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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Mar 21, 2010 21:59:26 GMT -5
Hitoshi had always been curious what mysteries were stowed away in the upper floors of the castle, but safely hidden behind the wards and the locks, there was no way to know what was there.
Until now. The events of Halloween had knocked out all of the protective spells around the castle, and Hitoshi was willing to wager that the wards meant to keep students from meddling went down as well. The outside wards had been replaced almost immediately, but with all the other distractions, it was very likely the headmaster had not even considered the internal wards. If they were still down, Hitoshi might be able to explore the upper levels of the castle, and there was no telling how long it would take for someone to fix the barriers.
And so, with this goal in mind, Hitoshi ascended the tall spiral stairway. His footsteps echoed through the stone column, thunderous against the chilly silence. The stairway was lined with candles that never seemed to burn out, giving just enough light to make the shadows seem even more prominent. A draft swept down the stairs, growing colder the higher he climbed.
Hitoshi passed the the door that lead to the fourth floor classrooms -- the last level before he reached the levels that had once been blocked. He faltered for a moment; it was possible that the headmistress had already put the wards back up, or that they had never gone down at all.
He took a breath and stepped forward, passing the pair of candles that he had always associated with the barrier. He passed through easily, without even the barest echo of the barriers. He took another step to be certain, then another. Nothing.
He turned back, looking at Alex. "This is where the wards used to be. They're completely down."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Mar 22, 2010 22:41:25 GMT -5
Alex grinned and dashed forward beside Hitoshi. "Well then- where to first?"
This floor looked different from the others: it wasn't quite the same layout, with far fewer doors; it was built smaller; sparse ornamental columns lined the halls, and the floors were either dark gray marble or a very good approximation of it. The spells that governed climate regulation also clearly didn't quite to work up here- in fact, when Alex took a moment to look around, there were very few spells strung about through the walls like there were through the rest of the school. There was magic, and quite a bit of it, but most of it was bundled in certain areas with the deep sounds of old and musty rituals, rather than the nearly electric simplicity and soft-rock refrains he associated with the magic of the senior staff.
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Mar 22, 2010 23:30:45 GMT -5
Hitoshi traced the elaborate carvings in the columns, peering at them carefully. They were Celtic in nature, worn down and covered in several decades worth of dust. He could feel the sticky layers of old spells clinging to him like spiderwebs. Everything about the area felt old, musty.
Decaying portraits of severe-looking nobles lined the walls, each one seeming to watch them with stormy blue eyes. They seemed to be arranged in chronological order, the first few portraying broad-framed, fair-haired men dressed in animal furs. There was something eerily familiar about them, something Hitoshi couldn't quite place. He felt a chill creep down his spine.
"We might as well just take it one room at a time, I suppose," he replied quietly, looking away from the paintings.
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Fekete Istvan
Ireth
University Junior: Mage
Make believe, close your eyes, I'll be anything for you.
Posts: 140
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Post by Fekete Istvan on Mar 28, 2010 1:51:04 GMT -5
Istvan wasn't sure how he'd ended up here, but his curiosity soon got the better of him, and he wandered aimlessly through the halls, looking up at the stern faces of the nobles in the paintings lining the walls, examining the carvings on the columns. The whole place was thick with magic and mystery.
He spotted two young boys up ahead, watching them in silence. What had brought them up here? Istvan quickened his pace a little, approaching them warily, and then realizing he had no idea what he wanted to say when he reached them.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Apr 2, 2010 22:03:55 GMT -5
"That sounds-"
Alex caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye and turned. There was a man he didn't recognize following them.
"Uhm. Hello?" he asked, not knowing what to make of him; he looked shy, almost lost. Strange that someone else would show up, but...
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Fekete Istvan
Ireth
University Junior: Mage
Make believe, close your eyes, I'll be anything for you.
Posts: 140
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Post by Fekete Istvan on Apr 3, 2010 0:02:20 GMT -5
Istvan smiled as the white-haired boy turned around, saw him and greeted him. Though it wasn't so much a greeting as a question; he could tell the meaning of the word "hello" was actually "what are you doing here?" And to be honest, he didn't really know.
"Hello," he replied. "Interesting place, isn't this? I've never been up here before. I'm not quite sure how I managed to get here in the first place." He regarded the two boys curiously, tilting his head slightly to the side. "What brings you two up here, if I may ask?"
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Apr 3, 2010 16:54:17 GMT -5
Alex answered immediately with a smile on his face. "We're doing a project. We heard there were some historical curiosities up here and thought there might be something useful."
He took a couple of steps toward Istvan, still friendly, but putting him on the defensive if necessary. "I don't think we've met. What's your name?"
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Apr 4, 2010 0:36:17 GMT -5
Hitoshi turned away from the portraits, his mind briefly drawn back to the real world. He blinked, stepping up behind Alex. He couldn't remember seeing this boy before... He looked much older, most likely a university student.
It was curious that he didn't seem to know about the wards. Perhaps he had never tried to enter the upper levels before... But then, why now? It was possible that he had simply wandered here blindly, but Hitoshi was not inclined to believe that he had accidentally found a portion of the school that was, until very recently, off-limits.
He gazed sideways at Alex, his eyes narrowing almost imperceptibly. What do you think? The question was layered in suspicion and faint curiosity.
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Fekete Istvan
Ireth
University Junior: Mage
Make believe, close your eyes, I'll be anything for you.
Posts: 140
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Post by Fekete Istvan on Apr 4, 2010 22:44:10 GMT -5
"Istvan," Istvan replied to Alex with a smile, giving the other, dark-haired boy an acknowledging nod as he stepped up behind the first. "Wasn't this place warded off before? I've tried coming up here before but was never able to."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Apr 4, 2010 23:12:55 GMT -5
Either he's very good at faking or he's very lost.
"Nice to meet you, Istvan. I'm Alex." He glanced back at Hitoshi, then raised an eyebrow at Istvan. "Thought you just said you'd never been up here. I haven't either; before what?"
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Fekete Istvan
Ireth
University Junior: Mage
Make believe, close your eyes, I'll be anything for you.
Posts: 140
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Post by Fekete Istvan on Apr 4, 2010 23:40:57 GMT -5
Istvan frowned. "Before Halloween, of course, when all the wards went down and the Fae got in. There were some places we weren't able to get to before; this, I imagine was one of them. There's certainly a lot of old magic residue up here."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Apr 15, 2010 22:05:00 GMT -5
Alex look at Hitoshi, than back to Istvan.
Weird.
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Fekete Istvan
Ireth
University Junior: Mage
Make believe, close your eyes, I'll be anything for you.
Posts: 140
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Post by Fekete Istvan on Apr 15, 2010 22:50:36 GMT -5
Istvan slowly raised his eyebrows, wondering what he was missing here. Or what they were. It was hard to tell exactly what was going on. Alex was looking at him like he'd grown an extra nose, or something equally strange. It was starting to unnerve him.
What we have here, he thought, is a failure to communicate. "Why are you looking at me so oddly?"
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Apr 17, 2010 1:12:42 GMT -5
So it would seem.[/b] Hitoshi's eyes narrowed slightly. He does seem rather clueless.[/b]
Hitoshi had opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly lost his train of thought. An icy sensation prickled down his spine, and without entirely knowing what he was doing, he found his feet carrying him farther down the hallway. His eyes were drawn inexplicably to the portraits.
At the sight of the last portrait, he stopped dead in his tracks. His legs felt limp. A young woman, likely only a few years older than himself, stared out with stormy blue eyes that seemed to focus on something just past his left shoulder. Her features were smooth and small, and framed by pale gold ringlets. At the bottom of the frame, a shiny panel bore a name: Alastroína Gillespie.
"Alex," he said quietly, his throat suddenly very dry, "tell me what you see."[/color]
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Apr 17, 2010 1:21:08 GMT -5
Alex was about to respond to Istvan when he realized Hitoshi had left. He did a double-take and jogged down the hallway towards him.
He looked at Hitoshi's face, then at the portrait, laying a hand on Hitoshi's shoulder.
"Uhm." He peered at the incredibly cursive, old-style writing below the frame. "A painting of a young woman, blonde, with some sort of... French name? Aia-fis-ina Geez-pie?" He shrugged. "It doesn't look that interesting."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Apr 17, 2010 1:45:30 GMT -5
"It's not French. It's Gaelic. Al-as-tree-na. The surname is a variant of mine -- or I suppose, more accurately, it's the other way around."
He got the very distinct impression that she was looking at something, though he couldn't quite bring himself to look away from the painting just yet. It was a ludicrous idea, really. She had likely been looking intently at something as she was being painted; that certainly didn't mean that the portrait itself was looking at something.
She looks like my mother.[/b] There was a strange, hollowness in the thought, as though Hitoshi couldn't be sure how to feel. Her eyes are the wrong color--it's obviously not the same person--but there's something unmistakable there.[/b][/color]
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Apr 17, 2010 1:51:29 GMT -5
"Ah- oh." Alex colored a little, though he still couldn't see how that was an s, not an f. He slipped behind Hitoshi and squeezed him, looking at the picture.
"Do you think we should investigate this somehow, or...?"
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Apr 18, 2010 11:02:39 GMT -5
Hitoshi nodded. "Her portrait is the last on the wall, and Veronique didn't acquire Dunehelden until a decade ago. Something happened, and somehow during the time between this castle was dragged into Faerie. I want to know what happened."
From her dress, the woman most likely lived centuries ago, and the last name was not uncommon. It was very possible that it was all just a coincidence, and that he was imagining that she had his mother's smile.... After all, it wasn't as though everything always had to relate back to his family.
He looked over at Istvan, contemplating for a moment. He's already up here, and if we try to make him leave he might find that suspicious enough to tell someone. The most prudent thing to do would be to keep him with us.[/b]
"We should stay together," he said evenly, looking at Istvan. "We don't know what's up here. It might not be safe."[/color]
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Fekete Istvan
Ireth
University Junior: Mage
Make believe, close your eyes, I'll be anything for you.
Posts: 140
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Post by Fekete Istvan on Apr 18, 2010 11:39:08 GMT -5
Istvan watched the two boys quietly, unable to help but overhear what they were talking about. He looked at Hitoshi as the boy addressed him directly, and nodded, walking quickly over to the pair. "I agree completely."
He still had no idea what they found so unusual about him, and he wasn't sure how to address the issue. Maybe he would find out as they went along, wherever they intended on going.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Apr 18, 2010 11:44:50 GMT -5
That's true.
"Hmm," he mumbled. "I doubt there's anything up here that could be that dangerous, or they would have put the wards back up."
"So, should we start with the near rooms?"
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Apr 19, 2010 21:25:08 GMT -5
"We might as well go to the end and work our way back," Hitoshi suggested, slowly pulling himself away from the portrait. They would unravel its mysteries soon enough.
The hallway stretched out in front of them, tingling with the musty smell of old books and magic. Hitoshi headed forward, moving onward toward the end of the hall.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Apr 19, 2010 22:24:35 GMT -5
At the end of the hallway was a tall window, looking out over grounds rather different from those of Dunehelden- it was spring and the sun was high, the sky a soft blue, and below it were spread out rolling, green hillocks ending in a thick forest. The image was faded like an old photograph, but the sun was still warm, and a soft breeze could be seen moving through the trees.
The hallway turned right, towards large double doors framed in brass. Behind the doors was a huge library, with a circle of chairs in the middle. There were several books and a few notebooks sitting on a table in the middle of the chair-circle.
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Apr 19, 2010 23:52:38 GMT -5
Hitoshi stepped through the doors, taking in the scenery. Everything was covered in a thick coat of dust, as though it hadn't been touched in decades. Dust motes danced in the light. Hitoshi coughed, waving the cloud away from his face.
He stepped around the circle of chairs, peering down an over-sized tome laying on the table. The cover was gray with dust. He swept his hand over the leather cover, sending the fuzzy particles flying through the air. The cover of the book was ornately decorated in swirling Celtic designs. Hitoshi's fingers traced the pattern around the edges with religious reverence. The cover felt cracked and fragile, and even without opening it he could see that the pages were yellowed with age. The book was very likely older than he, Alex, and Istvan put together.
Hitoshi gingerly opened the book to the first page. There was no title page or author's name. All of the pages were handwritten in shimmering golden ink; tiny moving illustrations decorated the margins. The writing was elegant and loopy, and from the shape of the lines, it had likely been written with a quill. Hitoshi smoothed his hand over the page, making the paper crinkle slightly.
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Baratoge Kazari
Keme
Academy Junior: Cougar Shapeshifter
Lusus Naturae
Posts: 176
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Post by Baratoge Kazari on Apr 19, 2010 23:56:55 GMT -5
From out in the hallway there came a loud crash, followed by a string of lightning-fast expletives that might have been Spanish. Kazari winced and picked herself up from where she had fallen, staring up at the ceiling in confusion.
"That hell was that..." she muttered, rubbing the back of her head.
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Fekete Istvan
Ireth
University Junior: Mage
Make believe, close your eyes, I'll be anything for you.
Posts: 140
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Post by Fekete Istvan on Apr 20, 2010 0:06:07 GMT -5
Istvan jumped at the sound of a crash and of violent cursing in a language he didn't understand, and looked around, bewildered. He stepped back out into the hallway, seeing Kazari standing there rubbing the back of her head and looking confused and disgruntled.
"What happened, Zari?" he asked. "Are you alright?"
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