001 [Perchance to Dream]

[from_avalon]

It was impossible to tell where the statue had come from. Having been crafted from solid stone, it was as heavy as it was large, but it had appeared in the gardens of the Agora with no preamble whatsoever. There was no sign of the team that must have been employed to shift it into position, for example, or the artist who should have, by rights,

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[ouroborosdance]

The young woman nearby has yet to go to bed - she is the polished and pretty high-heeled sort, generally speaking, but some of the polish has been smoothed away now that she's not at work and is no longer playing queen of the trophies to the most scandalous cabaret in Chelsea. Hasibe missed the roar, having only just arrived, and moves her way through the Agora's gardens, intending to settle on a bench she likes, when a sound--a female voice--makes her turn around. It's not unusual to hear people questioning their surroundings here, but you can never be sure where they've come from or what they'll be like.

"In Xanadu--unless you meant this garden, more specifically?"

[from_avalon]

Angela turned towards the speaker. It had been a long time since a stranger had spoken to her without fear. She was pleasantly surprised, of course, but she was also understandably wary.

"I was talking about this city," she said, carefully. And she certainly didn't recognise the name. "I must be a long way from Manhattan."

[ouroborosdance]

The wariness is something Hasi expects (being in a randomly found unfamiliar location will invoke that in anyone). There was a time when she would have paused more at Angela, but enough experience in Xanadu has let that go, and she would probably never have been afraid -- she's appallingly bad at that particular emotion, and she's strange enough on the inside that it'd seem hypocritical to balk at seeing someone else different from her own experiences.

She smiles, a little, trying to be reassuring.

"Oh--yes. Yes, you are. People tend to come here suddenly and unexpectedly, through doors or a form of teleportation...or sometimes on purpose, too." Hasi comes here on purpose, but if you give her any kind of door she'll be tempted to look inside it, even if it contains an extradimensional pocket city. "We can get home again, though."

[from_avalon]

The gargoyle returned the smile with a hesitant, grateful smile of her own. Angela had been raised on the magical island of Avalon. It had taken her a long time to realise that humans could be dangerous and that humans didn't always want to live in peace with other species. She was still a little too trusting for her own good.

"Good! My clan will want to know what happened to me."

A pause.

"My name is Angela."

[nameofnote]

"It's called Xanadu, which is not incredibly helpful, I know."

He was wary, but not entirely afraid - he's trying to appear a little more nonchalant than he probably is, and does it well.

"It's sort of a place between other places. You can probably get back home, if you poke around for awhile to find a way."

[from_avalon]

"It's certainly better than nothing," said Angela wryly, her tail swishing lightly over the grass. He wasn't afraid of her. The gargoyle had only seen that sort of behaviour once before - in Ishimura, where humans and gargoyles lived side by side - and she couldn't help but wonder what she was missing.

"I still don't understand how I came to be here in the first place. Was it a spell?"

[nameofnote]

"No, I don't think so. Something more along the lines of... oh, an enchanted mirror, say, or a permanent portkey. Many people find it the first time by being drawn here, but after that, they can come and go as they please."

She's well-spoken and calm, which is a good sign, but he doesn't want to insult her by asking what she is. Not yet, at least.

[from_avalon]

"I know all about magic mirrors," said Angela darkly. She hadn't been in Manhattan when the clan had encountered Puck, but she had heard stories about his sorcery and she'd seen the permanent effect his spells had had on her mother.

"I like travelling, but I prefer to do it on my own terms."

But this isn't his fault, as far as she knows, and Angela is nothing if not polite.

"My name is Angela. Thank you for your help."