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-Missing- IC Thread: RP Cast Filled

ReedRGale

Inkling Commander
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
331
Location
probably my room?
Alga ==> Go to: Ruined Temple

Her heart was pounding. Her nerves were quaking. Her anxiety told her
she couldn't do this. Not alone. Not her.

Alga slipped through the mirror.

The temple was like a twisted facade of former beauty. The face of the temple looked to have been sanded unevenly by the rough hands of time's artisan. The pillars stood, jagged sentinels stoically ignoring their duty to hold any sort of ceiling.

Alga walked along the drab clay, a harsh contrast to the well-kept garden that she had so briefly visited. A rough, well-worn path led up to the face of a decrepit door. With a heave, Alga got it open.

The inside was much like the inside of the other world. Four pillars stood. Four pillars worn down with time. If they were ever as lustrous as those in the other world, there was no hint of it.

There still stood a raised platform and Alga could
almost feel the Greater Student standing there, messing with scrolls that she didn't understand.

There appeared to be a few rooms off to the sides and a hallway behind the platform that the old man should have been.

Where to start?
 

VeryButter

Semi-Pro Squid
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
92
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
NNID
EatALLTehCereal
Magabelle was started into 'flee mode' and flicked her eyes between each path she could go--without much time to think, she acted on the only thought that occured, the path would be easier to track, and began running into the empty landscape, assuming One and Bethany followed.

Go The Not-Path
 

ReedRGale

Inkling Commander
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
331
Location
probably my room?
Mag: Go Off the Path

Mag started running off into the bleak clay landscape, hoping to avoid any pursuit.
This was a good plan, because in just a moment, they could hear engines revving. As the three of them slid down into one of the craters pocking the landscape, whoever had been manning the transport was slowly gaining on them.

They slid to the bottom and were beginning to run back up the steep cliff-face as the vehicle stopped as close as it could to the edge of the crater.

Halfway up the cliff face, two Octolings in armor were sliding down the hole while a plethora of Octarian breeds were taking the long way around the massive crater left by the explosion.

They made it up just before some monsters with tentacle bodies were sidling toward them. Mag took a potshot at one, but missed and Beth grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward.

They ran for a solid ten minutes without losing their pursuers and they were starting to get tired. One was panting and Mag was out of breath.

They had a few seconds lead but no idea where they were.

Beth grit her teeth and panted "
Go on without me...!"

They stopped. One first, then Mag.

"
Wha..." One struggled to understand.

Beth was already preparing a weapon she brought; a small pistol much like Mag's. Despite her heavy breathing, she prepared the weapon steadily. "
I can hold them off for some time. Maybe even beat them. But I won't risk you all for this."

Mag and One hesitated. "
Go! You--" What followed were a stream of obscenities that Mag did not expect. Almost in a panic, the two ran off without thinking. But only for a few seconds. When they had some distance they heard the first shot fire. It was the familiar sound of the pistol.

"
Mother..." One squeaked.

Mag and One looked back. The fight was beginning.

What do you do?
 

Aykorn

Inkling Commander
Joined
Jun 17, 2015
Messages
387
Location
WA
NNID
A_korn
Switch Friend Code
SW-5939-8938-2753
Wade's shoulders dropped as he watched the two leave-- the two octolings. He was sure that's what they were, with their curly tentacles and outwards suckers. He'd seen a couple in the past few days but Wade still wasn't used to seeing real octolings so near. Truth be told, he'd already suspected that the people chasing them last night were also octolings, with all the tentacle-y octarian tech laying around. But officially confirmed: this place was filled with octolings which... totally made sense if the octarian goverment was buying up the drills.

Wade breathed a sigh of relief. The coast looked clear outside the room. They didn't get caught.

He was a little surprised though. Maybe his idea of octolings was 'black & armor clad soldiers' so seeing these two, stare into the room, and then talk about having kids and family...

Well, it wasn't what he expected. In fact, hearing that random octarian be swept up in some cultist scheme to make ends meet just made Wade feel bad.

Catching that he was getting caught in his thoughts and that they were still standing in the room, Wade realized that Max probably couldn't see outside the smog.

"Uh, they... left," Wade said to Max, pointing outside the room. Yup, no one there. "We should probably be quieter though. That one guy definitely heard us."

Now that Wade wasn't apprehensively watching the door, his eyes scanned the room that he'd been physically stopped from entering. It was all books, books books.

"Actually, hold on," Wade said. "Can I just get a look around this room while we're still here?"

Examine: Bookshelf Room
 

Banshee

Full Squid
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
44
NNID
Laddy-Daddy
Grey as far as her eyes could see, rubble lying old and decrepit, and a blue sky that did nothing to illuminate the ruins below them. It was a lot like everything else she had seen in the world within the mirror, barring the Greater Student's temple.

She felt like she was in some haunted castle. Everything was too quiet and too empty, and it teased at her nerves unforgivingly. She wanted out.

Alga took a long breath and let it out slow as her grip tightened on her gun. Eyes glanced furtively about, taking in the walls of the great structure before glancing at the rooms she had noticed a few minutes prior. How many...?

Examine Temple
 

ReedRGale

Inkling Commander
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
331
Location
probably my room?
Wade ==> Examine: Bookshelf Room

Wade walked among the bookshelves before Max could stop him. He hoped to find something different, but as he trailed through the blue and black books lining the shelves, he didn't seem to find anything more significant. There was, however, a worktable with a poem on it:

Κοσμικό παιχνίδι

‘Fore death and song and dance and life
Twixt Rules and Coulds and Naught and Change
To win the right to Cosmos’ knife
Roil chose for Them All a game.

The Time was now, the Turn had gone,
And She held in her hands the Choice.
Trickster Roil, ‘fore First Dawn,
Called for Sister Logic’s voice.

She said “I have a thought of fun--
A game to choose the next to reign!
I have no plans, alas not one,
Design for me the rules arcane~!”

> Wade: Examine (Savvy + Academics)
> Dice Pool 6
> 3 Successes


The poem doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, but it does look like this table had plenty of room and this wasn't the only document on the table. At the very least, that tells you someone--supposedly--was working here on this poem and there were some resources somewhere nearby.

Then again, you're not entirely certain what the value of it may be, so you let it be and return to Max's 'bubble' before he
freaked out too much.
 

Hesoca

Full Squid
Joined
Jul 15, 2015
Messages
51
"No," Max responded without so much as a pause, "There's nothing in there but books and corruption."

A bead of sweat twisted down his face; he flicked it away in a haphazard glance, unwavering from his focus toward the outer corrider - or at least, the general direction he thought it was in. The darkness was thick, much more than he expected, and it was nearly impossible for him to keep his bearings among the bookshelves, let alone see what was happening.

"...How the shell do you know they heard us, anyway?" He asked in a whisper, casting a sidelong glance at Wade-

-'s blinking, dotted outline of where he'd last been standing.

For a brief moment, Max stopped breathing.

"...Fryin' ink-speck...!"

Search For: Wade
 

ReedRGale

Inkling Commander
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
331
Location
probably my room?
Alga: Examine the Temple

> Alga: Examine (Savvy + Academics)
> Dice Pool 11
> 3 Successes


If there were any ancient stories carved on these walls, then they were lost to time. However, the temple's rooms told another story.

When she went into the rooms, there were some scraps littered about. One was stacked with books that somehow felt...
lifeless? Why did she feel that of all things?

Another room had a container filled with food scraps in the corner. Obviously someone was here and at least they had the decency to keep their trash contained. Still, it filled the room with an odor of musty decomposition, so she didn't stick around in that room long.

One of the other rooms appears to have a wall completed broken down by time... and then machinery. Clear parts of the wall had been cut out of this room and tire marks led off from here to... well somewhere across the clay dunes. What really struck Alga about this particular room, though, weren't the auto-repair tools littered about or the smell of oil. No, what caught her eye was the fact that there were far too many
holes in the world here.

She'd been filtering them out as she walked around, but this room was too
empty to ignore. It was as if they sucked in light and life itself. She didn't like this room.

The last room was wholly insignificant, leaving only the staircase downward. It spiraled off into darkness, but there were clear bootmarks on the ground displacing the dust that littered the corners of this ruin.

How do you proceed?
 

ReedRGale

Inkling Commander
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
331
Location
probably my room?
Max ==> Search For (Be Found By) Wade

It took a minute or two, but Wade returned. He dipped back into the bubble as if nothing had happened.

What had Max told him about entering the
corruption! Had nothing sunk in!? Max could feel his temper rising.

What now?
 

Hesoca

Full Squid
Joined
Jul 15, 2015
Messages
51
What now?! He was gonna beat Wade's corrupted body to an inky pulp, that's what.

"You got paper stuffed in your ears?!" Max said in a building fury, "I said the whole place was covered, and you just ran in like-"

His voice broke to a standstill. It'd taken him a moment, but... now that he was able to get a good look at Wade, the kid didn't seem affected at all. No burns, no smog, no acid goop coming out of his ears...

"Did... did you not feel anything?" He asked in a blank mutter, "dizziness, weakness, chest pains, an impending sense of doom... anything like that?"

Talk: Wade
 

Banshee

Full Squid
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
44
NNID
Laddy-Daddy
People were here. Squid, people were actually here.

Alga felt something vile in her throat and immediately swallowed to force the sensation away. She felt weighted and cold, like there was ice bleeding from her muscles and freezing them over, and the fingers around her gun tightened so much she worried she might accidentally squeeze the trigger. There was a sense of reality she felt, looking at those footprints, and she had to resist the urge to scramble out of there.

What was she going to do? How could she even do this? She wasn't special. She couldn't fight, or speak very well, and who even knew how good she was at hiding. The only thing she could really do was run and there weren't any mirrors around she could run to.

Her vision felt a little far off. Or maybe it was because she had forgotten to breathe. That happened sometimes.

Alga's leg jerked back in a stilted motion. The feeling didn't abate as she slowly made herself retreat, though it seemed to ease just the barest bit the further away she moved. She couldn't. Not yet. Not yet.

The Word's visage burned in her mind's eye and she grimaced as she turned towards the room that held the books. Just...a little time. To work herself to the idea. A few minutes, that was all. They...wouldn't mind that, would they?

She just...needed a distraction.

Examine: Books
 

VeryButter

Semi-Pro Squid
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
92
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
NNID
EatALLTehCereal
Magabelle could only grit her teeth. All this damn trouble for one thing... she glanced between One and Bethany's fight, standing still as she decided what to do. Were she alone, she'd help Bethany fight. But One was with her...!

"Cod..." she breathed, then grabbed One's hand. "Come on, One!"

She started running again with One in tow, ignoring any exhaustion she already had.

Run
 

ReedRGale

Inkling Commander
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
331
Location
probably my room?
Alga ==> Examine: Books

Alga approached the stacks.
There were three in total, sorted by color. Some blue. Some black. A very small pile of green.

Alga
knew they were empty before she opened them. They just felt empty.

They were.

She flipped through one book, then another, making sure to remember what order they had been stacked in and putting them back where they were left before.

Empty.
Empty. Empty.

Alga put back all the books.

What now?
 

ReedRGale

Inkling Commander
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
331
Location
probably my room?
Mag ==> Run

"
B-b-but," One stuttered, putting up more of a fight than Mag'd ever seen, "what about mom!?"

Mag didn't have an answer and she ran. One ran, but he cried. That hurt.

Maybe it was the
hard feeling inside, but Mag felt very, very cold. But she continued to run. What else was there to do?

The landscape was bleak and the hard clay was foreign beneath their feet. Sometimes One would stumble and Mag would pull him back up. They had to run.

They ran and ran and ran. They ran until they weren't even sure what they were running from. They ran and ran until they couldn't run. They couldn't run because they were somewhere.

A temple. That was the only word for it. A temple worn by the ages, weathered down from whatever grand form it had had before. But now...

Mag pulled One inside. One was used to being pulled around by now, or so Mag surmised because there was no resistance as she pulled him into the once-austere building.

They catch their breath.

It's still cold.

Mag got up after a few minutes they had to keep going. Who knew who was following them. One sat in the corner, hunched up in a ball. Mag tried to cajole him back to moving, then tried to pull him back up. His hand was freezing. Literally.

When Mag pulled back her hand, it was raw, as if she'd touched her tongue to a frozen pole. Some flesh had come off.

Mag's teeth chattered as she looked at her hand. Then at the different rooms around them. Then at her hand. Then at the rooms again.

She tried to get One's attention again, but he was
entirely despondent.

...

There were four rooms around. One filled with trash. One with a few stacks of books. One with auto-tools littered about. One was empty. There was a staircase down at the end of the hallway.

You still feel that
hard feeling inside.

...What now?
 

Banshee

Full Squid
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
44
NNID
Laddy-Daddy
Alga felt like she was paying only half-attention to the books in front of her, although the way they all seemed to be devoid of anything made her feel a little queasy in her gut. The back area and the footprints were burned into her mind, a tape playing on repeat as she tried to adjust to the idea of going down there.

She'd never fought in ink battles before. The closest she had ever gotten was taking lessons from her grandpa on how to hold and fire her gun. Sheldon wouldn't have wanted someone as unfresh as she was, so she'd never made an attempt to go in, and firing a gun outside of an arena was illegal. All she had were Squidnet videos, articles, and a crash course from an old veteran.

Would that be enough? She had researched as a curiosity, but watching and doing were two very different things. And who knew what the enemy had. And what if there were multiples? One against many hardly ever had good outcomes unless you were super good or really quick. She didn't know if she was either of those things.

Alga looked down at the Aerospray in her hands. It was a shade darker than an MG and just a bit bigger, barely noticeable until you put the two together. A product of the Great War. Compared to others, it wasn't too much, not designed so much for splatting as it was covering turf, but...it wasn't any of today's weapons either. It hadn't been made for a fair fight.

Her face twisted as she turned to stare at the door a few feet away. The Word had wanted this. It was the whole reason they had come to meet her. Doing it was terrifying, brought the risk of being splatted, but not doing it...left something in her chest. Not anxiety, but something maybe a little worse.

She was terrified.

She headed for the steps anyway.

Descend
 
Last edited:

VeryButter

Semi-Pro Squid
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
92
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
NNID
EatALLTehCereal
Magabelle held her fingers to her mouth as she assessed the current situation. Regret bit at her and One's resistance and now despondence didn't help at all; breathing onto her fingers, she realised that they were most likely... entirely lost, too. She'd have to find another one of those kettle things after they found out Alga's next location...

She grit her teeth in the cold, looking worriedly back at One. She remembered this from when she was with Canchi, and Bethany's demonstration... something about heat... now wasn't the time to contemplate that. He was clearly upset. But what could she do...? There wasn't much other than staying with One or looking around.

...She was sure nobody was around. This place seemed quiet, and they'd been running for a while, so...

"...Hey, One?" Magabelle said, kneeling in front of him. She was still huffing from the run, but not as much. "I'm going to look around. Call for me if there's trouble."

She waited to see if he would respond for a few moments before standing up, and, not really caring for the other rooms since she could clearly see their contents, decided to go for the stairs.

Descend
 
Last edited:

ReedRGale

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

"You got paper stuffed in your ears?!" Max said in a building fury, "I said the whole place was covered, and you just ran in like-"


His voice broke to a standstill. It'd taken him a moment, but... now that he was able to get a good look at Wade, the kid didn't seem affected at all. No burns, no smog, no acid goop coming out of his ears...


"Did... did you not feel anything?" He asked in a blank mutter, "dizziness, weakness, chest pains, an impending sense of doom... anything like that?"


"What?" Wade asked, confused. "I didn't even... leave the bubble," he said re-adjusting the books he held. He would have felt walking into all-consuming darkness, --even if he couldn't see it-- right?


"See? Definitely still in one piece," he said.


Max leaned forward with a suspicion-filled scowl. ‘Didn’t even leave”, huh? Yeah, he could smell the kelp coming off of that one.


...Tch, I can see that,” Max replied, holding his chin, “Oh, but... I guess that means you know where the edges of the bubble are, yeah?


A snide smile twisted across his face. “Go ahead. Trace the outline of it for me.


Wade cringed, nervously smiling at the request.


"Uhh, well, it's... obviously," he began, walking a few paces out, "it's... it's around us," he motioned, making a sweeping arc with his free arm.


"And the edge of the bubble. It's..." Wade pointed outwardly to a reasonable space out from Max that was admittedly closer than he'd been earlier. "It's over here?"


He asked rather than stated, trying to gauge Max's reaction. "...Am I close?" He asked.


Max sighed the sigh to rival all sighs, and with one motion, held a hand at just arms length.

...Wade,” he started, “I can’t... see... kelp.


"Oh." Oh. Arms length.


With a quick outstretched hand, Wade pulled his mirror close. The reflection showed him a pure blackness that he was apparently standing in.

Mm, yeah he definitely stepped out of the bubble. Hmmm.


Wade walked back to Max.

"I also can't see kelp apparently," he said.


Wade pursed his lips. "...Did you want to step out of the room? Those two left," he suggested.


“...Yeah,” Max answered, having made himself busy in his own thoughts, the weight of which had sunk his gaze to the visible floor.

It was concerning to him that Wade had no reaction to the smog. That was about as grave as it was that he had entered it to begin with. Likewise grave was that he had no proper explanation for how that could be.


Perhaps it was Wade’s doing, or his, or a part of the barrier, or the lack of glowing letters or drills or Jax or that corrupted image in the mirror, or any of the other mysteries. Nonetheless, it made sense to say that this miasma was much different than the other, so he reached forward, as one would of course do to confirm, into the darkness above him.


And then he felt it: h̪̥̺͈͔e̘̹͚͍̬ḻ̸̬͖̪̰͉̣l̞i͍s͔̮͓̗h̴̬̥̼̰͚̻ ͚͖̹̺͕̗͈f̡̰̥̠̖̹̱l҉̜̥͓ą̺̲̘͚͓͖m͙͉̜e͝s̻̤͎ that pulled at his hand, d͕͚̫̼̯̠̝͟ęv͈̪͚̺̯͞i͔o̧u̸͚̘̳̯s̖̼̣̖͔̻ ̠̣̞̠f̨̹̺ro̢̠͇͚̩̪s̲͚̜t̢̮ that held it in place, and bụ͍r̺̻̪̮̩͡n̪̮s̞͚̗, ͉̼͙̞t̩̖̙̼͎o͙̮̞̹̬̟̱r҉͖̖̞̣̤͔ţ͍͔ư͚͉͙̙͎̗r̪͠o̜̲̹u̷s̯̫͔ ̲̝̺a̷͍͔͚̱͓ṋ̗͓̭͞d̬͚̭ͅ ͙͓e̶͔̼̬̭̫x͙͕̺̟̝͔̟c̬̳̜r͏̤̰̫̘͖͎uc͔̝̥̺̗͇͙i̢̤̮͖a̭̫̥t͔̯̺ị̵͓̠n͚̮̯g͇̝ a̝̞n̩̩̠͢͝d̸̟̤͚̝ ̛̩̳͍͚ę͙̟̪̲͓̰̼̲t̡̀͏͕͚e̴̹r̸͈͔̥ń̼͕̝̟̼͝a̶̡̱̳͖l͕̦̮̜̩͍̞̮ ̯̳̞̣̯̟͘ą҉̢̮̠̱̼n̺̜̘̠̼͔͕͠d̼̮̩̙͔̲̺̳͘ ̰̟̖̯͢b̢̠̟͔͉̳̫̰ĺ̘̹̘̻͠͠i͘҉͖͓̳s͏̱̪͈̦̗̺ţ̬̘̩̬͙é̴̛̻̙̠͉̟r̵̩̖͎͍̲i̩͙̕n͈̱͚̜̰̘̱g̛͈̹̘̬̫̭͕͉͝ͅ,̹̭̤ ̷̞̟͠͡b͏̟̯͇̫͚̙̟̤r̸̸̥̝̭͞ǫ̴̰̜̟͉̣̜̳̤̥k͉̯̠ͅe̢͍̥̭̻̕n҉͈͙͚͘,͈̳̜̬̖̺ ̕҉̗̭̫̝͚͈̠b͚̠̘̜̼̥̗̯i̢̖t̪͓̥̰̜̘̠͍t̨͎̫e̷̼̙̕r̬̩͕̞̦̗̩̭ͅ,̢͙̼̜̬͍ t̷̥̱̳̭̲̖́͡o͏̨̮̱̺̞̩̱͖͈̣̯̼͘ ̶̢̺͈̳͇͔̻̻̩̗͔̯̹̹̞̲͞b̸̶͈̜̰̦̺̥̹̳̟͉̺̜̻̻̟̼͜í̵̡̮̟̦̺̣̲̩̩̕t̸҉̬̹̪̤͚̼̗ì̟̹͖͍͘͟͡ͅņ̕͟͏͈͓̗̲̰̼̱̙̣̺͈͇ͅģ̨̦̞̠̩̮̰̘̠̗̯̭͠͞͞ ̶̛́҉͕͎̥̠͚͎͔̰̼̖̖̣ṕ̭̣͈͍̺̺̞̤͉̘̤͍̀ą̡͚̪͉̗͔̲̣̤̥̀͜ǹ̢̰͖̼̭͠g̵̣̼̬̥̜̀͘s̵̭̺̱̱̜͙̥̠͖̖̜̭͇̙͍̘̳̩͜͢͠ ̢̛͇̙͎̱̝̙̤̼̞̳̫̟̬̲̳͖͜ͅo̸̡̨̡̤͈̼̙͎̕f̨͈̞̖̻͜ ̶̷̕͟҉̱̞̣̼̞̗ͅb̢̙̬̯̙͓̰̺͉̮͓͖̱̟̠̳̯̕͡ͅŕ̴̡͈̩̻̹̥͖̼͔̥̬̺̦́ͅú̵̗̰͙m̸̟̱̦̠͔̰̖̀̕͡a̶̵̭̞̙̭̳̯̟̥̳̞̺̩͉͝ĺ͘̕҉̷̥̭͈̗ ͚͇͉̯̝̫̹̭͈͕̝͓̱̺̫͚̺͜͡ͅh̴̸͇̯̣͕͚̻̪̯͇͜ͅe̫̫̮̥̙̕͠a̛̕͢͏̪̤̼̻̰̪ţ̴̩̯̼̙̝̦̺̘̗͚̝̗̭̜͟͢͠,̴̬̠̼͠ ̛͙͎̝̠̦̯̼̱͙̩́̀͠͝á҉̫̟̲͖͎̦͎͎̥̘͍̲̪̦̳͟͢n̥̟̳̰̣̦̱̜͓̳̙͇͕͟d̶͇̩̘͈́͞͡ ̸̷̧̬̗̰̟͔͉̫͇̟͕̪̣̻̀̕à̷̴̡̖̩̺͓̤ḷ̵̢͔̪̤̣̝͇͍̫̜̜̜͔̰͢ͅl̷̴͖̯̘̩͓͖͙̤̹͔̯̹̝̱͕ͅ ̶̷̢̗̲͕̱̤̥̬̹̦̲͠͞ͅt̡̗̯͎̫̭̤̦̟̞̦̯͉̦͚̩̺̳̠̀͜h̨̤̩̝̙͈͡͞e̴̸̵̷̯͕͖̼͙͖͔̹̭͚͈̯̹͎͓͈̯̬͝ ̵̨̨̦̻̖̗͔̟͇̦̫̣͖̫̪̤͘͜ͅw҉̵̶̗͇̙̲͚̻h́͠҉̛̼͍͇͚̹̼̯̭͟ͅį̸̻̩̙̣͈͖̙̣̺̟̰̹͘͘ḽ̷̲̥͉̼̭̯͍̲͎̖̣̮͟͠e̡̡͏̡̝̳̮̰̹̥ͅ ̷̧̥̲̗͈̪͓͍̗̤̥̰̩̖̭̬͟͞ḩ̩̣͖͈͍̻̠̠͔͉̘̕e̡҉̮̤͖̻͍̹̬̤̝͖̗̘͚̯̖̫̩́ ̷̷́͢͏̟̟̭̳͉̗̻̙͍͓̤̬̰̣ć̸̶̛̼̥̙͍̩͉̞̼͡ǫ̛҉̴͏̺̮̯̪̭̩͈̫͉̙u̶̸̦̮̱̥̳̘̫̪̗͍̗̮̺ͅͅl͏҉̮͙̳̮̝̝̠͚͟d̡̢̮̬͔̫͍̫͙̙̺̳̻̘̗͚̳̱͕͢͟ ͏̶̞̬̹̘̮̙͚̀͞ḩ̢̖̥͓̙̩̥͠ę̴̷̧̲͎̥̭͕̠̘͉ͅa̴̼̬̯͎̹̦͙̬̲͘͢r̸͟͏͚̭̯̙̼͙͔͕̦͙̰͡ ̸̵̴̡̤͕̪̗̗̻̼͕̤͍̜̝͍̲͖̥͞ţ̵̰̦͓̹̦̫̗͚ͅh̴̨̛̫̠̪͙̣̮͇̺͖͓̩̲̞͓̤͎̠́a̧͙̠̳̰͇̱̪̫̩̭̼̟͘͝t̵̛̫͚̫͉͞ ̵̸̠̙̩͈̲͔̦͈͇̜̣͓͟c̴̳̣̩̲̠̪̜̘͙̪̼̠͟ḩ̵̭͚̩̫̠̺̀͘ḭ̷̴̮̩̮̮͙̺ͅl̶̵҉̙̘̫̣̪̻̹̘̼͈̘̙̘̼̟̟̱͓̱ḑ̥͍̘̜̫͚̝̱̻͍͓͍͡ ̧̛͙̦͖̱̲̯̭̫̖̥̱w̧̤̜͍̟̰̻̮̤̫͜͡ͅe͏̴̛̪̘̖̼̝͕̳͉͎̮̺̞͎ͅé̴̼̤̘̰͙̝̼̭̦͖̖͍̙̖͡͡͞p̷̫͕̳̠͟͞͝ì̧̖̪͕̰̮̫͍̲͍̕͜n̷̴̞͙̪̺̜͇̩̩͚͜ͅg̴̛̯͔̳͕̹̰͈̱͓͓̰͓̳͙̻̟̀͞ ̢̨̞̭̣͕̪̥̰͈̰̳̕i̧̧̧̲̝̫͓̯̤͇̤̺̟̺̤̕͠n̸̡̧̞̦̤͕͓͔̟̻͢͞ ̧̧͉̺ͅu̸̘̙̺͎͔̜̟͎̰͖̘̘̝͔̻̖͇̭̼͘̕͜͠n̖̰͎͔̫̝̥̮͎͖̱̙̫̠̖͘͜f̯͇̟͈̹̖̻́͠o̷̙͖̗̝̱͉̱̫̝̲̩͓̖r̴̡̺̭͉̜̥͙͍̠͚̺̳̕m̧͟҉̤͙̤̺̯̼͍̰̹͉̦̝̘͍e̡̡̼͉̻̝͕̹̪͓̹̹̺̥͙̯͙̯̰̭͕͟ḑ̣̰̺̩̮͍̳̀͠ͅ ̵̴̠̮̝̼̱͓̳̜͕͇͙͟ͅt̸҉̠̻̪̰̭͉̘͇͝è̴͟͏̪̮̙̮̦̝̜̝̝̩̳͈̯á̸͇͓͈̝̹̟͔̲̮̪r̹͓̜̗̱͕̬͕̼̙̫͞ͅś̷̠̠̭͚̤̥̖̹͇͍́͟ ̴̨̡̧͍̱̩̲̳̥̗̕à̪͇͔̞͖̜͕̯̖͔̝̰̠͜͝n̡̙̖̝̣̹̬̝̺̜͝ͅd̷̵̸̛̜̺͚̳̘̥͎̗̲̥͔͕̳͉̯̫ͅ ̕̕͜͏̲̠̰͢ͅḅ̛̬̦̟͎ͅo̱̻͖̬͉̲̠̘̱͚͎̟͢͡į͔̻͖͇̜͟ḽ̢̢̤͕̫̙̬͓̦̣̥͘i̵̧̙͙͉̗͕̬͈̼̙̩͟͝n̴͍̰̞̺̩̖̳̰̥͎͕̯̤̫̮͉͚̖͢͞ͅg̢͕̺͎̣̠̖͎͔̮͈̜̻͓͇͢͜͜ͅ ̡̗̦͓̦̯̙̬̖̠̀ę̬͍̩͇̙̠̱͍̜̻̞̯͈͓͇͎̞͇̀͘͘ͅy̫͉̘̩̙̖̹̭͖̣̦͜͡e͟͠҉̛̲̣̩͎̟͎̀s͔͎͚̞̰͕͉͓̗̼̘̖͝͞͝,̸́͏̲̟̱͙̗̳̳́ ̷̹̳͎̗̗͔̮̼́s̢̞̩͎͇͍͕͎̮͈̻̻̩i̞̭̠͚̣͎̩̹̼̕l̸͍̮̯̀e̴͏̴͟҉͔̮̫̜̘̰͖͖̖ͅn̵͈̙̻̳̹̰̮͍͇̦͔͝ͅt̶̨̨̘̟̬̹̫ ̵̨̯͙̙͉̠͕̥̯̯̫̹͕̭̰͘͡ş̧̛̪̳͖͇̠̣̞͘ṕ̳͓̜̳́͘͞e̸̢̙̱͎̮͕͍̟͈̤̠̣̪͖̝͞ą̵̱͖̝̖̲̤̲̕͢͡k̷̡̢̡̥͚̝̝̦͕͕͖̲͝į͎̳̬̰̙͙̱̠̥̬̳̦̩̯̱͎͍͖͝n̶̶͙̺̳͉̰͎̫̣̖̩̗͎̪̩̮̗̯͎g͞͏̨̣̰͍̮,̴̗̘͖̫͕͝ ̛̛͚͕̬̲̳̩͘̕͠ͅỵ̸̵̢̝̠͉̖̞̀͡ͅo҉̜̖̹̗͚̫̫͞ú̷̴͍̖͉̦́ͅ ͏̷͓̬͈͖͚d̡̩̣̣͉͎̟̬͞͝i̶̶̴̤͈̯̜̣̬̖̼̖̯̗̩͉̳͇̝̹̱̫͟͞d̷̗̙̦͔̝͎̟̩̗̝̖̞͚͖͔̣̹͔̀͘͢͡ ̸̢̦̰̪̘͙͇͈͍̖t̢̡̛̥̭̺͉̲̜̮̼̟̮̼͖̥͔͍̰̕h͟͏̷͖̺̝̣̺̫̼̞̙͔̥̣i̢͜͏̢̯͕͔̻͇̬̺̖̯̜̦̺̭͇̞̘͟s̢̖̣̭̟̳̗̫̤͍͉̩̮̬̣͞-̸̨̦̼̫͉̫̝̱̮̼̪͙͉̳͟͡


In a half-scream, Max returned his hand and held it in his arms, shaking. When he dared to look, there was nothing, and no pain. It had been no more than a second.


His gaze rose to the direction Wade stood. “The shell is wrong with you?!” He asked, his voice cracked, “You can’t feel that?!


Wade jumped, surprised at Max's sudden reach and reaction. He hugged the books he was still holding for some reason.


"I..." Wade hesitated, glancing around the room of normal bookshelves after shelves. He should be able to feel something, right? But where he was standing, in the middle of the supposed darkness...


"I... ," he stammered. He couldn't see it, and now he couldn't feel it. Scott-free from the horrors, just like last night. "I... I can't. At all," Wade admitted.


He glanced back at Max holding his hand. "Am I... just invulnerable somehow?" he murmured.


I don’t know what you are,” Max started, more bewildered than angry, then caught himself and faced away in pause.


It’s... probably a good thing,” he said finally, much quieter, “I mean, you’re not...


He fuddled into a silence adjusting the bag on his shoulder and sighed.

...You said they were gone, yeah?” He asked.


Wade nodded quickly before realizing that was... not helpful.

"Y-yeah!" he said. "They turned around when they stopped talking."


"Past that room with the machinery is probably where they're 'carving' or whatever," Wade added, squinting off into the other room. "So they went that way."


Max nodded, already walking."Right. Then that's where we're headed."
 
Last edited:

ReedRGale

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

Magabelle decided to leave One to explore the depths. There wasn't much else she could do. Or was there? She wasn't sure. She wasn't good at these things.

...

She went into the depths.
It's all she could do.

Alga felt the steps beneath her feet somehow seep the cold into her body. Each step's hollow echo reverberated through the hallway sending fresh nerves to firing. Each step she took was a foot into the step of anothers' boot. She prayed she wouldn't run into that someone here.

She clutched her gun harder.

Mag's grip tightened on her gun as she set down her bag. It didn't take long for her to find that it was too dark to see. So again, she had to rely on Beth's pre-planning.

After some searching, she found a flashlight. The
snap as the light came to life in the temple's empty belly was far louder than she'd expected. That, and the sudden brightness almost made her drop the torch.

Alga continued into the depth. She had a feeling something was wrong. The world was becoming more... green. After she'd passed a few doorways, she realized what it was: there was no light here. But she could see.

At the first doorway that Mag passed she entered. She would go deeper later, but first she had to search the area. Some part of her asked, 'why? why are you doing this?' but another answered 'because you're meant to be here.' Somehow, both were right. Somehow, neither applied to her.

Mag walked into the room to find an old library. There were... 'shelves' of books lining the walls. She used 'shelf' Loosely. In truth, it was closer to 'very cleanly chiseled hollows cut out of very solid stone in the walls.' Yes. That was more correct. But 'shelf' was easier to say.

It wasn't hard to notice that there was a pattern in the inscrutably titled books. Red. Green. Yellow. Empty slot. They were sorted thus. Her mind was drawn to the assortment of blue and black books in a pile upstairs.

...Empty slots.

But the weirdest part is that sometimes Mag had a thought pop into her head. '
Who are you?' or 'Why did you come here?' Sometimes Mag felt like something was watching her from behind her back and she would turn, gun ready.

But there was no one. And there was no One.

Alga plunged deeper in. There were a lot of footprints walking into the rooms and they made her nervous. Furthermore, something about those rooms made them seem... occupied. Like there was a conversation happening there and that it would be rude to butt in.

Plus, she'd come here for a reason. The Greater Student had said to find '
the deepest pool' and then 'speak what you must.' Exploring random rooms was just asking for trouble.

So she spiraled deeper into the darkness, the greensight becoming more and more prominent as she stepped down.

One step. Another step. Another step.


Mag moved to the back of the room. The questions were getting more obvious now that she'd noticed them.

'
How's your day?'

'Where did you come from?'

'
You shouldn't be here.'

'
Don't come closer--'

They were faint. But they were there. But among all of them was a voice that said, "
Come here. I'm waiting." And it wasn't in this room. Some silly part of her believed that somehow, it was Alga. Alga was here waiting for her and was calling... to... her... mind..?

And another part of her said
that was really dumb. But still she walked forward, her flashlight lighting a tentative way.

Leading away from the library, through a dark, doorless archway was a small, domed room. There were marble hooks attached to the walls, almost as if this was someplace to hang your hat or coat. Almost as if this were a home.


Alga had passed an so many doorways now. How many were there? More than ten at least. And separated by so many flights of stairs.

How deep was she? The footsteps that disrupted the dust on the floor were becoming increasingly less common and the dust was becoming replaced by a smell of ammonia and a damp, dark mud on the floor that sucked at her shoes with every step.

Alga looked up to find... dark, things hanging from the ceiling. They all seemed to be asleep so she walked quieter. She worked to breathe quieter. To still her own hearts so they wouldn't beat so loudly. Every once in awhile though, she was certain she saw one stirring.


Spiderwebs were becoming more common, sometimes seeming to block a whole passage. Every time she used her guntip to tear away the blockage, she disturb a few arachnids. The spiders were huge and pale and skittering.

Her hearts were palpating louder and louder despite her best efforts.


Was she finally going to find the Inkling she was looking for this whole time? Brown tentacles, right? If she could just find her, this whole trip would be worth it. Right? Right? Something said 'no,' and another something shouted 'yes.' Mag didn't listen to either and just pushed on.

The domed room branched four ways: where she'd come from, two hallways filled with smaller, empty rooms, then another library with an altar at the end.

Mag walked into the altar room. The conversation was louder here.

'
We need you...'

'
Get out get out get out--'

'
Where did they go? I'm so alone...'

But in the end there was one louder than all the others. Sitting on the altar was a aqua-colored book. It was open. Mag heard it.

"I'm right here."

Alga was thoroughly creeped out at this point. There was clearly still a path, but the stairs' shape were almost completely covered with the ammonia-goo. Her teeth were chattering thinking about whether these spiders were poisonous, and she was certain she'd crunched a number of beetles and some sort of reptile beneath her feet here and there. It all sent her spine tingling.

She slipped and fell once, covering clothes with the gross mud and she just... was so tired of it.

She wanted to give up.

She wanted to go home.

Why was this so important anyway?

But she got back up. Then breathed heavily.

Nothing here wanted to kill her. No one, probably, was following her. It was just her. Her at the bottom of the world. Looking for the deepest pool. To talk to Order itself, apparently. Yeah.


And as she thought that, she was there.

The green tint faded away as Alga realized she was reaching a light source. Her first thoughts were some sort of magic, like what the Greater Student had done, and her mind raced with ideas of enchantments that lined the walls to make a welcome, architectural display display. But what caught her eye was more natural and somehow more magical.

From the ceiling were florescent strands of azure light providing a calm, natural glow. The ammonia smell faded here and was replaced with... a cleaner sort of smell. Like water. This room was calm.

The mystical nature of it all was alluring. So she took a step in. Her angle of view changed and before her was the pool.

It was huge. A gigantic, underground lake, completely placid and almost certainly forgotten by time. Alga suddenly felt very out of place
here.

But you came here for a reason. What do you say?
 

VeryButter

Semi-Pro Squid
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
92
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
NNID
EatALLTehCereal
...Huh?

Throughout the walk that lead her to this room, Magabelle had been, mostly, disregarding how unnatural everything felt. But when she heard that last statement--from... the book?--she couldn't help but reel slightly. What... was going on?

She shined the flashlight behind her and through the doorway, suddenly paranoid. How long had she been waking down here now? It felt like a little while. And she didn't expect it to be this large down here. How was One going to get her attention now?

She looked back to the book. She didn't know what it was, but she was curious, if anything. And it had been left open so she didn't even need to touch it.

...She approached the book and aimed her flashlight at it so she could look over the open pages.

Read: Book
 
Last edited:

Banshee

Full Squid
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
44
NNID
Laddy-Daddy
Alga didn't say anything. Not yet.

Her hand clutched at her chest and legs that had been powering through on adrenaline gave out in a stumble of feet. She landed hard on her knees, barely winced as she scooted herself to sit on her rear, and for a time that was all she did.

All of that anxiety for nothing. All of that psyching up for nothing. There had been strange things on the ceiling and that had been a panic attack in itself, but whoever the boot prints had belonged to seemed long gone, or at least stuffed in the rooms up above. She'd come down here expecting the worst and she had gotten...squid all.

Alga wanted to throw a tantrum, maybe at the situation but mostly at herself for being so dumb and nervous. She hated it. Hated it.

Tired eyes stared at the lake sitting in front of her, massive and still. It unnerved her a bit, being so near a source of water as large as that, but she found she was too tired to care more. Hard to believe this was connected to a literal god.

What as she going to say, even? Was it like talking to yourself? But at least in talking to yourself, you gave yourself answers. This was just spitting words out and hoping someone heard, someone who probably didn't even know you existed. Someone you weren't even sure existed in the first place, despite everything.

"Um..." Alga licked her lips, eyeing the waters just in front of her. "...Hi?"

Okay that was dumb.

She tried again. "...I, um. Sorry to bother you. I-I don't know if this is a bad time for you or anything, but this...Word that I'm friends with was pretty upset. A-And this other person, the Greater Student I think was his name, said this was cosmic-level? Um... L-Let's see..."

Alga scooted forward a bit, keeping her now crossed knees just shy of the bank. "Stuff's been...happening. Weird stuff. There's a lot of holes in the world, everywhere I look...a-and, um. Sometimes I see goop? Black goop. In the mirror world. And my face had this weird, creepy look to it. Do you know what that is? I-I don't actually know if that's significant, but he told me to tell you everything I told him so--

"...The Word said that it was calling cards of Nothing... A-And the Greater Student mentioned something about Naught? The Word said it wasn't It's turn, and the Student said it was yours still... S-So it was best if you knew. Um. Yeah..."

Alga rubbed her cheek as she stared out at the waters. Unchanging, flat as a mirror. Was this necessary? This god couldn't have heard her, right?

Her memory flashed, an echo of the Word's writing coming to her. They had wanted to talk to them, hadn't they? That was the whole reason for her powers. But they couldn't now, trapped by the same powers they had given her.

Alga's face twisted and she reached into her backpack to withdraw the ruby, holding it in front of her with a mixture of guilt and sheepishness. "I-I'm sorry... A-Actually, the Word had wanted to talk you about this, and they probably know a whole lot more than I do. I just... W-Well, these powers they gave me kind of...got them stuck. In here. I wish I could get them out. The Greater Student said I needed to experiment, but I don't know how..."

She wondered if they were even listening at this point. If they had been listening at all.

"You're...a god, right?"

Her face flushed a bit and immediately felt absolutely stupid for what she was about to say. But squid, she had jumped through mirrors and talked to a man in fantasy land, and now she was chatting up a lake. Surely, it couldn't hurt to try. Besides, if nothing happened, nobody was around to hear her.

"I-It's just... If you're a god, then maybe you know everything, right? And maybe if you knew everything, then...maybe you could...tell me how to get them out...? T-That probably sounds like I just don't want to figure it out myself, sorry. Just...most of my powers are for seeing. And while I can make stuff in the other world, I don't...have a clue how to unmake it. How do I experiment with that...?"

Alga waited a minute. Then two. Then ten.

This was dumb.

She sighed and moved to stand, trying not to think about the verbal vomit she had just unleashed. Deity or no, that was the most embarrassing thing she had done in weeks.

"Sorry..." Her voice was quiet as she put the ruby back in her bag. "That's all I needed to come to you about. W-Whatever you do, I...hope it goes well. Um." She nodded in the lake's direction, hefting the gun in her arms in preparation for her return trip. "Bye."

And then Alga turned to make the trek back upwards.

Ascend
 
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