Sakura Rose was kneeling down next to the twelve year old. "She didn't stop for me, maybe she'll listen to you!" she smiled. "How about you climb up onto the windowseat and try calling for your sister?" The twelve year old complied and in a high pitched voice that varied only slightly from Sakura Rose's own she cried out "Faith! Sis! FAITH!" she hesitantly looked down to Sakura Rose with her eyebrows pressed together "Sakura Rose, I don't see her or hear her anywhere! I'll go tell Mommy and Daddy!"
"Wait up a sec, don't you see that your sister must be playing the same game I told you about? It's the hide and seek that all the big kids are playing! I really need you to be my special helper so we can find them, okay?"
The stairs seemed to last for an eternity, and after several minutes of walking, Apple began to wonder just how far down she was. She couldn't see the door, and she certainly couldn't see the bottom of the staircase, though neither served as much of a surprise, as everything three feet away dissolved into darkness anyway. She could barely make out her own two feet or the next step. Still, her mind played through a million terrible possibilities. What the hell did the Marques need this place for anyway? What if she fell? There didn't seem to be any walls. She'd have just fallen who knows how many floors! And if she didn't outright die, how would she find her way out again?
She shuddered. The cold hadn't gotten anything but worse since she'd begun her descent, and now she wasn't sure whether it would be smarter to turn around and go back or keep going. How much longer could the damn staircase be?
Quite a bit longer, as it turned out. It was still several more minutes before she reached the bottom, and at that point, she could see her breath in front of her as a mist. She drew her arms up to her body to try to keep warm, all the while holding her candle away from her flammable bits. The ground, wherever it was, felt like hard earth, like thick wet clay. She took a shallow breath before reaching out blindly for a wall and found nothing for a while, but eventually, her hands landed on something which felt wall-like, wet and smooth, and covered in moss.
To her relief, there seemed to be gas lamps lining the wall spaced some few yards apart. She lit the first and looked about herself. She appeared to be in some kind of catacomb or oubliette. The room she was in currently was essentially bare, except for the lamps, and she could only guess at the function of it. The stairs were nowhere to be seen. This was a bad sign.
She began to panic. She was trapped. She was trapped and there was no way out! This was insane! This was so utterly insane! Wait a minute... that's right. It WAS insane! This was really insane! She tried to collect her scattered thoughts and then began to suspect that this was all just a really bad trip. The stairs were probably right where they'd been, and probably not even as long as they'd appeared. She just had to wait this out... yeah, that had to be it. Just wait it out.
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Merrick roused a little, hearing a voice nearby, and opened his eyes. Actually, he opened and closed his eyes several times, because he wasn't quite certain that he had opened them. It wasn't until he put his hand to his eyelid and felt it open that he was certain that any sort of change had taken place. Was he blind? Where was he? And who was that voice?
"He-hello", he said into the darkness, pushing himself to a sitting position. His body ached. Had there been an accident?
"There seems to be something wrong with my eyes. I can't see a thing", he said and groped around a bit. After a few minutes, his eyes, sharp as they were, adjusted to the near complete lack of light, and he could just barely make out the silhouette of someone very near to him. He turned to face this mystery person, "Is it... where are we?"
Faith could hear the male wake next to her. Not that she could see him. A hand fell to her side. Where it started to ache. Each and every time she took a breath. A small and very tender moan rose from the bellow of her throat. She then heard his voice. Just as shaken and confused as her own. She started to get a feel for the surroundings. Cold floor, made of dirt. Probably why she had not broken a thing. It would make the most sense.
"There is no light." Faith said to him. She may have been a bit rude, but she honestly did not think before speaking that time. Obviously there was little to no light. She never took into consideration he had just woken up. "Cold, dirt floor. Basement maybe? I do not know.." Faith turned to face the dark figure. unknowing who he even was. Although she was never really much of a people person. So those formalities escaped her. "Faith Bard is my name. Not that it is up much importance at this time. How did you get down here?"
Merrick tried to think back to what had happened. He'd stepped into the garden, and then... black. He remembered yelling out in surprise and the distinct feeling that he was being swallowed up by the ground. He shook his head, but then quickly realized that it was a bad idea. So, he put his hands to his temples and rubbed a bit before answering the girl's question.
"I think I fell down a hole of some kind, but that seems unlikely."
His headache wasn't getting any better, but he tried to get to his feet anyway. Blood rush left him feeling woozy and unsteady, but he was on his feet. The air tasted earthen and dank. He could smell wood and resin and decay.
Faith listened to him. So it had happened to him also? Maybe they were both just crazy. Possibility after all. They had both hit there heads. The place was very old after all. Maybe they just fell threw the same hole. Darkness can do that... Well the convincing didn't work. Faith knew all to well she was standing on solid ground before it just opened beneath her.
She heard him standing, and did the same. Which was much easier said than done. Espically with a dress such as her own. Well Faith wouldn't have worn the damn thing if she knew she would be sucked into the floor and put into a wine cellar. Or whatever the other person called it. Faith drew in a deep breath. She really did have the wind knocked out of her just minutes ago. Although she was not complaining about it too much. Her eyes were starting to adjust a bit more. There was the smallest bit of light coming from cracks in the wall. From another room no doubt.
"A door along that wall maybe?" She questioned out loud to the other. Assuming he had noticed the other wall.
Sakura Rose tried to keep herself lighthearted as she made a game out of the task given to her. She took the 12 year old by the hand and found a pair of of unused sitting chairs with a small table between them. Though she longed for a vending machine on every corner that contains C.C. Lemon, Ramune, Calipco, or even Pocari Sweat, the closest thing she could find that was non-alcoholic (she could tell by smelling it first) was some generic punch. She poured two dainty glasses, one for herself, and one for her newfound shadow who seemed to be eating this up. "Time for a mission briefing, Special Agent Miss Bard. Our mission is to find the troublesome teenagers. Sources tell us that the closest in vicinity is a tall Red-headed girl named Ixie she likes music and is really nice." Sakura Rose takes a sip of the punch and listens to the younger one prattle "So your sister Faith is an artist? And hates parties with old foagies as well? That perfetly matches the description of my friend Merrick as well, who was last seen in the Gardens. However since it is BRRRRR out there, we will save that for last." Taking another sip on her punch she says. "Second targets are Apple, a reeeaallly silly older girl, and the daughter of a servant who is with her, who is Japanese, her name is Alessia. Once we have a search party, we will brave the cold for the secret group known as the really shy artsies!"
Finishing her small glass, she says, "As it is clear to see, Agent Bard, the most difficult part is that the troublesome teens, Apple and Alessia had plans of sneaking off in this biiiiig mansion. We're going to have to sneak upstairs to try to find them. But we first have to perform a thorough ground floor sweep for Ixie. The corridor leading to outside is cleared, the salon has been only half checked, that leaves the smoking room and the bathroom... ewww!" both of the girls stuck out their tongues and made faces, almost as if they were twins! "I tell you what. Even though we're about the same size, since I'm 14" with a dramatic paused, she said gravely, "I'll brave the smoking room. I've practiced holding my breath for 60 seconds exactly, and I do this fairly often. You never know when you'll need to hold your breath for a really long time. This isn't a public place so the bathroom isn't separated into boys and girls, as long as you check every single possible hiding place in the bathroom we should be good."
High-fives and giggles ensued. It is quite a useful quality to have, Sakura Rose's charisma that is, that makes youth as well as adults implicitly trust her.
"When we break, I'll head for the smoking room and you head for the bathroom. We will meet back in in no later than two minutes, that's important! As soon as we find the first troublesome teenager, I'll give both you and them a super secret special message, okay?"
"Break!" The 12 year old Miss Bard bounced off toward the direction of the bathroom. She seemed to be enraptured to have such a lively playmate. Meanwhile Sakura Rose took her last fake and shallow breath before dispelling it and filling her diagphram completely with clean air before entering the smoking room. The smoke made her eyes tear and she had to bow her head in lieu of saying 'excuse me' as she occassionally weaved between drunken and nicontined adults. Her pace hurried as she felt her lungs begin to burn but no sign of Ixie in the smoking room. She exited and coughed and gasped for air, putting her hands down on her knees wondering how her younger partner was doing.
Last edited by meatballhead; 11-26-2010 at 07:44 AM..
Benjamin wore a grey pinstripe suit with a blue and silver striped cravat, expensive blue jeans and a pair of good walking shoes. Although each item of clothes was obviously of very high quality, he did stand out in a fancy dinner party. He groaned inwardly. Parties were so not his thing. He'd have much rather have been reading or playing Starcraft 2, if there was time. He was actually getting good enough to compete in the Korean professional leagues, not that anyone else in the house cared.
He walked through the party literally avoiding people in a physical way as he made his way to the two girls for him he had been sent to address.
"Hey, you guys. Um... you're Miss Bard? Your parents are looking for you", he said curtly before turning his attention to Sakura Rose, "Hey. You're Sakura Rose, right? My name's Benjamin. I'm a servant for the Marques. Well, kinda servant kinda... it's complicated. Anyway, he told me to tell you that his house is even larger underground than it is above ground and that he hopes that nobody found their way there, or something. I dunno."
He fidgeted and stuck his hands in his pocket, jingling his keys a bit.
"I think I'm more concerned about where we can find some light. To be honest, I'm not completely sure this isn't a crypt."
The thought was a little concerning to the boy, who'd never really had much death in his life. He generally avoided it, too, in his art. He had always thought that death was a worthless fascination. When something was dead, it was simply gone. A dead thing was merely a husk that once meant something but didn't anymore. But that was neither here nor there.
"But then, it does look a bit brighter in the next room. More of a miserable grey than a pitch black", he said with a slight smile, despite himself.
Faith starred towards the voice. "They have crypt's here?" She seemed very surprised at the shear fact. Although it never crossed her mind that the old building could have such a thing. Especially in this day and age.. It did not scare her. Well not completely. The possibility of seeing dead bodies was much different from just being in a wine cellar. Seeing the rotting dead was enough to freak Faith out...
Against every fiber of her being, and the little voice telling her to step forward, she did just that. Towards the wall. Her shoes made a lightened echo against the dirt floor. She Put her hand against the wall. The wet and molded wall. How sick.. She instead ran her hand along it. Her fingers pulled the rest of her body towards the old rugged door. Although as she took hold of the door knob, it would not budge. The handle probably rusted enough to itself. If that was even possible..
"It wont turn." Faith said between her teeth as she put a bit more force upon it. Slowly it squeaked a bit before it turned. Allowing Faith to open the door and flooded the light in. Finally allowing the two past darkened pair to see each other. The other room was small, and lighted very well. At least compared to the room before. At the base of the stairs stood a woman in red. Faith did not say anything as she never did in a crowd.
Merrick followed the sound of Faith's voice and slowly made his way to the staircase where he came up next to her and looked down. He did a double-take.
"That's Appolonia", he said with muted surprise, "she goes to my school. What's she DOING here?"
Without a second thought, he began to descend the staircase in more of an impulsive instinctive way than with any sort of forethought, though while moving, he rationalized that if she came down, there would have to be a way back up. After a few steps, he looked back and waved for Faith to follow.
Apple did not even look in his direction until he stepped onto the ground next to her. At that point, she turned and gave a start, screaming in surprise and dropping the remains of her candle, which promptly went out and she immediately accosted him, slapping and punching and kicking. Merrick did his best to defend himself but he was taken unawares, though eventually, he did manage to get out, "Loni, it's me! It's Merrick! Stop that!"
She paused and studied him for a moment before yelling at him, "What the HELL are you doing here?!? You scared the shit out of me!"
She gave him one more slap for good measure, while Merrick stared on gaping a bit, "W-what am I doing here? What about YOU?"
Panic flooded Alessia, causing her to pull the hidden gun from her garter. "Apple!" She shouted, pounding on the door with the butt of the gun. She frantically pulled on the handle but the door didn't budge, though moments before had swung open freely. "Shit." she said under her breath.
Quickly she wheeled around on her heals and ran down the hall, heals clicking loudly on the bare floor. Not watching where she was going, Alessia plowed into a smaller body, knocking ungracefully to the ground with a soft "Mph" she looked up at Sakura Rose. "Sorry." she mumbled, getting to her feet.
She looked down at the smaller girl. She couldn't possibly be of any help. Could she? She shook her head.
(It's short, sorry I've not posted in a couple days, it's been a hectic couple days and I was relaxing most of the day to day.)
"Small world." Faith said to him, just before he went to greet his school friend. The women was beautiful. Flowing dress, wonderful face. How on earth did she find her way down there? Had she fallen threw the ceiling also? It confused Faith then the two seemed to fight. Almost like a brother and sister. At least that was the number one thing Faith could compare them to. She laughed a bit at the two. Waiting for their small bickering to end.
Not that it bothered Faith in the least bit. She found it funny. Carefully she stepped more into the room, taking a look around. The room was lined with oil candles. Though still cold like the rest of the basement. Now the cold was starting to bother her. And the small pain from before was growing larger. Circling her body like a sonar. But what really bothered her was the strange smell starting to enter her nose.
Sakura Rose watched as the nicely dressed but seemingly uncomfortable servant approached her and the youngest girl. She watched the young Miss Bard respond by skipping off to find her parents. It was a wonder why the one before her danced around the word 'servant' so. If that is one's position, then so be it.
Uncertainty at first in her green eyes as she nodded "Yes, I am Sakura Rose Dawson." Then her pluse began to quicken. The Marques? Wasn't hee too busy with matters as things were? Weren't his servants too busy to help her? The piece of information was odd, and seemed to fall out of nowhere. "What a queer thing to say." the girl muttered to herself in an older tone of English. After all, she did tend to learn most of her English from books rather than practice with human beings. Shaking her head as if to try to let the new puzzle piece fit somewhere, she explains, "Benjamin I have been asked a favour by The Marques to find the other youth. Would you happen to know if any have wander upstairs, or into this below-ground part of the mansion you mentioned? After all, if you assist me, you are assisting The One Whom You Serve."
It was at this point the small body of Sakura Rose was run into by another body. Her right foot stepped back to center her balance, her whole torso was thrown backwards and her arms flailed; if only she had the mind th lower her head and put her arms over and down she could have been in an arch, but instead she hurried upwards and a light of condescension crossed her eyes as she observed the figure of Alessia. This poor girl certainly did not know how to curry favour with her superiors; it would be a pity if her behaviour reflected poorly on her mother. Not deciding to let the minor annoyance outside of her own mind, Sakura Rose asks of her, "Was not Miss Appolonia with you? Just where were you two anyways?" After a moment of silence and a blink, the puzzle piece finally found a home "Don't tell me you went..." her stomach churned a bit, glad she had not stuffed herself as the adults have done ... "underground?"
Her head whipped back to where Benjamin had been standing, but he was not there. In fact, for all intensive purposes, he could not be seen anywhere in the immediate vicinity, as if he disappeared.
(Hi guys, I'm so sorry to pop in here all OOC, but I just wanted to remind you that flobbing (ie- adding a character image in every single post) is not allowed on Mene due to gold-earning method. It's ok to use one if the image is changing, but not more. I am going to back-edit some posts in here for now. The same applies to posting the name of your character before every post. Thanks so much and feel free to PM me if you have any questions! Happy RP-ing!)
"Apple and I were simply looking around." she replied, stiffly. Alessia hadn't forgotten about what had happened earlier. Running a hand through her hair. She still had the gun in her hand, it felt as if it were a natural extension to her arm.
"There's a door that seems to be stuck." she sighed. "And Apple is on the other side. "I couldn't pull it open. I was going to follow her but it just kind of...Shut." she was rambling, but the panic had returned. "There were stairs." she added before taking a deep breath.
Last edited by Captain Howdy; 12-01-2010 at 07:48 AM..
Sakura Rose appraised Alessia again. "I have a long story as well. I did manage to run into THE Marques himself. When I mentioned my friends had scattered, he asked me to gather them in preparation for his important pre-dinner announcement. I'm going to try to help Apple." the small girl said with a strange determination that seemed much to adult for her age. No matter how you sliced it, she never really actually acted her age of fourteen.
Her green eyes flickered to the gun and she drew in a sharp breath, but has almost been skewered or slashed a mere 15 minutes prior. "I would suggest keeping that covered unless you wish to upset the whole party. That would look very bad on your mother. However, it could be useful if we have to... I don't know... blast the door open in case she's hurt on the other side?" Not wishing to waste any more time, the small girl walked down the corridor, and made sure to... touch each door? She stopped at one particular one, knelt down, put her hand on the ground, then shook her head and carried on. Two doors later, she did the same, except the shock of the temperature difference she felt on the ground made her take a few steps back. "This is the door that leads downstairs, isn't it?" She opened it to revealed that her perception and intelligence combined had her find the correct door on the first try, unlocked. She closed it, walked back to the main room, and slightly to the left there was an unattended votive candle. "It is dark down there, no wonder something bad happened." she had to struggle to select the least potentially offensive phrase possible as she implored Alessia "Could you please help me, help Apple?" The small girl in the dark violet and black dress, holding the candle to light her way, looked quite sincere, she was going to do it with or without Alessia's help, but would prefer it to be with.
Whispers of wind blew fallen leaves about the ground as Alfred Churchill ascended the steps of Sir Phillipe's mansion. He looked at the building and smirked finding it to be quite grand, if not a bit macabre. Looking back to his Bentley R Type as his driver left for his own home, he pulled the invitation from his pocket before continuing his ascent saying, "I'm a little late for the party, I do hope Sir Phillipe will be able to forgive me." Alfred walked up to the door and gave it a resounding knock.
Alessia looked down, once again at Sakura Rose. "Of course, that is why I came back here." she replied as she slipped the gun back into her garter. She turned on her heel and headed down the corridor, not checking to see if the younger girl was behind her.
A shiver passed through her, clear to her very bones, as she approached the door. It was unusual for there to be such a draft coming from such doors. Slowly she turned to look for Sakura Rose. "So tell me. Why do you prefer being called by your first and middle names." she asked with curiosity.
Slowly the soft lullaby turned into one of the old Irish folk songs. She closed her eyes and could almost hear the sweet sound of a pan flute tangling with her voice and see the soft green grass sway in the wind.
Her Grandmother had told her stories of how long before Christianity took hold of the Celtic lands they believed music could open doors to a new world. It was a lovely and cherished ideals. One that she thought could be true, even if not in the literal since.
The imagined flute seemed to grow louder. Ixandrias's eyes flew open, and as if in a trance began following the gentle sound.
Last edited by Captain Howdy; 12-01-2010 at 07:52 AM..
Sakura Rose followed behind Alessia, slowly and cautiously. With her light, she was able to observe after some time that there was an unlit taper in an rather archaic handle on the wall. "Wait." even her softened voice echoed as she grabbed the candle, and tilted it into her votive until the wick caught aflame and produced light of it's own. Suddenly visibility doubled. "For you..." she said, holding out the candle to the older girl.
Eventually they continued and Sakura Rose found a second candle which she used for herself without interrupting progress. "I have lived in Japan nearly all of my life until now. However, I am American, as are my parents. My father was very keen on bridging the cultures and trying to make ammends post WWII. If I only go by one of the names, I feel like the other half of me is being... dwarfed or given less importance. The balance of the two makes me who I am. Originally though, it was because おかあーさん と おとおーさん(1) couldn't agree on which to call me when I was a baby!" she giggled at this thought, allowing this and the light of the candles to comfort her until her feet hit the floor of the wine cellar. At this point after moving a mere foot or two off the steps she set the votive down on the floor, while still holding her own taper, which allows her to see where the dust has been most disturbed, and most recently.
Alessia took the candle and held it in front of her. "Thank you." she said almost as an after thought. She was to interested in what the girl had to say, to bother with niceties. As Sakura Rose spoke, she nodded slowly.
"Names are very important." she replied, with understanding. "They make us who we are." She stopped beside the girl when she did. "I regretfully have no Japanese influence in my name, though I wish I had. My grandfather and I are extremely close. I dream of visiting Japan one day." she added dreamily.
The thought of her grandfather nearly brought tears to this tough girl's eyes. He was ill with cancer. And the knowledge he didn't have much time left was always in the back of her mind. Like very other time, she pushed these away and knelt down to as well. "I'm getting a bad feeling down here." she whispered.
Last edited by Captain Howdy; 12-01-2010 at 07:52 AM..
The butler opened the door and stepped aside, allowing Alfred to step inside. Alfred looked around as he walked in, taking off his hat and coat and giving both to the butler. He walked to the main room and looked around at those gathered as the butler followed after him announcing, "Lord Alfred Churchill." Alfred nodded before stepping inside, making the standard hellos and whatnot that was custom for a new guest before encountering the count. He smiled and said, "Ah, Count Escobar, it is a pleasure to meet you sir. I have heard much about you and I've been hoping to meet you."
After a moment of observation, Sakura Rose shifted the grounded taper into the room a bit more, its dancing light flooding the otherwise dark floor. "So correct me if I'm wrong, but you and Apple headed this way...
She found herself at a rather ominous looking door, but there are cascading arches of rotting wood on the floor where it has in fact been opened recently. She knelt down and parallelled the taper candle to the wall, right by the handle of the door. With both hands free, and some illumination, she clenches and unclenches both her hands before grasping the handle, and pulling back with all 90 lbs of her body weight.
"ITAI~!" the girl screamed as the supposedly jammed door flung open so wide and so easily she fell back on her butt, her forearms and open palms slapping the floor and her neck craned upwards to keep her head from hitting. There was the dimmest of lights coming from the door. Sakura rose stood up and spent a very frustrating minute trying to wipe the dust from her bottom, back, and arms. However this fanatical display was cut short, as she remembered that their friend might be down there, and perhaps hurt or somesuch. "Ne, Apple? Are you down there?" She said, approaching the door, but a bit off to the side to retrieve her taper candle.
"Yes." Alessia replied. She held her candle out to illuminate the door all the more. She watched Sakura Rose set her candle down and then pull. When the door flew open, she frowned. "How strange." she said softly. "It would not budge for me no matter how hard I pulled." she shook her head.
She offered her hand to help the younger girl up. "Are you alright?" she asked with a slight smirk. "Seems we've both spent a lot of time falling on our bums." she joked softly. The tension seemed pretty thick in that moment, she figured the mood could use lightening.
Last edited by Captain Howdy; 12-01-2010 at 07:52 AM..
Sakura Rose actually afraid to look down the door for some reason, and was trying to summon up the courage when Alessia's light hearted remark cut through. "Sou, and if we combine our efforts maybe we could make a world record." she adds on with a half grin.
"However..." her voice trailed, going off on another tangent "When you're on the floor, you get a different perspective. I came awfully close to landing on some very old wooden crates. That probably means..." she kicks at the side of a crate, targeting one specific plank of wood that seems as if it is partially damp or otherwise erroded by time. After landing a good kick to the center of it, the wood shatters and splinters. From there it is only a matter of prying it off the box by the two nails that held it to the corner "... we have a doorjam to prevent it from getting stuck on us again! Help me out here, would you?" She uses the hand holding the wood moves over to the door, and drops it with the angular, narrow, bit facing the bottom of the door. With her tiny shoes she slowly but steadily kicks it beneath, and if the older girl joins her it will be al the more secure.
Alessia tugged on the door as Sakura Rose kicked at the jamb. "I'm not going down there without my gun out." she informed the younger girl. "If you know how to use one, I have like five on me plus small blades." she pulled out the gun she'd been holding earlier.
She looked back the way the came. "Let's go." she said softly taking a few steps forward, but going slow enough that her partner could walk beside her. "These steps seem worn, be careful."
Last edited by Captain Howdy; 12-01-2010 at 07:52 AM..
