The Testing

[Anonymous]

Nia was surprised when the cat turned into a small woman. She couldn't have been any larger than Nia's hand! And she had a bit of a personality, too, flying up to tug Fenrir's hair. She had the strange urge to giggle, but wasn't exactly sure what the little naked woman was, or whether she was dangerous. The cloud didn't help the matter. "Yeah, training to be a full mage," Nia agreed when Fenrir mentioned it. "And Fenrir is... my friend!" She nodded emphatically with a smile. There wasn't any need to mention he was an avatar for the god of chaos, and it was true- at this point, Nia considered him a friend.

"We're trying to find something that my teachers said was in here. It's a globe of light. You haven't seen it, by any chance?" Since the creature didn't seem to be attacking them, it seemed like a safe question to ask. It never hurt to be polite, either.

[Winters-Feather]

Wisp listened attentively to Fenris' answer, and wrinkled her nose. This boy was silly and wasn't making much sense. Used his eyes? Full belly?  Tiny people that weren't alive? (Dolls, right?) Though she thought only human girls had dolls. Boys could have them, too?
Used his eyes.
But Nia was a mage, he had said so himself. At least that much made sense. So she was a mage, but she couldn't see through it. Which means....
Not human!
Yes, that was it!
Wisp gave out  a giggle, the sound of tinkering bells- she really was clever.
She was so caught up in being clever that she almost tuned out all of what the mage-girl said until she reached an interesting bit  about a globe of light.

"A treasure hunt?" Wisp replied, clapping her hands.
They were playing a game! Treasure hunts were games, right?
This was perfect. A game and promised treasure!
Another thing...The girl asked her if she knew where it was.
She doesn't know... Wisp mused.
The faerie smiled a toothy grin and shot towards the girl's face, playfully pinching her nose.
"Follow me!" she delightfully declared, zooming down the tunnel's corridor.

Wisp had no idea what this light was or where it was hiding, but she wasn't lying...Not really. She just told them to follow her. Besides, they just might find it; she really did want to find it! However, mischief was part of her blood and, well....A few tricks wouldn't hurt, right?
It was, after all, just a game.

[Anonymous]

He was highly amused by this tiny lady and her strange cloud. She didn't seem dangerous at all, but the fact she had been a cat just a few moments ago was a little odd. Okay...she had tried to pretend she was a cat, but he saw right through that! It was good to have him around then, because he could see through such things. He held onto the figure at his side though, the blonde haired Vec, just in case. Never knew when you might need a shield of light to protect you.

"Oooh! She knows then! Come on Nia! You could be a full mage in no time then! After that you can then do all sorts of cool stuff! Like turn trees into blue and yellows, and make the grass grow backwards and red! And...all this other cool stuff!" He had seen his larger self do things like these before. Whether it was magic, or it was just the way of the other Avatar, he didn't know or care...but they'd find out! He reached with his free hand and took Nia's hand, grinning as he pulled her after the flying lady.

This was good! They had found someone who could help them even more!

[Anonymous]

Nia was startled when her nose was pinched, but then she grinned. She'd found two people who were willing to help her, and at least one was a new friend! When Fenrir grabbed her hand and began to pull her after the flying spirit, she held his right back and matched his pace. Lighting the path ahead of them with her own little globe of magic, Nia watched the tunnel walls close in on them and open up again. There weren't many paths that branched off the main one, but the flying lady seemed to keep on the main one, much to her relief.

Sending the globe ahead of them, Nia could vaguely see a large cavern opening up ahead of them. It looked like there were things glittering there, but from here she couldn't see what they were. But there were definitely two exits from the cavern that she could see. What was in it? And did the small fairy know where they were going?

[Winters-Feather]

The creature gave a gasp of delight as they reached the cavern.  The walls and ceiling sparkled and glittered and the poor thing could hardly contain herself. Wisp flew up towards the ceiling, observing the curious material. She touched a crystal. It was cold in her hands, and the glow was  just bright enough for her eyes to bare.  
"It's beautiful," she muttered, all thoughts of finding the treasure or whatever it was out of her head, momentarily. Now she was interested in this...thing. What was it? How did it shine like this? How come there were so many...?

The fairy proceeded to zoom from crystal to crystal, from the rightmost portion of the ceiling to the bottom corner near the entry way. Every now and then she gave an admirable gasp or giggle of pleasure.  Her play was over when her eyes found the girl and the boy-who-could-see-past- illusions.
Oh. Right.

Wisp gave a sigh of disappointment as she observed the two exits ahead of them. Right or left? The tiny creature flew down to sit on top of the girl's head before  she crossed her arms and tugged at the tip of her hair, thinking.
Which way, which way....
Her Cloud drifted in the room behind her two brand new travelling companions  and floated right past all three of them, as if it were minding its own business.
"Where are you going?"  Wisp asked it.
The Cloud, being a cloud, made no reply, but seemed to be heading for the left exit.
Left it was.
Wisp tugged at Nia's hair, with perhaps a bit too much vigor.
"That way!" she commanded confidently.

The passageway out of the  cavern was dark and damp. It split into two passageways; one lead straight forward with an uneven, somewhat uneven ground, decorated with rocks.  The other was forged like a ramp, with moss covered walls and a steep, slippery ground.

Not a sound could be heard, least the dripping of water from somewhere close by.
" Spiders merry meadows green, fairy forest most unseen..."
rhymed Wisp under her breath. She scarcely knew what she was saying; all she knew was that it had just popped into her head, and that it rhymed, and that it was really rather quiet.

The one that goes downwards obviously looks the most dangerous, she reasoned.
That obviously meant they had to go there, next! Right?