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 Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 4:11 pm
Quote: Room 3: Unknown - The centerpiece of this room was impossible to ignore. Suspended within concentric rings of polished metal floated an ancient mechanism of crystal and stone, cracked in places yet somehow still functioning. Every few moments it awakened with a quiet pulse of light before projecting a cascade of unfamiliar symbols through the air. The message repeated endlessly, each cycle accompanied by faint harmonic tones that seemed almost, but never quite, recognizable as language. The device in this room seems to recognize when it has company, and the message sometimes flutters, or distorts faintly, but it yields no clearer results. Surrounding the device are star charts etched onto translucent crystal tablets, each depicting regions of space that bear little resemblance to any modern map. The largest display seems to trace a route toward a distant location marked only by a symbol--one that appears repeated throughout the room, but never in the same place. Whatever it is--or was--it was recorded throughout time, across different worlds. And nothing in Almadel's exhibit gave any indication of what it was. Tortuga followed Navi through the museum while keeping an eye on Aquitania and reviewing the pamphlet that was offered. It was actually quite nice to be in space but not have to deal with someone, or something, trying to kill him. As long as the ‘do no harm’ rule holds he figured it would be a quiet few hours, and the squire suspected that Almadel had ways of dealing with anyone who broke their rules. So Tortuga relaxed, or as much as he could in a crowd of mixed sides, and enjoyed looking over everything. Navi, his little wisp of a light, enjoyed it much more than the knight did as it darted about the space like a child in a candy store. Checking out anything, or anyone, that caught its attention. Navi didn’t really stay in one space for too long, or at least it didn’t until they entered a space that was just fascinating. All polished metal, crystal, stone, and some kind of device that projected something that looked like writing into the air. While the little ball of light swirled about the suspended device, almost playing with the glowing symbols, Tortuga studied the crystalline tablets. He absently tried to figure out what they depicted, or more accurately, where they depicted, even as he mentally ran though everything he had on him. The knight hadn’t thought of it when he first accepted the invite, but the stories he had heard about Almadel said he knew things. He was a font of knowledge and items. Tortuga didn’t need anything in particular but he would love to pick the purple guy’s brain about Navi. He just didn’t have anything on him to trade, since that was kinda Almadel’s schtick from what he could figure out. All he carried on him was his med kit, it did have some pricey equipment, but he didn’t think the alien would want that. Some water and jerky would also be out. The only things in his possession at that moment were items that he hadn’t had a chance to take out of his little space ‘pocket’; several star charms and a shell from his wonder. The star charms were things he had gotten over the last few days during the festival, and he was more than willing to trade those… all except the Fuchsia one since that was the only color he hadn’t collected yet. But Tortuga didn’t think Almadel would actually be interested in the little trinkets the city handed out for their annual festival. The shell on the other hand was just a normal looking shell that he had found on his wonder a little bit ago and picked up. It reminded him of those necklaces that used to be all the rage a few decades ago. His had a spotty brown exterior and there was even a worn hole in one end, perfect for threading onto a cord or something. Tortuga figured he could make a little charm or something when he saw it, tossing it into his pocket before forgetting about it for a while. The redhead sighed softly, knowing that the person who had all this mysterious crap wouldn’t want his rather mundane s**t, but still really had a few questions he was itching to get answered. That's what he got for not being prepared. Rather than dwell on what he couldn’t change, he was still working on that little trick, Tortuga looked over at the chibi senshi and pointed over at the display that flashed through some kind of ‘map’ and asked, “Where do you think it’s leading towards?” ((Word count: 601/ Star Charm: Fuchsia))
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Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2026 4:13 pm
Aquitania followed Tortuga and Navi through the museum, her own little spark of light following and dancing around Tortuga's Navi. His had a name. A name that was really, really cute. She hadn't named hers. Given how much it seemed to have a bit of a personality to it, and its own feelings about things, that seemed a little too rude and unfair, that her little light had no name. But whatever name it got would have to be a good one. What would be a good name for her own spark of light? The spark seemed to sense her thoughts, or maybe it was just exercising concern or affection or something, because it flew over to her, dancing for a moment in front of her face, before darting off again after Navi. Adorable, sweet, and considerate. Really, that spark would need a good name. Sooner or later.
It was with these thoughts that she peered over the pamphlet. As had been the case on the Moon, she didn't recognize the writing system, but the graphics were well enough rendered and neatly enough laid out that the chibi felt she had a decent idea of what sorts of things were in each room, and what would be interesting. Though, frankly, it looked like it would all be interesting. Artifacts and fossils of all kind, very few looking completely like something that would have existed on Earth, filled every room, never to the point of cramped, or cluttered, or disorganized, always thoughtful, always considerate of the lives that had touched each piece. Whoever this Almadel was, he seemed to be a caring curator of everything that wound up in his museum, the kind of person who seemed to have very understandable reasons to want to offer his hospitality to everyone with magic, but also to want none of those people to turn his fascinating abode into a warzone.
At length, they came into a room whose strange centerpiece seemed to generate its own sound, even as it moved smoothly on its own, a mechanism of some kind of crystal and stone, suspended within concentric rings of carefully polished metal, cracked, but clearly not hindered by whatever had cracked the mechanism. Unfamiliar symbols pulsed through the air around it at set intervals, seeming to repeat an enigmatic message accompanied by harmonic tones, almost like a language in and of itself. Could music be language? It seemed like something to ask her cousin at a later date.
The edges of the room were lined with star charts etched into translucent crystal tablets, none of them recognizable from the star charts she'd seen in the books her mother had on astronomy. Were they star charts from other parts of space? Or other times? The largest display seemed to show the trajectory of something traveling through space and time, and the chibi shivered, reminded unpleasantly of the Calamitous Hollow's ages-long sojourn across the universe with its unending hunger. Hopefully, it wasn't the Hollow, or any other Herald of the Dark Star. Tortuga asked about the display, and Aquitania shook her head uncomfortably. "I don't know. I just know what I hope it's not. I hope it's not talking about the Calamitous Hollow. I hope it's not talking about any of the Heralds of the Dark Star, whatever the other ones are like." Throughout this conversation, she'd forgotten about her curiosity about Almadel and whatever treasures he might have in his gift shop.(WC: 579)
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2026 7:56 pm
Almadel had not seemed to be in the room when they arrived, and yet he stepped from behind one of the exhibits as if he’d been there all along. At the very least, he did not seem surprised to see them, nor did he seem to have any concerns about intruding. “If it’s any reassurance, if it were tracking the Calamitous Hollow, it would show its location. By Earth, yes? Certainly things would look a bit more familiar to you, I think.” His tail swayed behind him, and he smiled sweetly at the two, though his eyes found the wisp quickly, lingered, and then returned to his guests.
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Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2026 2:25 pm
“That's assuming I know the stars in my neck of the woods,” Tortuga chuckled even as he shook his head, looking around trying to spot where Almadel had come in from. “Like looking at them, couldn't tell you which was what outside of a few of the well known constellations.” It didn’t help that light pollution on Earth made star gazing difficult except in a few remote locations. Add in the way the positions of the stars shift when on his wonder and all bets were off. He could read a map just fine, the stars not so much. Tortuga wasn’t the only one who was curious about Almadel, and where he had just appeared from, as the little wisp of a light zipped down from where it had been playing to swirl about the stranger. It flew behind the exhibit he had stepped out from, only to pop out the other side. It hovered there confused for a second before going back and forth like a very strange metronome. After a few seconds the knight sighed, “Navi, come here.” The little sprite paused to ‘think’, or what Tortuga assumed was it thinking, before it shot right over to him. “Calm down buddy. I know, I know, it's all so neat but we need to be mindful of our surroundings.” He treated the little ball of light like a toddler. Like it could understand, because in some strange way he felt like it could. “Sorry about that,” He apologized to Almadel, “Navi is a curious little thing.” Both in spirit and in creation.
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