It is dark and you are lost.
A few minutes ago, you entered the corridor you had opened with your glamor spell, only to find that it had no source of light to guide you. Now, this was not a problem in itself. You simply placed one now-chitinous hand on the wall and sensed the aetherial flow around you to help navigate. The deeper you went, however, the more overwhelmed you became by a surge of aetheric activity coming from the great mass in the ziggurat’s depths. Wave after wave of that fundamental, universal material washed over you, confusing your senses. Despite this, you could not help but notice that the wall became smoother and smoother, green bricks melding together into a surface like that of stone corroded by flowing water. It became the focus of your attention as you walked. That is, until you felt your hand suddenly slip off the edge.
Immediately, you tried to reach back and connect with the wall again, but you found nothing there. You took a few steps back, but the hallway was gone. Somehow, you were now in a great expanse. To make matters worse, the waves of aether were coming more frequently, and each one was much more intense than the last. You tried to press on, hoping you would come across something solid, but you were only met with more aether crashing against you, making your head throb and your skin sting with its intensity. Eventually, it became too much to bear, and you collapsed.
Now you are awake again and laying on the ground, but darkness still surrounds you. The aetheric barrage must have stopped some time after you lost consciousness. Something has certainly changed, though. The floor feels different. It feels somehow more solid, and it is colder. You are no longer able to sense the mass inside the ziggurat, so you begin to wonder whether or not you have been sent to some other part of the mental plane. A quick attempt at teleportation casts doubt on that idea, however, as you find that you are still unable to leave this place using your own power. For now, you simply stare up at the endless dark as you consider your next move.
Seconds or perhaps minutes later, you see a twinkling little speck of light pop into existence far above. Another soon joins it, then another. Before your eyes, countless points of green light fill the sky. As more and more appear, your blurry vision stops being able to easily differentiate between many of the clustered little stars, making them appear as a haze of different shades of green.
“Toku? Are you out here?” a rather feminine voice behind you asks.
You stand and turn around. There are more lights around you now. Rather than distant stars, they are glowing green rectangles built into the metallic floor beneath you. They provide little light, but you can see that you are standing on something even larger than the ziggurat. Its massive metal hull stretches on as far as you can see. Its roof, upon which you stand, is straight and flat. Every 50 meters or so, there is a cylindrical structure, which you assume acts as an entrance to the larger edifice. You assume this, of course, because the one nearest to you currently has its doors open, letting out bright green light and leaving you unable to make out more than just the silhouette of the bipedal insectoid in front of you.
“Toku?” she asks again. “Are you feeling ill? I know you enjoy viewing the stars, but it is unlike you to leave a banquet just to come up here!”
Of course, you are not at all familiar with the speaker. You suspect this is a case of mistaken identity, but you get the sense that it may be unsafe to reveal that you are an imposter. Instead, you mutter a quick apology under your breath and follow the other person inside.
“You really are lucky that I came after you,” she says. “If you had stayed out here staring at the sky for any longer, you would have missed Prince Aethon’s visit to the lower decks! I know how proud you are of the engine. It would be simply awful if you were not there to see his reaction to it!”
As you pass silently through the doorway, your eyes take a moment to adjust to the light. You see that you are inside of a lift. Beneath your feet, you find a plush, dark green carpet. The glowing walls and ceiling are green as well, albeit a much brighter shade. Even your companion, you soon realize, is forest green with mint stripes! You feel that you stand out a bit, considering how your red markings contrast against the world around you.
“Oh,” your companion says, taking your silence as an invitation to keep talking. “I should apologize. It only now occurs to me that you may have already known that he would be coming. Is that why you stepped away from the banquet? Well, you have no reason to worry! The engine all of you put together is flawless! I have it on good authority that His Royal Highness is looking for someone to upgrade his own! That, my sources tell me, is why he has come all this way!”
The doors close and the lift begins to descend, though you do not recall seeing the other insectoid creature activate any switch or push any button. While you wait to reach your destination, you try to get a sense of what may lie deeper in the ship, but you cannot feel any aetherial masses or streams around you. That is not to say that you cannot feel any aether at all, of course! Instead, it feels like a thick fog surrounding you on all sides. Naturally, this leaves you feeling somewhat concerned. After all, you can see and hear the lift’s other occupant, but she is aetherically indistinguishable from the empty air between the two of you.
Not that she notices your concerns, instead just continuing to prattle on about whatever is going on in this place. “I, for one, have always believed in you and your team! Not just because of our shared lineage, mind you. I have never been one to deny the accomplishments of the other houses—I am sure you recall my praise for House Bennetti’s little menagerie—so you know that I am at least a little impartial! As impartial as you can expect from a member of our house, in fact! Rest assured, then, that I know what I am talking about when I say that you have nothing to fear! I have no doubt that His Royal Highness will see your value just as clearly as I do, if not more clearly!”
The lift comes to a stop as you mutter a word of thanks to the stranger. It seems to be enough for her, as she is left looking pleased with herself. Slowly, the doors slide open again, allowing you two to continue deeper into the stellar palace.