Empyrea

[Isa-sama]

When Maria focused on Alex, Ton'yell put her hand around his shoulders. She knew that there was something really strange going on and the only one she could honestly trust was Alex. Who knows what this woman wants?

Empyrea? She'd never heard of there. And somehow they landed in that place. Think about the broken law of physics later, right now, we need to get back. It seemed that the normal people with her also wanted to get out of there - quickest way to do that would be to play the girl's game. "Would you mind explaining this game of yours to us?"  

[thegoodsamaritan]

Jasper was slightly irked at being ignored, and, though no one else noticed, the candles flared a little brighter in response, but too lightly, or briefly, for anyone to take notice. Despite this, he too was intrigued by what the girl said.

Empyrea? Is that even a name? Or a location, even? He paced slowly back and forth, eager for whatever explanation could make sense out of all this tripe. At least she acknowledged me... sort of. "I'm pretty curious as well, Miss, uh... Maria, was it?" He smiled crookedly once again, not quite feeling as happy as he tried to look. "I'm willing to play."  

[NativeForeigner]

"The game es wha'e'er you make it to be!" Maria answered simply as she spun, "I'm gla' ta see you all int'rested!"  

[Magroodles]

This day just seemed to get more and more strange as the day went by. Not only were they encountered by this lady, and this new man, but now they had people falling from above. At first Lyon couldn’t help but to only stare. Unlike what Elian did, he knew it wasn’t going to be pretty, but he couldn’t turn his gaze away from the poor people. It was as if, they needed someone to witness their death to be able to tell their story later on at their funeral, once they finally got out of here that is.

And as if it wasn’t bad enough already, but they had to go and fall right once they decided on something down on the floor. It seemed as though they were about to get some information, with or without this Munk guy, or who ever he was.

Thankfully, though, it seemed as though the falling people were not going to be in harm’s way for long. They seemed to slow and stop as the ground came close. They were fine, and it as if they never came from the ceiling. Though as soon as that was cleared up, it just seemed to be introduction time, but all Lyon could muster for a while was just a look of confusion. Thankfully it seemed that Maria and Elian had his introduction covered for him. Seeing this, he bowed his head to the girl next to him in thanks. Elian seemed to always have him covered since they time they met when they were locked away.

Soon after, everyone seemed to be talking about the game. Yes, that’s right. The game for some information. He wanted to play this and just get the prize out of it. And from the looks of it, they seemed to have gained more members on their side. This was good for him and Elian, who both, from the looks of it, did not know a lot of games in the first place.

"Right, so it looks like a lot of us would like to play this game. So how are we going to go about doing this? Like who chooses first, and such forth. I think the sooner we get to this, the better…." He said, chiming in for the first time since the new arrivals.
 

[thegoodsamaritan]

Oh, yeah, that's helpful, Jasper thought irritably. That was just what they needed, some children's game to start the insanity. He sighed in resignation; it would seem that the only way they would find out anything about this place is by playing their little game. But it was best to be democratic, at least.

He turned to the woman, who seemed to be protecting some child. He felt a pang of regret that the boy had gotten dragged into this madness, but there was little he could do about it. He walked over. "Ton'yell, right? Jasper Davidsen." He glanced back at the girl and her compatriots, unease bubbling up in his stomach. "So... what game do you think? They said it was up to us..." He was sure she didn't like it any more than he did, but their only chance of getting out of here with their sanity was to go with the flow.  

[Isa-sama]

Ton'yell's left arm was wrapped around Alex's shoulders, when Jasper came up to her. She took the offered hand and shook it, "Glad to meet you." And thank God you're sane. He seemed to be a nice guy; she hoped he stayed that way for everyone's sake. I hope he isn't the type to abandon people.

Ton'yell saw something move from the corner of her eye - it was some sort of beetle. An orange beetle. I've never seen such a bug. Most people would cringe at the sight of such a hideous bug; after all, many did not particularly like insects. However, Ton'yell's point of view was to leave them alone so long as the bugs in question leaved her alone. There was no need to cause trouble for anyone if they crossed paths. Such a weird looking bug, too. If anything proved to her that they certainly weren't anywhere near the vicinity of Corona, it was the bright orange beetle.

"A game we choose," she mumbled. Her hand slightly tightened its hold on Alex's shoulder. What kind of game would they need to play to get the most information out of it? I'd suggest the question game, but that would not give us any answers - only create more questions.  

[thegoodsamaritan]

Jasper thought for a moment, then grinned as he was struck by an idea. He turned to Ton'yell. "I have an idea," he whispered, still smiling. "We could play hide-and-seek. That way, either way we go, we have an opportunity to search for some answers around the house, or even get back to town."

He held out his hand to her. "Does it sound good to you?"  

[Isa-sama]

In order to get the GM off her back, Ton'yell looked at Jasper with a slight smile. "That is a good suggestion." So long as Alex doesn't disappear on me, I'd be fine with any game. She looked down at Alex. She didn't really worry about him trying to run from her, but Jesse and Chris were unknown entities - would they stay with her, or would they try and run away for some reason? No. They're smart enough not to run off.  

[SiberDrac]

The host of new people and opportunities spawned an entire conversation among Alex's selves. Each had a different idea of what to do, who to trust, and where to go next.

"Find out who they are. Look at Elian - she's scared enough to be smart enough to trust. Lyon might stab us in the back. Stick with Ton'yell, and this Jasper." Alex stared silently up at Jasper, not saying anything; just wondering who he was. "And stay as far away from Tom and Rebecca as you can."

"She's got a point with the last two, but Elian and Lyon'll just hold us back. Get Ton'yell out of here so we an do somethin' cool and find a way out of this freakin' place."

Guilt tugged at Alex's conscience. He needed to get back to his mother, but the whole reason Jesse existed was so that his curious nature would have an outlet; he was extremely tempted to stay and explore. In the end, because none of the three of them could come up with a tremendously solid reason to leave and avoid this game, they decided to play.

"I'll play," Alex said firmly, but quietly, "but not hide-and-seek."

"That would be a stupid thing to do in a place we've never been."

"Do you ever have fun, Chris?"

"Do you want to live through the day, Jesse?"

"Oh, shut up, ya dumb broad. Alex, Red Rover, Red Rover."

"How about Red Rover, Red Rover?" he said, just barely loudly enough for everyone to hear. "We could split into two groups, and if those groups meet up while we explore, we could switch them around."

"What about determining the winner?" Chris demanded. "There has to be a winner for it to be a game."

"That's true..." Perhaps Maria would be kind enough to make up a rule. "Miss Maria... would that be okay?"  

[NativeForeigner]

Maria went from looking excited for hide and seek to looking horribly confused at Alex's suggestion of Red Rover, "Now wha' is this ewe 'ere are talkin' abo't? Red roova red roova, ya say? What kin' a game is tha'?"  

[Alastriona Estelle]

"H-hold on everyone!" Elian managed to speak as suggestions of "red-rover" and "hide and seek" were thrown out. Both sounded easy enough, but Elian felt something lurking in the pit of her stomach that she didn't like

"T-think about it, everyone. Do we really want to play "hide and seek" in THIS crazy mansion? Who knows what else we might stumble into." Elian reasoned, hoping that the people in front of her were listening as she addressed the group.

"Red Rover doesn't sound bad... But if this house can materialize humans out of the ceiling, then I don't want to see what we might have to "red rover" against, if you know what I mean." Elian continued to reason. "And even if it was one group of us against the other, then the other half is left without answers, and I think we all want answers."

Finally finished speaking, Elian let out a nervous sigh, glancing around at everyone before looking to Maria.

"I'm going to suggest Charades. All of us get to guess what you're acting out, we're all on the same team, and we all get answers if we get it right."

Looking back to the group, she waited for their approval, or disapproval.  

[thegoodsamaritan]

Jasper considered this new person's suggestions. Come to think of it, though, she was here first. So maybe I'm the new person... Nevertheless, she had a point. Wandering aimlessly through this mansion could be dangerous- they might get dropped through the floor again, and God only knew if they would be saved again.

Charades... not a bad idea, except... "How does it help us find out anything?" he finished out loud. "If we just stay here, playing games, where does that get us?" He looked to the others for their opinions.  

[NativeForeigner]

Ton'yell quickly explained red rover to Maria. "'Ell, 'at ain't no fun! Thro'in' ewerselves a' eacho'er like a bunch o' brutes! We sho' go for hide 'n seek (one of me favo'ites, it es), o' cha'ades. Wha' do ewe t'ink, Martin?

It's really up ta ewe all, it is."

He put a hand to her chin and began to pace around the room, muttering something to herself, "'Ell, we'll be playin' mo' tha' jus' one game, we will! Le's play cha'ades firs' then hide 'n seek, we will."

She looked at Jasper strangely for a moment, "Weren'tchya lis'enin'?" she asked before quickly reforming to her original expression, "Oh! Tha's righ', ewe jus' go' 'ere, ewe did. We're playin' fo' answe's, we are. Ewe win, ewe get ta ask some questions, ewe do."  

[thegoodsamaritan]

"Fair enough," said Jasper, pleasantly surprised at this turn of events. Winner takes information. eh? He was a little concerned at what this Maria girl would ask of them should she win, but otherwise, it was a perfect setup. Get some questions answered playing Charades, then, should he hear enough, take the opportunity to hide-and-seek himself and his new friends out of here.

He halted mentally for the span of a half-second. I have friends? It was an alien concept to him since Lyra's death. His neighbors knew next to nothing about him, even though he'd lived here in Corona for nigh on eight years. Even his fellow fireman knew nothin of him. He looked at Ton'yell and Alex, at Elian and Lyon, even the two who had yet to introduce themselves. If we make it out of here alive, he thought to himself, we may just be.

He turned to Maria once again. "Sounds great to me," he said, with a slight air of enthusiasm. He turned back to Ton'yell. "What do you think?"  

[Isa-sama]

Ton'yell was slightly surprised to see Jasper really try to maintain a partnership with her. Then again, she shouldn't have been too surprised. They all needed to work together to make it out of this place. He's yet to really talk to Lyon and Elian. To be fair, they'd not really tried to reach out specifically to him. Either way, he was the closest to being a stable ally, and she was taking that friendship.

It was surprising, in a way. The two closest relationships she currently had were with men. One was a boy, so there was no real need to worry about anything there, but the other? An adult male. Had it been under normal circumstances, she'd have been likelier to talk to the girl before moving on to any of the males in the vicinity. Focus Ton'yell. Not all men are like Malcolm. She'd never fully forgive men for what Malcolm had done to her, but it seemed that under the right circumstances, even she could be made to forget the past's wrongdoings.

Ton'yell gave a small smile and nodded at Jasper. "It certainly doesn't sound harmful, so I am fine with this situation." It's certainly a lot better than the one we were previously in. She turned to look at the talkative (and ferociously accented) girl. "So how shall we begin our game of Charades?"