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ENTERING

After having a long rest in a lighter part of the woods, [BatGirl] picked herself back up and continued wandering down the path, putting as much distance between herself and the Jabberwocky as she could. Although now she was taking some time, now that she was not being pursued. It was a nice walk down the path before she came upon a piece of cakes just sitting there. It was just begging to be eaten, and after the exhaustion of having spent the afternoon running from the beast, she'd earned it. Yes. A piece of cake sounded just nice.

Her mind made, up, she picked up the piece of cake and ate it happily. But just a few bites in, the world seemed to shift around her. Everything was shooting upwards, or was she shooting downwards?!? Finally she came to a stop, now dwarfed by the blades of grass that towered around her. Smoke drifted towards her and she wondered what the source was. She follows the trail towards the source, only to find the caterpillar, quite large, perching upon the mushroom, also quite large. A puff of smoke fills her face as she tried to make her way closer to the mushroom. Maybe this caterpillar would have some answers as to what this place was!

Instead, it just stared at her, blowing smoke in her face before finally asking "Who are you?

She just stands there, stumped by this sudden question. No hello, no how are you today, are you quite alright? Who are you? What kind of question was that? The caterpillar just sighs out heavy breaths of smoke before telling her "Find out. [BatGirl] coughed a bit and waved her hand, trying to cut through the fragrant smoke to ask him what exactly he meant. When the smoke did clear, he was gone though, and she found herself alone in a room. How strange.

The room seemed empty, only a glowing exit sign across it. But as she took her first few steps, the air shifted, taking form around her. It was familiar. It was comfortable. It was her very own lab. But it was not as she remembered it last she was in it. No, everything was so...new. This was her lab as it had been when her parents first presented it to her. Once more, she was filled with a child-like wonder at all the possibilities now at her disposal! Her hands ran over the instruments, feeling their cool smoothness under her long fingers. A grin spread across her lips. Perhaps she could--no! No! The glowing exit sign came back into focus, and she traversed the lab carefully, her eyes drifting to some of her favorite instruments with longing. How she did long to be at home in her own lab. Maybe this dream would be over soon. Maybe.

She pushed her way through the door, only to find herself in another room. This time, her best friend sat in a chair, lounging back as he often had before. They were in his room. His bright green eyes sparkled with mischief. "Ben-nee, where have you been? You don't look at all like yourself!" Had her heart beat, it would have stopped. "Me? Where have you been?!?!" She ran forward towards him, ready to flop down at his feet and talk about where he'd been. Then she met his eyes, really met them. The sparkle she'd thought she'd seen, that was so like him, fell flat. "Where have you--where have you been?" She called again, as though it would bring back the sparkle. But he was growing pale, his smirk gone. She stopped herself, stepping backwards. "I can say Ben, you gotta find me though." She choked a bit, and ran past him, spotting another exit sign. She couldn't stand to see this pale version of him anymore. Seems he was everywhere today. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him smile at her one more time. "You can do it Benny. You can find me." She pushed forward again.

This time the room truly was empty. Except for a portal. She knew, without having seen it before, that it would take her to the human world. Lex's words echoed in her ear. She could find him. There was hope, where she had had none. He could still be there, trapped. She could find him and bring him home. Cautiously, she tiptoed toward the edge of the portal. Yes. Yes. She had to. He'd be so proud. Just as she was ready to jump, she froze. What if she was't ready? She hadn't even been to Amityville yet! Maybe he was still out there. If he had lasted this long, he could wait until she was strong enough to go. It was with a heavy heart that she skirted the edge of the portal before placing her hand on the next door and pushing it open, slipping inside without looking back this time.

The Cheshire [BatGirl] stood before a large, ornate mirror. She looked for a moment, not realizing that her reflection was the normal her, the real her, lacking ears, a tail and the scarf. It wasn't until she stepped out of the mirror towards her dream self that she realized. "Oh my." She said, sizing herself up. The two sat together, asking questions. Question after question, trying to prove some sort of superiority. It wasn't until the real her began to falter, repeating herself as she often did while the dream her felt stronger, confident in her words, that the real her began to dissipate, leaving behind a piece of cake in her stead.

"Let's hope this works..." she whispered, taking a bite of the cake and shooting upwards. In moments she was a proper her again, feeling much more ready to face whatever else existed in this place now that she had faced herself.

In her haste, Kousagi ran straight into a mirror.
This was a new room, with grey walls and floors and ceilings and only one mirror in the middle. This mirror, however, held a girl the same height as Kousagi who looked very similar only lacked mouse ears and a white coat and a purple haze that looked like a woman who wrapped itself around her shoulders.
"Wow! You look so cute with mouse ears! Always pegged myself as a rabbit, but eh. Its still cute."
Kousagi backed up from the mirror, but the girl within mimicked her actions and walked out of the mirror.
"My name is... It means little rabbit?"
"Well that's good."

The two girls stared at each other, Kousagi's tail curling around the hand that held it, while the purple haze shifted around her mirror's head in an agitated manner.
"You know we have to fight now, right?"
"Yeah but I don't want to... Not against myself."
They both stared for a long moment before, at the exact same time, they pointed a very dramatic finger at the other.
"The medic class is the best class!"
"The medic class alongside a sentinel always wins!"

Surprised to find this happening, Kousagi burst into a puff of smoke that swirled around before it wooshed forward to the girl in the white coat. She smiled and held a small piece of cake. She looks triumphant, and confident in herself, and sighs with relief. Her eyes close and when she opens them, Kousagi is back where she started, no tall grass or caterpillar in sight.
Did she win? Or... Did she know what had to be done to win?

Although Rainmaker knew, with the kind of instinct that wasn't innate, but learned through experience, that eating the cake that sat so temptingly on the table before her was probably a bad idea, she had been walking around for what seemed like an awfully long time, and she was hungry. She could turn her back on it, leave now and hope she ran into something a little more edible and a little less overtly suspicious, or she could take a chance--and a bite. Maybe a little one, she compromised with herself.

Turned out a little one was all it took for the world to start growing around her. She stayed very still, momentarily overwhelmed by a wave of vertigo as she shrunk. Her eyes closed until the dizziness passed, and when she cautiously opened them again, she found that the forest of trees she had been wandering through had been replaced by a jungle of grass. She smelled smoke, though, rather than the grass around her or the flowers overhead, and she began to see it as she pushed her way forward. It grew thicker as she followed it to its source: a lurid, ungainly caterpillar curled over and around a massive mushroom, smoking a hookah.

Before Rainmaker could get a word out, it drawled, "Who are you?" She opened her mouth to answer, but the caterpillar blew smoke in her face, causing her to start coughing instead. "Find out," it ordered.

Rainmaker waved the noxious smoke away with her hands and her wings, and frowned when she discovered that she was no longer in the grass with the caterpillar. She was certainly more than familiar with her new surroundings, though, having spent a significant amount of time here: the Amityville library. She wandered through the stacks, running her fingers lightly over the spines of the books she passed, and paused as one caught her eye. A Treatise on the Humans: How to Determine Prime Specimens for Scaring.

Ooooh, she hadn't read this one! She started to pull it off of the shelf, but hesitated. This wasn't real, she remembered. She wasn't here for this, and she had found herself spending less and less time in the library of late, and more time outside of it--learning by doing. She wavered before putting it back: she would learn how to scare humans using methods that worked best for her, and not with some generic step-by-step instructions pulled out of a book.

Another step transported her from the thinly-carpeted halls of the library to much more opulent surroundings. Sleek marble and metal glittered and gleamed, all reflecting hints of bright blue. Everything dripped with overdone opulence as she made her way into the casino, which seemed suspiciously empty. Her feet led her to the place that she--no, not she, someone else entirely, dressed in her skin--was most familiar with: the bar.

The bartender was there, of course, because he had been just as much of a construct as the entire rest of this world had been. The glass he had been polishing dropped from his fingers and shattered on the floor as he caught sight of her. "G-g-get you something, Ma'am?" The barkeep stuttered, apparently remembering just as much and as well as she did.

Rainmaker couldn't help it: she laughed. "I'll pass, but thank you," she replied with a genuine smile, no hint of the mockery or deceit someone-else-not-her had offered the last time she had seen the bartender.

She was all to happy to move on, and this time she found herself somewhere entirely new and different. It was a room--a living room, perhaps, or a bedroom--with high, vaulted ceilings, wooden beams exposed. There was a couch, a table, a bed, all in one massive room, all comfortably worn and lived in. At the back of the room was a wall of windows, letting in the weak light of the pumpkin sun but showing nothing outside of them. There were personal effects and trinkets scattered liberally over every surface and hung up on the walls: pictures of places she had never been, souvenirs from places she had never even heard of.

One picture in particular caught her eye: it was obviously her, though she was noticeably older--no taller, of course, that figured--laughing and surrounded by friends. It looked like it might have been taken at a party. Rainmaker wasn't really much for parties--or was she? How would she know, if she was always shutting herself in the library or dwelling in the past?

Who was she, indeed?

Another step brought her into a plain room that only held a single mirror, a flashing neon exit sign beyond it beckoning her forward. She walked towards it, but found her way blocked by a single mirror. She peered at it curiously and was surprised when her own reflection walked out of it. It wasn't quite her, though, not really: rather, it was the version of herself she saw in the mirror every day instead of the one who had accidentally wandered into this world.

Rainmaker's doppelganger stood before her, her thin arms crossed over her narrow chest, her wings flared in warning. Her eyes narrowed at Rainmaker in clear rebuke, and Rainmaker's eyes reflected curiosity back at her. Rainmaker took in the figure before her with a sort of forced dispassion. In front of her was herself: strong-willed, stubborn, endlessly curious, analytical and passionate by turns. She was marked by her experiences--a dark spiral on her chest, a delicate chain entrapping a forearm and held together by a blue lock, a caution in her eyes as she tried to suppress a part of herself that may or may not have even existed, but just in case--and she was stronger for them.

But there was a tenseness there, a sense of hypervigilance in the set of her shoulders, that indicated that she was just waiting for the next big, bad thing to happen and that it was only a matter of time before it did. She wasn't really living so much as enduring.

That wasn't right, Rainmaker thought with a frown. Yes, she had seen and done some terrible things, but they had shaped her, made her better--or worse. Every experience was a learning experience, even if it wasn't necessarily a good one. This was an experience, and it was up to her to make the decision whether she would endure it and survive, or allow herself to experience it and live.

A heavy weight seemed to lift itself from Rainmaker's shoulders, and her reflection's wings snapped open once before tucking themselves close to her body. She looked lighter, too, as though she had just been waiting for Rainmaker's decision and was pleased she made the right one. She smiled at Rainmaker as she disappeared in a swirl of smoke that coalesced into another small cake. Without a thought towards the possible consequences, Rainmaker picked it up and bit into it. It was delicious.

Smoke filled the whole world, but it didn't choke him. Amazingly. A voice told him to 'find out', to find out who he was. That was such a weird question. It boggled his mind. When the smoke cleared, a door appeared. For some reason he was compelled to approach and open it.

Boi awoke slowly, like molasses dripping from a jar slow. His eyes opened and then his mind awoke next. He was in some sort of room. It was cool here, and it smelled faintly of evergreen needles and crushed daisies. A tang of earth and dew brought about the rest of his consciousness. Sitting upright, he realized that he was in his room. Back home. Had that game ended? Game....

No, it was still happening. Looking at himself, he noticed that his garb was the same as it had been all those days ago. Or moments. Or hours. Or minutes. Time did not work in that place, did it? What was time? Before the questions could make any sense, he heard a sob. It was muffled, as if by a pillow. Standing slowly, he edged towards the sobs and saw a tiny version of himself. The self that didn't wear these odd clothes.

As a child he laid curled on the opposite side of his bed, both of his feathery brown wings covering his shaking, sobbing body. All Boi wanted to do at that moment as to sink to his knees and cradle this child version of himself. Yet he knew if he stopped now to comfort this child, this past, it wouldn't end. He hadn't found the resolution to this problem yet. He didn't know if there even was one to be found. It was the first time Vincente, Boi's father, had taken him out to a delivery. Boi had tried his hardest, but the winds were stronger and his father had moved too swiftly.

Overwhelmed he had fallen and hurt his wings. In the process he had also ruined both of the messages. Father had carried him home, saying nothing at all, but the silence was enough. Their whispers suddenly poured into the room where Boi stood above the child version of himself. Their malicious voices rose to a scream. Worthless. Terrible. Awful. A waste of time. A burden on us all. A terrible child. What an annoying Brother. I hate him. I wish he had never been born.

Gritting his teeth, Boi was able to barely turn away from the pain that weighed him down like lead. Each step away from the boy and towards the door was harder and harder. It felt as if he was sinking into the floor, and perhaps he was. The further from the voices the louder they became, until they rattled the whole room and his very bones ached with their words. At the end he could barely grab the door knob and push the door open. Yet he did, through sheer strength, and came into a new room

It was black, but in the center was a large mirror. Taking few moments to breath and regain his strength, Boi unsteadily climbed back to his feet. At first, he was confused by the mirror. Why just a mirror? Then, the reflection shifted. It was him, or.. Rather the him that he presented to everyone. That dependable, energetic, strong harpy who had it all together. Shadow!Boi smiled viciously at his other self. "Good to see you, loser. I'm the only me in this world. Time to take you out."

Before he could respond, the other version lunged forward and punched him. Tasting blood, Boi stumbled backwards and threw his arms up to stop the flurry of punches and kicks. This version of him was so strong and powerful. So much smarter, too. Everything that Boi wished he could BE, but simply coul --

Another punch sent him flying into a wall. Lying on the floor, he coughed and tried to push himself up. No. He could be all that. He'd beaten the Cheshire, made friends, and even taken out monsters with them. He had been depended upon and had depended on others. Even though his past was unresolved, he was learning that it was okay to just be himself without having to be the things his parents, family, and others wanted of him. No matter what, BoiisonFIYAH would be himself.

With new found energy and strength, Boi stood up and attacked back. It was an even battle for most of it, but Boi kept at it and eventually the shadow was defeated. It laid on the floor, smiling faintly with unseeing eyes at Boi.

"They'll never love you. You'll alway be the failure."

Boi responded immediately, "Maybe, but I love me. That's all that matters." Shadow!Boi turned to smoke and whispered away, as did the rest of the room. Suddenly he was back in wonderland. Taking a shaky breath, he decided to not tell anyone about the adventure. There was something in his pocket. A card? Ah... And he felt stronger.

OOC

My character's username: BoiisonFIYAH
My character's level: 12
Character's HP: 30
Current party:
Current Guild:
Location:
Small IC description of character:
A tall, thin guy with orange-blonde hair in a pony, two large brown wings, in the red and orange Rabbit outfit with gray fluff.

Character journal: here

As Pumcat looked around her eyes finally drifted back to the sign "Mm..." she mumbles while still frowning she was unsure if she wanted to leave but knew that she needed to so after one last glance at the room and window she walks to the door, opens it, and goes through

Where she found herself next was curious indeed! She was outside! Back in the Tulgey woods! But while it had no walls she somehow knew she was in another room "Whoa..." she says in awe and somehow where she was seemed familiar all except for that strange walless door with a neon sign over it saying exit at the end of a long path "Very curious..." she mutters looking to and fro almost like she was seeing the forest for the first time as she walked down the path she heard the voices of the tree's she had met then stopped in surprise when she saw that ever familiar toothy smile she blinks in confusion but when no reply came from the curious striped cat she presses on soon to her left a tree with a door loomed then dissapeared and finally right before she reach the door to her right was a lake one with whispering voices which called to her and bayed her to reach into it's waters to relive more memories

Tempting as it was she shakes her head and puts a hand on the door knob it was then that something occured to her "Everything on this path and in this room is from what iv experienced so far in my Wonderland adventure... The Wayfinders quest the Cheshire Cats riddles, that mysterious door, and the lake of memories..." she says in a awed voice before looking back at the door infront of her a sense of excitement fills her as her curiosity tugs her on nodding she turns the handle and walks through the door

The next room surprised her the most not because it was a thing from her past but something she hoped for in future "Whoa....." she says as she walks into a large apartment like room as she closes the door a flashing suddenly starts up and she looks behind her to see the Neon Sign over the very door she had just come through "Oh... heres the exit... but..." she couldn't hold back her curiosity and finally left the door to explore the room the main room was huge and both the bathroom and the kitchen were well sized as well somehow as she looked around she knew this was her room eventually she made her way to the large windows behind a nice desk what she saw outside made her gasp "Oh my! Im at Amityville!" she cries in surprise and joy before turning around to look at the room with fresh eyes now more then ever the room felt like hers and it felt... right to be in this room however her eyes finally feel to the exit sign and she realized this COULD be her room but it wasn't hers yet

Finally she looks around the room once more before nodding resolutely and making her way to the exit she would be in this room one day for real and then it truely would be hers with resolution in her heart she turns the knob and enters the next room

Oooh, a cake! It didn't occur to AllUrLoots that it might belong to someone, sat as it was on a table in the middle of a forest--clearly, some thoughtful sort had left it out for weary travelers such as herself! She thought nothing of eating it, and was glad she had done so as the light cake practically melted on her tongue. Delicious. She closed her eyes to savor it, and found herself utterly transported when she opened them again. She could have sworn she hadn't been here a moment ago, and--was that smoke?

Sure enough, smoke drifted around her, curling around her myriad appendages in fragrant wisps. It wasn't the acrid smell of fire-born smoke, though; this was almost cloying in its sweetness. AllUrLoots followed her nose through the massive blades of grass until she reached a giant mushroom, upon which sat a giant caterpillar, sitting as regally as if it was perched upon a throne of gold rather than some common--though large--growth of glorified fungus.

The interesting-looking hookah on the ground near it seemed to be the source of the smell, and her fingers unconsciously reached for it, freezing in midair when the caterpillar said, "Who are you?"

"Well," she started to reply, "I am AllUrLoots, and I--"

She was abruptly cut off as the caterpillar rudely blew smoke in her face. It completely obscured her vision, and his command of, "Find yourself," was lost as she tried to clear it.

When she could finally see again, it was only to find herself reflected through and endless hall of mirrors. A flashing sign indicating the exit led her out, but AllUrLoots didn't mind sticking around to look at herself for a little while, fascinated by all of the wings and tails and other such interesting things she had grown upon arriving in this strange land.

She took a step and it all disappeared, leaving her standing in the middle of her dorm room. Her bed was just as unmade as she had left it before embarking on this new adventure, her many glittering possessions contrasting with the soft, comfortable bedding. It looked warm and inviting, and she was suddenly overtaken by the urge to curl up in it and sleep a while. She was on a grand adventure, though, and there was no time for a nap! She started to walk towards the door, but turned back long enough to right the pillows and blankets. It was far from neat by any standards, but it was more of an effort than she usually put forth.

Her bedroom door opened into a dressing room that contained only a small bench, a mirror, and the prettiest dress she could ever recall seeing. She cooed excitedly over it, running her fingers over the ruffles and folds, before taking it off of the hangar. She caught a glimpse of herself holding it in the corner of her eye as she went to remove her hat, and then took another, more critical look at herself. There was no way she would be able to get the dress on over all of her new appendages. It would get tangled in her wings or rip on her spines, and then it would be ruined! With a sigh, she put the dress back on the hangar. This mixture of sadness and disappointment and longing--was this what regret felt like?

The door to the dressing room opened into a one of the parlors of AllUrLoots's family estate, though some of the accoutrements were a little outdated. Her parents were, for whatever reason, kneeling on the floor. They looked so much younger, though, and that chubby, nubby little scareling over there, was that her?

She watching as the vision of her past self wobbled unsteadily over the grass, arms flailing as she tripped into her father's waiting arms. Her younger self giggled as her parents cheered over her minor accomplishment of walking. She burbled happily, reaching for one of her father's long ears, towards a decorative cuff that dangled from it. Her father obligingly tipped his ear forward so she could reach it, and she clumsily pulled it off, prompting another round of cheers.

"Such a natural, our little filly is," her mother cooed, stroking her fine, auburn curls. She laughed as the scareling reached for one of the glittering rings on her hand.

"No, no, darling," her father chided gently. "You have your share; leave some for others."

"Oh, my scareling, what does your father know? We're ghouls of a certain persuasion, and it is in our very nature to want a little more than our share." Then, suddenly, her mother turned towards the low couch AllUrLoots was half-hidden behind and gave her a thorough and critical once over. "It seems as though you've taken all of the shares you could possibly get your hands on, my dear," she told AllUrLoots with a critically raised eyebrow. "Such a shame," she sighed, shaking her head, "you were such a pretty ghoul."

AllUrLoots frowned at the younger version of her mother. A glance at the expressions of bemusement and shock on the faces of her father and her younger self, respectively, were indication enough that they agreed. "Oh, all right," AllUrLoots huffed. "Perhaps I overdid it. A little bit." She rolled her eyes as a second raised eyebrow joined the first. "Perhaps I overdid it a little more than just enough," she amended.

"Well," said her mother, "how do you intend to fix it?"

AllUrLoots paused for a moment, unsure, before replying, "By finding myself."

With that, she turned and walked through the parlor door, surprised to find herself significantly closer to the exit, only a single mirror standing between her and freedom. To her surprise, she--that was, herself, with only one set of horns and perfectly normal rabbit ears and hooves and nothing else--stepped out of it.

"Oh, my," Sorcha said, taking in all of the things coming out of AllUrLoots. "Well. Yes. I see."

"You wanted this just as much as I did," AllUrLoots reminded herself.

"In theory, having half a dozen tails sounds wildly entertaining, but those spikes do seem awfully inconvenient."

"They are," AllUrLoots bemoaned.

"And we don't really need extra horns, do we? Isn't one pair difficult enough with that hat?"

"It is!"

"The wings are adorable, though. It's a shame we don't have any bird in our lineage, if only so we have an excuse to keep them."

"We are quite afraid of heights, though."

"Yes, quite. If only we knew then what we know now!"

"Well, hopefully we won't be stuck like this forever."

"I can think of one way to fix this."

"Oh? How?"

With that, AllUrLoots reached forward and unclasped the pendant necklace from around her counterpart's neck, fumbling with the claws as she clasped it around her own.

"Oh?" Sorcha asked, and then clapped excitedly as she started to turn into smoke. "Oh! Good call, me. Very well done." Her self-praise trailed off as she coalesced into a small, pretty little cake. AllUrLoots paused before picking it up and eating it, figuring that it was okay. This was her cake, after all--literally, this cake was made from her. It was just as delicious as the first piece had been, and by the time she finished swallowing it, her extra parts had disappeared, leaving her with one set of horns, one pair of rabbit ears, and one set of hooves. In other words, normal--for her.

"Well done, indeed," AllUrLoots murmured, plucking up a card that had gotten itself stuck to her hoof before making good use of the exit.

[Entering]

WhiteCat had left the lake a while ago, following the path, only to find... A table? Well this was different... He frowned, noting the cake. Cake was... Okay. As he leaned in and examined it, he noted that it was far daintier than he'd otherwise normally like his cake, but... As his stomach growled, he gave in and ate it.

And promptly regretted the action, as the world grew around him. When things finally stopped moving, he looked around, noting the talking flowers... And the smoke. WhiteCat turned around again and found... A caterpillar? And with a very existential question... "Well I'm M-- Er, WhiteCat." The answer was clearly not to the caterpillar's liking, though, as he was soon enveloped in smoke with a declaration of "Find OUT!"

Room 1

He waved his hand in his face, eyes squeezed shut and coughing, before the smoke finally cleared. He looked around, a frown on his face as he noted that the room he was in was the nursery he'd spent the first ten years of his life in. There was his bed, Abby's bed, and Anya's bed. Clearly... He was in the past, and he dreaded it being like the lake again. But this room wasn't like the memories in the lake, because he found he could directly manipulate everything around him. He tried to open a window. Okay, not everything...

There was a popping sound behind him, causing WhiteCat to turn around and stare... At a door? Well, clearly he needed to go through the door.. He started to walk toward it, only to feel something tugging on his leg. He looked down to find a clown doll staring up at him with red eyes and a wide sharp-toothed grin in a painted face. WhiteCat glared at it, kicking it off, before starting to walk again. And then he was grabbed again... He looked down and saw, this time, a toy witch. She let out a cackle as he kicked it off. Clearly this was NOT going to be easy... Letting out a frustrated growl, WhiteCat started to outright RUN to the door, finally slamming into it... And several toys fell off. He stuck his tongue out at them, before opening and going through the door.

Room 2

After he closed the door, WhiteCat turned around and found himself in... His bedroom? When did he...? Had he woken up? WhiteCat frowned, noting the door, and began to walk toward it. As he passed his bed, with a poster of the Pumpkin King over it, the poster suddenly called, "Hey! You! WhiteCat!"

He stopped, blinking, and turned to the poster. "Me...?"

"Yeah, you! Come here!" Poster-Jack motioned with his poster hand, beckoning the boy closer.

Blue eyes narrowed for a moment, skeptical, before WhiteCat walked over. "Yeah?"

The poster grinned, then motioned him closer. "Why not take a nap? You look kind of TIRED... It's BEEN a rather eventful day and all..."

WhiteCat considered, eyeing his bed. It DID look comfortable... He reached for the blanket, before pausing. "I shouldn't... I have to go find out who I am."

Poster-Jack waved his hand, frowning. "I can tell you EXACTLY who you are! You're WhiteCat!"

WhiteCat was thoughtful, then shook his head. "No, I don't think that's what the caterpillar meant." He thumbed at the door. "I'm gonna go now. See you later, Poster-Jack."

As he started to walk away, he heard a ripping sound and turned around to find that Poster-Jack was climbing OUT of the poster. He no longer looked like the Pumpkin King, but a negative version with glowing eyes of ice. "You're not going ANYWHERE!"

"Watch me!" Grabbing a book off a shelf, WhiteCat threw it at the creature from the poster, before hurrying to the door. As he grabbed the knob and turned it, beginning to open it, he suddenly felt bony fingers grab his shoulders and yank him back, causing his hat to fall off. "AAH!"

"You're staying HERE, WhiteCat! Ah-HAHAHAHAHA!"

Panic began to rise up in him as WhiteCat hit the black skeleton until it let go, before running through the door, only leaning back in to grab his hat. He slammed the door and turned around...

Room 3

And found an unusual room. The floor was wall-to-wall grass, with only a stone path leading to an ornate chess table. The walls looked like they were made of many trees, mainly birch, growing close together, and the ceiling looked like a forest cannopy, with a hole in the center that light filtered through. WhiteCat stared at it for a moment, then looked past the chess table, spying a door. As the path led from where he stood to the chess table, around it, and to the other door, he surmised that that was where he needed to go. "This is the easiest room ever..."

He put his hat back on, walking along the path and around the table. As he reached the door, a voice called out, "Fancey a game of chess?"

WhiteCat turned around, blinking... And stared at his grandfather, sitting on the other side of the table. "Um... I'm not sure I have.. TIME to play..."

"Always time for a game with your grandfather!" The old sphinx motioned to the seat across from him, a smile on his face that forced his eyes closed. The boy watched him, before stepping closer.

"I suppose... ONE game can't hurt..." As he approached, he noted the pieces - The pawns were little skulls, the rooks thorny roses. The knights had spiked manes, while the bishops had horns off their caps. Likewise, the king and queen had horns, but wings as well, and tails curling around them. WhiteCat stared at the pieces, and began to take a seat. As he looked up, he got a good look at his grandfather's face...

And noted that his sockets were blank. The boy got right back up, frowning. "This is a trick of the smoke..."

The old sphinx chuckled, waving his hand. "Indeed it is... Go on, I won't stop you. You have yourself to face now."

WhiteCat nodded, then went to the door. He paused at the knob, looking back. His grandfather was gone. He sighed, then turned and opened the door, going through it.

The Mirror Room

When he closed the door, WhiteCat found himself in a room... Or he was SURE It was a room. It was hard to tell, as everything was black. The only forms of light came from the door, and a mirror on the other side of the space he was sure was a room. He stared at it, before approaching it.

And then another WhiteCat stepped out. This one was... Different from himself. At least, in the sense of the game, he was different. In fact, the other avatar was very much a Sphinx, the real-world WhiteCat, fur and all. WhiteCat walked toward it, and it walked toward him, and the two circled. Finally, the other WhiteCat lifted a paw, flexing out his claws.

The human-like avatar flexed back, and the two avatars fought. WhiteCat soon found that, as anything but a sphinx, an actual sphinx... He felt... Vulnerable. He had no wings to fly, no claws to climb or scratch. And he soon found... He faded. Or that him faded.

Standing over the cake, WhiteCat flexed his wings and tail just a bit. Who was he? He was a sphinx... He was the white Sphinx, the ghost in the shadows. He picked up the cake, smiling to himself. He wasn't hiding what he was now... Oh no. He popped the cake in his mouth, closing his eyes as he savored the taste, letting out a bit of a purr. When he opened his eyes, the world shrank around him, until it was the right size. As he started to walk away from the area, he realized... He had a card on his shoe. He plucked it off(While mentally cursing the shoes) and put it in his pocket for later use. He'd need this...

[Exit]

Solia knew who she was. What she was. Or she thought she did at least. She was sure until that point at which she questioned and wondered until she wondered herself into a mess and all she could think towards the end was what if and but how and followed it with no way.

Difficult questions made for a difficult answer that was in no ways an answer but more a riddle with no known answer. She would find out? Before she could ask, (or spin her own thoughts into another web of confusion) She was in a room.

It wasn't a good or bad room but it was a room none the less. Walking across the room to a door, (which looked a lot like the one from the church that had been her 'host' for her 'treatments') She was stopped by the old father. She was as he always had been. Yet he said nothing even going so far as to open the door for her.

She didn't like it.

At the second room she remembered how she'd left her toys. Neat, put away, so when she came back they would be ready for her.

Yet she really never went back.
She just trudged on to the next door, feeling the lure of staying behind. Of being home once more.

Another room this one the room of a man she knew little of. A room that smelled like him, that was inviting like him. Yet it was a trap. All love was. Yet she wanted to stay. Stay forever. Stay and wait for him. Surely, that wouldn't be so bad right?

Yet now looking at herself, her outfit she smiled. The one in white smiled back.

She stepped aside and vanished.

AoS was a bit better, if just for now.