The Age and Country Hotel - Part III; Evolution from the Glitch | Forums

[T.O.O.O.]

Anastoss

TOOO looked around the room, holding his breath from the rotting fumes. Like the rest of the complex, the former infirmary was lit by light globes.

With the exception of one pallet, all the beds had a decaying skeleton of a wingless Peria upon it. The missing one was obviously the one taken upstairs.
It was pretty much what they had expected.

Still, he didn't want to return empty-handed. There had to be something here. He checked under the pallets, and looked in the cabinets. But it was when he glanced at the floor that he saw the feather.

Picking up the feather, he thought, We should've realized.

Unable to hold his breath any longer, he rushed out and back up the stairs. Cannax saw him coming and grabbed him, and helped haul him upstairs. At the top of the stairs, they both sat down, panting. He showed her the feather.
"Well," she said, "they're Peria, they have feathers. So what?"
"Take another look," he told her. "This feather is too big to have come from a flightless Peria. This is a flight feather."
She examined the feather. "How can you be so sure?"
"When you hang around someone like The Spread Eagle," he replied, "you get to know your feathers. This is called a tertiary feather."
"So," she concluded, "you think flying Peria have been here?"
He nodded. "The mutated ones from the surface. They were probably the archaeologists who dragged the skeleton out. But why did they abandon the site?"
She stood. "We're not going to find out here."

[jahura]

Zander, Jahura, and the other Zander all watch as Tully and Marae rush back out of the library back to the hotel.

Jahura turns to Zander and tilts her head. "Just out of curiosity, how did you know this one's a fake?"

"You know me better than that." Zander replies with slight indignance, "even were I completely mad I would never throw myself out of a library."

"That's true." Jahura nods, "I never considered that."

"Since you're both here and not the others," the impostor says as he reaches into his vest pocket, "you might as well take this." He takes out a vial full of dirty water and gives it to Zander.
"What do you want us to do with this?" Zander asks.
"Technically, it's not for you. But you will know what it's for at the right time. Put in a call to Surcrease and he'll start you off." He slides forward off the table and waves his hand outward between them. A portal opens up and the stranger steps through as it closes behind him.

* *

As Zander raises the vial to the light to examine its contents, an arm reaches out from thin air, grabs the fake goatee from Zander's laxed grip, and vanishes once again.

[Speedyserd]

Bang bang bang bang...
"OW!"
(cursing under breath)
Bang bang bang bang...
"Good, one more window covered,... hopefully we have enough time before the storm hits again..."

[T.O.O.O.]

Anastoss

Leaving the city, the pair considered the ladder, and the other end of the bridge, leading into darkness. TOOO pulled a flashlight out of his backpack and shined it into the gloom. They moved on.
Like Pargaeas before them, they found light globes on the bridge, and activated them. But they couldn't see to the end of the bridge.
"How far does this bridge go?" TOOO asked.
"And where does it go to?" Cannax added.

sa&chsa&chsa&chsa&chsa&chsa&chsa&chsa&chsa&chsa&ch sa&chsa&chsa&chsa&chsa&chsa&chsa&ch

Cannax leaned over the railing, and peered down into the dark abyss. "I can't see the bottom," she said. "How about you?"
TOOO considered her form bent over the railing. "Looks fine to me!"
Cannax looked up, realized what he was looking at, and quickly straightened up. "Alright, You," she said, approaching him with fingers hooked into mock claws, "I'm going to get you. I'm going to get you sooooooo bad...."

[Speedyserd]

"Rygell, while I appreciate the help, please move,"
"Why? I'm holding the nail!"
"But I'm going to whack you in the head if I miss!"
"What makes you think you will miss?"
"See these feathers? They're not normally this purple..."
"Ok, fine! I'll go help the Ara!"

[Tora_Neko]

Neko races under a table so no one will step on her tail. Tora grabs some boards and goes to help Speedy and the Aras.

Achenar raises his head and groans. "Will you lot knock it off with the banging? I've got a horrible hang over. No more Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters for me..."

"Suck it up Achenar, we've got to nail the windows shut before that storm front hits." Tora tells him.

"What storm fro-" Achenar glances out an unboarded window. "Oh. Oh! Here, I'll help too." He grabs a hammer and some nails and runs over to where Tora and an Ara are setting boards over a window.

[Jeff433]

Speedy looked up as she heard banging noises upstairs.
That must be Jeff, She thought to herself as she continued to hammer away.

Jeff surveyed the darkened penthouse suite, with all the windows boarded up, and grinned.
"Must be a record for me, that should do the trick," he murmured to himself.

A strong gust of wind hit the windows, causing them to rattle wildly. "Ah...hmm...maybe a few more boards," He said to himself, "This almost reminds me of Tehmah...odd. Actually no Tehmah is still worse I think, unless you take into acc-"...*CRASH!*, "AUGH!" Jeff yelled and fell on his butt in shock as a wall of wind slammed into the hotel. He groaned as the sound shattering glass from a nearby room reached his ears. "Do we have enough boards for this?!" He said, exasperated, before rushing of to the next room.

[Speedyserd]

Speedy didn't hear him. Instead, she was trying not to panic. The shattering of the windows due to the wind did not settle her nerves at all, and when she was trying to get to the last windows, she was having a hard time trying to control the plywood.
Jeff came outside and saw his stork.
"Speedy! The storm is coming! Come inside!"
"Just one more window!"
"Speedy! Come in!"
"I can do it!"
"Have Rygell or one of the faeries do it!" he yelled, and then a thundercap rolled. Speedy turned and looked at the front, finally accepting the idea of defeat.
She finished the last nail and quickly got to the door. Once she finally reentered the building, the door slammed shut behind her with the help of the wind.
"Find everyone and make sure they are away from the windows. Find the candles and matches, hopefully we don't need them... and find the faeries for the last windows..." she rattled off.
Jeff hugged Speedy to calm her down.
"Don't worry! We're on top of it!"
"I just don't my hotel to get destroyed..." she said softly with a slight sound of fear in her voice. Jeff hugged her harder.
"Come on, the others are in the lounge. Let's join them... Achenar and Tora were able to help out with the last windows, so all of the windows are covered... I just hope the wind doesn't get too strong," he said as he escorted the nervous stork to the couch.
"If so, I'm not looking forward to cleaning up the mess..."
Jeff gave a loud laugh.

[T.O.O.O.]

As human Jo held the last board, Angelo nailed it in. The magical field he created around them protected them from the blast of the storm.
But they couldn't wait to rush inside. As Jo headed for a cup of hot cocoa, Angelo waited by the window, looking worried.
A few moments later, Jo joined him, handing him a cup of cocoa. He smiled. "Thanks. Are you still getting that 'magic static'?"
She nodded. "I'm afraid to change into fairy form. You know, this might just be an ordinary storm - as powerful as it is - and it might not have anything to do with the static. Are you still getting the static, too?"
He nodded. "But I haven't heard of anyone else in the hotel getting the static."
"Maybe we should ask?"

[marae]

As Marae topples into the Well, the Salmon rises to meet her. Instinctively her fingers clutch at his scales and find purchase; he dives and she disappears beneath the surface.

"Marae! MARAE!" Tully tugs at the bulky sweater and manages to get it off, then plunges into the pool. The Salmon is nowhere to be seen; the water beneath the surface is clear, but dark. Tully surfaces, takes a deep breath and is about to dive once more when there is a loud splash next to him; Bres has joined him in the water. "You'll never make it alone," he says, shaking his hair out of his eyes. "Come on." He extends a hand to Tully, who stares at it, then looks up at the god, mistrust in his dark eyes. "You want to save her, don't you? Well, come on, man, let's go!" Tully grips the proffered hand and just has time to get a breath before he is pulled under.

They swim for what seems ages, and Tully wishes he could still close off his lungs, but he manages to make do with the all-too-meager portion of air he has taken with him. Just when he is certain he must either breathe and drown, or pass out, just when he is certain that Bres has taken him to his death, they emerge into the cavern. Tully gulps air as Bres helps him from the water, then both look around, amazed.

The underground chamber is filled with beings, grouped in a mass around a central figure. Tully thinks he recognizes Manannan, although the god looks older than he remembered, and his beard seems to have grown considerably. The old man's robes flow about him, shimmering with more than light on the silky fabric. Even Tully can feel the *****le of power, electric, hanging in the air. The focus of the power is partially hidden by bodies -- brightly clothed, loudly chanting, ecstatically dancing bodies that seem to emit their own light -- and further obscured by a cloud or halo of gold that surrounds it. All Tully can see is what looks like a globe of water -- particularly viscous water that seems to hold its own quivering shape, a sphere suspended above the ground. He can see tongues of flame beneath it, as from a great fire.

This makes absolutely no sense to him, but Bres understands immediately what is happening, and makes an instinctive move towards the quivering sphere. Puzzled, Tully follows; as they draw nearer he sees something that makes his heart stand still.

Marae floats in the globe of water, her eyes closed, her body limp. "What the frod!" Without thinking, Tully starts to rush forward, but Bres holds him back.

"Don't!" he cries, his voice all but drowned in the chanting, which is growing louder by the second.

"Froddit, let me go!" Tully snarls, rounding on him.

Bres shouts above the rising chorus, "Don't argue with me, Tully! We can't stop this!"

"Why the frod not? -- Oh, my g--"

There is a bright flare from beneath the globe and suddenly the interior is filled with fire. Tully strains forward, but the god holds him firm, and he screams in helpless anguish as he sees his beloved enveloped in flame.