet-talking...okay, sure.

for as carefree as Emery seems to be taking things, Zel can't help but be suspicious. rivals mean conflict...will this really go so smoothly?]

[Zel’s sarcasm makes Emery laugh.]

Isn’t it just? I’d think that talking about it in the human realm would be less risky in some ways, but she outranks me so I have to do as she says.

[Woe is him! But really, now that he says it, he realizes that might sound concerning, so Emery is quick to assure:]

She’s not a bad superior, really. [~~Minus that time she kidnapped him.~~] Doesn’t throw her weight around or anything like that and I’ve never seen her get angry. She's just a bit odd. I think she's some sort of flower spirit.

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