There was something very wrong about this sudden change of surroundings.

Logically, Glacius knew it. He knew there was absolutely no way that the gods had decided to release their prisoners, that instead it was much more likely that they were using their powers to trick the minds of those trapped into the city into seeing this bright and sunny new land. It should have been unsettling... and on some subconscious levels, it was. But after months of being trapped in a dark, decrepit cave, it was also a profound relief to see the sun and the sky again... so much that the ice alien was willing to buy into their new surroundings for the time being. He was even willing to take a long walk around this sparkling new utopia that had been planted into their heads, despite how the bright sun and warm temperatures were even harder on him than the environment of the cave had been. He was guessing that this might be an idyllic habitat for humans, but he could do with it being much colder--and being filled with far more snow and ice before he would even consider calling it a paradise!

Nonetheless, his natural curiosity drove him to explore, to take in everything about an environment that he'd never really seen before. Eventually the otherworldly being ended up at the beach... and though he certainly wasn't one to sunbathe, those vast open waters promised one of the best ways to get a respite from the heat. The ice alien spent a lot of his days there; sometimes he simply lounged in the shallows where he could idly watch all of the other inhabitants of Hadriel do whatever it was they did for relaxation while he cooled off. Other times he moved further out and merged with the waters--either completely, or with only his head and neck formed, making him look like some bizarre sea serpent. Either way it's not hard to flag him down, whether it's to introduce him to the concept of fun in the sun, or to request his assistance with some matter or another.

Of course, Glacius could only exist in this illusion for so long. Though he'd been willing at first, so happy for the fresh air and the open sky, he'd known all along that this couldn't be--he knew that he couldn't keep living in a false reality, as refreshing as the change had been. And so the god's sway over his mind began to slip, cracks beginning to form in the illusion they'd constructed as the days passed by. At first it had just been little glimpses into the true world here and there, a fleeting vision of a beaten street or a solid stone wall, but it was enough that he knew: Hadriel was still there, and he was still just as much a prisoner as he'd ever been.

Things feel apart more quickly from there on out, and the ice alien found himself wandering down to the edge of the island every night to look up at the open sky. A sea of black, dotted with countless shining stars; gazing up into its endless depths didn't just make him feel freer, it made him feel closer to his people and to his world--to everything he'd known. It was going to be hard to lose all of that, so for now he was going to drink in as much of it as he could. He sat out in the dark of every night, the light from the celestial bodies reflecting off of his glimmering icy skin as he breathed deeply and honored all of the things that would soon be gone without a trace. At times, he's completely lost to his thoughts; at others he seems to actually be seeking someone to share the memories with, as a way to try and keep them alive, as he actually speaks to those that occasionally walk by.

"Look at it all, so bright and vivid, shining as though it had never been taken from us. Possibilities as endless as the stars, true freedom... words fall short. Yet still I would like to try. I've seen so much, and soon will have so little of that left... perhaps in this way it can endure."