Elias sighed, stepping up to stand on the wooden swing set. Today his friends left with their family to travel outside-outside. Evaline had her parents. Alan and Alistair had their mom. Like Elias, Mel's biological parents weren't around, but she was lucky enough to have adoptive parents around.
Elias? He just had his older sister, Ellie. They also had their older brother, but now that the both of them are old enough to take care of each other, he left to be a "productive member of society," or whatever he says nowadays.
But, you know, would have been nice if he came back... so he didn't have to get stuck here...
"Beeeh!" he grunted loudly, leaning back and letting the swing create momentum. He was at his friends' usual hangout spot: at the tree of the edge of the world, as they liked to put it. No teachers could find him here; he could swing and climb and play all he wanted!
He swung back and forth, the rope rubbing against his already calloused hands. What could he do this week? Hmm, he could annoy Ellie some more. Nah, she already shooed him away when she was trying to be a nerd and be ahead of her training. Maybe he can bother his other classmates who also stuck around? The different groups of the class didn't really interact with one another as much, but he's hung out with Janina before. Maybe she can see what she's up to, but... urgh. She's kinda scary...
When the swing reached its peak height, Elias jumped and flew through the air, landing on his feet like he's done a million times. "Huzzah!" he said, turning around and striking a pose out of habit. He blinked, remembering no one else was here.
"Great job Elias, that was a good one," he said in a low voice, turning to his side and gesturing to where he was just at. "Ehh, I've seen higher," he said in a higher pitched voice, facing the other way. He stood back at his original position, grinning. "Thanks Alan, and no thanks to you, Evaline," he said back smugly, hands on his hips.
This was going to be a long, long week.
Spoiler! :
QUICK APPEARANCE SUMMARY!! because the one on wayfarers is not entire right anymore lol In this roleplay, Elias is 12 years old! He's a scrawny lil boy who has not reached puberty yet. He's got fair skin and messy light blond hair -- like, you know how blond people have light hair when they're young? That color. He also has a toothy grin and hazel eyes that always look excited and ready to take on the world. He's wearing a blue school uniform with the same vibe as I drew previously (like... simplistic yet futuristic??) but it looks more kiddish. lol this is me being too lazy to draw... BUT I SHALL DO LATER... especially if Maahes is wearing it too :eyes:
Odris said he wasn't supposed to go into the lab at the very top floor of the building, so Maahes knew there would be something good there that could help him successfully run away this time. Sneaking up there needed a different kind of sneaking than slipping out did. He had to make sure no one saw him either time, but it was a lot harder to slip into the crowds outside the building than it was to avoid people all together inside.
But he did it! He made it up to the lab without running into a single person, and slipped inside just as easily. The door was technically locked and he didn't have the fancy code, but he was a smart scholar. He stopped making himself look Alteran, became all smokey and mysterious, and slipped underneath the door without ever having to unlock.
It took even less time for him to find something that looked useful. Grabbing a metal box off of one of the tables and tucking it underneath his arm, Maahes made a beeline for the window. He wasn't going to be able to slide underneath the door with it, but that was okay. He could pop outside now.
He grabbed a messenger bag from one of the tables, shoved the metal box into it, and peered out into the streets below. What guise should he do this time? Odris was definitely going to be looking for him, and he was going to tell all of the guards when he couldn't find him. Maahes pursed his lips together and furrowed his brow as he thought. He had to come up with something-
There was a click as the door started to open behind him.
There wasn't any time to think. Maahes flung open the window, balanced himself precariously on the very edge of the window, and jumped down into the alleyway below. He already had a gust of wind at his fingertips - or tentacles, since they weren't really fingers - to cushion his fall.
But then there was a weird humming sound from his bag, and Maahes was suddenly blinded by a flash of bright light. When he finally popped his eyes open again, he was in a bush. The wind at his fingertips gave a little poof as he made it go away, shooting up leaves from the bush with a tiny gust of air. Maahes made a similar sound of his own, but it was to get the leaves out of his mouth.
Then he peeked up out of the bush.
There was an Alteran boy nearby. Maahes hadn't ever seen him before - or his uniform! It was a pretty blue one. Maahes like red a little more than he liked blue, but the blue looked cool. He screwed his currently adult-looking face in thought as he watched the boy from afar. Maybe this was some kind of fancy school? Odris had mentioned them before - he had been trying to get Maahes into one, but Maahes didn't want to go.
But he could definitely go if it meant running away and hiding for awhile!
He changed his guise again, making himself appear much smaller than he actually was - not that he ever really got that big, even when he looked like an adult. He made his guise's currently auburn hair look dark brown and slightly longer and messier, gave himself pretty blue eyes that were just a little lighter than the uniform, and gave his now kid-looking self a blue uniform, too. The only thing that remained was the bag from before; it was still housing the metal box.
Maahes grinned as he hopped out of the bush and brushed the leaves off his new clothes. He completely missed the ones in his hair, giving him a wild kind of appearance.
He marched on over to the boy and tapped him on the shoulder - not even thinking about if the boy had already seen him or not.
Elias was not expecting anyone to be around, so being tapped on his shoulder and hearing a cheery hello was not on the list of things that he thought he would happen today.
"Gaah!" he yelped out in surprise, turning around but also stepping back, nearly losing his balance. Did a teacher find their spot after all? Was it a classmate? OH GOSH WAS IT JANINA???
He narrowed his eyes at the newcomer in suspicion. Another boy, same uniform and everything. Maybe even the same age. But he couldn't have been the same age; he wasn't in his class. But still, Elias thought he'd at least recognize him. Not like he didn't see the same people everyday.
"Wait, who are you?" he asked, glancing over the detail that he seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Maahes leaned a little closer and looked the boy over. He hadn't seen, had it? Odris said he had to be careful about letting other people see what he really looked like, but he had been! He had made sure he looked Alteran all the way to the seventh plane.
He squinted at the boy.
It didn't look like he had lenses. Odris was talking about making little glass ones that didn't need rims, but Maahes didn't think he had actually made them yet.
Satisfied with his observation - and giving a little nod to himself - Maahes straightened back up and gave the boy a big grin.
"I'm-"
He faltered, blue eyes wide. He didn't think of a name! He really should have, but he was so caught up with the uniform and seeing another person that he forgot that names were really important. He frantically glanced around, hoping that something nearby would give him some kind of idea. He couldn't say his name was Maahes - that would be stupid. The boy would recognize him and tell Odris that he had run away again!
No, he had to be stealthy and smart. He had to come up with a name that Odris would never expect - something that was very much not Maahes.
Elias squinted at the boy—Aen—and leaned in, hand on chin for extra dramatic effect. He was sure he had never seen him before; Elias passed by all the other boys his age all the time, and although he wasn't the best at names, he could recognize a face. Plus, he'd remember oddball names like Aen. On top of that, he would definitely remember who would be staying around this week.
Then it clicked. Elias had just wished he had a friend sticking around this week, and it was like the universe answered him!
The suspicion washed away from his face and was instead replaced with an excited smile. "Well, I don't think we've met yet... but I'm Elias!" He noticed the leaves in his hair and briefly wondered if that was a new style. "Are you stuck here too?"
Eyes widening, he stared at Elias in horror. Did he know? Maybe Elias had touched one of those weird box things, too, and ended up here! He did look Alteran. But his clothes were all funny, and Maahes had already met all of the kids of the people who worked in the labs. Odris had introduced him to them just last month. None of them looked like Elias or had a name as weird as his.
Elias let out the biggest grin. "Awesome!" he said. "I mean... not awesome. I know I'd rather be out there, but, you know," he said as he looked and gestured out to the sky beyond the cliff.
He wasn't really sure where Aen came from, but hey, sometimes new people show up. That was what happened to Mel last year, and he did look like he could have came from a different continent. Whatever the answer was, Elias didn't really care—a new friend was a new friend!
But... he had to know one thing first.
"So," Elias said, gaze falling back to Aen, "are you new to this place then?"
If so, it was going to be super fun to show him around and see all the tricks and places he had discovered with his friends.
"I'm very new!" he agreed. He still wasn't sure if Elias was really in the same situation right now, so he'd be vague like Odris was whenever Maahes asked him a question he didn't know an answer to. "I just got here."
He didn't add that he had just appeared there thanks to stolen lab stuff. Good diplomats didn't bring up crimes - that's what he heard one of the other diplomats saying to Odris the other day.
"I have soooo many things to show you then!" Elias said a little too quickly, interrupting Aen when he said he just got here. "You've got so much catching up to do. Man, you're lucky I found you first," he said as he playfully elbowed him.
Internally, though, Elias was glad Aen was the one who found him first. Suddenly his week became much more interesting.
"Okay, look here first." He pointed at the sky at the edge of the cliffside they were standing on. "What does that look like to you? Huh? Hm? Hmmm?"
He kept staring at Aen with a giddy smile, obviously wanting to blurt out the answer but instead choosing to impatiently wait instead.
He furrowed his brow. He tilted his head to the side. He even pursed his lips. When all else failed, he copied what Odris always did and ran his fingers through his hair. Was this like one of the tests Odris gave him all the time? It looked like the sky, but why would Elias pointing it out?
"But iiiiiis it?" Elias said ominously, stretching out the words. He was showing off the biggest toothy grin. "Think about it. Do you remember how you came in?"
His eyes were widened in elation as his right hand spun a circle in the air to mimic the gears that may be turning in Aen's head.
Eyes wide again, he glanced down at the bag he was carrying. His hand almost immediately went to cover its flap. He didn't know what the sky had to do with that box, but Elias was definitely onto him! He closed his lips tight and frantically shook his head in denial.
Elias was going to tell someone, and then he was going to have to go back! Maahes didn't want to go back at all.
"Elevator!" Elias excitedly blurted out when Aen was taking too long to answer. He didn't really know how Aen could have possibly forgotten that since it probably happened, well, uh, today. But no matter.
"I mean, that's how you came in, right?" he corrected himself. "So if you came down from an elevator, that can't be the sky? Right? Riiiiiight?"
Evaline and Alan had put it much more pleasantly and matter-of-factly when they were explaining all of this to Mel, but they weren't exactly here, so Aen would have to settle for an Elias-fied explanation for now.
"We're underground!" he realized. That was why the sky was funny! And that meant that Elias hadn't caught onto him yet. He thought he had come through an elevator, not whatever he had in his bag.
Maahes couldn't help but smile at that. Elias couldn't let Odris know if he didn't know who he really was-
Maahes suddenly paled.
They were underground. They were in the dirt and rocks. It made his essence swirl around all funny in both his guise and his true form. He didn't like the ground. It made him feel all constricted - even more than being trapped inside the labs and meetings all day! It hadn't been bad when he didn't know, but his lips quivered at the thought of being trapped underground.
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