Nebula's Premise

"I'm done 'adventuring' for today," I said, plopping down on a very comfy couch in the common space.

We'd rented out a suite of rooms, with small bedrooms on each side of a common space that also contained a bathroom. It was Stormwing Circle level decadent, red satin cloth hanging in swathes across the wall, anchored with lots of tiny jeweled embellishments.

I was glad Celistar was paying for it and not me. Had I been, we'd probably all be sharing space in a large barrel or something. This room was the kind of space that made me worry about breaking things.

My legs were tired in a way they hadn't been when we were out walking the road heading to this city, but they were feeling better now that I was sitting at least. Speaking of this city…

"What is the name of this place anyway?" I asked Celistar, who was the only one likely to know the information now that Qīwù was no longer traveling with us.

"An well," she said, without any elaboration.

"The city is a well?" I asked, "Interesting."

She laughed at my response. "No, Anwell, although in this case you're not that far off. When I first visited this place, it was a collection of hovels surrounding a well. But it was the only well in the area that had good water so people kept moving to be in proximity. That original well is still at the center of the town, only now it's a bit more… elaborate. You'll see."

It was interesting to have someone like Celistar traveling with us, because she had so much place knowledge, having spent a portion of her many years traveling, likely out of boredom more than anything else. There was only so much Ancient One-ing someone could do before getting venerated by the Sect felt more like getting trapped. I'd only been subjected to a few months, and even that much made me want to crawl out of my skin.

A server walked in and set down a plate of food on the table in the center of the table. I was confused by this, while Viktor already had one in hand, turning it over. "Compliments of the owner, for the Lady."

"Return to him my thanks," I replied, as I'd been taught. The phrasing was awkward, and I couldn't be sure exactly how it sounded through the Steeveslation. Nor was I intending to worry about it. I'd gotten free food, and that was the important part.

The fox herself appeared once the man had left, and floated through the air over the platter, stopping above one particular morsel. A light appeared on her belly, shining down onto it, and it shook a little before slowly floating up into the air, rising as if on an updraft. It met her glowing fur, and then somehow kept going right through her exterior into her stomach.

She floated slowly off towards a chair before landing, then gave the cutest little burp, covering her mouth with her paw.

"Guess she approves," I said, all of us staring at the absurd critter. "You can eat it normally, you know," I said to Steeve. She just cocked her head at me as though she was confused about what wasn't normal about what she did.

I was pretty sure I was just being led along by Steeve into more of her silliness, so I let the subject drop and tried mine.

It was some sort of pastry, with flaky rolled dough, covered in a sticky syrup of sorts, and with some sort of crushed nut on the top. It was also delicious, if a bit tricky to eat when you couldn't just abduct it into your stomach like a certain someone.

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I tossed Steeve a glance, and she looked back a me with a completely innocent face, then went back to licking her paws.

Celistar was balancing one of the desserts on the tips of her fingers, looking as much like she was presenting it rather than attempting to consume the thing. The approach seemed to be working better than my sticky-fingered one, at least.

"How is it?" István asked. At first I thought he meant the food, but then I realized as he swept a finger around the perimeter of the room he was referring to the vague feeling that led us here.

Of course, I thought, It wouldn't make sense to say such things out loud if this is the location where they were trapped. Way to go, Elder Scholar!

I put a finger on my chin in the universal signal of 'I'm thinking' and felt around for the feeling. It was there as usual, but pointed in an un-usual direction.

"Down," I told him. "But in the same way this place was in front." I hoped he'd pick up on the meaning without me having to explain it directly.

He held up his hands and spread his fingers out, looking at me for confirmation. I nodded. Good.

Celistar just shook her head at us, then pointed at the doors, a thin stream of her Nebula flowing from her fingertip over. A dormant seal on them lit up, and the hustle and bustle we'd been vaguely hearing from outside faded to nothing.

"Did you seriously think I wouldn't account for that?" she asked, seeming exasperated by our little pantomime show. "Part of the reason I got this room was because they applied seals of silence on it when it was built."

"I avoid thinking, especially if it's serious," I said, getting a laugh from Viktor. The Moon Fairy just shook her head at me.

István immediately rushed over to this new discovery Celistar had revealed and went about thoroughly examining it. "The flow is completely different than the ones in your main room back at the Sect," he said to me, "But the net effect is the same."

"I'm impressed you can tell that just by looking at them for such a short period of time," she said, "Even if it is activated."

"He's 'Elder Scholar' for a reason," I pointed out, "Not Venerable Oblivious like me."

"Indeed." Celistar's eyes twinkled, and I suddenly realized that giving her that kind of ammunition probably wasn't the best of ideas.

"So yeah," I said, seeking to change the subject of the conversation. "I'm feeling the pull down and out, in the same way the city was when it was in front of us. I'm not sure what to make of that. One person can't be spread across a city, right?"

"Well," said Viktor, flexing his fists. "It is definitely possible."

"Considering he was still able to talk to me," I said, smiling at the comment. "I don't think that is the case. Besides that, unless you have another brother I'm not aware of…"

István jumped in: "Mother is not here, so I think we can be assured that idea is not accurate. More importantly, we have no idea what method they are using to communicate with you."

"I don't know either," I said, remembering experience. "I think they added something at the end to help me locate them. They seemed pretty reasonable for someone in their situation."

"What form did it take?" Celistar asked.

"Whatever it was rang like a bell and made my Soul Space resonate with it."

We continued the discussion for another hour or so, not really getting any closer to an answer, when Celistar yawned.

"I think it's about time to turn in for the night," she said. "We have excellent accommodations, and I intend to take advantage of them liberally while we're here."

"You mean sleeping on the ground is suboptimal?" I teased her.

"Yes, very much so." She walked across the room to the seal on the door. "Are we done with this? It's not like I can't keep it up, but I definitely will feel it in the morning."

"You could have left it to me," I said, and she shook her head.

"You're just as likely to vaporize the entire door in your sleep as keep it powered," she said. I mean, she wasn't wrong.

"Yes," I said, "I think we're done."

She pressed on the surface and the seal lost its glow. It felt oddly loud to hear the noises from outside the room now that they were no longer suppressed by it. Hopefully that went away once we became used to the hubbub.

As the field for the seal fell, I noticed something else as well.

"Does anyone else feel… heavier?"