The crew jumped down from the ship and went to finally enter Amal to try to find Alix and Eric. Kent, Alisa, and Isabelle Chancy led the pack with Trouler and Nuka both close behind. It took the crew around thirty minutes before they finally arrived at the edge of the mist.
While approaching the town Kent was hoping that he'd be able to scope something out as they came closer but had no such luck. The mist was so thick that even when they were standing right in front of it, he still couldn't see anything except vague silhouettes. Which highlighted another strange thing!
The mist seemed to function like some sort of barrier? It was only surrounding the town not leaking even the slightest amount of mist out? It was clearly not any sort of naturally formed mist but that should've been obvious based on the stories about this place.
"This mist is so strange?" Kent said with furrowed brows.
Isabelle stepped up beside him. "That is likely due to the magical nature of it. Were it normal mist it would have long sense dissipated but this stuff has managed to persist for hundreds of years! I doubt we'll be able to see clearly even upon stepping inside!"
"Does that mean that we could get lost on the inside? What if mom and Eric are lost? What if there's some monsters in there that we can't see coming because of the thickness of the mist?!" Alisa's mind surged with questions and fears when she felt Kent's gentle hand on her shoulder, signaling for her to calm down.
"We'll be fine if we all stay close together." Alisa looked up at Kent and let his reassuring smile calm her nerves.
"Right! Okay. I'll just stay close to the group then!" Kent nodded. He then turned to the rest of the group.
"That goes for the rest of ya too! Stay close! We don't wanna lose anyone in town!"
"Aye, sir!" The crew affirmed. Kent decided that he would be the first to walk inside. He took a step forward and instantly vanished from the sight of those outside. Alisa, Isabelle and the monsters were next then rest of the crew.
All disappearing into the mist as though they had never been there in the first place.
For a moment, Kent felt a some resistance as he moved through magic mist but, the pressure quickly went away allowing him to fully pass through. On the other side he was shocked to find that he could actually see the world before him!
He could see that the buildings were browned and mossy, likely due to a lack of upkeep and extremely humid surroundings. He could also tell that they were in various states of disrepair with some large chunks being missing from certain structures. And then there the grass that grew tall enough to trip up anyone that wasn't paying attention. It was all so surreal!
There was still some light fog in the air but nothing even close to being as vision obscuring as the mist on the outside. "Hmph?" Kent grunts. "I guess we were worried for nothing?" Kent looked turned over his shoulder and watched both Alisa and Isabelle enter behind him.
"Woah! This place looks so old! Well, I guess an ancient town would look old but I just thought that with the mist blocking everything off it would be preserved or something? But all of the buildings are like, broken and mossy and stuff! Actually, are those even buildings?"
Isabelle checks her spellcaster robe for any sign of dirt. "I too was hoping that the mist did more than just cover the town. Though I guess that I was expecting too much of the workings of Mysticism!" Kent side eyed the woman at the strange dig at Mystics.
"I guess you've got some strong opinions about mysticism?"
"Not strong, I just don't often find myself having interest in the art of tricking people's minds when Magecraft can summon true magic!"
'Is that not a strong opinion?' Kent gives up on talking to the woman and turns back to the mist where Nuka and Trouler now come in. In comparison to them, however, the pair of monsters seemed to have been greatly affected by the magic that controlled the mist.
Both were breathing heavily and seemed visibly shaken by something. "What happened to you two?" Kent asks but gets no response, obviously as he has never been able to understand monsters. He walks over and scoops Nuka up and places her on his shoulder.
The bird looked him in the eyes and he smiled in return. "Don't worry, I'm sure that my mother will be fine! She bested me in combat after all, though I'll admit that it had been quite some time since I'd been in a fight so I was pretty rusty! But that doesn't change the fact that even me in my prime wouldn't have expected the trap she'd set!"
Nuka stared blankly at Kent. It seemed he was incorrect about what could have been bothering the monsters but she still nodded thankfully at the young man's attempt to comfort her.
'What has my life come to? Offering words of comfort to a bird? I used to a pirate feared across the sea!' Kent questioned his life choices as he looked back to the fog.
No one else came through?
Kent frowned. "Where the hell's the rest of my crew?" Isabelle and Alisa both looked over their shoulders and too noticed that no one else had come through in some minutes.
"Maybe they didn't want to come in? You were kind of forcing them to be part of this when they were just here to help get the ship running?" Alisa reasoned to which Kent immediately denied.
"They're all retired! It wasn't like they had any plans that I got in the way of! In fact, if it wasn't for me they'd be drinking their days away in the Feud Pin! Besides, if I'm forced to be here then they should also be forced to come!" Kent moved back over to the mist and tried to walk back out only feel that pressure from earlier come back. This time it was even more heavy, making Kent grab his head in pain.
"Gah! That-Why?!" Kent backed away from the wall of fog and felt the pain subside. "What the hell just happened?"
"My guess would be that we were allowed to enter but are not allowed to leave as we see fit." Isabelle theorized. "That may also be the reason as to why your crew has gone missing. Though it would be a lie to say that I am upset at the fact that a bunch of pirates have gone missing."
"I get it lady! Ya don't like anything that you see as below you! Get over it!" Kent growled at Isabelle. She narrowed her eyes at the boy but said nothing. Kent noticed this but ignored it. He moved ahead of the to group to go deeper into the town.
"Come on." Kent ordered. "Let's go see if we can find those two. Hopefully the rest of my crew as well! Then, we can look for a way out of here!" The group nodded and followed Kent into the town.
The deeper into the town they went the more Kent came to agree with Alisa. If the outskirts looked old then the area that they were in now looked ancient! Looking around one could see the remnants of old shop stalls. There was the rusted metal of a materials shop, the mold mess of the food stalls, and some fallen signboards likely for people to see the news of the day.
It was all so...broken.
Not that the constructs of mortals falling apart due to the elements of the primordials was uncommon. Especially with the amount of time that had passed since the town was populated.
However, some of the broken buildings seemed to be worse off than others. Almost like they'd been destroyed by something other than nature.
"What the hell, happened to this place?" The group continued to make their way through the ruined remains of Amal while looking around for any sign of Alix or Eric. The peered into buildings and saw the rotten wood of bowls that once held food that had long since been eaten by insects.
They also found worn out cloth and wool, likely from clothes that had been eaten away. Yet they still found no sign of their two companions.
"What if they didn't come here?" Alisa suddenly asks prompting Kent to turn and meet her gaze. She was visibly distressed as she continued. "I mean, what if Mom and Eric did try to come into the mist but weren't allowed in like the pirates? What if being denied by the mist means that you get destroyed by it? I bet that's what that weird feeling was when we came in! The mist was testing us to see if we were worthy but the pirates didn't pass!"
"Alice!" Kent called out and grabbed Alisa by both of her shoulders. "You have to stop asking questions! They're only making you panic. We can't be thinking about things like that or we're never going to get anything done!" Kent shook Alisa gently as he spoke.
A strange act to most, but strangely calming to Alisa. She nodded in understanding though her worry was still very evident on her face. "I just...I don't want to lose my new friends is all."
Kent smiled warmly at the girl. He rubbed her head ruffling up her scruffy, dirty blonde hair. "I get that. But you should know by this point that Alix Ren is not so easily killed! She says so herself, she doesn't do anything that she thinks to be impossible!"
"So you can say her name?" Kent and Alisa both turned at the sound of Isabelle's voice. "What? You two were just so adamant on calling her mom or mother that I assumed that you were under some sort of curse! Like if you ever called her by any other name then your lips would fall off or something?" The woman mocked.
Kent glared at her. "I'll have you know that I lost a bet to that girl, in which I said that I would treat her as I would my mother and I intend on keeping that promise! Whether she is present or not! She earned my trust and respect, so I will treat her in kind! A form of kindness that I'm sure you've never heard of!"
Ms. Chancy scoffs. "Am I supposed to be upset? I'll have you know that my life is all the better without the respect of criminals! Especially ones like you, Tyrio!" Kent and Isabelle glared into each other's eyes for several seconds.
A sinister smirk rose onto Kent's face. He slowly walked over to the instructor. "You know, no one can find us within this place. Hell, they can't even reach us! Who's to say that there aren't any monsters roaming around that may eat you whole? No one would be able to say that we're lying since we're in lands unreachable by most!"
"Oho! Is that a threat, boy?" Isabelle asked with folded arms and a proud grin.
"I wouldn't call it a threat. Just a random thought! You could get yourself killed here and no one would be the wiser." Kent voice deepened as he spoke those words.
"Killed? Hah! I am quite interested to discover how a dropout like yourself would even attempt to attack someone like me? Or, are you going to rely the skill of a criminal? Don't you recall that those same skills got Walish Tyrio killed away from home?"
Kent summoned his Storm Spear to his hand. It crackled with electricity as he held it pointing at the woman before him. "Keep my father's name out of your mouth!"
"Why? Does being reminded of his death bring up bad memories? Do you even remember the face of the man that abandoned you for the sea?!" Kent grit his teeth so hard that they felt as though they were about to break. He bent his legs ready to lunge at the woman when he felt a hand grab.
He looks over and sees Alisa staring at him with eyes freshly moistened by tears. "Please calm down, big bro." She says with a trembling voice. "You're scaring me!" Kent looked deep within the eyes of the scared girl beside him. He sighed and dissipated his Lightning Storm Spear and wrapped one of his arms around the girl.
"Hey hey, come on now, Alice! It's all right! We were just having a bit of a disagreement and I got too worked up! It isn't anything to be scared of!" Kent did his best to ease the tension in the situation as he gently rubbed Alisa's back. Isabelle stood to the side still ready to fight but, seeing how things were unfolding, assumes that she will not be fighting at the current moment and eases her stance.
Kent held Alisa until she managed to regain composure. Once she seemed fine he moved bent down in front of her and asked, "You alright?" Alisa sniffled a bit and nodded.
"I'm fine. I just...actually it's nothing important. By the way, I have something to tell you."
"What is it?" Kent let go of Alisa and let her speak. Alisa rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her worn-out cloak and pointed to something behind Isabelle.
"There's a person standing over there. They've been watching ever since you two started fighting." Kent and Isabelle both shot their gaze to where Alisa pointed. In the aforementioned spot, just a few meters away, was a person slightly obscured by the fog. All that could really be seen was the pointed hat they had atop their head.
"Oh, so you've finally noticed me? I thought the two of you were going to fight so I decided to stop and watch! Did I startle you?" An effeminate voice rang out as the figure moved a few steps closer. Kent moved to stand in front of Alisa and summoned his Blizzard Storm Spear this time, adding a temperature shift to the area around him.
"Oh dear! Is that a weapon? I assure you that I was only passing by! I mean no harm!" The woman took another step forward with her hands up in surrender. The pointed hat on her head gently bounced with her every move.
"I'm just a witch passing through! No need to be so on guard, dear!"