Gate of Memoirs/Dust in the Desert

Wanderers in a desert drawn to the same purpose for different reasons.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Ghost"	Music: "Ghost"
 	
*Like all other spaces, you can't be sure if this one is merely a reflection of its true world.
*But Gwyll's words ring in your head then—what IS a true world, if there is indeed one?
*It's not logically sound for every world to be true, if each believed his own to be the singular "correct" one.
*Still, such philosophical conundrums are not what you're here for...
Portrait 	Dialogue
 	
*Gwyll: There. All you need to do is close your eyes, and you'll be there in a moment.
*Gwyll: It will feel like a dream, until it doesn't.
 	
*Gwyll: You'll see what I mean.
 	
*You look down suspiciously at the liquid in the bottle. Azure this time.
*No turning back now. You down the entire draught in one go.
*And now here you are, in an ominously thundering desert.
*The boundaries of the spaces you visit in your surveys, both at the lab and in person, are beginning to blur.
 	
*Who's to say this woman before you is not a mere mirage?
*You idly wonder if Aoife has now begun to haunt you, thanks to the necklace.
 	
*She stands a half-pace behind you, and you think you hear soft strains of her illusory singing back in Eyinhel.
*Familiar Voice: Oh. It's you!
 	
*A familiar foxish man comes out of nowhere, with the same cheeky tilt of his hat.
*Hakuzo: Why, ! You look a lot less chipper than last we met.
 	
*Hakuzo: I didn't think you'd age so much from jumping dimensions. I suppose it does put a strain on the soul.
 	
*You laugh wryly. Wasn't he the one who sent you tumbling from the Old World?
 	
*Hakuzo: Hah! At least you've kept your sense of humor.
*Hakuzo: It's doubly important at such a weird time. You don't think this lovely lady over here is all she seems, do you?
 	
*You glance back at Aoife, who gives a muted glare, but you realise she's glaring at *you*.
*Aoife (?): ...Are you quite done staring and talking to yourself?
Music: "Devil's Heart"	Music: "Devil's Heart"
 	
*Aoife's form melts away into an oddly-dressed stranger, whose black-furred pet eyes you with its beady red gaze.
 	
*You startle, and Hakuzo vanishes from your peripheral vision.
*Was he ever there to begin with?
 	
*Skimpy Stranger: ...You appear out of nowhere, shamble up to me like a corpse, and start running your mouth.
*Skimpy Stranger: If I hadn't known better I'd say you were only slightly better than the other ravenous things in this...place.
*Skimpy Stranger: Nothing but illusions and mirages as far as the eye can see.
*Skimpy Stranger: But that is to be expected when one travels outside of reality, I suppose... 
*At your slightly confused look, her gaze softens just a touch.
*Skimpy Stranger: Well, I suppose I can spare a few moments, seeing as you're the only intelligent being I've seen all day...
 	
*Set: I see.
 	
*Set: Hah. And once upon a moon I could have had anyone carry out such bothersome tasks in my stead.
*Set: To think that I too, like you, must look for a purpose even I am unaware of.
*Set: I do so despise being made to do things...
 	
*Set: Ah. You say you're looking for something?
*Set: ...A bird, eaten by a snake?
 	
*You're pretty sure that was metaphorical, but then again, anything is possible.
*Set watches you carefully, as if she's trying to read your mind just by looking into your eyes.
 	
*Set: Well. There was a snake I had the misfortune of meeting.
*Set: A terribly ugly serpent if there ever was one. Though I wouldn't say he ate a bird, no...
 	
*Set: It's more likely that the the "bird" you speak of tore out his eyes and made him sink into the dregs of darkness.
 	
*You think about asking further, but Set puts up a hand.
 	
*Set: Only an old tale, from my home.
*Set: Now. I have places to be, but I hope you find your...little bird soon.
*Set: Luck be on your side. From one traveller to another.
 	
*Set: Come here, darling.
 	
*You watch as Set scoops the strange black-furred creature into her arms and begin to channel some sort of teleportation.
 	
*Set: ?!
 	
*Set: Wait. It can't be.
Music: "Sky Fort" 	Music: "Sky Fort"
 	
*Set's threads of magic fall away, before she turns to you with a cold look in her eyes that sets your instincts on edge.
 	
*Set: I should have known. This isn't unfamiliar...
 	
*You dive left just as Set throws out her hand, and a bolt of darkness barely misses you.
*The dark streak impacts an invisible wall behind you, and something shatters violently.
*A rift in the space peels back, showing a distinct layer of some other shifting landscape underneath before it starts to crack further.
*It all makes sense now.
*You were brought into this trapped space—this shared consciousness—to serve as a wandering beacon.
*Had the Erlking known that you are not so different from these beings so you could be used as bait?
 	
*Set steps menacingly toward you, red threads coiling about her limbs as her companion follows in her wake.
*Set: There was something watching me all along. I thought it might have been something like your kind.
 	
*Set: How clever. Using my mind against me...trapping me with my own experiences.
*Set: Ah, for the Deceiver to be deceived. Truly ironic.
 	
*Set: But that is all. Either you will give up your charade, or I will tear an answer out of you.
 	
*Set: Make your choice, mortal. And be quick about it...