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Cake! She was feeling rather peckish, and the ghoul had always been known to scarf sweets whenever possible - if only she had some coffee to go with this! So absorbed in how delectable the little cake was, Reflect didn't quite notice she was shrinking until a rather grumpy and sour caterpillar was being very rude.

"Whooooo are youuuuuu?" It yawned loudly, hookah smoke pouring over them. "Find OUT."

And with that Reflect was in a room full of mirrors, a long corridor with all reflective surfaces. Each panel she passed was a different beast - a dragon, a lion, a wolf, a troll, a giant - all sharing the same skin tone, the same whispy airiness to their structure. She met with two minipets at in the middle of the corridor, pets she'd long abandoned due to their misbehavior. She continued walking by, the images in the mirrors clouding a little darker.

The next room was the same corridor of mirrors, where she met with the creeple she'd hurt with her shape shifting abilities. Hunters she'd tricked and deceived, or used body parts to maim, and school friends who'd just wanted a spar and been mentally scarred. The last group made her feel queasy, not right with herself. Was she this type of manipulative person? She continued to walk, her gait more rigid and elbows tucked to her ribs.

The third corridor was blindingly bright with all the mirrors, images of mermaids and giant birds flying through the water and great warriors made of armor and magic saluting as she passed by them. She met with a masked man in this room, a strange little fellow with an odd smile and a heavy pack.

"May I have your mask?" He asked, eyes a little wild with obsessive fervor. She recoiled as he reached toward her face, kicking him into one of the mirrors and shattering it, the fairy that resided fleeing to another pane. "I have no masks, sir."

"Just look around you." A million of her own voices replied, the panes all shifting into her various 'normal' shapes. She never was simple - always something modified about her. Draconic ears one day, golden lips and eagle eyes the next, followed with a day where her hair seemed to be constantly under water and she bore fangs. "What happened to you? You used to be so confident - but now all you do is fake fake fake. You hide behind your little 'accessories' and call it fashion. You don't wear these forms because you like them; you need them.

The siren song of one million mirrors shattering in perfect unison echoed through subspace as a million Genes fell on Reflect, all different from each other. Reflect had no hope, nothing to strive for. She was weak and insecure, despite the sass and the can-do attitude she put out for the creeple to see.

After the smoke cleared, she saw yet another cake. A tentative bite, and the ghoul was back to normal, or as normal as this place would allow. Head slightly hung, she began to trot off before noticing a card stuck to the bottom of her foot.

MY STATS

My character’s username: ReflectedinaMug
My character’s level: 5
Character’s HP: 30
Character’s Job Class: Dormouse
Current party: n / a
Current Guild: n / a
Location: Tulgey Woods
Small IC description of character: A girl of average height sporting ethereal blue skin and silvery hair, along with a very large pair of mouse ears. She appears to be nearly made of air, as though she should be floating.
Character journal: Here!

Normally, she knew she didn't eat. Much less cake. But maybe in this dream world, like in so many other worlds before she wouldn't mind so much. Not like she ever minded, not like it ever disagreed with her. But perhaps here it was more of a necessity. So she took a bite. It wasn't so bad, she thought. That was until everything suddenly grew so large!

"I'm already short!" She squeaked out as the grass just started to loom all around her and smoke began to be more visible around her. Her wide eyes stared at it, eyeing the trail until her body soon decided to follow suit and find the source. She scampered through the grass, pushing back the blades until she found herself in front of a very large caterpillar.

He got a very wide happy stare as a greeting. He in turn simply looked down at the small ghoul like she were an ant and puffed away at his pipe.

It was like a very sad staring contest. But he broke the silence with a scolding, "Who are YOU?"

Well, that was a strange question, she thought. Wasn't she herself? She thought. Though, she had been very many versions of herself already, hadn't she? There was one that lived in a crumbling kingdom, torn between several and then there was that one that was like a Goddess. And now there was this one, in a dreamworld but she knew who this one was as well. And they were all the same. Though, she said none of this out loud, and simply looked at the caterpillar as if trying to tell him with her smile alone.

"Find OUT." Seemed to be his reply, if one at all. And filled the area with smoke.

OuO found herself in a new place. Vast and beautiful. With fountains and koi ponds filled with waterlilies and carried themselves from one place to another. Rich ornate buildings, so clean and beautiful. She was on the Island of Conquest. Her first school trip with Amityville and the first place she had made friends outside her own family. It was here and whole and just as she remembered it. The small ghoul rushed up to one of the bridges, pressing a hand firmly to the wood to make sure it was real. "So pretty..." she breathed out, smiling all the while.

It was such a terrible shame something to beautiful had to go. And a shame she had to leave it, she realized with a pout, when she noticed a door that was so terribly out of place. "Goodbye," she said, turning to the door and making her way through.

Where she found herself next looked ordinary, so simple but she couldn't place it. It seemed like someone's house. Some things in this house, or at least this room (a bedroom) had some things that seemed to be her own. Some things she had had forever but some things that looked new and not her own. While it wasn't that she didn't read, well not well anyways, there were books. Big ones on some shelves next to small random objects under glass. OuO let her hands traces over so many of the objects, unsure of what to make of it. Perhaps this was someone else's house or maybe it was her's in some time. Someone who lived here had to be here, not with so many of the object familiar.

But with who. OuO went to the door, hoping to find out but she found herself in another room all together.

One that stopped her in her tracks. The open battle field during the battle of the Seven Kings. And not empty, not just perhaps the before or after but the full battle in all its glory. Playing out right before her eyes to see. Another perspective as the other her that had to face what was here had to live through it.

"I don't want to see this..." she pouted, her eyes darting about for another door. Something to take her away. But she couldn't find one. So she began to run as fast as her clunky armor would take her. She ran, past those who were being taken down. Through the attacks and the explosions, not daring to see where her other self might be, the pain that might be going through her mind.

- She did catch sight of one thing though, how Andrew fell in this battle .. and it hurt. Nonono. She ran and finally that white door came into view and she rushed towards it, her hands on the handle before she knew it and through.

To a white pristine room with only a mirror. Which didn't seem to terribly bad really. (It might have been familiar if a certain someone had let her go through this part at the Violet Tower). "Oh..." OuO blinked as a figure came through the mirror. Similar in shape as she was, frilly skirt and all and that pale skin.

"Oh, are you me?"

"I think you are me," the other her, Olivia, replied with that same happy innocent smile.

"Maybe we're both me." She reasoned, happily. She liked that idea. She always thought all those various versions were ... still basically her. Just different experiences.

"Only one of us can stay though." Olivia replied sadly.

"That's alright," OuO still smiled and began to walk forward to close the distance between those of herself. And threw her arms around the other Olivia, embracing her, like she did all the others.

But when she pulled back, there was nothing but a wisp of smoke and a small piece of cake on the ground. "You turned into cake?" That was surprising and unexpected. With a small apology, the small ghoul picked the piece up, wondering if she was meant to eat it (that sounded weird). Well. She did. And the world got smaller again, at least to her standards.

Maybe this was why she didn't eat anything.

Oh look, there was a card attached to her shoe.

Saya questioned this world by the second. Suddenly, there was a caterpillar and he was blue.. She quirked her head, trying to take in all the questions he was asking. The smoke reflected her state of mind, surrounding her until there was no clarity left. She tried to ask the caterpillar to wait, struggling to comprehend the concepts he posed. She tried to brush away the smoke with her hands, shaking her head furiously.

She ran forward .. and ran.. and ran.. until she hit her head.

There was a blond woman.. Her face was covered from Saya's perspective, putting a child down. She appeared to be leaving.. the child? Saya knew who it was. Tears welled up in Saya's eyes, knowing that even though she didn't quite know the scene.. she knew what event it was in her life. She wanted to look at her face. Discover what she really looked like-- However, the vision took place across a river. The door was right in front of Saya.. But the river was rising higher by the second. If Saya crossed to look, she was sure that she would be too late to make it back to the door.

It seemed she was doomed to never find out.

Stepping through the door, the scene disappeared before Saya could look back.

She saw Sho, her guardian, standing at the porch. She stepped in the room, everything behind her disappearing, paving way for the new scene. He looked up, upon realizing it was Saya. His eyes were so dark, it looked like he hadn't been sleeping for weeks. His gaze was shocked, eye widening. Saya knew why. Being a hunter was to be declared dead-- your existence wiped. Her family wasn't supposed to find out that she was still alive. He called out to her, desperately.. She knew that one word from her would have been enough for him. It would have been more than enough.

But for Saya, one word was enough to break her. So she broke into a run for the next door.

She didn't want to look a his expression as she ran because she knew that it would shatter her resolve forever.

"These rooms are terrible.."

"Well, not as much as you." A voice interrupted, from behind Saya. Saya stiffened at the source of the voice, refusing to turn around. For once, Saya's voice wasn't the soft gentle tone it always was.

Because the voice that was addressing her was her own.

"A rabbit? pfft. That's hilarious." The giggling was harsh, unlike Saya's own awkward laughter. "Are you kidding yourself?"

Saya didn't answer.

"Must be nice, to always look like a good person. Rabbits are cute, aren't they? So you think, by extension, you're cute too? Your little weapon friend isn't enough this time to stop me." The insults hurt. They cut and both of them could see that. A smug smirk took over the shadow's expression. "You're inept as a hunter and as a person." From the source of the voice, there was no features-- only a shadow that resembled Saya. Saya took a deep breath, holding her trembling hands to her chest. She silenced Prompto, clenching her fingers into fists. She made the decision to do it. Saya spun around, hand extended.

"Then let's write a letter."

The shadow was silenced, in shock.

"You can write what's so inept about me.. and then I'll improve it!"

The shadow was stunned. "Don't you hate me?"

"I can't pretend I don't dislike you. It might even border on hate.." Saya's tone was uncertain but her next line was a decisive one of resolve. "In fact, us talking might be a trigger for more fighting. But if we write a letter, that'll be better, right? I'll hold onto it and keep it as a reminder. That way, I won't forget .. and when I fix all those flaws, you'll have a better impression of me right? And I'll have a better impression when you stop insulting me!"

".. You'll improve and find a whole new list of flaws." The shadow grumbled, throwing a piece of paper, towards Saya's head.

When she bent down to pick it up, she noticed a card on her shoe.

The cake had been amazing. The sudden shrinking, however, most definitely was not. IttyBitty sighed and glanced around, spying the large mushroom with it's smoke wreathed occupant and headed over. Even before she could open her mouth to ask which way she should go, an extremely rude, "WHO are you?" was flung out at her.

She was... herself, wasn't she? Mouth still open on the unasked question, she stood below the mushroom and began to wonder.

The terse, "Find OUT." was clearly a dismissal. And it was made even more clear by the way the mushroom and caterpillar vanished, leaving her in a room with a single door on the opposite wall. Muttering, the tiny Mad Hatter began to cross the room, not really seeing it until a figure stepped out of the shadows along the edges and scooped her up into a bone jarring hug.

"Look at you, little bat! You're all grown up," a familiar voice laughed. Choking slightly, IttyBitty looked up to see Aven's face smiling down at her. Sure, he was worn and grey, but it was Aven. Her brother was hugging her. And the room, it was their home. Her mother and father sat at the kitchen table, both looking much older than she remembered them being. And they were smiling. They were... happy to see Aven? They'd forgiven him! Laughing and crying at the same time, she bopped her brother on the head until he set her on her feet and then returned his hug with interest. A quick glance over her shoulder told her that the door was still there. She had to go through it and on some level, she knew that once she did, Aven would be gone again.

Oh, she wanted to just stay here forever, but she couldn't. Not if she was going to find out who she was. With tears streaming from her eyes, she continued to smile and gave her brother another hug and kiss, then went to do the same for her parents. Only then did she go to the door and set her hand on it. Don't look back or you'll never go through, she scolded herself silently. Oh, she wanted to look back so much. Instead, she screwed her eyes shut and practically ran through the door.

Only to see herself squaring off on the playground with one of her colony's bigger bullies. From where she stood, she could see that this fight was near it's end. What if she decided to step in and help herself? She was bigger now. Stronger. Would it be so wrong to punch the little bullying b*****d in the face? After all, this was still part of the dream game, wasn't it? Still, she knew the outcome even as she took a step forward. She would lose. You couldn't change history. Not even in a dream. Growling softly under her breath, she forced herself to step back and continue to the door that stood between a pair of old trees. Went through.

And found herself in yet another room. It was her family kitchen again, but this time, it was her first birthday without Aven there and she and her mother were both crying while her father stood to the side and looked vastly uncomfortable. She saw the door she needed to reach and made her way resolutely to it. Part of her wanted to stop and scream at her parents. The rest of her knew it wouldn't help anything. And now, as much as she wanted to comfort the three people in the room with her, she couldn't. How would one comfort dream ghosts anyway? Stupid. Shoving her way through the door, she found herself in one last room. And this one had a single large mirror sitting in the middle.

Walking towards the mirror, IttyBitty saw herself in the gleaming surface. Only this self seemed to be more... well, more. More her. Was this who she really was? Baring her teeth slightly, she found herself moving instinctively into a defensive stance. The other her stepped out of the mirror, smirking.

"You're not me."

"Darling, I am more you than you could ever dream of being. I'm better, brighter, stronger."

"Not a chance."

IttyBitty wasn't a fighter. Not in the physical sense anyway. But she was smart. And she had logic on her side. And she wasn't going to let some stupid mirror copy bully her.

"No, not a damn chance," she replied coldly. "This is a game set up in a dream. We're both dreams. And I suspect that all you are is some ideal me I wish I could be in the back of my head. Lady, you're nothing without me and I am everything without you."

As she spoke, she watch the other her's face go through several changes. Surprise, wariness and then suddenly panic. And at the moment panic settled in, the copy poofed and as the smoke settled became a cake.

Mmm... delicious cannibal copy cake.

IttyBitty knew she had to eat it. And when she did, she was pleasantly surprised to find hrself back to her proper size and standing close to where she started. And she had a card stuck to her foot.

Okay, so it wasn't a free pass topunch a caterpillar int he face, but it was something.

((Shaheen roll gonna fill in))

Sap had been hearing rumors about this sidequest for some time, and decided to try it out. She was put off guard by the smoke, and managed to clamp down her terror. Smoke did not always mean fire... well, it did, but not always harmful fire. Sometimes, it was quite pleasant.

"Who am I...?" normally that would be an easy question, but the smoke was definitely not normal smoke. It smelled sweet, ike herbs and fruits and flowers, and it made her dizzy. "Um..." Well, if the answer wouldn't come, perhaps she could ask a question instead and see if she could get an answer from that...?

"Well, who are you?" She got a puff of smoke in return... then another... then another... until it was clouded in smoke. She Coughed, though she wondered how because as far as she knew she had no lungs, and suddenly, the smoke cleared and she was in... a place.

The room was white marble, covered with silver-leafed plants that crept along the floors and walls, fed by sunlight coming through glass. A silvery mist shimmered in the air. This was, she thought, a happy place for her, but she didn't know it. In fact, she had never been here at all. She touched the plants thoughtfully, stroking them. She became aware of an odd silence. In fact, there was no sound. She peered out the window to find that it was a tower city, empty, silver steam rising from the ground.
Not steam, she realized, something else. Something important.

Then she realized the ground was cracked and broken and shattered into a thousand pieces.

This place was a happy place for her. She looked back in the room. Full of friends? Family? Something... But it was dead. Was she dead? Was the she that lived here - definitely not her - dead?

She felt something approach and was filled with a strange dread. She ran for the door and made it, just in time, she thought. She didn't know what she ran from, only that she was out of there... And somewhere else.

She was in a classroom. It was not a familiar one, but she could tell it was Halloween based from the furniture and the students. All wore skull pins. She couldn't see their faces, but she could see that, in the classroom, there was one seat.

Her seat.

The Teacher, a reaper, motioned impatiently and she sat down. The class went by in a blur. She couldn't figure out what was going on in it, but she felt... right. This was her place. She belonged in this class.

Soon, the bell rang and people began filing out. Sap went with them. She looked back once, smiling, feeling good about making it - finally - into Amityville because that surely was where it was. Then she exited.

She was no longer there, but in a place very much not Halloween. Another Dream? she thought as she stepped out onto the disturbingly wood floor. There were many glass doors leading out into a fenced yard, the plants dull and dry with drought. The chill of winter lingered in the air.

There was a Skellyvision and some absurdly comfortable couches, as well as a few books. She couldn't see the exit, so, bored, she opened one of the books, and, to her surprise... it was her. A sketch. Well, it wasn't quite her. It was more... like what she one thought of herself to be.

A toilet flushed and she jumped as a door opened and a human - it had to be a human - walked out. They looked at each other for a moment, and the human grinned.

"Hiya Acerium!" she said, sitting at a desk where a Scaretop sat, glwoing, "I just finished writing you coming in." she picked up a cat - an ordinary cat as far as Sap could tell and put it on her lap, "You are here in your dream because I wanted you to be. Well, really, I just want you to exist." the human looked at the screen, thoughtfully. "I've wanted to for years."

"I.. I'm sorry? How do you know my name?" this was just too strange for Sap. This game was screwing with her mind.

"I created you. I'm a writer, you see." the human tapped at the keyboard for a moment, "I'm trying to get you party members but..." she sighed, "Well, I cant rely on other people anyway."

"I don't get it."

"Eh, you don't need to." The human looked outside, "All you gotta know is that you exist. you really do."

"I already knew that?" said Sap. This was too wierd. "Hey, you want a riddle?" as if that would make this slightly less bizzare.

"Nah. I'd be inventing it, so I'd know the answer..."

"Uh..." Sap really didn't get this at all. The human looked at one of the windows, and Sap could see an older human walking around outside int he sun.

"You should get going." she said, "Before My mom sees you." the human held out a hand, "Well, it was nice meeting you in the... bark, even if its just your dream avatar. The exit is that way..." she pointed to a sliding door as the cat jumped from her lap and meadered towards it. Sap shook the hand warily and hustled to the Exit, wanting to be out of this strange place. "And uh..." the human said, "Don't be scared in the next room. You're not alone. You're never alone. All right?" she waved before turning back to her scaretop. Sap made her escape.

This room was refreshingly simple. No classrooms, no strange humans, no disturbing silences. Just... a room with a mirror. No exit, though. Sap looked in the mirror before jumping back as she walked out. Another her. The REAL her, who looked just like her, acted just like her.

"Hello me!" she chirped, "Lets have a riddle fight. Because the BETTER me wouldn't be stupid."

"I'm not stupid! Why does everybody think I'm stupid?!"

"Well, lets see." smirked the other sap. "We each tell three riddles and if you can answer 2/3, you win. Unless, you know, I guess all three."

"Me first." said Sap. "Right. What is silent but screaming, deadly but never kills, and dark but not visible even in the light."

The 'real' her thought. Sap didn't like how all her mannerisms were the same, down to the way she tapped her chin. "Isssss. it... Ooo, its Despair... no, its Dread!"

"yeah..."

"Awww, don't be too upset, you still have a chance." said the real her, laughing, "Right right! What living thing grows strong and tall, is not a tree, and is firmly rooted but has no roots?"

"Bamboo. It has a Rhizome. Thats not a riddle."

"Stop complaining! I gave you that one. So, we're 1-1."

"Fine. What, when shaken, turns and lands flat on the ground, gives up its eyes, and is always face up?"

"Uhhh.. No idea."

"Dice. It needs some work."

"Oh, eyes. Like... snake eyes. Yeah, work on that one. Its pretty good.... Hmm... ok. My turn.

What eats but does not live, laughs but has no voice, and harms but has no malice?"

"Fire." said Sap, smiling triumphantly, "Thats 2-1. I win."

"No! no you d..." the other Sap began to dissolve. "No! Nonoo! I'm real! I AM REAL!!!" and then she was gone, leaving a cake in her wake.

Sap clapped her hands together and ate the cake, savoring her victory as she returned to her REAL size.

Her quest log dinged.

Well. That was a strange quest.

[Entrance]

Damn caterpillar looked huge and disgusting. And it was demanding. KnottedLips knew who she was, but the question was utterly unfair. In her dreams, who was she, exactly? Was she her dream self? Was she her real self projecting into a dream self? Was she a fake self her real self made up when she fell asleep?

"Find OUT!"

KnottedLips didn't have time to question herself any further as she went through the door, finding herself in a new room.

She knew this place. It was her old school, the all-ghouls' school in Halloweentown. This was where she went before she was finally accepted into Amityville Academy. There, everyone knew her name. She immediately felt like she was at home again, the popularity she had always dreamed of but now felt unattainable rushing into her veins.

Ghouls were running up to her.

"Sera!" "Sera!" "How have you been!" "Oh Sera, we've missed you so badly!" "Sera, stay with us!"

Knotted wanted to stay with them, so badly, to go back to where she had been in her all-ghouls school. But no, she couldn't. She needed to move on, as hard as it was. She wanted to stay in their embrace, but she pushed away, heading into another room.

This was her dorm room at Amityville. Home. This was where she wanted to be, not in this strange, bizarre dream world. She wanted to be back there, where trees didn't talk and caterpillars weren't extremely large and disgusting.

But -- oh, was that the newest issue of Creepolitian on the desk? She wanted to read that issue so badly! Knotted walked towards the desk, tempted to reach out and grab and start reading--

No, no, no!

Knotted managed to get herself to the next room, where she saw a desk. A desk? The desk felt like it belonged to her, important. Perhaps she should sit down? She did.

When she sat, an interviewer rushed into the room, holding out a microphone. "Ms. Serafina Arai, how does it feel to be the youngest on the council?"

Council?

She was on the council?

Knotted's heart swelled at the importance, and she opened her mouth to speak, before realizing this, too, was wrong. Instead of answering, she closed her eyes, pushed past the interviewer, and left.

The next room only contained a mirror. For a moment, she saw herself, and her untorn lips, and smiled, holding a hand up to them. That was before she saw the one who stepped out--her real self. The one with Damaged Lips.

She knew she was better.

"I challenge you." murmured Knotted, shaking her head. "You can't win. You are nothing that you want to be, and I am everything you dream to be."

The real self fell silent.

"It's true," she murmured, hurt.

It was all it took for the dream self to conquer her.

The one with true lips smiled as she looked down at the cake. The cake looked delicious, and she was exactly who she should be.

Removing the card from her shoe, she took her exit/

[Exit]