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{ TUMBLR • ACQUAINTANCES • MOST RECENT • WEARING }​

{ OOC : OOCHERE } • { LOCATION : UNKNOWN }​

{ YOU • ME • NAMES • LINKS • DISDAIN } • { MOOD : THOUGHTFUL }​

Kallisti read through the table of contents. Twenty-four chapters . . . Each of them as interesting as the last. But they could only choose two, and she didn't know why. It was frustrating. She turned to Bernadette and Septimus and they discussed all of the chapters, but finally settled on two decent ones.

'Cracks In The Gameboard ' and 'Romance, Survival And Rebellion'.

 

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Marina stumbled through the hall unaware of where she was or the location of a bathroom. There had to be one around here somewhere. She did not want to stand in the hall throwing up the entire time. She thought she was better after drinking that liquid, but has felt terrible ever since. Maybe that was why Theodore had said she needed that pale orange one. Would it counter whatever was going on inside her? She caught her reflection in the window to one of the rooms and noticed that she looked paler than earlier. She wiggled her brows and scrunched up her face. Walking alone was probably dangerous, but she had already done so much of it here already.

She pulled her attention away from the window and continued on. Her stomach churned. The bathroom would apparently have to wait. Marina wrenched open a door to the nearest room and hurried inside. She grabbed the wastebasket and lifted it to her chin. When she was done, Marina wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and rubbed against the pant leg of her scrubs. After she placed the trashcan back on the floor, she decided to see if there was anything of use in this room. There were a few cabinets and cupboards that she opened up and peered inside. Marina still had no clue as to what kind of building this was. What did they do here?

[OOC: --- ≈ Wearing ≈ Client: --- ≈ Location: Unfamiliar Building//Room ≈ Day: 53 6/3 ≈ Monday January 21st, 2013]​

 

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Cracks In The Gameboard​

One thing I have noticed recently is a particular inconsistency... I have been playing this game alone up until now, and the world has since shifted and changed. I am sure no one else notices such things, but thankfully my note taking and my latest memory deal (see 'A Guide To Deal Making') has kept me aware. Thus far, they are subtle changes.

For instance, Brookbridge Academy of Excellency was once an all boys school. I remember burning Chester's letter of acceptance. I did not like the thought of being too far from him. He is sick, after all. Soon after my burning of the letter, I noticed that the academy had... changed. This was around the time of the Coy City floods, when a number of Bellhurst and Rosalyn High students were moved to the school.

I visited the campus soon after to investigate. A book in the enormous library confirmed my theory. It had indeed, very recently actually, been an all boys academy, but no one seemed to acknowledge such a thing. However, in an old copy of The Girl in Watercolors, I found that the print inside of the cover read: To Brookridge Academy of Excellency For Boys. When shown to the librarian, she simply cocked her head to the side and said she found it equally as curious.

Such changes have occurred more than once on the gameboard. I imagine Crestatia must move things around to accommodate for situations, and I refer to the lingering of information and other leaks (such as the print in the novel) as 'cracks'. I believe that once something is altered, some things remains. Sometimes, I believe this includes memories.

I spoke with Chester about it after my investigation. He says that usually the extra piece (See 'The Extra Piece') is able to recognize the cracks and changes more vividly. They may, at times, not be able to distinguish the difference between cracks and reality.

I believe that such a confusing thing existing may not be intentional on the game master's part. This is evidence, to me, that game boards have a life expectancy -- and that too much fiddling around with the surroundings, memories, pawns, and players could, perhaps, break it. I predict much chaos to follow the breaking of a game board, as 'cracks' themselves can heavily influence a game. See more on this and how to utilize it under 'The Bigger Picture'.

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Romance, Survival and Rebellion ​

Chester states that the rules on each game board differ. He tells me that the 'no romance' rule does not always exist. I believe that it does here because of what happened on Crestatia's game board. Sometimes, the Game Master is different, and so they do not see the importance in such things. Sometimes, there are no rules at all.

(Please see 'Crestatia's Past' for more information on why romance may be banned in a game such as this one.)

I myself have found that breaking the 'No Romance' rule without punishment is really quite simple. I theorize that Crestatia may have an extreme dislike for both fluffy romances without meaning, and passionate romances that blind the pawn / piece. This ties directly into her philosophy on selfishness and companionship. (Please see 'A Guide On Usefulness And Thoughts On Selfishness') for a detailed look on how to break the rule, as Romance, Usefulness and Selfishness are very similar.

Surviving thus far has been ... nearly disappointingly easy. It takes intelligence, initiative wit, and a balance between selfishness and selflessness. I believe Crestatia put a ban on 'rebellion' simply to throw off the cowards. Anyone too afraid to break the rules will not win, but anyone who breaks the rules simply for the sake of breaking them will die, as well. I have been fighting to stay alive since the beginning, for both myself and Chester. My love for him has been no secret. He is my purpose. My light. My greatest friend, and most wonderful lover. However, I still live for myself, as well.

Crestatia and I have an understanding, I believe. I do not disrespect her, as I know that this game is a necessity for her, and she fights in her own way. However, I demand that -- as a future Player, I be treated with respect and fairness. I understand that though demon, she still possesses a very tender, human soul; and she understands that though I do not truly exist yet -- I too have a belief in my own humanity. Thus, we coexist. I fight against her, to survive and prove myself...but I truly do respect her. While loving Chester, there is a balance. While defending my worth, there is a balance. While accepting the fate she has given me, there is a balance. There must always be balance and reason. There is no need to hate Crestatia for fulfilling her duties as Game Master, but there is no need to grovel beneath her and give up on existence, either.

I believe such a philosophy has gotten me this far.

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{ TUMBLR • ACQUAINTANCES • MOST RECENT • WEARING }​

{ OOC : . . . }• { LOCATION : UNKNOWN }​

{ YOU • ME • NAMES • LINKS • DISDAIN } • { MOOD : CURIOUS }​

Kallisti finished reading the text and put the book down. Interesting. She turned on the other two, and looked at the diamonds. She wished there was some sort of explanation. Her look turned sharp on Bernadette when a transparent diamond appeared.

After setting the book down, she heard footsteps from above. Someone else was here. Who was it? The book had obviously been written by the one named Devyn. She wouldn't be happy when she found that Chester was dead. They needed to hurry.

They pulled the Blue, the Black, and now the Red. Kallisti tugged on Transparent diamond, and then the White one. She wondered what would happen if she pulled the Black one again, so she did.

 

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« Updates → Interactions: N/A → Location: Unfamiliar Building//Room → Day: 25 (53 & 6/3) → Wearing »​

Bernie listened intently as Quin spoke. It was hard to follow at times, but she still listened the best she could. If only they were allowed to read more. Maybe they could take the pages they were allowed to read with them? She watched as Quin pulled three more diamonds and couldn't help but wonder what the other three pulled had done. This seemed silly just standing in this room pulling things that were hanging from the ceiling. Bernie wondered if there was anything else in the room of importance and walked away from the diamond pulling to rifle through the other things.

 

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{ TUMBLR • ACQUAINTANCES • MOST RECENT • WEARING }​

{ OOC : . . . } • { LOCATION : UNKNOWN }​

{ YOU • ME • NAMES • LINKS • DISDAIN } • { MOOD : HMMM }​

To be honest, Kallisti did feel a little odd, standing here and pulling at these ( magical? ) diamonds, but they wouldn't be here for no reason, wouldn't they? After pulling the White diamond, a Black one appeared in its place and she frowned; well, that was not in pattern, was it?

Kallisti looked at the book again, wanting to read more, but stared at the Black diamond that had appeared in front of her. She walked around it for a moment or two, as if trying to figure out all of the kinks and workings. What had the White diamond done that the Black one would counter? That was what she assumed was happening with them all. One diamond would do one thing, while the one that took its place afterwards would be counter-active.

With a shrug and a sigh, Kallisti decided to pull the Black diamond that had appeared in the White diamond's place.

 

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Marina's eyes widened at what she found. A triumphant smile spread across her face. She needed something to carry it all in. She checked a shelf and found a box with some bags in it. Marina pulled them off the shelf and began stuffing the supplies inside. The bags hung from her shoulders and she slipped the phone in her pocket, planning to take a look at it later. She opened the door of the storage area lifted up the box, holding it with two hands. She had to set the gun inside of it in order to be able to carry everything.

Using the bathroom was now the last thing on her mind as she retraced her steps back to the hall she came from. Temperance still appeared to be sitting there, but now her fingers were splattered in blood. "Eh-hem," she cleared her throat and the other girl jumped to her feet. She set the machete down and took the box from her. "I found a storage closet. There is food, water, first aid supplies, and I found a phone. I do not know who it belongs to or if it even works, but maybe it holds some sort of answers." Once the green-eyed girl had the box, Marina reached inside and reclaimed the gun. She set the bags down on the ground beside Madeline and pulled out the first aid kit. "Have the others come back yet?"

"No. Harley and that Duncan kid haven't come back. Quintus, German girl, and that weird guy are still in the room as well." Her voice was flat and emotionless as she set the box down. Marina could feel her watchful gaze on the back of her neck as she began to tend to Madeline once again.

[OOC: --- ≈ Wearing ≈ Client: --- ≈ Location: Unfamiliar Building//Hall ≈ Day: 53 6/3 ≈ Monday January 21st, 2013]​

 

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« Updates → Interactions: N/A → Location: Unfamiliar Building//Room → Day: 25 (53 & 6/3) → Wearing »​

Bernadette watched as Quin pulled on some more diamonds. Her eyes drifted back to what she was doing and continued to open drawers. She was hoping to find something else along similar lines of the book. Footsteps sounded overhead and she glanced back at the other two. "Vee should prolly hurry up tsoon." If whomever was upstairs heard them in this room, they might come down to check it out. She nibbled on her lip as she went back to searching for other things.

 

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{ TUMBLR • ACQUAINTANCES • MOST RECENT • WEARING }​

{ OOC : . . . } • { LOCATION : UNKNOWN }​

{ YOU • ME • NAMES • LINKS • DISDAIN } • { MOOD : THOUGHTFUL }​

She looked around the room. So far, there had been one Blue diamond pulled, one Red, four Black, one White, and one Transparent. Whatever the Blue did, the Black counteracted. The same went for the White. The Transparent counteracted the Red. Red was bad, no matter what. Crestatia spoke in red, she thought. It was just a feeling she had. Black was . . . bad? Then why had they pulled so many. She just . . . had a feeling about them.

Upon Bernadette suggesting that they hurry up, Kallisti nodded. She wished there was some sort of text on what these diamonds did. She looked around the room some more, pulling a Black one again, and then a few minutes later, a White one. She looked through things to see if there was any messages on the jewels.

 

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« Updates → Interactions: N/A → Location: Unfamiliar Building//Room → Day: 25 (53 & 6/3) → Wearing »​

Bernadette gave up on the drawers. They were proving futile. She decided to help Quin pull more of the mysterious diamonds. Her fingers gingerly tugged on another white diamond. Quin seemed to be monopolizing the black ones, so this seemed good enough.

 

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« Updates → Interactions: N/A → Location: Unfamiliar Building → Day: 25 (53 & 6/3) → Wearing »​

The footsteps seemed to be getting louder. She looked over at the other two and urged for them to go. Bernie hurried out of the room and back out into the hall where all the others were waiting. "Time to go," she told them. There seemed to be stuff out there now. She collected one of the bags before hurrying off in the direction they had come from.

Marina finished patching up Madeline and spreading salve on her injuries when Bernadette came out of the room. She told them it was time to leave and Marina nodded. "Harley, do you need help carrying her? You look tired?" she asked before tossing the first aid kit in the other bag and throwing it over her shoulder. She watched as Temperance grabbed the box and followed after Bernie down the hall.

 

They hadn't really gone in a complex maze like manner so it was only a few minutes until they arrived back in the hall that housed their little group. Duncan merely stood off to the side with a small nod of recognition to Marina, figuring that Harley would have something to say,, if this group knew about the dead bodies in the torture device riddled room.

 

Kallisti wasn't very inclined to listen to Bernadette, so when two Transparent diamonds appeared, she pulled them, waited for a brief moment, and then followed after. Harley had met back up with them, and then after grabbing Septimus and Madeline, they followed after the German girl and headed for the exit of the building.

 

They were prepared to go, and he was too hungry and tired to object, besides why would he? He moved and didn't stop moving until he was outside with the others.

 

Marina shouldered the bag and held tightly onto the gun. Harley had tossed Madeline over his shoulder like the tough guy he was and she brought up the rear of the group. She kept an eye out for anything that might appear behind them, but everything seemed good. There group turned down each of the halls and burst through the sector they had originated from until they finally reached outside. She wondered who the footsteps could have belonged to that Bernie had mentioned, but shrugged it off until they were finally outside.

 

Eventually, they all reached outside of the building, all breathing and panting from the rush and Kallisti wondered what the two Transparent diamonds had done.

"We need to get away from this building," Kallisti told the rest of them, looking at it over her shoulder as they moved father away from it. They began to traverse down the road. All roads lead to civilization, right? Surely, if they walked long enough, they would find something.

 

Marina pulled the phone out of her pocket a moment too late. She was shocked to see that it even worked at all. Her hand lifted it up to her face to see one missed call. Well, it would not hurt to call it back, would it? They would probably still have their phone on them, whomever it was. She clicked the call button and waited as it rang.

 

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Jessie felt her body jump and felt as though she had fallen from a great height... kind of like when you wake up from a dream and feel like you fell off a building... except... she had fallen

And been crushed...

...that damn song... that twinkling charm that usually leads one to sleep led her to her... no... she wasn't...

What happened?!

Jessie sat up quickly and looked around, she wasn't in an attic... where were the boys with her? Where was she? Jessie stood up and looked around almost helplessly. She didn't feel right, something was wrong. She felt like she was...

I died... didn't I?

Jessie calmed down enough to notice her scenery, she was in front of an old building... a hospital... at least it looked like a hospital. She could have been wrong.

Alas my love you do me wrong
To cast me off discourteously;
And I have loved you oh so long
Delighting in your company.

Jessie stepped forward, however she was nervous... she needed to link everything up. Now was not the time for her push away what was going on. When did everything odd start... it was... it was with the email was it not? Jessie bit her lip as she tried to remember what was on the email, but she had payed more attention to the delete button than the actual email itself. Jessie held her head, it hurt from something... she must have hit it when she... fell.​

 

[OOC: --- ↯ Wearing ↯ Location: Unknown ↯ Mood: Drained ↯ Day: 53 6/3]​

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Temperance's fingers were bleeding. She had cut them on the sharp side of the machete. There was a dull throbbing, but she was enjoying watching the light trickle of blood steadily flow from her fingertips. It drew the pain away from elsewhere. That meeting with Chester really had her thinking. She had spent all that time contemplating what might happen if she broke the no suicide rule. After speaking to him, it started to not feel worth it. Was suicide what killed him the very first time and caused him to end up here, or was it something he started to do after the first time he died?

When Marina had dropped the news about Cherno, she felt something break inside her and then everything went numb. She felt hollow. Did he really burn to death like the psychic bitch had thought? She wanted to believe made it out. He was resourceful and talented. There was no way he would get done in by a few flames, but something inside her was saying otherwise. She knew what happened to him, even if she couldn't admit it.

Temperance couldn't bring herself to cry. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot with dark circles underneath, but she couldn't bring herself to cry. Her throat burned. Her eyes darkened. Her hair was wild and unruly from all the running, but she couldn't get herself to feel. Everything was numb and dead inside. The knife brought her a painful surge of pleasure. It meant she could feel.

Her feet moved on their own. She would have liked to have curled up and died, but her feet had a mind of their own. Killing herself was beginning to sound more and more appealing. The only thing that broke her mindless thoughts was the sound of a phone ringing. Was anyone going to answer it? Oh, it went to voice mail. She glanced back and noticed Marina with it up to her ear. Was she trying to call them back? Her gaze drifted to Harley and frowned. She no longer needed his assistance, well she might, but not as desperately. She looked forward again. They had no destination. They were just walking aimlessly. "Does anyone--" her voice cracked and she had to clear it, "does anyone have a way of figuring out where we are? We should head back to town or something." It was the most she had said in what felt like hours. Her voice was flat and emotionless. All she wanted now was to get somewhere to sleep and possibly never wake up.

 

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xxx !!x!!​

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At first, it had actually baffled her. Ches was weak. He could barely talk, let alone find the strength to pull himself out of bed, kneel down, and cause his own death. To be completely honest, even if he had possessed the strength to do such a horrible thing, she didn't think he would really leave her. He spoke of suicide quite often. It was natural, as through the gameboard it had become an inappropriate habit and compulsion for him. But she knew his heart better than he did. He would not have left her all alone. He wanted to escape, but had he thought about it, he would not have abandoned her. He loved her.​

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He loved her. ​

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It became very clear to the girl, as she gazed down at his body, that someone else had done this. It had been a mistake to leave the lot of them to their own devices. Devyn had wanted to play fair. Give them a chance to survive and weed out the weak ones before forming some kind of companionship and sharing her book...but she should have just killed them all right away and ended this game.​

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Her fingers gripped his cold ones for what seemed like an eternity, her body slouched over the hospital bed as she peppered his face with gentle kisses and whispered hushed goodbyes against his ear. There was comfort brought when she remembered that he was still alive somewhere. He was special. He would not die. She could only hope that once she won, they would be reunited. It was the only thing keeping her from losing her mind and giving way to endless grief. ​

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Now she was alone, roaming the silent halls of the tattered hospital. Several of her men were dead from phantom gunshots to the head and empty, bloodless throat wounds. She did not understand this, but it was not the time to question it. Instead, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a beautiful, gold and red music box. Around her neck was a black and white key, which unlocked the box, and played the lullaby only she could hear. A haunting, twisting, unnerving melody. As always, the first few notes would play and then the box would go silent.​

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She waited patiently and took a step forward. The music box started up again. Good, she was going the correct way. Holding the box in her hand, she moved forward and out of the hospital. The melody continued. If it stopped, she would know she was going the wrong way. An intriguing compass to her enemies. ​

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It would have taken much too long to continue walking, so after a few minutes of quiet mourning, she dialed a number with her cell phone. Five minutes later a truck appeared, one of the hooded strangers driving it. She hopped in and leaned back into the hard leather, staring down at the several rotating figurines in the center of the music box. So many of them still alive. Pity. ​

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Devyn took the back way inside through an old, rusted bronze door. She lifted the bag over her mouth for a moment to cough into her shoulder as she descended up the steep stairs, slamming the music box shut and ordering the men to be quiet. She could hear talking. They had found her special room of diamonds...and her book. She hoped they took it. It would make chasing them down a lot easier. She had so many different tracking devices and wired objects that even if they didn't, they were sure to have taken something with them. This was her playpen. ​

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Unfortunately for her, they left before she made it down the hall completely and down the stairs to the room. They were gone when she got there, but a quick look around confirmed that they had been snooping. Lovely. One of them took the phone she left.​

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Her chest felt heavy and for a moment, she thought she would cry. Instead, straightened her posture and took out her own cellphone, dialing the number. No answer. A few seconds later though, her own phone rang. Her eyes lit with excitement. The chase was on. She pulled her phone from her ear and gazed down at the GPS app that had launched with the phone call. They were right outside the building. Her fingers started to tremble and her breathing quickened. Reaching under the bag on her head, she pulled the mask on top of her head down over her lips and switched it on, causing her breaths to become staticy and distorted along with her voice as she spoke--slow and steady.​

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❝Leave behind the one who killed Chester, and I will deliver the rest of you to the city. Please do not try and trick me, I do not have the patience. I will kill you, if you try. All of you. You have one minute.❞ ​

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Without waiting for a response, she hung the phone up with a shaky breath. The hooded figures behind her sent a chill up her spine. She was nearly curious enough to want to draw back one of their hoods. Just nearly, though. ​