look at that. gla machine broke
i kinda regret not choosing to be in the get Fortune raffle thing
i can only imagine the SHENANIGANS that could have occurred if i managed to win. i mean, little miss imperial has quite the beef with him. it'd make for quite the lore
how'd he get there? did she kidnap him? maybe
or maybe ciphers will put a bounty on him. and by that i mean i will pay whoever wins him for him
Bright and early, that's what that forsaken Mirror had insisted upon. It was surely early, but nowhere near bright. Thick clouds hung in the dark sky as the dragonesses tramped bleary eyed through the nearly deserted carnival. Persephus had the luxury of sleeping curled up between Khione's wings and Jaynum streaked ahead-- all too chipper for having gotten little sleep and witnessing a murder.
Spirals for ya.
"We might have a problem," Ciphers finally spoken for the first time that morning when she poked her head into the tent. She pointed at the distinct lack of, well, everything. There was nothing to lurk behind, in, or anywhere to stay out of the wandering eye.
Khione simply rolled her eyes and stalked into the tent. "Honestly, who'd even care by this point? What would they even
do?"
Jaynum looked back at the Imperial and shrugged before following in.
What would he care for, he's supposed to be here. She gave a weary sigh and joined the group, head bent low as if it'd make her invisible.
The three non-contestants had settled against the edge of the tent and it did seem that nobody really cared that they were here. Persephus was still asleep in a tight ball on the ground.
"That Mirror looks terrible," Khione whispered to her companion. "Like he hadn't slept."
"Well what do you expect? He's got one missing contestant and another that got murdered," Ciphers hissed back. "How's he gonna explain that to their clans? And don't forget all the seriously injured dragons... A liability waver can only go so far."
Despite her current, intense loathing of Fortune and everything he stood for, Ciphers was much more worried for Jaynum. The teams were picking dragons to descend into a literal
House of Horrors, and she was praying to every single deity that her friend would not be picked. She just knew that the lily-livered Spiral would get spooked by something and run and set something on fire and-- whoops-- there goes all the dragons and whatever else in down there. Luckily, fortune (Ha!) seemed to be on her-- his?-- side and Jaynum did not make the draw.
The (un)lucky dragons plunged down the hole and the wait began.
"How much longer will this be?" Khione groaned after an hour passed.
"It can't be much longer, right? They've gotta get out soon."
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Hours passed and-- surprise-- there were no reemerged dragons. Persephus had awoke, and he and Khione were pacing around the edges of the tent. Ciphers was scratching out things into the ground under her. A throat cleared above her and she flicked her head up.
"Have you seen Fortune anywhere?" Jaynum asked sheepishly.
Ciphers tipped her head at the question. "... No? Why?"
"Weeelllll... No one knows what to do and we don't know where the others are and Fortune is gone and--"
The Imperial leaped to her paws.
How-- how could that Mirror violate near every single protocol that exists? No attempts to even maintain safety. Endangerment of outside entities. Leaving during a state of emergency.
"L zloo shuvrqdoob vhh wkh hqg ri wkdw Pluuru."
i really like writing the one-sided mortal enemies thing. fortune should have never allowed the cat juggling. but, alas, hell hath no fury like the angry imperial
also, hearing the cipher-speak would probably be absolutely horrifying. some sort of cthulhu talk there
in other news, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!?