♛ ▌ＲＥＳＥＴ ❣

Was this supposed to be normal? Magnus sat in his chair watching the castle shake and the church bell ring, then stop, then ring again. It was interesting to say the least, but everybody was off doing their own thing, and he was left there to do nothing. Magnus did not appreciate it, he had yet to have even greet both his father and mother.

Regardless of this fact the others were surely doing something of interest and Magnus' blood began to pump at the thought of doing something interesting. The excitement of checking out the mysteries of the castle were calling out to him and he felt like he could explode. He ran down the hallways and the first door he came upon he immediately rushed inside of.

"PERFECT" Magnus cried out as he noticed he had entered the bathroom. There was nothing of interest inside the bathroom, only some bathrobes in the bathtub and some discarded towels on the ground. Magnus was dissapointed by this lack of interesting things. He got on his knees, opened the toilet cover and looked insided but sighed as he found nothing "Oh well...might as well..." Magnus said pulling down his pants as he sat on the toilet.

"MANLY DUMP!" Magnus yelled before finishing his dooty and got up. All that was left as for him to flush the toilet, which he did...but then it all happened. The toilet began to flood. "OH NO MY MANLY DUMP HAS BACKFIRED!" Magnus yelled. There was nothing more he could do other than wash his hands and get the hell out of there. With his hands clean Magnus ran out as fast as he could.

 

​

INTOXICATION
[ x x x x x x x ]
​

"Tell me if you feel a bit of pain, hun ~
I'll let it flow aaaall away from you ..."

Sangria giggled as the troupe of adventurers continued through the crackling halls, Johnis behind her now carrying a skeleton and jar for some reason. In the servant's quarters, they had found, among other mysterious things, skeletons, for some reason.
Now, this was very interesting, as ordinarily, immortals never died.
So what was going on here, exactly?
Sangria played with a lock of hair between her fingers.

"Johnis," She began.

"I've never known you much beyond a business relationship, dear." She took another swig of vodka as they walked to the second floor, Sangria trying to get thoughts of the decrepit servants' quarters out of her mind. "But I do commend your excellent sense of discovery, ufufu. <3 You know, business is all about taking risks, and we're doing so here. And I'm happy to say you're one of the few who can take risks with such ... " She snapped her fingers. "Gusto."

They stopped in front of two doors, one leading to the wine cellar and another leading to an open study and recreation room, potentially filled with papers or information on previous games, Sangria hoped. All she could see from here was a desk with a pen nib, as the rest of the room was hidden behind the door.

Sangria couldn't resist, and she turned to her partner, a wry smile on her face, slowly edging him towards the study.
"Now now, hun," She stroked his hair and turned her back on him. "I'll ... check in the wine cellar. Why don't you get some studying done? <3"

In the wine cellar, Sangria looked at a few barrels of wine, satisfied that some of her work found itself among the many types from all around Aether, but decided against taking anything, coming up with nothing. She returned outside to wait for Johnis.

​

​

 

After[/url] the creepy servants's quarter thing that happened there, the trio of JVS continued their trek throughout the castle, complete disregarding the trapdoor because hell no were they going down there right now. Not when there was other places to go explore first. That's how games worked, explore every possible area you can before going to the one you think the is most relevant to the situation...or that just seemed like the funnest place. Also, before leaving, Johnis went over to hoist a skeleton around with him and a jar. Why? Because he wanted to see if any of these bio-valen types could get anything out of the skeleton when they met back up. He also carried the jar around with him just in case this substance in them became relevant to fighting off some poisonous gas or something of the like.

So anyway, the three of them went back up the stairs and then went through to the second floor set of doors. Sang started complementing Johnis on his businessing risk taking skills to which Johnis simply rubbed his head and said, "it's all just in the name of fun really. Risks often times lead to a bigger gamble, and the bigger the gamble the bigger the payout. And that's just a good time for everyone." Sang eventually told him to split off from her because there was a wine cellar, and getting in the way of a Wine Witch and her alcohol was something no one should really do. So, as instructed, Johnis went over into the study to see if there was anything of note in there. The answer was, not really. Just some papers and the norm that you'd find in a study area. Though there was a coat just lying around, but that only indicated to him that more was just out of place here. After that exploration was done, Johnis grabbed some papers and writing utensils, because one never knew when that could come in handy. Looking fully loaded up on stuff, Johnis walked out into the hall with Sang and Vex and said, "nothing of note in there. Just more clothing lying around that looks like it should belong to someone but doesn't. So, where to next?"

 

​

Garret wandered off on his own and looked around and found a staircase to the lower levels. He looked around and saw a couple of barrels labeled as "wine". Although he wasn't quite sure, something inside of him said that it may not be what's being advertised. He dismissed the barrels and continued to search around. Eventually, he happened upon an entrance of some kind. Quietly, he peeked in past the entrance and looked all around. He figured, based on what he saw, it was a dungeon of some sort. Maybe it'd be a good idea to check on it later.

 

​

INTOXICATION
[ x x x x x x x ]
​

"Mhmhmhm, a coat you say?" Sangria glided briefly into the study and took it back out.
It was a dusty, ragged browncoat, probably old and heavily worn, but Sangria draped it across her shoulders and turned back to the nature boy. "You never know when things like these come in handy, hun. <3"

They continued through the second floor. Most of the doors here were locked or filled with rooms that did not seem to have anything. The halls were lined with windows on the east walls; enormous and ornate ones, reaching the high ceilings and offering amazing views of the clouds and the soft sky's eternal gradient. Unfortunately, no ground. No Ambrose either. Sangria clicked at her heels in discontent, and took another swig of vodka. At the far distance, she saw the end of a colonnade and the far tower with the bell soaring above the rooftop garden. Even from here, she could hear the atrocious thing.

It continued its ringing, as if counting down on their inevitability. They hadn't found anything useful here, save for evidence that they seemed to be the only ones left, and what could they do about it? Let the bell keep ringing? Sangria let out a blustered sigh.

Eventually, they reached two large, enormous doors at the end. Tapping them and swinging one partly open, Sangria slipped in and pushed it farther to let the others in.

A blast of air hit her face, and she felt her thoughts echo in her head. Chairs were lined up throughout, and instruments filled the room. At the very end were four other doors, no doubt leading to the other wings of the hall, and a stage opening into a small amphitheatre-like seating section.

This was ... a music room?
At this point, they might have been deep within the middle of the castle ...
Sangria licked her lips.

Things definitely seemed to be turning out interesting ... Ufufu.

​

​

 

​

[/url]

❥ They left the library with the golden book that none of them could read. How could a bunch of immortals of varying races and regions all be unable to read one book located in the central most structure of the world? Figures. She rolled her eyes as their small group of four -- five counting that creepy ass bear -- made their way further down the hall. They came to a section of rooms and upon peering in through the doorways looked to be bedrooms. ⦇ We should each take a room and then meet right back out into the hall if we find anything. ⦈

She went into one guest and rifled through the drawers and closet. Marina bent down, checking under the bed as well. The room did not provide much other than the fact that the beds appeared used. The sheets were messy and warm, like someone had just vacated it recently. With a heavy sigh, she left the room to find that the others had similar circumstances in their rooms as well. She glanced around uncertainly and saw a door open at the end of the hall. Marina walked down the hall, her heels clicking against the tile.

The others followed after her and she pressed both her hands to the door, pushing it open. Her blue eyes searched the room, falling from item to item. Instruments lined the walls and light filtered through, shining on the sleek surfaces. Sheet music stood propped upright on stands and a large chalkboard stretched out on the wall. There was something written on it over and over again, filling the black surface, in the same unfamiliar language as the book. The piece of chalk was suspended in midair, moving on its own. Her eyes widened and there was a clenching in her chest. She needed to know what that said, though she doubted any chances of figuring it out. ⦇ Darren, will you hand me that book? ⦈ Marina held her hand out and took the book from him. She flipped through the pages, her blue eyes flicking up and down between the book pages and the chalkboard.

She readjusted the book so that she was holding it in one hand. Timidly, Marina reached up to take the chalk. Her fingers wrapped around the white substance and as she pulled it away from the board, it shocked her. Marina yanked her arm back, clutching her hand in pain. She grit her teeth and seethed, holding her hand close to her body.♕​

XX XX XX​

 

​

INTOXICATION
[ x x x x x x x ]
​

Sangria's eyes lit up as she saw a few familiar faces enter one of the other doors and immediately walk to an area behind the stage.
She strutted down past a few stacks of chairs and joined them.

"Well, well, if it isn't my faaaavourite little fresh-meat!" She winked at Marina and looked at the chalkboard they were all standing in front of.

What's all this then?
It looked like it was written in an ... what kind of language was this? Sangria had done her fair share of travelling and knew even well enough on some of the languages of the mortal races. But this ... this she couldn't quite catch, could she?
It looked like a cross between ... what were the human terms for it. Russian? Arabic? Yet, whenever she tried to read the words, she felt her very head working against her as her mind tried to process them.

"What's all this then?"

Sangria paused and noticed the golden book in one of their hands.

"Oh, my little Marina has a book in her hands! Never knew you were a real linguist of a Valen?"

It looks like they found something after all! Ufufu.
She peeked over Marina's shoulder as the Coordinator of their anti-game looked through the book.

She was about to say something, but stopped herself.
Now now, this wasn't the time to sabotage her efforts ...
Sangria stayed silent.

The girl reached for a chalk and quickly dropped it. What was that? Sangria tried to stifle uproarious laughter.
"Don't hurt yourself, dear. Did you figure something out?"

​

​

 

​

[/url]⚜ a t t e n t i o n span shorter and more anxious than usual, Morgiana didn't stay in the ballroom for a minute longer than she thought she had to. What did the empty clothing mean? Was it just in the ballroom? Where there more empty clothes in the castle?! Did the Valen who wore them just disappear? WAS SHE GOING TO DISAPPEAR, TOO?

Worried that maybe the air was strange in the ballroom and it would make her dissolve too, she pranced away with electric yellow eyes. There were more falling parts of the castle that she had to avoid, getting a scratch or two, but for the most part, the ground was stable and she was able to navigate without much trouble.

One pair of intricately-designed silver doors later and Morji was gaping in awe of the throne room. She immediately shuddered at the thought that G O D might have once sat in here. It wasn't very large, but the space it had and its regal decor made up for that. She trailed down the velvety, thin red carpet until she neared the throne. More clothes without owners; a crown and a robe. She didn't think that G O D would have worn anything as flashy as that, so she vaguely wondered who it belonged to.

For several long minutes, Morji was incredibly tempted to dawn the crown and cape, and her hand was already outstretched to grab both items, but when the castle shook again like it was telling her NO, she stepped back, screamed back at the walls in argument, and then proceeded to violently stomp out of the room with blackened eyes.

In[/url] her pouty rage, she stomped on with no direction until she ran into a chalky white pillar. Stumbling back a little, she was ready to go off on the would-be person, but flinched when she was looking at a giant portrait of a famous Valen that was once a pirate. Tar, they had called him, and he had been very famous for winning many games and expanding his land so much that many Valens often entered alliances with him, only to try and doublecross to take his land. He wasn't a very kind man, and was ruthless, and Morgiana thought he was the coolest because pirates.

She danced around a little, looking from portrait to painting of Valens that she both knew, hated, and didn't know. She wondered if there was one of G O D, but even if she did find one, she doubted she would recognize them. Her face contorted into a pout at this.

❴ I'm definitely gonna get to be in one of these! ❵ she declared, and then pointed a finger at one of the paintings, watching the Valen in it melt away until she was the subject of it, standing atop a mountain with her arms raised and her sheepy hair flowing valiantly in the wind. ❴ It'll definitely be the best one in here. ❵ She then spun on her heel and began to walk until there was a squishy sound, and she looked to the ground in alarm.

Nearly the whole of her left shoe was covered in paint and she scowled at it, pointing at her shoe until it looked clean again. Who would leave paint like this in the gallery where it could get everywhere or someone could get hurt?! ❴ I would have been seriously mad if I fell again! ❵ she threatened to the air, her eyes turning red as she cautiously moved around the spill. It . . . really was weird, though.

She headed the way she came, but gave one last look to the puddle of paint with a raised eyebrow, and then the paintings that seemed overly-creepy to her now, and quickly scampered away. Wiping away the eerie paint and eerie empty clothes, Morgiana eventually stumbled her way into the music room. Her first expectation was shattered when there was no ghostly-not-really-there music playing, and then her second was shattered even more awfully when there were other Valen already in the room.

She threw out a finger in accusation at the group that was already in there. Particularly Sangria, Marina, and Johnis. ❴ You guys can't just take my room like that! ❵ she said with annoyance lacing her tone, taking a few steps forward. ❴ I was definitely going to look here first, so you guys should definitely go away! ❵​

S L E E P I N E S S ; ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜

​

 

​

INTOXICATION
[ x x x x x x x ]
​

The sound of another door opening allowed Sangria to peer up from her fun with Marina, and she looked to the end, seeing--
Oh!

The castle shook a bit. A lone cello lying on one of the falls collapsed to the ground.
Sangria briefly turned to stare at it, before looking back at their new companion, dancing over to her. Ahaha, this was getting more entertaining by the second! She couldn't believe it. How many others would be reaching this place at once?

"Well, well!" Sangria giggled as she reached Morji and ruffled the top of her hair. "It appears that we're having a party here after all. Can't stop the party, can you Marina?" She turned back to the new Coordinator and gave her another wink. "You're such a party animal, you human. I never knew you had it in you. Keep the party away from yourself--" She waved her finger in the air and bobbed it to the syllables of her words. "But-you-can't-keep-it-from-Mariiina!"

Anyway!
She turned back to Morji with a wild expression on her face.
"First! Settle your senses with a bit of this, hun." She picked up her hands and placed her bottle of vodka in them.
"Second!"

Sangria raised herself to her full height and arched her back.
She cleared her throat.

"This is no time to act as if you want territory over games, dear. That comes later. Of course, I could take my way with you right now, and your territory too, if I needed ... <3"

She smiled maliciously at Morji.

"But!" She knelt down and tapped Morji's nose. "I'm a businesswoman. I have many individuals to feed. To let enjoy the deep, numbing sensations of pleasure. And the faster we get out of here, the easier it'll be for you to try more of my alcohol!

So! Tell me, Morji, what did you find, my dear?"

​

​

 

Before meeting up with the other trapped Valens in a music themed room. Darren and company explored and stumbled across the chapel. A peak inside made Darren order twice for young Mimi and Daphne to stay outside. He stared at Marina for a moment before recalling her participation in Days and thus her fortitude. He gave her a nod before preceding into the chapel.

You didn't have to be religious to see that this was horribly wrong. Most alarming and attention grabbing was a chapel pew, burning consistently on it's own. Darren gave it a wide berth as he searched the place. After reaching the passing the flames, he heard then saw the organ. Heard, because it was playing of it's own accord. A bead of fright rolled down Darren's neck. But he forged ahead despite his rapidly beating heart.

There was nothing left to find. Marina found blood in the aisles separating one side of the pews from the other, but there was nothing valuable. He gathered his group, gathered his own fortitude, and later they found the music room.

 

Everybody had begun to split up and with no other option Asterion decided he should examine the castle as well. It wasn't that he did not wish to be a part of this, it was quite the opposite. The castle held many other secrets and Asterion was far too curious to see just what exactly this castle held for them. They really had no other choice but to continue on and search for any clue, unless something terrible happened.

It was true that they were immortal, but that did not mean a terrible fate couldn't befall them and Asterion was no fool. Everybody was going all around checking, and though it seemed tempting, it would be best to search the uncommon places instead of the common. With the amount of people they collected there was not much places that would go unsearched, but this castle held many secrets.

Asterion decided it would be best for him to check up the tower and find out whatever is there. With the towers collapsing it was dangerous as well as something that could possibly hold a clue that could be lost. Up the stares he ran up them without a single pause until at last he reached the top and raised an eyebrow "what the?" Asterion muttered.

Up on the top floor of the tower was a bedroom and Asterion walked deeper inside the room to investigate. The sheets and blankets both caught his attention and immediately Asterion went and grabbed them only for his eyes to widen "These sheets are warm...somebody was here recently" Asterion said glancing over at the nearby open window and stared at it. Walking up to it he noticed a bundle of sheets that tumbles down from the window to the clouds and by extension to the ground. The choice of climbing down the sheets was tempting, but a foolish and rash choice. His eye caught sigh of a note next to the sheets that said "'I have to get out of here" and it immediately made the silver haired man's eyes widen. This was all madness and Asterion narrowed his eyes "What the hell? a prisoner? and why would he or she write such a thing if they were so desperate...surely the thought of writing such a meaningless note would not cross their mind" Asterion muttered.

 

​

✿ T H E x B E N E V O L E N T x S O R C E R E S S ✿

✿ location: hall of games ✿ mood: (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧ ✿ theme: sunshine ✿
✿ ooc: n / a ✿
​

Daphne obidiently sat as Crestatia had commanded. She introduced the new Valen, Marina and soon took her own seat. The girl couldn't help but admire the demoness' appearance. She always managed to look so... elegant, regal almodt, and fashionable, yet still gave off her infamous intimidating aura. Her purple hair had just the right amount of curl, and her matching eyes seemed to sparkle even when she was upset. It was truly extraordinary. As much as Daphne found Crestatia to be unpleasant and, to put it bluntly, frightening, she still envied her in more ways than one.

As Marina began to speak, the Valen's fixated gaze on Crestatia broke and she turned her attention to the speaker. She ran her fingers through her hair and began to twirl the ends around her finger, yawning. Marina was a very good public speaker and she explained her board very well, but unfortunately, even Daphne found it a bit boring and drab. Granted, she'd never done anything like this before so she respected her for that. When Marina announced that everyone had to draw cards for their pawns, shortly after Daphne recieved a copy of the guidelines and passed it along to Mimi who was sitting right next to her, the young Valen felt her heart flutter slightly. This was interactive? Oooh, how delightful! Eagerly, she reached out and grabbed one card for herself: clubs. For a moment, she wondered what Mimi and Luceia got. Returning from her thought, She noticed Arius take two cards immediately after her, shooting Daphne a look before peering at his cards and groaning obnoxiously. Sneakily, she shifted her head and her eyes wandered over to his suits: hearts and clubs. Oooh, their pawns would be on the same team... very interesting!

A jolt shook her body as a piercing ringing sound echoed throughout the castle as she jumped slightly. There was a loud ringing in her ears that muffled what the other Valens were saying, but she could get the gist regardless. A bell like this had never rung before and, to be honest, it made the girl worry. Her golden eyes darted from person to person before finally settling on Crestatia and the crew that was accompaning her. She was tempted to tag along, but decided to wait it out with the others.

As the bell finally began to quiet down, the ringing in that reverberated within her mind subdued as well. She overheard Sangria mentioning something about scouting the small group out, and she decided she'd join them on their search party expedition.

It appeared that the group was stranded in the rooftop garden, at least until Garret opened the gate and held it ajar for them. There was some discussion among some of the Valens that Daphne thought it would be best to stay out of. She saw Gale attempt to part the thick clouds that surrounded the castle, causing Ambrose to subsequently jump off the roof and soar beneath the now dense fog. A few moments passed and he hadn't returned; it worried her greatly. She silently wished for his safety before Rosaline decided to start up the bell again.

Ooooooooow...!

With all the roof efforts exhausted, everyone headed back into the castle, despite previously watching a southern tower just collapse. She gulped anxiously and fiddled with her hair and dress as they descended back into the main hall. Once there, a few spoke up and claimed that they should split up into search parties and scour the castle for anything that could help them. Daphne followed Mimi, who decided to stick around with Darren and Marina; she disn't really have any objections.

Their first stop together was the library. The girl searched franctically, but didn't discover anything useful. Darren seemed to though, so their voyage there wasn't in vain at least. Afterwards, it was decided that they should split up again so they could cover even more areas. Daphne reluctantly agreed, not feeling very confident parting from Mimi.

Despite her initial objections, Daphne followed the order and decided to search one of the towers. Even though one had fallen not too long ago, it'd be better to check it before something could happen to it, right? Her heels clacked against the hard flooring as she searched for the entrance to the tower. A large and extremely noticeable door caught her attention, and she decided her best bet was to go through there.

Luckily her guess was correct and, after traversing more flights of steps that seemed unnecessarily long, she reached the door to the tower. She knocked first and then waited for a reponse [ which never came ] before turning the knob gently and pushing the door in just a bit. She peered through the crack, but didn't spot anything troubling immediately. Thank goodness. The door swung open as Daphne stepped inside and began to investigate. She immediately noticed that the sole bed's blankets were pulled back, and that the window was wide open. Cautiously, she approached the bed and placed her hand on it. It was warm. Someone had been here... recently.

She didn't want to stick around and find out.

Hurriedly she exited the bedroom, slamming the door behind her as she sprinted down the stairs and out the other door. She took a deep breath, hands on her knees, trying to collect herself. She patted down her dress and searched around some more.

Daphne, after wandering around for a while, figured it would be best to call it quits now and try to locate her group. After even more wandering, she stumbled across them and reported her findigs--well, not really. "I checked one of the towers and found that the bed was warm and the window was open, so I think someone was in there recently..." Her voice trailed off, before quickly adding, "I'm sorry I couldn't find anything of value! At least she tried though, right?

 

『 1 』
you have until the timer runs out to explore.

​

 

In the music themed room, information was exchanged. After all, they were all stuck here together. The more brain power out in, the better. Everyone learned of a trap door leading into the depths of the castle. No one stepped up to venture inside it at the moment. So when it quieted down. Darren said a prayer to his family, made Daphne promise to look after his family and volunteered to go into the dark chamber.

Crestatia surprised him by following him out, as did Arius and a doll of Mimi. With a thanks to all who helped, he set out to find the room holding the trap door. They found it as the bell toll and debris unimpeded their movement. Darren opened the hatch and went down first, not even know if there was a light or not. At the bottom, low light candles lit a dark and narrow tunnel.

The small group made sure to stick close as Crestatia permitted due to her obvious agoraphobia. The trap door slammed shut, and no one could open it after. Their shoes echoed off the close interior due to the grimy walls and floor.

They started to pass shadowy prison cells. A dungeon of sorts, and closer looks revealed clothes on the floor of each cell. People had been here. Darren didn't try to think about what could make an entire castle disappear. Or maybe the people vanished when the God ruled, and his magic kept them going. Like Mimi's dolls or something. Darren did his best to update the crew above them with Mimi's doll, especially when the trapped door closed. Darren gulped, and prayed to his family again that whatever at the end of this tunnel, ended with a happy note.

 

The bathroom was a complete disaster but he was not deterred by that, if anything it seemed that anybody who wished to use it would now have to at least hold it in. The iron bodied man rushed forward looking for adventure and at last he had finally found it! A stair way leading up to a tower stood before him and Magnus wasted no time as he rushed up it.

What he found up there was absolutely gorgeous. The room was filled with treasure and Magnus was amazed. Magnus was not too obsessive over treasure as his own body was the real treasure, but actual treasure was still nice. Magnus rushed over to one of the pieces of treasure and immediately picked one up, but the mere moment he did so the tower shook really hard. "OH NO A TRAP!" Magnus yelled as he scooped up a shit load of treasure and began to run as the tower began to collapse. The ground behind him crumbled as he made his way out of the tower and continued to run.

Despite getting out of the tower the ground behind him continued to crumble behind him as he ran, moving faster and faster. "MY MANLINESS IS A CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURSE!" Magnus cried out as he ran down the halls, feeling this was all because of his strength "I WILL NOT BE BESTEST BY THIS!" Magnus yelled as he dropped all the treasure "TESTOSTEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-huh?" Magnus yelled out as he rushed forward, but stopped when he noticed the floor had stopped crumbling right at the place he dropped the treasure. Asterion who had just gotten out of his tower looked at the scene as his eye twitched at the sight.

 

THE BELL GOES QUIET AND THE CASTLE CEASES IT'S SHUDDERING.

THE SOUND OF DUST AND DEBRIS FALLING AND SETTLING FILLS THE CASTLE, AND YOU CAN HEAR SOME SORT OF STRANGE SHIFTING FROM WHERE EVER YOU ARE. ONCE YOU LEAVE THE MUSIC ROOM, YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY IN THE MAIN FOYER AGAIN.

THOSE IN THE DUNGEON REMAIN THERE.

ONCE INSIDE OF THE FOYER, YOU CAN HEAR THE CRIES OF A CROWD. A LOOK OUT OF THE WINDOW WILL CONFIRM THAT THERE IS A MOB OF VALEN SHUFFLING THEIR WAY INSIDE OF THE CASTLE.

​

 

​

STARTING THE BELL UP AGAIN WAS A STUPID IDEA, BUT EXPLORING WAS EVEN MORE ANNOYING. She was hoping Crestatia would stop the idiots from deciding to roam a castle that was completely falling apart, but the demoness had been particularly quiet after the arrival of the group. And so it was that they returned inside, split off into teams and began to explore the castle. What were they looking for? She had no clue. None of this was making any sense to her.

It wasn't until Crestatia went off with him, warning her not to follow, that Annalynne decided it was a complete waste of time to be here with these people. Their little team hadn't really found anything worth sharing and she doubted loitering around in some freaky music room was going to result in anything interesting. It took her a while, but she found herself back in the foyer with the losers who hadn't bothered to do anything useful. Without a greeting, she plopped herself down where Marina had been sitting and casually began to look through the plans of the game they hadn't even gotten into.

「 Such a shame.」There was no real remorse in her voice, and she began to hum cheerfully to herself as the sound of crashing towers reached the foyer with a heavy tremor.

Suddenly, as quickly as it had begun, the bell stopped and the castle became still. Annalynne peered up at the ceiling with a curious expression.

「 ... Seems like they actually figured it out.」

Not too bad, for a bunch of loooooosers.

She snickered to herself, but her relaxing couldn't last long. As if to take the place of the droning chime, the sound of a dozen voices reached the ears of those in the foyer. Annalynne stood up, slowly walking through the room and to one of the tall arched windows. She had to stand on her tip toes, but she could see a line of Valen approaching the castle.

「 ... Maybe not.」

As if on cue, the others appeared - minus a few notable Valen. She frowned.

「 Where is Crestatia?」 Her tone was partially accusatory and she stepped back from the aperture with her hands rested skeptically on her hips. There wasn't even time for an answer before the group of Valen found their way to the foyer, occupying seats and leaning against walls. Annalynne stared, shooting a poisonous glare at the Players. They must of done something! Dumbasses!

There must have been at least twenty of them, most of whom she recognized, with sour expressions and shaking heads of disapproval. Suddenly feeling very small, the brunette left her place to group closer to those who she was most familar with and wishing Crestatia was here to take charge.

The crowd of Valen were from a neighboring region, Fairwyn. They were the closest district to the Hall, and took themselves much too seriously in her opinion. They established a sort of court, which Annalynne found stupid, and anyone who was pretentious enough found themselves joining their ranks. Each Valen had an extraordinary amount of power and were often found abusing it in other regions, and one could not join their little cult of elitists unless they passed a series of bullshit tests.

Stupid, stupid, stupid ...

She was a little jealous, though.

Finally, the leader of this particular squad [ he went by the name of Casden ] approached their little group. He was a big boned man with a dumb looking goatee and greasy spiked black and silver hair that clashed with the thick, rouge horns jutting out of his skull.

「 I take it you all know what has happened, hmm?」

Eek.

Annalynne habitually waited for Crestatia to answer.

...


...

Welp.

「 I suggest you all vacate the premise while we - the Elite Guard of Fairwyn -handle the situation.」

「 We can't leave you idiot,」 Annalynne spat. 「 Our match hasn't ended.」

「 Fortunate for you then, Miss Anna May, that one of our very own - in the Elite Guard of Fairwyn - can assist you. 」

Annalynne's face went red. He knew her name! He also knew how infuriating it was for her to be mistaken for someone else - or forgotten. If she had had her full range of power ... Casden smirked and turned, moving to the head of the table and looking over Marina's plans as she had.

One of the men from the squad stood and approached the group, staring each one of them in the eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time. When it was her turn, she felt nothing but a sort of tingling warmth in her chest, and when he was finished they were ushered quickly outside of the foyer.

「 It's a masking spell - it'll hide your hearts from the castle and let you escape. ]It won't last long, so hurry away. 」

There was really no choice in the matter, as every time Annalynne went to object and inform them that there were more in the castle, she was hushed until Casden ordered five of his men to escort them outside of the castle and past the billow of clouds the shrouded this place.

 

"Character is the result of two things: mental attitude
and the way we spend our time." - Elbert Hubbard
Wearing - Mood: Nervous - Music - OOC
​

"We might as well get down from here, but how?", Sienna turned to Anthea and asked this.

She sighed, "I would suggest using our powers," she started, "but since they're reduced in this castle..."

"Well, it looks like the path we took isn't blocked, let's go that way."

"Alright then, Sienna," Anthea then followed her back into the castle.

✿
​

After some time, dust and debris fell from the ceiling again, and Anthea and Sienna found themselves in the main foyer again.

" I hear something... besides that strange shifting," Sienna said.

Anthea looked outside, and there was some mob of at least twenty Valens, but why?

"It's some mob, Sienna," Anthea started, "At least 20 Valens are in it. "

"Why, though?"

Anthea was as confused as her "sister", she had no idea why that mob was there, "I don't know."

 

☾ Mood: Annoyed ☾ Location: Hall of Games ☾ Theme: ☾ Clothes: ☾

☾

Rosaline walked about the castle, after noticing that a bunch of other Valens were pouring into the main foyer. She decided the best thing she could do now, was to leave as directed.

Rosaline wondered where the others were. She waited out side of the castle gates. "What in the world was going on in here? How crazy is that? Somethings up, and whenever I get home, I'll figure out what it was..." She thought to herself. She had never seen anything like what happened inside of the castle. It annoyed her greatly that she didn't know.

She knew everything she could from her books and even by touching objects, but not why the castle was shaking, or why that bell starting to ring. Or why they could suddenly leave the castle. There were so many possibilities, and so many questions. She wanted to demand an answer, but she knew that wouldn't help. It was going to make her go insane. She needed a break. Taking a deep breath, she paced.

"I wonder where the others are...." She thought to herself. "How odd that they're not out here yet. I hope something bad didn't happen in there.... but that would be thinking unrealistically."

☾​

 

​

INTOXICATION
[ x x x x x x x ]
​

It was all of a sudden. Quick, like the feel of whiskey downed in a shot glass. Sangria darted her eyes around.
Though the bell had stopped, the little collection of Players had found the entire castle surrounded by a deal of miscellaneous folks that bore the distinctive skin-bearing wear of ...

She wrinkled her nose.
"Fairwyn?"

It was a burst of colour in an otherwise simple world of monochrome marble. The unmistakable citizens of that godforsaken land of pretentiousness had strut in with their gaudy mishmash of patterns and colours, ripped and torn fabric covering their bodies like neanderthals who had slain and taken the pelts of highlighters and children's crayon drawings.[1] Mounds of muscle and flesh, male and female alike, adorned these veritable picturesque statues of an unattainable perfection, and rippled with the seething anger of something having to disturb their absolutely perfect lives of the Court of Fairwyn, was it?

Sangria sighed and rubbed her head. This wasn't what she wanted when coming this close to the hall. She turned and watched as members of their little Elite Guard stepped in -- they brought the Elite Guard here? -- Sangria never needing to me reminded of their absolutely classless "uniforms" that, with their swaths of colourful, patterned capes, wide-brimmed hats, and absolute lack of anything that can be called protective anywhere beyond the few sensitive areas made Valen all over know well enough that these folk existed just to show themselves off more than have the need to protect themselves. Who would need to, with that much unmatched power?

These Elite Guard were a subset -- the "best of the best" -- of a kind of mercenary army controlled by the Fairwynians that de facto tried establishing some sort of control or order over the waypoints between territories, but in reality it meant all of Aether had a roving band of overpowered bullies dressed in gaudy ridiculousness that looted, pillaged, and generally possessed the audacity to do whatever the fuck they wanted. They called themselves the Landsknechts, but that could well enough be Fairwynian for "asshole".[2] Sangria had made it a point many ages ago, when these rambunctious little kids tried screwing around with her employees and her business propositions, that she would make sure they couldn't even touch her little parcel of land, but with the expansion of her own and the continuous expansion of the monstrosity that Fairwyn was, it proved harder and harder as time went on.

The leader, a beefcake of a man whose horns shot through his hat and curled perpendicular to his silver-black hair walked over to Annalynne and smugly took control of the situation. Sangria snorted. Casden, what's gotten into you? She watched as the commander looked through Marina's papers, silently judging the contents with a fixated gaze, and Sangria turned to her Coordinator prey.

"Sorry to say, hun, but we won't be continuing the game of yours anytime soon." Sangria let off a dishonest shrug. She walked by Casden and briefly told him about the collapse of a handful of towers, and more importantly, how it definitely wasn't their fault, nor was it the fault of the new Coordinator. She moved away from the guards and walked to the doors, being held open by two sour-faced guards that stood taller even than all six feet of her.

Sangria let out a quiet breath.
In front of her stood the entire pack of ... potential party animals?
Mmm. She smiled and turned to the others, who having just recovered from the collapse of the castle, were still the in Foyer.

"Dears ..."
"Clearly, we've gotten off on the wrong foot."

Sangria giggled at the silly nonsense she was sputtering.

"And I'm positive all you big boys and girls can make some sound judgments, right? ❤ There's a ... fundamental problem with the castle, so why not leave it to the ... reassurance of the almiiiiiighty Elite Guard to clear things up? Please do excuse our new Coordinator, as the state of the castle was anything but her fault. ❤"

All throughout this time, Sangria gently moved her ring finger by her hand, slowly, slowly, dampening the senses of the group so they would be more accepting. It only worked little buy little, and the power of the castle was still fairly weakening out here, but it wasn't as bad as the middle of the halls.

"Now," She rose her head to the sky.
Where did fly-boy go ...

"I hear ... Fairwyn has bars that rival my own. Let's loosen up and talk things over drinks, won't you say?
The others are still stuck by the trapdoor, and moving too far away might be a problem if they need help. Not to mention --" She cast her glance as Casden, who continued looking over the papers. "-- These bozos are probably wanting to keep an eye on us to make sure we don't get out of hand. It might do us well to talk about what we all found properly, too."
She moved away from the Players and walked back to the crowd, putting her sunglasses back on.
"Ta."

Sangria stepped down the stairs and outside into the sea of neon patterns. Many of those face-punching imbeciles in the mob glared at her angrily, but any act of physical violence was restrained by the Elite Guard, and she glided her way through the crowd at the very end of the path, shooting the fools cold looks all the while.

Serves them right.
Fairwyn could be a good target to establish new operations ...

The end of the path led to an ornate door that seemed to stand upright by itself on the edge of one of the palace's ridges. Next to it, she was surprised to see the red-veiled handmaiden she had seen waking up before this entire calamity.

"You?" She gazed at her from behind her lenses."
"Greetings, brewmistress."

Sangria crossed her arms and looked down at the short girl.
"... How go operations in Kantharos, hun?"
The handmaiden scratched her head momentarily, before quickly replying. "36 distilleries created in the past week operating at approximately 88.3% capacity. The acquisitions of the Woad Crest and Twerking Waifu Tavern establishments have been successful, and both are now exclusively selling products produced in Kantharos. Oak shipments from Phantasmagoria have been delayed by two days but are on the move between waypoint lines at the moment."

Sangria's face was flat. She wanted to ask how this girl got here, but she realized that a few of her employees might have been here the entire time ...
"What have you been doing here, dear? I am simply ... curious. ❤"
The handmaiden smiled.
"Scouting."
"Oh? ❤"
"Yes, brewmistress."

She took off her sunglasses and cleaned them with her sleeve.
"The thief was alright in the end, then?"
The handmaiden nodded. "Yes. He attempted to impress me by showing a little trick of some sort."
Sangria giggled.
"Are the others with you?"
"The butlers are continuing their efforts in Fairwyn."
"My my ..." She held the tip of the sunglasses' arms to her bottom lip. "You seem very excited, dear."
"I am, brewmistress."
"Are you now?"
"Yes."

She gazed at the girl's red veil.

"What's your name, hun?"
The handmaiden hesitated, seemingly deep in thought.
"... C-- Chardonnay."
"Chardonnay ..." She rolled the name on her tongue, tasting it deeply. "You're a lovely employee, Chardonnay, for taking all this effort upon yourself."
"I only aim to please my brewmistress."
"That's right ..." Sangria placed a hand on her shoulder and looked back at the door. "Chardonnay ... I feel that things might be changing in Aether."
"How do you mean, brewmistress?"
Sangria gazed backwards at the castle. The bell was not visible from this far below, and the towers stretched into the sky, their ends blending into the cloudy peach gradient.

"I simply mean, I may not be back in Kantharos for a good while. Chardonnay, it'd be mighty fine if you continued to keep me updated about what was going on there, hun. ❤ I don't want my people to lose the pleasure they all love, after all."
Chardonnay lowered her head. "Of course, brewmistress."
Sangria stroked her hair and quickly pecked her cheek.

"Mm. For somebody who lost their name a long time ago, it was smart of you to name yourself this."
"I only aim to please the brewmistress." Chardonnay made a deep bow.
Sangria walked in front of her and made her own deep bow. For once, this broke the handmaiden's concentration, and she shot back up, startled.
"What--"
"Ta. ❤"

Sangria went into the doorway-portal thing to get to Fairwyn and the bar. Things were indeed changing.
But if it meant everything would still continue like it was in this terrible hell of a world, after all this effort, then what was the point of the changes?
She frowned.

​

​

[1]
[2]