Down Time?

Vira didn't need to be told twice, she put a hand the guard's shoulder while Hiromi put her own hand on the young vampire's own so they could leave the city for now.

The guard instructed Hiromi to put her hand on his other shoulder, since a Mystic's teleportation didn't work like Instant Transmission. Once that was done, he wraps his wings around all three and in the usual Mystic fashion, they all disappeared and were suddenly at Vira's home. The guard asked that neither Vira nor any of her family leave the house until it was safe to do so.

Vira didn't like being cooped in the house, but it really couldn't be helped so she stayed put for now, along with the others. She just hoped the vistor didn't stay too long.

It was about almost eight hours before something happened. The guard knocks on the door "Miss Vira Nakeen. I have been informed that the Shokan representative has departed back beyond the Rift." the guard says through the door "You and your family are free to move about the city once more." he says, then the sound of wings flapping as he takes off.

Of course, by that time it was night time so Nikki and Kylie were asleep by then while Vira and Hiromi were up.

"Do you want to go back out or call it a night?" Hiromi asked.

"I want to see what the city is like at night. Besides, we haven't finished." Hiromi was fine with that, though they let Nikki know they would be out for a bit before heading back home.

The night was quite colorful as far as lights went. It seemed that there were special crystals that held energy during the day and released it at night. Everything was exactly like it was during the day time hours as it was at night.

There was come kind of construction going on in the theater district. The Mystics were going to be building a movie theater, having gotten the idea from the Humans on the other side of the Rift.

It seemed pretty interesting overall, but Hiromi had seen so many different things in her travels. There was nothing that really caught either of their eye, but they were more or less just sight seeing.

Hiromi decided to address one of the guards. "Excuse me, but me and my friend were just wondering what are the big sights of this city? We're new here."

The guard nods "Of course." he says "There is, for starters and most importantly, the Grand Hall." he says with a bit of pride "There's also the Hall of Crystal Mirrors. The Gliding Room. The Central Opera House and, of course, the Library." he says, ticking them off with his fingers "If you ladies wish, I can escort you to these locations." he offers.

"Me and Hiromi would like to see this Opera House please." All the places sounded interesting but they could visit them some other time when they wanted.

The guard nods "This way, please." he says as he motions for them to follow him "You may call me 'Guardsman Smiley'. If you need anything, please feel free to ask it of me." he says as he hails an airboat.

Hiromi thought the name was a bit odd, but then others from different cultures could think her name as strange so she didn't ever make it a point to judge things like that.

"Just some small questions what is the crystal mirrors and the Gliding Room?" Vira's red eyes regarded them curiously as she waited.

Smiley thinks of the best way to describe them "The Hall of Crystal Mirrors isn't exactly what you might be thinking of. I heard of these 'Hall of Mirrors' at places called 'Fun Houses' and it's not the same, exactly." he says.

"It's said that the Hall of Crystal Mirrors can show you the Real you. They can show your past, your present and sometimes, your future." he chuckles lightly "Nonsense if you ask me. I've never seen anything other then my reflection." he states.

"As for the Gliding room. We often take our children there when they're young so they can learn to fly, when their wings get bigger of course." he explains "The Gliding Room is a weightless room that still allows for free movement. So that makes it perfect for parents to teach their kids to fly."

Both Hiromi and Vira were intrigued by this Mirror destination and after a brief moment of silent conversation they both made up their mind. "If you wouldn't mind, I think the mirror will be our first destination."

Vira was curious as was Hiromi. Vira didn't believe in such things but Hiromi had been around a long time to see some truly strange things.

Smiley nods as he looks to the driver of their airboat, who nods and they take off "Now, just so you are aware, the Hall of Crystal Mirrors is quite the popular place for young couples to see if it's their destiny to be together or not. So if you see any, please respect their privacy." he says.

It didn't take them long to get to the Hall of Crystal Mirrors. It wasn't Exactly a Hall, per say. More like a big building with royal guards at every point "The Hall is actually below the building. It's a Vast and sprawling cave system full of crystal mirrors. But not to worry, no one's ever gotten lots in there." he assures.

Once off, he looks at the door guards, who nod and open the doors for him "This is certainly odd. I wonder what the royal guard is doing here?" Smiley mumbles to himself.

All seemed quiet enough. There were, indeed, young couples in the lobby of the entrance. Smiley takes Vira and Hiromi to the front desk and the lady smiles at them "They can't Mindtalk." the guard says.

The lady gets a slight embarrassed look "Oh! I'm ever so sorry. Welcome to the Hall of Crystal Mirrors. Will all three of you be heading in?" she asks.

Smiley shakes his head "No. Just these two." he says, motioning to Vira and Hiromi.

The lady slides a clipboard over to them with a pen "Please sign your names and I'll get you going." she says with a smile.

Vira and Hiromi began to scribble stuff down once they got the clipboard back and handed it to the young woman once they were done. It was sort of bittersweet for Vira seeing so many young couples around and happy but life didn't pause for anyone. She just had to move on which she was doing but it was something she had to to do day by day.

"So these mirrors, are they magic? What's the story behind them?" Hiromi asked.

The young lady at the desk shrugs "No one really knows where they came from. Some say that they are a gift from the Great and Wise Galford to show us the right path to take in our lives." she says.

Smiley chuckles dryly "But most say that the Mighty and Terrible Galford left them as a constant reminder of what we were and what we will become." he counters.

The lady doesn't stop smiling "As you can see, there's room for debate regarding the mirrors." she hands a crystal the size of a flashlight to both Vira and Hiromi "Here you ladies are. There's plenty of light for most of the cave system, but there Are some parts where no light exists. So, you have to carry some.".

She taps a crystal, which opens a complex door that leads to a stairway going down "May you find what you're looking for." she says.

Both young women gave their thanks before going on their way to find their respected mirrors. None of them knew what they would find but they were going to search and see for themselves what lay inside.

Crystal mirrors was right. The cave had long rows of crystals that were so polished and shiny, that they literally looked like mirrors. But so far, there wasn't anything too magical about these mirrored crystals.

One cave lead to a winding tunnel system, then to another cave with a high ceiling that was surrounded with Massive crystal mirrors. Still nothing too special there.

The next cave, the mirrors were giving off light that reflected and changed color from mirror to mirror. The next, the tunnel split, leading off to a brightened room one way and a pitch black room the other way.

After a moment, Vira decided to go into the pitch black room since due to what she was, she could see clearly. Hiromi was a bit skeptical but it wasn't like there was any present danger and she was a big girl, so Hiromi went to the brightened room to see what she could see.

The reason the lady at the front desk gave them glow crystals became apparent to Vira as she entered the darkness and that's all she could see. Her ability to see in the dark wasn't working. Which would make sense, since the Mystic's also had enhanced vision that allowed them to see in dark places as well and they still needed glow crystals here as well.

The moment Vira stepped closer and it became apparent she couldn't see, she pulled back a bit to grab one of the crystals in her pocket. After that, she proceeded on in, she was curious why there was no lighting here.

The crystal's light illuminated the area around Vira, but oddly enough, the light didn't reflect off of the mirrors. Vira's reflection could be seen in the mirrors and that reflection in the other mirrors and so on. Some of the reflections just didn't seen completely right.

Except, just out of the reach of the light, inside the reflection, there was a shadow standing behind Vira.

Suddenly and slowly, the area starts to fill with a light at first, but thickening smoke "Vira Nakeen...do you remember me?" asks the cloud of smoke as it swirls around the cave.

Vira looked around, trying to find the source. "Who are you?" She couldn't place it, maybe it was someone she had met before previously. Or she was finally losing it.

The smoke starts to pull together and forms into a man "I am Smoke. I helped free you from the Lin Kuei by distracting the cyberninja." he states.

"I have come to tell you that you and your family are no longer in danger, though, you will find this out for yourself soon enough." he says.

Vira blinked a bit at this. "..I see. Why did you say that? Did they find out who was really behind it now?"