-Missing- IC Thread: RP Cast Filled

Hesoca

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Max wasn't sure what was more concerning: the corrosive darkness spilling from the empty room, or the fact that the kid was HEADING STRAIGHT INTO IT.

"Wade-!"

He sprang forward hissing a dozen curses, his panic echoing in sharp memories: the stifling tunnel, the darkness, Jax's bleeding face, his old room...

Like shell was the corruption claiming another victim.

He grabbed at Wade's shoulders, trying to drag him out of the room like a dad pulling their toddler from a steep cliff-side.

"WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING."

Interrupt Wade's Actions
 

ReedRGale

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Alga ==> Go To the Gun’s Room

Fatigued, Alga pushed out the door to walk to the room she now knew had her grandfather’s gun.
She was both excited and relieved and tired all at once. She barely even noticed the clinking she made as she stumbled through the hallway. She was only vaguely aware that the world was spinning.

> Stealth (Savvy + Dexterity)
> Power Fatigue (Difficulty Rating +3)
> Base Pool: 10
> 11 Successes (wha--how--why??--i... alright second time we’ve gone above the base pool)


All at once, Alga collapsed to her knees, then fell face-first onto the perforated grating. A damning clank ricocheted through the hallway.

She knew where her gun was and it was great. But she couldn’t move and she’d just sent out a clangor she was sure could be heard for ages.

She sat there for a solid ten minutes. She didn’t have the will to move. If someone was coming… whatever. Let them come.

More time passed. Ten more minutes. Fifteen more. An hour passed and nothing.

Her finger twitched, involuntarily. Then again. She hadn’t noticed the first time, but the second time she did and so she tested her arm. When she urged it to move, it did.

She tried to push herself up, but her body resisted, demanding more rest. Why get up? She was tired. Rest was so nice. Why was she even here again?

As her wits came back, it struck her suddenly.

Her grandfather’s gun. How had she forgotten? He would be cross if he couldn’t find it and, where she was going, she needed it. She needed it. She needed to get up.

With another colossal effort, she got up and step by step shuffled to the door where her gun was kept.

It creaked open loudly, but Alga was beyond caring. Her gun was sitting where she’d seen it in her Sight. When she took it in her hands, it was heavier and more meaningful than she remembered.

More oriented than before, Alga staggered back to the bathroom, trying to lighten her footsteps.

The Word had written something on the sink’s mirror. They looked concerned. Alga just smiled a bit, not wanting to talk. Her head was still swimming and her body still complaining. She just wanted to be home.

Diving--or perhaps tripping--through the mirror she shambled through the doorway as she worked to imagine her room.

She didn’t remember leaving the other world, nor entering back into her room, but before she realized it, she was laying on top of her bed. She was tired, but couldn’t sleep. She could move, but didn’t want to. The Word was still writing on her dresser mirror, but she didn’t really care to to see.

She was happy she got the gun back. She was excited some strength was returning. But mostly she was relieved to be home, however short the excursion had been.

Some amount of time passed. All that remained was the positive. Whatever fatigue it was she was feeling was more or less over. When Alga got up, she felt more clear-headed than she had in a long time.

Noticing her host now standing, the Word had refogged her scrawled out message so Alga could read it.

˙ʎɹɹos ɯɐ I ʇɐɥʇ ɹoɟ puɐ ʎpoq ɹnoʎ uo ǝʌɐɥ plnoʍ ǝɔuǝssƎ ɹnoʎ ƃuᴉʇɹǝxǝ ʇɐɥʇ lloʇ ǝɥʇ pǝzᴉlɐǝɹ ʇ,upɐɥ I ˙ǝɹoɟǝq ǝsdɐlloɔ noʎ ʇlǝɟ I ˙ʎɐʞo ƃuᴉlǝǝɟ ǝɹ,noʎ ǝdoɥ I

The Word looked worried and relieved at once. What now?
 

ReedRGale

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Wade and Max ==> Go Down The Fork Untaken


Max:
> Perception Contest (Charisma + Savvy)
> No Modifiers
> Dice Pool 6
> 4 Successes

Wade:
> Perception Contest (Charisma + Savvy)
> No Modifiers
> Dice Pool 7
> 2 Successes

Wade, almost transfixed as the relief washed over him, began to walk forward… those books… actual knowledge. Those could tell them something Maybe make some sense of it all!

Max saw true though. Wade, the partner he was supposed to be watching over, was walking straight into the danger. He had already gotten a few paces in, and was about to walk into the empty pocket of nothing.

Max dashed forward, grasping for Wade’s shoulder and, thank the gods below, managed to get a solid grip just as Wade walked into the darkness.

Wade had been reaching for a book. He was so close. So close.

But Max wrenched him back. “WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING?
 

ReedRGale

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Jax ==> Go Down Hidden Tunnel

The tunnels were rougher and narrower than the drill-made cavern that he’d come from.
Unlike the entrance to the drill-cavern though, this could be walked with two abreast.

Two. He wished he wasn’t alone on this. He wished he wasn’t alone in general.

For a long time he hadn’t been able to place that until Tim pointed it out. He’d been three days into sleeping in his cafe when he finally asked Jax was his deal was--in hindsight he was being incredibly patient. They got to talking. And, with how relieving it had been, he realized he was lonely. Also obvious in hindsight.

Jax’s steps tapped against railing embedded in the ground. Two sets, two workers, he mused. What it must have been like for them to carry out, load by load, carts of rubble to empty that whole room? It must have taken days of intense labor. They’d always have someone to talk to, at least.

That got him thinking about his compatriots. What was it like for Max or Wade right now? He hoped for the best but expected the worst.

This was nothing to be musing about. Not right now. He couldn’t do anything for them. He could only play his part.

The tunnel extended for about ten minutes out and Jax ran into empty carts at the end. About a half mile, straight forward. Easy to run in case of emergency, but a straight shoot making him an easy target.

In front of him was a metal wall, solid and plated with a rough handle welded on. A crude door like before.

Jax cautiously opened it. A steel moan shivered through the air and through his back. Jax braced himself, pushing just enough for a sliver of light to show through the doorway. Enough to squid through…

Oy! ‘oo goes there!” a familiar voice rang out.

Bad timing. He was in a bad position to run, but this door could provide him a tactical advantage. Jax readied his gun... in case of emergency. “I return the question.

Talk to Felix (Probably)
 

Banshee

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That was an ordeal that Alga never wanted to go through again. But knowing her situation, likely she would have to, perhaps several more times.

It wasn't a comforting thought.

Alga looked down at herself with a mixture of awe and disgruntlement. Her body was, of course, normal. There were no marks, no signs of a struggle despite what had just happened. It was like she had never even left her room except to go for a walk.

If she didn't know better, she mght have tossed everything up to one ridiculously long fever dream.

She looked up at the Word with her brow ****ed, reading its words to herself. Essence...? That little blob that Inklings poofed into when they were splatted and had to return to the spawn point? At least, that's what she remembered it being from one of her classes in school.

It...made sense, she supposed. Powers usually came with a price...

But now that her first task was done, her grandfather's gun retrieved, that left her real mission. The one the Word was so desperate to complete. It left her uncertain and more than a little anxious. Because now she knew her powers had limits. She couldn't just...go willy-nilly. She would need to exercise moderation and pray she didn't pass out where others could see. Else the consequences would be...rather dire.

"That's...okay. We know it now, at least. ...Do you want me to get going...?"

Talk: The Word
 

Aykorn

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Suddenly reeled back, Wade nearly yelped before covering his own mouth with his hand.

He'd heard Max call his name briefly, as he started walking towards the room, but... the last thing he needed in these creepy tunnels was a sudden jolt. So what the shell was this?!

Spinning around, Wade shoved one of Max's arms away and shot the question back.

"What are you doing?!" he complained. "What's your problem?"

Talk to: Max
 

ReedRGale

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Alga ==> Talk: The Word

"That's...okay," Alga said, "We know it now, at least. ...Do you want me to get going...?"


The Word looked more conflicted this time, but instead of writing anything complex, it nodded back to Alga. It looked as nervous as Alga felt, her left arm nervously grasping the right.

"¿pǝʇsǝɹ puɐ ʎpɐǝɹ ǝɹ,noʎ uǝɥʍ oƃ uǝɥʇ ˙˙˙ʇuǝpᴉɔuᴉ ɹǝɥʇɹnɟ ɟo ǝsɐɔ uᴉ 'ǝɹǝɥ ƃuᴉǝǝS ɹnoʎ op plnoɥs noʎ sdɐɥɹǝԀ"


Alga nodded after a moment, though her mouth quirked into a light frown. That was good in theory, but she would possibly need to See things on the fly...

But that was risky. She had an advantage, but she needed to be careful with it.

"I-I still don't quite get where I'm going..." The only thing her mirror had showed her had been... Octo Valley, right? Sort of…


The Word's mouth, so like her own, dipped into a questioning frown.

"¿ʇuɐʌǝlǝɹ llᴉʇs 'ǝɹǝɥʍ' sᴉ 'ǝɔuɐʇsᴉp ǝɯɐs ǝɥʇ ǝɹɐ sǝɔɐld llɐ uǝɥM"


"Kind of...? Even if they're the same distance, it's nice to know what place I'm going to."


Alga shook her head. It was no use carrying on a discussion she might never gain an answer to.

Reaching down, she grabbed her gun and gave it an uncertain look before reaching out to latch the pump to her abdomen. She didn't have a tank, so she would have to use this really sparingly...

And- Ah. The jar. But she couldn't just carry it in her hand, and the guitar case was way too big. But she did have her backpack from school, and it was more or less empty aside from a few papers and pencils. She could use that...

Overall, Alga spent hardly five minutes getting ready, and before she even really knew it she was back in front of the mirror with a tick of anxiety in her face. "Um... Okay. I think I'm ready...?"

"˙noʎ doʇs oʇ ʇsɐl ǝɥʇ ǝq plnoʍ I 'pǝɹɐdǝɹd ǝɹɐ noʎ ʇɐɥʇ ǝʌǝᴉlǝq noʎ ɟI" The Word said, bowing low and walking back to allow Alga to move forward.


Alga phased into her reflected room and walked to her door. After a deep breath to prepare herself, she opened it, imagining the Order she sought. She closed her eyes. She opened the door.



Before her was the idyllic island floating in the sky, towering in front of her larger than life. There were no gates to the portal in, only two large pillars of an Inkling and an Octoling holding poleaxes standing as beautiful, menacing guards.


The temple was of a polished marble, reflecting the gentle sunlight above. Exquisite arches held up massive slabs of marble with visual poetry etched into their faces, depicting decisive battles and sacred peace. Perhaps stories of the past. Perhaps the future. Who was to say?

The surrounding gardens were painstakingly attended to. Flowers were planted in parallel rows, their colors blending together. Beginning at the foot of the stairs were reds that wrapped around the temple and out of Alga’s sight, only to reappear as a gradient of purples on the other side. Each was perfectly spaced.

The grass was greener than she’d ever seen. Softer, too, when she stepped out onto it. She dipped her head through the doorway to smell the fresh breeze. Her room’s air felt stale and hollow in comparison.

By the time she walked through the door completely, Alga truly felt like she had walked into another world. Though nothing seemed too out of place--save the fact that this was a temple floating on an island in the sky--the peace here was palpable.

Alga looked back. Her door faded. No going back now.
 

Banshee

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She could feel herself relaxing simply at the sight of the scenery in front of her, and stepping out into the open bore a smile of wonderment. It was calm here, not a flaw to be found or an enemy to be seen, and her grip around her weapon loosened with every step she took. There were supposed to be enemies? In this place?

It seemed strange. Who would want to cause trouble here? Even further, who would even be here, on this floating island? It seemed so inaccessible outside of her powers...

Alga sighed quietly. She wouldn't know and there wouldn't be much use dwelling on it. At least it seemed safe...

Moving for the grand steps leading upwards, she looked up towards the entrance and arches and let herself take her time reaching her destination. It wouldn't hurt to take it in a little, right? She'd never been somewhere as...as historical as this area before. She didn't want to rush through.


Examine: Temple Face
 

VeryButter

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Mag held her elbows in front of her and on the table, and the bottom of her palms against her bangs, her hands themselves held in fists. She was mumbling to herself.

...Stupid. Frying bomb. Hadn't even gone as far in as I had last time...

Mag took a breath in, paused, then slammed her hands onto the table and straightened her sitting position.

"Okay," Mag said. "I have no idea about any other ways to get into Octo Valley. So I don't know."

Talk to Bethany
 

ReedRGale

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Alga ==> Examine Temple’s Face

Letting all the peace and beauty sink in, Alga took a moment to admire the chiseled mural outside the temple’s face.

The depiction seemed almost alive. Events and scenes flowed like sunlit water from one into the other. It was tasteful yet made grasping the whole difficult. At times it showed events that seemed modern or of a far future, other times they seemed to be from years far past. Stand too close and the events seemed to have no relationship. Too far and the images became beautiful, pointless, chiseled lines.

Alga could swear some of the etchings were different on second glance. Or maybe she was just seeing them in a new light? It was hard to say.

Either way, there were two distinct parts that caught her eye.

The first depicted inklings and octolings. The inklings stood above, holding a great zapfish aloft in a city of austere power. A familiar city. Depicted below them was an image of a broken city, fractured and falling. The octoling was attempting to struggle out of some unseen quagmire. The image gave Alga chills.

The second… well... When Alga stepped back to get a better sense of the whole piece, there seemed to be cracks. They were subtle and covered the whole mural failing to conform with the graceful flow.

Alga was almost certain they were a mistake at first, but on further inspection she saw they were as intentional as the rest--engraven similarly but designed shallower and subtler. Further, cracks were the only constant of the work. They were everywhere. At once, they marred the beauty while bestowing a sense of completeness to the work.
 

Banshee

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It was...weird. And more than a little unnerving the longer she looked at it. Everything seemed to have meaning on the mural, a great wall serving as a moving book that transcribed events through time, and this seemed almost like an ill omen.

Alga almost wanted to laugh at herself. Prophecies and ink powers and religion-- anyone normal would have called her an absolute idiot for believing it all. She still hardly believed it herself.

Maybe she would ask the Word about it when this was over and she was back home. It...might be pretty important.

Alga glanced around the sculpted scenery with one more fond look, reluctance settling into her form even as she made the rest of her way up towards the entrance. Who knew, maybe there'd be time to have a better look around afterwards...

Go Inside
 

ReedRGale

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Alga ==> Go Inside

Alga walked inside. Where the outside had had a refreshing nip, inside the warm air kissed her face like a hearth in winter.

The temple’s austere presence was matched only by its near-emptiness. Each step sung an echo in this cavern of a worship hall. Marble pillars held the temple’s structure together, running in parallel from the entrance to the end.

There were carvings along the walls much like the outside, and just like them, they seemed to be different every time she glanced over them.

Except the cracks.

Alga would have taken a closer look, but there were more eye-catching sights closer at hand.

To her right, one of the pillars broke from the pattern of marble, being created entirely from polished emerald. Its faceted faces shimmered and as Alga got closer to the green, she saw her reflections. In each one was a different her. Some were older, stronger, and wiser, but more were younger, weaker, or destitute. But just as she followed an image, it shifted.

To her left was a pillar of what appeared to be amber. Though no ancient flora could have spanned all the way to the ceiling of this hall. In this fossil, there were no bubbles, no flaws, no chinks. Only a carved, ornate spiral. Most interestingly, light would occasionally shoot from below to the top, lighting up the pillar for a fraction of a second, lighting the amber gold before it returned to a gleaming sunset orange.

Further on, there was an obsidian pillar that Alga was scared to get close to. Unlike the others which were of incredible handiwork, this pillar was literally destroying itself; chunks simply disappeared from it as if some greedy beast had gouged out a piece for itself. And then, violently, it would regrow. Sometimes bigger. Sometimes smaller. Always explosively. Always jagged.

In parallel with it was a ruby pillar. It was… in comparison to the others lacking in special qualities. It was pure gemstone and polished completely smooth. Somehow it seems taller and straighter and stronger than the others. Yet wholly unremarkable for all that.

Despite these strange pillars, there was one thing still odder: an elderly man at the end of the temple hall. He didn’t seem to notice Alga come in. He was clearly engrossed in his scrolls. With a flick of his hand, one fluttered to him from a stack behind. Then just as it had come to rest, he directed it to one of two piles near him before summoning the next.

What now?
 

ReedRGale

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Mag ==> Talk: Beth

"Okay," Mag said, elbows propped on the table. "I have no idea about any other ways to get into Octo Valley. So I don't know."


"I'll reiterate, you made a good choice," Beth stated. She got up and paced. "I was going to lead you to Spyke and see if we could find another way through to the Valley."


She hesitated. Her finger pressed against her pursed lips. Her eyes looked far-off.

"But..."


Mag waited only a moment for Beth to continue. "But?"


"...my history with Deepview has had me come in contact with the Octarians. Directly. Often," she explained, picking words carefully. "Bellerophon's essence research required knowledge and resources that only the Octarians have. Where our society focused research on electricity after the Great Turf War, our adversaries were forced to turn inward toward the essence for a more… ‘natural’ solution to their power problems."


"...It wasn't a great solution," she continued, "because they had already had a society built on zapfish and electricity, but we didn't give them much of a choice. We'd seized the means of production. But that's all history."


"I'll cut to the chase. In my personal history I've dealt with them and I think I know a way to get you to the Valley. It will require some good sense on our part and I'll need to call in a favor, but I think I can get us there more directly than almost any other route."


Mag placed her hands over her mouth in an arch as she listened, thinking over Beth's idea. It is direct, but...

She glanced at One before dropping her right hand. "...What do you mean by 'calling in a favour'?"


"It's exactly what it sounds like," Beth said. "I was head researcher so I was in a good position to know what was going on around the lab and the company at large. And many people were aware of that."


She shrugged, got up and rummaged through the shelves. "And being aware of that, they know that there are things I know that they don't want others to know. Even now, I could probably get some fired or worse with the right words in the wrong ears. So. Favors."


She pulled down an unlabeled jar of some powder that "Unless you mean what I intend to ask them for?"


"No, that's what I meant," Mag answered, then furrowed her brow. That is not what it sounded like Beth. "...That works."


"Then I'd best make some calls," Beth stated with finality. "This may take a few hours so you've got a few to kill; if you wanted to do anything before we left, I'd handle that now. Otherwise be ready to go when I call you."


As she got up to leave, she added, "if you intend to go anywhere outside the house, take One with you."


...Beth was not the asking type, was she?

Well then Mag, to do or not to do? To wait, or to do something in the meantime?
 

VeryButter

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Magabelle glanced at One after Bethany made her request. "Okay."

She took a moment to sigh before standing up. What would be a good use of her time...? She clearly wouldn't be able to go back to her house, even if she wanted to--which she did, she left her warm clothes there in a rush--so, going with the first thing that came to mind, she began towards Bethany's training room to get more practice and preparation in.

Go To Training Room
 

Banshee

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Alga might have spent more of her time admiring the architecture of the temple had she not been completely taken aback by the sight of the man poring over his scrolls. It was a sight to see, and again she wondered if maybe she was just in some fantasy dream realm. Levitation apparently actually existed.

Still... There was another actual living being here. She had only gotten her powers just very recently, but the other world had been so empty she figured she was the only one able to access it. Was that not the case? Granted, the temple was so much more lively than what she was familiar with, so maybe it was different from the rest, but...

Alga pursed her lips, feeling a squeezing in her chest as she looked at the man's back. An empty temple and only this guy for company; she was going to need to talk to him. But what did she _say?_ She didn't know him, didn't really know much of anything beyond her objective. The Word had just been adamant about coming here...

...Well, that was a start, she guessed.

Licking her lips, Alga opened her mouth and paused. How did she...do this? Maybe, just...

"...H-Hello...?"

Talk: Old Man
 

ReedRGale

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Mag ==> Go to Training Room

Mag made her way through the halls to the training room that Beth had set up. The room just seemed to ooze readiness. Considering it was Octo Valley she planned to visit, she wanted to be ready.


Doing something took the edge off the waiting. One, two. Recover. One, two. Recover. The targets fell with each pull of the trigger.

Mag was so into it, she tensed and almost turned on One when he tapped her on the shoulder. He’d watched, huddled in a corner the whole time. He hesitated at Mag’s jolt, but said that he wanted to explain ‘a thing.’

It took some stuttering and a lot of patience on Mag’s part, but One eventually shot some pale white ink on the floor and started to do a bobbing and weaving motion. In-between shifting and working left and right, he fired.

The movement was impressive and definitely what he intended to show her. What really caught the eye though was how he shot.

One carried no weapon. When he attacked the targets he rose his hand and his arm seemed to boil and bubble, disfiguring the flesh. Then, from a roiling pustule from his palm, he’d suddenly fire a steaming jet of albino ink.

The target erupted in steam.

Y-you see?


Mag wasn’t entirely sure what she saw. But she thought she got the point.

> Mag will get +1 to her dice pool on dodging in combat!


It wasn’t long after getting to try mimicking One’s movements that they were called back by Beth. They entered the kitchen again and immediately she fitted them both with travel backpacks.

Then, quickly, they filed out the door and got on a bus. As Mag stared out the window at Inkopolis she couldn’t help but note that the main roads were working again.

They hit traffic a few times--this seemed to be the main path available for reaching the city proper--but it didn’t take too long before Beth pulled the cord to signal the bus to stop, and they were out.

That was misleading though. The walk to… wherever they were going took an hour more. Mag was beginning to suspect that Beth was wasting their time when finally, they took a turn down an alleyway that led to sideroad.

Beth paused to look at the buildings ahead. She seemed to be scanning scanning them with her focused eyes.

...if they were ‘there yet’ Mag certainly didn’t think so. They’d reached a plain-looking office cul-de-sac that appeared to be at the outskirts of town with at least five other buildings each similar enough to be twins.

Beth led them inside one. Mag thought they looked just a little bit suspicious with these bags on their backs walking into an office building in broad daylight but whatever. They’d come this far.

At the front desk was a lady in a suit and tie, but her suit was a deep blue, same as her tie and her midnight ink. Her look shouted confidence, an antithesis to her expression. “You’re insane,” were the first and only words out of her mouth.


Not the first time I’ve been told that,” Beth chortled.


Mag didn’t have a long time to drink in the scene. Aqua walls, some chairs that looked never-before-used, a jet-black desk manned by the first-ever Deepview employee that wasn’t a guy, some plants, a coffee dispenser… and then they were passing through a door to the right of the desk.

Mag wanted to ask where they were, but figured against it. It was… probably Deepview-related? So this probably wasn’t the best place to ask.

There were rooms lining the hallway they passed through, but no one seemed to be in any. When they reached a staircase, they went up instead of down and passed by similar doors.

Beth, with no hesitation, led them to one of the myriad doors, pulled out a keycard and held it over the scanner above the handle. A rejection sound and a red light. She put that card back in her bag, then pulled out another. Rejection. She pulled out one more. Failed again. In all, it took six tries before she pulled out a card that worked.

Lucky that this histories of these are gonna be erased…


When they entered the room, well, Mag wasn’t sure why it had to be this room. It looked like a normal office. Another jet-black desk facing the plain door, complete with computing device and chair. There even a cute cactus in the corner.

Beth reached behind the cactus and did something. Maybe she turned a dial or pressed a button or pulled a doo-dad… it didn’t really matter. What mattered was that now there was a small kettle--just big enough to stand on--in opposite corner of the room.

She motioned One toward it. He hesitated, then morphed in. This kettle hissed. One didn’t come out. The trick floor reconcealed the kettle.

Beth opened it again and motioned Mag’s turn. She hesitated. One hadn’t come out. But she wouldn’t hurt One. So, puckering her lips, she shifted and dropped into the kettle.

Mag heard the hiss. It was a high chiming sound followed by a light feeling like relief. She felt, for just a few seconds, everything was in order. She just sort of… let go for a moment.

And then she was back. Her body, her mind: back. She was on another kettle in a very, very dark place.

The room was musty. There seemed to be a window to her right and some light was flooding in, but not much. One was huddled in a corner. Mag could only just barely make out his pale outline, despite being only a few feet away. Gods below, this room was small.

Mag stepped forward and Beth came through.

Where are we?” Mag asked automatically, pretty sure no one was listening in this… shack.


Beth opened the door. It didn’t let much light in, but it was clearly brighter out there than in here. “See for yourself,” she said.


Outside, was gray and near-featureless. A crude path, however, seemed to have been walked into the clay ground. Ahead, Mag found herself face to face with a crooked, metallic pole fighting its way to right itself. On it were two signs pointing in opposite directions.

The letters were… unusual. But she could get the gist.

Octo Valley and Octo Valley. Obviously different places but for all they meant, they may as well have been the same place.

Where do we start?” Beth asked, pulling One close to her by the shoulder.
 

ReedRGale

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Jun 18, 2015
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331
Location
probably my room?
Alga ==> Talk: Old Man

Alga licked her lips hesitantly before finally beginning with a "...H-Hello...?"

The man didn't look up. The man hadn't seemed to hear. So Alga walked forward a little bit. She might have repeated herself but the man sighed and flicked the scroll to a pile. He didn't call another.

He spoke and his words were unintelligible. They sounded harsh and sour and sharp. Like buzzing flies screeching out of his throat. Alga hadn't even known that vocal chords could make some of those sounds.

He stood, looking more frustrated than before. The man was... bigger than he looked.

His face was weathered with time, yes, with wrinkles rippling his facial features. All the tentacles on his head had receded, leaving him completely bald, but his cyan beard was so long it reached halfway down his chest. And that was saying something, seeing as he was was least a head taller than Alga. If the robe that obscured his features was anything to go by, he was also a head broader than her too. Whether it was girth or strength though was hard to say from how his robe fell.

The man buzzed something through grit teeth. The world responded. The green pillar shone with light, consuming the features of the room for a brief moment.

And then she'd known what he'd said. The growls and buzzing before... made sense now.

"Why have you come?"

He looked to Alga impatiently.

"...I-I..."

Alga's throat caught and she felt the rise of panic in her chest. He was angry, very angry it sounded like. She'd interrupted him, she'd messed up and her throat wouldn't work-

Chest beginning to heave, the girl's hands squeezed tight around her gun in a trembling grip and she let out a croak. He was waiting and she needed to say something before it got worse, oh Squid-

"I...was-" Too quiet, way too quiet. "S-Sent... Um."

She was beginning to feel dizzy. Just a little. The pressure in her chest was tight and everything was beginning to narrow down.

He waited, unmoving. Unflinching. His gaze fixed on her.

"Sent," he repeated, growling in his buzzing tongue.

"U-Um..."

How did she explain this? How? He definitely wasn't your average squid, far beyond it, but how did she know he even knew what the Word was? Did she just...say it? If she tried explaining too much it would just make him more angry.

Alga licked her lips, stared at the man as she struggled to control her breathing. A moment of silence, she needed that.

"Th-The...Word...?"

Even as she said it, Alga's mind began to race for some explanation. How did you explain a being in a mirror was leading you everywhere...?

"The Word," he repeated in her own tongue. Then his buzzing and hissing indicated, "there are many Words. Of which Domain?"

"I..." The response threw her and she stared at the being with a confusion that momentarily overrode the need to panic she felt in her chest.

"I...d-don't know... They just...wanted...to talk? To someone..."

But the man knew what she meant. And while that in itself was a relief, it brought on somehow more confusion than before, because now she knew that there was more people than just her who could talk to them. And there were more of them.

"To whom?" the man growled, motioning to all the emptiness around him, "I am all that is left."

He turned away from her and back to his scrolls. As he did, the obsidian pillar jut out a barb that nearly skewered him. It stopped an inch away. He didn't even blink.

"Almost half a millennium has it been since this temple had a new Acolyte. I know not who you seek nor what you seek, but this is a place of knowledge. Perhaps you will find it."

The barb may not have fazed him, but for Alga who had already been coasting on adrenaline since the start of their conversation, it was more than enough to make her jump and force an embarrassing yip from her throat.

For a moment, she sat staring, absorbing his words. The diversion of his attention, even if he still spoke, came as a welcome relief, and Alga kept herself in silence to keep from drawing it once more.

This was a very weird situation. If she could just...see the Word, ask them what they needed, or even just make sure she was doing the right thing at the right time, it would have made things a lot easier.

Alga blinked. Then turned her head to glance at her backpack in the peripheral of her vision. She wondered...

After a moment of hesitation, she moved to sit down and set her gun off to the side before reaching over to pull her backback in front. Could the mirror possibly be...?

The mirror was there, as it always was. Polished stone with its reflective side.

She pulled it out, her digits gently caressing the grooves of the mirror as they shook with nervousness.

She looked within it with her lips pursed, squeezing the handle tight in an effort to calm the frayed nerves which made her hands tremble so violently.

"Are you there...?" Her voice was quiet, hardly a whisper, as though she were afraid the man in the distance would catch her.

"--noʎ op ʇɐɥʍ 'sǝ⅄" The Word began.

The old man jerked back, alarm in his eyes. He held out his arm as if grasping some unseen force. In an instant, the mirror was in his hand and gone from hers.

He growled, a trickle of panic or excitement leaking into his guttural tones.

"You brought a Word here!?" It was an accusation, shock, disgust, horror, giddiness and pleasure all at once.

A loud yelp left Alga's throat, her hand flinching back with the sudden loss of the mirror's handle, and she stared almost blankly as her mind connected the dots. It was gone. The Word had just...been snatched away.

Alga was on her feet and two steps forward before she knew she was even moving.

"W-Wait-- give them back-"

Her chest was cold and tight at the same time, far worse than whatever she had felt before. She could have sworn her hearts had stopped had she not heard them pounding frantically in her ears.

"What?" he accused. "I didn't... you don't even know what this isdo you?"

He motioned to the mirror.

"I can't take the Word from you," he growled. "It's inside you."

That. Didn't make much sense. But it did little to abate the sudden panic beating her over the head and she was left struggling to breathe as she tried to comfort herself with the fact.

She...didn't like this man.

"...I-" Alga felt the hoarseness in her voice more than she heard it. What did she say? She didn't know. She was having a hard time thinking as it was.

She wasn't certain how long she stood there, or how long she felt frozen staring from the man to the mirror and back again, but by the time she made a move, her limbs felt weighted, heavy. She sat down, though it was more of a crumple of limbs on themselves, and with nothing else to do she made the attempt to focus on her breathing.

It was...hard. The icy grip in her chest refused to leave, her lungs taut and frozen against her though she could feel the labored rising in her torso. Her gaze skirted from the man, first to the floor, then to the pillars and walls that sat a ways behind her.

She needed a distraction. She needed to think.

Alga found her head turning away. Where, it didn’t matter. Just not toward this… man. To the scrolls. To the active pillars. To the carving. To the ceiling.

… the ceiling? She had presumed there would be one; she could see it outside. Yet above her loomed an endless expanse of stars, familiar, yet different. There were more there, after all. Where the marble pillars stopped a hundred feet up, the four special pillars extended into the infinite sky, occasionally lighting it up with color, or shape.

The stars, she noticed, were shifting. Actively moving, no faster than clouds on a gentle breeze, but moving noticeably.

It was something, at least.

What to distract you next, Seer?
 

Banshee

Full Squid
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
44
NNID
Laddy-Daddy
The starry expanse had a way of drawing people in, or at least herself. Weary and halfway lost in her own mind, there was little else Alga wanted to do than sit there and take it all in, and it was exactly what she did. She looked upwards as though in a trance, her hands shifting slowly against the polished stone underneath her as her eyes took in the colors and forms that the pillars brought to the expanse above. The pillars themselves were lovely, and the black one that wasn't still retained something fascinating in the way it moved, and idly she wondered what they were for. Hadn't the green one glowed briefly...?

Alga wondered what she was involved in, not for the first time. Just a day or two ago she had been back in Inkopolis, strumming her guitar and thinking about what she was going to have for supper that evening. Now, she had...powers. She had been inside of Octo Valley and now she was in a mirror world and could see things nobody else possibly could in their lifetime.

Why her? The Word had answered that question, but it still came to her mind nonetheless. Just...why? Someone else could have fit a lot better. Someone a lot more confident.

She stares at the stars, glancing through them as though they might have had the answers somewhere in their depths. When they don't, she resists the urge to sigh and finally directs her gaze downwards, looking over the walls and then the floors. Her hearts have slowed down some by now, the adrenaline easing off and giving way to a familiar fatigue. It's not the best state to be in, but she can at least think now.

That man... The Word had said they had needed to come here, to talk to someone. Could it have been him, then, maybe? He was the only one here.

Alga glanced over towards his back, ignoring the small lurch of something uncomfortable inside of her. She...wasn't going to get anywhere if she didn't explain herself, and nor was the Word.

When she spoke, her voice was nearly inaudible, and perhaps just a bit hoarse. Nonetheless, she found herself surprised by the lack of stuttering she heard. "...They wanted me...to come here. They...needed to talk to their master. I don't know who that is, but..."

Talk: Old Man
 

VeryButter

Semi-Pro Squid
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
92
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
NNID
EatALLTehCereal
Octo Valley. Finally, another step in the right direction. Alga was going to be around here somewhere, she'd better be...

She inhaled sharply as Bethany asked for her next steps. As Magabelle thought about it, it dawned in her how large Octo Valley would be. It was a whole country, wasn't it?

Mag shook her head. It didn't matter. She'd find Alga somewhere.

She looked around. "I don't know anything about Octo Valley and my leads end here," she answered, "so, beats me."

Talk with Bethany
 

ReedRGale

Inkling Commander
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
331
Location
probably my room?

"What are you doing?!" he complained. "What's your problem?"


"My problem," Max hissed, grabbing for Wade's shoulder again, "is that I'm gonna be the one carrying your dead carcass out of this place. The shell do you think that is, huh?" And he gestured to the oozing corruption, "A fryin' library?"


"...Yeah?" he answered. "Like, maybe not an entire 'library', but that room is filled with unattended books," Wade said, motioning to the shelves and shelves just next to him.


"You think I'm joking?" Max said in seething tones. Nonetheless, he peered over Wade's shoulder at the darkness as if to reaffirm.


"...Look, kid." His voice shifted to one more suitable for a child, "You ain't used to this kind of work, I know that. But for someone with experience, that room is an obvious death trap. There's more than enough corruption in there to make you a stain on the ground." And he paused, grave-faced, "...or something worse."


Wade glanced from Max, to the other room, then back Max, very confused about the tone shift in the conversation. Were books really that bad...?--he glanced back one more time--Or was he really missing something obvious...?


Something he didn't notice? Or in a blindspot? A lapse in his vision...

Wade squinted for a moment, before it clicked. His eyes widened, startled that they'd already run into something, and he completely hadn't noticed.


"Uh..."Wade asked awkwardly, "when you say corruption, do you mean...?" He gestured with his hands to indicate something "miasma-ish".


"-the miasma taking up the entire room?" Max finished, with some bafflement. "...Yeah. That."


"Oh," Wade said. He stood paralyzed, the weight of the situation starting to dawn on him. He didn't even think to check.


Slowly, Wade picked one of Max's hands of his shoulders.

He hesitated. "Are... are there other miasmas down here? In the other room?" Wade asked.


Max balked, a thin scowl crossing his face. He leaned to meet Wade's gaze, scrutinizing him in a glare.

Without a word, he raised four fingers into Wade's sight.


"...How many fingers am I holding up?"


Wade looked then answered almost immediately. "...Four," he said.


"Listen, I'm pretty sure my eyes are fine?" Wade suggested, glancing back at the bookshelf room anyway.


No miasma in sight.


"...Mostly fine," Wade said, rubbing the back of his head. This catfish got out of the bag way quicker than expected. "I just... y'know, can't see whatever darkness is in the other room," he said, as casually as possible.


"...Oh." Max let his hand fall.


There was a silence in which the words seemed to churn in his head -- sluggishly at first, then rising, incrementally, to a frenzied trill that twisted his face in panic.


"THE SHELL DO YOU MEAN 'YOU CAN'T SEE IT?!'"


He grabbed Wade by the shoulders again. "Quick," he spoke in one breath, "How long were you in there, was it like this before, are you hearingvoicesandifsowhataretheysayingdoyoukn-owifyou'reblee-dinghowmuchdid-"


In the rush of panic, Wade clapped a hand over Max's mouth.

Wade froze, confused why he'd put his hand on Max's face, what he was supposed to do with the hand now, or how to handle the situation in general.


"UHHHHhhh," Wade stammered. He glanced around the room, like there were cues on walls he could read, trying to spin together an explanation.


"Uhh, so," Wade began. "This is new."


"And I don't hear voices," he continued. "And I have no idea what else you just said ...but I'm going take my hand off your face so don't freak out again. Please," he pleaded.
 
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