Displaced: Crossing Roads

by Slendy

Chapter 8 The High-Life

Displaced: Crossing Roads
Chapter 8
The High-Life

I hate shopping. Yeah, I said it, as it is annoying, time consuming, and down right painful to watch as what little money I have slip from my grasp, or lack of one when I think about it, given my condition. But there are those times I can bare it, if its a simple task, with no detours that could run a risk of causing a migraine to myself, then sure. Problem is...

"Why are the locations in this city so damn confusing?" I muttered in irritation, as my mind counted the last 45 minutes like a timer. I was lost, and I wasn't in the mood to ask the stuck-up nobs of this city either, as some gave me and my companion a passing glance every so often

"I told you, we should have asked Twilight~" Selene sung behind me with a giggle, as I muttered something so low I doubt she would pick up on it, but she still gave me a look. "I'm a what?"

"Baka." I repeated clearly, and yet she stared right at me, so I continued to smirk, knowing I could atleast take pride in something today, if bitch-slapping Blueballs wasn't enough. "Not that i'll tell you what it means."

That she pouted at, which was fucking cute, like seriously! Can these equines get any more cute!? Anywho, we kept travelling around the city, as I glanced at every store we passed, as Selene decided to ask me some questions to pass the time, to which I decided I could use the distraction, if that were possible for me.

"Lumos?" I glanced at her for a moment, then nodded for her to proceed, turning my head back to the street. "If you were 'Displaced' here as this guy called Nox, than what did your friend become? If he's here that is?"

"I won't say 'what' he is, as I still have chills just thinking about it, but I'll say this. He can warp reality, to an extent." I answered, as I looked to see Selene's priceless reaction, then I added. "And he is here, I just feel sorry for whoever ran into his dumbass!"

"Why?" She asked, as I grimaced at the thoughts of what he might be capable of causing to even 1 pony

"Because he hates every living creature equally, and is near apathetic," I answered, then I pointed a hoof at myself. "I'm slightly about that margin, being his best friend of course."

And once again, we walked in silence, as I continued to scour for the shop that plagued my mind, as I knew it would be located in the lower district, but also near the high-end, for its unique purpose. That fact alone made it a needle in a haystack, the size of Texas.

But it then took my empty head a little while to catch on that something was poking my side, so I turned my head back to Selene, but her expression had changed, it was concerned now, unlike her usual smile. This usually means something bad, for me atleast.

"Lumos, back at the castle, you only then called us your 'friends', why only now?" She just had to ask that, didn't she, then her gaze drifted from me. "And...does that mean all this time you never considered me one?"

. . .

. . .

. . .

"Unless you want me to brutally honest, i'm not answering." I sternly replied, as I took to my search again, ignoring any sign of sadness that may be present now

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All this time . . . and only now did he consider me a friend. I can understand his reluctance to trust most . . . but it hurt, more than anything, even more than when I was alone for so long, he managed to sweep that under the carpet with just a simple answer. And his voice, it held no sympathy, and it hurt.

"I thought..." I murmured, as I watched his eye glance at me, but I couldn't help but keep my gaze from his, I honestly didn't care right now...but the sound of him stopping grabbed my attention. So I looked up, and saw that he was looking at a store labeled 'Atlas Equestria'. So I followed, but I still kept my gaze to myself

Once inside, I took note at the clutter, tables littered with scrolls and pages, some old with withered writing and old maps, and some with finely drawn worlds on them, as I looked to the massive wall of shelves, all holding some strange objects, and golden tools, then I heard a voice to my left.

"Hello, welcome to Atlas Equestira! For all your mapping needs!" came a female voice, as I looked to the store owner

She was a tan colour, nearly the same as Lumos, her eyes were a royal purple, along with her light purple mane style, which was long and spiky. Then she readjusted her glasses, as Lumos walked over to the counter.

"Hi, I was wondering if you had a map of modern Equestria, and an old one...for reference?" He asked, as I just stood idly by, but I watched at the unicorn mare levitated two scrolls over, to which she unrolled them for us 3 to see, and I won't lie, I was extremely confused

"Righto! This here is only a few months old, so not many things will be out of date," She pointed out as Lumos glanced to the old map, which was torn in some parts of the paper. "This one here is about . . . 100 or so years, but the map was kept in fine condition, despite that."

"And what of hidden locations?" Lumos smirked. "Like catacombs, tombs etc?"

"Ah, I like the way you think, but yes," She then pointed to a small 'X' on the page, which looked to be located near Ponyville. "This here is the Castle of the Pony Sisters, all other 'Ruins' are located with the same mark, but I doubt everyone of them is cataloged."

"Good to know, just makes it more fun." Lumos replied as the mare smirked, then rolled the old scroll up carefully

"Now, you'll need to come back at some point, as i'll need to make a replica of this relic here," She pointed to the scroll, then looked to Lumos. "Which means i'll be needing your name, and the quality of the map you want."

"Straight to the name game, huh?" Lumos quipped as she snorted, but held her hoof out anyways for him

"Light Script, at your service."

"Nox Clockwork, pleasure," Then he looked over to me. "And my friend here is Selene Night."

"Nice to meet you." I greeted, and at that Light nodded, looking to Lumos with a smirk, to which we both didn't like the look of

"I know what your thinking, so don't." Lumos spoke up, but Light just waved him off

"Hey, I ain't saying nothing, but you sure did!" She winked as I Lumos slam his head off the desk, so I decided to take that as my turn to leave before things got worse. If only I knew that it would be the worst mistake of my life

As I turned to walk away, I rammed into somepony, to which we both fell to the floor. Only then did I see who it was. He was about the same height as Lumos, but he was more built than him, his coat was a dark grey, as I then noticed his black, leathery wings, and golden, cat-like eyes. He was like me.

"Why, sorry about that, didn't see you there miss." He apologised, but I quickly waved him off, as I met his gaze

"No, I wasn't look straight, sorry." I apologized as he seemed to smile a little more, but there was something off about it, not that I could tell what it was, but it was there

"Dear me, now I know I must be cursed, having angels like yourself run into me all the time." Great . . . he's a charmer...so I gave him a kind smile before pointing to the door

"Sorry to cut this short, but I need to get going, places to be and all that," I lied, but I was now beginning to feel almost unnerved by this bat-pony, something about him was really wrong, like I should keep talking with him, but . . . just said I need to go, so why...?

"Well that's a shame, maybe I could accompany you?" A little forward much!? But . . . my mind can't stop thinking of saying yes! I can't stop myself! Please...help me!

But before I could even reply, I felt a hoof wrap around my own, as my fixed trance broke to see Lumos, a calm smile on his face, but his eyes had a fiery glow to them, and it was all directed at the stallion, but I couldn't help but hold onto his hoof tighter, as I kept my gaze to Lumos.

"Welp, were all done here, I suggest we get moving, don't want to miss our train, right?" Lumos asked me, as I silently nodded, but his gaze never left the bat-pony, as he seemed to back off slightly, but his gaze never left me, but Lumos thankfully sensed my distress, and quickened his pace to the door, then he stopped

"Seeya next time Light! Thanks!" He called back, as we left the store, and that stallion behind

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"Ok, what the hell happened back there!?" Lumos spat, as we continued to walk towards the direction of the train station, as I decided to keep close to him, as the memories of that conversation haunted me, but I shook my head in refusal, as we continued to walk. "Selene. What. Happened?"

"I-I don't know...one minute I was going to leave, but then I ran into him, and suddenly, it was like my mind wouldn't listen to my anymore, as if I was just observing from my own eyes...it...it scared me..." I shakily replied, as I breathed a heavy sigh, as I felt my heart race from just the thought of being trapped in my own mind

"Curses." Lumos snarled, as I felt a sudden wave of anger seep from his words, as I noticed his hardened glare. "He must have had a cursed object, or something similar, and he was using it to hex you."

"H-Hex me?" I echoed, as I did hear about those through my enchantments. "But how do you know what a curse is?"

"My world has fiction too, and I love diving into all sorts of magics, even the ones I fucking despise." He replied, but sighed as he poked me. "Anyways, what's up? You said you were leaving before that whole ordeal, why?"

That kept me silent for a moment, as my mind slowly reverted back to normal, then I frowned back at Lumos, as I felt my emotions twist painfully in my head.

"The way you answered my question before, did you really only see me as a friend until recently?" I asked truthfully, and even at that, I could see him unfazed by the question, like it was nothing but hot air, maybe it was, I do have the tendency of lose control of my emotions often

But Lumos didn't answer, instead he grabbed my hoof, and pulled me along, as I blinked rapidly at his blunt and silent answer.

"Hey!" I snapped, but he ignored me, and pulled me along, this kept up until we reached a small cafe, to which I just stared blankly at him, as he sat down, gesturing for me to copy . . . which I reluctantly gave into. At first, we sat there for 5 minutes, not a single word traded between us . . . so I waited

"You want the truth?" I finally heard Lumos ask, to which I nodded hastily. "No, the others I only considered friends today, as I still needed time to become more sociable with them, before I could begin to trust them. And believe me when I say, I have serious trust issues,"

"But you, the first day we met, you didn't judge me on my character, who I was, or where I came from, instead you risked your safety and decided to aid me, you talked with me, laughed with me..." Lumos was genuinely smiling at this, and I could help but feel something in me skip. "You were my friend since the beginning, and I never doubted that decision."

"I..." I couldn't speak, I don't know why, but he really, genuinely felt that way, and I couldn't understand why I was so happy, so . . . moved, so I just laughed, and couldn't be happier!

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Oh son of a bitch, I broke her. I mean...I really don't understand why she was laughing, it wasn't to spite me, but it was rather odd. But to be fair, I guess i'm not always clear when it comes to my emotions, if at all. But I guess all this time she thought I never considered her my friend, I mean, Erebus wouldn't be so reluctant. Heck he'd probably put his pain into their souls.

But I honestly had no idea how I was going to adjust to being Nox, in a world filled with Ponies, but she was the first to actually help me, support me and everything, so to not call her a friend would be a sin, if I didn't already represent Envy in my own right.

"So...you ok?" I asked warily, as she finally came back to reality, noticing my rather baffled expression

"Sorry...I just feel like such an idiot." Don't we all love, me especially, then I noticed her eyes, and I quickly went to reply

"We have an hour to kill before our train gets here, so fire away." I replied, as her face lit up with excitement that could rival Twilight

"Cool!" She cheered as she thought for a moment as she put a hoof to her chin in thought, then in that same instance, she asked. "Do you have any idea where your friend, Erebus, might be?"

"That's . . . a really good question, hence why I bought the maps, so I could track the most likely places he would try to go . . . even so..." I paused, then I just gave her an expression that read 'Duh fuck if I knew'. "I haven't the foggiest idea."

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???

White was the world that surrounded the land, white was cold and unforgiving as lives of those can swiftly change with its flow, as the unpredictable and uncontrollable storms raged across the tundra, bring misfortune to all that dare to face its might, to defy its gods. Except one.

Among the snow and icy torrents, walked a tall figure. He was big, with snow covering most of his clothes, but the yellows, reds, and other colors still managed to seep through, upon his leg, was a wolf, as it tried to tear its teeth from the figure's leg, as it was trailed along the snow, with the pack following close behind.

The figure's left arm was raised out, as icicles hung from the puffy arm. In the figure's white glove, was a shiny, red balloon, the string and orb frozen to his figure's hand and in the air, as it stood firm in the winds. Then the figure stopped, as it slowly looked around with fiery, orange eyes.

"Fuck! This shit is so cold, I'll be seeing gangsters pulling up their trousers!" The man shakily muttered to no one, as he continued to trek his way into the unknown.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note:

Now, I know I said I would be adding in something about the 'Ciphers', but it was either that, or my friend's introduction to where he is, and a few small hints to what he is displaced as.

Still, hope you enjoyed this little character development!

Next Chapter: Change Is Slow

Comments

[Dead Gods Dream]

Noice

[Sets]

So eurobus is Bill cipher

[hades21]

"Fuck! This shit is so cold, I'll be seeing gangsters pulling up their trousers!" The man shakily muttered to no one, as he continued to trek his way into the unknown.

lololololololololololololololololololololololololol