New World, New Problems (Open)

[shiningdrake]

Drake looked around him. Was this.... a Japanese shrine? Hm. He then realized something... His power was gone! No, he still had some, just not much compared to what he'd had before. Still, it wasn't really normal for this to happen just traveling between worlds. Perhaps something about this world sealed his power while he was here? He focused on trying to get back where he was before. Nothing happened. He thought to himself So, now I'm stuck here, with no idea what's around, and none of my friends to help me. Again. He sighed, and said aloud "Why does something always have to go wrong?"

[recon5]

Carlos floated gently towards the ground. He'd had the time to improve his flight control quite a bit since he first arrived in Gensokyo and he could now make precise movements without having to concentrate at all.

It was curious, though, how easy flying was in this place. From what he'd seen and experienced he knew that magic was involved, but the stories he'd read as a child depicted magic as something that was tiring to use or that would injure the user if used continuously. Clearly this place was different from any fantasy land in the old stories.

The shrine had seemed deserted when he was higher up, but as he got closer to the ground he spotted the large man standing in the courtyard. The man's clothes (especially the cape) made Carlos believe that he was not from the regular world, or at least not from the same time period. Then again, something told Carlos that the man was not from this world either. Perhaps he too had come in from the outside and needed help to get around. Carlos decided to approach the man and ask him about himself, so he walked over to where the man was standing.

[shiningdrake]

Drake noticed a man... Flying through the air? He didn't have wings or anything like that either. Well, that obviously meant some form of magical or psychic power. The man was walking towards him, didn't appear hostile either. Drake asked the man, "Excuse me? Where am I? And how were you flying just now? Are you some sort of mage?" He paused, and then said "Sorry for all the questions, I'm..."

He paused yet again. He doubted saying he was from another world would quite sound sane, and he didn't want to bother with the trouble that might happen. "I'm not from around here." he finished weakly. He really needed to learn how to make better excuses or something. "Er, anyway, my name is Drake, what's yours?" He almost winced at how bad he was at talking with people. Gah! I can never seem to figure out quite what to say... he thought to himself.

[recon5]

Carlos gave the man the best smile he could muster. "Seer, actually. Like a fortune teller... although I can't really tell fortunes here as something seems to be distorting the future." He put his hand on his crystal ball, which had moved in front of him. "As you can see, I'm more like a mage in this place. I too have no idea of how I was able to fly but from what I've seen most of the people here can do it. Perhaps you just need to concentrate on the idea of flying."

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Alright, introductions. Drake, right? You can call me Carlos. I'm not from this world either. I'm here because someone pulled me here for a reading, but as I mentioned earlier I can't see the future properly at the moment. I managed to find out about someone who could possibly send me home and I came here to look for her."

[shiningdrake]

"Ah, I see..." Drake replied to the man's talk about being a fortune teller. That was interesting. Magic was that commonplace? Well, different worlds did work differently. He was rather surprised however, when the man said he wasn't from this world either "Really!?" Drake asked him. He thought for a moment. "Is there anything else I need to know about this world you can tell me? It seems different from any other I have been too."

Drake winced. He had pretty much given away that he wasn't ordinary. Well, either that, or Carlos would think him insane. Well, if he noticed. Then something else registered in his mind "Wait... Someone who could help you leave?" he asked. "Do you know where she is? I'd like to see if she might know something herself..."

[recon5]

Carlos raised his palms and his crystal ball floated up a little as if copying him. "Whoa! Slow down a little... I'm working off secondhand knowledge myself but the one who can help us is apparently called 'Reimu', she's supposedly the caretaker of this shrine and of a 'border' between this world and my own, and she might be able to help me get across. That's what I've been told."

He lowered his hands. "However... it doesn't seem like she's around at the moment. Perhaps we'll just have to wait for her to come here or something. As for what you need to know about this world..." He looked up and around. "Magic seems to be like a law of nature here. Everyone I've seen can at least use some magic and many of the... uh, animals seem to be able to do so as well. You'd best learn to use it as soon as possible and fortunately it seems to be a lot easier to do than back where I'm from."

[shiningdrake]

"Reimu?" Drake repeated back. He then became lost in thought for a bit, not noticing the Carlos's reply, or if he even made one. Well, whatever this world was, it was definitely similar to Japan in more than its architecture, it was similar in its naming practices. Then again, this was probably only one region. Perhaps this was an alternate history of his world? But wait, there was no usable ambient magical energy in his world! An alternate history path didn't change the rules of that reality. It was probably only coincidence then, in addition to the possibilities of each world being incredible, the possibilities of different ones were as well.

However, a world that even the power of Light had difficulty getting into... This was strange. Nothing in the immediate area seemed to be pure evil, nor did it seem at all distorted, so he didn't think that Darkness had interfered. His senses from his power weren't dulled that much that he would be unable to detect it. What could this be...?

Drake shook his head. Speculation such as this was pointless. He couldn't do anything about it, nor try to figure something out without better explanation.

He did begin thinking however, after Carlos said how magic was like a law of nature here, how rare such a world as this was. In many worlds, even ones with magic, summoning a simple ball of light was enough to impress people. That gave Drake an idea of something to do to get his mind back off of all this. A single ball of energy formed at his fingertips, showing as multi-colored light and then he sent it dancing through the air around both him and Carlos, splitting over and over again, filling the air before exploding into harmless fireworks. Drake said "Trust me, I'm no stranger to magic, at all." He then realized something, and said "However, the magic around here seems... Different than what I'm used to."

It was true. This world certainly felt different than any other he had been to. Not distorted by evil, certainly, but still, different... Filled with magical energy, but not quite... What was this world? Drake quite simply couldn't figure it out.

[recon5]

Carlos was just a little startled by the fireworks. He managed to keep from flinching but then he noticed his crystal ball nuzzling against his chest as if seeking protection. He sighed and wrapped his arms around it, reminded yet again that he still had to improve his control over the thing. It seemed to be responding to subconscious thoughts and instincts as well as proper direction, which might prove to be dangerous in a heated battle.

He looked up at Drake. "You seem to be quite... powerful. I haven't seen anything like that back in my own world. Well, I've seen a lot of things that look like that but they tend to be illusions or other tricks of sight." The crystal ball seemed to have calmed down a bit by then and so Carlos released it, thinking it strange that the orb seemed to have a mind of it's own despite being fully slaved to his thoughts. Perhaps there was a part of him that even he had yet to discover.

Then he brought his mind back to the conversation. "My powers have changed as well. As I said, I used to be able to see the future and to some extent I still can, but something about this land has given me abilities that I've never had before." He pointed to the crystal ball, which did a little loop just above his finger. "For one thing, this wasn't half as lively before I got here."

[shiningdrake]

Drake replied to what Carlos said in the order he said it."It is sort of an illusion, in that it can't harm you, I suppose you could say. Well, not that one, I made it to be completely harmless." And then... He gave up all pretense of trying to be even ordinary here, he was sick of it. He also didn't think that Carlos would think he was insane. They were already talking about moving between worlds after all.

"The power I'm wielding right now isn't really changed from what I normally have, not that I can tell yet. I seem to just have less of it, strangely. That doesn't normally happen when I go to another world. Neither does being trapped in it..." he sighed again. He wondered how the seer would react.

[Augen]

Augen had been walking for a while now, suprised at how long the path he followed had been. As he crossed a large bridge he could just barely see his destination, what his employer referred to as "Hakurei Shrine". But as he got closer he realized that this shrine was not empty, as he had hoped it would be. Two males, seemingly human, stood in the courtyard.

As the naturally cautious type he was, Augen was quick to guess that these men were either guardians or thieves, and made a dash for a nearby toro to hide behind. Reaching into his coat for his pistol, he looked through the opening in the toro at the two unidentified subjects, unsure as to whether or not he had been seen already... But hoping that he was prepared for either case.

[shiningdrake]

Drake noticed a man in brown clothes walking towards them. Suddenly, he darted to hide behind... A stone lantern? Drake called out to him, slightly confused "Er, what are you doing behind there?" He hoped the man wasn't hostile. He tried to look non-threatening, while he prepared to dodge any sort of attack that would come his way.

[recon5]

A stranger? Carlos kept himself from turning to look in case whoever it was interpreted it as him preparing to attack. Drake certainly seemed to have gotten his guard up, so Carlos moved his crystal ball to a point where he felt it would block any attacks from the direction of the toro and a magical shield shimmered into being around it, large enough to cover him from head to foot.

[Augen]

Augen rolled about ten feet from the toro into a standing position, his pistol pointed readily at the one who called out to him. "Heheh... I wasn't told there would be anyone else here," he said, looking back and forth between them, his revolver shaking nervously in his hand. He found the fact that one of them seemed indiferrent to be very intimidating. "...Um, is it just you two? Or is the maiden of the Shrine here as well?"

[shiningdrake]

The strange man darted out from behind the lantern. Wait... "Why are you pointing a gun at me?!" Drake asked, surprised. He heard the man say "I wasn't told there would be anyone else here" He didn't appear sane. Drake replied to him anyway "That's no reason to randomly point weapons at people!" He wasn't sure if it would come to a fight yet, but he began chanting a spell... during the casting, he heard the man ask "...Um, is it just you two? Or is the maiden of the Shrine here as well?"

Drake finished his protect spell which would keep the man from doing much damage if he did attack, "It's just us here. I don't have any idea where she is. I would like to talk with her as well."

[recon5]

Drake seemed to have set up some protection for them so Carlos lowered his own shield. He hadn't believed for a second it would have done any good, but it was all he had at the time. He turned to face the newcomer, keeping his crystal ball in the same position in case he had to fight.