The Midnight Train to Nowhere

[Capt. Blu]

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[BCOLOR=transparent]Forest of Giant Dandelions[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Most of the trip, Ace was happily replaying her birthday over and over in her head. The good food, the happy people, the cool fire - which in fact wasn't supposed to be apart of the party, but with Tasha and Ace together that should have been expected. It was a memory she never wanted to forget. Speaking of which, Ace focused back home. How much did she remember? How much had she forgotten? She touched the bill of her baseball cap, going through the details. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Good. Still the same as last time. She hadn't forgotten anything else. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Who could forget something like this?" Ace grinned. "Riley's right. You'd have to be crazy to forget something like this. Funny enough, people will think you're crazy if you tell them about this. Huh….It would be a good kid's story to tell though..." Not like she knew any kids to tell the story to. She refocused her gaze on the wilting dandelions, tempted to knock them over. Maybe the fluffy parts would scatter and make everything else scatter too. She was just about to do it too, but then there was something about a wedding. "Who's getting married? Inadi and Jasper? No way! Congratulations." Ace clapped for Inadi. "I've crashed a wedding before." She laughed and hopped back to walk alongside the others, instead of being near the dandelions. "Yep, I was a kid. Was walking around and saw a huge table of food outside...Huh, long story short...I got cake and a to go plate. Not necessarily given to me though." [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]She looked at Riley and laughed. "No, no, no. We have to meet before then. Who's going to give her moral support before then huh? We have to be there- so Ran can help decorate! And Sacha will have to make a huge cake." This started to sound like more of a party than a wedding. "Huh, you don't mind if I wear pants to your wedding right? Dresses make me uncomfortable. It's harder to move in those…" [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]The closer they got, the more Ace stared at the ominous tower. "Hey, guys, we're going in that building right?" Again, she should have really paid attention more to their group plans. Getting nods and multiple 'yes's' she stared some more. "Huh...it looks pretty cool." [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]When she fell silent, Ace looked down at her fists. Every time she hit them together, sparks would fly off them. She had to admit, it was still pretty cool, but she also had to admit that she was a bit jealous of Riley's fire abilities. That was twice in a row she got fire and Ace only got it once! Ah well, electricity was always cool. What made it even better was that Ace was now able to hit people. She wasn't much of a swordswoman anyway- she preferred melee style. "Sooo what's the plan again? Go in there, grab...something, and then go?" Ace was quite entertained with making the sparks. The harder she hit them together, the more electricity it would create- but she was careful not to try that while in the middle of her group of friends. And she was also glad she had gloves. Didn't want to hit something too hard and break her hand or something. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"We should probably hurry or something, yeah? Don't want to keep the others waiting after all."[/BCOLOR]

 

[Fox of Hearts]

The bits of inky black sky with purple tingled clouds peeked through the gaps between the wispy brown tinged white puffs made the final leg of their journey home a lot more ominous than it needed to be. Ran looked over his shoulder every now and then almost like he expected to catch a glimpse of some demon lurking among the shriveled stems. Startled by a passing cloud, Ran didn't pay attention to where he stepped and he ended up tripping on a thick root.

"Ack!" Ran threw his hands out and grabbed Lelia by the shoulders. He continued fighting to keep balanced, but luckily neither of them landed up face down in the black sooty dust. "Sorry, Lelia!" He said sheepishly. "My eyesight isn't what it used to be. Are you alright?"

Distracted once again, Ran tilted his head up to stare as the cloud finally drift away in the direction from whence they came. Once it was gone, the man sighed with relief. Though now, he was fascinated by something else entirely. A soft purple light tainted Noe's and Lelia's faces, making them look far menacing then they usually were. He blinked slowly, staring at each of the girls in turn before shaking his head. The last thing he wanted to do was to think of horror movies while walking in a spooky forest. He didn't want to kneel over and die from a sudden heart attack when they were this close to going home. "I really can't wait for this to be over. Don't you?"

The somber mood at the back lifted, when Harper called out to them. "H-Hey, when we get back, we shouldn't forget about each other, okay?"

On and on the conversation flowed until Riley proposed a possible happy reunion for them all. One so optimistic that even Ran felt himself being lifted from the gloom that surrounded them earlier. Catching on to what Riley and Ace said, he clapped Inadi playfully from behind. "Sounds like it would be a loud and lively event." Ran laughed. "Such an event calls for a record breaking cake. Just imagine the tallest, most ornate cake ever! We won't just eat the cake for dinner, but for days afterwards."

He turned to C and Lelia. "What do you think about having more cake than we had yesterday?" It wasn't meant to be taken seriously, of course. He just couldn't help the slight dig at Inadi, since the aspiring author had boasted about his baking skills back at the Hobbit Hole. Unfortunately, due to a certain future Mrs. Shima, their lover boy never delivered what he promised. Ran cleared his throat a little expectantly. "I look forward to a real collaboration between you and Sacha this time round."

He would have ruffled Inadi's head, if the serious young man were Toby, but he wasn't sure how the guy would take it. It was the same self-consciousness he felt round Harper, the awkward feeling of being scrutinized after failing to live up to certain "loftier" expectations. They were perhaps the same kind of expectations he had faced from his own family and long, time girlfriend (whatever her name was) and it just made him uncomfortable. Not wishing to dwell on this sobering thought, Ran grinned brightly, as he reached for C's hand and led her towards Riley.

"Rils! Ace! Harper." There was a slight dip in the enthusiasm as he mentioned the last name, but it was not noticeable by the time he asked the one burning question he'd been keeping at the back of his mind. One, which he had been struggling to answer to the point where he was starting to lose sleep out of sheer frustration. "What's the first thing you'll do when you hop off the train?"

He paused without elaborating about his own plans, but he felt weird. On the other hand, he knew he couldn't hide this from the rest forever. He was actually very worried about the gaping holes in his memory. It could be age or something, but his memories were leaking away faster or faster everyday. He cleared his throat several times before finally forcing the truth out. "I was hoping to remember something or other after hearing your stories." Okay, he had to stop there. Saying more would be far too uncomfortable.

Ran quietened down for the third time in Celery knows how long, as he waited for one of the others to pick up the conversation where he left off. He didn't mind Inadi or Lelia joining in at this point, so long as no one was getting overly anxious. From the little he observed, Ran had a hunch it won't be long before they were there. After all, the rows of dandelion was starting to thin out and the loamy dirt path was much more compact. Plus, that strange purple light from before was now so strong that it overpowered the dim glow of their amulets.

Speaking of the purple light, Ran drew his head up and his eyes widened. Not too far ahead were two towering stone doors at the base of a tower modelled to look like one straight out of Tolkien's books. However, in place of an all-seeing eye, a glowing purple gem was mounted between the four pillars crowning the top.

Ran swallowed hard, as his eyes returned to ground level. The grotesque pictures carved into the polished surfaces of the doors reminded him of the freaky gargoyles guarding Notre Dame. He shuddered as images of hell fire consuming Frolo danced in his mind. Celery be merciful indeed! At least, none of them had the ability to predict the future, so if they were going to die, at least they won't know till the fatal blow was struck.

 

[four]

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Collab: four & Dear Karma​

The top of a dandelion seed, with the white, feathery whiskers was one of the things that she found greatly comforting to look at. Now she had the additional information that they were also surprisingly pleasant to the touch - at least when magnified tenfold from their normal scale - and even when picked up from the ground and just having had the dust patted off it.

She held the seed upright with both hands - it was surprisingly light - and pushed it upwards as they walked. At this larger scale, the whiskers were aerodynamically useless, but the seed neglected that fact and floated softly away; and Leila watched it do so until it vanished in the distance behind a field of stalks and leaves of its predecessors.

Noe watched quietly, keeping her hand on Cobalt's snout. There was a whimsical gentleness about this hooman that didn't scare her as much as some of the noisier ones did. Still Noe remained silently, as she tried her very best to avoid looking Lelia in the eyes. A part of her remained reluctant to approach Lelia.

Turning to Cobalt, Noe whispered a little louder than usual. "The dandelions are rather nice." Her hands stroked the upper half slowly. "I remember blowing on the smaller ones growing in the grass back in Sol." She felt her face heat up slightly and stopped talking altogether.

Noticing Noe speaking, Leila took her sight away from the space between the forest of stalks.

"Smaller dandelions?"

Noe almost nodded. Realizing that Cobalt was listen, somewhat, Noe decided he could be the buffer between her and this hooman. "Yes. They are like small cotton balls... I think." She whispered again, leaning slightly closer to Cobalt and keeping her eyes adverted. "The flowers are everywhere ... the dragons like them."

Smaller dandelions. Leila tried picturing that - it was a much easier thing to do with more to reference than printed illustrations. Soft clusters of white hovering sparsely above fields of green.

Her conception of the seeds was at the moment much dictated by the giant dandelions that surrounded them, and combined with the knowledge that blowing on a smaller dandelion would have all the seeds taking flight - she imagined a sky of large seeds, supported by their umbrellas of whiskers, floating in large numbers into the distance.

It was a nonsensical scene, but quite majestic.

Leila had then appended to her list of things to do once she returned home the task of finding an actual dandellion.

"Ah." realizing that she hadn't yet replied to Noe, she uttered something to show that she heard. It was a filler to buy herself more time to devise a complete response, but she lost track of that as she tilted over to study the dragon.

Noe liked the silence following her speech. She could almost imagine the dark haired hooman to be a wise scholar of sorts and thought left her feeling very awed. Noe tried her best to keep as quiet as possible, worried she was going to interrupt some marvelous revelation. Thus, the two walked in a companionable silence with a dragon between them.

"Do you know her name?" Noe asked a now sleepy looking Cobalt. "I don't remember ... anyone but a hooman called Cake." The strange name stuck, because the girl in question looked anything but cake-like to her. Maybe, the hooman was a gingerbread girl ... or a huge muffin. That was always possible. Remembering her question, Noe waited for Lelia to respond.

"Ack!"

The sudden appearance of Ise's hooman friend disrupted the almost conversation that was on-going. Noe stepped back and watched apprehensively. She bit her finger nails nervously, hoping neither Ran nor Lelia would get hurt. Thank Celery, she whispered again to Cobalt, as she noticed Ran find his balance again. Are you okay? The thought crossed her mind, but she didn't dare speak up.

"Sorry, Lelia! My eyesight isn't what it used to be. Are you alright?"

"I'm okay." She replied immediately, stopping to rub her boots together to remove the dirt stuck on the tips.

"I really can't wait for this to be over. Don't you?"

"I-"

Ran's next question landed in a part of Leila's thoughts that she hadn't frequently visited, and therefore had never taken the time to put into words. And only said out loud did Leila realize how odd it actually sounded.

Nowhere was a land of wonder. Dangerous, but every moment she could afford to spend out of the struggle to survive brought memories she would never wish to forget. Fireworks in the sky were enough incentive for her to leave home that night, and Nowhere was so much more than just fireworks - so why would she now look forward to going back?

Leila's head sunk for a moment. She said, uncertain:

"I don't know. I actually… don't dislike this place."

The consequences, of course. The price of experiencing everything being eventually not being able to remember any of it.

"Besides, leaving here means...means leaving you, does it not?"

The last part seemed to have gone unheard, because Ran was now talking to a different hooman - the older of the two young males. Noe felt sorry for Lelia. It wasn't very nice to feel like you've been ignored. The healer pressed her lips together for a bit. She spoke a little louder this time, but had her eyes fixed on the dirt path. "Is leaving them neccessary?"

The concept of the hoomans saying their good-byes after they returned to Earth seemed odd. She always thought that most of them were friends. "I mean ... you could always have tea together. Maybe some cake."

Leila nodded, and while Noe wouldn't have seen it, she smiled. Have tea together. Maybe cake. Is leaving them necessary?

Noe swallowed. "You helped each other get home."

"'-will." Leila responded quickly before pausing.

"Will help," she repeated, "we will help each other get home."

Noe nodded again, unsure what else to say. The silence surrounded the two again, as they followed the rest at a more sedentary pace. Sandwiched between the two groups seemed to be Inadi. Noe glanced at him for a bit, but decided sticking to Lelia was a better idea. She had used up most of her courage at the moment and she'd probably need to save up even more for what lay inside. From the every edge of the dandelion rows, she could already see the eery tower. She pulled her eyes away and pretended to examine Cobalt's scales instead.

Their lot stopped in front of it for a moment, each member contemplating the existence of the building.

Leila thought a moment about fetching the bow strapped to her back just in case, but then reminded herself that having weapons pointed at someone was probably not going to leave good impressions, and put down her hand originally reaching for an arrow.

Then again, she wasn't sure whether impressions really mattered now. No-one else seemed to be sure what to do at the moment, though.

Leila walked carefully up to the door, and knocked.

Noe wanted to say that she doubted anyone was home. But before the words even formed at the tip of her tongue, the doors groaned loudly, setting everyone's teeth on edge.

Leila took a few steps backwards and watched the halves of the door inch apart from one another.

The grinding stopped when the doors have parted enough for their group to enter.

Noe pulled back. This was a bad idea! There had to be a better way to get the last clock without having to enter the darkness. As far as she could tell, everything was pitch black inside.

 

[MixedUpGuy]

Dark. Inadi could only say that the forest they had found themselves in was dark. Decrepit might have been a little much. Depressing, too on the nose. Dark seemed fair enough a description due to it's ominous feel and the dread that found itself sitting on Inadi's shoulders as they continued walking through the place. Giant weeds that would normally make the man think of wishes and dreams only brought a very taxing fear of the world they were in again. The white amulet on his neck made him feel a bit more comfortable knowing that he had a little extra fire power on his side, yet the halberd in his hand never hurt either. Still would have liked to get Kain back though. Memories and all that.

Harper spoke up after what felt like minutes of silence between them all to ask that no one forgot the others. He was nervous. If it wasn't for his comrade's necklace, the paleness of his skin would have been the brightest thing about him. His color returned though as Riley began to assure him that nothing would make them forget. The dragon taming, the wonderful kingdoms...the near death experiences. Sad to think that would probably be Inadi's most remembered thing here besides meeting the others. Jasper though he had to admit, stood out a bit more than the others.

Thinking back to all the dumb conversations he had with her early on in their time of knowing each other Riley began suggesting the first big get together be their...wedding? Inadi's head immediately perked up and his eyes grew wide with a blush now on his face. C added to it by remarking that Sacha could make a cake for the event. Inadi had to expect something like that whenever talks of a return came up. It seemed that every single time it came back to him asking Jasper to marry him or something to that effect. It was becoming such a pain...though he had to admit that the thought did cross his mind on a few occasions. Yet it seemed a little early to be making those kinds of moves once they got back into the real world.

Right as he was going to protest the suggestion, Ace seemed to be passing out congratulations to the happy couple. Natural for the fire freak to only step in mid way through the conversation. She had the attention span of a goldfish that one. Shame that wasn't what she turned into back when they actually became fish in the end. It would have fit her perfectly. The remark about a dress versus pants only made Inadi sigh in defeat as he continued walking forward. "Come to the wedding in you pajamas for all I care. Still a ways from that happening I'd like to think. Remember, I'd like to get published first before I get hitched in a perfect world. And Nowhere is not that perfect world." He told her as he sped up his walking to avoid anymore goading by the others. Not that he could when Ran suggested his ideas for a cake. "Whatever you can cook up guys. Just let me know what days work best for the catering and entertainment." Inadi joked.

Joking seemed to end the moment he walked beside Ran and Leila and looked up and down the road at the tower that seemed to be their destination. Then he saw the gargoyles that seemed to be making the older member of the group grow uncomfortable. Deciding to try and calm Ran, Inadi shifted his grip on the halberd in his hand. "I'd probably go back home and see if I can remember my folks' faces again. They are getting real hazy on me and I'd rather not forget them entirely." He said very sternly with a strong resolve as he continued going over the tower design in front of them.

The whole place just made him grow worried and seeing Leila go up and knock on the door only made him realize that the sooner they got it done the better. The girl was always quiet, but she seemed to have the better ideas of anyone there. Walking up behind her as the doors split apart slightly he only let in a small breath as dust seemed to slowly drift up into the air. "Beyond the reach of light, beyond the scope of dark. It is the unknown that makes us unsure of what we are," Inadi said as he looked down at Leila with a half smile as he leaned on his halberd. "Old line from a rough draft I did back in...junior high I think. Wasn't as original as I thought when I searched it but I still like it." He joked with Leila as he looked back at the others. Giving them a quick jerk of the head he invited them all to join in on the party crashing they were about to commence in. And behind the half smile, Inadi was trying to hold in every drop of cold sweat he could.

 

[Fox of Spades]

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Tower of Demise​

"Make sure the wedding happens on a Friday night, Inadi," Riley decided to ruffle his feathers some more. "Friday is the best night for partying after all—Leila? I think we might have to look for another entrance..." The loud groan that came from the large doors silenced Riley, and she stared with a wide eyes at the darkness before them. That was unexpected and a lot easier than she thought it would be.

"I guess we got lucky?" Harper didn't waste any time because if he lingered in front of the tower his courage would eventually run dry. The boy lifted his lamp, took a deep breath and plunged into the darkness that was the tower of Demise's first floor. The soft blue glow that emanated from his lamp didn't do much, but he could make out tall grandfather clocks that towered above them and several doors. "Guys, a little more light, please?" On cue, Cobalt trotted towards where Harper stood. The black dragon tilted its head back before shooting a small stream of flame into the air, the mini-flamethrower didn't last long, but they managed to catch a glimpse of rows and rows of doors and clocks.

Riley was one of the last to enter the tower, she stretched out her hand and willed a small flame to life on the palm of her pyromancy glove. "This place looks like something out of a horror movie, whoever made all these things must have had all the time in the world."

"Please..." Harper frowned. "Don't jinx us—"

Before any of the humans could do anything, the doors let out another groan then slammed shut behind them. They were trapped, but thankfully the lights flickered to life soon after. The first floor didn't have plenty to look at, save for the rows of clocks and the checkered and bloodstained tiles beneath their feet. There was a large staircase in the middle of the room that led up, and if one tilted their head back, they could catch a glimpse of hallways filled with nothing but brightly colored doors. In a way, it kind of felt like they were in a larger version of the queen's hall of doors.

"Dragon man said we'd find the clock on the top floor." C was as calm as ever.

"Uh... yeah," Harper sucked in a breath of air and strode towards the staircase. There was no time to look back or doubt themselves, they had gotten this far and the only thing they could do now was head upstairs and fight till the end. Suddenly, the sword by his waist felt just a tad reassuring. "Let's get up there as fast and as carefully as possible, if we can make it to the clock without angering anything... that'd be good."

Riley nodded her head. "I'm with Harper, those doors don't look very reassuring."

 

[Fox of Hearts]

The Tower of Demise

"You should be proud of writing that as your first draft," Ran offered in response to Inadi's poetic description of the dark void in front of them. The darkness reminded him of the vast weightless blackness that stretched infinitely in all directions. He wasn't even sure what it was called anymore, but he recalled that people needed rockets to reach it. "I'm sure there are more beautiful words waiting for you to discover them."

He tried to hide his apprehension behind a stiff smile. "Maybe you'll even have a popular multi-novel series someday and I'd be more than happy to design your book covers as a favor from one friend to another." He nudged Inadi forward abruptly. "Come on, Harper's probably waiting on the other side." Honestly though, he was in hurry, because he didn't want their youngest member to be alone too long in this creepy place.

A funny feeling came over the group, as they gathered one by one in the echoing foyer. Even when their eyes began to discern darker shadows here and there, the place still felt unnatural. It was like they had entered a strange other dimension. The absence of temperature (hot and cold) and the general lack of smell made the place seemed nothing more than a extremely realistic 3D hologram. Ran daren't make a single sound, fearing that the world will crumble around them if he spoke a little too loudly.

A soft padded thump followed by the clicking of sharp talons against the marble floor made Ran dart his head left to right and back again. "What's that?" He jumped right into Inadi in his haste to avoid the shadowy bulk sweeping pass. The gritty feel and steady swipe made him think of various slimey monstrosities straightout of the many Lovecraft inspired comics he used to read. In fact, he almost whispered "Cthulhu".

"Oh... it's Cobalt." Ran commented weakly. His lips twitched slightly as he rested a hand against his racing heart. He hoped this darkness wasn't going to last forever or he'd fall prey to his own imagination. "Geez Colby, I bet you scare Ise a lot." He added with a pout, hoping to salvage what little dignity he had left in Inadi's eyes.

"I think she frightens him more." Noe informed Ran. "Sh-she could be very strict."

Ran grimaced slightly, as he remembered all the times Ise actually scolded him and Tobs for messing up, which was almost every day. His thoughts broke off as he reflected on the word "day". Ran could feel his mind struggling with the concept, but he drew blank after blank. He shook his head and faked a laugh. "Yeah, but she has a good heart."

Noe didn't even nod in response, because she was too tensed. Though she started relaxing a little when the lights flicked to life. Not that she could let her guard down that much, because the place was like something out of her nightmares. It took a lot of effort on her part not to dwell on the darkened patches that have permanently stained the marble tiles or the doors stretching from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. Suddenly, a strange, longish metallic plate with a single glowing circle right in the center caught her eye and she stared at it. In the center of the circle was an ↑ arrow. North? She mused, as she let her eyes wander around again.

The next panel, also to the right of the door, had a ↓ arrow, while another one two doors down had a → arrow. The healer tugged at her ponytail repeatedly. Why were all these arrows pointing in different directions? Her best guess was that it could be a message leading to something. Or perhaps, a very complicated dance move. She walked over and peered at the → arrow.

Even Ran had noticed the arrows inscribed on each button. He leaned forward to study a dimly lit one with a ↔ symbol. For the first time, his lack of memory annoyed him greatly. He knew these arrows should remind him of something very familiar, but the words weren't forming on his tongue. He bit his thumb, as he focused on trying to remember.

"Do you know what these arrows mean?" Ran asked the other hoomans after being forced to admit (rather bitterly) that he wasn't going to succeed anytime soon. He ran a finger around the smooth metal rim of the button. "It's so familiar yet I can't even remember what we called it back on earth. I know most buildings had them."

"A lift?" Noe's voice made Ran blink slowly. The healer, however, was simply reading the message scratched into the wall. Her pale fingers ran over the rough the angry lines that merely grazed the waxy surface of the green luminescent wallpaper. A faint untidy scrawl, this time written in ink, was found slightly below the question. "Find the lift," Noe translated for the humans.

She looked slightly unnevered, since these messages seemed to have been written by Nobodies who came here before - guides, perhaps? That was the only reason she'd assume any Nobody would come here. "These messages weren't by the same person."

"There's more over there." She trailed off and pointed to another set of messages further down. "... but I don't recognized the script," she admitted rather shyly. Naturally, Noe wouldn't be able to, since those messages were written in the hooman language. One was in Japanese, while the other in English.

 

[Capt. Blu]

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[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Forest of Giant Dandelions → Spooky Tower[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Such bravery." Ace adjusted her hat as Leila opened the door. She was sure that days or weeks or even months ago (however long they had been in Nowhere) Leila probably wouldn't have been the first to walk right into a tower that looked as ominous as this one did. Ace however, followed suit. There was no use lollygagging around anyway. The faster they got in, the quicker they could...leave? [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]
[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]With the multiple stairs and doors- that didn't look like it would be the case. In fact, it looked as if they'd be quite lost. "Man, I haven't seen any type of time in like...forever!" She examined a clock on the wall. 5:30 Was it that time really? Oh wait, there was another one and if she could read it correctly it said 10:42. "Huh, guess we still won't know the time real time…" She shrugged and walked back to the group. It was dark so it was best not to get lost- or be on the right track and they got lost. Pssh, Ace would never get lost. [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent][/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent][/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]"I think we should go up! Maybe the doors lead to staircases. We'll never know unless we try it." She took one step, catching a glance at the bloodstained floor. "No way, this spooky castle has everything! Huh, that or they need to clean the place up." Plagued by her short attention span she never actually went up the steps. Instead, Ran and Noe had found something and grabbed everyone's attention their way. Ace stood near Colbat, petting his head. She had wanted Tasha to come along but many of them thought it to be a bad idea letting two fiery "children" be without a "responsible adult". Colbat was cool too. He had the firepower, but Tasha was still her favorite - not like she'd tell any of the other dragons that though.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]There were arrows left and right and up and down, all pointing in different directions. Did Ace know what they were? Not at all. But did she want to find out? Of course! "A lift? Like an elevator? Huh, that does beat the stairs…" But where would a lift be? The arrows were far from helpful, pointing in every direction. "Hm, can we push all the buttons? One of is bound to work right?" While Ace investigated, she followed one of the arrows, going to the left, only to end up at an up arrow. Looking up, she saw nothing but doors and clocks. Ace even examined to see if she could scale it - or climb it. Not a chance. [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent][/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent][/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]"There's still the opening doors thing. And the stairs." Finding a lift in the mess of directions was practically impossible! That and solving puzzles like figuring out where the arrows "truly" led wasn't in Ace's skillset. She was more of a "just do it and see what happens" kind of person. "I dunno, what do you guys think?" Their ideas probably were the better ones anyway - in spite of her inching up three of the stairs already.[/BCOLOR]

 

[Fox of Spades]

Tower of Demise

"Well," Riley peered over Noe's shoulder and frowned. "Those messages are ominous as heck, almost like something—"

"Don't you dare," Harper butted in.

"...out of a horror movie." She finished anyway before giving the arrows a long and thoughtful look. She couldn't understand some of the texts either, though going by what Noe had read, it seemed like others had been in the tower long before them. However, whether those other humans or nobodies made it out of said tower alive, there was no way of knowing for sure. "Er, assuming these letters were written by past batches, I guess it's safe to trust them? These stairs look like they go on forever, we could open doors as we go along, maybe we'll get lucky and find the lift?"

Harper didn't look too happy, and he certainly didn't like how their fate was now in probability's hands. The chance of them actually finding the lift in this tower filled with nothing but doors and clocks was low, but it wasn't like they could do anything else. "Let's look for that lift. No one should go anywhere alone, okay? If there's anything that's certain in Nowhere, it's that things aren't always what they seem."

Together, the group of humans made their way to the second floor. Once again there was a giant staircase that let up and several halls that branched out towards hidden areas. "Uh, prepare for the worst?" He mumbled as he approached a bright orange door.

Cobalt, who was standing beside Ace, pulled back his lips and bared teeth at the door.

After sucking in a breath of air, Harper wrapped his fingers around the cool knob and pulled open the door. Instead of a roaring lion, or an armored boar, the humans were met with a hazy image of the midnight train pulling into a station. A shocked man stared at the door with wide eyes before tossing his hat to the floor and running after someone he called Mabel, no doubt the person the train had used to lure him inside.

The hazy image blurred and the next scene that unfolded before their eyes was of the same man, he was having tea with queen Delirium and several others. Was this place some kind of memory archive? Harper raised both eyebrows as a puzzled look flashed across his face. "Nowhere's past?" The moment he shut the door, the lights above them flickered eerily.

---

​

Tower of Demise: Top Floor​

A cold chill ran through the clockwork soldier's bones as he paced around his domain. Something was upsetting the balance, and now, it was worse than ever before. He listened to the soft ticking of the last clock before his eyes flitted to the clockwork golems beside it. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt life coursing throughout the dead tower... almost as if someone unwelcome had entered his abode.

"Please tell them that visitors aren't welcome here."

 

[Capt. Blu]

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Spooky Tower[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Guess that meant no stairs. Ace looked up. It did seem endless… That's why they were the decision makers! She hopped off the steps and trailed after Cobalt who had gotten into a rather defensive stance as Harper proceeded to open the door. Ace hit her fists together, causing another spark of electricity. Some form of threatening manner just in case something tried jumping at them when the door opened. Ace expected animals and different environments similar to the Queen's Hall of Doors. This place was pretty similar save for the million more doors and the millions of clocks that were around- not to mention everything looked endless. When they were in the castle, they could at least see the end of the hall. This was totally different. Ace's gloved hands dropped to her side when she saw what was inside the room.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]At first glance, it looked like...some movie? They had movies in Nowhere? That was weird. Their form of technology should have been much more advanced if that was the case, shouldn't it? After all- Ace shook her head and focused. Staring a bit more, she noticed a train. Not just any train though. It was the same one she used to get to Nowhere! "Hey. . ." Ace started, but continued watching. The guy was sipping tea with the Queen and Ace piped up again. "Hey! Queeny is in these too! But she's with someone else…" Huh, this was getting confusing. There were no other humans besides them and the Crazies. At least none she knew about. Did she miss something?[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Then it clicked. Harper's comment made the lightbulb go off in her head. "Ohhh, it's some sort of...timey….wimey thing…" Ace couldn't think of the word for it. Honestly, even with her memory fully in tact she probably wouldn't have known the words for it. "Weird!" Ace stepped past everyone to the front of the group and planned to reach inside. However, just before she could, Harper closed it, making her frown up for a brief moment. "Hey, I wanted to see if we could go into the timey things."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]She didn't seem to be phased by the flickering lights. "Hey let's try another door!" She followed an arrow going farther into the tower. However, before she opened it, Ace paused and looked at the others. This time, she seemed to wait for some sort of approval. For once (for all she knew), she actually waited for the others and didn't go with her impulse decision. Their ideas were better than hers after all.[/BCOLOR]

 

[MixedUpGuy]

Watching the event take place before them in the room behind the orange door made Inadi's hands tap his chin repeatedly trying to come up with some kind of an explanation. "It seems like these are some forms of shadows. Shadows of the past versions of humans who appeared at the train station and how they were brought onto the train." Inadi thought out loud as he looked around the area again before all the lights began flickering around them.

A quick chill went up Inadi's spine as he noticed Ace going towards the next door and went over to stand next to her. Rather than open the door with her he decided to hold up his hand and look back at Harper and the rest of the group. "Before we open this next door Ace, did anyone else catch that shadow memory saying a name before he got onto the train? A woman's name. Mabel I thought. Isn't odd to you that that woman seemed to be on the train first and yet in the next memory he was eating cake with the queen with this Mabel woman nowhere among the group?" Inadi asked as the look of curiosity disappeared from his face and it was quickly replaced with worry. Suddenly things didn't look too good in his own mind.

"If the train is somehow able to reach into our minds, pull out something or someone that would tempt us to get on the train, doesn't that mean that the Queen would know about us prior to sending the thing out? I doubt she'd be able to do that to anyone just wandering the streets on New Year's day. Or were we just more susceptible to the Train's power in the end?" Inadi questioned as he looked back to Ace and the door they were standing in front of. If another memory was waiting them beyond the door the only thing he was concerned about was what kind of memory was it going to be? Showing more of what the Train could do, or what the Queen did to this shadow's group of human's once they failed the quest.

Turning to Noe, Inadi gripped his necklace and walked over to the guide. The little bits of Japanese writing he was able to get out past all the weathered text was simply telling others to find the lift, but that was proving easier said than done. Looking around the room, still unsure as to why the lights had flickered just earlier, Inadi let out a sigh and stared at the Nobody next to him with nerves beginning to clam up on him. "If there have been multiple people in this tower before than there has to be other hints or messages left by prior groups, which means we might not have been the only batch of humans to make it this far like the Queen said. Surely there has to be more knowledge on this tower. Do you know anything more about the layout. The slightest detail may be important." Inadi asked her again as he looked to Harper across the way.

Glancing down at his necklace he shook his head. "I'd suggest using my wind magic to blow a gust up the stair cases we come across just to see how long it takes before the breeze stops, but then I'd be concerned if something in here was waiting for us and would take that as an invitation to a party that we have no intention to host. Considering Riley has jinxed us enough already, I'd prefer not taking any chances of forwarding our location to whatever might be still in here." The man in glasses explained as he took a quick glance to Ran and gave a worried shrug. This tower was already starting to get the sweat to pour out of his palms. He was starting to think his comment about 'the unknown' was more on the nose than even he realized.

 

[Fox of Spades]

Post by @Dear Karma

Tower of Demise

"Moving forward aimlessly doesn't help either." Ran countered. "I feel there is some truth in these messages." The man's eyes flicked over to Ace. Knowing her, she'd probably be tempted to push the shiny elevator buttons no matter what, and if anything, he'd prefer she do so when their backs aren't turn. Willing a smile back to his face, the man turned to look Ace in the eyes.

"Hey Ace, I get what you mean about pressing buttons, but Rils has a point. Who knows what might be behind those doors." He strode over to her side, hoping to give her some moral support if needed as they played this bizarre version of Russian roulette, where they waited for monsters to jump out and tear them to ribbons. "But ... to be fair to all us, maybe we should take turns? That means I go first!"

Ran's words made him sound braver than he felt right now. He just couldn't shake away the strange feeling that perhaps he was about to become the sacrifical lamb. However, he was more worried about Ace running off again, so Ran slammed down on the button. The doors shook a little violently , as lions roared from inside. There was lots of screaming (hoomans screaming, to be exact). More omniously, a man yelled out. "Leonard!"

Ran's back stiffened, as Cobalt rushed to his side with teeth bared. Ran could see red pin points of light glowing like embers between the black scales and he knew Colby was preparing to attack. Ran placed a staying hand on the juvenile dragon's neck. He hoped it would help Cobalt relax a little, because at the end of the day, the young one was also his responsibility.

A child's terrified scream jolted the group abruptly then it was silent once more. A steady heavy splatter echoed in the second floor. Something wet and thick. The sound grew louder steadily, as the doors parted. Standing there with glazed over eyes brimming with tears was a small kid. A deep crimson patch clawed its way from underneath his hand.

"Help me... help me..."

The desperation in the boy's voice caused Ran to choke slightly. A feeling of helplessness weighed heavily on his heart, as Ran dashed towards the boy. Almost as if the kid knew help was coming, the child lifted up a single bloodied hand. Ran reached down to pull the boy towards them, when the child's image blurred out and faded altogether. Ran considered jumping into the open doors, when Noe yelled loudly. "Ran, don't!"

Ran stepped back, half expecting to see a monster, but instead he found himself staring at a brick wall. A message seemed to have been spray painted on it using white paint - "The Lift is a Li". Something appeared to have dragged the person away because a streak of paint ran downwards and ended in a huge patch of dried blood. Loads of claw marks scarred the wall around the patch.

Ran's head began throbbing and he rubbed his temples. This whole thing didn't make any sense. Surely no one would have had time to stand there and graffiti the walls when chased by that savage beast! He sighed in frustration. Nothing stressed him out more than knowing someone here was toying with them. Those cryptic messages .... the doors .... the clocks ... he was more than ready to give this person or thing a piece of his mind.

Remembering that he was still the adult of the group, Ran squared his shoulders and lifted his head. Turning to the Rils, he clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Shall we continue? We could try heading upstairs or opening a few more doors." He allowed a smile to worm its way back onto his lips. "Hopefully the next door isn't as dramatic."

He nodded encouragingly, as the next button was pressed. The hoomans could hear the clanking of some hidden mechanism and they braced themselves for more trauma, but instead they heard something heavy (and metal) clang against the stone floor. Ran could still feel a slight aftershock quivering through his bones long after the sound faded away. Everyone looked around desperately, trying to figure out what caused it.

Noe's eyes immediately flit to the stairs as it was their only escape, but what she saw made her gasp. The stairs leading upstairs appeared to be cut off. Blocking their ascent was a huge gullotine that had descended from the dark recess above. The blade was so huge and heavy that it cleaved the stone tiles upon impact. Noe shuddered, trying her best not to picture someone getting crushed by that thing. He or she would have ended up in a splattery (nauseating) mess. Whoever locked them in definitely didn't want them to leave.

Nervously, she tapped Lelia's arm lightly and whispered. "I don't think we are supposed to go up."

There was loud click and Noe's head turned to look in Ran's direction. The man's fingers were still firmly pressed on what appeared to be a switch of sorts. Soft orchestral music began playing, as lights began filling a corridor that stretched as far as her eye could see. Beautiful chandeliers dangled from above, while brightly candles burned in gleaming brackets of silver and gold. The festive feel clashed violently with their growing unease.

Ran pursed his lips and rubbed a finger under his lower lip before perking up again. "Well let's chance it then. Hopefully this place has some happier memories to offer like - er - Ace's birthday."

He reached over and grabbed C's hand, walking at an even brisker pace towards what he hoped was another flight of stairs or the lift. Ran remained so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice something strange about the doors along this corridor. Mounted on each door was a gold plate with the hoomans' names engraved on it. In fact, the name on the very first door was Harper Riddle. As the group began trickling pass, a girl's voice called out to them from behind the polished wooden door.

"Harper! Harper! Come and join me." She called. "I've been waiting for you for ever so long."

 

[Fox of Spades]

Tower of Demise → Archive of Wishes

"Now that you mention it," Riley's eyes flitted to Inadi. "I saw a person on the train too, he was just about to offer me a job when he disappeared. You guys saw something too didn't you? Otherwise, I don't think any of us would have gotten on a train filled with rabbit soldiers." Her expression shifted into a more serious one. They'd all been tricked and lied to, and it wasn't like she regretted Nowhere or anything, but still... it left a bitter taste in her mouth. And not just that, Haku, Leon, and countless others had died because of this Godforsaken scavenger hunt. "I'm not sure how the queen would have any prior knowledge about us, but I think," she made a face. "The wish is a lie."

"Or we might actually get our wishes when this is all over with," Harper added in with a tight frown.

"Are you being sarcastic, Riddle?" Riley quirked up an eyebrow.

Her uncertainty made Harper chuckle softly despite the butterflies in his stomach. "Uh, of course. After what happened to the previous batches, I'm with Inadi, something just isn't right about the queen." Inadi mentioned the layout of the place and Harper turned to look at Noe as well, unfortunately the trainee knew nothing about the tower, since like the rest of them, she'd never been here before.

"I'm against the gust of wind as well, we should probably move as quietly as possible." If the bloodstains on the checkered floor were the result of an earlier scuffle that occurred who knows when then he wanted nothing to do with anything hostile.

The group didn't have many options so they went with Ace's plan and Ran pressed down on one of the lift buttons. Another door, another memory. This time the memory was a gruesome one, Harper and Riley looked away but C stared intensely, and a flicker of recognition appeared in her eyes.

Leonard. Happy. Brave. Too-young-to-be-dead-14-year-old Leonard. They'd failed to save him once, and if she didn't act now, he'd die again. C remembered how Leo used to whistle Christmas songs when he was lonely and how he'd taught Luke to blow milk out of his nose. Like Ran, she would have leapt into the room if not for Noe's voice. She reached out a hand, but by then, the image was gone and all that remained was a splatter of blood and a memory that was far too hazy for her liking. Ran reached for her hand and began leading her and the others away. "He was a nice boy," she whispered to the grownup then grew quiet. She wanted to remember, really, but her memories were just far too foggy.

"He had a pretty voice," was all she could say.

"What the hell..." Riley eyed the pale Harper. First horrid memories and now a guillotine. Uh, yeah, this place was one giant death trap. For all they knew, the next door would probably show them how Leon got eaten by a tree or something, and she didn't want that, she was sure none of them did. As they walked down a long and winding corridor, the humans left the archive of memories and entered the archive of wishes.

And behind each door, was every wish every human who had entered Nowhere had ever made.

One door in particular, made Harper freeze in place. His sister...

Gritting his teeth, the boy steeled himself. Whatever that was, it was a trick. A sick and twisted one, but a trick nonetheless. Abby was sick and stuck in a hospital, and the thought her even setting foot in Nowhere was ridiculous.

"Guys," Harper brought a hand to his sword's hilt and squeezed his eyes shut. "We should leave, now."

On cue, several voices began to speak all at once, each calling out to a specific human.

There was a soft voice of a woman that asked if Ran had ever really loved her, and if he had found what he had been looking for.

A kind voice of an old man that asked Leila if she had found the truth. He told her it was getting lonely in the mansion and that it was time for her to head home and have a nice, warm cup of tea.

Inadi heard his parents' voices asking if he had finally found freedom, while Ace heard her gang leader asking her if she'd truly found camaraderie in Nowhere. He invited her to come through the door, saying that he and the rest of her gang were just as much family as the lost souls were.

They had fought tooth and nail for their wishes, had lost friends along the way...

but were they even an inch closer to attaining their wishes?

Riley frowned when she heard her own parents begging her to go through the door and come home. It was obviously a lie, but it still hit hard.

The voices continued to try and coax them into their assigned door and each lie was more convincing than the last.

Even the usually calm C had a look of horror plastered to her face. She could never forget the voice of the person calling out to her. Warm, safe, always there, the voice was the reason she had boarded the train in the first place.

The hooded figure racked her mind for memories only to come up short each time. It was so frustrating.

"ENOUGH!" C snapped, "ENOUGH OF THIS!"

 

[four]

Collab: four + Ryver​

"I...don't like this place."

That was all that Leila managed to articulate of the mix of emotions that also included the urge to scream at the suffocating fear of the dark that she was so familiar with. The little light that existed in the hallway took a little off that fear, but only to replace it with much more unsettling implications given by what it lit.

She paused her breathing every time a new step hit the stained tiles, out of worry that a sigh and a footstep combined would just pass the threshold of what would alert whatever existed down the hallway, beyond the light and out of the reach of her vision. She strained her ears, but the equally muted rustling from her companions weren't as comforting as everything else the source of which she couldn't identify was chillingly haunting.

And she would have probably put an arrow into the face of whoever or whatever just tapped her on the arm if it hadn't been that neither her hands or her mind were steady enough to keep the arrow from slipping out from between her fingers on its way to the bow and buying her eyes enough time to realize that it was Noe.

"I don't think we are supposed to go up."

Leila froze for a moment, lowered the weapon, and muttered apologies at the healer while avoiding her eyes under the guise of scurrying over the floor to search for the arrow just dropped to the ground.

Noe was most certainly right in that they probably weren't supposed to go up. They probably weren't supposed to touch the various triggers just lying around either. What bothered her was the fact that she couldn't see anything that they were supposed to do now. What were they supposed to do now?

Ran triggered something and a hallway expanded in front of them.

"Come home."

Leila managed to persuade herself that she didn't really hear that.

Several doors later, she stopped.

"Did you -"

She was familiar with the voice. Very familiar. It was one of the voices that she recognized immediately - or, speaking now, a voice that she knew for sure that she recognized but couldn't really place a finger on its owner.

"Did you hear that?"

No-one seemed to mind her much. Carefully, she shuffled her footsteps closer towards what she felt like was the source of the voice - towards one of the doors.

Inscribed on the surface of the door was her name.

"It's been a while, Little Miss."

She lept backwards, removing her fingers from the engraved letters. She remembered now who the voice belonged to - but that piece of information did not fit with everything else, at any angle.

She turned to look at Harper, a few doors away in front of him. The same uneasiness was written on his face and he had his hand on his sword.

"We should leave, now." he said.

"Yes, yes."

Leila said, standing just away from the door, hands on her knees and mind filled with conflicting compulsions. Home. James. Everything she had known outside of this twisted place. Memories that she could regain.

All fabricated, dangerously realistic. And all so enticing.

She couldn't keep her eyes off the door.

"we should most certainly leave," She repeated. "-Should certainly leave now," she said, but with her sight still fixed on the row of beckoning letters.

"H-hey! Hey, Ms. Archer..." Noe reached for Lelia, only to find the girl slipping out of her grasp. A very possessed look creeped into Lelia's eyes. The hooman murmured things. Noe couldn't wondering what has taken hold of her sane companion. "Please don't go near that door!"

White hands trembling with excitement pushed against a well-polished door, not too different from the one back home that led to her study. As the door swung open, Lelia let off an audible gasp. Everything was like what she tried so hard to remember: the bookshelf, the comfortable chair in front of the desk lit softly by an old lamp, the city night outside the windows.

And she was there, in clean, familiar clothes, and bare feet on the wooden floor.

"There you are, Little Miss."

And James standing at the side of the open door.

"Oh, uh-" Leila was in the middle of piecing together an apology when her thoughts noticed something else.

"-wait. It's been..."

"One day," he answered plainly, "We were quite worried when you weren't in bed this morning."

"Though, welcome back. The tea hasn't gone cold yet."

His eyes twinkled with amusement, as he pressed a gloved finger to his lips. "And of course," he winked. "Your parents don't have to know."

"Thank you."

______

Noe flailed about and dropped her staff in the process, but she failed to get a reaction from Lelia. The black eyes were fully dilated and a out of place smile sat on the girl's lips. It certainly creeped Noe out that Lelia was talking randomly while staring at the mirror hanging on the wall behind the door.

What's so special about that mirror? Noe wondered. Curiously, the cleric inched closer to the possessed girl and tip-toed so that she could see over those tall shoulders. Noe frowned. Lelia's mirror image stood there smirking cruelly back at the girl.

"Look away, please." Noe murmured, tugging futilely at Lelia's arms. Still the taller girl continued smiling, as her irises dilated further. A strange speckled grey second skin began creeping down Lelia's cheek. The color faded from the surrounding skin as the afflicted areas began turning the same speckled grey, slowly but surely. "Someone help!" Noe screamed, as she hugged Lelia's arm.

Sadly, the rider's barely audible pleas went largely ignored, because at that exact moment, a fiery red head started spouting stuff out rapidly. Ace's gestures were as wild as that odd gleam in her eyes. Then, before anyone could react, the girl bolted straight for a door that stood inconspicously two doors across from Lelia's.

______

"So," he smiled, "have you found yet - the answers you were looking for?"

The answers. Of course, Leila thought - the answers. Her wish. The reason she was there.

Her wish satisfied.

"Yes," she said, "yes I have."

"Spectacular." He said.

James took a moment to position a second chair near the one at her desk.

"I cannot wait to hear all about it," he said, and extended a hand.

Leila took it and stepped forward.

 

[Capt. Blu]

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Spooky Tower[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]First it was a bad idea. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Inadi even said they were being lied to. Riley agreed, making Ace pull her hand away- slowly though. They could never be too sure right? However, Ran's idea was to do it anyway. All the while, Ace simply held a patient expression, waiting for them to come to a conclusion. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"The wish was a lie."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]It made Ace think. She moved her hand completely away from the door. She a hard time remembering who she saw- well, she didn't remember the person even having a face. She did remember the familial feeling she had as whoever they were managed to coax her onto the train. But if that wish was a lie…? Ace frowned to herself. Did that mean she was still alone? The redhead tugged at her hat. Well...technically it didn't mean she lost anything. So, there was no point getting upset over something that she never lost...right?[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Ran's 'eagerness' caused Ace to focus back on the door that was being opened. What she didn't expect was the sudden screams of pain and agony from a child. That was bad. It looked even worse than it sounded. Ace watched what happened and when it was over, she couldn't help recall how silent of a death Haku had being turned to stone, or how painful it must have been for Leon. She didn't know either of them too well. They had fallen, but they weren't forgotten. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Yeah, let's keep moving...Or not." Even she wasn't expecting the sudden death trap to cleave the stairs. Well, that was never a good sign was it? "Happy thoughts. Of course. Remember guys, we're almost home." Just one more task and they were homebound. They'd be happy. Would they get their wishes? At this point Ace wasn't even sure, but getting out of a place that could kill her seemed like a fair wish too. They walked on and Ace patted the tense dragon's head. "Relax, we'll get you back home to your dragon buddies. It'll be fine…"[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]
[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]Her voice trailed off. The voice wasn't distinct at first. It was just a soft hum in the back of her mind. But that voice got louder. "Yeah...We should...go…" Despite her words, Ace turned towards the sound calling her. She only heard her name, over and over. It would be rude not to answer- at least that's what her head was telling her. Each door had their name on it. As she got closer, she gave a puzzled look. "Boss?" Well that was odd. What was he doing here in Nowhere? The why's and how's didn't register with her. She was more entranced by what they were saying. Spotting her name on the door, she stopped right in front of it. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Ace Tain[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Or just Ace. She was given the last name by someone she didn't know. It wasn't truly hers. Then again, what was? [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]She hesitated. That didn't stop her from opening the door though. What she saw made her eyes widen. To Ace, it was out of surprise and some happiness. But to the others, it was a sure sign of a trance. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]'Ace I'm hurt. As long as I've known you and you don't think of me as family? I've raised you since you were eight! That's gotta mean something right? I would've thought you wanted me as a father.'[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Well, yeah I do- but you said it yourself...I was another member of the gang. And when I was younger, I was just a liability." There was a white noise behind her, but she didn't look away.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"What?! I'd never say that! You're like the daughter I never had. I've taught you everything I know. I even gave you my hat. That was for a reason kiddo. I liked you. Always have. You've got great potential. And you know what? I'm going to need you to watch over all of this when I'm gone." The man in the gray suit gestured to his hideout. Not the empty warehouse she was used to, but his home. A place she had only been to once as a kid. "Tyler's been worried sick you know? You're practically his little sister. You go away for days and weeks and the boy is frantic." Ace couldn't help but smile. Daughter? Sister? That was...It was nice. That odd happiness she couldn't explain.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Well come on then Ace. I'm sure you're hungry and I had my maid cook a huge celebratory feast!" He gestured her forward before turning to walk off.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"A celebration? For what." Ace took a step forward.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]The man paused and held his hand out to her. "You don't need a reason to celebrate with family Ace." [/BCOLOR]

 

[MixedUpGuy]

Hearing Riley's response to his questioning of the train made Inadi think back to his own run in with the strange mirage that brought them to Nowhere. He couldn't remember what or who was on the Train for him but he did recall someone or something calling to him implying that freedom or something to that extent was waiting for him aboard the thing. After that the ride was a blur in his mind, but he recalled his time at home was starting to be a bit of a dredge to live through with it being very repeatable. Perhaps the queen knew of his desire to get something new or exciting in his life. But how in the world would the queen or anyone else in Nowhere know about his personal life in the real world.

As he continued thinking about it Harper implied that perhaps the wishes would come true when they returned. Riley approached it as just a joke or sarcasm, but there was a hint of longing on the boy's face as he said it. Perhaps Harper actually wanted to believe that they would get what they all wanted in life simply because of this place. But remembering all the pain and death they've found, Inadi felt positive that no good could come of this little journey they had been pulled into. Following the group after the lift ride Inadi bore witness to the memory beyond the next door and felt his nerves only grow worse in the hole in his chest that seemed so hollow now with all the questions resting on his heart. Were any of these groups even supposed to make it back? It seemed like the answer to that was an emphatic no.

Watching the boy in the memory was gruesome to behold and seeing some of the others turning away was reasonable. C however seemed to be staring dead center at the image before them, as if seeing her own memories rather than someone else's. As she walked forward with Ran he heard a slight whisper from her throat but couldn't pick out exactly what was said. Instead Inadi turned to the others and tried to help the rest move forward after the terrifying scene.

As he continued with the group they came across what looked like an archive of sorts and voices began whispering in. Two of which seemed familiar to Inadi. Turning to the sound he saw faces he had forgotten before and now they were standing there right before him. His eyes turned wide, he dropped his halberd at the sight of his parents. The low voices slowly drifted into his mind as his legs refused to move in any direction. Breath stuck in his throat, eyes dilating in the shock, Inadi could only stand as his world began returning to him ever so slightly.

"Did you find that excitement you were looking for Inadi?"

"Come and sit down! Tell us about your new inspiration for the book."

Father and mother, chatting with him just like they used to. Inadi couldn't help but feel at peace where he was once full of fear. "The book is going to be great! Mom, pop I have ideas for days now. I might even turn it into a kind of serial or something like that!" Inadi nearly shouted as his excitement collected in his chest and he began taking a step towards his door. But as he picked up his foot a loud shout behind him shook him from his spot in his own little world. Turning, he saw C standing there, anger written clearly on her face as everyone seemed to become lost in their wishes. They were still in Nowhere, yet this was as close to home as he had been in so long. And to finally see his parents' faces again all his worries about losing his memories disappeared. He was where he wanted to be.

Looking back at them, their smiling faces lowered into worried frowns. Inadi hated seeing them like that. He wanted them to smile again as guilt began rising in his mind. Had they looked that way the whole time he was gone? Or had they just become indifferent to his disappearance and moved on in their lives? It was impossible to know exactly how long they had been there in the end. Perhaps they thought he was dead...

"What is it son? Why aren't you coming home?"

"Are you feeling well Inadi? Is something the matter?"

The worried tones. The near welling in his mother's face. The concerned furrowing of his father's brow. New guilt was building on him now, and it was far heavier than the guilt he had collected in Nowhere. The door was calling him, but C was right. They needed to proceed. His mind battled for what he had always battled with. Would he choose something that he knew? Something that he was accustomed to? Or finally risk something that he had no idea what would be the end result? The question that brought the train to him swimming in his mind made Inadi grab his head in anger as he growled to himself, the light on his crystal beginning to shine just a tad brighter than before.

 

[Fox of Spades]

Collab by @Dear Karma and Fox of Spades

​

​

The rage coming from Inadi manifested itself in a strong breeze whipping down the hallway. As his anger deepened, the wind transformed into a howling gale. Hair and clothes whipped around wildly, but the enchanted hoomans didn't even seem to notice. Ran pressed Harper and C against the sturdiest door he could see and yelled for them to hang on. Then without warning, the man released his hands. Ran slipped back by several feet. Throwing his arms protectively in front of his face in an attempt to shield his eyes from the stinging gust, he made his way painstakingly towards the tormented wind mage.

"Noe hang on!" Riley yelled. The hooman clutched tightly to the healer's hand, but it was starting to slip away. Noe bit her lips and tried to tighten her other's hand round Riley even more. "Noe... pull yourself towards me."

Hearing Riley struggling too, Ran forgot about Inadi for a moment and nearly flew away. Thankfully, Cobalt managed to catch him by his sleeve. The man gave the dragon a grateful smile before he frowned slightly. "Cobalt, listen. Protet Riley and Noe, got it?" He commanded. "Don't worry about me. I'm going to stop the wind."

Cobalt's eyes were filled with worry, but upon seeing Ran's resolve, the young dragon roared encouragingly. Cobalt released Ran's sleeve then barrelled forward until he was behind both girls. Flapping his wings open, the dragon stretched his head forward and yanked Noe and Riley from the door by their collars. Then before they could be blown away, he enveloped them in his wings and pressed down against the floor. He scrunched his eyes closed tightly and hoped his weight was enough to keep them from flying off.

"Good boy, Colby," Ran said approvingly, as he worked his courage to finally let go of the doorknob he was clinging onto for dear life. Setting his sights on Inadi again, Ran began approaching Inadi at an even slower pace than before. At that point, it seemed that their only hope was to snap Inadi out of his current state. Ran wasn't even sure it would work, but he decided to try yelling as loudly as he could to the young man. "Inadi... Inadi! Calm down!"

Predictably, his words were obliterated by the howls of the raging tempest and Ran frowned. A sudden surge knocked him cleanly off his feet, leaving him no choice but to dig his fingers into the cracks between the stone tiles. How long he'd be able to cling on was a good question? At least, he thought, their "possessed" friends staring into the mirrors appeared to be completely unaffected by Inadi's spell. It's almost like they were rooted to the ground by some invisible force. Which, in his opinion, was a huge relief, because he was stressed enough having to worry about Noe, Riley, Inadi, Harper and C."Inadi, stop!"

Ran pressed his head flatter against the stone floor. His ears were now completely death to the other sounds in the hallway. Unfortunately, Harper and C were not as oblivious. The two teens clinging for dear life exchanged worried glances, when they heard ominous creaking from the rest of the doors in the hall. The sounds grew louder and louder as the hinges began giving way. Suddenly, the door they were clinging to flew open.

Even as they fought to maintain their grip on the sides of the flapping door, both could see the other doors being blown away effortlessly like paper cards in the summer breeze. A second door flew towards them and C uncurled her fingers in response. Harper panicked and tried to grab her, but he too was blown away.

​

"Ran!"

The adult gaped as two bodies flew in his direction. He threw up his hands and tried to catch the two kids. Ran managed to pull both of them into a tight, protective embrace, but the sudden impact sent the man skidding back, and the additional gusts of wind eventually toppled the three of them over. The grownup wrapped his arms around C and Harper, taking the brunt of the fall. The wind was knocked out of his lungs but he successfully managed to shield both kids.

With the doors no longer acting as barriers, the group were now exposed to the mercies of the bewitching siren calls of their loved ones. These voices seemed to magnify a hundred fold and eroded away at their will at an alarming rate. Inadi dropped to his knees groaning loudly and the wind died.

Noe broke free from Cobalt's protective weight and tried to reach him. She called out to him, but her soft voice was easily overpowered by the cacophony echoing in the halls. Unheard by her, Jasper's voice began calling to Inadi too. It melded pleasantly with his parents' voices. A tempting second option for him to consider.

"Ran!" As soon as the wind died down, Harper scrambled to his feet. He wrapped his arms around Ran's torso and tried to pull the man up. "Can you move? Does it hurt badly?" He didn't even know the amulets were capable of that much power, it was scary. Ran's weight was a little too much for him alone, but C quickly did the same and together they tried to support him.

Harper's eyes flitted worriedly from Ran to Inadi, and that was when he noticed the stoneflesh creeping up Inadi's arms, Leila's cheek, Ace's foot. A sickening sense of dread shot throughout the boy. The fear was almost paralyzing, but he knew that if they didn't act now, there was a possibility they'd all wind up like Haku.

"Noe!" The panicky Harper released Ran and began striding towards the doors. "Can you... can you fix them?" He could hear several voices calling out to him—his mom telling him about her new spaghetti recipe, his sister talking about how she had found several strays by the curb. It took Harper all of his willpower to focus on Noe instead of the door frames, but he couldn't stop himself from throwing worried glances at his friends. And when Noe didn't respond directly, the usually calm boy darted towards Ace.

If they didn't act now, they wouldn't be able to save anyone. "Ace, snap out of it!" He reached for her hand, but the redhead refused to budge. "Leila, Inadi!" Harper was yelling desperately. "We're so close... snap out of it, please." The amulet around his neck shone brightly, but it wasn't like their powers could save them in a situation like this.

When neither of his friends responded, he turned to glare at the doors. Maybe if he struck the mirrors within they'd be free. He reached for the hilt of his sword, but when he looked up, he saw his sister holding up a basket filled with puppies. Those had been the puppies they had raised together a year before she had fallen ill.

His sword fell to the ground with a clatter.

Harper missed her. He really did.

"Come on, baby brother." Abigail beamed. "It's almost dinner time. You don't want mom to get upset, right?"

Harper's resolve crumbled and he followed after her.

As the seconds ticked past whatever resolve everyone had left began to shatter. Even the usually stoic C was staring into one of the doors as if it were her lifeline. She couldn't make out the face of the woman standing before her, but she recognized the chocolate-stained apron and the fuzzy slippers the older woman was wearing.

"Caitlyn," the kind voice called out. "You can't believe how much we've missed you."

Long forgotten puzzle pieces began sliding back into place and as bits of pieces of her memory returned, C realized who the woman was.

"Mom?" It felt wrong. Her mom was gone, wasn't she? It was the reason she had boarded the train after all. C tried to resist, but the moment the woman reached out to ruffle her hair, the girl gave in completely.

After five years, she was finally going home.

 

[Fox of Hearts]

Collab by @Dear Karma and Fox of Spades

​

By the Lift​

Numbers flashed above the double metal doors. 101 ... 67 ... 99 ... 201. Two twin golems tilted their heads and the taller one, the one the soldier referred to as Mica, pressed the shiny → followed by the ←. He scratched his head with his crackling fingers then pressed the ← button again. The lift stalled at floor 626 then shuddered. Now the numbers were floating pass in a more coherent order - 1, 1, 2, 3, 5 and 8. The other golem, the younger brother called Howl, turned his head towards the metal sign mounted on the wall "610". Both golems shrugged, unsure how long this would take.

The lift stopped again. Something seem to be rattling it from below, so Mica gave the lift a firm kick, and after much protesting, it began moving upwards again. In the meantime, Howl leapt from foot to foot impatiently. The giant crystal golem could tell that the clockwork soldier was upset, but he didn't blame the man, Howl could feel the balance shifting as well.

He looked to Mica before turning his head to the lift button once more. Reaching towards it with his arm, he struggled to press the tiny button. After a few misses, he finally managed to give it another jab.

They played the waiting game for a bit longer before the double doors slid open. Slowly, the golems piled into the cramped elevator. They could hardly move, and their shoulders were pressed up against the wall, but it would have to do for now, they were in a hurry after all.

Mica rached for the down button and the doors slid shut. Now if only the lift would reach floor 34 without much more problems, things would be less tense. Howl leaned back and rapped the side bars with his own stumpy fingers. This was going to be a long six floors down towards the Archive of Wishes. Again the lift shuddered, as it was buffeted by strong gusts from below. On cue, both golems jumped several times and the lift plummeted all the way to floor 1. Throwing open the hatch, Mica reached for the rope and began hoisting them towards floor 34. Both golems hoped that they'd reach in time, because time was of the essence and they had humans to collect.

 

[Capt. Blu]

[BCOLOR=transparent]

[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Spooky Tower[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"What's wrong? I don't like that face. You look upset. Aren't you happy with me?"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Ace paused. Something. . .Something wasn't right- was it? She rubbed her ear. It sounded like someone called her again. Maybe she was just hearing things. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Ace. Let's go." [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Seeing her get distracted made her boss become more stern and direct. Much different from the loving and caring voice from before. "Oh, no no...I just thought- never mind. I'm coming." She rubbed her hand against her arm, wondering why it felt so cold all of a sudden. "Yeah, here I come." She had a family now. That's what mattered.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Ace.. We need to hurry. The- The food will get cold."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]There was a sudden hint of worry in his voice. The sudden sense of urgency and fear made Ace hesitate. "Boss- why do you sound so scared? What's wrong?" Ace crossed her arms. That wasn't right. No...Not at all. "Boss you're not scared of anything...What's going on?" This wasn't right. Something was yelling at her, telling her to stop. Telling her to look away. But she couldn't just leave! If she left, Boss would leave her! She couldn't- They were a family now. "Augh..." She put her hands on her head as it suddenly began to pain her. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Ace? -kiddo? It'll stop hurting if you come closer. You have to come to me. It'll be alright."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Ace snap out of it!" [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"No, Ace! Come to me. Remember? We're a family. That's what you wanted, right? Don't let them take that from you. You deserve so much more. You've worked your whole life for this moment Ace."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Ace's head began to swim and hurt more. "You're...you used me. We aren't..." Ace took another, heavy step forward. But the conflict was in her eyes. The trance began to flicker. Her boss continued to persuade and coax her forward. He reached his hand out for her, as if he was stuck at a certain distance. Which, it was true. Once Ace grabbed his hand the stone would finish spreading, he didn't move any further, not wanting to break the process. But that wouldn't happen when Ace's trance stopped becoming effective. "We aren't..." Tears welled in the redhead's eyes. She could feel something inside her shatter. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Pl-Please...don't go. Don't leave me!" Her pathetic cries helped none. Boss was slipping farther and farther away, quickly. His face blurred and the hand that was reaching for Ace had disappeared. "N-No! Please! Come back! I'll be good. I won't- I won't run away anymore. I won't cause any more trouble. I'll- I'll be good...I promise. Just give me a chance...Please." Ace's voice grew softer with each plea, and she fell to her knees. That was her chance. Her one chance to finally have what she wished for- she finally was sure what she had wished for all that time ago...[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]But she blew it! Her one chance was gone! Boss was right there...He gave her the chance and she didn't move fast enough. She wasn't fast enough...She wasn't smart enough...She didn't deserve it. The image she had saw had began to turn back into its original state. The mirror it truly was. Ace was left to stare at her defeated and destroyed expression. She stared for a long time, her hand sliding to her lap. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]First, she put her arm over her eyes. She was preventing the tears before they happened- more like, before they continued. Then, she pulled her hat down casting a shadow over her eyes. "What was I thinking...That would never happen." Ace stayed on the floor, staring at the ground. "I'm just a pawn to him. Just a liability...I'm," Ace forgot how old she was, and it only caused her to dig her nails into the ground. "There's no family for me…" She closed her eyes, trying to dispel the image that she saw, trying to forget about it, but it was etched into her mind. "What a...what a stupid wish…" No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to get up. She couldn't face the others- not like this. She pretended to be so tough and brave, but Ace knew it was a lie. It was all a lie. 'Just forget it...It never happened. It never will happen. You were fine on your own Ace.'[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]She couldn't even convince herself. Ace groaned, clutching the top of her head. "It's all a lie. It's all a-!" Something grabbed her. She would have never seen it coming, but when she did look up her eyes widened to see the golem that grabbed her. "Put me down!" She punched its hand, trying to get it to loosen its grip, but to no avail.[/BCOLOR]

 

[MixedUpGuy]

Inadi continued to grow more frustrated with his mind and his heart battling it out for dominance and a quick surge of power burst from his necklace that sent Ran tumbling nearby him, though the one who was causing the gale was unaware of his surroundings. The wind had grown so strong around him he could not hear the sounds of those calling to him, nor the images that seemed to be desperate to get him to cease his power from reacting. Grabbing at his hair and letting out another aggravated yell, Inadi could see his mother and father in the doorway reacting to his anger with worry and concern on their faces.

The gusts seemed to lower slightly, but they were still strong enough to send someone sliding back if their feet were not planted firmly into the ground. A whirlwind enveloped Inadi as he began stepping towards the door as another voice slowly began finding itself appearing, one that he was sure had no reason to be there. The spectacle wearing man saw the bright white flesh of Jasper, and his eyes began to well as he knew what he was seeing was now truly nothing more than an illusion. Jasper wasn't there, neither were his parents. The wishes it seemed were simply a way to get the group off the trail of the real goal. Though these doors seemed to have an ability to reach out and pull in the humans with their greatest wants. Now however they were nothing but pure fear. Inadi looked back at the door and saw a scene he so desperately wanted.

The woman he had met here in Nowhere right next to his parents. All of them smiling, welcoming him inside with a warm glow that made him think all his pain and misery was nothing to carry on his own. He would be able to live easy in a world like that. In this fantasy that seemed more far fetched than even Nowhere. Seeing so much more than he cared to remember in his mind about the days with his parents, the terrible scenes he had bore witness to in Nowhere brought him back to a strange alleyway in his mind.

Blankly staring forward, Inadi's eyes were now focused on the scene in his own mind. He was young and surrounded by older children. Brutes. Aggressors. Boys that felt the need to prove themselves in order to cement their spot on the chain in life. Inadi however was nothing more than a simple tool in which to do that on. Blows rained down and a struggle to escape led to simply harder hammers thrown on his back, his legs and his eyes. After it all ended, Inadi reached for his face and felt no glasses, but saw hazes and blurs where he once saw clear streets and bricks. He laid there in the alley way, a new short cut he wanted to try to reach home, blind and bruised.

Snapping back to reality, Inadi felt a strange change creeping up his arm and saw that stone was now engulfing his being. Smiling to himself and shaking his head he turned back to the door and the smiling faces of his parents and love. His smile lowered into apathy and his eyes closed as he reached for his glasses with his still skin hand. Pulling them off he saw a mere outline, but in that filter of shapes and colors he saw why he was brought to Nowhere. Dropping his arm to the side he looked back up at the gate again as the smiles of the ghosts disappeared into worried looks again.

Inadi began to speak to the shadows of his wish, but the gale around him still carried his voice away, forcing him to speak louder than he normally did. "One mistake. One mistake is what made me into the machine I became as a kid. I was scared of different things because it cost me something so important that I didn't want to risk losing anything else. One time it was my sight. Now I have to see everything through a layer of glass," Inadi told the spirits in the door as he dropped himself down to a sitting position as he began feeling the tears he had welled earlier begin to fall down his cheek. "I was scared of trying anything new because I didn't want to lose what little I thought I had left. But if I don't keep trying these new and stupid things that there idiots all pull me into," Inadi joked as he pointed to the rest of the Humans still struggling with their own wishes. Looking over to Harper who was following his dream into the door and Ace who was now being grabbed by some creature that was already looking to take some of the others. His smile disappeared as he stood up and looked back at the door.

"I wouldn't have found one of you shadows in there in the first place." Inadi said as he reached his hand out to the doorway and focused his wind magic forward. The creeping rocks up his arm made him struggle keeping his mind on the door way, but fighting through the pain he sent a gust directly at the shadows in front of him, seemingly dimming the light in front of him.

"I have to view my world through lenses, I refuse for them to be tinted in some other color than the one I choose." Inadi grunted out hurt as he picked up his halberd quickly with his good hand and began charging towards the creature that had collected Ace and tried giving it a quick swing. His one arm was barely strong enough to even tap the beast, but the petrification was preventing him from using his other arm. Dropping the weapon in the end, Inadi was quickly greeted with the back hand of the monster that held Ace in it's grip. The slam sent him flying and bouncing off the hallway floor. Rolling to a halt Inadi tried to regain the ability to breathe as he fought with his eyes to open back to at least a wince. Seeing the beast start to come back to him made Inadi smile but the quick cough he had soon follow made his face contort into a groan. Hopefully some of the others broke out of their doors soon because the big guy didn't look happy. Granted the thing's face was made of stone, but it was clearly obvious that the swing from earlier wasn't really appreciated.

 

[four]

Collab: four + Ryver​

Archive of Wishes

"Floor 34!" A chirpy woman announced.

Mica stepped out first and pretended to wipe the figurative sweat off his brow. Howl followed after he made sure they secured the lift to this floor. By the look of things, it appeared that they might need to hoist themselves all the way to the topmost floor. Mica pointed to the humans on the floor then the group further ahead. Howl tilted his head for a bit, scratching his craninum with one finger. Mica made a fist and whacked Howl across the back of the head. The smaller golem nodded and lumbered off towards the other group.

"There's no family for me… What a...what a stupid wish…"

The hoarse cry from the red haired hooman made Howl turn a half step to the left, if the girl was snapping out of the enchantment, he'd better act fast to minimize the violence. Howl pulled to a creaky stop in front of Ace and willed his stiff knees to bend. The same rock against rock groan came from his back, as he leaned forward and picked the girl up. The golem cuddled her the way a kid would a plushie and took several steps anti-clockwise.

Cobalt was crouched protectively in front of the stirring Inadi and Noe. Sensing the golem won't back down, the brave little one launched himself forward. Howl pinned Ace to his side with his arm and made a grab for the jet black blur, however the wiley Cobalt ducked between his legs. Confused, Howl spun his upper torso around, trying to spot the young dragon.

There! He noticed Cobalt retreating back to Noe and made a grab for the dragon again. Unfortunately, Howl's legs weren't cooperating and the golem fell dramatically with one failing arm outstretched. The hand batting left and right violently shunted Inadi into the wall on one side of the hall and Noe into the wall of the other.

Groans came from beneath and Howl pushed his upper body up pressing down his hands and straightening his arms. Glancing underneath, he saw both Ace and Cobalt looking a little dazed. Howl lowered his head in silent apology and picked the hooman and dragon gently. He moved them into the crook of his right arm and pinned them firmly to his side, leaving just enough space for them to breath. He considered going after stunned Noe next till he heard Inadi's grunts of pain.

The hoomans would have seen Howl's eyes would have widened in shock, if they were visible, but thankfully the visor blocked the golem's eyes and preserved his intimidating aura. The golem hadn't realized that one of the hoomans was armed, but he was going to incapacitate them now. Howl took two extra big steps forward and swooped Inadi up, adding him to collection pinned to his side.

_____

The little currents swirled around beneath the still surface enclosed within the ceramic cup - fragments of leaves twirling along on the bottom.

"One night," she said, peeling her eyes away from the leaves in the cup to look at the old man on the other side of the table, "how could it have just been one night?"

"I personally don't find it that hard to believe," James said, "I've had dreams sometimes, and once in a while they do feel like they take more than one night to live through."

Leila kept her eyebrows locked together and nudged the handle on the cup. Disturbed, the tea had a few ripples propagate across its surface before it finally settled down.

"It was too real to be a dream," she insisted. Then of course she saw clearly the flaws in that statement. The story of the man who dreamt he was a butterfly and the butterfly that dreamt it was a man.

"I understand." James said, "things get very confusing with dreams sometimes. Sometimes I fall asleep, dream, and when I wake up -" the man looked thoughtfully into the ceiling for a moment, "I almost start wondering if I had actually just fallen asleep, and that -"

"- and that this was the dream." Leila anticipated the last words in that sentence.

"exactly."

The old man nodded and smiled.

Leila's head dropped as a thought intruded her mind.

"exactly." She repeated, eyebrows furrowed and sight fixed on the tablecloth.

Then she lifted her eyes to say something else, but no-one was on the other end of the table.

_____

Who next?[/iHowl peered around and spotted a black haired porcelain doll. The frail looking hooman also looked like she was starting to resist, so Howl changed direction and began making his way towards Lelia. He was in mid-step, when something shot beneath his legs. Howl lowered his foot hesitantly, worried he'd squash one of the hoomans or the guides.

"Don't come closer," Noe squeaked, as she stood in front of Lelia with her rod clutched firmly in both hands. "Please, please just let us go. Please..."

_____

"James?"

There was no response and the other end of the room was still empty.

Leila extended a hand in his direction, but the hand took an infinite amount of time to reach its destination. Before that happened it knocked over the teapot that was in the way.

She noticed that in the most absurd of ways the room had started spinning.

The teapot toppled over and the liquid spilt. It tickled down along the edges of the tablecloth and dripped towards the ground.

If that was too real to be a dream and therefore was not, then -

"-James what is happening?" she asked, but dared not move yet, "where are you?"

All the dream gave her in response was the sound of the drops of liquid hitting the ground. Then the dream started to worry that it wasn't enough, so it started amplifying. Drops, more frequent drops. Then a steady stream, then a waterfall.

It made no sense and all so in perplextion Leila looked downwards, and she saw that the one pot tea had flooded the room up to her ankles.

She stood up, took steps in each direction only to realize that all there was was the room, and that each step was harder than the previous to take with more liquid to push out of the way.

"wh-"

She couldn't tell if it was that the floor had also started to recede downwards, or if it was just that the room was flooding too fast. The table was afloat, and the teapot rolled off, plopped into the sea of cold tea, and plunged into the depths. She could feel the waves place pressure on her chest now.

Spinning. Spinning and sinking.

"Stop," she said, "no. Stop."

It did not stop. She lifted her chin and flailed her hands around, but that only served for the excited waves pumping gulps of water down her mouth gasping for air.

"Please, please just let us go. Please..."

She heard. The voice wasn't his anymore. Leila couldn't tell whose. The vibrations of the air weren't reliable anymore and so it was spoken directly into her mind. Painful - distroted, it was a screech, but she could discern the words. The sounds filling the bottom of her ears felt like cold water filling her lungs.


Run away, away from here, from this. Like that time you did when there were fireworks in the night, she told herself. She pushed away from the table and coughed the water out and threw herself off balance. She fell, along with the chair from earlier that wasn't falling. One couldn't fall if one was afloat but she was falling anyway.

She anticipated the splash and the rushing of water down her mouth and nose - but there was neither.

The water was no more. Something caught her. What she fell on was not fluid, it was soft. And fluffy and very, very warm. And white.

Or some things.

Bunnies.

She screamed, but fur insulated sound well.

_____

Then all of it was just a mirror.

A mirror in a hall decorated for festivity but was without emotion. She recognized no such place. She acknowledged no such place.

Where was home?

Sense of balance and direction lost, she tried to keep herself upright but her feedback loops were backwards and she found herself only squirming on the ground wondering whether she had misplaced the direction of "up" or if it was just that gravity had not returned to working as usual.

Another groan followed by a soft murmur came from Lelia, causing Noe to turn to the back. "Ms. Archer, run if you can!"

"I can't," Leila said.

Noe's lapse in attention provided Howl with a much needed opening, and before Noe could fire her first spell, a huge crystalized hand curled around both girls. Howl held the two girls caught in his fist up to his face for a closer inspection. As he deduced by touch earlier, they were a lot slimmer than expected, which probably meant that he wouldn't have to worry about them suffocating if he continued holding them like this.

Realizing he had captured the entire group at this end of the hall, Howl turned slightly off to the side to give his older brother an affirming nod. They were ready to return to the lift. Ignoring the kicking legs digging that hit his rock solid stomach occasionally, Howl stomped back towards Mica's end of the hall feeling possibly a little triumphant. The two of them managed to capture the hoomans and their rider guide with minimal damage, save some bruises and perhaps one cracked lens in Inadi's glasses.

By the time Howl arrived, the lift seemed to have been repaired without them needing to do much. The reason behind this was apparent, as soon as the speakers crackled to life. It was the Clockwork Soldier.