The books Heaven sees are hardcover and don't show any signs of titles or cover illustrations. Also, all of them are closed. The feathers look more like something feathery exploded in front of the gate. That's it for that part. Maybe the objects could even be considered some sort of strange and out-of-place decoration?
As soon as she crosses the entrance, it's as though the surroundings shift once again. A loud clang of metal falling echoes through the corridor--for now what lies in front of Heaven is a wide and dimly-lit hallway that somehow reminds her of the Clocktower's hallways, but lined with ancient pillars. If she were to turn around now, she'd find her exit blocked by the now-closed gate, which is impossible to see through as once again the fog gathered thickly on the outside. The only way is forward. To where, it cannot be known yet, as the heatless torches on the walls have only lit up in the area that directly surrounds the mage. Further ahead only darkness is visible.


Jenny sees that the few tiny books (the equivalent of stones on a path?) lying around can indeed be opened, although they're full of blank pages and have no title. Strangely enough... as soon as she thinks of something, it quickly appears illustrated on the blank page she looked at. Other than that, the pages that make up the path itself contain nothing but unreadable text: garbled letters mixed with symbols and accents and no pattern of consistent capitalization, all arranged into the neatest sort of lines and paragraphs  one would expect to find in a printed book. Trying to decipher the meaning of the "words" on the pages would be a futile endeavor.


Not sure how far up Lianhuan went, but it was enough for the rest of the faraway silhouettes to reveal themselves. The outline of the town and large temple building are now visible to him. As well as the endless expanse of ripe wheat fields bathed in violet starlight, with tiny paths that led to nowhere winding their way as they, too, strayed from the main book page road.  From this point of view Jenny is visible, her presence standing out amidst the strange scenery.

Jenny frowned, turning a few pages of the book, then looking at another one. She was so busy looking through them she didn't notice Lianhuan at first.

Indeed, reacting upon instinct Jenny immediately, swung her broomstick around to smack away whatever had been thrown at her, sending it shooting back to Lianhuan like a baseball. "Oh, it's you." Jenny said, recognizing him and resting her broom back on her shoulder.

You have got to be joking. Heaven eyes the now blocked exit, and the clouded surroundings caused by fog and darkness. She decides to walk up to one of the torches posted upon the walls, and tries to see if she could take one off, and take it with her as she ventures forwards, into the dark.

"Oh yeah? Who's the superior around here? Last time I checked, it wasn't you."

Heaven hesitates as she looks down the corridor and staircase. Well, as the mysterious description narrator put it, there is no way to go but forward. That is what she does.

After going up, Heaven would find a corridor that looked exactly the same as the one she had just passed. The one difference is a light breeze that blew through the empty area despite having no windows.

"Try me," Jenny said flatly. She wasn't sure how old Lianhuan was. He couldn't have been that old. And anyway, he definitely didn't know that she was a couple centuries old considering he didn't even know she was a vampire. 

Was the environment reacting to her thoughts? Is that what kind of world this is?? Nevertheless, she will not be investigating that vent. It may as well be a bait.

Heaven looks around herself once again, as the feeling of the presence of another lingers, and the crushing weight of silence grows. Deciding that it would not be best to stay in once place due to possible dangers, she continues a move on down the corridor.

((No she's not sus she didn't vent))

The area looks just exactly the same as the one below (save for the vent), lighting up as Heaven walked through until-

"Stop right there."

A monotone voice came from behind Heaven. The torches flickered for a second.

"Why are you here?" The question didn't carry any curiosity, falling as flat as a statement. "State your purpose."
A continuous rustle of fabric like lightly fluttering curtains sounded from behind Heaven. No steps or breathing or anything else, though.

Last edited by SpecterTheGreat (March 20, 2023 17:15:54)

((After this post I'll wait for Lianhuan and Jenny to catch up))

"What is the purpose of the investigation?"

"Maybe, but if this is a linear path we should come across them," he reasons. "Unless they can go to the sides, which I haven't tried yet," he adds, looking towards the fields at the sides in a funny contrast.

"But would it help to go towards the sides?" he counters, not moving yet. He's probably confident he can catch up to her when she's traveling by foot.

"Nothing really. I can't really be sure of it, but that place in the middle definitely feels like the place where we're expected to go. And for this case, I guess...who was the one who set these expectations? It's just something I've been thinking about," he explains, "and I feel like we won't have much time to think about it if we hurry to the center."
He shakes his head a little and mutters, "Maybe I'm thinking wrong."