Get Out 2: Esoteric Boogaloo

[Celes Castellanos]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Rolls}uzvPYQ8r0-20-20-20-20-2

0-2·0-2·0-2·0-2·0-2

[Kaen Youji]

Karen grinned a little as "Kirito" complained about the change. "Of course it's weird, but we can either run around, panicking, like her." She indicated Luke. "Or roll with it and keep a level head. I know which one I'd rather pick." And besides, it looked like at least one person knew what was going on! "Thanks for the tip sweetheart." She replied to Luke, with a beaming smile. Indeed, Kaen didn't recognize Luke right away! In his defense, they'd only encountered each other three times, it had been awhile since their last meeting during Luke's impromptu Shinigami training, and besides which, Luke had certainly looked different last they'd spoken.

When Hezuka approached and offered to join the Karen/Kirito duo, Karen grinned at her. "It'd be my pleasure, Hezuka." Ah wait there it was. It clicked. The name gave it away. That and the blonde hair. "Besides you seem to know more about this place than the rest of us, ne?" One arm around Kirito's shoulders, she extended a hand out to Hezuka. "Well if you and Lucy are in agreement, we're not going to Get Out™ unless we get moving!"

And it seemed Arcadia was also coming with the three, as they went up the stairs to the upper landed. Karen looked about from the top of the stairs, already seeming to have gotten used to her new body and lack of strength. "Man, it's gonna be a real pain if we have to run or something, I bet this body can't run a mile anymore." She mused, looking at the options. "Well, anyone mind if a girl tries door number 2?" She asked, as she disentangled herself from Kirito and Hezuka, to go over to the door on the right, and pushed it open.

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Kirito. Kirito. Ki... rito. Ugh. Why did that name bother him so much? He still wasn't sure of why it caused him so much irritation, but there was something about it that made him somewhat unnerved. Was it because it was simply a replacement to a name that she has gotten used ever since she was born? Quite frankly, that was perhaps the only reason behind the slight frustration that she felt from it; after all, she was in a position within which she was unfortunately forced to use a male name of sorts to prevent confusion. And yet... she felt as though there was something more behind it, something that justified this deep, deep rage within her. Argh... Oh well. Unfortunately, it was now too late for her to back away from it, and now, she was stuck with it. Hopefully, she'll be able to get over that frustration and try to live with it for the time being. Besides, it's not like she was going to be stuck with that name forever. No. No, of course she won't be stuck with it! Once this will all be over, she'll be back to her normal identity in no time!

In any case, the poor swordsman would eventually attempt to ignore the strange emotions he had for the name and attempt to simply focus on the panicking woman's words. As he had gathered from her outburst, it appeared as though she and Hezuka - the blonde man who attempted to seduce Caleb not too long ago - had come to this place before. What he hadn't expected was for the woman, who was now known as Lucy, to know so much about the mansion. To Kirito's surprise, she would go on to reveal that this entire place was some kind of game that they had no choice but to play. Until the game is settled and a victor is declared, they would never be able to escape it, whether it be with the aid of their original brawn or their brains. As for the game itself, its function was similar to role-playing games of the Living World, such as Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy, in the sense that everyone appeared to have "statistics" attached to them. The difference, however, was that instead of killing monsters to gain experience, they would instead need to pass through a series of rooms with each containing random events.

Lucy made sure to mention a few more details about this whole matter, like the cry of ravens apparently signifying some kind of scary change within the mansion. There was also something about checkpoints, equipment, and shortcuts. However, by that point, Kirito felt like understood what the gist of this whole thing was supposed to be. So long as they all treated this game as some kind of role-playing game, they should be alright... Well, hopefully, at least. Admittedly, however, the mention of "mental characteristics", as Lucy put it, somewhat worried him, as it possibly alluded to the game further changing one of them into something that they were not. For all he knew, this meant that the game could somehow turn them into a psychopath or, worse, some kind of monster hellbent on killing everyone in the mansion. Hopefully, that wasn't going to happen to any of them, especially not in a way that would render them stuck in that state in a permanent fashion.

Before Kirito would be able to fully take that into account or even so much as comment on Hezuka's rather insulting words, though, Karen would suddenly appear and wrap her arm around his shoulders. In a moment's notice, Kirito's worry for the group as well as his attempt to figure the game out would be gone, as he would very quickly reminded of the fact that he was now as he was. He would try his best not to think of the new emotions that he was feeling or the new changes that his body was currently going through, almost biting his lip as he did so... but with Karen being so close to him, it was needless to say that this was a rather difficult thing for him to do. "I still think it's weird, but I'll just... I'll deal with it, I guess," he would reply to Karen's advice with a brief nod as he turned his head with a bit of an awkward blush away from her and Arcadia, who appeared to want to tag along with their side of the group. Damn it! If that is how boys usually felt near girls, he was definitely going to have a hard time!

Looking forward and away from the girls as much as he humanly could, Kirito would slowly find himself getting back in the game, so to speak. While he hadn't really played any game that was similar to this one in any capacity, he had to admit that it wasn't particularly difficult for him to imagine a few base statistics for every person in the room at this present time. For now, it was rather easy to assume that everyone was at a level that was comparable to a Human's. If that is the case, then he could deduce that everyone was at, uh... "Level 1", or something along those lines. It was a rather-ridiculous way for him to summarize this whole matter in a format that was a little bit more comprehensible, but as long as he assumed that Lucy was right about this whole thing, it was better to think of it in such a way rather than to not do so. The only thing he needed now were the statistics themselves. For the time being, they remained unknown, but he doubted they would remain as such for very long. Once that happens, he'll try to figure everything out.

In any case, the little group composed of Kirito himself, the playful Karen, the erotic Hezuka, and the giant Arcadia would eventually go upstairs towards the upper landing. The second was the one who found herself at the top of the stairs before everybody else, with the dual swordsman close behind. Rather unsurprisingly, it appeared as though the woman wasn't particularly happy about the state of her body, or rather, it's speed. "Yeah, I don't think mine could do that either," he couldn't help but sigh after he reached Karen's side and made some space for the others as they reached the upper floor. After that simple comment, she would attempt to quickly shake his arm as quickly as he could. It didn't look very impressive at a glance. "The worst is that it's not just the speed... It's just about everything. The muscle, the proportions, the weight... I probably couldn't move very well if I was as fast as usual. It's like whatever changed us really wanted us to stick to the rules." 

While he would line down the details, he would fail to realize that he was unconsciously putting emphasis on his body. Fortunately, he didn't really think about it for too long, as soon enough, he would find himself turning his attention towards the path ahead. From the looks of it, quite oddly enough, there didn't seem to by any hallway on the second floor; rather, all that occupied the floor were four doors. Kirito would initially look at them with crossed arms. Four doors, four directions... Hm. If there was something more to them, perhaps the decision could've been a little bit easier to make. Eventually, though, Karen would go on to separate herself from Kirito and Hezuka, and make the choice for them: the one on the right. "Sounds good to me," the swordsman would nod before he would follow Karen towards the door. 

Hopefully, whatever awaits them behind it won't be too terrible.

[Luke Clyburn]

<sub>The more Lucy thought about it though the more things started piecing together. If the games rules are that we need to explore rooms and engage with the events inside them then wouldn’t it be better if we all split up individually? While we run a greater risk of triggering the penalty game we have a better chance of acquiring tools and necessary rooms for rituals and victory conditions. Grouping up in large groups like this only serves to delay the inevitable of the game. There’s nothing here that can actually hurt us, or that we can fight, under the end game collapse. Slowing the game down like this doesn’t do anything but drag out pages for more rewards. Lucy thought to herself, fingers resting against her chin as she walked. Suddenly she stopped and blinked a few times. Wait, what did I just say? and like that the last half of her thoughts were simply forgotten.

Following behind the green haired man the trio wound up stepping into what looked to be the Garden. Standing guard was what appeared to be a little strawman clutching a spear that attacked Caleb. ”Hey, are you okay?” Lucy asked. Looking at the group they were in Lucy began considering her options. I have the best chance of escaping if I go get Hezuka. He knows the game as well as I do. That experience will help for sure even if I do run the risk of getting… of getting… Lucy’s face suddenly went beet red before she started grimacing in frustration. ”Get out of my head!” she cried, grabbing at her head before stamping past Caleb and towards the next door, grumbling in indescribable frustration all the while.</sub>

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Hezuka smiled at Karen, an inviting gesture that was intended to make the woman feel more at-ease. Now that the initial adjustment was over and Hezuka was used to his familiar male body once again, he felt like he could calm himself down enough to take this game more seriously this time around. Last time, it turned into something way more inappropriate than he felt this group was ever used to. Even if Hezuka was okay with that, he didn't want to fall into a stereotype if the others weren't. So, for now, he'd be a good boy. He would let Karen lead and give the woman a chance to earn the remaining 33 cents on the dollar.

Just kidding.

Hezuka glanced back in Lucy's direction and pouted. He missed her. She didn't seem to miss him. Was this what rejection truly felt like? As a woman, Shizuka didn't really understand rejection. She supposed that made her lucky. But as a man, Hezuka was getting really frustrated and, admittedly, a little self-conscious. Of all people, he thought Lucy was going to partner up with him. If they were going to be separated like this... That sucked. Was it worth it to maybe try to pair up later? Would that make his current group upset? He wasn't sure. He needed to prioritize the game and finishing it rather than chasing after a wonderful, perky pair of bouncing breasts.

"Well, Karen," Hezuka started, his voice deeper than he ever remembered with velvet undertones. "If you say that's where we're headed, then I'm game. Let's go."

[Arcadus]

Arcadus decided to read the room and begin to play along. The rest of the group was going with Karen, so she would as well. Better than setting off alone anyway. She stuck close to Hezuka, since he seemed to at least be the one she was "getting along with". But regardless if they were amicable, she was starting to get concerned with how seriously all of them were starting to take this. She didn't really understand what they were referring to, but she listened intently.

If this place operated on rules, it could be gamed. If it did, and there wasn't someone behind a screen pulling the strings who could react to a strategy. Looking over to Lucy, clearly they were losing it already, and as for what to think on that, not everyone had the mental fortitude for some things, some people fainted at haunted houses. Oh well, dead weight is dead weight. "Hey, Hezuka, I'm gonna stick with you, if that's alright."

SPOILER: Click to show

0-2·0-2·0-2·0-2·0-2btT2T93r

[Camila Adaronde]

SPOILER: Click to show

{First Floor}

SPOILER: Click to show

{Second Floor}

Lucy - The Conservatory - Event

As quickly as the doll sprung onto Caleb, looking to overpower the boy and taking advantage of surprise, it had just as quickly fell back to the ground, seemingly finishing any movements it had made. As though whatever strange magics had been animating it to begin with just wore off. It was difficult to explain just what had caused any of it. Even more so as the doll - and the spear it held - quickly broke down and dissolved into ash, spreading throughout the garden as though it hadn't been there to begin with.

For better or worse, Caleb had been left with no real injuries, able to fight off the doll with relative ease. Perhaps it was due to a level of martial familiarity? It was likely difficult to say. Though, that hadn't stopped Lucy from charging on ahead. As she finished checking on Caleb, slamming the door in front of her open with quite an amount of force, she was soon to be met with quite the amount of fog as she walked through the building. Unbeknownst to her, as though space and time had warped, Lucy had ended up in a different place within the mansion.

If she took the opportunity to turn around now, she'd be met with a now-shut door, that of which closed from seemingly nowhere. No sound had been made, and no indicator that anything had changed made itself present. Regardless, Lucy had now made her way into the conservatory. Sights of shattered glass, dying plants, and general dilapidation made itself quite apparent. The very ground beneath the girl's feet cracked with each step she took; not in such a way that felt like it was giving away, but enough to leave a sense of unease with the girl. This was, however, a dead-end.

---

Karen, Kirito, Hezuka, and Arcadia - The Gallery - Omen

As the larger party made their way inside the door on the right, a simple sight of a long hallway would meet them all. A number of paintings lined these walls, each one seemingly having little to do with each other than the last. Masterfully designed artworks of people, scenery, and animals decorated the room. If one had to guess, each painting had likely been done around one-hundred to two-hundred years ago, if the art styles were anything to go off of.

Though, a few things had stuck out to each member of this party. Namely, the pictures of each individual on the wall. Upon closer examination, all of the individuals would find a painting that looked exactly like them; before their 'transformation', however. Karen found a painting of Kaen, Hezuka of Shizuka, Kirito of Kimiko, and Arcadia of Arcadus. Each looked dead-on, with a simplistic expression across their face. Naturally, paintings of Celes and Luke had been placed on the wall, as well.

Alongside this, there had been an two additional pictures of people in the room as well. A painting of Yui had been on this wall as well, but something was different about it. Instead of possessing any color, it had been done in a sort of grayscale, and a large red "X" had been painted overtop the painting. Upon closer examination, it was almost as though it had been done recently. Next to the painting, standing up straight, a spear rested leaning against the wall.

Across from Yui's painting, another appeared; a face that Arcadia, Karen, and Kirito would recognize, even if tangentially. A girl, sitting in a similar fashion, possessing deep red eyes, and short black hair, as though it had been cut with a knife. She held the same pose as all the others, though a detail in that painting hadn't been in the others; on her shoulder, a black raven rested.

Within moments after the painting had been observed, the raven inside the painting let out a caw, before flying from the canvas itself and into the room, sporadically looking to leave. Slamming into the spear and knocking it over, the raven continued to barrel down the hallway the group had entered from, leaving the door to shut behind them as it did.

Make a Haunt Roll.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Room - The Gallery}
If the Ballroom is revealed in the house later on, you can choose to fall into it from the Gallery. If you do, take 1 die of physical damage.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Item - The Spear}
A weapon pulsing with power.

The wielder of the Spear rolls two additional dice (maximum of 8 dice) when making a Strength attack with the weapon. Another weapon cannot be used while wielding the Spear.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Guide to Haunt Rolls}
Given this is the first Haunt Roll we'll be making, here's quick informant for those that're unfamiliar with the game! Haunt Rolls are what triggers the endgame collapse. When a Haunt Roll is failed by anyone, that's when the Haunt begins. Everyone in the room where the Omen is revealed (in this case, Karen, Kirito, Hezuka, and Arcadia) is to roll six dice. If the total rolled is less than the number of Omens that have occurred, the Haunt will start. While the Haunt cannot trigger from this roll, please roll regardless to get a feel for the dice system.

[Kaen Youji]

Karen's eyes perused the gallery, painting by painting, with a strange look. She recognized all of the paintings except for Arcadus's, but to be fair that was only to be expected-- of the group, Arcadus was the only one they hadn't met. She paused in front of her own portrait. "Aww. They really didn't capture my good side." She pouted. Honestly it was actually creepy and off-putting, but Karen wasn't about to start freaking out or panicking. That wouldn't do them any good. No good at all. Then her eyes caught the spear. She walked over to the polearm, taking it from the wall, and giving it a few experimental whirls, spinning the polearm with relative ease. "Huh..." She looked the weapon over, and glanced back at Kirito. "Anyone care for it? I was always more fond of solving problems with my body~" She said with a teasing grin.

If anyone accepted, Karen would gently toss the spear, handle first over to them, before looking at the last painting, and jumping slightly as the raven burst from it, cawing through the mansion. Luke warned us about this.... Something's... happening then? She wondered briefly, hesitantly. And that girl in the painting. Was that....? Karen gave an exaggerated shudder. "Creepy." And then lightly elbowed Hezuka in the side. "Good thing we have strong, brave Hezuka to protect us right~?" She glanced at the door ahead.

"Well, only one way forwards, anyways~" And Karen forged ahead, perhaps a bit recklessly, shoving open the door ahead and pushing through the door! Truth was, she was a bit unnerved at the place. The sooner the group figured out what was going on and found a way out, the better. There were questions. Questions that Karen didn't necessarily like the answers to.

What did the red slash through the pink haired girl's painting indicate. And the black haired one. That had definitely been.... But more importantly, whoever did this, hadn't just managed to seize upon two Captains and a Vice Captain. Karen had fought Lucy, and Lucy wasn't a pushover, to say nothing of Hezuka. She admittedly didn't know much regarding Arcadia though. But even if Arcadia and Yuki were the odd two out, that was a pretty powerful bunch that had been reduced to the might of ordinary humans and put in this position. As much as she was enjoying playing around, there was a part of her deep down that was thoroughly unsettled by the whole affair.

Maybe recklessly charging to the next room was just Karen's way of dealing with that?

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats}
Strength - 50

Speed - 50

Knowledge - 50

Sanity - 50

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Judging by the way Hezuka simply approved of Karen's decision to move along, and the fact that Arcadia didn't seem to object to any part of it so long as she could remain with Hezuka, it would appear as though Karen's leadership of had been automatically accepted by what had now become their little group. Kirito wasn't particularly against that notion. While he officially was the Captain of the Eleventh Division in the eyes of the Gotei 13 and its members, it was becoming very clear that whoever or whatever was behind the existence of this forsaken manor didn't really give much attention to the rank. In its eyes, the now-man might as well be nothing more than a normal Human, someone who was powerless and perhaps with no purpose other than being its plaything. It was insulting, but ultimately, it made sense. Thus, the swordsman believed that anyone could be a leader, and for now, Karen was naturally able to take the reigns, if only because she was able to get along with the plot a little bit faster than Kirito could. Seeing her constantly flaunt her beauty was a bit bothersome... but oh well. The confidence was reassuring.

The group were able to move past the door Karen had opened with no apparent difficulties, which was most welcome. Admittedly, Kirito believed that something was going to jump out of it in one way or another by the time they would have fully crossed it, and so once he realized nothing had happened, a wave of relief washed over him. That was, until he then realized what was inside the room. Behind the door wasn't exactly a room, but rather a hallway, one that most likely led to another part of the manor. The hallway itself didn't really look particularly abnormal; if anything, it looked just about similar to the rest of the manor, with antique yet inoffensive architecture. What was instead abnormal was what remained on the walls. For some reason, there were several paintings lined up on them, with each clashing with the other. It was ugly, to say the least, or at least Kirito believed it to be. Still, nothing was more ugly than some of the paintings he witnessed.

For some reason, there were a number of paintings that depicted each of the people who had found themselves kidnapped into the manor. Each of them looked rather old, as though they had been drawn a century ago, and they all depicted not their gender-swapped selves, but rather their original selves. To say that it was unsettling for Kirito was nothing short of an understatement, but more importantly, he found it to be rather insulting. It caused him to scoff at the sight of his own painting, or rather the painting of his true self. "Tch. They're mocking us," he concluded as he stared, frowning deeply as he did so. She still wasn't sure of how this manor worked, but in his eyes, this really was nothing more than a way to unsettle them, nothing more, nothing less. The good thing is that the portraits themselves presumably were not dangerous. The bad thing was that it asserted the confidence behind this whole charade. Whoever or whatever brought them here was pretty damn proud of their work, and they wanted to make sure everybody in the manor understood that.

With the main portraits out of the way, there were three more elements in the hallway that jumped out to Kirito. The first was the portrait of the pink-haired man from earlier. The swordsman wasn't quite sure of why that was, but the portrait of that man's true self had been both grey-scaled and crossed out. That alone wouldn't be as bad, if not for the fact that it looked recent, which was enough to make him let out a quiet sigh. Hopefully, that didn't mean what he believed it meant... but he wasn't getting his hopes up, not in a place like this. In any case, the second element was some kind of spear. It had been set so that it would rest against the wall rather than on some kind of stand, which was rather strange, but otherwise, it appeared to be a normal weapon. A glance alone was enough to convince Kirito that it was of good quality. Still, being a swordsman above all, he wasn't particularly impressed by it. "Uh, I'm not really good with spears. Besides, I'm already armed," he responded to Karen before he lightly tapped on the scabbard of his black blade, then looked towards Hezuka and Arcadia. "You guys want it?" 

Whether this question was answered or not, Kirito would eventually find himself staring at the third element in the room that differed from the rest. It was another portrait, yet he could tell that this one was different. The person it portrayed was odd. Unlike the other people who had been painted, this one wasn't part of the group, yet the swordsman could recognize them. In fact, if anything, it reminded her of only one person who bore such traits.   Is that... Camila...?  Kirito's thoughts would immediately echo as he analyzed the picture. However, soon enough, his attention would be turned towards the creature that rested on the girl's shoulder. There, seemingly staring right back at him, was a raven. For  a moment while he stared at it, it seemed immobile, as though clearly part of the picture... but then, without warning, it suddenly let out a single caw and flew right out of it. Taken aback, Kirito would quickly take a few steps away from the painting with his hands gripping the hilts of his blade, and then watch the bird's panicked flight with attention. 

The bird collided with several walls in its path during the first few moments of its abrupt awakening. Needless to say, it was probably not the greatest experience it ever went through, and Kirito almost felt bad for it. Almost. Fortunately for it, it would finally be able to fly through the hallway and reach the door that they just used to enter it, with said door closing right behind its wake. The swordswoman would keep his stare on the door for a moment, tense, as though waiting for something to happen. Eventually, however, he would slowly calm down and straighten his stance once more. "... Ravens flying out of portraits... Heh. Original!" A small, yet amused chuckle came out of his throat as he tried to make light of the situation. In truth, however, he was just as shaken as Karen. Lucy had told them in her fit of panic that the ravens were foreshadowing for terrible events. If a raven remained here in this hallway... then that meant they were most likely going to see something bad happen soon.

Whatever that avian was supposed to mean, Kirito was not going to wait and find out about its meaning. As such, quickly, he turned towards Karen and began to move forward towards the door. "Yeah, uh, let's go. I don't think staying here is a good idea," he would tell the others before he looked towards the feminized Vice-Captain. "Lead the way, Karen. There's... probably a whole bunch of problems you'll be able to solve with your body there. Probably." 

Making fun of the situation. Yeah. Yeah, that can definitely tamper the tension a little bit... right?

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats}

• Strength: 50
  
• Speed: 50
  
• Knowledge: 50
• Sanity: 50
  

SPOILER: Click to show

{Haunt Roll (Test)}

yc5A74GX1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3

1-3·1-3·1-3·1-3·1-3·1-3

[Luke Clyburn]

Lucy experienced brief panic as her vision was completely consumed by sudden fog. ”Shizuka help!” Lucy squeaked out in fear before being able to see again. With flushed cheeks she looked back and forth to get her barrings. She seemed fine. Unharmed. Looking around though she realized she was in a completely different room. ”Uh-uhm?” had she been teleported? Looking around there was only one door. She seemed to be in a conservatory of some sort. Broken glass, dead plants, and general dilapidation. It looked like a room zombie crows or dogs would suddenly appear in by breaking the windows. Opening the only available door, Lucy found herself back in the foyer.

She spotted the door that her companions had taken a moment ago, but Lucy decided that she was going to carve her own path a bit. She wanted to be done with this game and get out. She turned her attention to the second door on the left side of the hall, same side she was on, and decided to give that door a try next.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats}
Strength - 50
Speed - 50
Knowledge - 50
Sanity - 50

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Hezuka's soft smile couldn't be contained as he looked at the gallery in front of him. Luke's photo was so incredibly handsome that he'd gotten distracted for a moment before looking at the other pictures. Placing a hand up on the painting of Luke, he slowly shifted his gaze to see who else was in this game. His own form as a woman was familiar and didn't startle him much at all, but the other pictures started making him put two and two together. Karen was Kaen, and they'd met before. Kirito was still unfamiliar, unfortunately. Caleb was Celes, obviously, and the other photos were also pretty unfamiliar. Well, except for one.

"A-Arcadus..?"

The blonde quickly removed his hand from Luke's painting and stared at the very tall woman standing near him. He felt like an idiot. Like, those two names were so freaking similar that he had no explanation as to why he would have ever overlooked it. This woman was, in fact, someone Hezuka knew outside of his game. She was actually Arcadus. She was an Arrancar. They had history. Hezuka, acting entirely too feminine for the body he was in at the moment, ran to Arcadia and leaped considerably to wrap his arms around her neck. This explained the initial attraction he had towards her and the reason why he felt so comfortable being flirty with her.

"I'm so stupid! I can't believe it's you! Are you okay? What are you doing here? I guess you wouldn't know the answer to that, huh? I don't even know the answer to that. I'm so excited that you're here with me! This is amazing!"

His tone, though the octave was still low and very much male, had changed in such a way that made him sound very undeniably "Shizuka." His hug against her body was firm and affectionate, though was interrupted with the cawing of the crow in another painting. His bubbliness was paused as he turned his head towards the bird that was in the picture of the black-haired woman. This was so familiar. Hezuka released Arcadia but wrapped his arm around her back in somewhat of a claim. What was normally just a silly game had become reality, and something about all of this made him feel responsible. He didn't want anyone in his group to be hurt, especially knowing who they really were.

"Good thing we have strong, brave Hezuka to protect us right~?"

With a laugh, Hezuka very quickly agreed, snapping out of his more serious persona and back to the joking one he'd kept up so far. "Oh, obviously. I'm the man here. I can protect the sweet damsels. And Kirito." At least Karen was able to stay positive in some way and be a leader. Without question, Hezuka nudged Arcadia and followed his Shinigami friend.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Hezuka's Stats}
Strength - 50

Speed - 50

Knowledge - 50

Sanity - 50

SPOILER: Click to show

{Haunt Roll}

bdEBrHb31-3 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-3

1-3·1-3·1-3·1-3·1-3·1-3

[Arcadus]

Arcadia/us looked around at the paintings, turning side to side to get the angle it was painted as. It was Them, of course it was. While the happenings, the spear, all this horror, Arcadia couldn't shake this idea something was wrong. This was a dream, almost certainly. So, if it were to be a dream that they couldn't control, they may as well take actions that would play on the rules of dreams. But for now, they understood that it was some odd collective dream, and as such it had to have rules not determined by any one dreamer. 

"I'm so stupid! I can't believe it's you! Are you okay? What are you doing here? I guess you wouldn't know the answer to that, huh? I don't even know the answer to that. I'm so excited that you're here with me! This is amazing!" Caught a bit, Arcadus took a half step back as Hezuka/Shizu threw themselves at the larger figure. Catching them, Arcadia held up the smaller human. "Of course its me Shizu, I figured we were all doing a bit or something."

Hugging Shi/hezuka close to themself, Arcadus set them down and looked around the room, nor exactly sure what to do. "I say we follow the weird bird creature further in. Whatever we're dealing with, I don't think hanging around too much is going to do us much good. Better to keep moving and progress the dream." Taking Shizu's hand, Arcadia started making their way towards the door, waiting to see if anyone else would follow them.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Rolls}1euS0CVt0-20-20-20-20-2

0-2·0-2·0-2·0-2·0-2

[Camila Adaronde]

SPOILER: Click to show

{First Floor}

SPOILER: Click to show

{Second Floor}

Lucy - The Ballroom - Event

As Luke quickly hurried out of the Conservatory, realizing he was back in the Foyer, he followed through with his choice of actions, and made his way into the second room on the left. Upon opening the door, he was met with a rather interesting sight; a well-lit room, unlike the rest of those that had been in the building so far. Though, unlike everything else, there was no furniture, nor anything on the ground. Though, this was by design.

If he took a glance toward the Ceiling, Luke would be met with a massive, ornate chandelier in the center of the room, and a large, blank painting on the ceiling. If he listened closely enough, a string of classical music played throughout the room, seemingly coming from nowhere. There was nothing in the room that should've allowed that music to play. Though, there was one more sound that Luke was likely to hear; that of a voice, calling out for help. ^{"I'm under the floor, buried under the floor..."} As soon as it had happened, it was gone, leaving Luke with a sense of dread, almost compelled to begin to pull up the floorboards.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Event - The Voice}Make a Knowledge Roll.

4+: You find someone - and something - under the floorboard. Acquire an item, and a new companion.

0-3: You dig and search for the voice, but to no avail.

---

Karen, Kirito, Hezuka, and Arcadia - The Bedroom - Event

Leaving the rather creepy gallery behind them, the group ventured forth, a smell of smoke filled the air by the door toward the end of the gallery. As the doorknob was touched, it'd feel distinctly hot, but not overwhelmingly so. However, the moment that the door was opened, a rather horrendous sight was placed in front of the lot; a man had been ablaze in the bedroom.

As smoke continued to pour out of the room ahead of them, the man screamed and groaned, slamming into walls, furniture, and eventually trying to hit people that entered as he flailed about in pain. His skin bubbled and cracked as the flames licked his body, only further emphasizing the agony he was in. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!" He cried out, sprinting toward the end of the room, before slamming into the back door. As he did, his head tumbled off, rolling toward the center, as his body left the room. His head continued to burn at quite the exacerbated rate, quickly melting his skin from the bone before long, eventually leaving nothing more than a small pile of ash in the center of the room.

Before long, and after any that had dealt with the situation had finished, they'd be left with a charred, blackened bedroom, and a door on the other side of the room.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Event - The Burning Man}Make a Sanity Roll.

4+: You feel a little hot under the collar, but otherwise fine. Gain 10 Sanity.

2-3: Out, out, you must get out! Head to the Entrance Hall.

0-1: You collide with the burning man, bursting into flames yourself! Take 1 die of physical damage. Then take 1 die of mental damage as you put out the flames.

[Celes Castellanos]

As the doll animated and leapt at Caleb, the green-haired Shinigami stared in disbelief. Instinctively, he raised his hands to intercept the spear, practically catching it as the doll tried to plunge it through his chest. The supernatural strength Caleb had learned to rely on was gone. Even so, he held his own against the doll's own unholy strength before its movements went still. In what felt like an instant, the puppet went limp and dissolved into ash. Before Caleb even had a chance to wrest the spear from its wooden hands, the weapon shattered and scattered into piles of ash alongside the puppet.

”Hey, are you okay?”, garnering no response from the Shinigami. Caleb was practically paralyzed with shock. Standing there in silent contemplation for what felt like an eternity, Caleb's senses eventually returned to him as he saw Lucy walk past him. The girl seemed quite impulsive and pushed on ahead, opening the door. However, it seemed that the Bount would pay for it as fog enveloped her and the door, wide-open, suddenly slammed shut. The last thing that Celes heard was a scream echoing from the other side of the door. ”Shizuka help!”

The green-haired Shinigami cursed under her breath before yelling, "Shit! I'm coming!" Without another moment's hesitation, Caleb rushed towards the door. "This building seems pretty old... it shouldn't be too hard to bust one of these open...", he briefly thought to himself. He would attempt to brace himself roughly a second before making contact, practically trying to throw himself through the door. He wasn't sure whether he had sufficient physical prowess anymore to just pop the door open, but it wasn't going to stop him from trying. After all, Lucy needed help!

[Kaen Youji]

With everyone else passing up the opportunity, Karen shrugged, hanging onto the spear and lazily spinning it like a bo staff, as she wandered through the manse. It also seemed like Hezuka had finally figured out who this Arcadia was, and was more than happy to jump on the opportunity. Literally. Karen giggled a bit at the sight of the two and Hezuka's attempt at tackling into the larger woman. "Awh! You two make a cute couple~" She teased as she moved onwards, shooting Kirito a grin. "And you are probably right about that! So let's go find those problems!"

Arcadia also seemed in agreement, with her statement about keeping moving, and Karen gave an enthusiastic nod of her head. ”Right! Just keep swimming and stuff!” She replied, marching onwards into the next room. She caught a whiff of something very familiar on the air.

”Huh. That’s weird. This smells like fire…” She mused. As a pyrokinetic there were few who’d know that smell better than Karen. She pushed the door open taking a moment to look around the room at the bedroom…. And the burning occupant. Rather than horror, Karen flinched a bit in disdain. She had a lot of experience with burning people, and she’d frankly seen worse. She deftly side-stepped the flaming apparition as it came charging by, before its grisly demise. Karen winced. "....Is it cruel to say I've seen worse?" She inquired gently approaching and looking down at the ash pile.

"Geeze.... That's.... Wow." She may not have known the guy but it was clear that she found what she'd just seen distasteful, even if she was keeping her composure just fine. She closed her eyes and took a breath. "Well.... Like Arcadia said. We should... keep moving." She replied, pushing open the door, apparently eager to leave the morbid scene behind.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Burning Man Roll}{Rolls}6BUNOTEU0-20-20-20-20-2

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats}
Strength - 50

Speed - 50

Knowledge - 50

Sanity - 60 (+1 Sanity for rolling 4+!)

0-2·0-2·0-2·0-2·0-2