Character Castle 2.0
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Mara
”You think I could help you, my lady?” Frey looks up at me.
I raise an eyebrow. ”Two heads are better than one, so they say. And so I say, as long as the heads have brains in them. I’m assuming there’s a brain in yours.”
He seems to be ignoring this, and says, “But, if you like, we can go ask someone.”
He’s standing by the time he finishes his sentence, looking off as though searching for a knowledgeable person. Then he turns to look at me. I’m sure surprise is written all over my face. Maybe this clued him in to what he just did, for he looks down at his feet in shock.
”Oh look, a miracle. I’ve been cured.” His voice is monotone. Has he been around miracles before?
”Isaias always talked about miracles. He said they were still possible, but I didn’t believe him. But —“ I gesture spastically at Frey’s legs, unable to say more.
”Ah, yes,” he says. “You never know what’s possible.”
Then I notice that he’s holding a cane. “Wait, why do you need that if you’re cured?”
”I don’t,” he says airily. “But it’s been with me through thick and thin, so it’s rather like an old friend. And don’t you think it’s a nice memento of my healing?”
I think he’s smirking again, but I don’t get a chance to say anything about it. The stone wall we’re standing next to gives way with a booming crack. Yet it doesn’t fall. It’s — rolling forward? We back away, at first slowly. When it reaches Frey’s abandoned wheelchair, it speeds up, pushing the chair as it advances. I pinch myself, and it hurts. My brain might be short circuiting. No, not might. It is. I can deal with an angry mob or attacking savages, but a wall?! On top of that, a wall determined to evoke my claustrophobia?!
”The room is shrinking!” I shriek, losing my head.
”Undoubtedly,” says Frey.
He looks like he’s trying to treat this like some joke, but I can tell he’s struggling to keep up the pace the wall is setting. I’m about to grit my teeth and help him when the wall grinds to a halt. It’s then that I notice we’ve been pushed into a new, dark room with a bunch of other people. I wring my hands. Is this a new way of executing people?
”Well done!” A voice emanates from the very stones around us. “For this next challenge, I’ll be requiring each of you to part with your most prized belonging – and no, money doesn’t count. Refusal to comply will result in mandatory participation in my upcoming fashion show.” Lights flip on, effectively destroying my sight for the time being.
What?
The voice begins naming people, ordering them to give up their most prized possessions. As it does, my eyes adjust to the light, and my brain to the challenge. What is my most prized possession? Easy. Rael, though he’s not exactly a possession of mine. But I bet whoever the voice belongs to wouldn’t stick at that. He’d probably be glad to take whatever would hurt me most. Rael.
”Mara Gobey-Hanad, come forward and make your decision,” the voice orders.
I square my shoulders, stepping toward an odd long platform. “I’m not giving you Rael.”
”Then go stand with the others to the left.”
I obey if only for Rael’s sake.
We are called to be lights in the cosmos.
May your inkwells never run dry!@emily-waldorf @calidris
That’s a good idea, thanks! I shall go investigate the plotting forum…
I have determined to write my WIP and risk failing. I can always rewrite it when I’m a better author.
*enthusiastic hand clapping* Your writing in here is good, btw 🙂
We are called to be lights in the cosmos.
May your inkwells never run dry!@e-n-leonard I actually think Emily was talking about starting our own (between the three of us!)
*laughs as one fey*
Hello and welcome back! I’m sorry to hear about your ankle! I hope it heals quickly.
😂 he could… @lady-grace said she could drop in her Princess Julia to do it XD she’s such a thundercloud she’d probably want to. Julia can turn into a big black horse, so she can just send Saevus flying with a good kick.
Ah yes, ‘lil Julia. She would be happy to get the job done if her services are needed. Actually, if I brought her in she would do it. I would never be able to stop that thundercloud XD
A long-hidden tale may hold the answers-and the healing-they so desperately seek.
~Set the Stars AlightHIIII WELCOME BACK!! Oh no!! I hope your ankle feels better quickly!
@everyone
Whew sorry about the long absence y’all I had an absolute chaos of a weekend, in a good way XD
I’ll try to write Frey later or tomorrow! Also, I’ve been SORELY tempted to bring in Malcolm, for those of you who remember him being mentioned. He’s just the most fascinating contrast with Frey, the dichotomy of “takes nothing seriously” and “takes everything seriously” XD Also I know next to nothing about Malcolm soooo could be fun!
Also, I’ve been thinking about Frey. Right now he seems… way meaner than I planned him XD Or at least more annoying. I’m trying to figure out what would be something that would actually get him to take the situation seriously. That’ll be interesting!
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
Frey
My regular joke has never worked this well. Mara looks as though she’s seen as ghost. Usually, people just laugh and ignore it for the rest.
”Isaias always talked about miracles. He said they were still possible, but I didn’t believe him. But —“ Mara’s eyes are wide with shock as she gestures toward my legs. They still ache, though it’s slowly fading down to manageable.
Wait, she really believes me? Hadn’t the sarcasm been obvious? It takes everything in my power not to laugh. If I told her gullible had been taken out of the dictionary, she’d go check.
“You never know what’s possible,” I say. I consider it a miracle that I manage to keep my voice even without breaking into laughter. I relish the look of shock on her face.
She frowns and my heart drops. She’s figured it out.
“Why do you need the cane if you’re cured?”
“I keep it around as a manner of self-defense,” I say, somehow managing to keep my face straight throughout. I give a demonstrative sweep at someone imaginary and instantly regret it. The extra weight on my right leg sends another flash of pain through it. I grit my teeth and look down, before managing to flash Mara another grin.
The first grains of doubt are appearing on her face. But before I have the chance to address them, the stone wall beside us cracks, like a bone breaking. I flinch, placing too much weight on my hurting leg again. It’s coming closer, advancing at a speed I instantly tell I won’t be able to manage while walking, not now at least.
I make my decision and sit back down in my wheelchair, my cane still awkwardly splayed across my lap. I flick the locks off the wheels and push, right before the wall collides into us. Mara is strides ahead of me, her eyes wide with alarm.
“The room is shrinking?” she says. It’s the first time I’ve heard her truly rattled. So that’s something that will do it. She doesn’t like small spaces.
I’ve gotten into an odd habit of categorizing other people’s weaknesses. I mentally file this away. Who knows when it’ll come in handy.
“Undoubtedly,” I say. I’m not even surprised at this point, anything can happen here, it seems.
My shoulders ache with how quickly we have to move. I can keep up, but not by much. Mara is ungracefully close to scrambling away.
We hurry into the next room, right as the wall crashes into the doorway with a resounding, final sound. I’m grateful I didn’t get between the walls.
This room isn’t empty. People cluster around something that looks like an elongated stage, their anxiety knotting them together into clumps.
The room is dark, the only light is the artificial glare surrounding the stage.
Mara is wringing her hands, rocking from one foot to the other in her fear. It can’t possibly be that bad.
I grip the rails of my wheelchair. I hate the feeling that something is pushing us from one place to another, writing our stories for us. It has plans, and I don’t want to hear them.
The voice comes from the stones, echoing around every corner of the huge, empty room. The vibrations pulse through my fingertips like electricity, as though my wheelchair is shivering with fear. I shove down the urge to talk to it like it’s a worried beast.
“Well done!”
I don’t want any compliments from a disembodied voice that’s shoving us around. The vibrations seem to bounce around my chest, making me feel sick to my stomach.
“For this next challenge, I’ll be requiring each of you to part with your most prized belonging – and no, money doesn’t count. Refusal to comply will result in mandatory participation in my upcoming fashion show.”
The lights flicker on, cutting through my eyes and seeming to lodge directly in my brain. I close my eyes, but the glare remains, and I cover them for good measure. The headache throbs through me and I mentally curse. That’s all I need, another headache.
Prized belonging? The phrase bounces around my mind, without sticking to anything. What do I value most? I don’t even know. I’m not that attached to my things. If I lose something, it’ll be inconvenient, but that’s it. Everything is replaceable, after all.
The names of others buzz around me, voices echoing it, complying or not. I don’t much care. I have myself to focus on.
“Frey Spurling.” The voice is as sharp as the light. I finally open my eyes. I will face whatever comes next, and I will win. I don’t lose.
“Yes?”
“Make your choice?”
“What choice?”
When in doubt, play dumb. That voice is so unnerving.
“You are perfectly aware of what I mean.”
“I am?”
Don’t agree to anything, and don’t give them ammunition.
“If you don’t comply, it will be assumed you choose for the fashion show.”
I run my hand through my hair. Now it probably stands up in strange places.
“Right, fashion show. What idiot chose that anyway? That’s the most juvenile punishment I can imagine.”
“The other choice is your most prized possession.”
I flick my hand, dismissing the statement.
“I caught that. But really, I believe this arrangement won’t work for me.”
“You’re in no place to argue.”
I knew I wasn’t, but that had never stopped me before. I could and would argue to my last breath.
“I’m glad you asked why,” I say, undisturbed. I steeple my fingers and purse my lips, thinking over how to phrase this. I take my time about it, the silence thick in the room.
“The ‘fashion show’ would be a far harsher punishment for me than for any of the others,” I say. “For the others, it’s mild humiliation at worst. For me, it would cause considerable pain in any case, if I can even get on the stage.”
“I’ll help!” Someone chirps from the wings of the stage. He’s peeping around the corner, clearly eavesdropping. He has bubblegum-pink hair and an excited expression. He reminds me of an over-eager puppy. I shoot him a glare. I didn’t want help, I wanted to argue.
“As you’ve heard, you will receive help from the others, therefor this argument is invalid. Considering the fact that you have not complied, your choice will be made for you.”
A ramp slides out on the far side of the stage. I could make it up there with my wheelchair, but I don’t want to. My face feels hot, mostly with anger, but at least partially with humiliation. I hate being forced into a situation like this. I was going to find some way to take back control, and the voice would be sorry.
@calidris XDWithout darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
Tullian
A man rolled in, sitting in a chair. It was newer and better designed than any he had seen. He started to wonder what country the man came from, but his thoughts broke off mid-sentence.
pain shot up and down his right leg, overwhelming the other emotions that bombarded him. He categorized them almost unconsciously.
Anger, resentment, longing, some mortification–Ow! the pain bit deeper when the man moved. What has he been doing to that leg?
“Tullian!” the voice boomed.
Great.
“I don’t have any precious possessions, so that leaves the fashion show…whatever that is. Where do I have to go? there? fine. Thanks.”
He limp ed toward the left of the lighted platform before the voice could say anything else.
The pain had lessened as the man in the chair had gone by, but was growing again as he followed him.
Behind the lighted platform was a fresh, airy room with plenty of light. Voltemand was already inside, mulling over the evils of the world in a corner. Upset–annoyed, if not downright angry.
The man in the chair was there, too–also angry. Tullian tried to breathe evenly, even though so much anger weighed down his lungs.
His leg started hurting more, too, as he came alongside the man in the chair. But from the other corner of the room, beaming, bouncing, the perfect picture of happiness.
Tullian wondered how long it would take to get a headache from that man with…pink hair. Then he realized he already had a headache.
This is a regular headache, not a happiness headache. He looked around. It was the man in the chair.
Is he okay?
“How’s your leg?” I know how it is, and it isn’t pretty. “It looks like it hurts pretty bad.” That was…not my best entrance.
The pink haired man exclaimed over their entrance. Something along the lines of being happy that so many people preferred a fashion show, and how fun it would be.
We already know that.
@rose-colored-fancy @calidris if either of you want to interact.Quoth the raven, "Nevermore!"
https://silverpenstrokes.wordpress.comVal:
“Is that your boyf–b-brother?”
I glance up to see a short man beside me, staring inquisitively. Immediately, I drop Calix’s hand, face burning. To think that I’d been casually holding hands with a stranger this whole time….
I glance over at Calix, nervously searching his face. He glares past me, eyes fixed on the short man.
“Um…him?” I glance over at Calix. “No…I just met him today, actually. I uhhh…I just forgot to let go of his hand after I helped him up, that’s all.” I nod back at him with a stiff smile.
“Oh, I was talking about that guy.” The man points back at the wings, where I can see Kit peeking around the curtain. He grins as soon as I catch his eye, disappearing back behind the runway.
Kit?
KIT?
My face burns as glance away. How could he tell we were close? And if this complete stranger could tell…
I wonder if Kit knows how much I really like him…“Uhh…neither, I guess?” The words come out a little sharper than I intended, but I’m annoyed. I’m not sure if I have a right to be this ticked, but I am nevertheless. I’m irritated with this stranger for poking his nose in my personal business, and I’m irritated with myself for only getting irritated when Kit became part of the equation. If it’s obvious to this stranger, than surely it’s obvious to Kit too, right?
I distantly remember hearing my future self telling me that it’s ok, that Kit’s safe to love, but I shove the thought away. Not now. I don’t have time. I’ll be called up at any time soon.
Kit pops out from behind the curtains again, peering out at us expectantly.
I’m pretty sure he’s hoping I join him.
*laughs as one fey*
Tullian
“Um..him?” The girl drops the hand of the terror-stricken man.
No, not him. I didn’t know you were holding hands.
“Oh, I was talking about that guy.” Great. Now she’s annoyed. Really annoyed. And she’s going to take it out on her boyfriend.
“uh, neither, I guess?”
Say something. And not ‘I know how you feel’. People say that all the time and they don’t. And it’s worse when you do.
“I always wanted a brother. Never had any siblings, except my baby sister, and she died when she was five.
That was the first time he had suspected his ability as an Empath. Everything had been so much harder, and he had had no control over it. Three weeks of being sick. If it wasn’t my grief it was Mother’s or Father’s. Grief, fear, anger. The worst was the lost feeling.
“Voltemand might be a like a brother, except he’s so quiet all the time. You might have seen him sulking around.” Do not say, ‘I think he scared you as we came in’.
“We go to the same school together. What do either of you do for a living?”
He held his breath, waiting to see if he had staved off the annoyance. It was hard to tell right away.
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore!"
https://silverpenstrokes.wordpress.comHonestly, Tullian is way more of a mess than I would have guessed, lol.
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore!"
https://silverpenstrokes.wordpress.com(Warning! I am going into the mind of Saevus in this, and, well…he…cusses. I will use asterisks)
SAEVUS
Saevus looked up in shock. Lord Castle had somehow returned? Not the most impressive thing he had seen, but still it shocked him.
Suddenly The room Saevus was in began to disappear before his fiery eyes. It melted away and he found himself in a long hallway. It was a dark hallway, with torches placed in holders spaced every fifty feet. The walls were made of a dark, rough stone. The floor itself was dark and polished. The vaulted roof melted into the darkness above. The very air of this hallway breathed hatred. Saevus looked down it…and instantly knew where he was.
Saevus set off down the main hallway of Arx Ardor, trying to get back to his iron throne. He was mulling over what had just happened to him, wondering. Lord Castle? Who the h*** was that? What was that place I just was? How did I even ******* get there in the first place? He stomped down the hallway, thinking, when suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by the fact that he had reached the end off of the hallway.
Here, there was a very tall door. At about his chest were two huge golden handles in the shape of Dragons. The rest of the door was covered with a massive gilded carving of the symbol of the Land of Malterra: The Fiery Eyes.
Saevus looked up at those eyes peering through the twisting flames for a moment, before grasping a handle and pulling open the doors.
Saevus stepped inside, thinking about how he was going to go sit down on his throne and continue plotting the destruction of the Mortunds. He would then maybe go visit the dungeon and torture chambers, and maybe stop by and see what General Sollers was up to. But that was not the case. Sitting on the huge Iron Throne, which was about 150ft in front of him, was…himself.
Truely puzzled at this, Saevus Stepped forward, for once not wanting to make a move that might provoke him. Then-
“Greetings, Emperor!” The cold voice boomed. “I see that you have come to visit…Tell me, what have you been planning to do?”
Saevus looked on in shock. His own self was sitting on his throne, asking him questions. WHAT THE H*** IS GOING ON!!?!??
“You May be wondering what is going on here,” Saevus-on-the-throne said. “I have only one thing to tell you then…listen closely”
Saevus looked on in silence, because for once in his life, he was speechless.
“I have some advice for you…Whatever happens, Don’t. Try. To. Capture. Angel.”
Saevus burst out laughing. That’s it? Don’t capture the one weakness of Miles? Angel?
“Are you serious?” Saevus retorted. “Don’t capture Angel? What kind of d***** nonsense is that?!? The one weakness of Miles? Like I’m gonna listen to that foolish nonsense. Who are you anyway?”
Before Saevus-on-the-throne could respond, Saevus was whisked away… and before he knew it, he crashed into another room.
Slamming into the wall, Saevus crumpled to the floor. He lay there for a moment before getting up. He had a sickening feeling that he knew where he was. And sure enough…
“Emperor Saevus!” A voice he recognized with hatred boomed. “Give up your most prized possession, or join the fashion show.”
A fashion show? Saevus thought. What the h*** is that?!? And my most prized possession? That would be…
Saevus looked down. His flaming sword materialized into his hand. Give up my sword? Heck no. Which means-
Suddenly Saevus found himself in a group of people, some of whom he recognized, on a stage.
Random but today was my 18th birthday!
Random but today was my 18th birthday!
Congratulations!! I hope you had an awesome day!! Also, this is hilarious to me, it’s my eighteenth birthday tomorrow, you’re exactly one day older than I am XD
Also @emily-waldorf
I LOVED that Tullian entry with Frey! It’s so fascinating that Tullian can feel what Frey does, I can’t wait to see how Frey reacts to that! Though, he’s interacting with Val rn, so I’ll wait until they’re done and then I’ll follow that up 😀
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
@rose-colored-fancy
🤣🤣🤣well congratulations, happy birthday lolYes I did have an awesome day, I went to a gun range with my dad. That was AMAZING!!!
@ethan-leonard @rose-colored-fancy Happy birthday and welcome to legal adulthood! I hope you both had awesome days. Did you do anything special?
And, Rose, that was directly my fault for getting Tul involved with two interactions at once, lol. I can carry on a dual timeline if you want to interact before him and Val are done, though. Dual timelines is what Tullian’s WIP is about, so he’s used to it. 😉
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore!"
https://silverpenstrokes.wordpress.com
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