[sub][indent][i][h3][color=d8cfbe]𝕋wo 𝔾uys 𝕆ne 𝔼ye[/color][/h3][/i][/indent][/sub][hr]Everything was black. Not a murky black, or some sort of pseudo-black that mysterious and brooding strangers would wear while skulking in the corners of taverns, waiting to be approached by brave heroes to recruit on their fantastical journeys. Not even the blackest of souls could match this darkness. No, this was [i]true darkness[/i] in its purest form - the complete and utter absence of light. 

For any other person, the darkness would have been frightening. Sight was, after all, the sense humans relied on the most.

For Reason, however, it was simply the 16th of Anais. Yes, the talks had happened just prior, but he hadn’t actually done [i]that[/i] much. Just a bit of fiddling here, a few choice words to Pachel there, and boom! All the policies passed. It was simple, really. Diplomacy wasn’t that hard if you used all the tools available.

And so, as the doors were opened and the stuffy air of negotiations spilled out in the lethargic way characteristic of everything associated with bureaucracy, Reason made his way to the library.

It was odd. He’d never learned to read, on account of not being able to see the words on the page. Tina had tried to start a movement for raised letters on pages. The movement had died, on account of nobody really wanting to accommodate those who couldn’t even cast magic. To [i]draw[/i] out their magic, humans needed to be able to see where they would cast- a [i]line[/i] of sight. But who would even work for those who could not hold a pen?

Reason grimaced. He’d work on that metaphor later. It was a bit clunky. The ones in books were always so eloquently worded. But then again, authors had all the time in the world to rewrite their complicated machinations. Reason had to commit his jokes to memory. It took up a lot of space. He wasn’t like Tina, with her uncanny ability to recall basically anything she’d ever heard or seen. 

He had always felt a sort of kinship with books, even if their contents were a complete mystery to him. He’d always had someone read them aloud, usually Tina. Oh, how wonderful it was to have someone read to you. He almost felt happy that the raised letters movement hadn’t gotten anywhere. It certainly let him spend more time with her.

Ooh, that would be a good thing to bring up next time reading was mentioned. He could almost see Tina’s flustered reaction- but not really, for that was impossible.

Reason knew immediately when he crossed the threshold into the library. Not just from feeling the doorway - there was just a certain sort of [i]weight[/i] to such repositories of knowledge. A wise man once said that knowledge = power = energy = mass, and mass distorted space and time. There certainly was a sort of magical feeling to libraries (certainly the major library, with all its tomes and forbidden knowledge), but as far as Reason knew, this one wasn’t particularly mystical.

He settled into a plush chair in the corner. Leather. Cotton filling, probably.

Peace. Sweet, silent peace. Nothing but the smell of paper and the warm insides of his cloak. He’d go talk to Tina later about the results - she probably wanted to see her mother first.

Someone entered the library. Reason couldn’t see them, but he could tell. An empty room didn’t pant, after all. Nor did it yell. Awfully loudly, too.

[color=d8cfbe]“Ruel! Ruel, are you in here?! Where on Teliv did you run off to?”[/color] Cedric shouted. He glanced around the library. No sign of his brother anywhere. He met the blank stare of one Alexander Reason, about to speak, when a tremor passed through the room and rocked the foundations of the tower. Reason opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. It would have been a humorous sight had Cedric any time to think about it. A bright white light overtook the vision of his one good eye. Everything went black. Something not unfamiliar to both of them, but the time and the occasion were the real shock. 

[hr]
Cedric awoke first. Head pounding, vision swirling, he could barely make out the chaos around him. At first, he attributed the strange sight to his nausea, but when the room didn’t change after a few seconds of staring, he realized that he was gazing upon reality.

The entire library was flipped on its side. What was once the floor was now a wall and what was once the ceiling was now the opposite wall. Every shelf not bolted down to the floor had slid down, spilling their knowledge all over the [s]wall[/s] floor. The tables and chairs were piled up, splintering from the drop. He realized he was lying on a bed of books - centuries of knowledge supporting his body.

Cedric began to stir. [color=d8cfbe]“Agh… I…” He trailed off, clutching at his stomach. He felt very, very ill.[/color]

A retching noise sounded from somewhere to his right. The acidic stench of stomach acid and partially-digested breakfast wafted past Cedric’s nose. Centuries of knowledge, ruined by bacon and eggs and orange juice.

The heir to House Immolis struggled to his feet. It was even harder to see than usual. The lights had been knocked around, some broken, and what was left of the windows (on the ceiling) barely let any light in at all. Outside, he could see only grey. Still, there was no mistaking that hideous fur cloak. [color=d8cfbe]“Reason heir… that you?”[/color]

Reason coughed. [color=d8cfbe]“Yes. Might I have the pleasure of knowing who I’m speaking to?”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Hmph. You can’t even recognize my voice? Cedric Immol-agh!” Cedric suppressed his own urge to vomit.[/color]

Reason sat up. The top hat had stayed on his head, almost like it was bolted on. [color=d8cfbe]“Ah, I should have known from your shouting. Is your brother around?”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Ruel!” [/color]Cedric hissed, whipping his head around, only to be hit by a wave of nausea. He settled for slumping forwards. [color=d8cfbe]“Ah, Anais… where is he? Where are [i]we[/i]?”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Well…”[/color] Reason swung his head about in a motion that seemed suspiciously like looking around. [color=d8cfbe]“There’s certainly a lot of mana here. It’s… blinding, in a way.”[/color]

Cedric stood up, legs shaking. He was about to fall back down any second. [color=d8cfbe]“The library… damn, that explosion! Must’ve fucked this whole place up.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Interesting.. Gah!” [/color]Reason doubled back down onto the floor. His voice floated shakily from his slumped form. [color=d8cfbe]“I appear to be afflicted with mana sickness.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Appear? Clear as day, isn’t it?” [/color]Cedric stumbled over bookshelves, approaching Reason. [color=d8cfbe]“Place exploded and now there’s mana everywhere. Sounds pretty northern, doesn’t it.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Now, let’s not be leaping to conclusions.” [/color]Reason attempted to stand. He slipped on a few books, nearly falling into his own vomit. [color=d8cfbe]“Whoops, haha. We’ll want to gather information first.” [/color]Again, he swung his head around. [color=d8cfbe]“Perhaps a window, to assess damage.”

“Damage? This entire room. No gate could’ve done this. So there’s only one other option.”

“Oh? I recall that House Immolis is Magusist. Perhaps it was… divine intervention? As, say, retribution for helping those of a ‘lower status.’”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“As if any of us actually believe in that,” Cedric scoffed. He was staggering across the room, over to where the portal should have been, on what was now the wall. “Status doesn’t matter when you’ve just attacked the most important place on the continent. I wouldn’t say that I was surpri- oi, what’s this?”[/color]

Where the metal plate of the portal once stood was now a swirling vortex flecked with gold. SInce the room had rotated, the portal had ended up on the wall, standing eye level with Cedric. It didn’t seem to be exerting any force on the things around it, but something about its shape, its color, its spectacle, was almost inviting.

[color=d8cfbe]“Reason? Can you see this?”

“Well, no. What is it?”

“Get over here, then.”
[/color]
Reason crawled over on his hands and knees. It was quite a sight- the fur cape made him look like a malnourished bear.

[color=d8cfbe]“Oh, my. That [i]is[/i] interesting. It certainly creates a connection like before, but it… hmmm…”[/color] Reason stood up and looked at the portal. Except he couldn’t. But it certainly seemed like he did. The heir dropped back down to his hands and knees to make the rest of the distance.

[color=d8cfbe]“This is pathetic,”[/color] Cedric muttered, walking over to pick Reason up. Except he only got halfway before his stomach lurched and he tripped. He stayed standing, but didn’t move anymore. [color=d8cfbe]“Agh… sick.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Why, you sound terrible, Cedric. Do you mind if I call you that? It’s almost like you’ve never felt mana sickness bef-”[/color] Reason’s limbs gave out from underneath him. [color=d8cfbe]“Hah. Just a… simple matter of rebalancing your levels…”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Could only wish to have too much mana,”[/color] Cedric grunted. [color=d8cfbe]“What is this thing?”[/color]

Reason stood up and made the rest of the distance. [color=d8cfbe]“Well, from what I can see, it’s a portal.”

“No shit, [redacted]. Why don’t you go in?”

“Are you kidding? This thing looks dangerous. The destination route’s entirely random. The mana flow’s going any which way.”[/color] Reason gesticulated wildly, pointing in various directions.

[color=d8cfbe]“That means nothing to me. Which only leads me to believe it’s those damn northerners’ fault. If it isn’t magic, it isn’t ours.”

“That’s the thing. It [i]is[/i] magic. I could sort of sense the portals before, but now they’re standing out like beacons in the night. The mana levels here are insane- I bet every device or person here is full to the brim with mana.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Mana sickness must be getting to you. Why don’t we try the portal out, then?”[/color] Cedric said, remembering how sick he felt. He’d almost forgotten, what with Reason’s tomfoolery.

[color=d8cfbe]“Well… it does seem to be pretty stable when it makes a connection- probably with a corresponding portal or something. Where is it?”

“Up on the wall. Not that far up, but I can’t just reach it.”[/color] Elise probably could, though.

[color=d8cfbe]“Hm. Give me a boost?”[/color]

Cedric looked at Reason, then back at the portal. [color=d8cfbe]“Is that a good idea?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Say no more,”[/color] Cedric said, picking up the Reason with some difficulty. It was getting hard to ignore the mana sickness. Normally, he would be able to do it just fine. He was sure of it. But, as he began to approach the portal, it was becoming harder to stay standing. There was no guarantee he wouldn’t vomit all over Reason’s [i]lovely[/i] fur cloak, either.

[color=d8cfbe]“Whoa! Watch where you put your hands! I’m already taken.”

“That technologist girl? She doesn’t count for anything. There’s not enough of her to mean [i]shit.”[/i]

“Hey, I love her as she is. What’s taking so long, anyway? When are you going to put me-”

“Can’t you see? It’s right in front of you,”[/color] Cedric said, pushing him closer to the portal. [color=d8cfbe]“Hurry up. I’ll drop you in ten seconds.”[/color]

Reason reached out a hand and stroked the portal. As soon as his fingers made contact, the portal began to suck him in with surprising force.

[color=d8cfbe]“Whoa! It’s got some suction going. I know a few people that’d be [i]interested[/i] in this.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“I’m going to arrest you.”[/color]

Before Cedric had the chance to take him into custody, Reason slipped through his grip and disappeared through the portal. He stared in shock at the vortex, his knees giving out. He was seconds away from emptying out his stomach, and his head spun.

[color=d8cfbe]“Oh, Anais. Oh, fuck. I just killed Reason!”[/color]