Curse of a Blessing (Minor Event)

"Gladly, what kind of game are we going to play?"

Effigy would ask curiously. He was naturally worried, but playing the game seemed like the safest idea in the moment.

As Pippin investigated the clock, they would notice it was broken on the backside, and that all of the accessories were resting inside of it. From among them, they would recognize a flower charm very similar to the one attached to the key that they had found. The rest of it seemed of little importance. “I just wanna be noticed,” The voice gently caressed their ears once more. “But I’m happy I get to play with you. Do you like my house? If you promise you like it, I’ll show you my room!”

If they obliged, they would notice the once infinite staircase had been reduced to just a few steep steps, and a single pink door sat at the top, cracked open just enough for them to slip inside. Inside was another massive room, clad in pink furniture. Most notably, there was a chest in the middle of the floor. They would notice that there was a keyhole in the center, and four flower shaped holes surrounding it that seemed to be part of their own mechanisms. Maybe the keychain had something to do with that...

Dymtre would be guided by the girl’s somber humming, which would eventually stop as he felt like he was making progress. The empty room once again was filled by the sound of his footsteps, but the girl’s presence remained strong. Maybe conversation would help him figure out exactly where she was…

At Effigy’s question, the door to his apartment would fly open, and the apparition would phase through him, sending a cold shiver down his spine. It stopped in the doorway, its lifeless gaze falling over him again.

“Do you like tag? I like tag.” Was all he would get in response, before the apparition started down the hallway! If Effigy followed, he would notice that the hall was flooded in a strange, surrealistic fog, and seemed to extend forever… along the walls were doors that led into rooms similar to his own, but the apparition was nowhere to be found.

“If you can find my friend, I’ll reward you…” The voice cooed out.

Unlike before, Atlas would not receive an immediate response from the girl. Instead, he would suddenly feel a VERY strong presence coming from the swing set. If he approached, he would be able to make out the spirit of a young girl sitting on one of the swings, her hands lightly grasped around the chains and her gaze pointed toward the mulch on the ground.

"You're the first..." She murmured, seemingly out of context. There was no mistaking it: the voice belonged to her. "Do you mean it? Do you mean what you said??"

Once she settled on her gift, Mirabella would notice that the water was lapping at where she was standing, more aggressively than before. It wasn't enough to knock her down, but it was enough to make her to realize that her little island was slowly being consumed by the ocean. She would feel the strong urge to make it to the light in the distance!

"So, who are you?"

Dymtre asked curiously.

Mira noticed the water and began walking quickly towards the light. her walk turned into a jog, which turned into a sprint.

she stopped, and spun around. where was that girl? was she okay? Mirabella yelled into the distance, in every direction,

“hey sweetheart? are you out here?? are you safe? sweetie if you can hear me, come to the light. i’m on my way just.. just be careful okay? when we’re all safe and sound we can even go camera shopping.. i’ll get you your own and we can make memories together..”

As Pippin made their rounds, they would notice a recurring theme with the room: pink, stuffed animals, toy cars, pink, stuffed animals, toy cars... and of course, the vibrant furniture that filled in most of the otherwise empty space. They would come across the remaining flower charms with relative ease, with one clipped to the chest of a stuffed bear, and the other resting atop a book, its cover worn and torn, with the title almost completely etched out. Should they grab them, when they turned back to face the chest, they would immediately notice a young girl sitting on the bed, her head tilted to one side, and her smile filled with innocence, as she stared down at them. "My name is Maryam but you can call me Alice, and I'll call you Cheshire! I dunno that story, but I know tons of other stories. I really like books, do you like books? Reading is fun, I miss reading. We should read together sometime! Wanna see what's in the box?? Open it!"

"My name is Maryam!" The girl chirped to Dymtre, sounding much more enthused than before. "I get really sad and lonely, so I like finding people to play with because I don't like being sad. The weather gets spooky when I'm sad, and it also gets really dark, and I'm scared of the dark, so that makes me really sad too. But playing games makes me happy, and the world's a lot brighter when I'm happy!" She continued on and on, each of her words guiding him through the darkness. When she finally stopped, he would feel the area around him become a lot brighter, warmer, the hairs on his arms perking up at the sudden environmental shift. In front of him was a young girl, and though he could not see her, her presence radiated brilliantly.

As Effigy made his way down the infinitely expanding hallway, he would catch sight of the apparition again. Should he pursue it, it would challenge his pace, keeping just barely out of his reach, taunting him, pulling away ever-so-slightly at each of his attempts to catch it. Just as it seemed like he was going to tag it... the hallway came to an end, and the apparition faded into a door. The young girl's innocent laughter filled the otherwise silent air, and the dark, gloomy hallway was suddenly filled with bright, brilliant color!

The girl in front of Atlas softly kicked at the air until she found a little tempo to keep the swing going without her immediate attention. She turned her sweet, sky blue gaze toward him and gave a slight tilt of her head. "Well why wouldn't you lie? Lying is bad, but people still do it sometimes, even if they know it's bad. It's like keeping secrets, except they're fake secrets that hurt everyone. I dunno why people do it, but I also dunno why people don't do it. Can you explain it to me??"

As Mirabella ran, the waves crashing behind her became more and more frequent, more aggressive, tearing at her feet in cruel attempts to rip her balance away from her. Fortunately, her persistence in finding the girl kept her strides fierce and steady. When she finally made it to the light, she would catch sight of a young girl sitting in a gazebo on the other side. In her lap was a camera, and a beautiful smile crossed her lips. Her presence was ghastly, but none could deny the sheer innocence and joy that shone off of her. "Hi, my name is Maryam!" She exclaimed with a slight tilt of her head. "What's yours?"

Dymtre would smile and kneel on front of the girl.

"Well then, the last thing I would want is for you to be sad again. Would you like to keep playing?"

Thrown off by the question, Atlas hesitated a moment. "Hm, that's a tricky one isn't it?" he asked with his eyes on the ground.

After some thought and a few scratches on his arm, he answered, "Well, I eh think people lie when they're scared and stuff. I'm not scared of anything right now... w-would you like me to push you on the swing?"

Maryam swung her legs eagerly off the side of the bed while Pippin investigated inside the chest. They would have to dig through mounds and mounds of confetti, but eventually, they would reach the bottom, and resting atop a bed of rose petals petals, was a silver, floral themed compass. 

Maryam gave a fierce shake of her head at Dymtre's question, and a frown fell over gorgeous, pale face. "You didn't think of a gift, so I can't play with you anymore..." She said in almost a whimper, as she turned her head away from him. "But you can still join the others."

As Effigy fought for his breath, the door the apparition faded into would slowly swing open, and inside the room was a young girl sitting on a barstool at the counter. Her soft, blue gaze fell over him and she gave a slight tilt of her head. "What did you do? Oh! I think I broke one of your electronic thingies, so I made you a new one!" She exclaimed before he had a chance to continue. She held out a pair of floral themed earbuds for him to take.

As Atlas explained her question to her, a warm smile beamed off of Maryam's face, and as he returned a question of his own, she gave a fierce shake of her head, before reaching in her pocket to pull out a beautiful marigold, that she would promptly hold out for him to take.

Maryam rocked back and forth in her seat, smiling brightly at Mirabella as she spoke. "I just wanted to give you this!" She chirped, before pulling a floral themed camera from behind her and holding it out for her to take.

And with that, as each of them took their gifts, the same thick fog from before consumed them, and after a few overbearing, suffocating moments, it would disperse into the air again...

Only for them to appear, next to each other, in the center of a cemetery. 

[Use this round to congregate among each other, or to examine your surroundings.]

Atlas gently accepts the flower, saying with a kind smile "For me?"

Then, his s̸͓̹̆̃ỷ̴̰̫s̷̓̈́̚͠t̶͙͕͖̽͐̄e̶̖̮̖̫̕͘m̶̝͎͈̻̀̿̀s̶̢̜͎̥̀̅ heartbeat hastened as yet another heavy, suffocating feeling overtook him. Before he had a chance to really respond, the fog that had surrounded him was pulled back to reveal people surrounding him. This little girl was quite the powerful meta.