Swirling somewhere in the distance, the mists swirl about in a lazy, whimsical path, obscuring from view that which lies beyond. To most, it is a distant curiousity, filled with idle speculation, but, always standing just beyond their, reach. Each step taken, the mists take of of their own, always staying in that far off bit of space until at last those few curious questers give up and return to their previous tasks.
But, to those rare few that hear the music and the call, they find themselves drawn ever closer to the cool grey veil. For, it is for those few that the place exists. To call out to those souls that cry out for change and to draw them together, and grant them a chance at their desire. To most however, it becomes a trap from which they can never escape, a never ending dream of change, as the world rolls on, forgetting that they even existed, and time continues its endless flow.
The time has come for the new souls to be called and for them to accept their invitations. Now the invitations have been sent, the fliers loosed and the music played. All that remains is for the new round of customers to take their place and enter into the mists, and join the Carnival.
***
Somewhere in the distance, each of the chosen souls find the mists gathering in their sight, a sweet, lively music calling out to them, beckoning for them to rise up and heed the call. The mists swirl before their eyes, and all that remains is for them to follow the call and step forward, leaving fate and destiny behind as they embrace their last chance for change.
Giggling as she pranced through the woods, off to see her friend Sasami, Raya was a spot of good cheer in the dreary summer heat. As she hopped along though, the little sprite heard...carnival music? Slowly coming to a stop, the little girl turned, seeing to her side... mists? But the music was coming from that way!
Raya smiled as she turned to hop into the mysterious mists. A carnival was somewhere there. What fun!
Fearless Leader
The moment she entered the mists, Raya felt their cool touch at her face, caressing against her skin with a soothing caress. Behind her, the brief breach her entrance had made sealed up, letting the forest behind her vanish as the way before her became clear. There, before a rickety old gate, a man stood waiting, a soft smile on his face.
It was hard to tell how old the man before her was, his face was lined with the lines of time, crinkling his skin as he directed a soft, benevolent smile. His hair was a soft brown, full and untouched by the silve streaks of old age and falling in a short length down the sides of his head, as it lined his mouth in a well trimmed goutee. A simple flannel shirt and a pair of faded jeans were his only decorations, not at all the flashy fare often found on a barker, the only exception being the finished shine of the black leather shoes on his feet.
"Hello there little one, and welcome to the Carnival."
Raya smiled childishly up at the old man. "I didn't know there was a carnival going on in these woods. When did you arrive?"
"It comes and goes when and where its needed. It arrives when the time is right," the man responded with a soft, velvet like voice that slipped through the air.
"Mou, it's been a long time since I've been to a carnival. How much is it?"
Fearless Leader
"Price..." the man's eyes grew wistful for a moment, "In material items there is no cost. But, once you enter, you have but one exit. Few ever find it. But, with that exit comes the chance to change your life, to make your heart's desire come to life and to alter fate and destiny to your dream."
Raya grew serious suddenly. Her young face still smiling but her eyes suddenly focused. "I could change fate?"
Fearless Leader
"Aye," the voice was soft, a gentle slip out of his mouth as his eyes looked down into hers, "Fate, destiny, the weave of time itself... but very few can claim that prize."
Raya looked down, thinking for a second. Then, with purple eyes twinkling she smiled up at the old man again. "I'll play.", the young spriteling responded as she hopped past him merily through the gate, her staff on her back.
Fearless Leader
And, as Raya steps through the gate, the world around her vanishes from her site (and Dracos is put on hold until the others arrive)
Sighing as he left the building, Nathan couldn't what to get home and get some rest. Walking to his car, he started to hear music coming from somehwere. 'Strange...it sounds like carnival music but there aren't any fairs or events that are going on. Well, that I know of anyways.'
Intrigued, Nathan started off into the direction of where the music was coming from. Suddenly, a wall of mist appeared before him and without knowing why, he continued on. Walking right into the mist.
To Nathan, it at first feels as if he slipped into a sauna, a wave of heat rolling over him as the mists sealed up behind him. Before him the soft cloud parted, revealing a the straight metal poles stretching out in front of him, wrapped up with a multitude of blinking lights that flashed in a variety of colors in his eyes. And there, standing on a stage before the gaudy maw of the gate, stood a man in a flashy purple suit.
His face, while young, seemed to gleam with a mischief, eyes as blue as a robin's egg twinkling with glee as he twirled a red cane in his hand. Thick blond hair curled up against the flashy pink sequins lining his hat. His jacket, a thick cotton thing standing plain and shouting out its prescence on his chest, and leading down to the shining silk pants at his feet.
"Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Step on up my friend, for this is the chance of a lifetime! The carnival has come and its waiting for you! Yes you sir, to come and rise to meet its challenges and claim the prize to change the very essence of time, to alter fate and destiny to your choosing and grant your heart's desire!"
Regaining his senses after coming out of the mists, Nathan looked around, inspecting his surroundings before turning to look at the man in the purple suit. "Carnival? I wasn't aware that a carnival was in town..." he muttered to himself, confused.
Eyes narrowing as stared at the young man, Nathan asked, "Who are you and what do you mean by claiming a prize to alter fate and destiny?"
" The carnival travels on whim and fancy, passing from this place to that upon its whim and want," the man responded with a grin, "As for myself, I'm just a simple barker calling out to the crowds it calls. The prize though... that is what its all about. Manage to claim that and your heart's desire will ge granted."
"...Where am I?"
Virato Talon closed his eyes slowly, wondering what he was doing here. It was brighter...more cheerful than his home. Yes...it must be a dream.
Virato heard music. Strange music, but oddly pleasant. He saw nothing but an inviting mist blocking his way.
"If this is a dream, then I shall not lag behind," He thought quietly. Dreams had a bad habit of having short and aprupt endings.
Without a second thought he stepped into the mist.
Virato found the mists hiding a whirling breeze that swept around him, almost seeming to pull him up into the air with its stength. Then, it was gone and the way before him was clear, showing a stone archway, the rough hewn rocks composing it worn and weathered with time with vines of ivy growing up its rough surface. There, leaning against one side, a young girl stood, waiting with a quiet, demure stature.
She looked no older than just past her first decade, yet, her hair was colored the grey of one long past their prime. In fact as he looked closer, it seemed as if she was painted into the world without color, her cheeks and skin a soft, pale white as they surrounded eyes of a glittering cool grey. Her plain dress was of rough cotton and fell heavily from her body, from neck to wrists to ankles, all were covered from sight.
"Hello..."
Virato bowed his head, unable to look her in the eye. For a moment, she had a passing resemblence to 'her'.
"Hello, miss." He looked at her, but didn't quite make eye contact. "What is that music?"
Aaron pulled into the service station muttering curses at his youngest sister's rich friends. Why couldn't they have had a birthday party at home like normal people? God knows their house was big enough.
But oh no. They just had to have it out in the boondocks. And here he was. Lost. He'd never hear the end of it for picking Jess up so late.
Great. Just freaking GREAT.
Stepping quickly toward the rather dilapidated store front, he slowed as music suddenly caught his attention.
He turned toward its origin and spotted a mist shrouded dirt road leading back into the woods.
"Well, they did say it was down a dirt road..." he mumbled absently. The mist looked a bit too difficult to drive through so he set off on foot, all the while wondering at the strangeness of his sister's rich friends.
"It is the call of the carnival," her voice was soft, calm, elegant, but, restrained.
The mists swirled in front of Aaron, waiting for him as the music slipped out into the world, calling to him to join it.
"What...is the carnival?" Verato felt foolish asking this, but his interest was piqued.
Aaron followed the music through the fog.
The girl shrugged slightly, her eyes growing distant, "A place of change, where the heart's desire can be fulfilled and destiny and fate can be altered."
A chill brush of ice seemed flow over Aaron as he stepped forward, the world seeming to close into a momentary flurry of cold before the mist seemed to explode outwards, leaving Aaron standing before the a large stone gate surrounded by a lenght of stone wall. Standing there before the gate stool a figured cloaked in a black robe and shadows, silent as it stood there firmly.
"My heart's desire will be granted..." Nathan whispered quietly. 'That can't be true but why do I feel that he's telling the truth? I shouldn't go in there yet, I feel this strange compulsion to. What is going on?'
Shaking his head a bit, Nathan said to the man, "Alright, I'll take a chance. How do I get into this 'carnival'?"
"Change..." Verato glowered and made a noise of disbelief. There was no such thing! Nothing would ever change. His heart had no desires that could ever be fulfilled. He almost turned around and walked away.
Except...
Her. The girl reminded him of her. If there was one thing he wanted in this world or the next, it was to find out what happened to the one who disapeared from his life so long ago. If for nothing else, he would do this for her.
"How do I get in the Carnival?" He asked.
Aaron took a moment to orient himself after stepping out of the fog. Taking in his surroundings his eyes fell on the cloaked figure.
"Excuse me... sir? Could you tell me where I am? I'm not sure if this is the place I was looking for." A nervous laugh passed his lips. The place certainly had atmosphere.
The barker grinned widely at the man before him and made a sweeping gesture towards the gate, "Well then good sir, all you need to is step forward and enter."
The girl raised a slender hand and pointed to the open gate, "THrough there."
The figure remained standing there, its robe shifting slightly in the breeze before it seemed to shift itself more towards him, a deep, soft voice eminating from the shadows, "You are at the entrance to the Carnival."
"Carnival? I didn't know there was a carnival way out here." Well, that explains why the party's way out in the middle of nowhere.
Aaron looked around the entrance for his sister. He sighed after realizing she wasn't waiting for him like she had said she would. Now he had to waste money to go look for her. Turning back to the cloaked figure he firmed is voice.
"Sir, how much for one to enter?"
Verato nodded his thanks and walked through the gate.
The dark figure spoke that deep, soft voice of its in response, "It can cost everything and it can cost you nothing. Here fate and destiny can be changed in order to satisfy your heart's desire. All one need do is enter and face its challenges."
Having no more doubting thoughts about the carnival, Nathan stepped forwards and through the gate.
The instant Verato and Nathan stepped through the gate, the world around them vanished (And they go on hold...)
Angel stepped out of the Bubbulous Bordello. Looking off into the far-off distance, he walked slowly towards Levin Street, his ever-trusty Colt at the ready. It was time to pay a visit to an old friend...
"One, two, Angel's coming for you..." he hummed.
He did a double-take as music reached his ears. It was a strange sort of music, one that he hasn't heard for a while.
"What the hell?" he spoke aloud, even though no one was anywhere near him. "There ain't no carnival around here!"
Partly curious and partly suspecting it to be a trap from one of his enemies, he walked towards the source of the sound, taking his pistol out and into his hand and cocking the piston for ready shooting.
And Angel could see the mists swirling in front of him
Angel cautiously stepped into the mist, his pistol now up by his side for fast aiming.
"Who's there?!"
"Well Sugah, that's a good question, now ain't it?" a voice drawled in front of him as the mists parted.
It was a smooth archway of soft polished marble, standin there alone save for the solitary figure leaning back against it and the thin trail of smoke drifting upwards. If one followed the trail of smoke, they would find it ending at the butt of a slim cigarette, held in the slender hand of a young woman. Garbed in loose, baggy jeans and a dirtied tank top, she looked as if she was fresh from working in a garage as she took a long drag from her smoke, her grease smudged face young with a pixish beauty and almond shaped green eyes. Her hair was held back by an old, raggedy red bandana, the short, greasy red and orange curls just falling a bit past her ears.
"Now, but tha peashooter away already."
Angel's eyes darted up and down the young woman's body. She seemed to be armed with nothing but a cigarette.
"Peashooter, huh?" he said as he put the gun back into its holster. "I should shoot you up with the 'peas' someday."
"So who the hell are you?" he asked, looking directly at the young woman after he finished pocketing the gun.
"Riiiight," Aaron said to no one in particular. A smile graced his lips momentarily, the nervousness he had been feeling disappearing suddenly. That was one hell of a sells pitch. There weren't many who would have appreciated such an archaic response.
It had to be some sort of theme carnival- Mid-Evil Times or something. This could certainly be worth looking into. His sister wasn't waiting at the gate and it couldn't hurt to look around a bit, especially with free admission. Heck, he could even pick up another sword if it was some kind of mid-evil fair.
Plus he could scope out the games. If thee 'challenges' were anything like a normal carnival's he'd be leaving with his arms full
"Thank you for your time, sir," he said nodding slightly toward the figure. He then entered.
And the world around Aaron vanished.(and he's put out of play for now.)
"Me?" the girl responded before he took a drag from her cigarette, "Ah'm jes tha girl that's gotta spend her time out here waiting on yer trigger happy ass ta get here."
Angel stared suspiciously into the girl's eyes.
"Waiting for me?" he glared at the her, practically yelling.. "What the hell are you? How did you know I was gonna come here?!"
The girl let off an amused throaty laugh as she flick the cigarette to the side, "Ah was sent here ta wait fer whoever came through tha mists. That means Ah was waitin' on ya Sugah. As for me, Ah'm just a girl doing her job."
Angel seemed to be satisfied with the answer, and stopped reaching for his gun.
"So who sent you?" he asked with an upward nod of his head.
The girl rolled her eyes as if Angel had just asked the most obvious question in the world, "The Carnival of course."
"The Carnival?" Angel sounded unconvinced. "Look, I've been here before, and there ain't no carnivals anywhere NEAR here, so why not just tell me the truth?"
"And, jes where would this here be Sugah?" she asked, a look of amusement on her face as she leaned back against the marble arch and pullts out an old rag she used to wipe her hands with.
"The corner of Levin and Main," Angel answered with a scoff, like he was answering someone who was too lazy to look up at nearby street name signs.
"Tell me then Sugah," she replied with an amused grin, "Why are we standin' on grass?"
Angel looked down at the ground at the girl's question, and jumped backwards in alarm, looking around him frantically.
"What the fuck?!" he cried out. "When the hell did I step on grass?!"
"And tell me Sugah," she continued as she rapped a knuckle against the solid rock of the arch, "There one of these on that corner ya were talking about?"
"Alright, that's it!" Angel quickly retrieved the gun from its holster and aimed it at the girl. "Who the hell are you, and what the hell is this place? Spill or you're gonna find yourself with a hole in your head."
The girl only seemed amused by his display, "Careful Sugah, stuff like that's only gonna get ya in trouble... and ya'll only end up shooting blanks."
Angel growled.
"Shoot blanks, huh?" he yelled. "I'll show YOU shooting blanks!"
He pulled the trigger.
The girl only chuckled as nothing happened, well nothing visible, though Angel felt a slight tingling at his crotch, "Sugah, threatening and trying to muscle yer way inta this is only gonna get ya in trouble."
"What the fuck?!" Angel brought the gun down and slapped the magazine onto his hands then reloaded it, ignoring the feeling in his pants in his current state. "It should be loaded!"
"Alright," he strode up to the girl and stood at his full height of 6'0". "What the hell did you do?"
Girl sighed and shook her head, seemingly ignoring the taller man and grumbling, "Why is it Ah always get stuck with tha stubborn ones?"
Angel rubbed his forehead with the base of his palms and sighed in defeat.
"Alright, just tell me what's up," he relented. "This isn't gonna go anywhere until you do."
"Finally tha boy gets some sense!" the girl grumbled as she pulled another cigarette, "Got a light?"
"Yeah, sure," Angel tossed the girl a lighter. "Can't be in my line of work without a lighter."
"NOW are you gonna tell me what I wanna know?"
The girl took a long drag from her cigarett before releasing a then stream of smoke up into the air with a sigh, "This here is Tha Carnival. Not a carnival THA Carnival... This here place is where someone can change there fate and alter destiny. A place fer second chances where tha threads of can be alterd to suit yer heart's desire... All ya have ta do is win tha prize."
Change fates... alter destinies... he could change so much with his life...
But it was too good to be true, probably just some nut talking.
"Are you bullshitting me?" he questioned.
"Sugah, afta what ya just went through, ya really think ya wanna dispute it?" she responded as she rolled her eyes, "Besides, it the only way to pick up tha ah.... problem ya picked up when ya tried ta draw on me..."
Angel shook his head as he recalled the weird things that happened to him during his talk with the girl.
"Alright, I'll bite," he agreed. "So what do I do?"
"Ya step through the gate and yer at the Carnival, that's the only place ya can claim the prize..."
"Alright, fine..." Angel grumbled and stepped through, keeping a hand near his holster just in case.
The girl only rolled her eyes before the world dissappeared around Angel. (And Kwok is out of play until Shu and Ryder post through)
Makoto sighed from his hiding spot, watching the other's play catch out in the park's field, or hang together to talk about the latest trends and idol bands. Currently, he was on his way home from school and had stopped at the park to change out of his school uniform and into his regular clothes.
He longed to join them, to be able to enjoy and immerse himself in their world and forget the troubles of the double life he was leading. Though he was more comfortable with the adults, he still wished that he could become part of the crowd, even only once, and have it feel natural. A sad smile appeared on his face as he considered his position: too mature to fit in with the teens, yet somehow still too young to be accepted by adults. "A misfit in both worlds," he sighed, picking up his backpack, and heading home.
As he passed by a cluster of trees, a soft melody began to drift towards him. Curious, he paused and listened to the strange tune. "Carnival music?" he pondered, recognizing the cheery, yet haunting melody. "But, where is it coming from?"
Glancing towards where the music seemed to originate from, he saw a cool, foreboding mist, and felt a strange urge to find the source of the melody. Following the feeling, he followed the sound straight into the mists.
When he first entered the mists, Makoto found himself hit by a wall of damp, stale air. The scent of death clung to his nose for a moment before he found himself standing before a tall iron gate, the barred entrance opened wide as crows peered down at him from above. There, standing a bit to the side, was a man with an empty sleeve clipped up against his shoulder, not even a stump where an arm should be.
Loose camo pants, worn and faded with time clung at his legs, falling to the scuffed and muddied combat boots over his feet. An olive vest, as worn as the pants they met at the waist and covered in a multitude of pockets, fell over a black turtle neck shirt, a stark contrast with its crisp appearance to the wrinkled and aged look of the rest of his clothes. His face however, stood as a strange contradiction, his temples marked with the silvery streaks of middle age against his raven black hair, and yet, his face maintained a smooth, ageless quality to it.
"Welcome to the Carnival kid."
Makoto gazed at the iron gates in awe, wondering how this could exist in the middle of the park and not be known. Suddenly, hearing the voice, he turned to the previously missed older man standing nearby.
"Oh, h... hello sir," he greeted nervously. Something about this place put him on edge. His grip on the straps of his pack tightened, reassuring him slightly.
"Not to be rude or anything," he began, gazing back at the iron gates. "But where did this place come from?"
"Where ever and when ever The Carnival called it from," It was a simple reply, the man's face almost amused.
"Oh, err..." Makoto blinked, confused by the man's somewhat vague answer, and wondered why he did not explain how this place could exist in such a small park.
"Well, uhm, just what is The Carnival?" he asked, curious on how it might have called this place as the man said.
"Its a place of change kid, where fate and destiny have no hold, and the threads of time can be rewoven."
"I... see..." Though that was even more vague then the earlier answer... He sweated, slightly wary at how closely this scene reminded him of the stories his mother told to him as a kid.
Tightening the grip on his pack, Makoto smiled nervously as he began to back away. "Well, uhm, that's quite interesting, sir. I hope business goes well for you here," he said, putting on a cheerful front.
The man chuckled softly as he looked into the boy's eyes, his own a dark amber, misted over slightly with streaks of silver, "You are the only business the Carnival has here kid. Else, neither of us would be here."
"What?" Makoto pauses, caught of guard by the man's response. "What do you mean, 'You are the only business the Carnival has here'?"
"Kid, the entrance to The Carnival only appears to those it chooses to allow entrance to, no others," the man chuckled softly, "And it is to those alone that it offers the chance of a lifetime."
"Chance... of a lifetime?" Makoto repeated curiously.
"Yup, the chance to make your heart's desire come to life... to make it real to you and the world."
Makoto lowered his head, stunned at the reply. He silently considered the possibilities presented to him, and after what seemed to be long, agonizing moments, he quietly asked, "H... how?"
"Ya enter the Carnival. That's where ya'll find out what ya need ta know. Jes remember, the only way yer gonna get out is if you recieve your desire."
"All right." Gazing towards the iron gates, Makoto strolled up to them, gripping his pack tightly as he reached out to open them.
The ALREADY open gates needed no opening as he stepped forward and was suddenly gone from the world.
Caitlin wasn't running. It would draw attention. She was making her way to a more populated area though. Losing herself in a crowd should slow down her persuers.
The job has gone off ok, until the end. A worker returning late for a forgotten folder, spotted them and raised an alarm. Caitlin had to agree, the corporations security force was good. Luckily only a short firefight ensued before they made their escape. Neddy took a couple hits, but nothing a couple hours with a tool kit wouldn't fix. She did lose her favourite rifle in the escape though.
Making her way through a small alley between two grey buildings, her ears caught the sound of music. Not taking much time to decide she made her way towards it as she exited the alley.
"Doesn't sound like a bar, but there must be some people there. Anything is better then these empty streets."
And in front of her, there was a wall of mist from which the music beckons
Shrugging at the strange fog, Caitlin stepped into it and continued to follow the music.
And before her, she found a grand archway of green vines and leaves, the mist almost swirling about it as the vines seemed to almost move as she watched. And there, standing before that arch, stood a figure, its tall frame covered in the shining steel of full plate mail, ornately crafted, yets there seemed to be something about it. Its hands were outstresteched slightly, resting on the pommel of a massive, sheathe sword, its face shielded from view by a faceless helmut.
"Hail and greetings. Welcome to the Carnival."
Caitlin stoped and waved to the steel clad person. "Umm... Hi. Carnival?"
Looking over the persons attire again, she tilted her head. "Is it one of those, what do you call 'em... Renessaince Festivals?"
The voice rang true as it responded simply, "Nay."
"So what's this Carnival like? If it's not Renessaince, then what? And how much for a ticket?"
She reached into a pocket for an unmarked credstick as she said the last part.
"Its cost is not of monetay value..." the voice replied as the figured continued to remain stock still, "Nor is it a place where material items hold much value."
"Then what kind of a cost?"
"Should thou enter, thou cannot leave without claiming the prize."
"A prize? What kind of a prize?" Caitlin's curiosity was making itself known as she continued studying both the entrance and the figure.
"Thine hearts desire. The Carnival is a place of power, where destiny and fate have no hold, and can instead be altered to the wants of thine self. The very threads of time can be rewoven if need be."
"A place of magic, then. Powerful magic."
Looking towards the archway again, she asked. "So I just go through?"
"Aye"
"Oooooook...." This guy definately wasn't a master of conversation.
"I'll see ya later then." And with that Caitlin proceded through the archway.
And with that the last of the participants entered the carnival and the wold around her vanished
(OOC: Will post the next part soon, when I can think again)
It seemed to last a momentary eternity, each stood alone in what could almost be described as a void of non-reality before, suddenly it all came into focus. Each found themselves standing amid a group of other people they had never met before in their lives. people who they couldn't have ever met had they never ventured forth into the carnival. To most, there seemed to be something missing within them. something blocked or cut off as they found themslves standing amid a strange mixture of tents, wooden stands, and erected buildings. Each looked as if some they were temporary placements, and yet, there was an air of permance about them, a strange conglomeration indeed.
And so, here they stood, new faces to each, as they recieved their first glimpse and silent welcom to The Carnival.
Raya Sprite blinked and then giggled. She looked around, ignoring her new companions for the moment to get an idea of her new surroundings.
Fearless Leader
More detail please
Caitlin quickly swept her eyes over the area noting the lack of any beings besides the ones near her.
Next she looked over the others, wondering if they were 'customers' like her or employees.
"Hello."
She would look into the strange feeling in a moment.
Angel just stood there, arms crossed over his chest, staying silent and waiting for whatever the Carnival has to dish out.
Nathan's eyes swept around his surroundings taking in every detail. When he was done looking, he just stood there silently. Slightly wary of the other people who suddenly appeared before him.
Aaron shook his head to clear it after the rather unexpected entrance.
"What the...?" That had been rather unpleasant experience. A moment later he noticed the group of people that were standing around. It seemed they had taken that entrance a bit better than he had.
"Weird," he thought. "I could have sworn I was just walking through the gate. How...?"
His thoughts were interrupted as he was greeted by one of the people standing around. He turned his attention to that person. Noting that it was a woman his straitened his posture slightly and took in her features.
"Um... hi?"
OOC: Cy, what does Caitlin look like?
Verato looked about and saw everyone busy taking in their surroundings, as was he.
More fools like himself who had entered this...carnival? Or employee's maybe. Maybe this was all just an illusion.
He kept one hand close to his waist and did what he always did as a watcher: watch and wait.
They stood amid what seemed to be a fairway in the carnival. To the north, stood the gaping maw of a clown, leading to a bloat building of an almost psycodelic spectrum of colors. Staning before it was what appeared to be an ancient, empty booth, with a door standing behind the teeth, closed tight.
To the south, stood a large wooden building, the boards greyed with time and seemingly worn by the elements. Its entrance stoood guarded by a harlequin, dressed in red and black, his painted white face adorned with black lips in a smile. Behind him, stood two mirrors, standing across from a door frame.
To the east, stood a line of various gaming stands almost everyone to have ever taken place in a carnival.
The west was much the same, save the stands were of food and not games. The harlequinn seemed to be the only one other than themselves in view.
Makoto blinked, reorienting himself with the surroundings. "So... this is the Carnival?" he murmured, gazing at the many booths and attractions. "It doesn't look very different from others." Quirking his head, he watched the harlequin curiously, still gripping his pack tightly.
Having glanced over the Carnival nearby, Raya then turned towards the group around her. Since they were all here together, no reason not to be friendly. Maybe they'd join her on some of the rides. With a childish twinkle in her eye she smiled at the group and chirped, "Hiya, I'm Raya Sprite. Who are you?"
Fearless Leader
The harlequinn stared right back at Makoto, its features indistinct from this distance, but it made no move to approach.
"I am Verato." Verato looked at Raya curiously. "How did you get here?"
"I found it in the forest silly," Raya smiled and waited for the others to respond.
Fearless leader
"Hmmm," Makoto blinked, noticing the others were introducing themselves. "Oh, hello. I'm Makoto." He blinked, glancing at the others, "Are we all here for the same reason?"
Angel shrugged.
"Saw some woman in a mist somewhere on the way to another house and basically here I am."
Might as well do the same thing everyone else is doing and introduce myself...
"Oh, I'm Angel. If you're ever looking for a good time with some good-looking women, just give me a call."
(Forest?)
He didn't know how to answer that.
Verato looked at Angel curiously when he introduced himself.
(He's pretty big) He thought.
Turning towards the girl, Caitlin gave a small wave.
"Name's Caitlin. And I'm guessing all of us were brough here by magic of some sort."
OOC: Kwok, you get the award for the most inappropriate response ever to a young girl asking who you are.
IC:
"Yep Yep!" Raya chirped in response to the questions. Turning to Angel she stared at him. "Mou...You're STRANGE!" Shaking her head she turned to the others smiling.
"Mou...let's go check out that strange looking puppet!" Raya pointed to the harlequinn cheerfully.
Aaron frowned ever so slightly at having his greeting seemingly ingnored by Caitlin.
"Women," he muttered as he gave the carnival a thoughtful look. It was, in a word, rundown. The lack of people save themselves was a big clue that his sister wasn't there.
"Thank god for small miracles," he thought. He made a mental note to check out the gaming stands later.
Verato blinked. There was nothing else to do, and the little girl's suggestion was as good as any. He headed towards the harlequinn and stopped once he was a few feet away.
"What is this?" He asked the harlequinn quietly.
Now that Verato was close enough, he could see that despite the cheerful arrangement of paints on his face, the harlequinn wore an expression framed so firmly, that it bored upon grim. Eyes, blue as artic eyes looked down at the young man from the lean, 6'6" man's eyes as he finally spoke in a measured, cultured tone, "Which this? This building or this place?"
Raya hopped cheerfully behind Verato. "Mou, what is this building?"
Fearless Leader
"This is the hall of mirrors... Where reflections can be seen... reflections of the body, the heart, the mind, and the soul... Reflections that hold true, reflections that are distorted. Each a world onto their own, connected through the mirrors... And all capable of change."
"Mou..." 'a path of change?'
Raya turned to the others, "Let's go in here first."
Fearless Leader
Just now remembering to introduce himself, he nodded to the group of people and said, "The name's Nathan, if anybody wants to know." Looking at the little girl, Nathan wondered if they should follow her suggestion.
Aaron followed behind the child and boy with the oddly colored hair. It was better than standing around, and they seemed to have some clue as to what was going on.
He shrugged after hearing Raya's suggestion.
"Why not? Guess it's as good a place as any to start."
"I don't know," Makoto spoke up quietly, "I mean, shouldn't we find out more about the attractions here instead of barging into the first place we see?"
"Uhm, Verato, wasn't it? Can you tell us more about what we can see in this place?"
"You want to see what is inside the house of mirrors?" He asked Makoto.
Verato thought about for a moment and nodded.
"Very well, I'll check it out."
He gazed into the darkness of the doorframe for a minute and stepped through.
And Verato walked straight into the door face first, causing the harlequinn to shake his head, "You really should pay attention..."
"Well, that's one way to find out if something is real." Caitlin said as she approached the standing group.
With that said, she took a look for a handle.
No handle presented itself as the harlequinn coughed politely, "This is a Carnival you know... ever heard of getting a ticket?"
Raya looked up at the harlequinn, bright eyes shining. "How do we get a ticket sir?"
Fearless Leader
"All ya have to do is ask."
"Mou...can we all have tickets, Sir?"
Fearless Leader
The Harlequinn put his hands together, fingers together, with palms touching palms, then twisted them in opposite directions. Tickets appearing like a peacock spreading its feathers in his hand. Holding them out towards the group, he almost smiled as he offered, "Come and take them."
Raya giggled and reached up and took one.
Fearless Leader
After Raya took the first ticket, the harlequinn finally grin, and his hands pulled back, leaving the tickets suddenly floating in mid-air, "Well then... ENJOY!"
As the man began to laugh each ticket flew forwards and slipped into a hand, pocket, or some similiar place on their persona. Then, as one the ground opened up and they found themselves sliding fast down a twisting shoot, their descent lasting a few long moments before they landed on floor, and found that they were no longer all together.
Raya found herself across from Verato.
Nathan was next to Makoto.
Caitlin found herself alone with Angel and Aaron.
Three groups, each on their own in the hall of mirrors.
"Oof...Mou..." Raya stood looking around before looking down at her younger companion. "Are you okay?"
Fearless Leader
The pair stood in a room with four sides and no visible ceiling. Each wall looked to be a giant mirror, but, their reflections looked strange...
Caitlin stood up and looked around the area. Then turning back to her companions, she addressed them. "That was an interesting way to enter."
Caitlen saw that there were six mirror walls about them, with odd reflections in each mirror.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He felt like a complete fool, but other than that he was fine. Verato clenched his fist and let the frustration pass. It wouldn't do any good to get angry now.
He stood up and took in his surroundings.
"What now?"
"That's one way of putting it," Aaron groused as he stood. He took a moment to note his suroundings.
"This is a funhouse, right? So there should be a hall or something around here somewhere. Let's find that and get out of here."
Aaron studied the mirrors closely as he tried to find the way out.
OOC: More details please
Makoto sighed, glancing around their surrounding area before turning to the older man. "Nathan-san? I guessing that things get more, what's that word, uhm, complicated?" Makoto asked curiously in accented, but passable english.
OOC: Which Mirror are you looking at pandaman? ^_^
Makoto found himself in a room similiar to the one Raya glanced about earlier, four mirrored sides with the strange reflections.
"We find our way out silly." Raya smiled. "Maybe one of these mirrors are a fake," Raya commented glancing around again.
Fearless Leader
Nathan turned looked at Makoto and replied, "I guess so kid, I guess so." Taking a look around, it seemed to him that they were trapped inside of the room. ' Hmm, wonder how'll we'll get out of here...'
"Alright then. Check the mirrors?"
Verato stood in front of the first mirror closest to him and stared at it, looking for something out of place, something to grasp so he could open it.
He found not latches or seems, only himself suddenly staring back at him. His mirro image came back in sudden focus, each detail exact as it looked back at him, only every color of his body was inversed. Light become darkness mainly.
Verato stepped back, surprised. He peered at his reflection suspiciously. A trick of the light maybe?
"Raya, was it? Can you come here for a moment and tell me what you see?" he asked her quietly, touching the mirror and seeing his reflection do the same..
In response to Verato's touch, the mirror suddenly shimmered and seemed to flow into him. He could feel a sudden tingling rush through his body as if he had suddenly been dunked into cold water. When it was done, the way before them was open, and he... he now appeared as his reflection had.
Raya's eyes widened, "Verato!" she shouted in shock, still a few feet behind him.
Fearless leader
Verato looked at Raya curiously. What was she so surprised at? They had a way out now.
"What's wrong?" He asked, somewhat curiuosly, somewhat irritated.
"Look at your skin!"
Fearless Leader
What, was this some sort of joke? Verato looked at his hand.
"..." His expression was a mix of shock and horror. He rubbed his hand over his sleeve, thinking this could be just some cheap trick.
"It's not coming off," He muttered. "What is this? Raya, what is this?"
He was starting to act irrational now.
"It looks like magic...don't worry... I can fix this!"
Raya looked him over and attempted to call her magic, muttering the incantation to summon Luna the spirit of the moon to her side.
Fearless Leader
And Raya found... nothing happened. In fact, she could now realize what it was that felt like it was gone when she first arrived. Her magic had either been taken or sealed away by the carnival.
Raya's eyes widened in a bit of fear....she'd never been without her magic. she gripped tightly to her staff, her last way to defend herself. "No...my magic...it's gone!"
Fearless Leader
"Magic...you know magic?" Verato knew what that was. Conjuring things out of midair, creating illusions, creating destruction with a few words. It was supposed to be nothing more than a children's fairy tale to him. But then again, this carnival seemed like nothing more than a fairy tale as well, and here he was.
Heavy with these thoughts, as the ordeal with the color of his skin, he panicked.
"W-who are you?" He stammered, looking at Raya in fear. "What are you?"
"Mou...I told you...I'm Raya Sprite," her purple eyes looked dark as she looked around. She turned and peered at the mirror to the right of where she was.
Fearless Leader
As she peered into the mirror, Raya saw herself, only slimmer, with a pair of gossamer wings lifting out of her back, a pair of black antennae at her head, and almost crystalline eyes of pure blue.
Raya shivered a bit. "Come on, let's move on...we have to find our way out of here."
She turned from the mirror and walked past Verato into the new room, looking around it.
Fearless Leader
And in the room she found... two more mirrors, connected to either side of the doorway and forming a triangle as they connected together.
Raya glanced into the one on her left as she waited for Verato to catch up. Slow boy.
Fearless Leader
Verato clenched his hands until they were white, forcing himself to relax. Silently he muttered to himself, taking his mind off magic. There was nothing he could have done to stop what had happened to him, so it would be best if he didn't dwell on it.
"Y-yeah, lets go," he murmured, taking one last look at his darkened hand before shoving it into his pocket. He turned around to follow Raya.
And there, staring back at her was a young boy, matching her pose exactly though standing a few inches taller with slightly darker hair. Everything else though was identical to her.
Raya sweatdropped and turned to the one on her right, carefully stepping away from the mirror on the left.
Fearless Leader
In the second mirror, Raya found herself looking at... herself. Or, how she would look if she had blue skin, webbed hands, black eyes and green hair that seemed to move of its own accord.
Raya sweatdropped again and turned to Verato. "Mou...Hey boy, maybe you can break through one of these windows?"
Fearless Leader
"Neither of them seem very inviting, do they?" He commented. "Very well, I'll try breaking them. Please, stand back."
Verato pulled out one of his pistols, .45 caliber, aimed, and squeezed the trigger at the mirror of Raya with webbed hands.
Raya moved swiftly back out of the room into the previous one, stopping at the doorway between the two.
Fearless Leader
As he pulled the trigger, all that happened with the sound of a soft click going off.
"Mou.....the magic must be affecting your guns as well...try to break the other one down?"
Fearless Leader
Verato pulled the clip out, studying it intently, and clapped the cartridge back in the weapon.
"Hmm..." He holstered his gun and looked back at Raya. "Can I borrow your staff?"
"Mou...just don't break it," Raya reluctantly handed her staff to the larger and stronger boy. "Try the other way," She pointed to the left mirror. "Maybe it was some magic shield on the right one."
Fearless Leader
"I don't think I'm strong enough to break it...I hope. I'll be careful." He turned to the left mirror, eyeing it critically. He gripped the staff tightly, holding it carefully, and swung at the mirror.
The staff impacted upon the glass, and... the glass shattered with a scream of rage bursting forth into the room. Shards clung to the air before they melted in place, the entirity of the shattered mirror suddenly rushing at Ace, coccooning him as it forced the staff from his fingers. The liquid mirro covering every bit of his body as felt what seemed like every nerve ending on his body burst a live at once, flaring in pain.
Yet, despite how intense the pain grew, he could not find the release of unconsciousness. Finally after a few agonizingly long moments, his coccooned form fell to the ground, and the glass shattered and faded away. The form revealed beneath was far from the original.
Verato's entire body had grown slender and curvy, his flesh a dark blue, almost glowing softly to Raya's eyes. Hair as white as the snow fell from his head, falling over the slender points of his ears. A pair of smallish breasts pressed out from his chest, as a pair of violet eyes beheld the world anew. In short, he, was now a she.
Where the mirror had once been a wall now stood, barring their way to proceed.
"Verato?! Are you okay?" Raya hopped over to her and looked up at her.
Fearless Leader
Verato looked at his hand again, this time to look for any broken glass shards that might have hit him. His hand looked more slender, his skin smoother, which disturbed him. He, or she as it may be, put his hand to his face, noting the differences, and lastly, she pressed her hand against her chest, her growing fears realized.
Verato was a girl now. And stood there, even more shocked than she was at the first change. She cried out in anger at something she couldn't see, clenching her fist till she left bloody marks on her palms.
"Raya, tell me. I'm a girl now, aren't I?" She asked, somewhat bitterly, though the answer was clear.
"Mou...that's...right."
Fearless Leader
Verato's arm twitched for a moment before she crumpled to her knees.
"...That's it then...I'm a girl now..." She looked at her hands, once worn and scarred from life, now smooth and slender. Verato tightened her belt as an afterthought. Then came to her mind the gun. Suicide...wasn't an option anymore.
Verato stood, picking the staff and handing it back to Raya.
"Lets go. We've got 1 mirror in this room and 3 more in the one we left behind. Let's check the other two mirrors." Her voice was laced with bitterness as she headed back to the first room.
"Okay," Raya hopped back into the previous room and looked at the mirror opposite the open door, peering into it.
Fearless Leader
What Raya saw was herself, only "Lightened" would be the best way to describe it. Her hair was a light, platinum blond, her eyes so pale a blue that they bordered on white, as her skin was pale to the point of total white.
Verato looked into the only mirror left that was unknown to them, across from the mirror with the butterfly image.
Aaron foun himself staring at... himself, only with four arms rising forth from his torso.
Verato saw herself shrunken down to dwarfish size, though, her skin had returned to a peach color.
Raya turned and peered into the mirror Verato was looking into.
Fearless Leader
And Raya found herself... looking at what appeared to be a barbie sized version of her self, barely a foot tall.
Verato turned from the dwarfish image of herself, opting to take a look at the light mirror that Raya had been at previously. She touched the mirror.
OOC: Ace... next time you should look BEFORE acting on something like this -_-;;
IC:
The instant she touched the mirror, it began to flow into her, and she felt the tingling rush of the change. All about her body, her skin lightened to a soft tan. Her eyes became a soft lilac color, then she felt the tingling increase in her mind. Suddenly, she couldn't feel depressed or angry anymore, instead, she felt a giddy happiness rush through her, as if she no longer had a care in the world.
"Mou..." Raya shook her head and moved past the now light skinned Verato and glanced into the next room.
Fearless Leader
room desc please
And Raya found herself in a room totally duplicate to the one they had first arrived in, save one wall was gone as their entrance.
Raya walked across the room to look at the mirror directly opposite her.
Fearless Leader
OOC: Yeah I guess that would have been a smart thing to do. None of the other choices left seemed particularly inviting though.
IC:Verato smiled. This really wasn't such a bad place, was it? All fun and games and such. It was so very interesting too.
"So this is what it must feel like to be high," She thought, somewhat dazed. "Cool, more mirrors!"
She looked in the mirror to the right of Raya.
Slowly turning around, Caitlin looked at each of the mirrors.
From her vantage point, Caitlin only saw things as a strange reflection, indistinct.
In the mirror, staring back at her, Raya was faced with... Herself, but, with a snake's tail instead of legs
Staring back at Verato was herself, only, with a more Asian cast to her face and body.
Raya turned and looked in the mirror opposite the one Verato was looking into.
Fearless Leader
Angel swore as he landed on his behind.
"I should've been more careful and at least land on my feet..." he muttered.
He waved to his two companions, and briefly surveyed his immediate area.
"Something seems strange about these mirrors..." he said aloud. "They're not normal funhouse mirrors. The reflections aren't right."
In that mirror, Raya found herself faced with her self, but, with large, black feathered wings.
Raya sighed glancing back at the rather airheaded looking Verato. She stepped over and looked into that mirror to see.
Fearless Leader
Native American Raya looked back at her with soft reddish skin and shining black hair.
Raya sighed... she couldn't let Verato keep opening all of these while she stood untouched. Turning and looking around she choose. Walking to the mirror with her with black wings she gazed into it...and reached out to gently press against it with one hand waiting for it...
Fearless Leader
As her fingers touched the cool surface, the mirror melted into her. She felt the tingling rush as a new room was revealed, and a sudden weight settling onto her back. When it finished she could feel new sensations she had never before had, an new pair of limbs sticking out from her back in a way she wasn't familiar with.
Raya reached back touching her new soft black wings. They were so soft. Trying to move them she found it awkward, almost whacking herself in the face with them before getting them to settle relaxed behind her. Sighing she strode into the next room to see...
Fearless Leader
A room identical to the one they had first opened up appeared before them, two mirrors, staring back at them.
Raya turned and looked into the one on the left.
Fearless Leader
And Raya saw herself as she was now, only, her legchanged into a pair of furry goat's, as if she had become a satyr below.
Raya sweatdropped and turned to look to the mirror on her right.
Fearless Leader
Raya found herself facing herself, but, with hair that fell down to her ankles, and seemingly writhing and twisting about on her head, as if alive.
Verato grinned stupidly, swaying back and forth as she stood, tranfixed, watching her reflection do the same.
"Oohhh, that's pretty cool." Verato blinked, but she could get rid of the fuzzy haze that clouded her vision. Still, the colors were pretty trippy.
As she stepped forward to get a better look at her asian self, she tripped clumsily and slammed her head into the mirror.
As she touched the mirror, it gave way to her, encompassing her and wrapping itself about her like a blanket as she continued to fall forward. This time, it was a warm tingling, before the glass shattered and vanished, leaving her with soft porclean skin, hair, that was an almost auburn color, red mixed with dark, almost black, brown. Her eyes however maintained their pale lilac color.
In her mind, some of the giddiness faded, leaving her able to thin more clearly, however, she still couldn't find herself able to accept, and there was a strange under current of uncertainty to her thoughts
Raya blinked as she hurried back into the other room, "Verato? Are...Mou you went through another mirror? Are you okay?"
Raya's new wings twitched in slight agitation at her 'new friend's carelessness...after she'd already sacrificed herself to provide a route.
Fearless leader
"My head..." Verato groaned, sitting up and holding her head in pain. She looked at Raya blearily. "What happened? Why do you have wings? What did I just do?"
"Mou...we both opened a mirror...Oh...fuu..." Raya shook her head. "We might as well go on. Come on Vera-chan."
The little sprite hopped into the new room, looking around to see...
Fearless Leader
Two more mirrors, waiting to be examined.
Raya hopped in and looked at the mirror on left to see what mystery it held.
Fearless Leader
Verato hesitantly looked at herself in the mirror on the right, nervous about what she would see this time.
Staring back at Raya was herself, but, her hair had been replaced with fire, same with her wings. Her eyes glittered red and orange in her face.
Verato looked much the same in the mirror, save for the tail that idly twitched against her leg after wrapping itself several times about her waist.
Raya turned to glance into the mirror on the right.
Fearless Leader
Raya saw herself standing next to Verato, with a slimmer tail doing much the same as hers.
Raya sighed, looking up at the taller girl. One of them had to make a choice, might as well be her again.
Moving to the left mirror she put her hand against it waiting.
Fearless Leader
Verato instinctively touched her waist. She looked at the tail closer, trying to see what kind of tail it was, but was careful not to touch the mirror.
And, once more the change swept over her as she began to feel the gentle warmth of the flame slide over her skin. It didn't burn, nor was it an uncomfortable warmth, itwas merely warm.
Raya looked over herself, testingly putting her hands near her new hair.
Fearless Leader
And her hair merely gave off a gentle warmth.
Raya ran her hands through her hair in slight surprise and thanks... shaking her new flaming mane she hopped into the next room to see...
Fearless Leader
Verato pulled her eyes away from the strange tail and followed Raya into the next room.
Three mirrors, arrayed to face towards the entrance, gaving the room a trapezoid type appearance. each mirror smaller than the first
The tail was slender and lightly covered with an almost reddish fur and looking to be very long, and flexible
Raya turned towards the mirror on the left, looking into it intently.
Fearless Leader
Verato looked at the mirror on the right...again.
In front of Reya stood herself... roughly a foot taller and looking much more mature, a young adult form that had filled out into a well formed, if slender and petite woman. With flaming hair and wings of course ^_~
Verato founder herself looking at the pair of dragon's heads that appeared sprouted from her back, one purple, the other gold. It could be her imagination, but, the gold one seemed to give her a wink.
Glances at the remaining mirror to see what it would hold.
Fearless leader
Verato stepped back, a bit unhinged from the dragons, and shuddered. Stupid dragon head.
And in that final mirror... A coat of soft red fur covered her body, save for spots on her neck and chest that tured white and the area from almost her elbow down covered in black. Her ears turns upwards to they sky as four fox tails swished behind her, a small, translucent flame burning above each as her hair and wings remained the same.
Steping a bit closer to a mirror Caitlin examined the reflection. Then she proceeded to do the same with every other.
"Don't just stand there guys. Look for a door, would ya?"
Verato turned her gaze away from the winking dragon head and looked into the mirror of the adult raya, curious as to what she would see.
There, she saw herself a couple of inches taller, but, still shorter than she was as a boy, with the slender, graceful figure of an elf, with a presence that bordered between sexy and elegant.
Raya turned and made her decision, placing her hand against the first mirror she'd looked into.
Simultanious Verato raised her hand to the mirror, both of them turning to look at each other in slight surprise as they made their decisions.
Fearless Leader
"Fine," Angel muttered.
He walked right up to one of the mirrors and looked at it to see if it lead to any doors.
The mirror pulsed under their touch, then started to flow over them.... only it didn't stop with just that one mirror. All three flowed over them, at once, covering them as they felt themselves falling unconscious... when they awoke, something definately felt... different.
Staring back in his face, Angel found himself... if he had been a frogman.
Raya's eyes opened as she stood unsteadily, looking over herself.
Fearless Leader
Verato blinked and looked down at herself, to see if the changes took place.
The first thing Raya noticed, was the soft nuzzling against her neck. Then, she could feel an extra presence pressing agianst her back, her, wings moved slightly lower down her back as something nuzzled her on the otherside was well. Her body, had grown into that of an adult, but, she hadn't quite checked to see what was nuzzling her just yet.
Verato found her skin covered in a the soft fur of the fox, her ears slightly more pointed as the four tails swished about, a dark flame hanging only slightly opaque above each tip. Her body felt different, more mature, like it had looked in the mirror
Raya turned her head curiously, glancing at the nuzzling sensation as her wings streched out, larger in her adult state.
Fearless Leader
Angel quickly back away a few steps, startled.
"What the hell was that?!" he cried out to his companions. "Did you see that?"
Looking back at Raya were two dragon heads, one orange, one yellow, both nuzzling against her though the orange one seemed to have a smirk on its face.
"MOU...um...Hello there," Raya reached out a hand nervously towards one of the dragons.
Fearless Leader
The yellow dragon head leaned forward and licked at her hand, nuzzling somemore against her.
Verato looked down at herself. She just closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands, wondering if she would ever change back to her old self.
Raya giggled, "Well...this is strange but...Mou...you are cute," petted the yellow dragon's head. "I wonder if you have a name..."
Fearless Leader
The dragon seemed to smile at her, but, for now, stayed silent. The orange one continued to smirk as it took a moment to wink at Verato.
"Mou...I'll have to name you two once we get out of here," Raya walked over to Vera-chan, grabbing her. "Mou, not so big anymore Vera-chan. Don't worry...it'll be okay," Raya hugged her.
Fearless Leader
"Thanks, Raya. You're right, things will probably turn out ok."
Verato accepted Raya's hug somewhat listlessly, but she didn't really know how to respond in this situation so it was the best she could do.
Raya smiled reassuringly...turning and walking through the doorway where the dragon heads mirror used to be. She looked into the new room and saw...
Fearless Leader
All that they could see was an inky blackness before them, with a solitary, and slightly familiar door before them, waiting to be opened
Raya, being a curious sort, glanced to the left doorway to see what was behind that as well.
Fearless Leader
As Angel quickly moved back, he stumbled and fell backwards, his body falling towards Aaron's back.
And Raya found... nothing, for there as only one door in site for them.
Raya gulped slightly stepping closer to the door and examining it. Her flaming wings twitched slightly in agitation.
Fearless Leader
There as a simple brass knob on the door, waiting to be turned.
"Well...I think we've come to the end Vera-chan," Raya smiled as she reached out and turned the knob, opening the door to reveal...
Fearless Leader
Verato nodded and gazed into the new room, to see...
And on the other side of the door, they found themselves facing the entrance again, looking at a bemused harlequinn as he let off a soft chuckle.
"Ouch!" Angel fell backwards onto Aaron's back.
"Sorry 'bout that," he said, looking non-apologetic as he gets up, then dusted himself off.
"Hello again sir... That was...interesting," Raya smiled nervously as she walked out.
Fearless Leader
Angel then stumbled again, falling into the mirror next to Aaron's and feeling the tingle of transoformation wash over him. When it faded, he found himself less than two feet tall and the way forward revealed.
Verato just looked at the harlequinn emotionlessly.
"Please tell me, is there some way I can change back to my normal self?" She asked the harlequinn.
The harlequinn chuckled as he nodded, "Welcome back... you're the first ones out, you can either wait for your companions, or move onto another area of the Carnival... *a twinkle suddenly shone in his eye* Or, you could head back in for another go.
"...is there a way to change back to the way I was before the mirrors?" Verato asked the harlequinn again.
"Now lass, why would you want to do that?" the harlequinn asked innocently.
"Because this isn't who I am," Came the listless reply.
Curious about the different relections from each mirror, Nathan took a step forward to peer into the mirror before him.
"Well, we could check for the door, right? One of the mirrors must be a fake that we could go through," Makoto reasoned, studying the closest mirror infront of him.
"Oh? And you really knew who you were before you came here?"
"No, but I had a better idea of what I was, who I was, then I do right now. What am I now?"
In response to Verato's question, the Reya's orange dragon head let out a wolf whistle and winked at her, causing the harlequinn to laugh, "I think the dragon has the right idea."
Raya blushed, "Shush Flammie." She patted the orange dragon on the head embarassed.
Fearless Leader
In response to the dragon, Verato ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.
"Yes, it does. That's what I am now. And this isn't who I want to be. Please, is there a way to change back?"
The dragon head merely smirked back as it made to blow Verato a kiss while the harlequinn continued, "Since when do we always become who we want to be? Where you who you wanted to be before?"
Nathan found himself looking into the mirror, with a wolf man looking back at him.
Makoto saw himself, but, with his eyes pure black, and his fingers tipped in claws.
Angel felt a strange tingle envelope his body, but he paid it no heed.
"Alright, I've found the way out..." he said after the way forward was revealed.
Looking back to his two companions, he only saw legs where the person should be.
"Fuck," he swore as he realized that the strange tingle must have made him shrink.
"Yo!" he yelled loudly. "The way out is here!"
"No, but I knew what I wanted before. I knew what I wanted. Not anymore..."
Verato ignored the dragon.
"Oh really? You knew what you wanted...? Then tell me, why don't you know what you want now? Maybe cause you like what's happening?" the harlequinn lean back against a wall, pulling out four black and white balls and started to juggle them.
Raya put her hand on Vera-chan's shoulder. "He's not going to help you Vera-chan. Let's just go...maybe somewhere else we can fix you."
Raya turned and started off towards the game stands.
Fearless Leader
Descs please
Nathan took a step backwards, surprised. 'Just what the hell was that!?! That's not me!' Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he replied to Makoto, "I'm not sure, we'll have to check every one throughly."
He then turned to his left and checked the mirror there.
"Because it isn't the same now. I couldn't remember what I was like after one of those mirrors. All I know is I felt really happy, without anything else. That wasn't me. Does my mind change with these changes to my body? Will my goals change because of the changes to myself?"
Verato shook her head.
"I don't want that."
She turned around and followed after Raya. The harlequinn wouldn't do anything for her.
"What...?" Makoto blinked, studying the reflection closely. "How strange..." Turning away from that mirror, he glanced at the one to the right of it.
In that mirror Nathan found himself looking into the image of himself... covered with a coat of purple scales.
OOC: Ok, which of the four mirrors did Nathan and Makoto start off looking in? I need to know so I can determine who sees what.
The stands stretched onwards for a bit, but, the first one that Raya came across had a wall, covered with balloons, a trio of darts set on the counter before it.
"Mou...hum, a dart throwing game. Are you any good at darts, Vera-chan? Why don't you give it a try?"
Raya smiled turning to wait for Verato to play.
Fearless Leader
Verato winced at the name "vera-chan," but nodded.
"I'm pretty good at aiming."
She picked up the darts.
An old man appeared leaning on the side of the booth, watching Verato with a craggy face, "Sure you want to do that youngin?"
"No, I'm not." Verato set the darts down. She looked at the old man.
"But please, can you tell me about this game?"
Aaron stumbled forward and threw his hands out against the mirror.
"Like all things here, this is a game of change... only this one's a bit more dangerous to be taken lightly... this one deals with yer mind."
As with the others, Aaron found himself tingling all over as the glass flowed into him, giving him no resistance to push back against. When it finished, he was on the floor, with four arms pressing agianst the ground.
"...what kind of changes will this game make to my mind?" She asked.
"There're three colors of balloons... each fer a type of memory... red ones for bad, green ones for good, and blue ones for facts and stuff, general knowledge, pop one, and you lose that memory."
"I don't know if I really want to lose any memories."
OOC: Put it in the OOC comments thread.
Nathan wasn't so surprised by what he saw in this mirror since he was prepared for it. But it still made him shudder. He turned left again to look at the third mirror and wondered what he would see next.
"Mou...neither do I. Shall we move on Vera-chan?"
Fearless Leader
"Yes, lets do that." Verato looked at the red balloon a moment longer before she headed to the next stand.
The old man shrugged and nodded as he continued to lean back, "Well, yer choice."
Raya followed her friend to the next stand which was...
Fearless Leader
Aaron pushed himself up from the ground and turned back toward the room he had fell from.
"Hey, watch it! You could've hurt... some...body?" Aaron paused as he realized that he was pointing with more than two hands.
"Whaa? Four arms? I've got four arms! Just like the mirror image!" he all but yelled. He took a moment to study his new arms, flexing and rotating them just to make sure they were real. The numbness from the shock wore off quickly and there was only one thing he could think to say.
"Nifty!"
It was only then that he realized that he stood in a room apart from the others. He turned to study the room he was now in. Almost an after thought he called out to the two in the other room.
"Don't touch the mirrors!"
A grinning man leaned against the pole of the next stand, behind him, a line of five clown faces, mouths open wide lined up behind him. Five guns laid before him on the table, "Well, hello there! Care for a bit of fun?"
"Hello. Can you tell us what this game is about?" Verato asked the grinning man.
"Its really simple, you take the guns, aim fro the mouths and shoot, a stream of liquid shoots out and hits the trigger in the back of the mouth, and makes a balloon blow up, first one to pop the balloon wins."
The room that Aaron had opened lead to a room shaped like a cube, three visible mirror sides, waiting to be looked into.
"I have a few questions. Who are my opponents? What will happen to us if we win or if we lose?"
"Well, there are two of you ya know?" The man pointed out, "And hell, this is a game ya know? As in for fun."
Aaron approched the mirror to the left.
"Mou...no changes or penalties or anything happens if we play? Just for fun and nothing more?"
Fearless Leader
The man blinked, "Why would there be changes? This is a game to help ya relax some."
And, in the mirror, Aaron saw himself with a long tail wrapping about his waist
"Thanks...but no thanks. Let's go on Vera-chan," Raya smiled nervously, her firey wings twitching slightly as she went over to the next booth and found...
Fearless Leader
"Tail, check," Aaron noted. He aproached the mirror directly opposite the 'tail' mirror.
TO CY:
IC: The first mirror she looked in, looked back at her with glittering emerald cat eyes, orange furr and a long, twitching tail.
"Alright." Verato nodded to the grinning man and moved to the next booth as well.
In that mirror, Aaron found himself staring into a pair of oozing black eyes, with four tentacles writhing out of his back.
Behing them, the man grumbled about them needing to loosen up as he faded from view.
Ahead of them they found themselves at an old fashioned ring toss, a group of rings set on the counter with various glass bottles standing there to be thrown at.
"Gah!" Aaron stepped back quickly from the mirror.
"Cthulu mirror, check." He aproached the remaining mirror.
"Mou...a ring toss," Raya walked up to the booth. "Hallo?"
Fearless Leader
In that mirror, Aaron saw himself... but with a snakes tail instead of legs.
A middle aged lady appeared, twirling a ring on her finger, "Hello deary, would you like to play?"
"What are the rules and prizes of this game?"
Fearless Leader
"It all depends on the bottle your ring lands on deary... and then you get a change..."
"Hum...I'm not much good at ring tosses. Wanna try Vera-chan?"
Raya stepped back, watching curiously.
Fearless Leader
"..." Verato picked up one of the rings, studying it carefully. She looked at the bottles, gauging the distance, and let the ring fly.
"So it's either snake legs, Cthulu spawned, or a tail." Aaron pondered his delima for a moment.
"Better check out the other room first." Aaron went back into the first room and studied the first mirror to his left.
OOC: Assuming Angel fell through the one to Aaron's right.
OOC: *looks at Ace* what did I tell you about just jumping ahead with actions?
IC: Having not really picked out a proper target, Verato wasn't really able to get the ring to land on a bottle neck, and it bounced down to the ground. The instant it impacted, Verato felt a little change under her pants.
There, Aaron found himself looking back at what appeared to be a blue skinned, silver haired, definately female, elven version of himself, with all four arms.
"Dargonesti mirror, check." Aaron approached the next mirror, moving left.
IC:Verato closed her eyes and shuddered.
"Tell me, miss, what kinds of changes occur with these bottles?" She asked, gritting her teeth in anger.
OOC: *finally notes posts in the OOC thread and chuckles nervously*
IC: Makoto found himself looking back into a slender, but rugged tomboy face. Lean and slightly muscled, yet with a definate femine cast to it.
"Well, the green ones make you more comfortable with your current form. The yellow ones will let ya choose from adding on one of three more changes. The White ones will push you more towards one transformation. The Brown ones will *coughs* affect your... ahem... And, the red one sunk down amid those brown and green ones... *points to a bottle barely visible* Will remove the last change done to you... I think ya already know what happens if you hit the floor..."
In that mirror Aaron found himself looking at himself with dark, rough skin and a bald head.
"Goddamn," Verato cursed freely now. "Will the green one let me remove changes as well as add? Can the red ones remove...other transformations before coming? Lastly, will the white one push more towards the most recent transformation?"
"Green ones make you more comfortable with your current form deary. The Red can remove any of the carnival's transformations. And, the whites will push you towards a random one of the transformations.
"Tempting," Aaron muttered. All of his life he had been teased about his color. Insults like 'white-lookin' and 'big red' had tormented him from as far back as he could remember. It would be so easy to change that in this place. All he had to do was touch the mirror.
Aaron's hands came up. It was so close, but still he hesitated. Shaking his head, he moved away from the mirror and temptation.
"I am who I am," he thought darkly. He turned his attention to the next mirror to the left.
"Well, this is getting weird," Makoto blinked. Curious, he glanced at the mirror to the right of the one where he had claws.
"I see..."
Verato closed her eyes, weighing her options. The odds of ringing the red was slim, so very slim. Not only that, but the others would be equally as bad to make it on.
But...if she made it, one of the many transformations would be removed.
She looked at the woman again.
"One more game," she whispered. She picked up another ring, feeling the weight, and looking at the red bottle carefully. She was going to make it. She didn't want to think of what would happen if she didn't. She aimed carefully and tossed the ring at the red bottle.
And, Makoto saw himself as a wolf man, staring back at him.
And, in this newest mirror, Aaron found himself looking at himself... so thin he seemed a frogman
Peering at the frogish reflection Aaron blinked. He shook his head as he tried not to laugh. That was just too wierd to take seriously. Reminded of long nights playing Chrono Trigger, he made his way to the last mirror.
And a thin frogman at that!
Verato watched as the ring flew through the air, bounced off the red bottle and landed around the neck of a brown one. A sudden rush flew over her as she felt her libido increase by 80%.
OOC: No, I didn't just randomly do that, I used dice to decide if you got the ring or not, and what the intensity of a ring would be if you landed on one of the ones you didn't want.
OOC:So I've been told by Drac. :p
I'll be back on a bit later, need to do some work and stuff.
IC: Verato closed her eyes again and shuddered. This time from the newest sensation. Sweat broke out on her forehead.
"Where...where's the bathroom?" She asked, gripping the side of the stand. "Preferrably with a lock."
In the last mirror, the one that Caitlin was looking at, Aaroon saw himself as a catman, light, dusty brown fur coverign his body, a pair of pointed ears and a flicking tail.
"About the closest you'll find are the porta-potties next to the food stands dearie..." the woman responded to Verato with a sympathetic nod.
"Vera-chan?" Raya looked at her curiously. "What's wrong?"
Fearless Leader
"Catman, check." Having studied all the mirrors in the room Aaron entered into the only room he had left to see and looked around.
"...damn...this place," She cursed. She was trembling now. "Is there...something closer where I can just...get some privacy?"
"Raya, I need you to do me a favor. I need to find a place to be alone for a little bit."
"Okay...um, we'll meet back here then in a bit Vera-chan." Raya turned and hopped off to the next stand, leaving Verato with the old woman.
Fearless Leader
"Hrm... well, about the only place to really get some privacy would be the hall of mirrors..." The woman responded with a shrug, "Or possibly the fun house..."
The next booth turned out to be one with a series of bottles stacked on top of each other, with three balls set on the counter.
Raya walked up curiously, her hair flaming brightly in the sun. "Hello? What game is this?"
Fearless Leader
A half shaven man looked up from where he suddenly appeared sleeping on the counter, "Um...? Oh, this is the knock down the bottle game..."
"What are the rules? And prizes and effects?"
Fearless Leader
"Eh? Ya get three balls to knock down all the bottles..." the man responded blearily, "Don't knock any down, your outfit gets changed. Only get 1-3, one article of clothing changes. 4-6 Eyes change color. 7 or 8 and ya get some cosmetic adjustments... leave one bottle standing, and, well... That can do anything from change your whole body to change your mind. Knock all the pins down and alter one change done to you."
"MOu....Maybe later," Raya smiled and moved on to the next stand, checking the rest of the place out first.
Fearless Leader
The stand was smaller than the previous one, with 10 holes about a little less than half a foot wide covering a piece of wood.
Raya walked closer, looking around as she called out in greeting. "Hello?"
Fearless Leader
A youthful looking young woman smiled down at Raya, "Hello there little one."
"Mou, hello," Raya smiled up at her cheerfully, "So, how does this game work? And what are the prizes if I win? or costs if I lose?"
Fearless Leader
"My my my, straight to the point, aren't you?" the woman giggled softly, "Well, 50 heads will pop up from these holes... you have to try and hit all 50 of them... hit one or less, and, you lose your clothes. 2-10 and your clothing gets... more revealing. 11-20, and just one piece of clothing changes. 21-30, you get more comfortable with the changes that have taken place. 31-40, and you start to lose inhibitions. 41-49, and you have a change furthered or lessened. 50 and you can remove a change."
"Mou...hum...I could win that!" Raya lifted her staff above the board. "Okay, Let's play!" She stood ready to swat the heads as fast as she could.
Fearless Leader
"Ready....?" the woman smiled.
"Yep," Raya's eyes narrowed as she prepared to demonstrate her skill and speed.
Fearless Leader
All right then... GO! *and the the heads started popping up...
When the game finished, Raya has hit... 32 heads.
She felt a light tingling as some of her inhibitions faded.
"Mou...only 32? I can do better than that...hum..." Raya tried to flap her wings, seeing if she could get into the air.
Fearless Leader
The room Aaron examined was almost identical to the one he looked at before, cube shaped, three mirror walls.
"Flammie" grunted as the wings batted his face as they failed to lift her off the ground, he expressed his displeasure by snaking down and lightly biting her rump.
The woman grinned at the girl, "Another round?"
Aaron stood in the center of the room, first looking toward the left mirror, then the right, then the mirror dirctly in front.
OOC:Trying to speed this up a little.-_-;
"Ouch...meanie. Oh...yah...I'll beat it!"
She stood in her previous stance, ready to slam as fast as possible.
Fearless Leader
OOC: Sorry, but I'm not going to fast any more, my brain is having trouble with continually coming up with new stuff, so... I only do one mirror at a time
In the left mirror, Nathan found himself look at himself, as a half melted green slime creature.
OOC: OK. No problem!^_^
IC: Aaron peered at the right mirror.
"All right... GO!" the woman cried as the heads started to bob up.
WHen it was done, 29 heads were hit, and she started to feel a tingle as her body felt more natural to her.
In the right mirror, Aaron found himself looking at himself, almost twice as large with a massive bull head.
"Where...is...the...funhouse?" Verato asked between pauses. Deep breaths, deep breaths.
"Mou...lost again? Flammie... Sunflare...can you help me? hit some heads while I do?" Raya asked of them.
Fearless Leader
The older woman gave Verato an almost flat look, "Tried looking across from the house of mirrors?"
"Whao, cooool," Aaron breathed as he stared at the bovine reflection. He turned toward the final mirror, directly ahead.
The Dragons nodded, though Sunflare much more enthusiastically than Flammie.
The woman smiled down at her, "Again?"
And in that mirror, Aaron saw himself as.... a human teapot.
"Okay! Together we can do it!" Raya got in position again, staff at the ready. "Go!"
Fearless Leader
"No, I haven't." She gritted her teeth and ran off to the funhouse. She stopped at the door and turned the handle.
"All right... GO!" the woman grin
The heads rose up, Raya struck, and hit... 27 times, her head tingling as she felt even more comfortable.
As her hand touched the handle, the ground under her suddenly exploded upwards tossing her into the air before the huge clown mouth shot up and swallowed her, sending her down a slide into a room that looked just plain odd.
Verato stood up and looked around. She forced herself to ignore her libido just for a moment to assess the situation.
Makoto glanced to the last mirror, to the left of the one with the wolf.
Raya shook her head stretching. She reached back and petted the two dragons. "Sorry Sunfire and Flammie...I'll do better this time... just me alone...Root for me!"
Standing in her stance again she prepared with her staff..."Okay, One more time!"
Fearless Leader
"Let's see," Aaron muttered. " A blob, a tea pot, a kick ass m'taur, a catman, a frogman, a black man(rather rough looking, though), a female smerf, cthulu's cousin, a half snake, or just get a tail. Choices, choices." Aaron made his way back to the room with the tail.
"Damn it, that m'taur looked so nifty, too!" He placed a hand upon the 'tail' mirror.
on the wall opposite her, a door stood... only seemingly using the wall adjacent to it as the floor and well above her reach.
Makoto saw himself... covered in scalles of a light green.
"This...place...is as good...as any..."
Verato cursed. She decided to first wait until she had calmed her libido down before doing anything else.
After maybe ten to fifteen minutes or so, she sighed and pulled up her pants, but not before shoving a certain something into her pocket that she was previously wearing.
With that taken care of, she gazed around the room, this time paying more attention to the smaller details as she paced about.
"Ready...? GO!"
And once more the heads rose and fell, this time she hit... 45 heads.
As she stood there, her flaming wings lengthened and grew thicker.
The mirror flowed into Aaron and he found himself sporting what turned out to be a 10' tail, strong and totally prehensible.
"Oooh...That's interesting.... Flammie, Sunfire pull next to me...I'm going to try something." She slowly began flapping her flaming wings once they were out of the way, trying to fly.
Fearless Leader
"Oh joy. I'm the monkey king. Now what?" Aaron entered the new room and looked around. His tail wrapped around his waist.
The dragon heads did as bade, and when she pushed off, she lifted a few feet into the air, then some force came and pushed her back down to the ground.
"Sorry deary," the woman spoke up sympathetically, "The carnival might give ya fully functional wings, doesn't mean it'll let ya keep em."
Aaron found himself looking at 2 mirrors in front of him, the room in a triangle shape
OOC: Slow down, you have two other people in your group you know -_-; Save some transformations for them :P
Verato placed her hands against the wall, checking for some secret door or switch or something that would get her out of the room.
OOC: Haha! I hear ya. I just wish they'd post soon.
IC:Aaron turned to the left mirror.
"MOU!..." Raya moped and turned glancing at the game. "Hum...One more round and then I go try something else." Raya lifted her staff above the board, "GO!"
Fearless Leader
When everything has been said and done, Raya had managed to hit all of 2 heads.
Ace found no secret doors, and no switches.
Aaron saw himself... with flowing green hair down to his ankles, writhing as if alive.
"MOU! ONLY TWO!?" She stared at her staff as if it was responsible for her horrible showing.
Fearless Leader
"That's... no, wait, of course it's possible. It has to be magic," Makoto sighed, turning around and leaning againt the mirror.
Aaron looked into the other mirror.
And then the changes began to Raya's clothes. First, her robe split into two parts. The lower half wrapped about her waist in a skirt that barely fell down her thighs and slit up the sides to the waistline. The upper half shrunk up, revealing the gentle slop of her stomach as it pulled snug to just below her breasts, the slip clinging tight to her body as it rose up t her nec, with a large cud out in ther to leave room for her dragons and wings and flowing all the way down to her wrists, still clinging tight to her skin.
As Makoto leaned against the mirror (the scaled one I'm guessing) he felt the mirror give against his frame, and suddenly wrap against him as he felt a tingling cover his body, when it faded, he was covered head to toe in those green scales.
Staring back at Aaron was... himself, as a monkey man.
Raya blinked and briefly wiggled. "humm...ooh...this shows off my body so well!" For some reason that thought felt odd to her but...she didn't care. "Well, I'm done here...I'm hungry. Thank you for letting me play Miss."
Raya strode off, her hips swaying from side to side as she walked past the gaming booth and into the food area.
Fearless Leader
"Tch!" Verato punched the wall in frustration. She looked up at the wall again, at the door. "I wonder where Raya went," she thought absently. She sat in the center of the room, looking up at the door.
"How do I get up there?"
Raya passed by the House of mirrors and the Fun house, and found herself entering the food area.
Raya smiled as she swayed over to the first food stand. "Hello?"
Fearless Leader
A dragon head popped out from behind the cotton candy cart and cocked its head at Raya, "Yessss....?"
"Wha... ouch!" Makoto cried out after the hard landing on his back. "What was that?" he muttered, rubbing his sore back after hitting the floor.
Aaron stared at the monkey reflection.
"..." Yeah, that about summed it up.
He turned around and headed back to the others. He'd be damned if he was the only one getting changed.
Verato grimaced.
"Hey!" She called out. "Is there someone there?!" Well, there was no use just sitting around. She again looked around the room before she placed her hands on the wall, looking for handholds to climb up to the door.
She found no hand holds at all for her to gain purchase with.
"Hum...you are selling cotton candy....I'm going to look around first," Raya smiled at the dragon and turned to go look at the next booth, intending to look around before she choose something to eat.
Fearless Leader
In the next booth, she found the vendor, a wolf man, selling... Hotdogs.
"How frustrating. Fun house indeed.." Verato reached into a pocket and drew the ticket back from the house of mirrors.
"This is what started it all," She thought. She put the ticket back in her pocket and scanned the ground carefully. Maybe there was something there she could use.
And again, she found... nothing.
Raya smiled and moved on to the next booth, looking for something sweeter.
Fearless Leader
There, she found a small stand, selling milk dud by a large man with a black beard.
"hum...Can I try one?" She quirked her head cutely at him.
Fearless Leader
The man chuckled softly and reacheded down, handing her a pair of the sweets.
"Puzzles really aren't my thing," Verato said. She looked at her 4 tails with the little flames. Holding on in her hand, she passed her hand through the flame above the tail as she looked to the ceiling.
Raya smiled happily slipping the chocolate delights into her mouth and chewing on them before swallowing happily.
Fearless Leader
Raya's top was stretched out as her chest was filled up with milk, twin stains appeared over her nipples as the green silk darkened from wet milk.
The flames had no ill effects to Verato, in fact they just felt warm to her touch as the continued to stare at the ceiling.
"Nothing on the ceiling, the ground, or the walls huh? This place certainly is barren," she commented.
She was fresh out of ideas. Verato pushed against the wall, thinking just how futile this all seemed.
And suddenly gravity shifted for her, causing her to suddenly be lying on her chest as the wall became the floor.
Caitlin finaly stired and followed Aaron. She examined him noting a few differences.
"What happened to you?"
"I was trying to find the way. Where were you and the perv?" Aaron asked. His tail twiched in agitation.
"I was a bit surprised by my reflection and looked at it for a while."
"I'm here, damn it!" Angel yelled.
Walking over to where Catlin's leg was, he kicked her on the shin hard to get her attention.
"Look at me, damn it!"
Aaron stared at the diminutive figure of Angel.
"I'm... not even going to ask. Look, the only way I can see for us to get out of here is to keep touching mirrors. That means more transformations. And seeing as I've already got four arms and a tail I think its about time one of you opened up a few rooms. Right now, the most harmless option I'e seen is long, green hair. I suggest one of you take it. Here, I'll show you where its at."
Aaron made his back to the entrance of the room with two mirrors. He gestured to the room.
"In there."
The Carnival practically sighed at Angel... yes, it had made a mistake bringing that one here... A mistake it was going to rectify. With little thought it tossed the pimp out of the carnival.... returning him to the world, as an oversized play toy.
Caitlin followed Aaron to the mirror and examined the reflection.
"A medusa?"
With that Caitlin touched the mirror lightly.
Hearing Makoto fall to the ground, Nathan turned around to see what happened. His eye's widened in shock as he saw him on the floor, all covered in light green scales! "What the..." stuttered Nathan as he stared at Makoto.
OOC: Cy, do not go around assuming things based on what other people experienced. The reflection in the mirror is different for each person. you have to LOOK first in order to see what it holds not just automatically assume, especially considering in this case you assumed wrong.
IC: The mirror flowed into Caitlin's hand, and she felt the tingling course through her body. When it faded, her hair fell down to her ankles in a shade of light blue, writhing against her body as if ear hair was alive, or, flowing like water.
"Blue hair. My mistake, but at least its not quite so gaudy, right?" Aaron tried to sidestep Cailin and enter the new room.
Pushing himself up, Makoto noticed Nathan staring at him. "What is it?" he asked, not yet realizing something had happened.
Caitlin raised a hand to touch the hair, and run it down. When the hair didn't stop where it should, she pulled it over her shoulder and looked at it.
"You know, I did want to dye my hair sometime, but never blue. And I will need to cut it when we get out."
Taking a couple twist ties from a pocket, Caitlin pulled the hair into a long ponytail while taking a step to the side.
Megan hummed softly to herself as she wandered through the park on her way home from school. She cocked her head to the side slightly, thinking she heard music.. carnival music. She fell silent and listened again.. No.. Yes! There it was. The girl turned around and peered in the direction of the sound. It was coming from a dark grove of trees surround by thick mist just a little distance from her. Biting her bottom lip softly, Megan started towards the mist, furrowing her brow as it got thicker and thicker the further she went, and the music got louder.
"Hello? Is anyone here?".
The world disappeared aroung her at first, then, suddenly rose back into sharp focus, a large stone gate, covered in ivy met her question, with a hunched over shape next to it. Thin, silver hair draped from the old womaon's head, the old, coarse brown robes falling loosely from her body. As her white eyes locked onto Meagan, she finally spoke, "Hello child.... Welcome..."
Megan gasped and spun around as everything seemed to just disappear, and then re-appear before her just as quickly making her cry out and stumble back in suprise, falling to the ground and landing on her bottom. She shook her head and put her hand against her chest as she caught her breath. Mumbling to herself as she slowly pushed herself back to her feet
"Eugh.. must have been something I ate.. either that or I'm finally going crazy".
She brushed off her dress and carried on, gazing up at the large gate as she did. She stopped at studied it for a few moments before lowering her gaze and spotting the old woman, a smile coming to her lips
"Hello, miss. Is the carnival in town? I did n't think it was for a few weeks yet".
The woman chuckled softly, "Well child, this isn't a carnival, this is The Carnival."
Megan pushed herself up onto tip toes and tried to peek passed the old woman and through the large gate.
"The carnival, miss? Are you still letting people in?".
Beyond the gate, she saw nothing but mist.
The old woman smiled as she nodded, "Yes child, I wouldn't be here if we weren't."
She lowered herself to the flats of her feet again and furrowed her brow, pouting a little as she looked at the old woman again
"I'm afraid I don't have any money on me..".
"The Carnival doesn't charge in money child... and it wouldn't be here if it didn't want you to come to it."
Megan smiled brightly and looked to the gates again
"No money, miss? We just walk in there?"
"Yes child, but, be warned... you cannot return without winning the prize..."
Megan widened her eyes a little and looked to the woman, then suddenly broke into laughter
"Oh that's ok, miss, I'm quite good at carnival games".
"If you say so child, if you say so..." the old woman merely smiled.
She nodded her head slightly, her red curls bouncing around her face
"Can I go in now, miss?"
"Of course child... of course..."
Megan smiled and bit her bottom lip as she moved passed the old woman and up to the large gate, slowly reaching a hand out and pressing the palm against the stone before giving it a push
The stone was cool to the touch, but did not yield to her push.
She looked up at the gate once more before stepping through into the mist, taking small steps and holding her hands out infront of her as she squinted to see through it
Suddenly, the world vanished around her, when it came back into focuse, she found herself on the fairway, between the house of mirrors and the fun house. Same as those that came before her, with the harlequinn still standing next to the hall of mirrors.
Megan stayed on her feet as everything shifted around her this time, almost expecting it to happen. She stood there for a moment and looked around her new surrounding before grinning and running across to the hall of mirrors.
"Hello, sir. May I go inside?".
"Of course little girl, all you need is a ticket," the man replied as he looked down at her.
She ran the palms of her hands down the front of her dress and slumped her shoulders with a sigh
"Oh.. I don't have one, sir.. the old lady never said anything about tickets..".
"For a ticket, all you have to do is ask," the man responded with a grin.
Megan returned the grin as she looked up at him
"Could I please have a ticket, sir?".
The man chuckles as he held out his hand and a tick extended from it.
She reached out and took the ticket from his hand, clutching it tightly as she looked towards the door of the hall of mirrors
"Can I go in now?"
The harlequinn smirked as the floor suddenly opened up, causing her to fall down a slide in a sudden, fast motion.
Down below, Caitlin suddenly found herself experiencing the same as she was dropped down into the floor, landing agiant next to Nathan and Makoto as Meagan ended up next to Aaron.
Megan cried out as she fell down and slid along, shooting off at the bottom and landing on her behind with a yelp. She blushed deeply and quickly rose to her feet seeing another person with her.
"Um.. Hello.."
"Gah!" Aaron jumped in surprise as Caitlin suddenly fell through the floor. Before he could even atempt to investigate it, the ground closed up and someone fell from seemingly nowhere and landed at his feet. He watched the- kid?- get to her feet.
"Hey yourself." Aaron was at a loss.
Megan looked around her surroundings as she got up onto her feet, frowning a little as she spoke to Aaron
"I'm Megan.. where are we?"
Meagan and Aaron found themselves at the entrance to a room with three mirror walls.
She looked up at him and smiled before slowly starting to wander into the room, peeking her head in before stepping in herself and looking towards the mirror on her right
In that mirror, she saw herself... with a pair of bunny ears and a fluffy cottontail.
"Aah!"
She cried out and quickly looked back over her shoulder and down at her bottom
"Hey you! Don't touch the mirrors," Aaron said. He aproached the girl and peered into the mirror.
Aaron saw himself, as a buck toothed, four armed wabbit man (yes, that's on purpose) With a long fluffy tail and a carrot in one hand.
She widens her eyes and looks back up at Aaron before pointing to her reflection in the mirror
"How.. how does it do that?"
"It's probably cursed," Aaron said. Seeing that the girl wasn't about to go touching mirros he relaxed.
"Its like this. If you touch a mirror whatever reflection you see you become. Everytime you touch a mirror a new room appears. I think that's the only way out of this place, so try to be careful, ok?"
He approached the mirror to the left of the entrance.
"I know it sounds a bit far-fetched, but these arms and this tail say its true." He moved the apendages to make his point.
"I'm Aaron, by the way."
In that mirror, he saw himself with a pair of gossamer wings that fluttered slightly in the air.
"Wings. Cool," Aaron thought. He aproached the final mirror.
"Oh! Let me try! This one will be the way out!"
She ran foward and reached both her hands out infront of her, pressing the palms against the mirror she had been looking into
In that final mirror, Aaron saw himself as a blue furred wolf man.
As Meagan pressed against the mirror, she felt a tingle as it entered her body, then, she continued forward, now sporting rabbit ears and a little bunny tail
She shivered as she felt the strange feeling flow into her body, squirming a little as the fluffy cotton tail and long bunny ears sprouted from her body. She giggled softly to herself and gazed about the new room
"Wings it is," Aaron thought. Before he could act on that thought he heard the girl.
"What? NO!" He turned just in time to witness the new entrance form. He quickly followed the red-haired girl to the next room. He glaced around the room until he spotted the kid. Noticing the bunny ears, he put his face in his hands and his other hands on his hips.
"I told you NOT to touch," he fairly moaned. "Why oh why did you do that?"
Megan spun around on her feet to look at him, a big grin on her face
"I'm finding the way out for us. You worry too much, there's no harm in playing. It's a fun house, I'm sure nothing bad can happen in here, just fun!"
This new room had two mirror walls, waiting to be explored
OOC: Gotta run. Be back in an hour. Class.
IC: "No harm?" Aaron looked at her blankly for a moment. "You know, there were two other people with me when I came in here," he deadpanned. "They didn't think much of it either. They... are gone now. Where? Nobody knows. How? Got me there. Why? Probably because they though it was all fun and games."
He bent down to look at her square in the eyes. His tail wiggled back and forth behind him.
"Be careful."
She widens her eyes a little as she looks up and listens to him, biting her bottom lip and nodding her head as he bends down to her level
"Maybe.. they got out? You don't think anything bad could have happened do you?".
Caitlin gathered herself and stood up. Noting that she was still inside, she turned to the others and took in their changes.
"Makoto, right? Not having any luck either?"
OOC: DY, I can't remember if you got any changes.
"You, sir, are an ass," Aaron thought as the joy drained from the girl. The wide eyes and bitten lip routine wouldn't have worked at home, but this was different. He felt guilty. Why was beyond him. He was right . There was no telling where Caitlin had gone after falling into that trap, and Angel...
Well, he hoped Caitlin was alright anyway. He stood strait again and gave the pale girl his best smile.
"Yeah, you're probably right. I bet we run into them after we get out of here. Nothing to worry about, right?" He let out a small laugh. Grasping for something to say to lighten the mood he plunged ahead.
"And, ahh, those ears really suit you." Realizing how that sounded he flailed his arms wildly.
"I... I mean they make you look cute! Yeah, that's it!" He turned to look in the left mirror, trying to hide his embarrassment.
OOC: Nope, no changes as of yet.
IC:
He was about to reply to Makoto when a woman suddenly landed on to the floor from above.
After seeing that Caitlin had gotten up with no trouble, Nathan thought 'This place is full of surprises'.
He then turned back towards Makoto to answer his question.
"Well kid, take a good look at yourself. You're all covered in green scales after accidently touching that mirror." said Nathan with a grimace.
Megan smiled and nodded her head again as he straightened up and spoke. Her cheeks flushed a soft crimson colour as he.. complimented her bunny ears. She forced herself to believe Aaron's friends had found the way out and were having fun somewhere else before breaking out into a giggle upon seeing his embaressment
"Will they go away?"
"I'm not sure," Aaron said truthfully. "By the way, what's your name?"
"Megan.. ".
She frowned a little and played about with her dress, making sure the back covered the fluffy bunny tail before turning around and peering into the opposite mirror
And there, she saw herself... with pink eyes and white hair.
Megan narrowed her eyes a little and smiled at the reflection. It looked nice, and all the changes would leave once they were back outside. She kept watching Aaron in the mirror as she stepped towards it slowly, trying to stay silent. Then she stopped suddenly and turned around, looking passed Aaron into the other mirror
In the other mirror, she saw... herself but, with a pair of butterfly wings.
In the mirror, Aaron saw himself with a pair of black butterfly wings, his eyes a matching onyx color
Megan gazed at her form with the butterfly wings briefly and shook her head before turning back around and pressing her hands against the surface of the other mirror
And the tingling worked up again, her hair and eyes shifting as she became a bunny girl with white hair and pink eyes.
Shaking his head, Aaron stepped away from the mirror. The wings wouldn't be so bad but those eyes...
He turned to approach the other mirror and noticed Megan's new transformation.
"... You did it again."
She gasped softly and shivered again as the tingling sensation ran through her body while the changes occured. She bit her bottom lip softly and turned around to face Aaron, holding her hands behind her back and smiling shyly..
"There's another door open..".
"And I was feeling sorry for her. I'm a twit," Aaron thought. "You try to help people and they still don't listen."
Sighing, he moved into the new room. He studied the room for a moment before turning his attention back to the rabbit-girl.
She frowned as she followed him into the new room, gazing up at him as he turned to look at her
"Are you mad at me? I'll let you do the next one if you like..".
And before them were three more mirrors waiting for them. Arrayed in that square formation.
"Why don't we try agreeing on which mirrors to use? We're in this together. I wouldn't want something to happen to you," Aaron said, and meant it. He had no idea where the others were that had started with him.
"Help me look around, Ok ?" He gave her a slightly strained smile before approaching the mirror to the left of the entrance. He unwrapped his tail fully. Aaron kept part of his attention on Megan. Maybe he could grab her before she ran through another mirror?
"I wonder how strong this thing is," he thought about his tail.
Megan smiled and nodded her head, turning to gaze into the mirror on the right of the entrance
There, Meagan saw... herself, with paws for hands and feet.
Looked into the mirror and grinned, turning back to look at Aaron and squirming on the spot as she forced herself to stay where she was
"What do you see in that one?" Aaron said while he peered into the mirror in front of him.
"The rest of the bunny look.. paws.. it looks so complete.. how about you?"
OOC: Bah, Chi, you're giving them easy mirrors to choose from :p
IC: Verato got up and growled. Well, now that the way this room worked, she might have a chance of getting out. She pressed against the wall on the opposite side that she thought would put her on what was originally the ceiling.
In that mirror, Aaron saw himself... as a her, with soft green skin, horns, and a large pair of dragon wings, his tail noticabely thicker, a pale green and lacking in fur
And then, Verato fell forward onto her face as gravity once more shifted.
"Hmm," Aaron stepped away from the draconic image.
"This one's a dragon, sort of." He aproached the final mirror.
"What are you... talking... about..." Makoto's reply slowed down as he took a good look in the mirror across the room.
Verato stood up and looked at the door. Was this the end of this god forsaken room? She hoped so. Verato headed towards the upside down door and reached for the knob to open.
Megan moved away and went to look in the third mirror with Aaron
"A dragon would n't be too bad".
OOC: Ace, you were already had the floor so you were on the same floor as the door, now, its at your feet and you'd have to bend down and crawl through.
In that mirror, Aaron saw himself... with blue skin, a slender form, closed eyes and a flame hovering over two of his hands.
Kitty saw herself, but, with six arms, a pair of tusks and rather over endowed.
Megan widened her eyes and shook her head
"Not this one..".
She turned away from it and checked the mirror on the left
There, Meagan saw herself as a pink dragon girl with floppy bunny ears and a tuft of hair at the tip of her tail.
Megan studied the Dragon girl for a few moments before turning back to look at Aaron. She quickly glanced back to the right mirror and the reflection of herself with the paws. Slowly, she started to wander back over to it behind his back.
"No good," Aaron thought to himself as he stared into the final mirror. "Better check that other one." He made his way to the mirror Megan had first looked in.
In that mirror, Aaron saw himself decked out in small little fow paws.
Megan grinned and looked up at Aaron as she stood beside him and gazed into the mirror
"I think this one would be best.. ".
"For you, maybe." Aaron stared at the mirror for a moment. "Someone's just hell bent on turning me into Son Goku. Hmm. It looks like the mirrors work slightly different for both of us. Guess that means we'll both have to look in all of them to see what would happen."
"I know! There was a mirror two rooms back that added wings. Let's go check that one again."
He glanced back at the third mirror. There was something about that image...
"I can do this one if you like.. I might even get the prize the old lady was talking about for getting all matching parts. And I'll change back once we get out. Or did you want the wings?"
"Old lady? What old lady?" Aaron asked.
"I don't remember any old ladys. Anyway, I don't think turning yourself into a rabbit is going to help. There was a mirror back there that would have made a total monkey out of me. I don't think finding the parts is going to get us out of here."
Nodding to Makoto, Caitlin confirmed Nathan's words. "Yep. Scales all over you, where I can see. And probably where I can't see too."
Turning from the guys, Caitlin took a step towards the nearest mirror.
Guessing that Makoto would need some time to himself, Nathan turned to face the mirror that was to the right of the 'wolf man' reflection he looked at a couple of minutes ago.
Megan nodded her head and turned around again to look back the way they had come, before wandering back through to the other room
"Do you see butterfly wings too?".
"Yeah, but the eyes are creepy. Didn't you see them?
OOC:Did you just leave the room. Not sure from your post. -_-;
((OOC: Yeah I did, sorry, was a bit confusing))
She stopped infront of the mirror and looked back at her reflection with the butterfly wings
"There's just the wings..".
Aaron walked up behind her.
"See," he said, pointing to the eyes of his reflection. These mirrors seem to be more friendly to you."
Megan gazed at Aaron's reflection and nodded her head
"That is kinda.. scary.. which one do you want to try?"
"I've already got four arms and a tail. I guess some wings wouldn't hurt too much. Even if they look like fairy wings." Aaron signed. Oh well. Callooh, callay, and all that."
He made his way to the door before stopping as he realized what was so strange about the mirror reflection with the blue skin and flames.
"No way," he muttered as he turned his gaze back upon the mirror.
Megan furrowed her brow as she looked up at him, turning with him to look at the mirror
"What is it? Ew.. I'm not using the one..".
Glancing at her reflection he was REALLY happy she wasn't going to try that mirror. He wasn't sure he'd survive.
"I'm not up on my Hindu, but I think these are buddas or gods or something. I could be a god!"
"You want to do that one? Can we hurry up and go into a new room? I'm getting bored of these ones"
"heh, who am I kidding? I'm cut cut out for all that power. If that's even what that mirror actually does." He turned to walk back to the mirror with gosamer.
"Let's go, ok?"
She nodded her head and moved to stand behind him as he stepped up to the 'wings' mirror, biting her bottom lip nervously
Aaron placed a single hand upon the mirror.
"Great, I'm a winged monkey. Now I just need to find a witch and all I'm set," he though.
The mirror melted into Aaron's hand with a tingle, and a pair of delicate gossamer wings appeared on his back as the next room is revealed.
Aaron stepped into the new room and looked around.
OOC:My wings look like what? Can they be folded?
Megan giggled and ran straight passed Aaron and into the new room, gazing straight infront of her
OOC: nope, they're like dragonfly wings Mate ^_~
IC: And Meagan saw a room with 2 mirrors
Aaron aproached the mirror left of the entrance. He made certain not to touch anything with his wings.
"At least they match the jacket," he thought as he peered into the mirror.
Megan turned so her back was to Aaron as she looked into the mirror on the right
OOC: You're making this very confusing Chi. :p
I thought the door was the same size as a normal one, just above Verato's reach.
IC:Verato CRAWLED through the door.
OOC: Its kinda simple Ace... when you pushed on the first wall, it shifted to becoming the floor, Which was the floor the door was on, but, had been out of reach when you where on what was the original floor. When you pushed on the wall that was originally the ceiling, things shifted so you ended up with the door on the side just in reach of you opening and crawling through, make sense?
On the left, Aaron found himself, only with a darker twist to his body. Gossamer wings had turned an inky black as each of his fingers tipped in a claw, an ebony spine curling out of his digit. his tail thickened as it became capped with a spike, even as his eyes showing as a swirling maelstrom of red and black.
Looking back at Meagan, she saw herself as a violet rabbit girl with black eyes and a small pair of bat wings exiting from her back.
Aaron turned and peered into the mirror Megan was looking at.
Megan shook her head and turned around. She walked passed Aaron and peered into the other mirror
Aaron saw himself, only with skin as black as ebony, his feet clawed and extended out, stretched so his weight rest on the balls of his feet. His eyes has become a swirl of red and black even as his ears become pointed.
Meagan saw herself, with glowing red eyes, claws, and fangs.
Megan frowned and shook her head again. She bit her bottom lip and glanced towards Aaron who was still busy looking into the mirror. Suddenly she made a run back through the mirror, and through another, and another until she was back into the room with the mirror that showed her with the paws and pressed her whole body up against it
Meagan felt the tingle run through her body and then she feel forward onto her paws as the mirror dissolved into her.
Megan cried out as she tumbles foward and landed on her hands and knees. She looked down and smiled at the paws, lifting one up infront of her face to examine it before lifting her head to gaze around herself
There Kitty saw two more mirrors
She crawled foward a little so she was able to look into the mirror on the the right
Aaron tried to follow quickly, but making sure the wings touched nothing slowed him too much. By the time he caught up with her it was too late. He tried to find something to say but there wasn't really anything to say.
"Why?" was all that came out.
In the mirror, Kitty saw herself in a series of blue and green shades, her hair looking wet and fluid as it caresed against her body
Megan turned around and grinned up at Aaron
"I did n't like any of the ones back there.. and I'm still sure this is the way out.. but it's not this one.."
She turned around again and looked into the mirror on the left
"You agreed to talk about this. You shouldn't break your word like that." Aaron aproached the mirror Megan had been looking at. A moment later his tail curled around Megan's waist, pulling her to her feet...er paws.
His grip on her firmed as he looked into the mirror. She wouldn't be getting away so easily now.
The second mirror held.... Nothing at all.
Megan squeaked as the tail wrapped around her waist and lifted her to her feet, squirming and wriggling as the grip tightened
"Hey! Let me go! This is n't fair!"
To Aaron's view, the left mirror held... nothing.
"I'm sorry, what was that? I almost thought I heard an 'I promise not to go running through mirror without talking it out first'. Yes?"
Megan nodded her head as she continues to struggle, pushing her hands against the tail and trying to remove it from her waist
"Yes! I promise not to go running through the mirrors without talking first".
"Nice try," Aaron said. "But I believe I said talking it out first." Aaron looked toward the other mirror.
"Let me go! I never did this to you!"
"No, you just broke your word." Aaron's voice was firm. "That's much worse than this. Now calm down and quit wiggling."
Megan pouts a little and lets the large bunny ears flop down around her face as she ceases her struggle
"Good girl," Aaron said and patted her on the head.
Megan frowned a little as she looked up at him while he petted her head
"I thought you'd be pleased I opened another one..".
"I really don't think you realize how dangerous this could be. What if yu got stuck as one of those reflections back in that other room? You wouldn't be so happy to go jumping through mirrors then, would you?"
He put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm just trying to- I don't know- protect you I guess. But I can't do that if I can't trust you. And you've given me plenty of reason not to. But I'll let you go this once. Please don't disappoint me again." Aaron's tail unwrapped from Megan's waist. He stepped back.
"Now lets try..." Sadly, he misjudged the distance to the mirrior. he froze as he felt a wing rub against the blank mirror's surface.
And as soon as he touched it, he felt a sudden tingle running through his body, even as it faded from sight. In short, he had become invisible.
She widened her eyes as she looked up at him
"They can't leave us like this.. it's just a carival game.. "
She frowned and cocked her head to the side as he froze and fell silent
"What's wrong.. ?"
She gasped and cried out as he disappeared from view
"Aaron! Don't leave me here!"
She burst into tears and sank to her knees as she was left alone.. or so she thought, and stared into the empty mirror
"I'm so sorry.. I'll be good.. please come back.. I don't want to be alone.."
Coming back to his senses, Makoto blinked, pushing back the sickly feeling he had from realizing his change, and wondering what Nathan was looking for. "Nathan-san? Caitlin-san? Why not we go through this opening here?" he asked, pointing to the path behind him.
"What? Hey! Don't cry, don't cry! I'm still here," Aaron said. He placed a hand on her head.
"See? I'm just invisible. I haven't left."
Megan gasped as she heard his voice and looked around with wide eyes, crying out as she felt the touch on her shoulder and frantically scrambling back along the floor on her bottom
"Where are you?!"
Aaron wrapped his tail around her waist before she could back into the other mirror.
"Calm down. I'm right here in front of you. That's my tail around your waist. You have to be more careful. You could've backed right into that mirror."
Megan reaches out with both her paws and awkwardly grabs hold on the tail, her heart thumping against her chest as she catches her breath and nods her head a little, feeling up the tail until her paws brush against his body
"Is that you?".
"Yeah, its me." Aaron put a hand in her paw and released his tail from her waist.
"Don't worry, I don't plan on leaving you here by yourself." He pulled her toward the untouched mirror gently. "Just keep hold of my hand. I have to find out if I still have a reflection in these mirrors"
Megan gripped the unseen hand tightly between her two paws as she scrambled up off her knees and wandered along behind him
Aaron looked into the mirror.
In that mirror, Aaron looked to be a shade of variety of blue and green hues, standing transparent in the room, his hair floating about.
"Okay, I've got a reflection. It might mean that I can at least become visible again if I use another mirror." The knot that had gripped his heart on first disapearing began to loosen.
"Now listen very carefully. I'm going to check out that other room to see if it has better choices. Put your arm around me and stay close, Ok?"
Megan nodded her head as she felt about with her paws before wrapping her arms around the invsible Aaron and pressing herself right up against him
Aaron lead the duo into the new room. After glancing around briefly he turned and peered into the closest mirror.
Megan stared straight through him and into the new mirror as she hugged tightly
OOC: Would you two WAIT until I posted a desc of the room before looking into mirrors? -_-;;
IC: The room was in a trapezoid shape, each of the three mirrors equally distant from the entrance. (There by needing more clarification)
OOC:Sorry. I'm having a REALLY bad day. I'm feeling just a tad pushy. -_-;
IC: Aaron guided Megan to the left mirror and looked.
Aaron saw nothing in that mirro, what ever change it would make remaining hidden from him.
Megan looked straight through Aaron and into the mirror
Nathan sweatdropped as he heard what Makoto said. "I can't believe I forgot about that..." he mumbled to himself.
Nodding to Makoto, Nathan said, "Alright then, why don't we go on to the next room?"
There meagan saw herself , but with a vacant look in her eyes.
"This one has no change in it! It must be the way out!"
"Maybe," Aaron muttered. He was quickly loosing faith in these mirrors. "Let's try it."
Megan slowly unwrapped her arms from around his waist, feeling around him with her paws as she made her way around to the mirror and reached out, pressing one paw against it's surface, a big grin on her face
The mirror dissolved into her as she suddenly felt a strange cloud fall over her mind... blocking away most of her intelligence.
Megan blinked a little and withdrew her paw as her mind clouded up. She turned around and looked about the empty, wondering how she had got here and what she was supposed to do now
"You ok?" Aaron asked. He glanced into the new portal hpoing it was the way out.
Megan lifted her head and gazed upwards at the sound of the voice, the same vacant look in her eyes that had been in the reflection.
And there, he saw a simple, familiar door.
"Alright! The way out!" Aaron was fast aproaching cloud nine. "Are you ready to get out of this place? Megan?" He finally noticed the vacant stare she wore. Feeling a weight settle on his stomach, he grabbed her shoulders and stared into her eyes.
"Megan, are you alright?"
Megan looked straight ahead into the nothingness before her, then turned her head slightly and looked towards the door. She squirmed a little and tried to shrug his hands from her shoulders as she turned around
Aaron gave her a firm shake. Fighting down panic he tried to get her to talk to him.
"Megan! Are you alright? Speak to me."
Megan shook back and for in his hands like a rag doll, her eyes widening as she looked on the verge of bursting into tears from being shook by the unseen person
"Oh god, she's going to cry!" He thought to himself. "What happened to her her?"
He quite shaking her and tried to stop what he knew was comming with whispering hushes and other apeasing noises.
Megan pushed her bottom lip out and sniffled as the tears started to roll down her cheeks, not even knowing what she had done wrong to deserve such a shaking
Having helped raise three sisters, Aaron automatically went to his second tried and true method to calm a child- and he was realizing that was essentially what she had begun to act like- he enveloped her in his arms gently. Having four arms made the act feel somewhat alien, but he didn't let that bother him too much.
"Shhh," he whispered in her ear as he rocked her back and forth. He hoped this worked.
Megan sniffled and lifted a paw to rub the tears from her eyes as she felt the arms wrap around her body and rock her gently. She still was n't sure who was doing or saying all this to her, but for some reason it made her feel a lot better, and she even smiled
Megan's calm seemed to infect Aaron as well, and the fear that had built began to vanish. There was something about taking care of little kids that brought out the best in him.
"But she's not a little kid," he thought to himself. "She's old enough to marry in some places. I said I'd help her and look what happens. She can't even see me. No wonder she started crying. But I'm not just goig to leave her. I wont break my word." Slowly, he released the hug.
His tail wrapped around her waist again, as it seemed a good way to keep track of her. Even more so now.
He put her paw in his hand.
"Let's get out of here, Ok?"
Megan nodded her head slowly, letting him take the paw as she felt the tail wrap around her waist again. She lifted her head a little and looked around for Aaron
"Come along this way." Aaron kept his voice soft, a surprisingly easy task considering his persona. He led Megan to the door. He reached for the handle.
Unfortunately, Meagan wasn't ready for the direction he pulled her in, causing her to stumble briefly, her hand moving out to touch the mirror next to the passage briefly. That brief moment was enough as a tingling swept through her body, causing her change once more, her fur growing pink and glittery as a pair of delicate butter fly wings grew out of her back, her dress reshaping around them.
Aaron opened the door, all the while cursing the house of mirrors in his mind.
Megan did n't notice the sudden change as she happily followed Aaron to the door
And, through the door, they found themselves back outside the house of mirrors
"Finally," Aaron thought. He looked around to see where he was.
Aaron was (as previously stated) back outside the hall of mirrors.
Megan started to wander across the fairway towards the fun house before Aaron's tail jerked her back, making her fall down onto her bottom. She frowned and started to scramble back to her feet before trying to reach the fun house again, and falling down again
Aaron pulled Megan back to her feet and turned toward the harlequin and tried to get his attention.
"Um, hello? Excuse me."
The Harlequinn turned his head and arched an eyebrow at Aaron, "Yes...?"
Aaron paused for a second in surprise.
"You can see me?!"
The harlequinn smirked, "Actually, followed the sound of your voice. She doesn't look like she's in much shape to ask."
"Oh," Aaron said. The disapointment was fairly evident in his voice. "Is there anyway to get me and her back to normal?"
"Mmhmm... Several"
"Could you please tell me how. I'd apprciate it."
Getting a bit impatient, Nathan walked through the opening and into the next room.
"I never said I knew what they were"
"I will not get mad. I will stay calm. I will not wrap my tail around his neck and sqeeze until his head pops off. Good thoughts in. Bad thoughts out. I am serinity personified. I am calm," Aaron thought. After taking a cleansing breath he tried again.
"Sir, do you know someone who does know where a cure is? And where they're at?"
"Nope"
"Aren't you coming, Caitlin-san?" Makoto glanced at Caitlin for a moment, before following Nathan into the other room.
"Is there anything you can tell me that might help?"
"When I don't know what will help, how can I?"
Megan felt along the tail around her waist, moving her paws up along it before holding it between them both and giving the tail a hard tug
Before Aaron could ask another question question pain exploded up his spine. He let out a strangled gasp, unwrapped his tail from her waist, snatched what Megan held from her hands, and hit the ground wimpering.
Megan frowned a little and looked up at the harlequinn with a confused look
Aaron stood on shaky legs. That... had hurt, alot. He took a moment to let the pain pass. She maay have had the mind of an infant, but she still had the strength of a teen.
He took Megan's hand and looked around. He didn't think the funhouse was such a good idea, if it was anything like the mirror house. He wasn't really in the mood for games. That left the food.
He tried directing the girl to the food stands.
Caitlin dropped her investigation of the mirror and followed the other two through the opening.
Megan let the invisible hand take hold of her paw and waved to the harlequinn as she was led away and towards the food stalls
Aaron led Megan to the first stall.
Meanwhile...two stalls over from Megan and Aaron...
Raya moaned stepping to the side and sitting down as she pulled off her top, not really caring that much about the guy there but...she needed relief from her chest! Looking at her breasts she stared at them...and gently hefted one in her hand... maybe if she sucked on it, she could get it to go back down. Bringing it to her mouth she tried to drink some of it out.
Fearless Leader
Returning to the posts
And, into her mouth blasted a stream of warm, sweeet milk that seemed to cause her body to explode in an almost violent tingling of pleasure. It just tasted so GOOD!
Raya moaned in pleasure, her tongue lashing out to keep any from dribbling out of her mouth...she weakly stood up, using her staff as support. Refastening her top she made her way over to the next food stand, her top barely holding together under the strain of her breasts.
Fearless Leader
The next stand turned out to be.... a pretzel stand, with a cute little blonde girl manning it.
"Hello there," Raya smiled, trying to maintain some sense of normalacy. "What do these pretzel's do?"
fearless Leader
"mmm...?" the girl looked at Raya a bit absently, "They're like, totally yum and stuff!"
"Hum...maybe later... shouldn't have salt so soon after sweet."
Raya walked over to the next stand.
Fearless Leader
The girl blinked as Raya started to leave, "But, like we have more than just like salted pretzels... we've got like, Cinnamon flavored ones, Garlic and parmessian ones, plain non-salted ones... All sortsa ones!"
"Hum...Mou? Non-salted pretezels? Well...can I have a sample of the non-salted pretezels?" Raya turned around, smiling at the blond girl.
Fearless Leader
"Like, which one? The plain, the cinnamon, or, like the garlic one...?"
"Well...I do like cinnamon... Mou, what do you think Flammie?" Raya quirked her head at one of her dragon companions.
Fearless Leader
The dragon head looked back at her, then tried to shrug slightly, not seeming to have a preferance one way or another.
Raya blinked, "Well..then I'll take the Cinnamon flavored one."
Fearless Leader
"Like, cool!" the girl responded with a vacant smile, as she pulled out a pair of tongs and then picked out a cinnamon pretzel, placing it into a tissue paper before handing it to Raya, "Here ya go!"
"Thanks" Raya smiled taking a bite of the pretezel as she turned to walk over to the next stand.
Fearless Leader
Raya felt a tingling through her body, though, she failed to notice anything different... As her hips swayed from side to side in a seductive manner her body changed so that, unknown to her, she gained incredible flexibility.
Raya swayed sexily over to the next stand, finishing off the tasty cinnamon pretezel.
Fearless leader
There, she found a funnel cake stand, a plump man manning it.
Raya swayed over to the man, "Hello...so what are these?" She smiled winningly at him.
Fearless Leader
"Why, these are funnel cakes my dear, a sweet treat for all to eat!"
"Well then...mou, what do they do," Raya's eyes twinkled.
Fearless Leader
"Melt in your mouth with sweet delight!"
"Mou...well then, may I have one?"
Fearless Leader
"Of course!" the man grinned widely as he took out the fried batter dusted with sugar powder and handed it to her with a fork.
Raya took the fork smiling and slipped the fried batter into her mouth, chewing it and savoring the taste before swallowing.
Fearless Leader
And, a tingling slipped through her head as she suddenly found herself as if looking at the world for the first time, a sweet innocence filling her mind.
Raya giggled childishly, turning to walk to the next stand, her hips swaying from side to side sexily as she did. Her eyes twinkled with glee as she walked.
Fearless Leader
And there she found an Ice Cream cart.
Raya's eyes widened as she hopped up and down clapping, "ICE CREAM!"
She dashed over looking over the cart.
Fearless Leader
The man behind the cart blinked then chuckled softly, "Hello little girl... what can I get for you?"
"Mou..." Raya put her hands on her hips, "What flavors do you have...do you have vanilla?"
Fearless Leader
"Heh, yes we have vanilla, chocolate, stawberry, caramel, a variety of other flavores, popsicles, drumsticks, and a variety of other treats if you'd like to look at everthing..."
"Ooh...Vanilla, can I have a cone of vanilla please?" Raya's eyes twinkled merrily.
Fearless Leader
"Sure, plain, sugar, waffle, or chocolate cone?"
"Chocolate cone!" Raya giggled.
Fearless Leader
With a chuckle, the man pulled out a chocolate cone and started to scoop up some ice cream, "How many scoops littlte one?"
"Two please" Raya smiled.
Fearless Leader
Nodding, the man put two scoops of vanila ice cream on the cone then handed it to her, "Here ya go."
"Thanks!" Raya turned and swayed away, licking happily at her vanilla ice cream.
Fearless Leader
As she walked away, she began to feel a chill at her nipples, the fullness starting to return.
Raya continued licking innocently as she went to the next stand.
Fearless Leader
And there, the vendor was selling corndogs.
Raya continued walking, finishing off her ice-cream and beginning to chew on her cone as she went to the stand after that.
Fearless Leader
The last stand was a popcorn stand, a variety of different kinds displayed.
Raya rubbed her chest, blushing slightly, "Mou...I'm going to have to empty these again soon... they fill up so fast...." Walking closer to the popcorn stand as she sexily jutted out her enlarged chest she called out, "Hello!"
Fearless Leader
A young man blinked back at her then his gaze dropped down to her chest, "Um, err... h-hi.. HI!"
"Hiya cutie...what can you tell me about your popcorn?" Raya quirked her head innocently.
Fearless Leader
"Um, i-its g-g-good? Nice and f-firm... err... fluffy! Not nice and firm like your breasts! Err... I mean, not all looking to be squeezed like yours do... err... Its good!"
Raya licks her lips, "What flavors do you have?"
Fearless Leader
"W-we have carmel... really sticky and makes you h-have to lick your sexy lips... cheese that will get on yrou fingers, plain, buttered...."
"Mou...such a choice... what do you like most?" Raya smiled cutely at him.
Fearless Leader
"Something sweet like you, um... er..."
Raya giggled, "You're so sweet...can you get me some caramel then?"
Fearless Leader
"Y-yea, sure..." the boy stuttered before rapidly producing a bag of carmel covered popcorn for her.
As Aaron and Meagan approached the cotton candy stall, Meagan suddenly saw a glimmer in the corner of her eye, the bolted after it, quickly vanishing from sight and leaving Aaron unable to find her.
"Damn it, where did she get off to?" Aaron wondered after searching for, and failing to find, Megan. "Why the hell do people keep disappearing on me?"
He approached the first food booth, looking for the attendant.
"Thank you," Raya smiled as she turned away, waving her ass as she looked around for anything else.
Fearless Leader
Once more the dragon head popped out from behind the cart, "Yes?"
Raya smiled waltzing back past Aaron without seeing him, her firm ass swaying from side to side as she walked back into the gaming area. Walking to the last game she played she looked to see if there was anything else to play before she went to the funhouse.
Fearless leader
There were in fact several games waiting for her to play, with another building beyond them.
Raya swayed over to the first of the games she hadn't gone to earlier....
Fearless Leader
There, she saw a stand with a pressure cushion and a bell at the top, an old fashioned strength test.
Raya swayed over, "ooh, a strength test!" She looked over the bar with the bell at the top curiosly.
Fearless Leader
Standing next to the test, was the typical strong man, bald haid, curlnig black moustache.
Raya turned smiling at the strong man turning her body sexily, "Hello...what are the rules of this game?"
Fearless Leader
"Vell little girl... you simply try to knock ze bell with ze ball... *points to the instrument on the pole* "And to do zat, you must hit ze impact item!"
"What do I get if I win?"
Fearless Leader
Vell, zere are 9 notches, zee?" The man pointed out, "If you don't manage to rise over ze first notch, you get a bit dumber. geting over zat one is ze rise in your zexual dezires, after zat, we have ze lowering of inhibitions... zen zeen you get more agrezzive, after zat, is more submizzive. Zen, you can get a fetish, zen an increase in your muzcles, zen a decrease... if you just come under ze bell, you vill get ze desire to please ze next player zu see... Zee final one allows zu to remove a change.
"Well, I'll give it a try." Raya lifted her staff, flapping up above it and then slamming down with all her strength.
Fearless Leader
Aaron's eyes followed the woman as she passed him by the first stall. Or more acuratly, his eyes followed her assets. Looking at her closely he thought he might have sen her befor elsewhere.
Putting those thoughts aside, Aaron called out at the first booth.
"Excuse me, is anyone here?"
"Well, I'll give it a try." Raya lifted her staff, flapping up above it and then slamming down with all her strength.
Fearless Leader
As the blow fell just under the second mark, Raya felt a tingling as her inhibitions lowered once more.
The dragon head continued to look at Aaron as it coughed slightly, "Um, hello?"
"Mou...I can do better then that," Raya shook her head, and Slammed down on it hard.
Fearless Leader
"Eh? Oh, sorry about that. I had mind on... other things." Aaron let out a nervous laugh while mentally kicking himself. Bad thoughts. Bad, bad thoughts!
"Excuse me, but did you see a girl run by here? She had butterfly wings, looked a bit vacant in the eyes?"
And, as it rose up... it fell just below the top, then fell down to the ground, a tingling surging through her mind once more
"Ooh...Mou..." Raya slammed it one last time.
Fearless Leader
And the ball rose up, he fell a notch lower and she found her muscles growing less defined, her body losing some of its firmness.
Raya shook her head, lifting her staff which felt heavier in her hand. "I'm done with this... " She turned and swayed away to the next stand, looking around see saw...
There she saw a shooting gallery with little air guns ready for use.
Raya giggled, "Hello?"
Fearless leader
"Can Ah help ya ma'am?" a dusty voice called out as a worn and weathered man stepped out with a salt and peppered beard covering his taned and weathered face.
"So, what's the deal with this game? Rules and prizes please?"
Fearless Leader
"Well little missy, ya take that there air rifle and you take shots at the targets and try to rack up as high a score as ya can...'
1-10 is enhancing one change
11-20 is more sensitive skin
21-30 is loss of intelligence
31-40 is more aggressive
41-50 is more submissive
51-60 is a fetish
61-70 is shrinking
71-80 is more height
81-90 is you lose the ability to say no
91-100 is remove or change one change done to you.
"Mou...sounds like fun...I'll give it a try!" Raya smiled picking up a gun, "Start!"
Fearless Leader
When the game ended, 54 points had been earned, and Raya suddenly found the idea of being tied up very... "interesting"
"Play again ma'am?"
Raya nodded, "This is fun," She raised her air gun.
Fearless leader
When she finished, she had hit 11 points... as her skin suddenly felt a bit more sensitive.
"Again ma'am?"
"Mou, sure" Raya lifted her rifle.
Fearless Leader
And when the dust settled 26 points had been scored and a slight haze had fallen over her mind.
"Again ma'am?"
Raya giggled, "Um..Mou...sure!"
Fearless Leader
As 47 points were racked up, Raya found herself feeling slightly uncertain, in need of direction.
"Why don't ya play again...?"
"Mou...I..don't know if I should play anymore.. well, maybe one more game," Raya smiled rising her airgun again.
Fearless Leader
As 84 points were scored, she suddenly felt herself losing something...
"Want to play again?"
"Um...Mou..Yes!" Raya nodded.
Fearless Leader
And, when she finished, she'd hit 67 targets.
"Well, you looked like you had fun,' the man smiled as she dropped half a foot in height.
Raya looked up at the big man, "Okay."
She swayed off towards the next game...
Fearless Leader
There, she came to a small table with three cups set out.
Raya childishly smiled as she swayed over. "Hello? Anyone there?"
Fearless Leader
An old had smiled at her as she appeared, "Hello child... care to play?"
"Yes, what are the rules/prizes?"
Fearless Leader
"I hide the three balls, you try to find the grey ball that will allow you to alter or change one change done to you. The black ball will do a change to your mind and the white one to your body
"Okay!" Raya got ready to find the balls.
Fearless Leader
As Raya revealed the black ball, no longer did she want to remove the changes done to her, now, she wanted more!
Raya smiled and turned around, walking to the next game, thinking of all the wonderful changes she could find.
Fearless Leader
And, instead of anymore games, she found herself at the entrance to a building, the entrance leading to a dark opening.
Raya quirked her head, walking in and looking around.
Fearless Leader
and inside she sees a number of strange contraptions and machines she's never seen before. It is a video Game arcade.
"Mou...what are ...these?" Raya went up to the first one curiosly.
Fearless Leader
"What, you've never seen an arcade game before?~ Yeesh, where are you from, the boonies?" a voice suddenly called out.
Raya turned rapidly, full breasts bouncing, "Well, It's not my fault I haven't seen one before!" She put her hands on her hips.
Fearless Leader
"Dayum, yer a bouncy one, ain'cha?" standing there before her was a scrawny black teenage boy, his lips pulled back in a leering grin.
"Yep! So can you show me how to play?" Raya smiled winningly.
Fearless Leader
"Heh, why don't you give me a better look at those titties of yours."
"Sure," Raya smiled lifting her breasts in her hands.
Fearless Leader
"Nuh uh... I mean as in off with the top too."
"Oh, okay," Raya smiled pulling off her top and revealing her bountiful chest.
Fearless Leader
"Heh... let me guess... you went to the shooting gallery... and got 80 something points..."
"Yep!" Raya smiled, "So can you show me how to play the 'arcade games'?"
Fearless Leader
The dragon head arched a brow then shook, "Nope."
"Crap," Aaron said to himself. There was no telling where Megan had gotten off to. Whereever she was, she'd have to look after herself.
"So, what are you selling?" he asked the dragon.
The dragon looked from the cotton candy machine then back to Aaron, "What do you think?"
"Well, ya just shake that thang over to one of those machine and use da joy sticks and buttons to play," the teen responded with a leer as he pulled out a glass, "But, mind givin' me a little somethign to drink first?"
Raya smiled, "Yep, I do mind."
Swinging her way over to the first machine she looked to see what it was.
Fearless Leader
Aaron stared at the cotton candy machine for a moment.
This really wasn't his day.
"How much for some?" he asked.