T - Harps, Lucca

[Lucca]

Colin's eyes slowly widened, not just at what Faust was saying, but at the effect reliving it seemed to have on the poor man. No wonder he'd been trying to suppress it; that sounded horrifying! A little shiver ran down his back, as he connected the -wrongness- of the creature described with Dania's words to him earlier about what she'd seen in Faust's head. But...the changing into a Rabbit...that was new, and even more horrifying. But it lent some credence to the idea that that monster had also caused the Rabbits to explode and...and...

Colin let out a high pitched chirp of surprise as the pieces fell into place. Oh no... He shook his head. "It's not here now, Your Lordship. But I think it WAS. Oh, Suits." He turned helplessly to look at Dania, knowing she had probably come to the came conclusion he had. "The man who looked like Faust but wasn't...that had to be...and then...connected to Zacharias..." Thoughts and ideas came fast, like lighting. Finally, finally Colin was getting the clues he'd needed so desperately all evening. But too late! Way too late!

Arpeggio flew up and off his shoulders with a nervous trill at all the tension and fear in the room, weaving uncertainly in the air, and Colin himself made a motion as if to get up, eyes darting to the stairway where Joel had disappeared.

[Vyn]

Suddenly the bird-dog was acting very strangely. Nadja wished she could have continued to block all the strangeness out but there was no way to ignore this. He was talking too fast, his tone was jumping erratically, and she was far too close to all of it for any of this to be okay.

Horatio slipped out of the chair, away from the man as he yammer strange strange things.

A Card changed shape into a Rabbit?

Her heart pounded and the image of Fleur's mutilated corpse flew to mind and caused her wings to flutter nervously. Then the mummified card was standing there, twitching in a horrible mockery of the obviously distressed Faust man. "Please... don't ...don't say things like that." She murmured quietly, a nervous look in her eyes. "Everyone's going to be alright." Her voice had dropped so low that she could barely here it.

Across the table, Heike was on his feet and Nadja could see the fear in his eyes. She quickly slipped out of the chair and hurried over to her brother. The tiny leveret balled her fist around Heike's coat and dragged herself closer to the larger Rabbit.

His Majesty Colin, however, was saying something kind of reassuring. The Monster wasn't here? That was good. Though poor Mr. Faust already seemed to be reliving the trauma. She felt a little bad but she was also fairly certain anything she would try to do to help would be taken poorly. The man had certainly had enough dealings with 'monsters' from the sound of it.

[Nathalia]

(Horatio will suddenly get a flash image of himself and the group shooting toward the front door as quickly as they can after a horrible sound to see a small door lodged into the wall near the Palace entrance...
It's quite tiny, black, and wooden...it's shut and locked, but there's a little crack at the bottom and it seems to be shaking as though someone's about to force their way back in...)

((Faust gasped a little, one shaking hand moving up to feel at the back of his own head and his beak grinding a little from panic when he felt the fresh blood welling up in the wounds.
Was he going to die?
Did that question really need an answer right now?
Dania's hands felt...incredibly calming, moving over his back...very nice. Very subtly and slowly, he began to calm down, though the bleeding did not stop.
The Rabbit then leaped out of his seat and rounded on Colin, voice loud and impressive and Faust's ears pulled back again, eyes going wide s he hissed in pain and clutched the side of his head.
"Dania? Dania, Suits! I r-remember how I got in!"
Standing shakily he made a whining sound, struggling to avoid the corpse Queen as he held onto the table for support.
"Have to show, but don't go through! It's not...it's not safe! Don't go through...it's where- Oh, Suits..." He whimpered, blood trailing down his head as he staggered around the Rabbit and began heading for the hallway leading to the front doors of the Palace.

The dead Queen gave a little shudder, almost as though pleased, and tilted her head impossibly to the side with a little dry, crack sound. Slowly, she began to follow after the Torque mix, keening a little and whispering as she passed Nadja. "This isn't brave. It's murder."
Staggering after him, she made that same, odd high-pitched noise and dragged herself after him.

Upstairs, Joel located an odd item in the desk, wrapped tightly in brown paper with a note written in an odd language he can't make out...

Worm that Walks (3): What an odd little thing...looks like part of a mask carved from bone and glass fused together. It tingles when touched and if held for too long an eerie whispering will fill the owner's mind, though there isn't much they can make out from it.
What on earth could it be?
This item is part of a 3-piece set that may be found in other threads by other people. They will only function when all together...Careful, though. Once altogether, your SD will NEVER look the same again...

He also found a small book with many, many pen sketches in it.
The book is bound in leather and tingles slightly when touched, but nothing happens to him.
The sketches are all quite good, detailed pictures of Cards, all drawn with strict attention paid to a few certain attributes.
The same things are then pictured on following pages, the best attributes mixed together into one new thing....how odd...
Arpeggio made it into the room with him, looking about the ceilings and finding a tiny box...it dispenses a smell a bit like incense and makes him feel slightly sleepy, but he could easily pick it up.

Faust manages to get to the front door, faster if leaning on someone, slower if not.
About 50 feet to the left of the hall leading to the front doors is an odd curtain, it blends into the pain around it and seems to be shaking...behind it, is a little black door...
Voices shout through it, garbled, so many of them.))



~Nathalia

[Kari Muffin]

Heike was doing his damn best not to hyperventilate. His sister, quite honestly, was the only thing that prevented him from completely spazzing and going towards the nearest exit. He did not like what the Queen was saying. He did not like any of this at all. He crouched down to hug his sister, regardless of the situation she was the most important thing for him to focus on.

The bird-dog wanted to show everyone how he had come into the palace. He gave his sister a soft squeeze, his heart still trying to leap out of his chest when he let her go. Couldn't just stand here, and he didn't exactly want to follow the Queen. But there was a chance at finding a way out of this nightmarish place.

He slipped into Avington to speak to his sister, "We'll follow them, and perhaps we can find a way out and just be done with this. As much as I would love to collect Fleur's remains, our lives are more important."

He followed Faust, though he was lagging behind the group. The bird-dog hadn't been particularly fond of him and now that he was bleeding he didn't want to aggravate the situation. Though, they should probably re-stitch that up.

---

Horatio wilted a bit. This wasn't going to end well was it? He swallowed as he heard Faust speak again. At least.. he was... somewhat okay? He watched as the man started to leave the room.

The penguin swallowed his terror as he went to follow the group. He made an offer to help Faust, though he wasn't very tall he could still be used as some form of support. The Torquehelm was still anxious about what he had seen.

When they made it to the front door he froze. This looked familiar. How exactly could he bring up what he saw in a tactful and non-alarming manner?

"Okay... not to be an alarmist or anything, but something bad is going to happen shortly." He said he looked around for something blunt. Perhaps they could get the jump on what was coming out of the door? If not he had at least given a warning so everyone could make up their minds. "Tiny wooden door is going to shake like someone is going to be coming through it. I know the natural inclination is to run for the front door but I think we might want to stick around, monsters or not we can get the jump on whatever this is."

[Harpsdesire]

When Colin's eyes widened, Dania looked towards him a bit sharply. It seemed he was thinking along the same line that she was-- and she wasn't sure if that was comforting or distressing. She didn't have long to think about it, however, for Faust almost immediately clutched at his head and rose shakily from his chair.

He shouldn't be walking around, she was sure of it, but since he couldn't be dissuaded from showing them how he got in she would rise and go along with him, allowing him to lean on her shoulder. He sounded so distressed that Dania felt compelled to comfort him as best she could, and for now it seemed the only way to accomplish this was to see what he had to show her. ”Um, okay, we won't do anything dangerous. Just try... try to calm down, Faust.”

When the curtain was pushed aside to reveal an undersized door, the rat just stared at it for a moment. It reminded her of nothing so much as the tiny door Joel had gone through in the attic, where he had disturbed the stuffed Queens of Spades. She looked at it in distrust. There were voices cone out of it, angry voices...

And Horatio seemed to know a bit more about the door than the others. Had he seen such a thing before? At least he seemed to have a reasonable plan of action in mind, and the way he spoke it wasn't as if he had something to do with this madness-- she trusted him. Dania began to wish that the rolling pin she had 'borrowed' from the kitchen earlier for use as a weapon was close at had, but sadly she had left it Joel's bag. At least she still had a spell or two available...

Upstairs, Joel was surprised to see a little brown package in the desk. Very odd, and the language on the paper, what was it? When he unwrapped the object, it whispered into his mind in a way that reminded him unpleasantly of the voices that had lead him to to attic. That was not something he wished to relive, and he contemplated putting the partial mask and cryptic note back in the desk and ignoring them... but whatever it was, creepy or not, the paper-shrouded object was rather obviously a clue. He re-wrapped the paper and added it to his satchel, which was starting to get awkwardly heavy, even for one of his strength. Or it could be that he was just getting tired.

Just as he opened the little sketchbook, the only other interesting thing in a desk otherwise populated only by pens, stamps and Court stationery, a light trill told him that Arpeggio had entered the room. By the time he had finished examining the strange but well executed drawings, it looked like the tove had found a funny sort of little box. ”What do you have there, Arpeggio?” He looked at the box curiously. There was a weird smell coming from it, and a few thin wisps of smoke, like burning incense. The corvie wrinkled his nose. ”I'm gonna look around just a little more, and then lets go back and show this stuff to Colin. Sound good? Since you found that, you should be the one to bring it to him.” He spoke to the tove as if he expected the little creature to understand his words in full.

True to what he said, Joel completed his sweep of the room, peering under furniture and opening every drawer. For the most part the guest room seemed pretty basic, so he brought the sketchbook along and headed back to join Dania and the others, intending to check on his rabbit patient as soon has he got back to the dining hall.

[Lucca]

As Arpeggio flew up the stairs, twisting and weaving, to check on Joel, Colin let him go. Though he doubted that the presence of his Tove was going to make a huge difference in how swiftly the Corvie made it back down the stairs. He himself stayed sitting, though he was obviously tense, and thinking. Was this going to do them any good at all? Would knowing who was behind it even help? What if it was too late to reverse it?

And then...he blinked. "Wait, Faust!" Was it really such a good idea to show them a door if it was too dangerous to go through it? He cursed under his breath and stood up abruptly, knocking his plate to the floor with a crash, but he ignored that. He chanced a look back at the two Rabbits. "Your Lordship, if you wish to leave, I won't keep you here," he promised, and then jogged to follow everyone toward what seemed to be the front entrance.

But, apparently there was a small, black door behind a curtain. Colin felt a chill go down his spine. Had that ever been there before? And then Horatio spoke again and Colin's eyes widened. "What?" Who was going to come through? There was certainly a lot of commotion on the other side of the door. Was it too much to hope for that it might just be the missing servants? Yes...yes it probably was. Colin sighed, running a wing through his crest, and backed up a bit so he had a better view of the little door.

"If anyone doesn't want to be involved in this, I won't hold it against you," he told the group quietly. "Things are about to get bad." He hopped up to grab the closest thing that looked like a weapon, a brass candelabra on the nearby sconce, because he instinctively felt that the time for talking things out peaceably was long done.

Arpeggio, meanwhile, found the room, and gave a happy trill upon seeing Joel still safe. He weaved around the room, looking to see if the Wolf Colin hadn't liked was here, too. But...there was no one else here. He did smell something weird, though, and he floated over, sniffing the odd scent. What a strange little thing! It made him feel like he wanted to curl up and sleep, but no! He needed to get back to Colin. He reached out and took the weird-smelling box in his claws, then floated back down with another trill. He tilted his head at Joel, though it was hard to tell how much of what the Corvie had said he understood. But when Joel left the room, the Tove followed, looking content and holding the little box.

[Vyn]

None of this seemed good. Nadja hunkered down, clinging desperately to her brother as she watched the bird-dog come to a sudden realization. Apparently he'd lost his memories and was now remembering them?

Odd, but.. well, at least it was... somewhat good?

Despite his condition, Faust was hurrying along to show them what he'd remembered and they were left with nothing to do but follow tentatively along.

She nodded quietly when Heike spoke. As much as Nadja didn't want to leave Fleur behind, their lives were certainly more important. And then the corpse Queen trailed by and Nadja made a nervous little noise. Did she insist on saying such things because she was dead herself? It seemed only logical to be bitter about walking around in such a state.

"It'll be okay." She repeated to herself or to the cat, she didn't really know at this point. Nothing bad had to happen! They didn't even have to be brave!
...Though she supposed Faust was whether or not they wanted him to.

And then they were standing near the front entrance staring at a tiny door in the wall, trembling violently.

She hunkered down a little further, trying to see beneath the cracks... Horatio's comment was not at all reassuring and everyone else was not understandably on edge and she bit her lip nervously before seeking out the hollow eyes of the Dead Queen. "Do you know what's in there?" She whispered very faintly to it, hoping but not entirely expecting an answer.

Still, she'd been acting strangely since The Monster was mentioned and didn't seem entirely pleased with their trip to the door, considering she'd started keening again. Maybe she had some sort of idea of what was going on? Or, at very least, a better idea than they currently did.

[Kari Muffin]

It seemed like everyone suddenly knew what was going on. The Rabbit frowned as glanced at his sibling and then at the door. The Queen had promised that they could leave but Nadja seemed curious about the door, though curious wasn't the proper term, he supposed.

"Nadja, stay back, I don't want you to get hurt," he said firmly to his sibling as he tried to position himself some place between the front door and the tiny creepy door. There wasn't anything in particular that he wanted to grab and brandish, so he'd be stuck replying on kicking. The Queens would probably have spell at their command. His was more of a last resort, and he still had no idea if it would work on Cards.

---

At least everyone believed him. Horatio felt a tinge of relief as he eyed his ball in chain. He could use his precious binding as a weapon, it was heavy enough, and he wasn't exactly skilled at wielding candelabras or much of anything really.

He'd stay out of the way. Now that everyone knew something was coming they would stand their ground, right? He hoped.

[Nathalia]

((Faust gave Dania a pained look and whispered an apology.
This was...probably stupid, he'd only just remembered it.
Why it had seemed important to actually go cluster around the thing though...his reasoning for that had vanished abruptly, and he was now looking upon the shaking door with deepest regret.

He backed against Dania, gingerly letting his fingers brush her fur again, his side roared its pain at him and he felt his legs shake. He was just thinking about sitting down, off to the side and pretending nothing bad was going on, when Horatio (that was his name, right?) said something bad was about to happen.
"Bad? I... I'm not sure if we should all stand here...then." He whispered, slowly backing up and trying his best to pull Dania with him...without actually pulling her.
The last thin gs he wanted were:
1. To be a bother
and
2. For Dania to get hurt.
It was awkward when these two things warred with one another.

He glanced up at Colin.
Really, the Queen was being rather amazing about all of this...
"Your Majesty?" He asked, staggering a few feet further and managing to free a small axe from a suit of armor. "Please be careful, this migh-"

The door quite literally smashed open.

Faust made a wild grab to pull Horatio back towards them, out of the way of flying door shrapnel (14), which reopened the wound in his side.
He gave a gasp of pain, and slid to the floor, blood seeping noticeably through his shirt.

A black form that some of the group would recognize as Zacharias spilled out, writhing in what was obviously many different kinds of agony and lashing the bits of door back at the opening.
They heard many screams and yells and the sounds of someone desperately calling the Wolf's name.
And it was all gone.
The doorway and its shattered remains had all vanished right before their eyes as the Wolf, mouthing wordlessly, writhed before them on the floor in complete disregard of anything around him, trying to breathe.

The corpse finally caught them all up.
Looking down at the Wolf on the floor, she slowly let her gaze wander to Colin and the Jack.
The cracked, dry leather that was her mouth pulled into what might have been a smile.

"Your faithful companion cannot accompany you through the rest of the test. If it could talk - and we would like to take this opportunity.....to remind you that it cannot - it would tell you to go on without it, because it would rather die in a fire than become a burden to you...."))

~Nathalia

[Lucca]

Colin turned to Faust, and would have nodded and said something reassuring when the door suddenly caved inward. Colin puffed up, feathers sticking every which way, and as he saw who it was, cold fury danced in his eyes. "There's the mastermind, I'd bet money on it," Colin snarled, and raised the candalabra...but paused. The Wolf already looked to be in bad shape. He heard the corpse muttering more nonsense behind him, but he'd learned to tune it out mostly, and at least it wasn't touching him now.

He glanced toward the door, and caught a brief glimpse of bright colors and something tall before the door just vanished like it had never existed. That made no sense. That was almost certainly the Wolf's fault. And that...was the final straw. He frowned down at the Wolf (12), no longer willing to play games. "STOP MESSING WITH MY COURT!" he yelled, hurling the brass item in his wings with all his might at the Wolf, and also activating several spells. He wasn't going to give the guy another chance. Rage clouded his vision, brought on by all the hours spent being unsure of what was going on, that entire useless trip to the attic...everything. He was -done-.

Arpeggio emerged into the dining room and trilled in confusion, finding it empty. Sniffing the air, ears twitching, he followed the trail of the group, towards the source of all the noise, still holding that box.

Jack's Ability: Once a week, he is able to cause another card ranked the same as himself or less to acquire a "theme song". This purely instrumental piece will not only suit the individual, but the mood they are currently exhibiting. The music will be played loudly in a surround style for a full five minutes. When this ability is used on Hearts...it seems to cause them rather a lot of...pain...whoops. Wonder why?

King's Ability: Once a week, he is able to cause people to feel as though their legs have turned completely to water for a full hour. They can move at a slow crawl across surfaces, but are unable to run, jump, or leap anything until the hour has passed.