Alley-Walking

Oliver walked out into the crowd, followed closely by the others, scanning the area for things to do. "So, when did you come to this planet?" Aaron asked Oliver, leaning towards his left ear and speaking in a hushed tone. "Only a few days ago, for me at least. It could have easily been seconds ago up in the heavens. It could also have been even years. We never know how long we spend on any planet, mainly because it is inconsequential to gods and people like us." Oliver responded as Aaron stepped away, nodding to himself. 'Well, we now know what we're up against, time-wise. We have no idea what the time correlation is between worlds. We don't even know if there is any.' Aaron thought to himself, sighing as he walked behind Oliver, Soul and Coranth walking behind him, drawing many strange looks. Aaron looked around, trying to figure out the problem, and then it hit him. Soul. Aaron quickly shed all of the skin from his body, grabbing Soul as fast as possible. "Sorry about this. We're grabbing too much attention." Aaron whispered to him, forcing Soul to turn back into a formless substance and crawl up his arm into the space behind his eye.

As soon as this was done, people stared at them less. After all, this was the form that they knew Aaron and Soul in. A skeleton in service to a child. It sounded so wrong when put out of context, but that is what he was currently doing. Summoned by a child and helping him out of his own free will. However, that was beside the point. The group continued to walk through the crowd, watching as the number of people thinned out the further they went. Soon enough, they were isolated, walking along an almost forgotten road. "There's more Boundless people than I on this planet, Aaron. I remembered a place where they all gather." Oliver told him, causing Aaron's pupils to shrink in pure bewilderment. A place like that really existed? "Judging by your eyes, I'm guessing you don't believe me, right?" Oliver noted, looking at Aaron's irises. "Don't worry. I wouldn't lie to someone like you. You're much stronger of a Boundless person than I, so it would be practically suicide to spread falsehoods around you." Oliver reassured him, taking a right turn in the alleyway that led to an almost immediate dead end.

"What is the point of going here?" Coranth asked, slamming the side of his fist against the wall, proving that it was a solid structure. "Well, we have to walk through it. It's a simple thing to do. Just tell yourself that you can pass through walls. When someone who controls illusions sets up a wall, they make it easy to pass through." Oliver explained, closing his eyes and walking through the wall as if it simply did not exist. Aaron then proceeded to do the same thing, except he didn't close his eyes. Aaron didn't have any eyelids to do so. Coranth mimicked the pair, but he hit his head against the wall, falling backwards with a thud. Coranth got up, shook himself off, and ran into the barricade with the intent to tackle it. He phased right through the bricks, falling onto the ground past it. A surprised expression appeared on his face as he looked up towards Oliver.

"I told you, you had to imagine that the wall didn't exist," Oliver said to Coranth, smiling. Coranth quickly got up, seeing a door at the end of the alleyway behind the illusion. "This is where we need to go," Oliver stated, walking ahead of the group. The pair had been walking for around thirty seconds when they realised that something was up. Oliver seemed to be waiting for them to point it out. "We aren't moving from this spot, are we?" Aaron asked, blurring on the spot as he tried to run ahead of the group, only to be placed in the same place he started.

"You are quite smart, Aaron," Oliver explained, smiling. "We haven't moved from this spot, and speed won't help you here. All you need is a little bit of smart thinking." Oliver told them, grabbing the air in front of him. He pulled his hand back as if he was opening a door. Suddenly, the door at the end of the alley opened, and Oliver went flying towards it, flinging himself through the open doorway as it shut itself upon his entry. "Alright then. Coranth, you go first." Aaron told him. "Just grab the air, pull it back as if opening a door and then get flung towards it." Aaron simplified for Coranth, who stuck his arm out and gently opened the door, watching as the door in the distance opened up just as slowly. Aaron laughed to himself as he saw Coranth fly through the air, screaming in surprise as he went. As soon as Coranth went through the doorway, Aaron created his human appearance again, grabbing the door just like the others had done. As his body flung itself towards the open entrance, he smiled, knowing that he'd be able to peacefully meet with other Boundless people. It was almost as if he was dreaming.

The door slammed behind him as he flew into the room the doorway led to, being met by a load of bright lights, the smell of alcohol and the sounds of gambling. It wasn't what he was used to, but he definitely wasn't going to complain as long as he could have a decent talk with other Boundless people. He looked around, his eyes getting accustomed to the light above his head. "Hey, Oliver! How have you been?" A male voice called out to Oliver, the sound of a hi-five ringing out. "So, have you brought two newbies with you today?" Aaron heard another voice ask, this one distinctly female. "Well, you could say that, although I am entirely confident that he could kill all of you in a fight if he so pleased. One is Boundless, and one is not. Familiar summoning is wild, you know?" Oliver responded, somehow knowing about the fact that Aaron was summoned here. Then Aaron remembered how he approached Oliver, and it made sense how he knew. "Well then, time to get started."