ic The Box of Delights (IC)

[R. Bluefish]

Starlight's face had gone slightly white, and she spent several moments awkwardly patting herself as if to try to make sure that all of her was there. "Well, that answers my question, I suppose," she muttered, reaching up to reassure herself that her ponytail had made the voyage. I'd look awful with short hair. She snapped her fingers experimentally, and a bright white spark flashed obediently off her fingertips. "At least that still works."

 

Having completed her self-status check, she looked up, and her eyes landed immediately upon Gretchen. "Holy $%#&, Gretch?" With more speed than would perhaps be expected from someone as typically antisocial as her, she was beside Gretchen, one hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

[Heritage]

Grim's powers were normally a bit weirder than Starlight's, so she wasn't quite as unnerved as Sam was, though the multiple perspectives thing was pretty novel. Once she realized she was herself again (so to speak), she looked around the odd little lobby and noticed Gretchen huddled down on the carpet.

 

Thank goodness, she looks alright!

 

When Sam checked up on Gretch, the sarcastic barista looked very young and small crouched on the floor, but a friendly face quickly seemed to rouse her as her eyes lit up with hope. "Is that actually you, Sam? A place like this tends to make you a bit paranoid."

 

But then her gaze landed on Lynn, and she launched herself up and practically flung herself at the changeling, crushing her in a fierce hug. "Lynn!" Her carefully constructed facade began to crumble as tears of relief and joy wet her cheeks. "I knew you woudn't leave me! I knew it, I knew it! Oh God, I'm happy to see you guys!"

 

For her part, Grim seemed shocked by the intensity of Gretchen's feelings, but happily returned the hug just the same. "Hey, hey, it's alright! Of course, we were coming to get you!" Then she disentangled herself from her ecstatic employee and paced around the extradimensional space, hands on her hips. "Though now that we're here, we still need to figure out how to get home."

 

Gretchen once again composed herself, apparently deeply embarrassed by her emotional display. "The, ah, door just heads out into a void. Anything that goes out there reappears back in here."

[Tiffany Korta]

Everyone had apparently arrived more or less intact though both Starlight and Grimalkin had little bands of color at the tips of there hair, similar to how each of the Merge’s always had.

 

Merge didn’t really need to speak the three were still mentally linked with each other, though they luckily no longer shared her ability to see all her view at once, though she spoke mostly for the benefit of Gretchin.

 

“It looks like this building in some kind of bubble, like a little tiny universe. We’ve not explored the rest of the Overlook Hotel here, we thought it best to wait here for a rescue party to arrive.”

Now all they needed was to reconnect this pocket universe with the mirror back home, there must be a sanctum where everything was run from though it would be guarded in some way.

[R. Bluefish]

Now that they knew Gretchen was safe, Starlight was beginning to turn her attention to the matter of getting the hell back out again. "Then let's get the hell out of here," she said, turning in place as she surveyed her surroundings warily. "Rather not stay here any longer than we need to." Being imprisoned in a crappy hotel for the rest of eternity isn't on my list of things to do.

 

She paused, hesitant, and aware that she was out of her element. "Uh, which way?" She scuffed the carpet with the toe of her boot curiously. Feels real. "Does it even matter?"

[Heritage]

Gretchen shrugged and scuffed the carpet with her foot. "After the incident with the elevator, I was kind of scarred to wander off. Didn't want to get lost in an Escher engraving."

 

Grim frowned ss she sniffed the air. "Yeah, I can see why. My dad used to show me old Doctor Who episodes on tape when I was little; that one 'Castrovalva', where they're trapped in an endless city, gave me nightmares for a week..." Then an idea hit her, and she snapped her fingers. "This is just like the mines of Mars during the War! Mile after mile of tunnels that all looked the same, especially after the Company took the signs down to confuse the Resistance."

 

She reached out her hand and a small wooden statue appeared, looking a bit like an oversized chess piece, a knight to be precise. The changeling crouched down and placed it in the middle of the lobby between two hallways that went off in either direction. Standing back up, she nodded in satisfaction.

 

"There! I'll drop one of these at every junction we reach; if my powers work here the same way they do back home, I can use these for spying or teleportation."

 

The young barista frowned and crossed her arms. "And if they don't?"

 

"Well, then we learn that, too. Let's go...that way!" She picked a seemingly random direction, and marched off; Gretchen shrugged, then filled her.

[Tiffany Korta]

As the left the elevators and they followed the beautifully decorated Art Deco wall past a series of doors, with door signs in strange mystical sigils and no apparent door handles. None of the door seemed to do anything despite attempts of almost all of them, with various strength levels.

 

Eventually Merge got bored of just following along and split into different duplicates at each junction, luckily the others didn’t have to experience the many multiple views of the Merge’s wandering around. It was all for nothing however as each of the Merge’s ended up returning to the same position as everyone else.

The only person who seemed to be getting anyway when they took the lead was Grimalkin, the building seemed to be guiding her towards something though no one could yet tell if ti was good or bad for them all.

[Heritage]

There hadn't been a lot of chit-chat as the group wandered about; everyone was mostly too busy being paranoid and freaked out for small talk. But finally Gretchen of all people broke the silence.

 

"We're doing this the wrong way."

 

That stopped Grim dead in her tracks, and she put her hands on her hips. "How'dya mean?"

 

"We're looking for an exit, for the quick and easy way out, but this place has an agenda. I think it wants to show us something first. Then after that, maybe it will let us go."

 

"What does it want to show us?"

 

Gretch held up her hands and snorted. "I have no idea! But this mirror belonged to your great-grandfather, right? Maybe it's linked to your family somehow. Maybe all you have to do is listen to what it's trying to tell you." Then she chuckled and shook her head, like she couldn't believe what she was about to say. "Listen to the magic."

 

Lynn nodded as she looked around; it did make a certain sort of sense. Magic often had a will of its own, and sometimes you couldn't fight it; sometimes, you had to let go of your ego and let it do its thing. "Okay...okay, we'll try it your way. And if this works out, you're getting a big fat raise, Gretch."

 

That actually got a sincere laugh from the young barista. "I'm getting two raises, Boss Lady. I got one the minute I broke your stupid mirror and got sucked in here."

 

"Touché, touché. Alright, let's see how this works." And then Lynn just closed her eyes and listened...

Edited July 5, 2016 by Heritage

[R. Bluefish]

"Uh..." Starlight thought about saying something, then subsided. This seemed like one of those situations where talking would just throw off whatever magical crap was happening and get somebody possessed by a demon. Or something like that. God, she was going to need to read up on magic, just so she had some idea of what the hell was going on around her.

 

She instead only waited in silence, not sure what they were expecting to happen. Ill at ease, she leaned on shoulder against the wall and jammed her hands in her pockets in an attempt to hide her discomfiture. The seconds ticked by, and she made an effort to produce as little noise as possible - which was made easier by the fact that breathing was a strictly optional thing for her. I oughta suggest something helpful. Could do with a raise.

[Tiffany Korta]

 

GM Post

 

Almost as soon they changed tact they seemed to have some sort of success, the corridor didn’t seem to change but there was something different about the place. It took a few second to figure out what was quite wrong with the scene, one thing that didn’t look quite like the other.

 

IN the end it was a door that didn’t look like it belong in the rather classy Art Deco styling of the rest of the corridor, instead it was a rather simple and plain door that was a little battered from years of constant use. The door was adorned with a massive gold star with a simple number, eleven, carved into it.

[Heritage]

Grim stopped in front of the door, crossed her arms and nodded sharply. "Okay, this...this looks promising! Al-Kazar was a performer, so a dressing room door makes a lot of sense." But then a sudden chill went down her spine, and her eyes went wide. "Holy s###, what if, what if he's actually in there?! Like as a zombie, or even, just...dead? Like a corpse! What if my great-grandfather's body is in there?"

 

It appeared that somehow, the full implications of what might be behind the mirror never occured to her, or at the very least she tried very hard to block them out. Gretchen did not want her boss to freak out, especially in the middle of being rescued by her, so she tried to apply logic to the problem.

 

"You don't know that. Maybe the number on the door is a clue. Also, there was a sign on the elevator earlier that read...I want to say 'Tellus'? Do either the number eleven or the word Tellus mean anything to you magic-wise?"

[R. Bluefish]

Starlight leaned in as close to the door as she dared, unsure as to whether or not it might spontaneously turn her into a frog or whatever. You never knew with magic. Especially when you were apparently stuck in an extradimensional hotel that may or may not also contain a faerie's zombie great-grandfather. Almost unconsciously, she curled one hand into a preparatory fist, which began to glow softly. It never hurt to be on your toes.

 

She peered at the star cautiously. Is that just an ordinary star, or is it some kind of a sigil? "I hope nobody's looking at me for answers, I don't know magic. I can just about pull a coin out of your ear, and that's it."

[Heritage]

Grim frowned. "Well, 'Tellus' is just Latin for 'Earth', so that eventually might be the way home, assuming we can find it again." Then she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, let's just this over with; Gretch, get behind Sam, I'm pretty sure she's the toughest."

 

And with that, the changeling grabbed the doorknob in one hand while flicking out her talons on the other. " Here we go. One, two, three!" She yanked the door open, then dropped into a defensive crouch with both sets of claws at the resdy, training all her heightened senses toward the space beyond.

[Tiffany Korta]

 

GM Post

 

As the door opened smoke drifted out and star like lights glittered in the darkness, in a strangely rectangular pattern, rapidly through the smoke began to clear and you eyes adjusted to the relative darkness of the room within. The sight within were probably something that none of them expected, a young looking woman in a gaudy performers costume, rather guiltily stubbing out a cigarette.

 

“Oh hey I wasn’t expecting you, well at all really.” she spoke with a prominent New Jersey accent “Come in and close the door, once I’ve finished putting my face on I’ll answer any questions you have.”

 

Whilst she waited she went back to the mirror,with the bulbs that had made the stars before, and continued to apply her makeup apparently unconcerned with the interlopers.

[Heritage]

Grim could only gape in stunned silence as she slowly stood up, then absent-mindedly dismissed her claws by fluttering her hands like was drying off her nails. It was one of those rare moments when she was at a total loss for words.

 

"If this is a bad time, we could come back..." Gretchen deadpanned as she shrugged, which snapped the changeling out of her stupor.

 

"No no no no, we're staying, we're staying! Uh..." She scratched her head as she pondered the young woman. "Look, forgive me for asking, but...who the hell are you?"

[R. Bluefish]

Starlight looked from the woman to her two companions, then back. Slowly, she lowered her upraised fist, and the fierce light that she had conjured there mostly faded away - but not entirely. "Well," she muttered. "I don't think anybody here was expecting that." A glance around her seemed to indicate that there were no eldritch tentacles seeking to tear them limb from limb, so things were apparently off to a good start. The tentacles could, of course, always come later.

 

"That's the question of the hour, yeah," she said, eyeing the strange woman uneasily. "Other question would be - do you know how the hell we get out of here?" Also, will we be able to believe a word that comes out of your mouth?

[Tiffany Korta]

 

GM Post

 

The woman stood,tucking the cigarette butt behind her ear.

 

“Well that’s a complicated question I’m here to help people who mean the this sanctum no harm. But who I am is complicated I may be someone he knew in the past, a partner of either sorts, or I could just be a construct of this place. But for ease you can just call me Zee.”  

 

She looked at the bundle of heroes with a confused look on her face before asking.

 

“Why does everyone look the same? Well except for you.”

 

Merge who was leaning at on the door frame, looking a little board, answer Zee’s question

 

“Oh thy borrowing my body, this is not an easy place to visit.”

 

“Or leave it kind of designed that way.” there was no malice in her voice,just a note of pride.

 

“So why are you all here?” as she spoke she pulled on a jacket

[Heritage]

Gretchen sighed and raised her hand. "They came to rescue me. I got sucked in after I broke Al-Kazar's mirror, which turned out to be a real sh###y idea."

 

"Yeah, that's my fault," Grimalkin offered, wincing with shame. "I was trying to prevent a psychotic Belgian from getting access to the mirror, so I gave Gretch the kill order." Then she stopped herself as she peered at the 'young woman'. "So I take it you're...somehow connected to Al-Kazar? He's my great-grandfather."

 

There was a swirl of mist, and Grim was now back in her civilian persona, brown Silberman's Books apron and everything, though a bit of Merge's hair color remained. "I'm Lynn Epstein; I run his bookstore now."

Edited September 1, 2016 by Heritage

[R. Bluefish]

"I'm..." Starlight hesitated. "Starlight." She wasn't in the mood for revealing her identity to just any random construct/partner/whatever. While this woman - if indeed she was a woman - didn't seem like the type who would be liable to leak the info to FC's drug gangs, if Sam did have a lapse of judgement, then Sam wouldn't be the one paying the price. People called paranoia an indulgence - she considered not being paranoid a luxury.

 

"And what she said," she added, jerking a thumb in Gretchen's direction. "She broke the magic mirror, which made a...magical thing happen," so I'm not a wizard, sue me, "and we wound up having to come in here to bail her skinny ass out." Even as the words passed her lips she realized how rude they sounded, and she hastily threw a sidelong look at the other woman. "Which we were totally happy to do," she amended.

[Tiffany Korta]

GM Post

 

Whilst listening to them all talk she proceeded to shut down all the lights in the room, making appropriate noise to show she was listening along. She then shuffled them all outside and then closed and locked the door, with a key that apparently came from nowhere. She then took a few steps away down the corridor, before stopping and turning around to the group.

 

“It’s not a big problem, well lots of power and effort but it’s fixable. We just need to go to the center of this place and work things out with the mental force holding this all together.” she paused for dramatic effect, apparently she had a showman’s sense of the dramatic

“We’re off to meet the boss!”

[Heritage]

"'The boss'? Is that...," Grim barely managed to ask. She wasn't she could handle some weird kind of family reunion right now.

 

"If it's a giant, floating green head, I'm going straight for the curtain," declared Gretchen as she shook her head. "I've got no time for smoke and mirrors right now."

 

"So, what do we call you, " asked the changeling as she continued following the strange woman.

[R. Bluefish]

Starlight eyed the woman suspiciously. "Wait, you're not the boss?" She shouldn't be surprised, probably - if there was one thing she was learning about magic, it was that things were seldom what they seemed. And they were never simple. The "boss" was probably hidden under a trapdoor guarded by a giant three-headed hound or something like that.

 

Whatever it was they needed to do, she was suddenly acutely aware that she was the only one there with no knowledge of the arcane. Even Gretchen seemed to have picked up a thing or two from Lynn - but she couldn't say the same. She could only hope that getting out didn't require them all to cast a spell or something.

[Tiffany Korta]

 

GM Post

 

Zee lead them the little group through a dizzying number of corridors almost all identical Art Deco decorated areas, even if you wanted to it would have been impossible to backtrack to where they’d first met each other or even Zee’s place. As she apparently got near to the destination she slowed her pace a little until she was walking around Grim.

 

“Are you ready for this? This could be quite a shock to the system, meeting the boss and everything else. Not that you have an option if you want to get everyone back home, but it might be a good idea to mentally prepare yourself.”

 

As if perfectly planned they reached an impressive set of doors that according to the signs lead to the Ballroom, because obviously where else would you meet up with a master of stage magic?

[Heritage]

"I'm sure as hell not ready," Lynn said, shaking her head. "But I don't think I ever could be. Let's just do this." She checked her hair, looked down at her apron and dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Not sure where I was going with that..." She reached out and grabbed Gretchen's arm. "How...how do I look?"

 

Gretchen stopped, looked her boss up and down, and then shrugged. "You look amazing. The way you always do."

 

Lynn nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "Great. Thanks." She took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay, ready."

[R. Bluefish]

Starlight's eyebrows rose almost imperceptibly at Gretchen's words, but she said nothing. Huh, never noticed that before. Feeling as though she should make some token gesture in a similar vein, she ran a restless hand through her ponytail and vaguely straightened her leather jacket. Good enough.

 

"Ready here," she said. "Read to meet the wizard, or whatever the hell he is." Shooting a sideline glance at Lynn, she added, "You should probably do the talking."

[Tiffany Korta]

GM Post

 

“Okie Dokie! Hold onto you hats things might get... weird”

 

She pushed the door of the ballroom open to weirdness...

 

Instead of the expected ballroom the space was filled with a swirling maelstrom of lights and colors appearing to be much much bigger than the space it should have occupied in all three dimensions. In the distance there was a tiny figure floating in the apparent middle of it all as appearing as if they were asleep or floating in this swirling medium, though it was difficult to make out much detail.