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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Nov 16, 2009 22:30:20 GMT -5
The darkness engulfed him, and he felt the fingers entwined in his slip from his hands.
The darkness, warm and moist, seemed to press in around him, suffocating him. He collapsed on the ground -- was it ground? There was something hard and cold beneath him. It was too smooth to be anything natural...
Something was closing in around him, though whether the walls or the heat or something stranger he couldn't tell.
The floor beneath him was stone, carved and cut and smoothed. The floor of the school. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the light, he began to make out shapes. Clothing racks filled with costumes, a counter with make-up, mirrors, chairs. Currently, he was sprawled under one of the costume racks.
Somehow...in the darkness...he had come to the dressing room. Had they all simply been transported to other places in the school?
Slowly, he pulled himself onto his legs. He wobbled slightly, grabbing the make-up counter for balance.
He looked up at the mirror, and his breath caught in his throat.
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Post by Angel Kapur on Nov 16, 2009 22:54:16 GMT -5
A thousand crystal shards inside the mirror, a thousand colors, each reflection showing a place or a time, and people- more solid than the reflections they were in, overlapping them, slipping at times from one to another- here a flash of blonde hair and a sword, here a frightened boy and a pretty girl, here a flash of white hair sounding brass bells.
In the middle of it all, a figure hanging upside down, clothed in black, connecting the threads.
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Nov 16, 2009 23:48:08 GMT -5
Hitoshi stepped back, his heels meeting harshly against the metal of the clothing rack. He stumbled, attempting to right himself by grabbing at the costumes. His hands grasped at one of the velvet robes, and the soft fabric slipped through his fingers.
Hitoshi fell through the curtain of clothes, and the costumes came down with him.
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Post by Angel Kapur on Nov 17, 2009 0:02:00 GMT -5
The room was dark again, all around, nothing in it but a little boy with ragged-cut dark hair staring sullenly at Hitoshi.
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Nov 17, 2009 0:15:01 GMT -5
For a long moment, Hitoshi simply stared at the boy.
"Who are you?" he asked warily. Nothing about this place felt right.
He felt something pull at him, ripple, and fade. He wasn't quite sure how he knew, but he did. Alex was safe--for now.
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Post by Angel Kapur on Nov 17, 2009 0:25:26 GMT -5
The boy stared at Hitoshi for a few more seconds, then huffed and pulled his knees up to his chin, still glaring.
"I don't know," he said accusingly. "Why do all you stupid people keep asking me that? Why do you keep bothering me when I'm trying to help?"
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Nov 17, 2009 0:29:42 GMT -5
Hitoshi paused, pursing his lips. He wasn't sure he could trust anything here, but ignoring everything would only make it worse. He needed to know what was happening, even if no one else did. He would have to handle this delicately... It would be a challenge, to be sure. He was bad enough with people, and this thing seemed decidedly more volatile than any person. How would Alex handle this, he wondered? Alex was good at talking to people.
"Very well," he replied soothingly. "You're trying to help. How can you help me?" He shifted so that he was slightly closer to the boy, but not so close that he could not defend himself if needed.
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Post by Angel Kapur on Nov 17, 2009 23:43:17 GMT -5
The boy continued staring. "What do you want? Why are you here? You nearly broke things. Stupid mages."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Nov 17, 2009 23:45:33 GMT -5
"I want to figure out what's going on," he replied evenly. "I want to know where I am, and why I'm here."
He also wanted to find Alex, but that could wait. Alex would be safe for the time being.
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Post by Angel Kapur on Nov 18, 2009 0:09:03 GMT -5
"You're here because I didn't want you to get hurt," the boy grumbled. "You're here... outside where the castle is. Outside of where people are going to get hurt."
"They've come to take back their stuff. But..." He looked away. "Nobody knows anything. And you don't even care."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Nov 18, 2009 0:20:16 GMT -5
"I care. I want to understand what's going on, and maybe then I can do something about it," he replied. "You mean the fae, don't you? They want to take back their forest. They don't like us here."
He paused. "Do you mean me specifically?" he asked, a bit more urgently. "Who is 'you'?"
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Post by Angel Kapur on Nov 18, 2009 0:23:17 GMT -5
The boy looked into Hitoshi's eyes.
"Please remember. I'll tell you, but please tell me you'll tell someone. I can't. They won't believe me, especially once they figure out what I am- the Courts and the rest of them. You can make yourself remember, right? You're a mage. You can do anything."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Nov 18, 2009 0:28:34 GMT -5
Hitoshi looked back, and he felt a chill crawl down his spine. "I can try to remember, but I don't have the power to make myself remember," he replied. "This place...it isn't real, is it?"
He took a deep breath. "I'll do whatever I can to remember what you tell me," he said firmly. "And if I remember, I'll take it directly to Professor Smoke."
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Post by Angel Kapur on Nov 18, 2009 0:41:24 GMT -5
"Okay." The boy gnawed on the side of his thumb. "I'll just have to do it." He took a deep breath and started speaking in a precise monotone, as if reciting from memory.
"It's not the castle they want back, it's what the founders found. It isn't here, and so they'll leave, but it'll stick around. The curtain's thin, and soon it cracks, and it's gonna be all your fault. But... something something..." he clenched his eyes shut. "Shit. Something involving the sky breaking open and things spilling out. What's real may not be, and the other way around. Uhm. Yeah, ask the diviner and the bird."
He looked up at Hitoshi. "Is that enough?"
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Nov 18, 2009 0:47:57 GMT -5
Hitoshi stared at him blankly for a moment. "They found--what was it? What happened to it?" he asked breathlessly. "What curtain? What do Smoke and Michael have to do with it?"
He swallowed. Quietly he added, "What if I forget?"
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Post by Angel Kapur on Nov 18, 2009 0:55:38 GMT -5
He stood up and walked towards Hitoshi.
"You gotta figure it out. Sorry. I'm not whole right now." He reached out and brushed Hitoshi's forehead. "You can probably do it, anyway. Tell the pretty blond one and the other bird, too, and..."
"Doorway's behind you," he said sulkily.
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Nov 18, 2009 16:53:32 GMT -5
Hitoshi made no move, no sound; it was the door that moved to him.
He fell backwards into the dark.
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