Off to Meet the Parents

In an effort to hopefully avoid getting caught in so many barriers, Moonstone suggested that they take the bus to her clan’s home. So, with Moonstone leading the way, they got on a bus that was headed towards Boothe Heights.

“How did you get your power?” Moonstone asked while they rode the bus, “Like did you find a magic tome, get bitten by some sort of radioactive creature, or something?”

“I just woke up with them a couple of days ago,” John explained, “The only reason I left my house today was because I had to go to school.” He let out a sigh as he leaned back against the seat. “These barriers are going to be a pain if I can’t figure out how to avoid them.” John looked over at Moonstone, only to see her stare at him, mouth agape.

“You just woke up with them?!” Moonstone practically yelled at John, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU JUST WOKE UP WITH THEM!! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD SOME OF US HAVE TO WORK TO GET OUR POWERS!?!”

At this point people turned around and openly stared at her. Little kids pointed at her like she was a vagrant. She closed her mouth and fumed silently for the rest of the trip. She still refused to speak with John after they got off the bus. She marched along the way to her clan’s home, banishing every barrier that they were **** into with a squeeze of her palm.

John didn’t understand why she was so angry, but knew enough to keep his mouth shut as they walked together. Eventually they stopped seeing other houses, and were alone as they walked. Even the strange barriers that seemed to plague them had stopped appearing.

In the distance a small wall appeared. As they neared it, John began to see that it had been made by hand and great care had been taken of the wall. Beyond the wall, simple houses, not much more than shacks, rose up and dotted the land. It looked… not unlike a hippie commune.

A pair of people came out to greet the two of them as they approach. Moonstone sighed as she watched them approach. The woman, slightly smaller than the man, could not have looked any more like a stereotypical hippie without actually being at Woodstock. The man was less hippie-ish, as if he tolerated his wife’s lifestyle.

“My child Moonstone, it brightens my day to see you return,” the woman said in an airy voice that spoke of much consumption of what was surely referred to as medicinal herbs, “And you bring a man home with you. Touched by the great goddess he is, and much power she has granted him.”

With a heavy breath in to hold her reactions, Moonstone turned to John and introduced her parents. “John this is my mother, Susan,” Moonstone stressed her name as if she tried to remind her mother who she really was, “And my father Joseph.” Susan merely tsked at Moonstone’s comment and drew John into a hug.

When she released John, Joseph reached forward in a traditional handshake, and gave John’s arm a single pump. “Dewdrop,” Joseph said turning to his wife, “Why don’t you go set some tea for the boy. I am sure that we will have much to talk about.” Susan nodded, a slightly vacant look on her face, she grabbed Moonstone’s hand and lead her away.

Once the two females were out of earshot, Joseph's eyes turned cold. “If you hurt my daughter, there will be no place on this earth or in the Abyss that will keep you safe from me. Do you understand boy?” John gulped and nodded. Then, as if the threat hadn’t happened, Joesph smiled and began leading John into the compound.

<You have entered the Barrier of Peace>

John looked around, but he couldn’t see anything different about this barrier, beside the fact that he was suddenly alone. John walked around inside the barrier, amazed at how closely this one resembled the real world. John raised his hand to use the skill Escape Barrier.

<Skill Failure>

“What does that mean?” John complained aloud, “And if there was a chance of failure why didn’t it say so before?!” John breathed deep for a moment before he attempted to use the skill again, only to see the same message pop back up. “Grr…” John growled in frustration, “How am I supposed to get out of here if there are no monsters and it isn’t letting me use my skill?”

A frustrated John began to stalk around the barrier when he noticed something. The barrier, which he thought were infinite once inside, had a limit to how far it went. John began to wonder if maybe there was some sort of door system that he had to use to get out of this barrier, and resumed his exploration.

In the course of his exploration John noticed an unusual mound that seemed to be in the direct center of the barrier. His curiosity peaked, John drew closer to the mound. While there didn’t seem to be anything outstanding about the mound, the closer John drew to it, the stranger the world around him became.

It started first with a smell. While there were plenty of pleasant smelling flowers around, a scent like warmed honey drifted to him. Next the sky began to darken from the bright crystal blue that it had been all day to the royal blue then proceeded to the darkness of night, but everything remained brightly lit on the ground. And finally, the air thickened, so that it almost felt like he was wading into a pond rather than walking.

Confused by these strange events, John used Observe on the mound.

<OBSERVE FAILED>

“Screw that!” John declared, and used Observe again, only to receive the same message again. Frustrated by everything that had been happening, John reached inside of himself. To the place where that little blue bar came from and grabbed all of it with the fist of his mind. Then he shoved that ladened fist into his metaphorical eyes before he used Observe again.

SKILL C͏̤͙̳͉̖͙ŏ̹̺̫̩͓̣ͅrͯͦ̏r̝̩͈ͩ͆͜ū̉ͩ̏̔ͦ̚҉̪͍̼p̪͙̰̣̽͊t̞ͦ̿͗̀i͉̫̯͈ͅo̶͚̺̮̝͍͔̗͑n͚̘͍̼͂͌͂̄͑̚