"Perception is truth", a phrase echoed among the close-minded masses that refuse to have their ideals challenged and escape to the sanctuary of self-approval. People tend to disassociate with reality to be able to continue living in it, that in itself is acceptable, but reality is something people have to eventually come to terms with, otherwise they become trapped in a world of their own creation.

--- --- ---

"..."

He has been walking for weeks, on this unpaved road, he should have had to walk another week or so before stumbling across civilization, and yet before him stands an unexpected respite, a town. The weather had suddenly become foggy so it was hard to see but as he got closer, giant wooden gates came into view, they were covered in twisting spiral carvings that meshed into one another, however at the center was a very sharp carving of a perfect circle, it seemed to bring some order to the chaotic design that enveloped it.

He couldn't help but feel grateful for this convenient turn of events, walking for weeks on the hard, uneven road, under the harsh sun had left him exhausted and lonely.

The town guards opened the gates, the town lit up before him as he walked through, children skittering about playing, housewives bickering, people going to work, to his eyes and ears that had only known the dull, gray road munching under the feet for several days, the difference was overwhelming and he had lost most of his exhaustion from before. As he marched through the town basking in all the different sights and sounds that it had to offer, he was left awestruck by the sheer variety of the architectural constructs that made up the town, but not in the sense that the town had unique and interesting architectural planning but that the buildings seemed to belong to entirely different cultures and countries. From what the two guards had told him this town was called Mauvine, he never even knew Protea had a town like this, you'd think someone who travels his life away would know a little something about the landmarks in his home country, let alone something as unique as this.

Time had passed him by as he thoughtlessly wandered through the town, and soon the sun was about to set, he started to look for a place to stay the night. After asking some of the locals, he found his way to an inn on an elevated plot of land. The people of the town seemed to be unusually irritable and unwelcoming, most of them just clicked their tongues while glaring at him as he asked them for directions.

As he entered the inn, a gruffly male voice greeted him.

"Welcome to our establishment, how may I help you?", the innkeeper asked, scanning him with his eyes.

"How much for one night?"

The man looked at him with a hint of bewilderment, "Two Thousand benects".

He rummaged through his pocket and took out two gold coins, and handed them to him, "Then I'll be in your care."

The man looked a bit surprised as he took the coins from him, "Are you sure about staying just one night? I've never had anyone stay just one night at my inn, people usually tend to stay for a week or two."

That was a strange thing to ask a customer, he thought, was this place really that special, he did see it's uniqueness firsthand but this was still a bit too much.

"I tend not to stay too long at any place. I have more places to be after all."

The man gave him a dissatisfied look as he took out a register and readied his pen, "So, what's your name?"

"Luke Aleister."

He wrote up Luke's name and handed him the room key, "Alright, it's room number 301, enjoy your time here."

"Thank you."

Luke took the key and turned towards the stairs.

"Who are you really though?"

"Just a traveller. Why do you ask?"

He held out the two gold coins Luke had given him, "I wouldn't expect some ordinary traveller to be going around carrying holy benects."

Luke turned his back on him, "Say ".

The previous question had thrown him for a loop, this one though actually made him feel easy, "what do you think travelers and money have in common?"

--- --- ---

A Dazzling light and an uncomfortable warmth, such were the sensations Luke awoke to, looking outside the window to greet the day that was their source, he let out a yawn.

As he looked in the distance he could see houses meshing into one another, intertwining roads passing through buildings with tunnel like openings, bizarrely disproportionate buildings in the same neighbourhood, streams that crisscrossed through the town, unconcerned about the houses and roads that ran over them, rises and drops in elevation at random places, buildings leaning diagonally to make up for sudden rises and drops in elevation. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, this place had architectural planning so mindless and chaotic that it almost seemed intentional, like a piece of abstract art.

He hadn't noticed all this the previous day because he was only exploring a small part of the town, some things had indeed struck him as odd but he had written them off as the exception and not the rule, like it is in most towns, now though the times he did not find anything wrong with the town seemed to be the exception.

He quickly put on his black overcoat and readied himself for another excursion. Walking down the stairs he got to the lobby, the inn keep was still at the reception desk. As Luke was about to walk out of the inn.

"Say Mr. Aleister, are you still set on leaving the town today?"

He stopped in his tracks.

"..."

The inn keep kept staring at him expectantly, awaiting a reply.

"Why do you ask?".

"I already told you last night, people tend to stay here long, you seemed quite odd in comparison. That's all."

"I should be saying that though, this town is quite odd in itself, mind telling me what's the secret?"

He leaned back on his chair and looked up at the ceiling while reminiscing, "I am not entirely sure what outsiders find particularly striking about our town but from what I have heard from my previous customers, our town is apparently very spiritual. Make of that what you will."

"You seem very indifferent for a resident of concerned town."

"I know my town better than outsiders ever could, it is in no way as grand a place as they make it out to be. Can't help but dismiss their words as ramblings of naive children."

"I don't think you should be saying that to me so carelessly, considering I could be one of those 'naive children'."

"You seem too different from them to be one of them, you are honestly just as much of a mystery to me."

What was this about his previous customers finding this town to be spiritual? What does he mean by Luke being too different from his other customers? The questions kept piling up.

As they were contemplating a way out of this impasse, the parlour door flung open, "DAD! Hurry up, The Mayor's holding another speech!", a teenage boy made his appearance in the reception area, his appearance was sort of girly, and his voice far higher pitched than anyone his age, he had short black hair, yet his side-bangs were long and hung as far down as his shoulders. He wore short jeans, and a sleeveless top.

The inn keep addressed the boy,"What? We just had one recently though, didn't we?"

They kept talking back and forth, it seemed like some important agenda had come up. Not wanting to remain the third wheel, Luke took his leave from the inn, the city streets were bustling with people, most of them headed towards the center of the town. Luke thought about calling out to someone to find out where they were headed, but the previous night came back to him. The unwelcoming townsfolk had rejected his attempts at conversation, this made him hold back and stand still as the crowds passed him by.

"Mr. Luke!", a high pitched voice called out to him, as if admonishing him for his lack of confidence.

"I heard from dad, you're a traveller right?", it was the boy from earlier, he was staring at Luke with excitement in his eyes.

"Yes. That is correct."

"Please don't leave so soon, if you'd like I can guide you through the town. Mauvine has lots of places that are worth witnessing."

Having been subjected to the absurdity of the town, Luke couldn't help but agree to that statement, "I was planning to stay a little longer, now that I've seen more of the city, I can't say I am not interested."

The young man struck an exaggerated victory pose, "That's what I'm talking about!", the boy must have wanted to hear about his travels, it was not uncommon for boys his age to be interested in the outside world, Luke could remember feeling the same way when he was young.

The boy broke his pose awkwardly and snapped his fingers as if he'd remembered something all of a sudden, "Ah right, I might not be able to go with you right now though, I have to attend the mayor's speech."

"Is everyone else headed there too?"

"You bet! Everyone wants to know what the mayor has to say."

"I see."

"You can tag along if you want, the central plaza is quite the sight to behold!"

"Then don't mind if I do."

They made their way to the heart of the city, on the way Luke witnessed more of those bizarre buildings and he couldn't help but ask the boy guiding him about them, however the boy had only shown bewilderment in response, as if architectural planning was somehow very uncommon.

As they reached their destination, Luke couldn't help but gasp at the sight. The central plaza was adorned with stairs that descended down from all directions into one single circular mega structure which rested at the base of that sunken land. The building was huge and felt like it would stand out like a sore thumb had it been on the same level of ground as the other buildings, yet since it was in this depressed plot of land it appeared about the same height as the other buildings.

People were gathering in huge numbers on the stairs, their gazes where directed to the top of the building, where there was an offshoot standing atop the rest of the building, it was big enough for five people to be able to stand in comfortably, and was open on all sides except for some thin pillars that held up a sort of roof.

Inside that awfully conspicuous place, there stood a single man, his long black hair was tied back, and small strands fell to the sides of his face, his face seemed young yet held an air of experience and wisdom, his demeanour seemed to defy his age. He was dressed in the typical clothes any noble gentleman is expected to wear, his hands rested behind him as he looked to the masses with that dignified expression.

Luke and his new companion stood at the top of the stairs, hoping to get a good view of the mayor. As he gazed at the unique structure which stood out even in this bizarre town, he couldn't help but think of a reason why it would be built that way, asking his companion to whom building haphazardly was common sense would be of no help. However what about this building did he find so intriguing in particular? how was it different from the other unique buildings he had seen? All the buildings had had this bizarre planning… no. It would be wrong to even use the word planning with them, they were more like natural rock formations that had no particular purpose for being the way they were, but this building, as unnatural as it was, clearly seemed to have some sort of order or purpose to it. It was hard to point out what exactly that was though.

As Luke was peering down on the crowds of people, he noticed the innkeeper standing some steps down from them. He must have been busy closing up shop, which was probably why he came separately, no matter Luke thought, they could just meet up later.

"What's with all of them?", the boy muttered while looking down the stairs.

Luke followed his gaze and came upon a large number of knights stationed midway down the stairs in a circular formation, they prevented any civilians from descending any further down. Knights were quite the common sight in such big gatherings, however their positioning was of note, it seemed like it was meant to guard the building from intruders.

"What's wrong?"

"This is the first time I've seen this many knights gathered to guard the city hall, I mean there would always be a few knights placed there, but this is like the whole order of knights is gathered here."

"I see."

Everyone seemed to be muttering among themselves about the strange arrangement that was this address, a cacophony of whispers filled the plaza. The mayor's safety was indeed important but it still looked a bit excessive for just a normal address. As they played around with such scepticisms a voice rang out.

"May I have your attention gentlemen."

Thousands of eyeballs fixated on a single spot, ridding themselves of the cynical thoughts that had clouded their vision. The mayor stood firm, looking at the people with a tender gaze, "I apologize for the untimely announcement, but there is an important agenda I must finally address."

There was no device to amplify his voice, and it wasn't like the mayor was shouting either, yet his voice seemed to reach everyone. At this point Luke wasn't even surprised by any of this. Such supernatural things were the norm here.

"You probably don't know but we have such addresses once a month, the mayor announces the changes that he has implemented that month, which is why everyone's so excited to know what it is going to be this time.", the boy pointed out, noticing that Luke was bewildered.

Luke was curious as to what sort of changes he was talking about but he felt he could save it for after the speech.

Contrary to his firm expression from before, the mayor continued after a little hesitation, "Every time we have gathered here, I have bore some pleasant news, something to make everyone's lives better. While I would very much like to continue such sessions, there is something I can no longer keep from everyone. It is of utmost importance that I say these words…"

He had started the speech with an unwavering resolve but was now starting to hesitate, whatever it was he wanted to say, it must have been quite unappetizing, "What is the reality you see before you? The world you perceive… Perception… As we all know perception is the act of observing reality, what we perceive has always been the truth, it is therefore no stretch to say that perception is reality."

Luke was struck speechless by that brazen statement, those words did not fit the image of the wizened mayor he had in mind. However unaware of Luke's misgivings, the mayor continued with an air of tension, "However, is that really the case? A daffodil bulb can only ever bloom into daffodils, a daisy seed into daisies, why must a seed of reality sprout to be what we perceive? Our perception and the reality that envelops us, exist independently of each other, so why must they bear the same fruit? If they indeed exist independently of each other, then how can they not have differences? Every human has some distinct identity that differentiates them from others, then why should the world be any different? How can the world be so harmonious when every creature that walks on land, lives in the waters or soars through the skies has different wishes, different dreams, and different reasons to live? How can such creatures live in harmony when even the nature and fate that controls them can have a varied assortment of purposes?"

After a brief pause, he continued, "How can there not be any conflict?".

He had pelted the crowd with rhetorical questions and used ambiguous metaphors to try to avoid the heart of the matter, his words were not getting through to people, and they scratched their heads ruminating their meaning. The mayor noticing this, closed his eyes and re-positioned his necktie as if preparing himself for a restart.

"No. Such questions might actually not be worth anything to everyone present here and that is not anyone's fault. Forgive me for employing subtext in a place where transparency is of importance, however I could not help but ease everyone into it…"

The mayor, his confidence and determination from earlier, a shell of it's former self, heaved a sigh as he continued, "What I am about to say might not be easy to accept, but I ask everyone to have faith in these words… Reality may have never challenged our perception of it, so the idea that even a separate reality from what we perceive exists might be too much for many of you, but it is in actuality the truth. I apologize to everyone that believed in the good of the world, shattering people's dreams is not something I am fond of doing, and I sincerely regret having to do so at this point."

People were apprehensive of what he was saying and raised a ruckus as they hurled questions at each other, even though the words coming out of his mouth, as adorned as they were, were the mundane truth which even a child would know, however the part about reality never challenging anyone struck Luke as odd.

"Truth is, there is an artifact housed in this building, a relic which holds the power to turn people's perception to reality, that is the reason why our perception continues to not be challenged by the harshness of reality."

Luke thought about the meaning of those words, and found himself being able to connect the dots. That indeed explained some of the bizarre occurrences he had seen in this town, however the rest of the folks did not feel the same catharsis, the crowd burst into an uproar of confusion and chaos. For Luke who had not been able to pinpoint what exactly was wrong with Mauvine, this speech made a lot of sense, but for the rest of the people, it was a denial of the reality they had always lived in, perhaps this disconnect was why Luke was unable to understand this town from other people's words, since to them, all of the strange phenomena was simply due to the nature of their reality, they did not need a reason to believe in the world they inhabited.

"I had a feeling.", the boy muttered solemnly under his breath, he was calm despite hearing what should have been a shattering realization for him. Reading the room, Luke did not press him on the topic.

Luke thought, how he found people that asserted that their own perception was the truth to be naive and unable to accept reality, however could the same be said for the people of Mauvine? They had not willfully closed their eyes on reality, it was just that their reality had never made them question their point of view.

The mayor raised both his hands, and cried out, louder than before this time, "While it is true that reality can be unforgiving, that does not concern us while we are here, I shall continue to watch over the artifact and make sure the world we live in is maintained. I shall see to it that-".

The mayor stopped speaking, noticing that no one was listening to him, they were looking towards the base of the stairs, following their line of sight the mayor came upon what it was they were looking at. A man wrapped completely in rags save for the face was standing near the base of the stairs. It took him a moment to register what was happening. Staring at the scenery, the tension from earlier entirely left his body, it was replaced by a sudden desperation, "Guards! capture him!"

The knights spent no time dawdling, several of them rushed to the bottom of the stairs, as they did several black robed men dashed in through the hole that had formed due to the knights breaking their formation, some of the adjacent knights tried to stop them, but still some managed to rush down behind the descending knights, as the knights closed in on the man covered in rags, several balls of white light shone in front of them and transformed into more of those robed men, the descending knights were now caught in a pincer attack from both above and below. As they fended themselves, more knights broke their formation to assist their comrades, but that only created more holes, from which more robed men poured in.

It was beginning to look like a battle of numbers, but the slightest opening the knights found was filled up by more of the robed men, they were at a disadvantage. The mayor witnessing all of this closed his eyes in prayer, probably trying to use the power of the artifact, but opened them in shock, his eyes widened. As people tried to flee, rising up the steps, they crashed into an invisible barrier at the top, and were unable to pass through, then it made itself visible, a hemispherical barrier of huge proportions covering the entirety of the stairs and the building. People started screaming, panicking, punching the wall that stopped them from escaping. Their wishes to be on the other side of the boundary fell on deaf ears.

Luke and the boy were at the top of the steps, so they and some of the other people had avoided the fate of being trapped inside. As Luke looked at the scene, standing still, not sure as to what he should do, it took the boy dashing to the barrier to snap him out of it. Knocking and punching on it forcefully the boy cried out to his father, "DAD! WHERE ARE YOU!? DAD!"

The boy screamed and cried but his father was nowhere to be seen, the crowds were so congested that finding him inside would be far from easy. Luke rushed behind him, trying to peer through the crowds looking for the inn-keep. The situation inside grew increasingly chaotic. Luke and the boy could do nothing but watch on in horror.

This was getting them nowhere, Luke tried to calm himself and think of what options they had, finding him here would do nothing to help, they needed to find a way to get inside. Looking around frantically, Luke noticed that the mayor had suddenly disappeared from where he had stood, however there was no time to investigate his whereabouts. Glossing over the mayor's cowardice Luke scanned the area for ways to get inside.

"It's no use, the area is completely covered up by the barrier.", the boy punched the barrier angrily,"Damn it!".

"Don't lose hope, we can still save him. That's right, is there some secret pathway, maybe one that runs underground. It wouldn't be unimaginable for a building of such importance to have a secret escape route."

The boy shut his eyes, leaning with his face against the barrier, perhaps as a way to avert his eyes from the hopelessness of the situation, "Our town has never had any crimes or the like, so nothing as fancy as that exists."

The boy motioned his fist to hit the barrier once more but then it stopped inches from it's destination, "Ahh, that's right! There was that method!"

"What is it? Have you remembered something?"

The boy nodded in response and pulled Luke by the arm, "quickly, we have to get to the other side of town."

They sprinted through the crowds still outside and managed to exit the central plaza, the town was completely devoid of people, seemed like everyone had gathered at the central plaza. The distorted streets had a certain eeriness to them with no one using them.

The boy took a sudden turn into an alleyway, Luke followed behind him but soon after turning to face the alley, realized that it was a dead end, he ran to the wall that was blocking the way, the boy had disappeared into thin air, he scanned the area for his whereabouts.

"What are you doing? We don't have time!", a hand reached out of the wall and pulled him inside. He found himself in front of a building, judging by the surroundings, this was nearer to the town gate than before.

Luke had gone through the wall and found himself in a place that was completely different. That's when it hit him, this place not only lacked architectural integrity, it was also lacking in spatial integrity.

"Come on, don't dawdle!",the boy cried out sprinting towards the town gate.

Luke jerked away the disorienting feeling that had gripped him and followed suit.

Luke thought about the events he'd seen in this town and tried further to match them with what the mayor had said, but something felt off, "Say, was what the mayor said about the artifact true? It feels like the people trapped in the central plaza would be able to get to the other side of the boundary just by wishing it, if what he had said was true."

"I don't think what he said was wrong, it seems more likely that something is interfering with the artifact and preventing it from working as intended."

"How can you be so sure?"

"... I think it would be faster to just show it to you."

They soon reached the main gate of the town. The town's guards noticed them, and tried to stop them, they were most probably unaware of the situation, "It's that kid again! STOP!"

The boy put his strength into it, and pushed the gate just enough to create an opening through which a person could pass, he dashed through, as soon as he had done that. Luke rammed himself into the opening and somehow managed to do the same.

Luke had probably imagined that rushing inside with full force would be okay since the threat right in front of him had seemed to be greater, so he was shocked when he found himself dangling by the arm in the air, mere meters from death. He could see the stairs on which the chaos had ensued, but instead this time, the stairs seemed to surround the place he was in, like a circle does around it's center, below he could also see the knights fighting the robed men, though many on both sides seemed to have fallen. Looking up he saw the boy holding onto his right arm with all his strength, he was perched on a windowsill. Snapping out of it, Luke grabbed the ledge of the window with his other hand and pulled himself up.

"Haah, I thought I was dead for sure there.", this town had presented Luke with one disorienting experience after another, it seemed that one cannot get used to the supernatural no matter how much they are subjected to it.

Luke cleared his throat and looked around. He could see the top of the stairs if he looked straight, the windowsill they were on was on the same level as the surface the other buildings were on, "I see, so this is another of those portals. Makes sense. We managed to get inside the barrier."

"Something still feels off though, I'm certain the portal was connected to the door of the city hall. But this is a window."

"Is that so?"

If one knot was already hard to undo, it seemed like someone with bad taste had tied more knots over it and just kept doing it as they sneered at the ensuing chaos.

"Let's put what we don't understand aside for now, more importantly, the people that were-"

Before he could voice his concerns, their subject showed it's face in the ugliest way imaginable. If Luke had been a mirror, reflected would be a human, for what they saw before them could be summed up perfectly with those two words, 'Human Nature'. Cracks of crimson ran through the crowds… several of them were unmoving and red… they had been killed… not by the knights, not by the robed men… but by their own hands.

Luke wasn't even allowed to label this scene as a mystery, for he knew exactly why and how they had come to kill each other. They were not the most tolerant of people, he had seen it firsthand the previous night, and if he added more context to it, even the mayor had said that most of them knew nothing of a reality that could challenge them, so having to face one that pressed them against a wall literally in such a chaotic and dire fashion was sure to birth tragedy sooner or later.

The boy stared in horror and losing to emotions tried to jump in, "Dad. I have to… save dad."

Luke realizing this managed to restrain him quickly, "Wait, you mustn't be rash. We are way too high to jump down. You will die on impact."

"LET ME GO! I need to save dad! There is no way he can fend himself in there all alone!"

The boy thrashed about with his arms and legs, probably trying to resist this unreasonable fate that had been thrust onto him. But such desperation never yields anything good.

"Wait! We just need to check the condition of the artifact the mayor mentioned. That should reset this hopeless situation.", Luke reasoned.

After a little more struggle the boy stopped, and raised his face, "You're right. This will get us nowhere. We have to find that relic."

Both of them got up and hurriedly entered the building. Time was of essence right now.

However as they entered, they noticed that what they had been perched upon wasn't the windowsill, it was exactly what they had expected it to be, a door.

"Not this again!", Luke exclaimed, exasperated.

How can a door be so high up from the base of the building?

"We can think about this as we explore further, a clue might present itself as we do."

They scanned the building for anything that could indicate the whereabouts of the mayor or the artifact. For having such a flashy exterior, the inside of the town hall was surprisingly ordinary, the interior was made of wood,it had a reception desk and seats meant for people to sit on while waiting their turn.

Luke found it unlikely that they would find anything of use in a reception area, "We should probably ascend, there doesn't seem to be anything here."

They ascended the steps and explored the upper floors looking for the artifact. Luke tried to keep himself from thinking how hopeless the situation would become if the artifact turned out to not be real. Wait… hadn't the boy confirmed it's existence? On what basis?

"That's right, how were you so sure of the relic's existence?"

"Ah. I had forgotten to continue that conversation, with so much happening at once."

The boy suddenly became serious, one could even call that face a little sad, "Have you tried leaving the town?"

"No? I just came here yesterday, and as I told you before, I planned to explore a little before leaving."

"That explains your calmness. I'm sorry for having to break it to you like this…"

The boy paused a bit and then continued, "You cannot exit this town."

Luke had failed to grasp the meaning behind those words, did he mean that he was not allowed to leave this town or maybe he was asking him to not leave the town or probably that he could not physically leave. All of those questions had jumbled up with the surprise he felt at that misplaced revelation and come out as a single word, "What?"

"I mean that literally, you can leave through the town gate sure, but beyond that is covered in fog, even if you walk through it, you end up finding yourself in front of the gates again. It's one of the things that this town does not allow."

The boy bit his lips, "You remember the talk about the monthly addresses? Sometimes in those addresses the mayor informed us as to what things that were previously not allowed would be allowed now. There are actually quite a few things that Mauvine does not allow."

"I see."

"Since leaving the town was not allowed, no matter how many times I tried to go to the outside I would find myself before that irritating gate. One day I wished and prayed that I could get outside, but as I exited the gates, I found myself in front of this building. I had inadvertently created a portal to the town hall."

"That can't be right. I came in through those gates when I entered Mauvine."

"The portals in this town are a one way path, you can only reach the town hall by exiting through the gates, and I imagine no one has tried to leave this town before… no one but me that is."

Luke kept silent noticing the boy's solemn expression.

"Back when I first found out I had established a portal, I hadn't given it much thought. But now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense. If the artifact is indeed in the town hall as the mayor says, then the outside of the town hall would register as 'outside' for the artifact and accordingly, it had set the location of the portal outside the building. It isn't a perfect line of reasoning, so there is still room for doubt, but to me it feels more probable that the artifact or at least something like it, does exist."

"Yes. That does seem to fit quite well."

Luke had managed to connect the dots in his head, not just regarding the artifact, but also his young companion, he seemed to have a longing for the outside world, but not wishing to speak out of line, Luke kept his thoughts to himself.

Soon they had explored all the upper floors, they found the stairs that led to the offshoot located above the building but one quick glance told them that that place was empty as well.

"The upper floors are clear. Let's descend and check out the lower floors.", said Luke a little frustrated that they had wasted their time when they needed to be quick.

As they descended the floors they took quick glances to see if they had missed something, and soon they had returned to the reception area.

They found a different set of stairs leading to the floors below which struck them as odd. Nevertheless they had no time for such thoughts so they descended the steps and as they did they found themselves on a spiraling staircase that traced the perimeter of the building and descended in a gentle decline. The walls were covered in bricks unlike the rest of the building, which was kind of odd. Even odder though was the complete lack of windows which they quickly came to realize after having descended a fair bit, the entire lower half of the building had no windows, even though the upper half had several ones on every floor. The upper half and lower half were different enough to be called parts of two entirely separate buildings. No, this half could not even be called a proper building, what building had only stairs that descended through it's entire height, and no windows?

"This building is quite strange.", Luke muttered.

"Is that so? Seems perfectly normal to me though."

Luke heaved a sigh, he had more than expected that answer from the boy.

As they descended the stairs the roars of chaos that were burning the central plaza seemed to grow distant. The place didn't have the slightest bit of ventilation. The more they descended the darker and quieter it got. The silence had started to grow unbearable, due to the disquieting atmosphere, Luke couldn't help but break the silence. Call it lack of tact or not having anything else to talk about, whatever the reason, Luke decided to broach the sensitive topic the boy had brought up a few times, "Say, do you mind me asking? Why had you tried so desperately to leave?"

The boy gave a light chuckle, "You don't have to be so reserved about it. It's not really something I find hard to talk about."

He lowered his gaze, and stared straight ahead as he continued, the solemnity from before had returned to him, "Ever since I first learned that I cannot leave this town, it has continued to bother me. I would have probably developed some other interests and given up on the idea of leaving the town, however due to the nature of my father's hobby, I ended up meeting a lot of outsiders."

"By hobby, you mean…"

"I'm talking about the inn."

Calling his father's job a hobby was a little weird but Luke decided not press on it due to the more important topic at hand.

The boy regained his solemn expression, as if the momentary interruption had never occurred, "The outsiders would tell me stories of the outside world which would catch my intrigue, and before I knew it, what was supposed to be the whimsical wishes of a kid had grown to become a genuine dream."

A self-deprecating smile flashed on his face, "Well, if you considered the positives, at least I know hardship unlike the rest of the people here."

Luke could hardly think of a response. He was weak with these touchy topics, yet he was the one that had brought it up in the first place, his lack of social experience was palpable, even after racking his brain, all he could manage was a meager, 'I see.'

The boy stared down with a light smile, "Must be nice being a traveller, I have to admit I am a little jealous. Who'd want to be tied down to this shithole of a town? Count me out."

His hatred for Mauvine probably stemmed from the fact that so long as he was here, the town would not allow him to fulfil his dream. However Luke could not understand that sentiment, "You can say that because you've never travelled before. Most things in this world seem romantic only until you engage with them, being a traveler is no different."

Luke had completely disregarded the boy's feelings and had started to push his own onto him, he had certainly hit a nerve, because the recipient of those words responded passive-aggressively, "Come on, you mean to say you regret not being able to stay shut in the same space you've spent your entire life in?"

"Hey, how can you say that about your own town? You have a father, a place to call home, and besides this town even protects you from the harshness of reality. What more can you ask for?"

Luke hadn't realized that what he had just said was a contradiction of his own words. He believed that romance was an illusion that maintained itself only until you experienced the thing in question, Luke had never had a place to call home, yet he himself was claiming with confidence that having a place like that was a blessing. It would be no exaggeration to say that he himself was caught in the kind of delusion he had reprimanded.

"No way, this town and it's people irk me. I'd much rather roam the world than stay here any longer."

"Hey. That was uncalled for, you are being ungrateful now."

The boy was starting to lose his patience too, and with both parties having lost their cool, they shielded their own ideals all the while disregarding the other's.

"Heh! Is that so? Truth is, all you wanted to do was brag about your situation and toot your own horn too about how I have it better and you have to go through such hardships to travel the world. AM I WRONG?!"

To him the world had always been a kind place, he had started to believe so due to the nature of the town. Yes, he had cursed his fate for not being able to travel the world, but in his mind he had subconsciously put the blame for that on the town. So to him, the world, save for his town was a wonderful place, and treading it's lands could not possibly cause suffering.

Luke shot back, "Ahhh, so you just want to satisfy your wishes right? Quite admirable, keep at it and you will find happiness. The people that love and care for you be damned!"

Both of them were not wrong in the arguments they promoted. Leaving one's nest to fulfill their dreams was no sin, and having a place to call home was important too… and yet the way they decided to defend their arguments - by disregarding the other person's - was completely off the mark.

By this point their descent had stopped and they glared at each other, "Okay Mr. Loudmouth, how about you do your own thing now? This is my problem anyway, I'll fix it myself."

Having his help be rejected stung Luke pretty bad, he grimaced at the boy's words, "If that is what you want… so be it."

Luke stood there clenching his fists as the boy pushed his way into the darkness below, but he left Luke with some parting words before disappearing, "Thanks for accompanying me all the way here, I'll say that much at least. I am not the ungrateful kid you take me for."

Luke was left alone in the middle of the winding stairwell. Ordinarily, small arguments like this shouldn't have led to their separation but Luke was weak when people rejected him, if the boy hadn't said that, he could have probably made up with him… no he would definitely have made up with him, but losing his place among people left him unable to act, so he stood there absentmindedly, ascertaining the depth of the gash he had been left with.

Heaving a sigh, he started to ascend. He did not plan on doing anything in particular after getting up there, it was just that the stairway had been so quiet and dark that he could almost hear his own thoughts and he had decided against sipping any more of that pessimistic poison. After reaching the reception area he plopped himself on one of the waiting seats. What he was waiting for though was not certain.

--- --- ---

The boy had managed to reach the base of the building, a single door stood there. He scanned the area for anything of interest, but all he could find were wooden crates that often adorned dark basements, there did not seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

Having marched down the stairs, he had been bubbling up thinking about Luke's words from earlier, however he found his anger to have settled quite a bit after reaching the bottom, he had started to feel pangs of guilt since it was obvious that he had hurt Luke with his words.

Shaking away the feeling of guilt, the boy slapped his face with both hands, he had to to get a hold of himself, the situation did not allow for such hesitations, he had to hurry. He held the knob of the basement door and twisted it.