Welcome to Gaia! ::

“Welcome to the Ghost Pearl Inn.” Harper smiled down at the confused young man, her voice reassuring and cheery. While it wasn’t uncommon in Hiast to have people change looks suddenly it generally didn’t happen like this. Not to mention that it took more drinks than the other had had to start forgetting where you were. It looked like Benjamin has finally gotten around to doing his job.

The pink haired fairy woman stood behind the bar and watched the strange new arrival carefully. She wasn’t sure if he was going to be someone she could simply talk through this or if he’d panic like she had when he realized what had happened. It was best to take this one step at a time. Though soon she’d need to ask him how many other people had been at the bonfire.

Around them things went on as normal in the sparsely populated inn. There were a few odd looks and murmurs from the inn’s patrons but most of them soon went back to eating drinking or talking. This didn’t happen everyday but it wasn’t yet enough of an issue for most to give the rather large young man more than a once over for now.

Harper shook her head and gave the guy a sympathetic look. She hadn't heard anything other than him and the normal noises of the Inn. Either shock had him hallucinating or he was suffering affects of the change already; in a way the fairy woman supposed that both could also be possible at the same time. Beyond the basic mechanics of it all nothing about this process was simple and easily explained.

Figuring the young man would probably need it the woman reached below the bar for a jug of beer and a clean glass to put it in. Harper placed the drink before the writer as she began to answer his questions. " Back when I knew him Benjamin didn't seem like the type for video games so I highly doubt they had anything to do with this." Besides this guy had mentioned a workshop and a bonfire which made more sense.

Harper leaned forward so her elbows rested on the bar and she could speak more privately. " You're in Hiast which is basically like another realm of existence. It's all part of your workshop but you can't just leave or quit if you don't like it," She warned him. Once you got yourself into the realm there was no going back till you sucked it up and completed your story.

" I'm Harper." The fairy woman straightened up as she introduced herself and extended a hand. "I've done all this before so don't worry." Sure her story had been a fantasy romance but it still hadn't been easy. She'd explain more to the newcomer over the next little bit, assuming he didn't panic and bail. She didn't want to overwhelm him with information right off the bat though, that was just as bad as knowing nothing as far as she was concerned.

Harper just nodded at the poor babbling guy, she didn't understand half of what he was saying. " Why don't you tell me your name and we'll work from there okay?" Maybe if she asked him things he knew he'd calm down? probably not but ti was worth a shot. At least he was staying still and hadn't bolted outside to verify that he wasn't on Earth anymore. " I can pinch you to prove you're not dreaming." The fairy woman tried to keep her voice gentle, she'd volunteered to look after new comers and while she'd be forcible about setting them off on their quests Harper also knew they needed support before that could happen.

Elsewhere in the inn things carried on as normal though a few people were now eyeing the newcomer as though he might be amusing to listen to.

It sounded like Benjamin had actually turned himself into something like he'd sworn he would. Harper had known his plans before he'd left and had been prepared for them to come to fruit but she'd always been a bit uncertain how famous he'd really get. Of course his workshop might just be drawing in those who were obsessed with his work and the redhead might still be relatively unknown to most of the world. It was impossible to know for sure without some contact with the other world.

" You can't go back until the story is finished." Gently easing Jason into Hiast or not Harper knew she couldn't really hide that fact from the overweight man. "It's probably going to be a long time," she admitted pale wings fluttering a bit behind her.

"You're not going to write it," Harper leaned closer "You're going to live it. and if you start hearing voice don't worry." She would have said more but there was signal in her peripheral vision for her attention at the other end of the bar and the woman turned to attend to her paying customer leaving Jason to digest what she'd just said for a moment.

"Be back here by dark" Harper shouted down the bar at Jason. He was probably going to need to see and hear this for himself before he believed. she couldn't really play tour guide at the moment and guys always hated when girls helped them like that anyways. Still the pink haired woman would be waiting here for the young man's return and she'd stay up all night explaining things to him if she had to.

*****

They refused to take his money. In fact several of them had laughed in his face about the "paper" he was trying to pass off on them, while others had run them out of their shops, screaming that they didn't accept his type of vagrants. Jason scowled, shoving his hands into his pockets as he finally found himself sitting in a very strange sort of park.

The bench was normal. The grass was green. It wasn't even truly a park, just a grass and tree area for people to walk through on their way to their various work places. But what was strange was the people. He had seen everything from time cop outfitted folks to strange hybrid animal people that seemed to communicate in barks and whines. It looked to be a scene straight out of the sci-fi channel. One of those weird commercials like the one where the lady blew up her dog like a balloon.

None of them looked at him twice. Nor did he recognize any of them, so obviously none of the people from the campfire had wound up here. He was all alone. He groaned, leaning back and closing his eyes against the headache that threatened.

"Have you seen him?"

The voice made Jason jerk, his eyes opening wide as he turned to find the source. It was a gravelly, dry voice that he had only heard in his imagination. It had the same impatient tone that he usually pictured, as well.

"Well screw you, too, lady," the voice said, clearly irritated by the response he had gotten. There, Jason thought, his heart stopping a beat. It was--

No, it couldn't be. There was no way in hell one of his characters--one of his favorite characters, one he had been writing for years--could be here. But there he was. The scars that crossed his forearms, the dark hair cut raggedly, since he never let his wife cut it unless she threatened to kick him out of their bedroom, the chewed up butt of a cig hanging from his teeth. Even his tattered wings were exactly how he had imagined, right with the ratty jeans and black leather vest--

"What the hell are you lookin at, red boy?" Crow demanded, stepping forward so he loomed over Jason.

"No--noth--"

"Have you seen this man?" he demanded, not even letting Jason finish his statement. He shoved a picture in his face. It took Jason a long, long moment to focus on the image, because his mind refused to accept it. "His name's Raven. He's supposed to be in this area."

Jason didn't know what to say.