Recudor: Another World

After a quick depart, Frazil flows through the window of the building. Usually this form of intrusion would come with some form of resistance, but to her surprise the place is empty. Deserted even. This seems to be a small apartment, like many others in this building. She finds herself in a sort of living room. Its small and modest. A short round table is in the middle of the room, with a few wooden chairs around. There is a couch tucked away in the corner of the room but no Television of sorts in front of it. The walls are lined with mostly decorative pictures, save for one of a man and a woman newly wed. Surprisingly enough there doesn't seem to be a light switch around. In fact there are no lamps in the room, although it is bright enough outside that light isn't currently required. There are also three doors on each side opposing the window. One of them is partly open and seems to lead to a stairway of sorts. The entrance to the apartment. The other two doors are closed but if this apartment is designed even with the slightest common understanding in mind, one will lead to a bedroom and the other into either a washroom or a kitchen. Perhaps the washroom is in the bedroom, who knows. Looking at the aesthetics of the place it seems familiar but strange. It's definitely different from what Frazil is used to. But the apartment blends a type of modern design with an old fashion flavor. Before Frazil can inspect her surroundings any closer a great sense of unease begins to wash over her. At first it just makes her feel uncomfortable, as if something were very wrong and she couldn't place her fingers on what exactly it might be. But before too long the sense of unease turns into a slight disarray and confusion. For a moment it is as if the world was spinning, and before she knows it, she's recovered, leaving behind only the previous sense of unease.

After the sense of confusion and unease, Frazil takes the few seconds needed to solidify her form, having become somewhat fuzzy while disoriented. She then moves very quickly, first to one room then the other seeking the washroom or kitchen. Either will work.

I can't believe I'm about to do this again. It's so gross, but I can't risk running through the streets looking like a freak in a world I don't understand. Plus, no one ever thinks about this escape route.

The first door she checks is the bedroom, and while there may be a washroom further in, she's pretty sure the kitchen will be on the other side. Instead of wasting time running through the bedroom in hope, she turns around and enters what turns out to be the kitchen.

Jackpot. She whispers to herself, running to the sink. It occurs to her that she actually is running, not hovering as she's used to, which is odd, but not something to think about right now.

She spins both knobs, turning the water on full blast and counts 5 seconds to give the clean water a head start. With a disgusted sigh, Frazil dives down the drain with a collection of clean water as a buffer, hoping to find a leaky pipe in the main line before she hits the sanitation pool.

In just under 2 mins, the only evidence of her intrusion, are 2 doors left open, and the kitchen faucet running full blast.

As frazil moves through the pipes and waters, this feeling of uneasiness grows a little. For just a tiny, brief, moment she feels almost panicked. The water in and around her feels foreign, different, tampered with. Just wrong somehow. Just a moment later she feels some sort of force pulling at her and before there is any time to figure out what it is Frazil alongside a bunch of both clear and muddy water come bursting out of a shower head. At first she is confused by the flow of water, afterall - water doesn't normally flow that way. If anything she should have ended somewhere underground in a sewer or filtration plant. The gasping yelp of a man demands for her attention, as the guy leaps out of his shower and covers himself in a towel. "Serah!" the man yells and storms out of the washroom, leaving behind a trail of water. "Serah! The shower broke again...! And this time there's bits of ice inside and the water is all cold!" he yells across the house. Fortunately for Frazil the man seemed too taken by surprise to have noticed her and has now left the room. A door can be heard down the hall, to the right of the washroom and the man and a woman are now arguing with one another.

WHAT... THE... FUCK?!? ... What kind of crazy world pulls their shower water from the sewage system?!? Yuck!

Frazil forms her humanoid shape and looks around trying to get her bearings. Apparently the drain escape isn't reliable here, which is just... EWWWW!

She doesn't want to deal with, or explain herself to the arguing couple so collects up as much water as she can handle from the running showerhead and pushes the bathroom window open a crack. There's no telling how high up she is, but... Here's hoping I don't die.

Frazil pushes the massive amount of water out in front of her, and then flows behind it, sliding down the side of the building. Her plan is to use the water in front of her as a splash buffer if the fall turns out to be too high.

The window opens just fine and Frazil jumps out of it, being too much in a hurry to check under her, rather than being discovered by the arguing couple. She can already hear the mans voice grow louder as he is apparently making his way back to the washroom. With an over-exaggerated splash Frazil awkwardly flops on the ground directly below the window. She's on ground level, and the fall surprisingly hurt which isn't something she is usually used to. She turns to look at the window which is less than a meter above her where a half naked plump man is leaning out and staring at her in utter confusion. After a brief silent moment shuts the window hastily and runs off. All Frazil can hear through the poorly insulated window is the man continuing to yell. "There is a burglar Serah! She tried to get into the window and she's all-"

Wasting no time Frazil checks her enviroment. She's in some back alley on ground level. It seems she is close to the ocean, made apparent by the salty cold breeze coming from west- down the alley. Behind her, past the house, seems to be a gate of sorts, with a small hut filled with what look to be guards. What's odd about them is their get up. They look like officials, but their uniforms are made out of less synthetic materials than she would have expected to see. Their attire consists of a basic vest padded vest and padded pants, alongside some various gear and equipment. Something you would expect from a slightly more armored version of a police unit. Although it seems that instead of their standart issue pistols, all of them carry swords. The guards look pretty occupied, and seem to be protecting some gate, which is open but heavily guarded. Although to her fortune, it doesn't seem like any of them notice- that is before the half naked man in his towel storms out the front door. Frazil can hear the man's loud voice from around the corner as he yells over to the officials. "Ey... Hello! There's a burglar in my house!" he yells and stomps off into view, but away from Frazil and the house as he makes his way to the guards. Moments later two, distant, explosions can be heard. Based on what Frazil remembers of her arrival it is likely that this meant that whoever was trying to clear that barricade had finally broken through, and she doesn't seem that far away from it.

Oww... wait... oww? Frazil looks up at the man in the window from her crab looking position on the ground, butt feet and hands all a little sore, then scans around the alley noticing a lot of really strange things.

Swords? Really? This place is weird.

She then attempts to flow up and into her statuesque form... the form happens, but the up does not. Her body seems to be solidifying for some reason, and she lets out an exasperated sigh. Great, I've gone from the queen of the waters to the princess of jello. She removes the fancy ice jewelry, and defaults her clothing to the form fitting uniform that Project Utopia supplied, frosting it to white, just in case she gets stuck this way. As an added precaution, she releases the backpack and water tank from their suspended states, and is now wearing them on her back, as would be expected of a human. Finally she frosts her hair to match her outfit, lets it fall in front of her face, and hopes that people will just assume she's obsessed with white.

Standing up, the hard way, there is at least some good news. The water splashed around the ground still follows her command to flow around her feet... and then more bad. The man in the towel is waving his bits around trying to get the attention of the guards.

Frazil quickly runs off in the other direction, turning toward the ocean as soon as possible. Hopefully she can find a place near it to hide while she figures out what is going on with her powers. Being near the large body of water if something goes wrong can't hurt either.

Frazil makes her way towards the ocean, arriving at the docks after a short jog. The docks seem pretty standart. Parts made of stone, others out of wood. There is one big ship, which looks rather old as if it were straight out of a history book, and a few smaller boats of varying forms and sizes. Despite the fact that it only seems to be late afternoon, there are no workers or civilians at the docks, aside from what looks like two guards on the bigger ship. There are some stone stairs built into the wall leading down to the harbor areas. There is a small shack on the far end of the dock but the lights are on inside, so someone is likely residing there. Other than the docks there are a pathways leading alongside the wall in each direction. To the north the path leads past a few houses to some sort of gap between the two districts, and to the south there are more buildings and a bend leading to more of the docks.

As she reaches the comfort of the ocean, Frazil is relieved to find that the harbor is mostly deserted. Her body has gradually started to ache more, and something is definitely wrong with her. She's having a hard time staying focused on the things around her, and has felt near fainting a couple times.

She heads straight for the water, putting a boat between her and the guards on the large ship, hoping they aren't paying too much attention. Once she reaches the water, she dives down under the row of ships and boats in the harbor, using the force of the water around to propel her 6 or 7 docks north of where she entered the water.

She surfaces directly under the wooden dock, and makes her way to the pillar closest to the shore, allowing for as little space between the water and the walkway as possible. Once there, she pulls her backpack off, in order to get 3 of the nylon zip-ties from it. Then, with the last of her willpower, causes a very small vortex of water, tightening it into a high speed coil, which she uses to drill a curved hole through the pillar, just under the water's surface.

After the hole has been created, she lets her control of the surrounding waters loose, her vision starting to blur. It takes a couple tries, but she finally manages to thread one of the zip-ties through the hole she drilled. Linking it end to end with another one, she loops them through the carry handle on the top of her backpack, and fastens it securely to the post, out of view of anyone not under the dock.

Finally, with her last dredges of energy, she slips her arms through the straps on the pack, and uses the third zip to loosely create a cross tie under her breasts, so that she is unable to slide out. As the darkness of sleep forces itself into her mind, she isn't 100% sure she'll be waking up. Something is seriously wrong with this world, and it has done something to her. She can feel it deep in her core, as though someone has pulled her soul out in order to paint it the wrong color.

The soft clashing of shallow waves are the first sound Frazil picks up as the water loosely sprays across her skin. The sensation of which is strange and foreign to her, but subtle and distant as she wakes slowly. The docks are cast in a strong orange light from the newly rising sun and the salted smell of the waves and the cool ocean breeze bring with them a misplaced but welcoming sweet scent with it. Upon first glance, everything is in order. She vaguely remembers her arrival in the foreign world. Her awkward escape to the docks, and she finds herself bound under the pier just as she had left herself. For one reason or another she feels incredibly hungry, but not overwhelmingly or exhaustively so. Her mind is a lot clearer, and her body feels refreshed, although her strained muscles ache a little and her skin feels a bit tender-
A sudden sense of realization hits her as she lays there...

Frazil looks down at her hands and begins to laugh out loud, almost hysterically so.

Well isn't this just icing on the big "Fuck you Frazil!" cake. I've spent the last 2 years with Nova specialists, both physical and mental, first to try to turn back, then to "come to grips with my situation"... she actually makes air quotes while talking to herself ... and now, here of all places, half of my powers get stripped and I revert.

She reaches behind her head, feeling for the zip-tie that's securing her backpack. Curling her thumb under it, she spaces her index finger just above the water level.  With a quick thought she makes a small ice scalpel between her fingers and pulls it through the nylon, slicing it cleanly and releasing herself to the water. Once free she swims along the dock to the shore, taking note of anything that would remind her of the location of her specially prepared post in case of need later.

Simultaneously she continues talking to herself. An observer might think she'd lost her mind, but then her tone might also portray the extreme frustration she's experiencing, and the need to vent would be understandable. If I were at home, I would be rejoicing, but no. I'm not at home. I'm in some fairy tale realm where my powers don't work right, I know absolutely no one, and I have to freaking WALK! She punctuates the end of that sentence by stomping up the shore, mentally commanding the water on her body to pool in her wake, leaving her dry as she exits the sea.

At first she wants to grab a bunch of it, out of habit... but wonders if, until she knows more about the world she's in, she probably shouldn't drag a bathtub worth of water through the streets. She finally settles on safety over stealth and reaches out with her hands, mentally extending their reach to grab the water. She turns toward the street that runs along the shore and trudges up to it, arms spread at her side and a large puddle flowing behind her.

As she does this, she realizes that there's some kind of conservation of energy going on that doesn't happen in her world. She actually has to physically work harder to pull the water up the hill, as though she were carrying it. However; she also seems to be getting "help" for lack of a better word from her Eufiber suit, lending her strength to move the water with.

Once she reaches the street, the water flows along the flat ground fairly easily, and the "help" from the suit reverses itself, restricting her movements just slightly. She knew the suit was a living thing, but apparently it's more aware than the "super moss" it was at home. She can only hope that it still has her interests at heart, since their bond doesn't seem to have been changed, and that, like at home, it's doing what it has to in order to make her powers work right.

Frazil looks around the harbor, expecting to see people begin arriving for work shifts as the light brightens. Having no real idea where to go from here, she breaks the nylon holding her pack straps together, and digs into it for a few energy bars. After returning the pack to her back, she stands there in a puddle of water, eating "breakfast" and trying to decide which direction to go. Her body is sore, but doesn't seem to have anything wrong with it, but she'd like to see a doctor anyway, just in case. It occurs to her that she kind of knows someone here. Doc Atrium... but has no idea how to find him.

With a sigh, and another bite of energy bar, she scans what she can see of the city, planning to head towards the "nicer" side of town and trying to figure out which way that is.

Frazil looks about the area and can see a few number of things. Firstly, there are indeed some people about. The figures guarding the big ship seem to have either left or gone below deck and a two fishers seem to be preparing their boats adjacent from each other, holding an inaudible conversation as they set things up. As well, a worker is sitting off the side of the dock, lazing off and enjoying some breakfast of his own. Judging by how close he was to Frazil's over-night camping spot, that must have been where the sweet smell came from. It's not very busy quite yet, but part of that might have to do with yesterdays events or not. Looking the other way she finds herself next to a building, one side of which leading to an alley and the other to a main road, both of which lead to the same area, which seems to be a market of sorts. There are a few people wandering around in the distance but generally speaking for a city it's quite empty, even at this time. Looking up to the north Frazil can see some worn down houses, similar to the one she found herself in yesterday, some even built ontop of one another. A mini-slum-subsection of sorts. And the exact other direction to the south are some pretty standart looking buildings and a big, tall, fence with what looks like a fancy manor behind.

Deciding that the most likely place to either find a doctor or be directed to one is the marketplace, that's the way Frazil goes. Besides, getting something other than energy bars to eat is probably a good idea. She knows she sticks out like a sore thumb, but at this point she's going to be pegged as a weirdo as soon as she opens her mouth anyway.

She raises the hood on her catsuit, hoping that her blue hair won't behave as a beacon for trouble, not that she's had any good luck so far. With a wry grin she whistles as though calling a dog and begins walking, her puddle running slightly in front of her so that she's always walking within it, but mostly flowing behind her like the shadow of an invisible bride's train.

Not much time passes before Frazil arrives at the market. The market itself is fairly devoid of people. There are only a few passerby's every now and again. Each too concerned with their own daily routine to pay her any attention. The market itself is quite large and features many stands, half of which seem to be either packed up or left with a guard or two to watch over it. The remaining stands that are open are heavily decorated with wares and attires and signs and tools and even some small work-areas. The people who run the stands are definitely here for the long run.

Analyzing the area also gives her a very vague idea of the world she is in. The buildings look fairly normal, from what you would expect in a village or town or any city without sky scrapers outside of downtown area. But the attire for most people are kind of all over the place. Just like the guards she had witnessed the other day, the people roaming the streets look like they're on coffee break during a renaissance fair or medieval festival. Clad in anything from linen, wool and cotton to synthetic polymers. Tunics, shirts, jackets, padded armors and hoodies. Which finally draws her attention to a large tent overshadowing many of the stands around it. There is a pretty wide entrance in her direction of the tent and inside seems to be a few tables and chairs, as well as a sort of bar or help desk. There is a collection of figures inside and plenty of commotion to go with it.

Finally, giving the area a last scan as she moves in closer, she sees a few street vendors selling foods on their carts, not unlike how you would see a hot dog stand in downtown New York. As well there seems to be an actual cafe or restaurant just off to the left side of the market, with a small fenced off area full of tables and seats and big glass windows inviting people for a look inside.

Hoping that some protein will help her muscle aches, she approaches one of the food carts that seems to be selling sandwiches. After browsing for a few minutes she asks about one that looks close enough to roast beef. How much for this one? When the stall owner says something about silvers and coppers, she assumes he's talking about dimes and pennies. It's a really odd way to phrase the price, but whatever. She pulls a dollar out of her bag and hands it to him.

The merchant looks at the odd piece of paper with a skeptical eye. "Yer pullin' my leg aren't you?" He laughs and then looks at her seriously. "Ok that's funny, but yer holdin' up the line, either pay for the food or move out the way."

Confused, Frazil responds, Umm, ok... but I don't have any coins on me, you don't take bills? The merchant looks at her like she's insulted him. "Do I look like a pub, lady? I don't run a tab, and I ain't no charity either. Get out of the way, there's payin' people behind you."

Still confused, Frazil steps aside and watches the next few transactions in order to figure out what the merchant was upset about. When she sees ACTUAL silver and copper coins being used to pay for things, she sighs and addresses the merchant once again. Uh, excuse me... I'm honestly not trying to be a bother, but I'm new to town, and don't have much to my name. Can you tell me where to find a real charity?

The man continues servicing other customers but throws Frazil a disgruntled look. "Can tell ye where to find charity, but not how." he says as he hands the next customer a pair of sandwiches in exchange for some silver pieces. "No matter how new ye are, would have done right hearing 'bout the trader's guild that runs the city. Their place'd be the Fortunes Pass, over at that fancy high-class district there." He loosely points past Frazil and the market to the fenced off area from earlier. "They usually don' just let anyone inside without a bit'ta business ta keep ye important enough to stroll around in there but ya never know." he finishes and gives her a dismissing shake of the head as the next customer approaches.

Trader's guild? Ok, thanks for the help. Frazil figures it's worth a try, hell maybe they'll have some busy work she can do for coin or something. She walks off in the direction the man indicated, searching for a gate to the fence, and maybe a sign confirming that this is indeed the Fortune's Pass.

Frazil makes her way through the market, only now getting some strange looks whenever people notice the water pooling and following behind her, but based on the expression on her faces they don't seem as much concerned as it just seems strange to them. Moments later Frazil arrives at the fenced wall. It's a dark stone wall with a metal fence sticking out the top. Pretty standard stuff. Evidently, just a little ways down the wall to the center of the market seems to be a stair way and upon approaching it she comes across a plaque on the wall with a simple but eye-pleasing design and a caption reading "Business Residential District". Naturally, regardless of being considered the High-Class District, it wouldn't be very wise to distinguish the social classes more than they already are, so apperantly that is the name they chose for themselves. At the top of the stairs are two guards in the same type of clothing as the ones from the day prior. They are standing on each side of the staircase from one another, both lost in their own thoughts. The buildings on the other side of the wall already look much more well built, and maintained. They have properly tiled roofs and a good, clean, apperance. Plenty of trees, gardens, and greens and small fences around most houses, all of which are rather large. Family homes, and designer houses. Off to the left of the stairs Frazil can see a large and very wide building, casting a stark contrast to the rest of the city with large pillars and a very gothic design, and big orange banners draped off it. Clearly an important building, but quite a distance away. One of the guards finally notices Frazil standing there and nods at her. Unsure whether she is planning on approaching here or just stopped for the moment.

Frazil returns the guard's nod, as though she has every right to be there. Good morning! Would one of you fine gentlepersons please point me in the direction of the Fortune's Pass? This is my first time here and I have no idea where I'm going.  She laughs. They just drop me in the middle of a foreign city and expect me to figure out where everything is. That's my luck.

"New, huh? From the east? But strange, you don't have an accent. You must be from that group of mages that recently came down from Global, I assume." The guy says, taking note of the animated puddle of water. He turns towards the big building. "Trader's Guild officials are in that big building back there. Just follow this road past the fork, but don't go down the slope to the right, it brings you to the residential area." he explains, all in a friendly tone. Neither of the guards seem disturbed by her strange attire or discoloured hair, or for that matter the pool of water. "And a fine day to you, as well" he adds, noticing his rude behavior only moments after. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

No, I believe I'm good. Thank you. Frazil gives a slight wave to the other guard on her way by and strides purposefully according to the directions given. Once reaching her destination, she quickly scales the stairs and passes through the door. However; as soon as she does she drops the confident demeanor and begins, yet again, looking for a sign that might explain the layout of the building.

Why do I have to keep asking people for directions? Can't these people write?!? She intentionally allows her actual state to put a lost and confused look on her face, just in case there isn't a sign, someone will hopefully see her and approach with more information.

The entrance of the building is quite large, with several big double doors leading into a big entrance hall. There are many people about, all wearing finely maintained suits and fancy garbs and robes, and a lot of them carrying various amounts of papers back and forth. Everyone seems quite in a hurry aside from a few people standing about and holding a conversation next to a large stairway that climbs the room in a square ascend to the next floor. The place looks rather expensive, with fancy pillars, marble flooring and paintings on the walls. In the middle of the entrance hall is a big statue of a woman holding up some scales with both hands, as if she was praising them in a way. And there are orange banners everywhere with a chain linking together two different emblems. Plenty of guards stand about in the hall and two pairs of guards are patrolling across the wide room. One pair heading down the stairs and the other up the stairs.

A rather hurried fellow pushes past Frazil to get into the room, mumbling something about statistics to himself and catches the attention of one of the guards, handing her a document and pointing at one of the many doors in the building. The female guard looks around, notices Frazil, her gaze staring at the ground beneath her and then back at the apparently distressed man. She points him in the direction of her partner who steps in and takes the document from her, after which she gives a very brief bow and excuses herself. The guard makes her way over to Frazil, cautious but not worried. "Excuse me Ma'am, can I help you?-" She asks, but before letting Frazil answer she looks nervously at the pool of water below her. "I noticed your... water stuff... I'm not trying to be rude but I'll have to ask you not to cast any protraction while in the Fortune's Pass, we don't allow that here." she says. Judging by the expression on her face she's clearly not comfortable pointing that out to Frazil but neither her stance nor her words seem hostile in any way.

Ah! Looking towards the puddle of water, she motions her hands as though shooing a small dog away from her, the water sliding back out to the first step. Frazil then dramatically waves both hands to the right, sending the water off the side of the steps so as not to get anyone wet, then releases her hold on the liquid. Afterwards, she turns back to the guard.

Sorry about that. I was unaware. And yes, you probably can help me. I'm actually new to the city, but would like to speak to whomever is the representative of whatever local charity handles food distribution to the poor, I would like to volunteer my time. I was directed by a nice gentleman in the market. He said I would find them here?

The guard flashes a relieved smile as Frazil disposes of the water. Upon hearing out her question she ponders for a moment. "Charity?" After a little moment she crosses her arms and shifts her weight a little. "I mean... Now that I think of it there's a lot of charity here and there, but you are referring to Lady Keil? If so I don't think shes in today. Last I heard she was heading out to the Duke's castle, but its rare that visitors are allowed there..." Her face shifts between a worried expression to a puzzled one. "I'm sorry, im not sure I can help with that. But if you don't mind waiting a little, I can get someone who can help you out, ma'am." she says politely and waits for a response.

Oh, sure. I'll wait. Frazil looks around for seating. Umm... where?

The guard looks about for a moment, and then points to one of the few benches standing about the place. This particular one is next to one of the entrance doors, below a window. "Just right over there is fine. I shouldn't take too long." she says and parts ways with Frazil, who then makes her way to the bench to wait. The guard returns to her partner guard and gestures to him while talking. Frazil can't make out more than a loose motion of waves and a circle she makes with her hands around her.  She nods at the man and he nods back at her and the two part ways as the woman Frazil spoke to makes her way back up the stairs, and the other guy continues down the hallway, directing the still distressed nobleman.

Taking the womans advice Frazil waits at the bench for a little while, simply observing her surroundings. Things seem a bit chaotic, but not any more than she would expect from at home, with accountants and merchants rushing back and forth and consulting each other on papers.

...

Some time passes, and Frazil is still waiting at the bench, aware that probably a good hour has passed and the guard has yet to return. Most of the big hall has cleared of people, leaving only a few here and there. Most of the room only consists of guards, which makes things a little awkward.
Yet more time passes, and at this point Frazil is starting to get pretty fed up with waiting, though no guard patrols have come by for at least 10 or 20 minutes.

The heavy doors next to Frazil open inward, catching her attention as she is directly next to them.  A woman clad in an sort of armored robe and a witches hat storms into the hall, stopping right behind the door as it closes by itself. For whatever reason Frazil can feel a strong magical presence coming from the girl.
Her clothing is rather fancy, but not in a posh way, more in a "I'm a mage" kind of style and a rattling chain is hanging from her hat, with some strange glowing spherical amulet attached to it. The girl is easily recognized by Frazil from the events yesterday, when she came into this world. It is none other than the girl the Doctor and Airgetlam were with- the one caught in the impact. Fortunately she seems fine, and rather fired up. She flattens out her combat-robe-tunic-thingy and strides purposefully towards one of the few remaining people. Apperantly they know each other as she initiates a conversation with him by calling out his name. "Sir Julian." she says, calling out to him from across the room. "Where can I find Ms. Keil? I need to speak to her." she continues but eventually walks out of hearing range.