The Nexus

Ees stepped back after he claimed the note. He hoped that this would not be tossed aside, and truthfully was relieved to know that the elder did not send them away, despite how nervous he was of all of this.

He listened very carefully as the elder spoke of this, talking on how hard it was to get Makeif to entrust them with the information, among other things. All of it sounded incredibly dire, and well.. It was, but the two prior incidents that Makeif had mentioned did not seem like.. they would warrant much fear, uncertainty and confusion, yes..

At least he thought this until he heard of the third incident. He did not hold a smile. How could he even manage that? His face remained blank, but gradually paled at what he was being told. His hand slowly came up to rest near his mouth, perhaps helping him keep his composure. That was such a horrible thing.. He wanted to ask how long it had been or.. if they thought the boy was dead, but he did no such thing. He did not want to say something stupid, he did not even want to think that..

It all was very horrible and Ees could not morally turn away now. A glance to the ground was given, followed by a deep sigh, as he continued to keep composure and avoid freaking out, he wanted to cry, because this was very sad.. That poor child could be dead because of this. So they had to find him, and solve the problem with the well. He hoped for the best when it came to finding the boy, if nothing else, they could at least return him safely home.

"Has anything like this ever happened before, anything that you know of? It doesn't have to be related to the events surrounding the well." He was searching for a lead, anything that they could potentially follow. A glance to Mirage was given as he stepped forward a little to stand next to her.";

Mirage looked at the Elder, and then to Ees when he spoke. This was true. There may be other unrelated incidents that might be linked to this. She would look back to the Elder, and waited for his reply.

"Nothing of this severity. About a month ago, we had livestock disappear, but, we just assumed it to be wild dogs." He shook his head, not thinking before that it might be related to this.

Mirage would move her eyes to look at the ground, in thought. What could this be? It sounded like something supernatural, indeed. But was it a ghost or spirit? A demon?

She had never encountered something like this, so she wasn't sure how to react. "Is there anything else that might help us?"

The Elder would just shake his head. "I'm afraid not. Please, though, if you find out anything and need help, do not hesitate to ask."

Mirage would nod her head, and then turn to Ees, signalling him to follow. She would head back down the path, and once they were a ways down, she would ask Ees, "Do you want to start looking tonight? Or wait until morning?"

Ees looked up to the Elder, frowning slightly. Well.. That was okay. There was no real lead with this, so.. they would just have to deal, which would not be so difficult.. Maybe.

He dipped his head in towards the Elder. "Thank you again for your time. We will return to you if we have any information." He still could not offer a smile, so instead he just backed away a bit. He did not know what this could be either, after a while their voices started to fade and he spaced out for a moment, becoming lost in his thoughts. Ees had dealt with demonkin, monsters and other horrible things before, heck, he lived with three beings that were the worst possible thing ever.. Trying to convince him that his skin was not his own and that someone else was wearing his skin, and that when people stared at him, they could read his thoughts. It would have driven the young bard insane, had he not been so.. Odd.. Even for his own world.

A shake of his head was given as he pushed the thoughts of Zaccai out of his head. No.. that was not important at this time, it hardly ever was relevant.. The voice of Mirage was heard now.. His hearing returning to him as he snapped out of it. Apparently he started walking without even realizing it. That was pretty dangerous. He thought on her question, having only caught a portion of it. "Uh.. I think the earlier we start looking, the better off we will be." He admitted, giving a strange smile. He hoped he answered that correctly.

"Alright, she said, giving a nod of her head. "But, we don't really know what we are facing, so we will have to be careful. And, if we are going to find any clues, we have to focus strongly. To be honest..." She stopped and looked at him. "... I think this is going to be something I've never faced before. A spirit or something... just by what we have gathered so far."

She wasn't sure how to resolve it, if this was proven true.

Ees stared ahead for a moment. All of this was so troubling, but they would have to buckle down and figure this out.. "I understand." He said with a bit of determination in his voice. It was not often that Ees even had that ability..

He looked to her, offering another weak smile. "It'll be okay, Mirage.. We'll be careful and.. we will figure this out." He said, nodding. They would have to if this was going to get done. "Where should we start, first? Do you want to investigate the well?" It should be safe enough for them to check it out now.. If they had waited then they would have to deal with the villagers approaching the well and questioning everything. That would be troublesome.

"The well would be our best bet," she would say, after just a moment of consideration. It was really the only place they knew to look to begin with. She looked around for a moment, trying to remember if they had been told where the well was.

"Hmm... do you recall if they said where it was?" she asked, looking back at Ees. She flipped her hair just a bit, becoming just the tiniest bit annoyed with how difficult this was becoming. It wasn't anyone's fault, it was just proving a difficult situation.

His hand found it's way pressing into his face just slightly, followed by a low groan. "No one said where it was located." He frowned, moving his hand away. "I think perhaps the center of town would be a better place to start." Or they could go ask Makeif, but the man may very well think they are not capable of handling this if they cannot simply find the well.

"If not then we have quite a bit of searching to do." He wanted to be optimistic about it, but he could tell Mirage was getting annoyed. That was not something he wanted to stay for very long.

"That's a good idea," she said, nodding her head. They had finally reached the end of the arches, and she looked to the city. "Maybe we will run into that woman who told Makeif about the well when we first got here... We could ask her where it is, and see if she has anything else to add."

If not, well, let's just hope the well was near the center of town. She felt a little more reassured, as she walked down the road, glancing around to see if there was any sign of a well.

The citizens of the town were already closing shop by this time, seeing as the sun had nearly completely set. There were far fewer children... or even adults, than what had been when they had first arrived.

Ees nodded a bit. "Yeah! We could try and find her, if we had to." But he hoped that wouldnt have to happen, or rather, he hoped that they would run into her, rather than having to go visit her. It would be awkward to explain to her why they are involved.

He took a few minutes to look around, seeing that people were leaving. "This is good.. I am glad that they are all heading home." He didn't want to have to explain what they were doing and accidentally raise panic. A soft sigh was given as he walked with her. "I would think it would be in the center of town at least.. That seems like a good focal point for it, having an easy access for everyone." Then again he's seen them on the outskirts and placed in strange spots before..

Mirage would have to agree. The center of town made the most sense, but as the seemed to arrive to what seemed to be the middle, she didn't see anything. "Hmm..." she would say, turning every now and then to have a look around. "That's disappointing... This is only going to make it a bit --" She paused and looked to a little enclave just to the west of them. It was nestled between two shops, surrounded by trees, but it had a little path, and just barely visible down that path was a stone well.

"Ah! I think that is it!" she said, pointing to it. She lightly grabbed Ees sleeve and led him toward it. She was excited now, finding this to be a little easier than she had expected. She would push back some branches, and look at the well.

It looked normal, for the most part, so they would actually have to do some searching.

"Well then," she said, looking up at the trees, and seeing they blocked any hope of light. She would let go of Ees' sleeve and walk around once. She raised her hand, casting a fire-like spell, but the flames were pure white. As she moved her hand away, the ball of flames would stay in that spot, hovering like a torchless light. She did this in three other areas, hoping that would give them enough light.

"Alright, let's start looking," she said, kneeling down next to the well.

Ees smiled now, hopeful that they would find what they were looking for! Honestly, how far could the well possibly be from the town?

He sighed a little when they reached the apparent center of town and saw no well. This was quite concerning. "I guess we should look elsewhe-" He paused and looked to her. "Where?" He said, trying to see where she pointed, but soon enough she was leading him to it.

That was rather fast! He was grateful for it though, because it could have taken so much more time to find it. "Wonderful." He smiled again, breaking loose from her when she made the lights appear. The young man could not help but stare for a few moments. Magic was truly something else..

After some time passed, he nodded to her and would begin his search, taking the moment to look down the well, seeing if there was anything down there, but even with the light he couldn't see anything interesting, so he pulled away and would search the ground around the well, especially the two walls nearby.

She looked down the well even after he did, trying to see if she could find something that he had missed. She frowned, when she saw nothing.

"Hello?" she called into it, but got no reply but an echo. She sighed, and pulled away from it, looking around. She picked up a rock, and dropped it into the well, seeing how long it would take to hit something. She timed it at five seconds before it seemed to hit the dry bottom.

"Well, they were right. There is no water down there." She would turn to Ees and tilt her head just a little. "Do you want to put water in there, and then wait a bit to see if something happens to it? We can keep measuring the level if I put a flame down just above the water's surface. We can use some water from your canteen, and I can amplify it with my magic, so it won't take so much time to fill."

Ees thought about it for a moment, before nodding. It sounded like a simple enough idea, but.. "Do you have some way to remove the water, after it has been placed in?" He questioned, frowning slightly. Dumping water down into a well after it has been dried out, was not a very good thing. It caused the water to get very dirty, not to mention, what if Makeif showed up and saw that there was water in the well.. He may have thought that they solved the problem.. and gave false hope to these people.

"I am sorry if that sounds silly.." He lowered his head a bit and removed the canteen, looking at it. "I think it would be a good idea to see if something would happen, though." He admitted, not trying to sound like he was going to ask silly questions then shoot down her idea, because it was better than what he had.

Which was nothing.

He had a good point. She thought on it for a moment, and then shook her head. "I can try to make the impact on the bottom a little less rough. And then, if we need to remove it, I should be able to negate the magic I used, leaving only what you put in there. Which shouldn't be much." That was the best solution she could offer. She walked over to him, and placed her hand on the canteen, and moved him toward the well.

"Just, pour it slowly, so I can try to control it, and multiply it at the same time." She moved her hand from the canteen, and once he would begin pouring it, she would hold both hands out, and as the water started pouring, it would slow down, to almost a molasses like texture, and fall into the well. By the time it reached the bottom, it would give the smallest swish, and looked to be nearly ten times more than he was pouring in.

He nodded and did as she asked, watching with amazement as she did her work.. "That is very amazing, Mirage." He said quietly, watching the well fill up quickly.

It was not long before he pulled the canteen back and smiled. "That should do it, don't you think?" He questioned looking into the well. He was actually really, really happy about that. If all else failed, then.. maybe they could have water! But he hoped that they would not fail and solve this problem in its entirety.

He had to wonder though.. What exactly would be happening? Or would they be looking for?

Once the water seemed to be in place, she let out a heavy breath. That took a lot out of her, just to make water out of the little he gave. But that was teh way she had wanted it. She took a few deep breaths and then looked to Ees. "Can you hold me, so I don't fall in?" she said, and then turned to the well. She had to place her flame in it so they could watch the water level. She moved over to it, and leaned over it. She would have to reach quite a ways down, until she could place the flame just over the water's surface, so they could watch it. She would do this once she felt secured, and she would light another white flame.

Ees nodded, putting his canteen away and would help her over the edge of the well, and would do his best to keep hold onto her. Luckily he did not drop her, because that would be horrible and Ees would feel incredibly bad.

Soon after she was done, he would help pull her back. "What do you think we are looking for?" He questioned, leaning against the wall for a moment as he looked over things. He hoped that it wouldn't be anything destructive. That would be very.. lame.

She would look at him, and then shrug. "I'm not sure, but let's make sure we keep an eye out for anything." She would sit on the edge of the well, and look around them, to make sure nothing was approaching them. She listened, as well, for the sound of water rushing out of the well, but she didn't hear anything.

She waited, silently, for a good, ten minutes before she let out a sigh. There was nothing happening. Nothing going on. So, maybe this wasn't something that was occuring at the well?

That was, until she heard footsteps approaching. She looked around, but didn't see anyone. And, they seemed to be right next to her. She looked to Ees, wondering if he was seeing anything.

He started out smiling, waiting out the time patiently, hoping that they could get a lead, but then his smile became less hopeful and soon he just stared at the well.

It was not until he heard the foot steps, that he would smile once again, but this did not last very long as.. they were a disembodied sound. He frowned deeply, staring at where the sound was, but could not see anything.

Was this a ghost or spirit of some sort? If so.. What did it want? He was curious, yet he was frightened, thus that kept him from doing ANYTHING.

She pushed herself off of the well, and looked around. The footsteps stopped, and she tried to pinpoint where they were; whatever it was. But, it was hard to tell. There wasn't even any foot prints in the dirt to follow. She shivered a bit, feeling a slight breeze. Or what she thought was one. She heard a whisper, and she turned to look at Ees, to see if he had spoken. But, it was apparent he hadn't.

She moved away from that spot, and then the foot steps began again, seeming to follow her. Her heartbeat started to rise, becoming frightened. She had no clue what she was facing; and that scared her.

She stopped again, and so did the footsteps. She looked around again, trying to find any sign of anything. And she did get that clue...

She felt something hit her in the stomach, knocking her back on the ground. It had surprised her enough to knock the wind out of her. There was the sound of laughter, very creepy laughter, and then something grabbed her ankle, and started dragging her across the dirt.

She wanted to scream, but the people of the village would hear her and they would come to see what was happening. That was something she couldn't let happen.

"Ees!" she called out, just loudly enough to show her panic. Whatever had a hold of her was talking her toward the trees, attempting to take her into the woods. Was this what had happened to the little boy?