A young man walked amongst the market place of this strange city.  The buildings were built in a variety of styles, and the whole place was constructed with ropes and pulleys with a large element of verticality.  Not to mention the city constantly moved.  It stood on legs, and every so often you could feel the rumble of the city taking another step.  Hiro heard it used to be ruled over by some God, but he didn't know the specifics of the story.

Hiro, the Phoenix Knight-in-training, walked from stall to stall, wearing a hooded cloak over his crimson armor.  He stepped with purpose, looking through each stall and asking for a very specific kind of item.  He didn't know if it'd work, even if he found the item he wanted, though.  He needed some sort of scrying device or something similar.  A powerful one.  One perhaps that could look between worlds, if such a device existed.  He didn't know if a scrying device could do that, or how powerful one would be to do that.  But he wanted to find his father, if he was in this world, a simple one would probably do, but if he was somewhere else, what device could locate him?  Would someone here have what he wanted?  Could he find out what happened to his father?

The streets of Hoja Mesto hadn't changed, yet Moliira saw many new sights as she walked.  It was good to be in the mortal realm, and there was a manuscript she wanted to find.  This city was the best place for that chance, though Moliira knew there was a chance she wouldn't find it.  But she had to try.  Her sister was seeking the same thing in Wyllmochvar, and Yazaere had wanted to see more of the world as well. 

Then a familiar smell crossed her nose, and Moliira smiled.  She was curious what he was doing here, and there was an easy way to find out.  For once, she didn't feel like trying to trick it out of the young man.  "Greetings again, young man.  It is good to see you, Hiro.  You have the look of a seeker.  Mind if I ask what for?" she asked, slipping up beside him while he was between stalls.  There was purpose to his movements, and he wasn't pausing for pleasantries.  Perhaps she could help, something about the young Kouen intrigued her, and Moliira was curious to see just where his path was leading.

Hiro heard the voice of a woman speaking to him, breaking him out of the heavy reverie he was in.  The thoughts of his father, his mother.  They all vanished when he stepped through a portal that he only vaguely remembers stepping into.  He tried to remember that day, but something kept muddling the memories.  He turned to see Lady Moliira speaking to him.

"Oh!  M'lady, I'm sorry I didn't see you there, I was heavily in thought as you could tell.  Yes, I am looking for something.  I was looking for a scrying device.  But I have a feeling such a device may not exist strong enough to find what I'm actually looking for.  I'm looking for a means to an end.  I came not from this world I now inhabit, I come from another world, and I realize now that this world existed parallel to Revaliir somehow.  All I remember of the last time I was in that old world was that it was around my sixteenth birthday, and I wished to go out into the world to seek my fortune.  What came next is very hazy in my memory.

"I remember father bringing me to a portal, and I stepped through it, and ended up in the rain forest here in Revaliir.  I'm looking for my Father, my Mother.  I'm looking for my family.  I want to know the whole story of what just happened.  If something happened in that world, is he still alive?  Is he here too?  I don't know what happened.  So I thought to find a scrying device that would show me him, but if he's in the other world still, I'm afraid a regular scrying device wouldn't show me anything."  Hiro scratched his head.  He hoped that Moliira, who his father knew, would understand what he was saying, and be able to help him understand what happened to that other world, or explain what happened to his father.  "I haven't shown it much, but I miss my family, I miss Father and Mother.  Kakou, the Phoenix he kept.  Our dragon friend Ryuujin.  I miss Ember too.  That was our dog.  I just miss everyone.  You knew him at one point, so that's why I feel I can trust you, Lady Moliira."  She didn't have to work hard to get out what was troubling him, all she had to do is ask, and he was willing to tell her.  One thing that Hiro inherited from his father was honesty, and being talkative.

The drow nodded, listening to the young man silently, assessing her options.  She knew of the world they had both come from, and Moliira did find it strange that his father had not passed through as well.  "I did know your father.  He is a good man.  I can understand why you would miss him.  Finding him though…" Moliira said, her voice trailing off.  Now that would be an interesting exercise in her abilities, seeing just how far she could stretch herself.  Perhaps that alone would be worth it.  And she was curious to see just what had happened.  "I know a little of scrying.  One of my priests knows more.  But I know he will need a few things from this city to bolster his abilities.  Come," she said, before turning and headed for another of the markets.  Moliira figured that was enough to tell Hiro she would help him.

The market she sought was in a slightly shadier part of Hoja Mesto, but Moliira knew it was the easiest place to get what her priest needed.  "When I left that world, my realm there was beginning to crumble.  I do not know what we will find of your father… but I know him, he and your mother have found a way to survive.  It is a matter of finding that way," she said before stopping in front of a cart covered in dried herbs.  She and the cart-keeper started a swift round of haggling, and in the end Moliira gave up a bracelet of iron and lapis to the vendor.  But there was a satisfied smile on Moliira's face.  "These herbs will open the mind, and allow us to track your father down.  My priest knows how to guide us, and he is coming here.  I know a safe place within this city," she explained, before leading Hiro to another part of the city.

It was quieter here, and there were strange trees growing from the dirt made of ground stone.  Some had needles of purple, others had leaves the color of ash.  But there were birds singing in the trees, lending the strange grove a tranquil air.  "Stay there for a moment, Hiro.  I need to protect us," she said, waiting until the young man was in place.  She walked in a circle around him, casting salt down in Drowish runes.  The circle would also serve to shroud them from curious eyes, which could be dangerous in multiple ways.  Sitting cross legged on the ground, Moliira looked to Hiro.  "Tell me, have you ever done a spirit-walking ritual?" she asked, although she knew the likely answer already.

The Goddess listened to what he had to say, she seemed to be pondering how hard it would be to find his location.  She came up to a decision, and said she would help him if he followed her.  "Thank you, I appreciate any help you can offer."  He followed her as she explained that the realm was beginning to crumble when they left.  He tried to remember what he could of what happened, and his memories were coming up blank.  "I hope they're still alive.  But I just don't remember everything that happened.  Like there's holes in my memories of what happened prior to and upon entering a portal here."  He scratched his head quizzically.  Moliira came to a vendor who was selling all kinds of herbs, and she haggled for a bunch of them, giving up a bracelet for them.

They came to another section of the city, Hiro stared at the strangely colored leaves of the trees that dotted the area.  Some were pine trees with purple needles, others had ashen colored leaves.  He followed her directions, staying in the spot she requested of him.  Hiro shook his head at her question.  "I'm sorry to say I have not.  I imagine there will be some risk in something like this?  If my father's in trouble, I'll do whatever it takes to help him and the rest of my family.  I risk my life for strangers all the time.  This is for my family."  He watched as the Goddess started putting salt and Drowish runes down in a circle around him, before sitting cross legged on the ground.  Something told him he was due for one wild ride with this.

The holes in his memory were curious, but not uncommon.  It did make Moliira wonder if the boy had a doppelganger here somewhere, a person like him he had not yet met.  But that was an investigation for another day.  Was there another Sabishii here too?  She doubted it, that would likely be a person she had beard of before now.  "You are far from the only one with those holes.  There seems to be little reason for who remembers what.  Some people from our old home remember everything, people with no doppelganger find themselves with memories missing.  It is strange.  I am lucky, in a manner.  I remember both lives," she said.  There were times it was more of a curse, knowing the acts of that other, darker self.  But there were other times that the memories were quite useful.

Once she finished drawing the runes in salt, her priest appeared.  Xarann had been born a second son, deemed worthy only as a sacrifice by the matriarchal drow society.  His older sister had smuggled him out, and he been trained in an outcast town near the surface.  His ghostly gray eyes peered at Hiro, but he said nothing, instead turning to Moliira and bowing to her.  "This place is good.  But I must ask, why him?  He is not even of our blood," he asked.  She only glared for a moment, but decided to answer his question anyway.  "His father did me a favor once.  It is time I repay that," Moliira said.  The male drow nodded, then accepted the bundle of herbs from her. 

Moliira sat next to Hiro while her priest started singing in the Drow tongue as he spread the smoke from the herbs around them.  The language was beautiful in its own way, but harsh and eerie.  If Hiro had heard much Elvish, he would almost recognize some of it, but Moliira's people had twisted the language to better suit them.  "The runes will hide us from unwanted eyes.  And the smoke gives us a beacon of sorts, a way to find this place again while we look for your father," Moliira explained in a soft voice.  It was better that Hiro knew what was going on, trying to calm a panicking human tended to annoy her.  Once the smoke wafted around them, Xarann set the smudge of herbs on a silver plate, sat down to complete the circle, and put the plate in the center.  "Breath in the smoke, and focus on the man you wish to find.  Think back to the last time you saw him, and tell us.  Every detail, sounds, smells, sensations, everything will help.  She will do the rest," the priest said to Hiro, then closed his eyes.

Hiro listened to what Lady Moliira said.  She told him how some people had lost memories, while others remember everything.  Hiro knew that some people from the other realm had dopplegangers, while others didn't.

"You . . . remember both lives?  Sounds odd, having lived two lives.  I'm not sure whether that is a blessing or a curse.  If your double did things you yourself would never do, I imagine that'd be hard.  Like if I or my father had a double here, and they were murderers, thieves, anything like that, that'd be horrible.  But I've met very few people who knew of my father.  Lady Angela knew him, you did too.  Lady Dalanesca said the name sounded familiar.  There was that swordsman guy with the big sword, he seemed suspicious, he seemed to know my name, but claimed not to.  They're all people that came from my original world."

HIro watched and waited as Mollira, and now her priest, Xarann, started their preparations for the ritual they were about to perform.  He could pick up parts of elven in the language they were speaking, but it sounded.  He could tell it was Drow, his parents had taught him Elven, but he only knew limited bits of the Drow dialect.  They had also taught him how to speak and read from draconic runes.  "Okay, I'm ready for what is to come.  He took a deep breath of the smoke and closed his eyes."  He started thinking back on his father, Sabishii Kouen, the Phoenix Knight, he tried to remember what happened the day the world ended . . .

—-

I see my father.  I remember my birthday.  We had cake.  Everyone was happy.  Dad was smiling happily, he was always cut a dashing figure, with his exotic brown and red hair, with a sprinkling of silver in it.  Mom never seemed to age though.  She had dark, raven hair, and a curvy figure.  I can smell the candles and the cake.  My friends were around the dinner table.  It wasn't a big party, I didn't have a lot of friends, but the few I had were nice people.  My dog Ember was there, she was really excited and happy, her tail was wagging like crazy.

I got a shiny new sword from Dad, a sword he forged himself.  Mom got me a tabard, the one I wear now, the one with the Phoenix on it.  She said it was important to Dad that I represent our family well.  She said I was growing up a good boy, and that I was almost a man.  Later, I remember telling Dad I want to explore the world, and make my own name.  He seemed a little reluctant, but he said he had to talk to Mom about it.  I went to bed, hopeful he would give me the answer I was looking for.

The next day, I remember waking up alerted by a catastrophe.  The ground was shaking like the most violent earthquake ever imagined.  There was a loud shout from outside.  I got out of bed, and hurried to find my Dad outside.  The sky was lit as if it was on fire. Trees were being uplifted, the ground was cracking.  The world was falling apart and crumbling.

"What's going on?  What's happening?"  I was very confused, lightning streaked across the burning sky, all the buildings around us were crumbling in our town.  Dad had grabbed my belongings, he looked very worried.  He thrust my clothing and my equipment into my hands.

"Son, you have to listen to me.  Please.  Long story short, you're about to get your wish.  There's little time to explain, but the old Gods have fallen.  The world is changing.  You have to get out of here quickly, I'll be right behind you.  We're bringing you somewhere else, a new home, a new world,"  he responded with a struggling voice.  But I was still confused, I didn't see Mom anywhere.

"Where's Mom?  How did the Gods fall?  Is . . . is the world ending?"  Dad looked pained, looking down.  I thought I saw tears freely flowing down his cheeks.

"She . . . she's gone.  But I'm afraid I don't know where she ended up.  I'm sorry, Hiro.  I've failed as a husband, I failed as a protector of this realm, an Avatar and Guardian, but I won't fail as a father.  I couldn't protect her, but I'll protect you."  I felt confused, and I remember my eyes tearing up.  The ground shook violently, nearly knocking me off my feet, but Dad caught me.  He hugged me closely.  "Please, Son, Hiro, listen to me.  No matter what happens, your mother and I still love you, no matter where you end up, I'll be looking after you.  You'll take the mantle of Phoenix Knight after me, Hiro Kouen."  The world continued to crumble around us, I held him closely, both of us were crying.  Was this the end of the world?  Was I going to die?  If I was going to die, at least Dad was with me.  A heard and felt loud surge of energy behind me.  I turned around to see a portal open up behind me.  I got pushed backwards by my father.  He pushed me into the portal, I fell, reaching upwards, I tried to grab onto something, to grab onto him.  I could see meteors raining down behind my father, explosions, then the ground crumbled beneath him, he fell forward towards the portal as it started to close around him.  I had no strength in my muscles, I had no magic to do anything.  He fell into the void as I did.

"Dad!  No!!" I cried out into the void.  I could see my father disappearing into the distance, but I could hear one last thing before I blacked out.

"Grow strong, son.  One day, you can find me if we both survive.  If not, I love you, son.  Always"

—-

Hiro opened his eyes, his voice was hoarse from speaking so long.  There were tears flowing down his face.  The gravity of the situation hit him.  His world ended.  His father was either dead, or lost in the void.  He didn't know which.  His mother was lost too, maybe she was trapped in the void, or maybe she ended up somewhere else.  He didn't know, and his father didn't know either.

"It is some of both.  But I will not trouble you with my darker self.  We have your father to find," Moliira said, and that was the only insight she offered the young Kouen to who she had been here.  The smell of incense wrapped around the trio, and the sounds of the city grew muted as the priest's chanting continued.  Moliira nodded to Hiro an encouraging smile on her face.  While she wasn't overly find of Sabishii's sometimes overzealous means, he would be a valuable ally, and certainly someone welcome on this world.

The memories were a bit difficult to sort through for her, since they were not her own, but Moliira knew what she was looking for.  Her mind latched onto Sabishii's voice, the faint traces of scent still on the tabard that Hiro wore, the sight of a man she had fought once and come to admire, and the heat of the world's end.  It was all there, and from those memories, Moliira cast a subtle spell.  A shimmering length of magecraft, looking like fine spidersilk, settled around Hiro's image of his father, then around Hiro just as the young man opened his eyes.  "I've bound you to your memories of your father.  And that is what we will use to find Sabishii," she said, before speaking a chant of her own. 

A translucent gateway opened in the space between the three, a soft shade of gray that was only half visible in the shade of the grove.  A third strand of spell-web went from the young Hiro to the gateway, and Moliira nodded in satisfaction.  There was only one more tie to make so they could search for Sabishii.  She tied the last strand to Xarann, who nodded once to her.  Everything was ready.  Moliira stepped through, a hand on Hiro's arm to guide him through the gateway.

But what greeted her eyes was the last thing she expected.  They were in a large cave of some kind, filled with cube shaped glass cells.  The cells were filled with mist, and dark shapes that were not moving.  "Where in Onnan's name are we?.." Moliira muttered to herself, voice trailing off as she moved between the cells.  This place didn't make sense to her.  Until she peered more closely into one of the cells, and found a face staring back at her.  There was a plaque on the dais, and it read like a zoo exhibition.  "Hiro… I think your father is in one of these cells," she murmured.

Hiro pondered on what Moliira said about her "darker" self, it was better not to question it.  Some things were better off not questioned.  He would leave it at that.  He'd not ask any further.

Hiro found himself wiping his eyes off when Moliira opened up some kind of gateway, which Moliira was ready to guide himself through.  He steeled himself and took a moment to gain his composure.  He entered the portal with her, and found himself somewhere else, in a large cave, filled with glass cubes with plaques marking them.

". . . The hell is this?  It's like a zoo, or a laboratory.  Someone could be showing off a collection . . . of people and creatures.  Or they could be experimenting on them.  I have no idea.  Where is this?  Is this place on Revaliir?"  There were so many questions he hand, but then Lady Moliira told him that his father was likely in one of those cells.  "You know what?  It really doesn't matter why they are really here, but we need to find Dad, free him, free the rest of these prisoners, and find the bastard who would dare make my father and all these people into zoo animals!  I'm sure you agree that people don't deserve to be treated like a . . . spectacle.  It might draw out whoever is responsible for this."  He drew his blade from the sheath on his belt and shattered a hole through the nearest glass case with a two handed blow.

The sight of all those cells made her blood boil.  "No, we are not on Revaliir.  Where we are precisely, I am not sure.  But we should find your father and leave as soon as possible," Moliira said, her voice low as she scanned the cells.  She was searching for guards, sentinels, anything that might be keeping a watchful eye on this strange place.  It was making the hairs of the back of her neck stand on end, she did not like how quiet it was in the strange cave.  "Mark this place well, it is our way home.  Xarann will keep the gate open until we return.  And yes, we should free as many as possible.  Hoja Mesto is the perfect place for people to enter our home," she said, her voice still low but determined.

She left Hiro, turning to other cells, studying the inscriptions.  There was one that caught her eye, and she used the pommel of her blade to smash the glass.  A fragile looking creature slithered through the broken glass, its quicksilver eyes shimmering in the low light of the cave.  The snake-like elemental coiled around her arm, clearly weakened from its time in the cage.  But it knew her for a friend, and Moliira smiled.  She wondered just what or who else they would find here.