Fantasy Moments in Time

[Katsuya]

-Tea Time-
-Echo's view-​

Serena grinned widely. "You think so, Lydia? I hope to see them enjoy the music too." The un-dead need music too, you know?

Echo hugged back, sad for the family. When Johnny payed his respects, the fawn let out a little prayer for them while hastily adding "Please don't haunt us after we leave or bring a doll to life." She really didn't like haunted houses but she didn't want to leave Johnny alone either. He faced his fear with girls, she wants to do the same with ghosts..

The fawn patted Butters and Meatballs with a warm and shaky smile, telling him to go explore and try to be careful as she entered the Manor.

Renee, finally free from Chenglei's grasp, hugged and nuzzled Fray. "We'll be back soon." Then she told Mica, her ferret summons, to look after Meatballs. The Pendragon teen knew he has some sort of connection with the large dog considering that he immediately goes to the warbeast hound first after doing his job.

Mica squeaked in confirmation and stayed on top of Meatballs' head to see better, trembling a bit as the large hound looked around. It seems that Chenglei wanted to look around the grounds more before coming inside with the summons.

"Just want to see what other spooky things can be found out here. I'll come inside once I'm done." Chenglei said with a princely smile.

The group went inside of the manor and Echo gulped. Why is there blood on the blank name plate? Better yet, why is Stuart's parents' names crossed out and replaced with items? Yea, it's sad if the son of the Cromwell's played alone and all, but...did he die after his parents'? Or...did he die together with them and his spirit crossed it out after coming back from the dead?

Goodness that's tragic...

She had swallowed that whimper down when Johnny wanted to go to the bedrooms, but she followed him there, going up the stairs; Looking around like there was a creepy stalker behind them and it...

Was only Serena who kept playing.

"Serena..." Echo frowned a bit, one of her ears perked up and it made her look like she had enough with the creepy music. The violinist tutted at the fawn. "Now now, Echo. Spirits enjoy music too. Let them feel in peace while giving us the chills~!" That's not helping her fear!!!

"Come on Echo, it's spirits. Nothing to be-" Renee tripped and fell down the stairs, making loud bangs as she finally landed on the first floor; her back and her head ached!

"OW-!" She yelled out, hearing the music stop for a moment and a bit of footsteps coming down. "Here, grab my hand."

"Thanks Serena..." Renee mumbled as she grabbed her hand and was pulled up to her feet. "Are you okay?" Echo whispered loudly as if she wanted to avoid catching someone's attention. Serena and Renee shook their heads in amusement before confirming that she's okay. The pair of girls decided to explore the first floor instead of going upstairs.

"Let me know when you two start on the seance! I seriously want to play!" Serena said excitedly to James and Lydia. Then she and Renee went off. The violinist continued to play the spooky song and Renee giggling while poking on the walls in case there's like a secret doorway or something.

Echo sighed in relief, grabbing Johnny's hand tightly while noticing how dark the hallway is with bits of light coming through, her hooves echoed loudly while the soft and creepy 'oooooohhhh~' sound just gave her the shivers.

"Wh-which bedroom d-do you want to see? Th-the parents' o-or S-Stuart's?" She asked.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Zer0]

- Tea Time -
" Stuart's Bedroom "​

Johnny jumped, startled, when Renee stumbled; he went down the stairs quickly to help her too. "You alright, Renee?" he asked worried. "Blimey, this dilapidated building is dangerous --- o-or did something push you down the stairs?" he drew out his wand and cast, "Feather fall" and "Etheris" in a whisper to the three girls and himself. "We can fall floating down like a feather now." he grinned, tucking his wand away. "And not rip our clothes!" he added cheerfully.

He rejoined Echo, wondering if the two girls left the two of them alone on purpose. As Echo's buddy and not just her love, he wouldn't leave her alone unless she told him to. "Let's check all the rooms, Echo. I have no clue which of these doors is Stuart's bedroom." The brochure only said the bedrooms are on the second floor.

As they started slowly opening the doors and exploring the rooms, Johnny holding Echo's hand and the camera with the other, he spotted James and Lydia moving across the far end of the hall. He sniggered and whispered. "James is afraid of ghosts unless he knows he can send them away with his wand, Echo. We summoners can only send demons and evil spirits back to their own realm, but can do nothing if they were born here in Midgard. It takes paladins, monks, or spirit mediums to effectively deal with the ectoplasmic entities in our realm." he crouched, half-hidden behind some furniture draped in dusty white cloth, cupped his hands to his mouth and must have spoken, but no words came out.

* * * *​

"Oi." Said a creepy voice behind Lydia and James. The latter whipped around, wand drawn and battle ready, but there was no one behind them.

"Did you hear that, Lydia?" said James, wide-eyed and looking around as though preparing for something about to jump at them in the dark. He did a weird dance, hopping in place looking at his ankles.

Roleplay Skittle

* * * *​

Johnny ducked when James' turned their direction, snickering with his hands covering his mouth. He put up the camera and clicked, purple smoke puffing out. "Oh, shoot." he chuckled.

James whipped around after the flash, "Johnny!" he whispered loudly from downstairs, annoyed, yet at the same time relieved.

Johnny laughed. "What? I'm just ---" he pointed at the ceiling --- "taking a picture of the chandelier, mate." he clicked his camera randomly.

"No ventriloquism, Serena's creepy music is bad enough already!"

Johnny, still laughing, just shrugged non-commitantly before resuming his exploration with Echo. Oh, he was definitely going to do that again. As they moved deeper into the mansion, it steadily became darker here on the second floor where curtains covered the boarded up windows. Johnny summoned will-o-wisps that floated beside them like torches, allowing them to see just fifteen feet around them in the dark. The place only really lit up whenever he clicked his camera, feeling thrilled that something they did not notice might appear during the flash. And then they found it.

Creaking open a door, they found themselves in a room that could have only belonged to a child. Something wet and shiny was on the bed, and upon close inspection it turned out to be blood.

"You think an animal was here?" Johnny whispered to Echo. He saw blood on that tea place too. He took a picture, and went about exploring the room and opening the wardrobes with just one hand as his other didn't let go of Echo's.

Katsuya Panzer

- Tea Time -
" Library "​

Smiling embarrassingly because he felt silly hopping like that in front of Lydia, James followed her to the library, holding her hand again. It was easier to be brave if he was pleasantly distracted by her hand in his. They could see Frey, Butters, and Meatballs outside through the windows. Meatballs was lying on the ground with his belly up for Mica to rub, while Butters was following and looking up, listening to something, probably the sound of Johnny and Echo's voices; Frey accompanied Chenglei and disappeared when the Oriental turned behind a corner.

James wondered out loud if an animal had been there at the hall and that was perhaps why there was fresh blood on one of the chairs around the tea table. If so, that's going to be a relief, instead of a ghost --- not that he was scared or anything, he was only caught by surprise earlier. Upon coming to the library, he felt sad seeing all the many, many burned ashy remains of books.

"This is sad . . ." he said. "I wonder if there's some books here we can save." he checked the shelves and opened the drawers, pulling out some of the book remains and reading their titles, then moved the debris around, checking their bottom, and bent down to start digging some of the ash out with a piece of wood.

Roleplay Skittle
The Story | Characters | OOC
​

 

[Panzer]

-Tea Time-​

CRASH! A sudden sound rippled through the halls of the mansion, sending waves of shakes and a hiss of air through the hallway. It was the violent sound of a collapsing structure, one of ripping and tearing with cries of wood and stone shaking the ground. The Stairway of the manor had finally collapsed after the impact it took, its rotten columns of wood could withstand no longer the weight of the stairs. Soon after, an era of silence befell upon the manor once more, nothing escaping its walls besides the "Danse Macabre" that the violinist played. In almost no time, the second floor had become separated from the bottom, with no way up or back down the stairway.

​

The crash sent shivers down Stuart's spine. Another wave of stressed pressed over him like a blanket or a cold breeze. A part of him wanted to investigate the noise, but he also assumed that they would do the same. He took a moment to calm himself, closing his eyes and slowing his breath. He still could not take the feeling of dread off of his shoulders. Maybe this was a chance to show his truly friendly demeanor.

He quietly stepped down the hallway, stopping at the cross-section between the bedroom hallway and his own pathway. The light barely touched him, outlining him in a gray light. Stuarts eyes also reflected the light, giving off a small light that looked similar to small glowing eyes. It gave Stuart the sinister look of an ominous shadow...

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

-Tea Time-​

The sound of the voice behind them ushered forth a surprised squeak from Lydia and she huddled closer to James as he spun only for there to be nothing behind them. She watched James do his funny little hoppy dance and giggled slightly, not sure what he was trying to do by moving that way, but she just collected his hand again, "it was probably just the wind," she pointed at the holes in the ceiling that the wooshing of the wind through them that made it sound like a voice moaning. Then the sound of the camera echoed and Lydia turned back as James did, laughing slightly, "you're playing with fire, Johnny!" coming from Lydia, that could mean a number of things, but since Lydia had followed in the twin's footsteps in the past by initiating prank wars, she was issuing it as a friendly warning.

The blood spattered on the name card and the chair was unnerving any way she looked at it, whether it had been from a human, left by an animal, or some unseen spiritual force. She shuddered slightly at the thought and shook her head, catching the sight of the summons outside and smiling at their activities, thinking for a moment that maybe she should tap on the window, but deciding against it because she didn't know if they would hear her or if they did, if it would startle them.

Gently squeezing James' hand as they reached the library, she soon released it, "I thought it would be... but if we could find anything that could be preserved... it'd be a triumph," she smiled slightly sadly as she did the same as James and began carefully and cautiously searching through the debris for anything that could be called a whole book, "how long since the fire?" she paused a moment in her search as she heard the echo of what sounded like something falling, her gaze turning from the direction she thought she had heard the sound come from and looking to James with concern, but she wasn't sure if it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

Zer0 Katsuya Panzer

 

[Zer0]

- Tea Time -
" James Pendragon "​

"Brochure didn't say." said James distractedly, waving his hand around as he got cobwebs stuck on his hair. He too met Lydia's eyes in concern, and then looked toward the direction of the crash, wondering if it was Johnny messing around again. "Ah, but there was a date of death, so . . . six years ago?"

He decided to ignore the crash. He got more cobwebs stuck on him as he dug around every time he stood up as he was tall. He finally took a broken chair leg and whirled the cobwebs away as the spindly spiders retreated. He caught one with a yellow butt and let it crawl all around his hand.

"This is Argiope aurantia," he said fondly, showing Lydia, "or your common garden spider." he opened a rusty window and carefully placed it down where it disappeared down the glass.

"I used to hunt for those when I was a kid and have them fight the spiders of my friends, and bet our lunches and juice on them. We'd let them hang on this stick and the winning spider would be the one that wrapped the other. My best spider was Black Lotus, who won sixteen times, though he escaped from my matchbox one day. I wonder if there's a tarantula around, Johnny doesn't like big hairy spiders." he started checking the cool, moist moldy areas and pulled up more wood.

He returned to Lydia after a while, tarantula-less, but with six burned books wrapped in a dusty curtain that could be repaired somewhat after they were dried and cleaned: The Wizard and the Hopping Pot, The Fountain of Fair Fortune, Babbity Rabitty and Her Cackling Stump, Prince of Persia, Webster's Dictionary, and Plumbing for Plums.

And he looked over her shoulder to see what she found.

Roleplay Skittle

 

[Katsuya]

-Tea Time-
-Echo's view-​

Echo covered her mouth as she just stood behind where Johnny hid, her shoulders shaking from her quiet laughter as she watched James freak out from Johnny's scare. She felt bad for laughing but honestly it's just funny to see the serious Pendragon move around like that. She snorted in amusement as Johnny came back after making the excuse of taking a picture, holding his hand once again while looking around.

Feeling a bit courageous, Echo was ready to face anything...or so she thought. As the light from the camera flashed, revealing something shiny and red on the child's bed, the fawn froze by the doorway. The only reason why she moved at all was because Johnny was moving and she automatically followed him. Afraid again, she tipped-toed to the bed and hesitantly touched the red spot, feeling that it's still wet and the copper smell...

"...Yea...I think it is." But what ate it, she wonders, now looking around frantically as she shuffled close to Johnny, gripping tightly on his hand while he explored and she kept a look out.

For anything....frightful...

Then she flinched when she heard something crash from the first floor, her ears perked up high and her eyes wide. It became wider when she heard someone screaming in a high pitch.

"W-What was that?!" Echo whispered as she tugged Johnny and gave him a tight hug, trembling. Her reindeer ears folded back.

*********************************

-Renee's view-​

As soon Serena stepped off the stairs, it collapsed and the blonde just looked at it, blinking in surprise. Then she shrugged her shoulders as she continued to walk into another dark hallway, playing her violin as she left the Tea room.

Renee was about to follow her when she suddenly saw something...

A child's shadow peeked over the second floor, there's a glow where his eyes should be...

Her eyes widened and so did her smile. The tiny wings on her head flapped excitedly like she couldn't hold it back-

"AAAHHHHHH!!!!" Renee screamed in excitement, her curled up hands fitted under her chin before running off to find Serena to tell her.

"GHOST!! I SAW STUART'S GHOST!! SERENA!!!!" She followed the creepy music as her yells became more faded with how far away she was from the broken staircase. The white haired teen found Serena in the kitchen, still playing her song while looking around curiously.

"Serena!" Renee exclaimed. "I just saw Stuart! Or his shadow- I think!? But it's so cool-!"

The violinist giggled and patted her head like she's accepting a child's made-up story. "Sure, Renee. Sure you did."

"Wha-? But I did!"

"Uh-huh...sure. Renee, you need to get better at scaring people. Heheh~!" Serena didn't believe her, thinking that Renee is joking around.

"...But I really did see him..." The Pendragon sister said, her wings that were flapping now wilted at her friend not believing her.

"I really did..." Once again, no one ever believes her when it comes to the supernatural. She followed Serena around to the Servants' hallways, her arms crossed as she pouted angrily. Her wings puffed up in her agitation.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Zer0]

- Tea Time -
" Johnny Caprice "​

"Er." Johnny listened intently as he hugged Echo close too, half-wondering what happened and half-enjoying their tight embrace, his face a little red. Hard to be scared when the fawn he's in love with is so tightly wound around him in the dark, alone. He liked it.

"I-I think it's Renee?" More listening as he rubbed her back comfortingly, and could not help but secretly sniff Echo's hair and casually rub his cheek on her fluffy ear as he pivoted to face the direction of the crash. Then he paused. "She said she saw Stuart's ghosts! Echo, let's go, we have to see his ghost too!" Their making-out can wait. Brandishing his camera, he'd try to tug Echo, but if she wouldn't move he'd lift and carry her back to the hallway quickly.

"What happened to the stairs?" he said dumbfounded and took a picture. "RENEE! WHERE'D YOU SEE THE GHOST?!" he yelled out excitedly taking more camera shots. He grinned at Echo, ecstatic. "OI, JAMES, LYDIA, CHENGLEI, SERENA! RENEE SAW A GHOST, LET'S DO THE SEANCE ON THE STAIRS --- ER, MAKE IT NEAR THE STAIRS!"

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Katsuya]

-Tea Time-
-Echo's view-​

Echo froze again when Johnny said he wanted to go see his spirit, shaking her head 'No' rapidly as he tugged. Her knees are shaking. She bleated in surprise when he picked her up and carried her to where the stairs should be, too scared to be impressed with Johnny's strength. While her boyfriend yelled for Renee to show him where Stuart's ghost is, the trembling fawn spotted something over his shoulder, where the bedroom hallway is.

A shadow of a child...with glowing eyes...looking very ominous...

"J-J-Jo-Joh-" Echo stuttered in a whisper, her ears perked up in alarm as she looked like a deer in headlights. She gulped as she paled quickly. "Jo-John-Joh-...." Her head suddenly planted itself on his shoulder, eyes rolled back, ears relaxed, and body stopped trembling.

Echo fainted in Johnny's arms...

Zer0 Panzer Roleplay Skittle

 

[Zer0]

- Tea Time -
" Johnny Caprice "​

Johnny turned around. His jaw dropped. Letting the fainted Echo lean on him, he quickly raised a shaking hand. Click, went the camera. Then he jumped down the second floor carrying her, dispelled his spell mid-air, then landed with a thud on the floor.

"GHOST! GHOST, THERE'S A GHOST!" he yelled, huffing. He hoisted Echo up more securely fireman's-carry style. "LYDIA, JAMES, SERENA!" he ran across the hallway towards the library. "Echo, love, wake up, it's alright." he rubbed her arm, while glancing back to see if the ghost was chasing them.

Katsuya

 

[Panzer]

-Tea Time-
​

The shadow reached out his hand as if to offer assistance to the group. He felt sympathy for the fainted deer as his intent was not to cause harm or misery. Instead, it found itself to be the bad guy in this situation. His helpful demeanor was quickly dropped once the other had pulled up a camera. His arm dropped and retracted back to his side quicker than it was extended, giving the look of rejection.

Flash! The ghost had suddenly vanished, leaving nothing to the picture but a crude and misty outline of a figure. A dark spot amidst the dark was still present, marking the location of Stuart. With this interaction over with, the shadow quickly retreated back into the darkness of the halls. The darkness consumed the shadow and sheltered it against viewing eyes. It seemed too shy to do much else...

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

-Tea Time-​

Nodding her head slightly, she frowned a bit. Six years ago assuming that he had died in the fire, she shivered and shook her head before laughing slightly at the battle James was having with the cobwebs as she blew a bit of soot and dust from a boot with a charred cover, coughing slightly and waving her hand in front of her face. Why in the world had she done that? She laughed at herself slightly.

When James caught the spider, she looked at it with interest. She had grown a bit desensitized to being afraid of things that girls would commonly be afraid of and she had Thomas to thank for that. It was harder to have pranks pulled on her if she wasn't afraid of most of the things being used for the pranks. She nodded with interest as he spoke and laughed slightly, "I know... Thomas used to catch them and put them in my glasses' case," she watched him carefully free the spider and smiled to his story, the most contact she ever had with a spider was when she found them in the case for her spectacles or some other small container Thomas knew she'd use and she wondered if he ever played games with spiders like James had. Her smiled broadened into a grin as James mentioned finding a tarantula and Johnny not liking them, "that would be a fair return for surprising us earlier."

After James returned from his search for spider and book alike, Lydia had also not been able to locate a spider, though she did find a few rats that quickly disappeared through a hole in the floor. Lydia's own collection of books which she neatly stacked on the desk bore the titles of: A Functional Guide to the Totally Dysfunctional, Diamond in the Rough: A Thief's Tale, Abernathy and the Three Eyed Ghoul, and Mysteries of the Chateaux le Blanc.

It seemed that the peace and solitude of the library wasn't to last as her ears caught the sound of varying degrees of commotion, from screams to yelling, to the sound of someone falling. Her eyes widened and she looked to James, quickly wrapping the books she had found in a decorative tablecloth and running to the library door, skidding to a stop as Johnny appeared at the library door, "E-Echo?!" She looked at the unconscious fawn hoisted over Johnny's shoulder, her eyes wide, "g-ghost?" she blinked, then she laughed slightly, why were they scared? Hadn't they come to see a ghost? She grinned to James, "think we still need a seance?"

Zer0 Katsuya Panzer

 

[Katsuya]

-Tea Time-
-Serena's view-​

Upon hearing Johnny's yells, Renee and Serena poked their heads out of the kitchen doors before the smaller teen gave...a rather smug smirk at the blonde.

"I told you I saw the ghost!"

"...I'm sorry for not believing you." Serena said, coming out to follow Johnny to the library with Renee in tow. She stopped playing her violin as she got closer to the other pairs and wondered why Echo fainted.

"...So I'm guessing she saw the ghost too?" Renee commented, poking the fawn's cheek. Doesn't seem like she'll wake up anytime soon...unless something loud happens...

Maybe....

"I'm still voting for doing seances. What did the ghost look like, Johnny?" Serena asked the entertainer, her eyes glittered in excitement that there's an actually ghost sighting so early with their visit.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Zer0]

- Tea Time -​

"Whoa," said James, recoiling when Lydia mentioned her brother putting spiders in her glasses case. "Did he stuff in big spiders?"

When he was checking the titles of the books she neatly stacked on the desk, he became excited with Diamond in the Rough: A Thief's Tale, Abernathy and the Three Eyed Ghoul, and Mysteries of the Chateaux le Blanc.

"Fascinating, can we keep this one?" he showed her the mystery novel. "It's not rude to the memory of the dead, right?"

At that moment the whole commotion started and he dashed with Lydia towards the library door, wand out.

"It was Echo who saw it first." Johnny was telling Renee and Serena as he looked for a place to put down his love. Not finding a dust-free spot and thinking they may have to run again soon, he resumed hugging her as he explained, looking back at the top of the fallen staircase every now and then.

"It was a child, but grey, with glowing eyes, and it looked so sinister! I jumped down , but when I looked back it was gone! It reached out for us, like it wanted us to join it in death or something!" Johnny breathed, thrilled.

"Um." Began James. He didn't think the ghost was real and now it just got really real. He can't lose face in front of Lydia, that'd be embarassing, and besides she wants to see ghosts. "Yes, we need the seance, Lydia. Let's do it now." he said calmly.

While Johnny went outside carrying Echo, calling Butters, Meatballs, and Frey to guard her, James asked the others for help moving the tea table and some chairs near the stairs. They set up the Ouija board, candles, magic circle of melted candlewax and other props for the seance.

When all was done, they gathered together around the table with the board and began the ritual to talk to the dead.

"Spirit, if you're in this room, please give us a sign." said Johnny as he held hands with the others; outside, Frey was pressing his nose to the glass waiting to see how this will go.

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Panzer]

-Tea Time-​

Suddenly, a soft knocking sound was heard from the door. About four knocks were given, replicating a steady rhythm. Soon after, the door began to creak open, and a cold rush of air soon filled the lively room.
Soon after, The candle light began to flicker...
and the air became DEALTHY still...
The feeling of a certain presence overwhelmed the sense of the room, one of unusual or unfamiliar feel. Someone- or something else was there, in the dark corner of your eyes, hiding within the darkness...

The candle gave out for a short moment, sending the room into complete darkness. Silence had taken the room, frozen it once again.

A dim candle light lit up near the table, being held by a small- old style candle light holder. a small- grayish hand held the handle like a tea-cup and held it close to its face. There, Stuart stood confidently. He smiled shyly through the dim light, with a sense of friendliness in his smile. His face was slightly gaunt and hollow and his dead eyes gazed to the outlines of the visitors. He held a slight tense look, despite his show of a smile, showing that he either forced himself to smile or was forced to by others. Even eerier than his smile lay just around it, being the same red/blackish liquid that stained the table card. Dried lines of blood still formed its red colors in lines that ran down his face...

 

[Katsuya]

-Tea Time-
-Renee's view-​

Chenglei stayed outside and told Johnny that he will help guard Echo along with the summons. Though he peeked through the window where Fray is looking in, curious about the whole thing.

Serena and Renee helped move the table and chairs while the others set up the rest, getting ready to start. The violinist had to make sure the candles wouldn't burn anything by accident before sitting down next to Johnny and Lydia, while Renee sat next to James. Her violin rested on the table so she can hold hands.

Of course the Pendragon sister is excited to see the spirit, practically bouncing on the chair while her wings flapped energetically. While Serena was calm and colle- Yea right. Serena is actually nervous, she just didn't show it on her blank face as she held hands with everyone; listening Johnny ask the spirit if he was here...

Serena blinked in surprise when a little child appeared holding a tea cup...with blood, fresh and dry blood...

"...That's not horrifying..." Serena commented, frozen in place. Renee poked her leg with a foot and a deadpan expression. She knew the violinist tends to be...brutally blunt with her words when she's in shock or not really paying attention. So that wasn't new however...just not in front of the ghost child...

If no one said anything, Renee smiled back at the child and asked quite calmly; Like he didn't have blood on his mouth...

"Hello! Is your name Stuart?" She started. "How are you today?"

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

-Tea Time-
​

Casting James a mildly perplexed look as she laughed, she shook her head slightly, "just the garden spiders..." she absently scratched her cheek as she glanced upwards in thought, "though I guess those can get kind of big..."

As James looked over the books she found, she looked over his, laughing slightly about Babbity Rabitty and Her Cackling Stump, "oh! I used to love this book when I was little!" she lifted it and carefully opened it, looking over the pages fondly, "it was an illustrated edition and I dropped it in the pond while we were in the country... it became sort of nightmarish after that," she laughed awkwardly, her teeth clenching as she recalled the memory of looking at the water damaged and running images once the book had dried.

Glancing up at the book James raised as he asked if they could keep it, she smiled and shrugged slightly, "I think it would be more of a disservice to just leave it here... especially if any of these were given as gifts and have notes written for the receivers..." she gently turned to the inner cover of Babbity Rabitty to see if there was any such message from the gifter only to be interrupted when the commotion started.

Lydia cast Johnny an incredulous look as he talked about the spirit, it wasn't that she didn't believe he had seen one so much as she wondered if he actually wanted them to die. One thing was for sure, she was pretty certain that it was probably young Stuart since Johnny said it was a child. Unconsciously, her hands had made their way to her arms and squeezed tightly as she turned her gaze on James and gave a slow nod before helping James set up.

Beginning to chew her lip, she started questioning whether or not having a seance was a good idea, given the state of the house. In the end her demeanor relaxed and she seemed relatively content with the idea because she thought that maybe the spirit of Stuart did want to communicate and that was why he had shown himself, though she questioned the idea when she saw the collapsed staircase. In the end, it was a little late to turn back so with a deep breath, she proceeded in helping with the set up and joining hands with the others when the time to start came.

When the knocking started, Lydia's hand squeezed James a little tighter while her other hand adjusted its grip on Serena's and she gave them each a startled look. The first thing that came to mind was why would a spirit that was supposed to be there knocking on its own door and that made her wonder if the spirit was supposed to be there or if maybe it was a malicious one intruding. She was about to swallow hard but wound up just holding her breath as her green eyes focused on one of the flickering candles and she found herself curling her arm around James' and pulling it up against her side when the spirit showed himself and she got a clear look of him.

A shocked expression fell over her features as Renee so casually started talking to the ghost and she had to resist the urge to just start laughing despite her nerves, she didn't want to scare him away after all. That thought didn't help her any and she found herself looking down at the table as she pressed her lips together in a line, she was worried about scaring away a ghost.

Zer0 Katsuya Panzer

 

[Katsuya]

-One Shot-
-A Plot Twist...?!-​

A low groan echoed in the cavern as the tall tactician finally woke up, blinking and staring at the stone ceiling in a daze. His head turned to the side, wondering, pondering where he was at the moment...until he remembered. "My men-!" He yelled, sitting up straight before groaning in pain, placing his hand on the bandaged burns and cuts that's on his stomach and chest as he curled up a bit; one of his knees bent while the other is limping on the edge.

"Who-?"

"Ah...You're awake...Good."

The tactician whipped his head to where he heard that light baritone voice, knowing who it belongs to. There, standing at the entrance of the hidden cavern and holding a weaved basket full of bandage rolls and anti-bacterial paste, is the same annoying lap dog of the ignorant prince who wouldn't leave him alone. Not with the usual warm smile with soft ash purple eyes, the tactician was greeted with a solemn frown and tired darken amethyst eyes with bags under them. Like he hadn't had a good amount of sleep. He was out of his usual soldier's uniform too; wearing a simple dark purple yukata with a black striped obi. The golden hair ornaments were off as well, his pinned back hair is now loose and messy.

The tall tactician glared his steely glare, not moving an inch. The blonde soldier sighed as he raked a hand through his hair before walking up to him and sat on the straw mat that's laid for the enemy.

"Glare at me all you want, James. I don't care..."

"..." Silence. Once again the blonde soldier sighed and started to unravel his bloodied bandages. James balked and started to move away from gentle hands. Dark ash purple eyes looked at the injured man.

"James, let me-"

"Why?" James whispered warily. "Why did you save me? I thought you wanted me dead-"

"If I wanted you dead, I would have just killed you five years ago when I had to chase you down." The blonde soldier answered rather roughly for a man who's normally proper. Then he scooted closer to James, wrapping his arms around his waist in a timid hug. He was conflicted; This is the same man who hurt him by betraying the trust given to him and yet...this man is intelligent, quirky, funny with his jokes, and overall...fun to be around when he's not trying to kill the soldier. It's hard to hate him but it's hard to not love him too.

Then the soldier cupped the surprised tactician's cheek with a gentle hand, his tired face with a small hopeful smile as he just takes in this man's beauty despite the healing bruises and cuts and burns. James is still beautiful...

"Ch-Chenglei-?"

"James, I miss yo-"

"Minnie, I need help with- What are you doing?" Sen questioned at the doorway, raising an eyebrow at the normally stoic blue haired girl who's currently covering up her notes with her arms and half over the small and dented desk of the hotel they were currently hiding in. Her teal blue eyes just stared at the twin and blinked once, her hair shadowed over her face.

"...Sleeping..." Minnie answered dully as she curled up her arms and rested her head even more. If Sen saw the bright blush on her cheeks, he said nothing about it and just continued with his report about the guild.

Ever since going on this mission to save Luthein, Minnie started to write her story about two men who are in opposing factions of the Orients; A genius tactician and a suave soldier who fell in love but the tactician chose his faction and betrayed the soldier who chased him in the rain only to be set free and-

Long story short, Minnie really liked seeing James together with Chenglei because of how different the two are and came up with this story. Of course the twins and Ricket does not know about it and never will because she rather jump into a sand worm's mouth first then to show them her story of the twins' older brother hooking up with the oriental soldier.

"...Right...So can you help set up a trap with Seth? I'll come up with the bait..." That night Sen and Minnie talked about their plans to trapping more bandits and the notes on the table were put away. Only for the small and young gunner to see and write.

Yes...Minnie loves to write fictional romantic stories with drama and war. She doesn't care about the gender stuff; only love and the trails the characters go through.

When Sen isn't looking, Minnie would smile a bit as she stares at the more charming twin while he talks with Seth. It seems that she still has more to write in her story...Maybe about a lonely sibling and his bodyguard...

Who knows...

 

[Panzer]

-Tea Time-​

The spirit stood for a moment, visibly hesitating with his words. The candles seemed to regain their light and flickered back into existence. Stuart's Apparel was prominently formal, wearing an ash-stained black suit-tux along with a small top hat and a cane. He seemed to be missing one of his arms, but it soon became evident that he was not missing the arm, only the cane. He picked up the "cane" and waved it as if it were his own arm- mainly because it was his own arm. He tipped his hat up with the cane and set it down against the ground to lean on it.

"Well, It has been a relatively quiet day- although It took quite an unexpected turn." He sighed, his glance dancing between the group's faces. He picked up his cane-arm and reattached it to his shoulder with ease. he held the re-attached arm
at the wrist and clenched his hands into a fist. After a moment of observing the functions of his own hand, he looked back up to the group and politely asked:
"May I have a seat?"

The manor began to creak more violently, more and more supports seemed to rot away quicker with each failure of the other support to withstand the weight of the manor. the windows began to crack...

 

[Katsuya]

-Tea Time-
-Renee's view-​

Renee smiled warmly, her wings fluttered. For a ghost, he's rather polite. The creaky house though is a bit concerning.

"Of course! This is your house after all. You don't need to ask. Here- Take mine." She stood up, breaking the circle as she walked to grab another chair while Stuart can sit in hers. "I'll just grab another."

Serena had an urge to slap her face in disbelief. How is Renee so calm about a ghost child covered in blood? She can't be that accepting is sh- That's a stupid question. Yes, she is. The teen has a deathknight for a boyfriend for crying out loud!

The Pendragon teen gladly sat next to the ghost child and grabbed Johnny's hand again before offering her hand to Stuart. She wonders if it's a little weird to hold hands with a ghost who they were talking to but weirder things have happened. "Well at least you have a bit of excitement for today, yea? I'm sorry about your stairs though. It sort of broke on us..." Renee apologized.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Zer0]

- Tea Time -​

Jaw stiffening, James exchanged a startled look at Lydia too. He leaned his head on hers without taking his eyes off the blood-stained ghost as they curled arms, his other hand going for his wand; meanwhile Johnny stared, amazed the ghost could take off and then reattach its arms, and he also didn't seem like a ghost, like he was more solid? Then Renee started to talk all normal.

Johnny brightened up, getting ready to talk too, while James gave her an incredulous look. Then again, his sister had more experience with strange phenomenon like this and so he decided to trust her instinct and just waited to see what would happen.

Then the shaking and the windows cracking began. Alarm bells went off in his head and Johnny's too as the latter whipped around outside to the unconscious Echo, fearing she'll get hurt if the house collapsed. The two guys were looking at Stuart as though he could not be trusted after all. "Stop that!" Johnny shouted angrily to the ghoul, before dashing out telling Chenglei and Butters to move Echo as far away as possible because the manor was rotting away. "Guys, get out of there! I knew it, he wants us to join him in death too!" he yelled looking in alarm at the rotting supports through the cracking windows.

James needed no telling, he gave Lydia a look that said they should run and he was already casting protective charms on them. "Renee, now's not the time, it's not safe here, let's go." he said, never taking his eyes off Stuart, his wand pointed at him.

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

-Tea Time-
​

Renee's lack of weariness towards the ghost shocked Lydia and she looked up from the table at the Pendragon sister, her jaw agape. Was she really just talking to him like he wasn't a spirit? Her gaze shifted over to the spirit in question and she jumped slightly, his arm wasn't attached and he was treating it like it was an inanimate object. Her large green eyes blinked a few times as though she thought she was seeing things before she thought better of it, he was a ghost. She wondered why he would think to detach his arm like that, as a person she doubted that he had been able to do that in life so what made him do it in death?

Her gaze drifted to James as Renee let Stuart have the seat that she was in, the seat that had been right next to him and she inched slightly closer to Serena, tugging James with her. The whole casualness of the conversation was unnerving and it became more so as the mansion began to quake and tremble and was already out of her seat when James gave her the look telling her it was time to run. She didn't want to make the house an even bigger charred mess than it was, but she took her hands from Serena's and James' just in case she needed to start a fire, she'd hate to see another group of friends wind up haunting the place, but then that was a curious thing, why were there no other hauntings here? Just the one?

She hesitated in her motion as she thought before calmly, but loudly speaking, "S-Stuart...? Can you please stop? We aren't here to cause trouble," she didn't know if it would work, but she thought that since this place had a brochure, as far as they knew there were no other deaths connected to the mansion aside from the child and his family, and the ghost hadn't outright attacked them to start, then maybe they could just calm him down with words?

Zer0 Katsuya Panzer

 

[Panzer]

-Tea Time-​

The ghost sat down and began to relax. He began to feel accepted, much to his leisure. Everything seemed to be alright...

Stuart was shocked by the sudden outbreak of accusation along with the shaking of the house itself. He looked to johnny with a glare of disdain, standing up from the chair that he had taken. He took a confident or formal stance, puffing out his chest and lifting his chin to look down at Johnny.

"I am disgusted... and here, I had thought that I had found friends..." He spoke rather calm compared to Johnny. Yet, he held the same level of anger. He looked to the other visitor who kindly asked him to calm down. This confused him for a moment until the house shook his thoughts back into his mind.
"You all think that I am causing the house to shake?! I assure you, I wouldn't try to destroy my house to catch a few friends. It would destroy the very reason that I am here." He explained, hoping to calm them down. But, the shaking continued to crack the walls. He looked to the group with tears in his eyes, knowing that he had run out of time.
"I-...I just wanted someone else to talk to...was that too much to ask?" Stuart claimed, hiding his eyes behind his hand. He was visibly in emotional distress.

He looked to the cracked windows, calming himself down. He managed to regain a hold of his polite posture and canned his emotions down. He looked back to the group and gave them a shy smile.
"Well then, I - I guess this is goodbye..."
He managed to whisper out. He began walking back into the manor. He stopped at the doorway and leaned on the frame, watching the hallway with a relative calm...
"So hurry back, I would like your company."

 

[Katsuya]

-Tea Time-
-Renee's view-​

As soon Johnny ran outside, Serena followed suit, not wanting to stick around and taking her violin with her as to help Chenglei whom left the window to grab Echo and get out of the perimeter.

Renee looked worried as the house shook the way it did and became distressed when Johnny and her own brother would accuse someone like that. Why would a spirit destroy his own home?! Even better what made them believe he's trying to bring anyone back to the spirit realm when he's not really what they thought he was? He has more a physical thing than a ghost...

"...Darn it, you guys. Did you really have to be so rude and to a little kid too?" She whispered, her wings puffing up as she watched Stuart just stand there by the door frame and cased her shield spell too on all of them: Lydia, James, herself, and the little sad boy too...

"Well? Come on! I rather that you live." She exclaimed, now slowly following James and Lydia to the hallways still offering a hand to the ghoul. "I still want to talk with you..." If James ever grabbed her wrist to pull on, Renee would follow him out of the house, silently pleading for the little boy to just grab her hand or something...

But then she got out of the house with her brother tugging her and Renee felt heart broken as she watched the house coming down...Her wings limped.

Zer0 Panzer Roleplay Skittle

 

[Panzer]

-Tea Time-
-Ending-​

The house continued to shake and crack, becoming more and more violent. One by one, the hallways collapsed inside the manor. the popping of wood that smashed into other wood increased significantly. All of the windows shattered and bent under the weight.

The kid stood at the doorway with the same calm stare. He knew himself to be getting sicker and more fatigued as time passed. His once relax pose became one of sickness. He hunched over slightly and seemed to be struggling to keep his balance. He coughed and wheezed as if the same smoke filled his lungs once again.

He turned his head to his generous friend who offered her help. Stuart knew of this outcome and politely declined her help. Instead, he nodded with a shy smile.
He felt satisfied with this situation, as his last thoughts would be with his friends. And for that, he smiled.

Soon after, his balance failed him. He fell on his back and remained still. He was no more. The room's walls began to break which indicated the overstayed visit...

 

[Zer0]

- Tea Time -​

Johnny looked guilty. "Wait, Stuart, I'm sorry!" he yelled from outside, remorseful. But the boy had already fallen on his back unmoving and the room's walls began to break all around Renee's arcane barriers. Quickly moving underneath the falling debris, he ducked under the barrier, picked up the still boy and ran out before the house entirely collapsed.

BOOM

The ground shook; debris flew everywhere, sticking into Butter's fluffy fur as the giant ram squatted in front of Chenglei and Echo, a big wool wall; everyone was enveloped in a great cloud of dust and ash, James ducking behind Lydia if she cast Algiz.

There was an outburst of coughing as silence fell over the ruins of the manor. Johnny's silhouette appeared out of the dusty haze, coughing. He was covered head to foot in soot and ash; James pulled up his shirt over his nose, coughing too. He was wincing with his eyes closed, he seemed to have gotten dust in them. "Lydia, you alright?" he felt for her. "I've got dust in my eyes, could you please pass me my water bottle? It's in my bag, side pocket."

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle Panzer