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Post by Emery on Mar 29, 2024 11:01:54 GMT -6
Perfect. This had to be where she needed to go, and Emery forged ahead through the bushes. As she took another step forwards however, the mansino shifted again. This time Emery was able to stay standing, gripping a tree for support. The change felt sickening, but even after she opened her eyes again that didn't really change- the trees swayed and shifted as if they were made of rubber caught in an underwater current, and when she pulled her hand away, the surface of the tree felt... sticky. This must be Tiken Tikal, then. She kept walking fowards, hoping that Moxie had stayed on the path. The trees got deeper and darker and stranger, but every time she turned to look at them, they went back to looking like normal (if twisted) trees. Finally she came to a branch in the path and glanced down both directions, trying to find a hint of her pet.
Emery 11 Moxie 54.1/54.1 16
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Post by Emery on Mar 29, 2024 11:04:40 GMT -6
"Moxie?" She called questioningly, only for something to rattle up both sides- "Moxie?" It called "Moxie? Moxie?" It was as if the trees were mocking her, repeating his name in a series of croaking voices. Emery groaned with disgust. "Shut up!" She called at it, only for it to repeat her monotone voice in a shrieking pitch. In the distance however, she heard it- a small chirp of a response. Moxie was that way. Hopefully. She ran down the left path, hoping her ears hadn't deceived her. Or more likely, that the mansion hadn't deceived her. As she walked down the path, it began to twist and turn again. Emery wasn't sure how much of this she could take- she was never going to find Moxie at this rate, and she was sure that each time the mansion changed, it was only further distressing him. Finally, it seemed to stop, and everything looked... surprisingly normal.
Emery 12 Moxie 54.2/54.2 17
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Post by Emery on Mar 29, 2024 11:14:10 GMT -6
The trees were tall and stately, dozens of feet high, but still normal trees. Sunlight filtered down from above, no longer shifting in nauseating colors. And in the distance- a terrified roar. Emery started for a moment, worried it was Moxie. But then she remembered- kito couldn't make that noise. At best he croaked or chirped like a frog, and was sometimes able to produce a loud screeching noise. A roar was entirely beyond him. But... something harassing him could make that noise. Normally Emery wasn't one to run headlong into danger, but she was away from her 'guard' right now, which meant she was a sitting duck if anything decided to sneak up on her. Might as well take the "sneaking up" out of the equation. Finally she burst into the clearing- and was met with a semi-relieving sight. Moxie turned around to face her, looking at her with a curious, dopily happy expression.
Emery 13 Moxie 54.3/54.3 18
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Post by Emery on Mar 29, 2024 11:16:45 GMT -6
Behind him was a patently terrified dragon, a few tooth marks already carved into one wing. Moxie had found a snack. "Moxie... no." Emery said, and the kito instantly wilted. He had been so scared! He wanted food so bad! Emery offered him a scrap of dried meat from her pack, and the dragon instantly took the opportunity to escape back into the brush. Then, she noticed something- another light breaking free in the center of the orb. It shook violently this time, and she stuffed it into her hip pouch and wrapped an arm around Moxie's neck, pulling him to the ground with the sheer weight of all of the metals strapped to her. He croaked in distress as the mansion lurched again, this time much more than before. Each change was coming faster now, she realized- whatever process was happening, it was speeding up. Soon, fireworks were bursting in the air above them.
Emery 14 Moxie 54.4/54.4 19
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Post by Emery on Mar 29, 2024 11:20:53 GMT -6
Moxie chirped loudly in fear, but Emery maintained her death grip on his neck in a way she hoped was comforting, not choking. If they could just stay still until the sphere did its job, they would be fine. All they had to do was sit there. Moxie seemed resigned to his fate after a certain point, burying his head between Emery's back and her backpack, his leaves twitching each time another firework went off. That was six changes. They were halfway through. They could do this... but fate had other plans. The sphere twisted again, and Emery heard the sound of rushing water. She looked up- salty smelling water poured over the top of the clearing they had parked themselves in. Emery swore loudly, but Moxie wasn't having it. He took off like a shot with his owner still clinging to his neck, hanging on for dear life. She didn't want to lose him again.
Emery 15 Moxie 55.0/55.0 20
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Post by Emery on Mar 29, 2024 11:24:05 GMT -6
Or to, you know, drown. Besides, the mechanisms in her arms were locking up from being jerked around so hard- she wasn't sure she could let go if she tried. Finally the water stopped and Moxie slowed to a halt in front of the mansion. The sphere was almost continuously turning now, and it looked like the mansion couldn't even settle on anything anymore. Warm summer water melted into crunchy fall leaves, which quickly took on a more sinister form. Shadows flickered around the dark corners of the clearing they had run into. It was as if the final months of the year were being mashed up into one big nightmare. Moxie hissed at them as Emery finally got her arms unstuck, and opened the hip pouch to take a proper look. A whole clump of the lights were growing in the center now, and the others were pinging off the walls like pinballs.
Emery 16 Moxie 55.1/55.1 21
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Post by Emery on Mar 29, 2024 11:26:37 GMT -6
She didn't get much time to look however as Moxie backed into her, knocking her off balance. His croaking had risen into a violent shriek as one of the shadows leapt at him, claws outstretched. Emery jumped- a vai min mur beast, perhaps? Moxie took it like a champion however, gripping the beast in his jaws and shaking it back and forth violently until it disappeared into mist again. Emery wasn't surprised- it couldn't be particularly stable with the state the mansion was in. Moxie sniffed around, looking for any chunks it might have dropped that he could eat, but Emery was more focused on their surroundings. It looked now like all signs of summer had faded. She could feel the temperature creeping lower- with any luck, they were almost done. Finally the mansion leapt upwards, screaming in a bodiless voice as its spires took on a terrifying appearance- it was using the month of vai min mur in full to voice its displeasure with this process.
Emery 17 Moxie 55.2/55.2 22
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Post by Emery on Mar 29, 2024 11:29:02 GMT -6
"I don't like this either!" She shouted at it, her voice's volume still cranked up from before. "I don't even know how to leave!" She said, realizing just how much that was true- she had lost track of the exit ages ago. Her and Moxie could be miles away, based on how much the mansion had changed shape. The mansion responded with a fluttering roar of snow, blasting her with flakes from an unknown angle. Wires- wires? ripped up from the earth, wrapping around her ankles. Her and Moxie were being dragged somewhere, though she couldn't know where. The mansion was truly furious by this point and she could hear a strange noise. It took her a moment to realize it, but it sounded like splintering wood- a structure being pushed to the point of collapse. The sphere was heating up her hip pouch with how quickly it was spinning now.
Emery 18 Moxie 55.3/55.3 23
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Post by Emery on Mar 29, 2024 11:33:04 GMT -6
The snow continued in a flurry, completely blacking out her vision. She couldn't hear Moxie, she couldn't hear the mansion, she couldn't even hear her own breathing. She sat there, tense... until her screen finally flickered back online. Apparently something had shorted it out, but it was fine now. She sat up, gasping in surprise. The world was still. Crickets chirped in the bushes, which were growing bright green spring leaves. Moxie laid beside her, groaning uncomfortably but appearing uninjured. She sat up and looked around. She was outside the mansion again- specifically, just outside the iron gate that marked its boundary. She stood up and looked at it- it had been chained shut, and a little sign was hung on the chain. "Closed for maintenance!" it read in a perfectly manicured script. She stood there dumbly for a moment before reaching out to touch it- only for it to give her a static shock, like a tiny bolt of electricity through her arm.
Emery 19 Moxie 55.4/55.4 24
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Post by Emery on Mar 29, 2024 11:35:38 GMT -6
Nothing happened visually, but Emery took the warning loud and clear- the mansion didn't want her back for a while. She could take a hint. "Come on Moxie." She said, urging the kito to get up. "We're done here." And they were, whether she liked it or not. The Eccentric's Mansion wasn't going to let her back in. With a start, she remembered the sphere. She opened her hip pouch- sure enough there it was, now perfectly still. A regular glass orb, just like how it started. But with some new tenants. Twelve glowing motes of light bounced around the interior, each one a slightly different color. Twelve. She had finished the job. Emery breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against Moxie's flank. It had been a very, very stressful day. They had finished the job- and it had only taken a few years off of Emery's lifespan to do it.
Emery 20 Moxie 56.0/56.0 25
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Post by NPC on Apr 3, 2024 0:27:51 GMT -6
Congratulations, you have successfully completed the quest! Your QP will be added to the bank, and your prize will be sent out shortly.
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