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Post by Emery on Jun 10, 2024 6:55:26 GMT -6
Sure enough, as she swept the beam across the floor the butterflies flopped through the air after it. Their lack of intelligence made them graceless, like young puppies tumbling through the air. Emery brought the beam closer and close until it finally landed on another jar she had opened up and set on the ground. The butterflies, to her amazement, actually crammed THEMSELVES in, pushing each other aside to climb into the jar and claim that sweet, sweet light glinting off the bottom. Emery didn't stop them, and politely waited until they had all arranged themselves inside. Then she picked up the lid and screwed it back on, careful to not adjust the beam of the light and risk them realizing what they had just done. Soon the entire flock was safely contained, and Emery slipped the jar back into her bag. Another sample taken, she finally clicked off the beam.
Pyrrhos 13.2/13.2 Emery 17 27
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Post by Emery on Jun 10, 2024 7:00:54 GMT -6
As Emery put the flashlight away and closed the bag, she took another look around. It looked like the area had been completely cleared out of butterflies. Either she had caught them all, or... she glanced up at the "sky". A few twinkling lights were still visible in the distance, like stars, but Emery could tell by the fact that they were moving that they most definitely weren't. She had no way of catching the ones that had flown so far up. She wasn't sure her flashlight's beam could even go that high, let alone catch their attention. With that in mind, she felt like she was... pretty done in this area. There were no more butterflies to catch, and nowhere else they seemed to be able to come from. She peered into the pool of water- it looked like maybe a foot deep at best- no hidden entrances to other areas.
Pyrrhos 13.3/13.3 Emery 18 28
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Post by Emery on Jun 11, 2024 6:50:44 GMT -6
With that in mind, Emery retreated, her prize claimed and this room's puzzle... "solved", for lack of a better word. Besides, there were other rooms to check out as well. Emery was able to make it back to the door she came in through, and passed through it with little trouble. Apparently the mansion was fine with her leaving as well. From there, she was back in the wooden room, with its floating candles. She passed her fingers through the lit flame of one of them as she passed through- it didn't even feel hot. Still, she didn't want to risk tucking one into the bag- she couldn't get it to go out when she pinched her fingers down on the wick, and she didn't want it possibly setting her bag on fire if it decided it didn't want to go with her. She would just have to live without it.
Pyrrhos 13.4/13.4 Emery 19 29
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Post by Emery on Jun 11, 2024 9:55:18 GMT -6
From there, she just had to decide which path to go down next. There were at least three other doors here. Maybe more if there were any hidden entrances. Still, she was going to go for the easy routes first- she didn't have the physical rigor to be too adventurous. She cracked open the door right next to the first one, and was immediately blasted by light and sound. The first door she went through was indicative of a peaceful summer night. It was dark and blue with the gentlest imaginable glow. This one couldn't possibly be more different, assaulting her with warped music and bright lights. Emery considered not stepping through, but Pyrrhos was already through the door, examining his surroundings. She sighed and stepped through as well, closing the door behind her. She might as well see what this place had to offer- but it had better not be a waste of her time.
Pyrrhos 14.0/14.0 Emery 20 30
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Post by Emery on Jun 12, 2024 9:11:08 GMT -6
The wall of noise and sound and light eventually coalesced itself into what Emery realized was a crowded summer fair. Not crowded in terms of people- as far as she could tell, Emery and Pyrrhos were still the only ones around. No, it looked like a summer fair, with lights strung between stalls of games. Stuffed animals piled high against the far walls with glossy, lifeless eyes. Packed dirt covered in god knew what beneath her feet. But all of it, all of it, was shoved so tightly together that Emery had to turn herself sideways just to shuffle through the aisles, constantly bumping into counters and corpulent overstuffed toys hung above her. Each stall was dressed up in all sorts of lights and blasting cheerful music, each of them trying to outcompete their neighbors, turning the whole thing into a crushing cacophony of noise. Emery could barely pick the stalls apart, let alone play at any of them.
Pyrrhos 14.1/14.1 Emery 1 31
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Post by Emery on Jun 12, 2024 9:17:34 GMT -6
Pyrrhos at first seemed entranced by the stalls, with Emery nudging him along ahead of her, but the longer he looked, the more confused and frustrated he seemed to get. She couldn't blame him. This place was a nightmare for such a simple creature. Everything here was too complex, too many details for such a simple-minded beast to take in. Even Emery was having troubles, and she was sapient. She pushed forward simply to try and find a spot where she could breathe for a moment without trouble. The stalls were so dense however that she couldn't see much more than ten feet in front of her at a time, making every twist and turn she took practically random. That wasn't her ideal state to say the least, but she didn't see many other options. Pyrrhos flared his head irritably, and Emery had to agree- though at least it looked like he wasn't setting anything on fire.
Pyrrhos 14.2/14.2 Emery 2 32
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Post by Emery on Jun 12, 2024 9:22:01 GMT -6
That was a good thing- a place like this was a guaranteed death trap if its contents were flammable. Luckily it seemed to have the same flame retardant capabilities as the previous rooms, making it safe to travel in. As they passed through however, the plushes, neon signs, and other prizes sunk in closer and closer, reams of tickets draping themselves across Emery's shoulders and across her path. If they weren't so easy to break through, she'd trip on them. It felt like they were physically grabbing at her, trying to pull her in to play their specific game, but all of them at once. The same was happening to Pyrrhos, and finally the young elemental golem seemed to have enough. Emery stumbled backwards with alarm as his flame went from orange to blue to white. Even through her screen she could feel the temperature increase in waves as she tried to get some distance.
Pyrrhos 14.3/14.3 Emery 3 33
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Post by Emery on Jun 12, 2024 9:28:41 GMT -6
Though he made no vocalizations, the sound of crackling flame came off of Pyrrhos with renewed vigor as he swelled in size, and Emery slipped between two stalls for shelter. She had never seen him get angry before, but it was clear that this couldn't be anything else. She held her breath as a wall of heat past by her, flames licking into the gap between stalls. She heard the hiss of steam and the whining of something burning that shouldn't be, the popping of overheated glass. She continued to hunker down however, fearful of whatever he had just done... until two shiny black eyes peered at her between the stall. Pyrrhos had come to find her- and he looked back to normal now. His flames were back at their normal height and shade of orange. "...Are you done?" Emery asked rhetorically and Pyrrhos turned around again, walking back in the direction they had been heading.
Pyrrhos 14.4/14.4 Emery 4 34
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Post by Emery on Jun 12, 2024 9:33:32 GMT -6
She dared herself to look outside and sure enough, Pyrrhos had finally managed to burn part of his stubbornly flame-resistant environment. A part of the lane was a bit dimmer now, the bulbs strung between stalls having exploded from the heat. Emery made a mental note to be careful of the broken glass now littering the ground below. The stuffed animals, which before were leaning in and trying to suffocate her (though she couldn't tell if it was in a literal sense or just the mansion warping around here), were now all in neat rows again on their shelves and hooks looking out at nothing with smiling faces... but badly scorched fur. Apparently they had been burnt back in line. On the ground the last of the blackening tickets hissed and crackled as they crumbled away to nothing. While the quarters were still cramped, apparently the stalls were now willing to give her a "polite" level of distance.
Pyrrhos 15.0/15.0 Emery 5 35
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Post by Emery on Jun 12, 2024 9:38:49 GMT -6
"...Good. You had better." Emery said, tapping one of the stalls with her cane as she passed by, following after Pyrrhos. She was suddenly glad to have him around- his skills, while simple, were quite frequently necessary. At the very least he seemed interested in continuing both of their existences', which was quite in Emery's favor. He seemed a lot more excited now that he knew he had control over the situation as well. He toddled down the lanes of the stalls, flicking his head to and fro. Emery was happy to follow along. She supposed she owed him a favor now for keeping them safe. If there was anything in particular he wanted to do, she would be happy to go along with it just this once. To her amazement though, after a few minutes of walking, he managed to find something that Emery didn't even know existed in this place.
Pyrrhos 15.1/15.1 Emery 6 36
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Post by Emery on Jun 12, 2024 10:01:24 GMT -6
An open space. Such a thing was so simple and yet, such a relief given what Emery had just gone through. Pyrrhos had come out into what looked like some sort of performing area. Dozens of cheap folding chairs had been set up on the packed earth in a crescent around a quickly put up stage, the kind you'd see at impromptu music festivals. And yet somehow, suspended to each side of the stage, were rich, luxurious red velvet curtains, looking like they had been stolen straight from a beautiful orchestra stage. They certainly didn't fit in with the rest of this cheap and chintzy affair. Emery looked up. She had thought for sure she'd be able to see the sky here, but the air above her had been crisscrossed with string lights so thick they almost formed a net above her. What little "sky" she could see through the gap was so polluted with light that she couldn't actually tell if it was a sky or a ceiling.
Pyrrhos 15.2/15.2 Emery 7 37
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Post by Emery on Jun 12, 2024 10:24:14 GMT -6
Emery also noticed that it was... quieter here. Not quiet, of course. She could still hear the honks and slide whistles and calliope music from the rest of the festival, but it was almost like hearing it through the wall of a particularly cheap apartment. Some degree of muffling, but not a lot. Emery wasn't sure what was causing the effect, but she was still grateful for it. Grateful enough... to try and sit down in one of the chairs. Pyrrhos had already walked up towards the front of the stage, but Emery would be damned if she was going up there. The moment her butt hit the seat however, the curtains began to draw away, pulling silently along invisible rails. What they revealed was a massive, fixed wheel- like the kind you'd see on game shows. It was cut into slices, each with its own eye-searing light bulb flashing in patterns that Emery was sure were supposed to be appealing.
Pyrrhos 15.3/15.3 Emery 8 38
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Post by Emery on Jun 12, 2024 10:28:28 GMT -6
Instead, it was just as annoying as the rest of this place. Even worse, Emery couldn't actually read what was written on any of the slices. It wasn't just a language she didn't know, it just didn't appear to BE any particular language, just random symbols. Finally, an arrow to the right of it started flashing, with "spin!" lighting up letter by letter, flashing twice, and darkening again before the pattern repeated. Emery wasn't going to do it. She was going to stay in this chair. Pyrrhos couldn't do it either- he didn't have any hands. Or... any limbs to spare, really. Her and the wheel sat there for a moment in a standoff, just staring at each other. She was happy to be the audience, but participating was a recipe for disaster. Unfortunately for her, the wheel didn't really seem to care, and soon an ominous cracking noise came from under her chair.
Pyrrhos 15.4/15.4 Emery 9 39
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Post by Emery on Jun 12, 2024 10:30:44 GMT -6
Emery startled as the chair dropped half an inch. She wheeled her screen around to look beneath her- a trapdoor had appeared in the packed dirt beneath her as she realized there were actually floorboards hidden under the dirt. She had only gotten through the first syllable of a truly elaborate swear before she dropped down into the darkness below- only to land roughly on the stage again, the interstice between the two locations completely foggy in her memory. It was as if she had simply been relocated, though she definitely did have the memory of falling. She looked at what had been her previous location in the audience. As she watched, the trapdoor snapped itself shut behind her- and then another chair landed from somewhere above them, bouncing perfectly into position in the now vacated space. Emery looked up. There was no gap in the string lights for it to theoretically have fallen from.
Pyrrhos 16.0/16.0 Emery 10 40
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Post by Emery on Jun 12, 2024 10:54:52 GMT -6
Emery sighed and moved to massage a temple, but stopped when she realized her hand would never connect through the temple. "...Fine. Fine then. At least I don't have to get up." She said, adjusting her cane in her lap. She leaned over to grip the edge of the wheel and heaved it as hard as she could. Which, admittedly, wasn't very hard but the wheel itself didn't seem to care. It spun as if it had been given the biggest, most enthusiastic, strongest spin imaginable, the slices whirling together into a single multicolored blur, with a quirky theme song ringing out from nowhere in particular. Emery watched as Pyrrhos looked up at it, as if it were the most beautiful thing in the world. Well, at least he was entertained. Emery just wanted it to be over. Finally, it began to slow down, though of course it did so as slowly as possible.
Pyrrhos 16.1/16.1 Emery 11 41
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