Chapter 161: 161
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When the car that came to pick them up, dropped them off at the water park, Daphne was still trying to help Rio figure out who to give his last silver ticket to. While they bickered over trivial reasons for one choice over another, Orison scanned across the mostly empty parking lot. For as big as the actual attraction itself was, the space for personal vehicles was rather smaller than Orison imagined it would be. Then again, he should have known. A private vehicle was a ridiculously costly affair compared to UTF transportation standards.
As he walked up to the ticket booth, the young mage was greeted by a man in full riot gear who explained that their entrance would be delayed for a few minutes. It so happened that it was just enough time to allow the other invitees to arrive and start lining up as well. Surprisingly, it was Justice who ended up making the most out of it.
When Orison sent his third gold ticket to the man, he didn't even know if Justice would be able to come. Not only did he, every single one of the tickets from silver to standard went to someone. With the silver haired man in the lead, seven adults varying in age ringed twenty-one children. Three of the adults looked very 'official', along with Justice himself. He may have made the most of Orison's offer but it was apparent that it was still in line with whatever work the man was personally responsible for.
With a sleep-walking Turner mere feet away from the young mage, he could hear the conversation his wife was having with her 'girlfriend'. "Would you believe it? My baby's new friend not only gave us comped passes on an core reservation day, he sent extra instructions on how to keep Turner from getting to sleep in at home!"
The friend laughed and replied, "Is that instructions on how to rotisserie a chicken? What does this note say? Replace chicken with Turner and baste with sunscreen... Haha! This dude's a riot!... Hey, zombie. Is your friend single?"
Practically on auto-pilot, Turner said, "Confirmed bachelor."
"Please tell me that's him," She said, pointing at Justice.
Turner's wife said, "Ha, girl. That's Justice Wingright. My sister's friend said you have to plan a month in advance just to have a coffee with the guy.
"So where is this friend of yours?" the 'girlfriend' said.
Turner dully scanned around while Orison flipped up the hood of his Turkish bathrobe. The young mage had never been so happy that Rio had wasted merits on that 'wardrobe for every occasion' package.
Daphne, recognizing the wife's friend, said, "Isn't that Garret's mom? Let's just invite him then."
Rio shrugged and fiddled with his touchscreen.
While Daphne dragged Rio over to say hi, Justice turned to Orison and said, "This was a nice gesture, a perfect way for the last few kids at your dorm that were in intake waiting for their parents to come to get some relaxation before their schooling starts tomorrow... I hope you don't mind that I brought my niece and nephew. Liberty's going to be here today and she can spend a little time with her kids while she's not escorting you around."
As all eyes present swiveled to him, Orison inwardly cringed.
He leaned in and whispered, "Justice, I gave the ticket to you. Please tell me Liberty's kids have silver tickets."
The man slightly froze up. To make everything fair, he had given all the silver tickets to the adults so all the children would be equal. Orison explained the misunderstanding to the ticket booth attendant and two of the on-duty chaperons exchanged tickets with Liberty's kids. The last one did it for the twelve year old girl he'd met at the dorm. Her mother was one of the 'off-duty' chaperons and was actually in the process of adopting two of the older girls in the group.
With Justice's group crowding around him, Orison managed to avoid awkward introductions with Turner's group as his wife found out that her husband's new friend and Rio's acting guardian was suspiciously young looking. It was Avalon, so it wasn't impossible for an older person to look that way but it was pretty rare. It was rare enough that people apparently didn't know how to cope easily with it at any rate. If they knew the whole truth, the young mage had no doubts they'd be even more dumbfounded.
His luck continued to hold as Liberty came up to let him in a couple of minutes before everyone else. To reciprocate his gratefulness at being spared awkward interactions, he insisted that she bring her kids along and make things as informal as possible. Although she was technically on the job, that job included dressing for the occasion and Orison couldn't help but notice that the mother of two might be a little too cold and a little too thinly athletic to be appealing in a traditional way, she was far from hard on the eyes.
Due to a slight unforeseen delay, there was almost an hour before Orison could meet the mystery woman. He informed Liberty that her and the kids could enjoy attractions on the way and they could could just pace it out. Due to the nature of 'proximity equals friend' that some children had, the two youngest that Justice had taken responsibility for were dragged along by Liberty's kids. With the overly serious looking siblings and the kids sticking together, it felt like a family holiday that Orison accidentally got stuck in.
He preferred it that way. It was obvious that the siblings were both workaholics and there was the slightest amount of desperation in the children's attempts to monopolize Liberty's attention that was a little heart prickling. There was a real passion in both the siblings for the safety and welfare of children so it baffled the young mage how Liberty could be on such rocky emotional ground with her own kids.
For the next half hour or so, they meandered their way through the main public affair and started hitting the side attractions which had Orison swiping his platinum pass left and right so they could keep their amounts for other things later. During that time, he heard the kids, Liberty and Justice talk about everything under the sun but one. For whatever reason, the father of Liberty's children wasn't mentioned or even indirectly referred to. It was as if such a person didn't even exist.
At some point, Liberty and Justice had seamlessly switched roles in escorting Orison and noticing the tight lipped curiosity he said, "Depending on who you ask, anywhere from forty to eighty percent of the differently advantaged of this world owe their gifts or peculiarities to bloodline inheritance from hostile planar visitors. Nearly all of them are not pleasant stories to hear."
The young mage got the impression that Justice shared what little he did to keep curiosity from turning into asked questions, not to answer them. It was enough for Orison to complacently remain ignorant and untangled in someone's private affairs but not be blind-sighted by potential complications or accidentally step on landmines. He was perfectly fine with that.
Reaching a portion of the park where another gate stood, Liberty began the process of parting ways with her children. The complex look she had spoke not only of not wanting to end the fun she was having with her kids back but something more. He didn't know what this visit was all about but the young mage didn't want to break what looked like a rare success of a bonding moment between them.
"You two work in the same field, if not the same department. Do you think it would be a big deal for Justice to cover your duties? Aside from this meeting, we're all here pretty much doing the same thing anyway," Orison added helpfully.
The complicated look on Liberty's face grew deeper before she turned to Justice with pleading eyes.
Ears burning, Justice's grim face grew to near dire levels. "Fine. But you owe me one, sister."
She acknowledged with a silent nod as he sent a message to his team and handed over his earbud with a couple of other devices. The lonely and desolate look her kids had, instantly brightened up. Feeling like he did a good deed at the expense of a little of Justice's goodwill, Orison followed the trudging man.
As they walked past the turn style at the gate, Orison saw signs explaining that only children between infant to seven years of age with supervising adult or sixteen and up without supervision were allowed past. A conspicuous sign nearby stated a few rules including things like 'More than three seconds isn't a casual look, it's harassment.' and 'Touching of any kind requires consent except first aid and injury prevention.' An S curved privacy hall was installed on the other side and halfway through was a side hall that lead back out. A large red arrow pointed towards the floor where a thick yellow and black hazard line had been drawn that stated 'Clothing Optional Area'.
Orison chuckled and said, "They installed an escape route for people who lost their nerve?"
Scowling, Justice answered, "First time visitors used to be tricked into walking into this area thinking it was a place to get away from the larger crowd but otherwise not much different to the rest of the water park."
The first part of the new area was a large wading pool and sun bathing area where he found two distinct sets of people. In the one nearest the entrance, Turner and his wife were laid out, both fast asleep with a currently empty, shaded pack and play nearby. Further up, he saw two familiar teens and a couple more he'd never met before.
Stopping, he said, "Turner, you're starting to blister a little. Do you want a healing?"
The man roused after a repeat from Orison and looked down his chest.
Covering doubtlessly painful tender parts, Turner said, "Uh, yeah."
Pretending like he was fishing around in his robe pocket, the young mage donned his ruby ring focus and made short work of it. The wife woke up during the process and offered a near sobbing apology.
At least that's what he thought it was until Orison realized she was desperately trying to hold a laugh back. "Aww, honey. You look like a piece of bread that only got toasted on one side."
Grumbling, Turner flipped over and his wife went to work making sure the back yard could look like the front in a less skin hazardous manner. The man barely got a mumbled thanks out before he was lightly snoring again.
Handing a small stone jar to her, the young mage said, "If he burns the buns like he did the goose, use that."
She smiled and said, "Thanks for that, for everything really. Have my husband properly introduce us later. I'd really like to know how you two became friends."
Justice reminded him that they were running out of time as she tried to engage him in conversation. Orison smiled and gave her a helpless shrug.
As they walked away, he asked Justice, "How much leeway do we have? Thank you either way but I thought we had plenty of time."
Justice said, "The last part's a little tricky and I don't know how good of a swimmer you are. On the base line that I had to drag you the last part of the way, we have two minutes of leeway."
Passing the four teenagers, the strong one only recognizable as such by his youthful face, Orison said, "Rio, after 1:30 you can get a fine. That and any others you might get will come out of your weekly allotments until they're paid off."
The teen said, "I'm only less than two months away."
Orison shrugged. "Not an argument or a demand. It's just a warning of what will happen.
Playing diplomat, Daphne snapped Rio's speedo and said, "That's Garret and his girlfriend this week out there in the wade pool. I was thinking that they'd make a good team to get past first and second quarter."
Seeing that Garret was lumbering his way over to say a few words while Justice was starting to get a little hot under the collar over even more delays, Orison said, "Thanks for the intro, Daps. You're a keeper... Don't forget, four people plus one approved chaperon max invite to the house at any given time, Rio."
While Justice lead them over to a vendor booth for waterproof totes and a few other items, Orison said, "Sorry for that but I did not want to get tied up in something and come back home to a spontaneous house party... What's this stuff for?"
"It's a hard swim to a section with minimal dress code. Since I'm on duty and you were requested to attend, we can invoke modesty clause. The problem is, the person you are about to meet considers one's attire to be a reflection of one's honesty. The more you cover beyond necessity, the more false she assumes you are," Justice said bitterly.
Orison asked, "Is she a pervert or something?"
Slowly shaking his head, Justice said, "Aurora's a... nice but eccentric person. Her adjunct IS a... difficult person to deal with."
While contemplating that, Justice led them to an area that had a cavernous mouth in the floor. Above it was a sign that read "Entrance to the three Islands of Truth. Please read posted signs and give signature to the required waver/guestbook upon reaching your desired destination. Ignorance is not an excuse. Ask posted attendants about any questions or concerns BEFORE entering."
The person in full riot gear to the side said, "Standard rules and procedures have been suspended until 13:30, er, 1:30 PM. All personnel and guests of Triumvir Aurora will be given time to vacate the Islands before the attraction is opened to the general public."
Justice said, "I'm going down first. Wait one minute before coming down yourself."
The man clutched the tote of items to his chest and jumped feet first into the large hole.
"If this is the entrance, where's the exit?" the young mage asked while he was waiting.
The member of Avalon's answer to the Secret Service answered, "There's a lift on the center island and emergency transport circles on all three that lead to the first aid room."
Orison nodded and after an hour had passed, he imitated Justice. There was a terrifying feeling of free fall for nearly a ten count before it shifted to a bullet like push of himself through a vacuum tube, a gush of wind pushing him from behind. The cooler air above became more forceful for a bit as the tube narrowed to the size of a bus as gravity placed him on one side of it while light filtered in from micro holes above, allowing the air's downward push a place to vent. The exit out was as gentle as a playground slide.
On the other side, Justice was waiting in triathlon shorts and a swimming cap. The young mage didn't get more than a couple of seconds to take in the wide vista of rolling waters with three green dots in the distance before he was handed the second shoulder sling tote. While he changed into a relatively similar outfit, Justice stared at the artificial horizon like the answers to the problems in his life could be found there.
"After fifty meters, there will be aquatic transportation provided. Can you swim?" Justice asked.
Orison nodded and jumped in, giving it his best effort. A couple of minutes later, Justice instructed him to latch on but the young mage invoked an impression of his 'living law' water elemental. It wasn't anything as good as it had been in the illusion but the ethereal fish in front of him allowed him to make good enough progress for Justice to quit worrying about appointment time.
Once they were on a stingray shaped floating deck past the underground lake's shallows shelf, he asked the grim looking man, "I don't expect you to have all the answers but why is the setup like this?"
Justice said, "It's one of the biggest wastes of Avalon's resources and it should have been shut down entirely. What little things they've done to improve it's resource usage are pitiful."
On the silent ride over, the young mage cobbled together what he could remember of the three big signs on the beach and tried to make some educated guesses on the full purpose of the islands. The right side 'Natural Truth' island was the spot for exhibitionists, voyeurs and probably swingers as well. The left side 'Brutal Truth' island was for, as best as Orison could guess, consensual non-consent, conquest and slavery role play. The middle island, and their destination, EO Pan, was an island retreat for certain spiritual and magic groups who had 'adults only' portions to their practices.
Attempting to rationalize it himself, Orison said, "You told me that Avalon was built on the corpses of its citizens. The more extreme the pressure a people face regularly, the more extreme an emotional deficit they tend to develop. Could this place be a way of offering some extreme forms of recreation to funnel that away so that they can find a balance between work and civilization?"
Scowling, Justice said, "Indulging in darkness only makes it stronger."
"So does ignoring it when its a part of you. And it is, Justice. It's in all of us. That may be the 'truth' that these islands are referring to." Orison returned not unkindly.
Gray eyes focused on the EO Pan Island as if they were staring down a nemesis from across a battlefield, not particularly interested in Orison's words. Considering the sudden intense trill of intuition informing the young mage of impending death if he stepped on the island, perhaps a battlefield was exactly what they'd be facing.
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When the car that came to pick them up, dropped them off at the water park, Daphne was still trying to help Rio figure out who to give his last silver ticket to. While they bickered over trivial reasons for one choice over another, Orison scanned across the mostly empty parking lot. For as big as the actual attraction itself was, the space for personal vehicles was rather smaller than Orison imagined it would be. Then again, he should have known. A private vehicle was a ridiculously costly affair compared to UTF transportation standards.
As he walked up to the ticket booth, the young mage was greeted by a man in full riot gear who explained that their entrance would be delayed for a few minutes. It so happened that it was just enough time to allow the other invitees to arrive and start lining up as well. Surprisingly, it was Justice who ended up making the most out of it.
When Orison sent his third gold ticket to the man, he didn't even know if Justice would be able to come. Not only did he, every single one of the tickets from silver to standard went to someone. With the silver haired man in the lead, seven adults varying in age ringed twenty-one children. Three of the adults looked very 'official', along with Justice himself. He may have made the most of Orison's offer but it was apparent that it was still in line with whatever work the man was personally responsible for.
With a sleep-walking Turner mere feet away from the young mage, he could hear the conversation his wife was having with her 'girlfriend'. "Would you believe it? My baby's new friend not only gave us comped passes on an core reservation day, he sent extra instructions on how to keep Turner from getting to sleep in at home!"
The friend laughed and replied, "Is that instructions on how to rotisserie a chicken? What does this note say? Replace chicken with Turner and baste with sunscreen... Haha! This dude's a riot!... Hey, zombie. Is your friend single?"
Practically on auto-pilot, Turner said, "Confirmed bachelor."
"Please tell me that's him," She said, pointing at Justice.
Turner's wife said, "Ha, girl. That's Justice Wingright. My sister's friend said you have to plan a month in advance just to have a coffee with the guy.
"So where is this friend of yours?" the 'girlfriend' said.
Turner dully scanned around while Orison flipped up the hood of his Turkish bathrobe. The young mage had never been so happy that Rio had wasted merits on that 'wardrobe for every occasion' package.
Daphne, recognizing the wife's friend, said, "Isn't that Garret's mom? Let's just invite him then."
Rio shrugged and fiddled with his touchscreen.
While Daphne dragged Rio over to say hi, Justice turned to Orison and said, "This was a nice gesture, a perfect way for the last few kids at your dorm that were in intake waiting for their parents to come to get some relaxation before their schooling starts tomorrow... I hope you don't mind that I brought my niece and nephew. Liberty's going to be here today and she can spend a little time with her kids while she's not escorting you around."
As all eyes present swiveled to him, Orison inwardly cringed.
He leaned in and whispered, "Justice, I gave the ticket to you. Please tell me Liberty's kids have silver tickets."
The man slightly froze up. To make everything fair, he had given all the silver tickets to the adults so all the children would be equal. Orison explained the misunderstanding to the ticket booth attendant and two of the on-duty chaperons exchanged tickets with Liberty's kids. The last one did it for the twelve year old girl he'd met at the dorm. Her mother was one of the 'off-duty' chaperons and was actually in the process of adopting two of the older girls in the group.
With Justice's group crowding around him, Orison managed to avoid awkward introductions with Turner's group as his wife found out that her husband's new friend and Rio's acting guardian was suspiciously young looking. It was Avalon, so it wasn't impossible for an older person to look that way but it was pretty rare. It was rare enough that people apparently didn't know how to cope easily with it at any rate. If they knew the whole truth, the young mage had no doubts they'd be even more dumbfounded.
His luck continued to hold as Liberty came up to let him in a couple of minutes before everyone else. To reciprocate his gratefulness at being spared awkward interactions, he insisted that she bring her kids along and make things as informal as possible. Although she was technically on the job, that job included dressing for the occasion and Orison couldn't help but notice that the mother of two might be a little too cold and a little too thinly athletic to be appealing in a traditional way, she was far from hard on the eyes.
Due to a slight unforeseen delay, there was almost an hour before Orison could meet the mystery woman. He informed Liberty that her and the kids could enjoy attractions on the way and they could could just pace it out. Due to the nature of 'proximity equals friend' that some children had, the two youngest that Justice had taken responsibility for were dragged along by Liberty's kids. With the overly serious looking siblings and the kids sticking together, it felt like a family holiday that Orison accidentally got stuck in.
He preferred it that way. It was obvious that the siblings were both workaholics and there was the slightest amount of desperation in the children's attempts to monopolize Liberty's attention that was a little heart prickling. There was a real passion in both the siblings for the safety and welfare of children so it baffled the young mage how Liberty could be on such rocky emotional ground with her own kids.
For the next half hour or so, they meandered their way through the main public affair and started hitting the side attractions which had Orison swiping his platinum pass left and right so they could keep their amounts for other things later. During that time, he heard the kids, Liberty and Justice talk about everything under the sun but one. For whatever reason, the father of Liberty's children wasn't mentioned or even indirectly referred to. It was as if such a person didn't even exist.
At some point, Liberty and Justice had seamlessly switched roles in escorting Orison and noticing the tight lipped curiosity he said, "Depending on who you ask, anywhere from forty to eighty percent of the differently advantaged of this world owe their gifts or peculiarities to bloodline inheritance from hostile planar visitors. Nearly all of them are not pleasant stories to hear."
The young mage got the impression that Justice shared what little he did to keep curiosity from turning into asked questions, not to answer them. It was enough for Orison to complacently remain ignorant and untangled in someone's private affairs but not be blind-sighted by potential complications or accidentally step on landmines. He was perfectly fine with that.
Reaching a portion of the park where another gate stood, Liberty began the process of parting ways with her children. The complex look she had spoke not only of not wanting to end the fun she was having with her kids back but something more. He didn't know what this visit was all about but the young mage didn't want to break what looked like a rare success of a bonding moment between them.
"You two work in the same field, if not the same department. Do you think it would be a big deal for Justice to cover your duties? Aside from this meeting, we're all here pretty much doing the same thing anyway," Orison added helpfully.
The complicated look on Liberty's face grew deeper before she turned to Justice with pleading eyes.
Ears burning, Justice's grim face grew to near dire levels. "Fine. But you owe me one, sister."
She acknowledged with a silent nod as he sent a message to his team and handed over his earbud with a couple of other devices. The lonely and desolate look her kids had, instantly brightened up. Feeling like he did a good deed at the expense of a little of Justice's goodwill, Orison followed the trudging man.
As they walked past the turn style at the gate, Orison saw signs explaining that only children between infant to seven years of age with supervising adult or sixteen and up without supervision were allowed past. A conspicuous sign nearby stated a few rules including things like 'More than three seconds isn't a casual look, it's harassment.' and 'Touching of any kind requires consent except first aid and injury prevention.' An S curved privacy hall was installed on the other side and halfway through was a side hall that lead back out. A large red arrow pointed towards the floor where a thick yellow and black hazard line had been drawn that stated 'Clothing Optional Area'.
Orison chuckled and said, "They installed an escape route for people who lost their nerve?"
Scowling, Justice answered, "First time visitors used to be tricked into walking into this area thinking it was a place to get away from the larger crowd but otherwise not much different to the rest of the water park."
The first part of the new area was a large wading pool and sun bathing area where he found two distinct sets of people. In the one nearest the entrance, Turner and his wife were laid out, both fast asleep with a currently empty, shaded pack and play nearby. Further up, he saw two familiar teens and a couple more he'd never met before.
Stopping, he said, "Turner, you're starting to blister a little. Do you want a healing?"
The man roused after a repeat from Orison and looked down his chest.
Covering doubtlessly painful tender parts, Turner said, "Uh, yeah."
Pretending like he was fishing around in his robe pocket, the young mage donned his ruby ring focus and made short work of it. The wife woke up during the process and offered a near sobbing apology.
At least that's what he thought it was until Orison realized she was desperately trying to hold a laugh back. "Aww, honey. You look like a piece of bread that only got toasted on one side."
Grumbling, Turner flipped over and his wife went to work making sure the back yard could look like the front in a less skin hazardous manner. The man barely got a mumbled thanks out before he was lightly snoring again.
Handing a small stone jar to her, the young mage said, "If he burns the buns like he did the goose, use that."
She smiled and said, "Thanks for that, for everything really. Have my husband properly introduce us later. I'd really like to know how you two became friends."
Justice reminded him that they were running out of time as she tried to engage him in conversation. Orison smiled and gave her a helpless shrug.
As they walked away, he asked Justice, "How much leeway do we have? Thank you either way but I thought we had plenty of time."
Justice said, "The last part's a little tricky and I don't know how good of a swimmer you are. On the base line that I had to drag you the last part of the way, we have two minutes of leeway."
Passing the four teenagers, the strong one only recognizable as such by his youthful face, Orison said, "Rio, after 1:30 you can get a fine. That and any others you might get will come out of your weekly allotments until they're paid off."
The teen said, "I'm only less than two months away."
Orison shrugged. "Not an argument or a demand. It's just a warning of what will happen.
Playing diplomat, Daphne snapped Rio's speedo and said, "That's Garret and his girlfriend this week out there in the wade pool. I was thinking that they'd make a good team to get past first and second quarter."
Seeing that Garret was lumbering his way over to say a few words while Justice was starting to get a little hot under the collar over even more delays, Orison said, "Thanks for the intro, Daps. You're a keeper... Don't forget, four people plus one approved chaperon max invite to the house at any given time, Rio."
While Justice lead them over to a vendor booth for waterproof totes and a few other items, Orison said, "Sorry for that but I did not want to get tied up in something and come back home to a spontaneous house party... What's this stuff for?"
"It's a hard swim to a section with minimal dress code. Since I'm on duty and you were requested to attend, we can invoke modesty clause. The problem is, the person you are about to meet considers one's attire to be a reflection of one's honesty. The more you cover beyond necessity, the more false she assumes you are," Justice said bitterly.
Orison asked, "Is she a pervert or something?"
Slowly shaking his head, Justice said, "Aurora's a... nice but eccentric person. Her adjunct IS a... difficult person to deal with."
While contemplating that, Justice led them to an area that had a cavernous mouth in the floor. Above it was a sign that read "Entrance to the three Islands of Truth. Please read posted signs and give signature to the required waver/guestbook upon reaching your desired destination. Ignorance is not an excuse. Ask posted attendants about any questions or concerns BEFORE entering."
The person in full riot gear to the side said, "Standard rules and procedures have been suspended until 13:30, er, 1:30 PM. All personnel and guests of Triumvir Aurora will be given time to vacate the Islands before the attraction is opened to the general public."
Justice said, "I'm going down first. Wait one minute before coming down yourself."
The man clutched the tote of items to his chest and jumped feet first into the large hole.
"If this is the entrance, where's the exit?" the young mage asked while he was waiting.
The member of Avalon's answer to the Secret Service answered, "There's a lift on the center island and emergency transport circles on all three that lead to the first aid room."
Orison nodded and after an hour had passed, he imitated Justice. There was a terrifying feeling of free fall for nearly a ten count before it shifted to a bullet like push of himself through a vacuum tube, a gush of wind pushing him from behind. The cooler air above became more forceful for a bit as the tube narrowed to the size of a bus as gravity placed him on one side of it while light filtered in from micro holes above, allowing the air's downward push a place to vent. The exit out was as gentle as a playground slide.
On the other side, Justice was waiting in triathlon shorts and a swimming cap. The young mage didn't get more than a couple of seconds to take in the wide vista of rolling waters with three green dots in the distance before he was handed the second shoulder sling tote. While he changed into a relatively similar outfit, Justice stared at the artificial horizon like the answers to the problems in his life could be found there.
"After fifty meters, there will be aquatic transportation provided. Can you swim?" Justice asked.
Orison nodded and jumped in, giving it his best effort. A couple of minutes later, Justice instructed him to latch on but the young mage invoked an impression of his 'living law' water elemental. It wasn't anything as good as it had been in the illusion but the ethereal fish in front of him allowed him to make good enough progress for Justice to quit worrying about appointment time.
Once they were on a stingray shaped floating deck past the underground lake's shallows shelf, he asked the grim looking man, "I don't expect you to have all the answers but why is the setup like this?"
Justice said, "It's one of the biggest wastes of Avalon's resources and it should have been shut down entirely. What little things they've done to improve it's resource usage are pitiful."
On the silent ride over, the young mage cobbled together what he could remember of the three big signs on the beach and tried to make some educated guesses on the full purpose of the islands. The right side 'Natural Truth' island was the spot for exhibitionists, voyeurs and probably swingers as well. The left side 'Brutal Truth' island was for, as best as Orison could guess, consensual non-consent, conquest and slavery role play. The middle island, and their destination, EO Pan, was an island retreat for certain spiritual and magic groups who had 'adults only' portions to their practices.
Attempting to rationalize it himself, Orison said, "You told me that Avalon was built on the corpses of its citizens. The more extreme the pressure a people face regularly, the more extreme an emotional deficit they tend to develop. Could this place be a way of offering some extreme forms of recreation to funnel that away so that they can find a balance between work and civilization?"
Scowling, Justice said, "Indulging in darkness only makes it stronger."
"So does ignoring it when its a part of you. And it is, Justice. It's in all of us. That may be the 'truth' that these islands are referring to." Orison returned not unkindly.
Gray eyes focused on the EO Pan Island as if they were staring down a nemesis from across a battlefield, not particularly interested in Orison's words. Considering the sudden intense trill of intuition informing the young mage of impending death if he stepped on the island, perhaps a battlefield was exactly what they'd be facing.
When the car that came to pick them up, dropped them off at the water park, Daphne was still trying to help Rio figure out who to give his last silver ticket to. While they bickered over trivial reasons for one choice over another, Orison scanned across the mostly empty parking lot. For as big as the actual attraction itself was, the space for personal vehicles was rather smaller than Orison imagined it would be. Then again, he should have known. A private vehicle was a ridiculously costly affair compared to UTF transportation standards. As he walked up to the ticket booth, the young mage was greeted by a man in full riot gear who explained that their entrance would be delayed for a few minutes. It so happened that it was just enough time to allow the other invitees to arrive and start lining up as well. Surprisingly, it was Justice who ended up making the most out of it. When Orison sent his third gold ticket to the man, he didn't even know if Justice would be able to come. Not only did he, every single one of the tickets from silver to standard went to someone. With the silver haired man in the lead, seven adults varying in age ringed twenty-one children. Three of the adults looked very 'official', along with Justice himself. He may have made the most of Orison's offer but it was apparent that it was still in line with whatever work the man was personally responsible for. With a sleep-walking Turner mere feet away from the young mage, he could hear the conversation his wife was having with her 'girlfriend'. "Would you believe it? My baby's new friend not only gave us comped passes on an core reservation day, he sent extra instructions on how to keep Turner from getting to sleep in at home!" The friend laughed and replied, "Is that instructions on how to rotisserie a chicken? What does this note say? Replace chicken with Turner and baste with sunscreen... Haha! This dude's a riot!... Hey, zombie. Is your friend single?" Practically on auto-pilot, Turner said, "Confirmed bachelor." "Please tell me that's him," She said, pointing at Justice. Turner's wife said, "Ha, girl. That's Justice Wingright. My sister's friend said you have to plan a month in advance just to have a coffee with the guy. "So where is this friend of yours?" the 'girlfriend' said. Turner dully scanned around while Orison flipped up the hood of his Turkish bathrobe. The young mage had never been so happy that Rio had wasted merits on that 'wardrobe for every occasion' package. Daphne, recognizing the wife's friend, said, "Isn't that Garret's mom? Let's just invite him then." Rio shrugged and fiddled with his touchscreen. While Daphne dragged Rio over to say hi, Justice turned to Orison and said, "This was a nice gesture, a perfect way for the last few kids at your dorm that were in intake waiting for their parents to come to get some relaxation before their schooling starts tomorrow... I hope you don't mind that I brought my niece and nephew. Liberty's going to be here today and she can spend a little time with her kids while she's not escorting you around." As all eyes present swiveled to him, Orison inwardly cringed. He leaned in and whispered, "Justice, I gave the ticket to you. Please tell me Liberty's kids have silver tickets." The man slightly froze up. To make everything fair, he had given all the silver tickets to the adults so all the children would be equal. Orison explained the misunderstanding to the ticket booth attendant and two of the on-duty chaperons exchanged tickets with Liberty's kids. The last one did it for the twelve year old girl he'd met at the dorm. Her mother was one of the 'off-duty' chaperons and was actually in the process of adopting two of the older girls in the group. With Justice's group crowding around him, Orison managed to avoid awkward introductions with Turner's group as his wife found out that her husband's new friend and Rio's acting guardian was suspiciously young looking. It was Avalon, so it wasn't impossible for an older person to look that way but it was pretty rare. It was rare enough that people apparently didn't know how to cope easily with it at any rate. If they knew the whole truth, the young mage had no doubts they'd be even more dumbfounded. His luck continued to hold as Liberty came up to let him in a couple of minutes before everyone else. To reciprocate his gratefulness at being spared awkward interactions, he insisted that she bring her kids along and make things as informal as possible. Although she was technically on the job, that job included dressing for the occasion and Orison couldn't help but notice that the mother of two might be a little too cold and a little too thinly athletic to be appealing in a traditional way, she was far from hard on the eyes. Due to a slight unforeseen delay, there was almost an hour before Orison could meet the mystery woman. He informed Liberty that her and the kids could enjoy attractions on the way and they could could just pace it out. Due to the nature of 'proximity equals friend' that some children had, the two youngest that Justice had taken responsibility for were dragged along by Liberty's kids. With the overly serious looking siblings and the kids sticking together, it felt like a family holiday that Orison accidentally got stuck in. He preferred it that way. It was obvious that the siblings were both workaholics and there was the slightest amount of desperation in the children's attempts to monopolize Liberty's attention that was a little heart prickling. There was a real passion in both the siblings for the safety and welfare of children so it baffled the young mage how Liberty could be on such rocky emotional ground with her own kids. For the next half hour or so, they meandered their way through the main public affair and started hitting the side attractions which had Orison swiping his platinum pass left and right so they could keep their amounts for other things later. During that time, he heard the kids, Liberty and Justice talk about everything under the sun but one. For whatever reason, the father of Liberty's children wasn't mentioned or even indirectly referred to. It was as if such a person didn't even exist. At some point, Liberty and Justice had seamlessly switched roles in escorting Orison and noticing the tight lipped curiosity he said, "Depending on who you ask, anywhere from forty to eighty percent of the differently advantaged of this world owe their gifts or peculiarities to bloodline inheritance from hostile planar visitors. Nearly all of them are not pleasant stories to hear." The young mage got the impression that Justice shared what little he did to keep curiosity from turning into asked questions, not to answer them. It was enough for Orison to complacently remain ignorant and untangled in someone's private affairs but not be blind-sighted by potential complications or accidentally step on landmines. He was perfectly fine with that. Reaching a portion of the park where another gate stood, Liberty began the process of parting ways with her children. The complex look she had spoke not only of not wanting to end the fun she was having with her kids back but something more. He didn't know what this visit was all about but the young mage didn't want to break what looked like a rare success of a bonding moment between them. "You two work in the same field, if not the same department. Do you think it would be a big deal for Justice to cover your duties? Aside from this meeting, we're all here pretty much doing the same thing anyway," Orison added helpfully. The complicated look on Liberty's face grew deeper before she turned to Justice with pleading eyes. Ears burning, Justice's grim face grew to near dire levels. "Fine. But you owe me one, sister." She acknowledged with a silent nod as he sent a message to his team and handed over his earbud with a couple of other devices. The lonely and desolate look her kids had, instantly brightened up. Feeling like he did a good deed at the expense of a little of Justice's goodwill, Orison followed the trudging man. As they walked past the turn style at the gate, Orison saw signs explaining that only children between infant to seven years of age with supervising adult or sixteen and up without supervision were allowed past. A conspicuous sign nearby stated a few rules including things like 'More than three seconds isn't a casual look, it's harassment.' and 'Touching of any kind requires consent except first aid and injury prevention.' An S curved privacy hall was installed on the other side and halfway through was a side hall that lead back out. A large red arrow pointed towards the floor where a thick yellow and black hazard line had been drawn that stated 'Clothing Optional Area'. Orison chuckled and said, "They installed an escape route for people who lost their nerve?" Scowling, Justice answered, "First time visitors used to be tricked into walking into this area thinking it was a place to get away from the larger crowd but otherwise not much different to the rest of the water park." The first part of the new area was a large wading pool and sun bathing area where he found two distinct sets of people. In the one nearest the entrance, Turner and his wife were laid out, both fast asleep with a currently empty, shaded pack and play nearby. Further up, he saw two familiar teens and a couple more he'd never met before. Stopping, he said, "Turner, you're starting to blister a little. Do you want a healing?" The man roused after a repeat from Orison and looked down his chest. Covering doubtlessly painful tender parts, Turner said, "Uh, yeah." Pretending like he was fishing around in his robe pocket, the young mage donned his ruby ring focus and made short work of it. The wife woke up during the process and offered a near sobbing apology. At least that's what he thought it was until Orison realized she was desperately trying to hold a laugh back. "Aww, honey. You look like a piece of bread that only got toasted on one side." Grumbling, Turner flipped over and his wife went to work making sure the back yard could look like the front in a less skin hazardous manner. The man barely got a mumbled thanks out before he was lightly snoring again. Handing a small stone jar to her, the young mage said, "If he burns the buns like he did the goose, use that." She smiled and said, "Thanks for that, for everything really. Have my husband properly introduce us later. I'd really like to know how you two became friends." Justice reminded him that they were running out of time as she tried to engage him in conversation. Orison smiled and gave her a helpless shrug. As they walked away, he asked Justice, "How much leeway do we have? Thank you either way but I thought we had plenty of time." Justice said, "The last part's a little tricky and I don't know how good of a swimmer you are. On the base line that I had to drag you the last part of the way, we have two minutes of leeway." Passing the four teenagers, the strong one only recognizable as such by his youthful face, Orison said, "Rio, after 1:30 you can get a fine. That and any others you might get will come out of your weekly allotments until they're paid off." The teen said, "I'm only less than two months away." Orison shrugged. "Not an argument or a demand. It's just a warning of what will happen. Playing diplomat, Daphne snapped Rio's speedo and said, "That's Garret and his girlfriend this week out there in the wade pool. I was thinking that they'd make a good team to get past first and second quarter." Seeing that Garret was lumbering his way over to say a few words while Justice was starting to get a little hot under the collar over even more delays, Orison said, "Thanks for the intro, Daps. You're a keeper... Don't forget, four people plus one approved chaperon max invite to the house at any given time, Rio." While Justice lead them over to a vendor booth for waterproof totes and a few other items, Orison said, "Sorry for that but I did not want to get tied up in something and come back home to a spontaneous house party... What's this stuff for?" "It's a hard swim to a section with minimal dress code. Since I'm on duty and you were requested to attend, we can invoke modesty clause. The problem is, the person you are about to meet considers one's attire to be a reflection of one's honesty. The more you cover beyond necessity, the more false she assumes you are," Justice said bitterly. Orison asked, "Is she a pervert or something?" Slowly shaking his head, Justice said, "Aurora's a... nice but eccentric person. Her adjunct IS a... difficult person to deal with." While contemplating that, Justice led them to an area that had a cavernous mouth in the floor. Above it was a sign that read "Entrance to the three Islands of Truth. Please read posted signs and give signature to the required waver/guestbook upon reaching your desired destination. Ignorance is not an excuse. Ask posted attendants about any questions or concerns BEFORE entering." The person in full riot gear to the side said, "Standard rules and procedures have been suspended until 13:30, er, 1:30 PM. All personnel and guests of Triumvir Aurora will be given time to vacate the Islands before the attraction is opened to the general public." Justice said, "I'm going down first. Wait one minute before coming down yourself." The man clutched the tote of items to his chest and jumped feet first into the large hole. "If this is the entrance, where's the exit?" the young mage asked while he was waiting. The member of Avalon's answer to the Secret Service answered, "There's a lift on the center island and emergency transport circles on all three that lead to the first aid room." Orison nodded and after an hour had passed, he imitated Justice. There was a terrifying feeling of free fall for nearly a ten count before it shifted to a bullet like push of himself through a vacuum tube, a gush of wind pushing him from behind. The cooler air above became more forceful for a bit as the tube narrowed to the size of a bus as gravity placed him on one side of it while light filtered in from micro holes above, allowing the air's downward push a place to vent. The exit out was as gentle as a playground slide. On the other side, Justice was waiting in triathlon shorts and a swimming cap. The young mage didn't get more than a couple of seconds to take in the wide vista of rolling waters with three green dots in the distance before he was handed the second shoulder sling tote. While he changed into a relatively similar outfit, Justice stared at the artificial horizon like the answers to the problems in his life could be found there. "After fifty meters, there will be aquatic transportation provided. Can you swim?" Justice asked. Orison nodded and jumped in, giving it his best effort. A couple of minutes later, Justice instructed him to latch on but the young mage invoked an impression of his 'living law' water elemental. It wasn't anything as good as it had been in the illusion but the ethereal fish in front of him allowed him to make good enough progress for Justice to quit worrying about appointment time. Once they were on a stingray shaped floating deck past the underground lake's shallows shelf, he asked the grim looking man, "I don't expect you to have all the answers but why is the setup like this?" Justice said, "It's one of the biggest wastes of Avalon's resources and it should have been shut down entirely. What little things they've done to improve it's resource usage are pitiful." On the silent ride over, the young mage cobbled together what he could remember of the three big signs on the beach and tried to make some educated guesses on the full purpose of the islands. The right side 'Natural Truth' island was the spot for exhibitionists, voyeurs and probably swingers as well. The left side 'Brutal Truth' island was for, as best as Orison could guess, consensual non-consent, conquest and slavery role play. The middle island, and their destination, EO Pan, was an island retreat for certain spiritual and magic groups who had 'adults only' portions to their practices. Attempting to rationalize it himself, Orison said, "You told me that Avalon was built on the corpses of its citizens. The more extreme the pressure a people face regularly, the more extreme an emotional deficit they tend to develop. Could this place be a way of offering some extreme forms of recreation to funnel that away so that they can find a balance between work and civilization?" Scowling, Justice said, "Indulging in darkness only makes it stronger." "So does ignoring it when its a part of you. And it is, Justice. It's in all of us. That may be the 'truth' that these islands are referring to." Orison returned not unkindly. Gray eyes focused on the EO Pan Island as if they were staring down a nemesis from across a battlefield, not particularly interested in Orison's words. Considering the sudden intense trill of intuition informing the young mage of impending death if he stepped on the island, perhaps a battlefield was exactly what they'd be facing.
