Fantasy Moments in Time

[Roleplay Skittle]

-James' Haircut-
​

It was all fun and games until someone playfully told someone else they would eat them and that someone else liked the idea. Lydia's face turned beet red and her green eyes opened wide in shock to James' words. Why did she say that?! She began giggling, in between her giggles she squeaked unintelligible words of protest, or excuse, it was hard to determine what they were since they couldn't be understood. She didn't even know what she was saying as she rambled and covered her face in embarrassment. James told her to eat him! He told her to eat him and bared his neck and wrists to her. She didn't even know how to handle that at all and couldn't really do anything other than giggle like an idiot.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

James Haircut
- James Pendragon -​

James peeked open an eye at Lydia, then wiggled in place. "Lydia, Boyburger wants to be eaten." he curved, zigzagging his arms. "See? I am smoking hot bacon." he grabbed some leaves. "With crispy potato chips on the side."

Roleplay Skittle

Timeless Care
- Leh Johnny -​

"I haven't figured it out yet, but I thought of you singing and dancing and using your strength to make giant sleight of hands tricks. " said Johnny. "And maybe we could have a finale together." he blushed, scratching his nose.

Katsuya
The Story || Characters || OOC
​

 

[Katsuya]

-Timeless Care-
-Echo Muses-​

Echo smiled silly, her face turning redder and redder. "Heheh!" She stood up to tackle-hug her boyfriend while leaving kisses all over his face. "Yes-! I would love to-!"

Zer0

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

-James' Haircut-​

Lydia. Just. Couldn't. If her face got any redder, there would be steam coming out of her ears. She couldn't breathe and she didn't know what to do. The only thing she could think to do was run away.

Very clumsily, Lydia scurried. She seemed to be incapable of getting on her feet and just ended up half crawling as she tried to flee the scene, a scene of which she had created because she decided to say something too silly.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

James Haircut
- James Pendragon -​

A hand grabbed Lydia's ankle. "Where do you think you're going?" grinned James, he pounced.

Steam probably came out of Lydia's ears many times before she successfully escaped.

Roleplay Skittle

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

-James' Haircut-
​

The dark haired, red faced, tiny framed teen let out a surprised yelp as she felt the hand around her ankle and she cast a glance back over her shoulder at her captor, those green eyes wide and unblinking before it was all over for her.

When Lydia finally escaped and fled, she had a severe case of the giggles that seemed incurable and when she wasn't giggling, she was hiding her face and wiggling like she had ants crawling on her, both fits were occasionally interrupted by seeming periods of reflection, during which Lydia only held her arms and gently bit her lower lip before the whole spastic affair would start over again.

Zer0

 

[Panzer]

-Tea Time-
Cromwell Manor Ruins.
​

The gentle scent of tea and the soft sounds of fabric echoes through the large room. A table sat above one of the catwalks in the room, just next to the giant stairway. It was a small round table with a soft flower fabric that covered the table-top. A small make-shift tea pot sat in the middle of the table, surrounded by four name cards and teacups. the teacups were chipped on the edge of the glass, and seemed to be scratched and battered.

Stuart was sitting quietly on one of the chairs, looking down into his cup of tea with a smile. He set it down and looked to the two objects that sat on the chairs beside him and cleared his throat to speak.
"So, how was everyone's day."
as expected, He got no reply. He looked to them with a smile and simply pretended that they had spoken.
"Yeah, same as my day...Its been boring lately."
His soft voice carried gently through the air. It was then followed by a long period of silence.

Stuart picked his cup back into his hands and crossed his other arm over the other, hugging his arm close to himself as the awkwardness had begun to get worse.
He then took another sip of tea, watching the light from the doorway window. The silence had retaken the room once again, leaving only the smell of cold tea and sugar to mask the wooden and charred air.

 

[Zer0]

- Tea Time -
City of Chingpo​

Johnny was pushing a reluctant James forward into a boat, while Butters was pushing a reluctant Frey. The warship fleet had docked in the City of Chingpo to refuel and stock up on manna stones and coal for only two days.

James was looking forward to spending the time visiting museums, and reading in a café, but Johnny wanted to go exploring everywhere, tasting all the weird food, and visiting the underwater graveyard and all the haunted houses and creepy spots in the city, all mostly submerged in water which was why he needed James and Callie.

"Or else I have to spend more than eight hundred gold, mate, which I don't have!" said Johnny.

James sighed. "Alright, but we have to buy rolls of cloths first --- you're paying."

"Yes, yes, I'll pay." said Johnny cheerfully. "Echo, Chenglei, Serena, Lydia, Renee we're going to a haunted house, want to come?!"

The City of Chingpo was literally under and inside a colossal waterfalls. It had flooded streets where people went around on boats or flying fish mounts, and the markets were floating cramped conglomeration of all sorts of little boats where hawkers and merchants showed off their wares. There were fishes in the streams and smaller waterfalls and slides everywhere, and most of its citizens seemed to be faunice --- folks who were half-animals, and the most common ones to be found were the cat and the hippo folk.

There were mere-men and mermaids too, and separate little tunnels for them to swim through. Everyone seemed to co-exist with the water. There was no dry place and the fashion around here either seemed to be clothing that dries quickly, or summery clothes one would wear at the beach.

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle Panzer

- Third Meeting -
" Land of the Orients, Shignashina Island "​

It was lucky that Lydia was leaving tomorrow, for there was still time for her to see the migrating whales as they pass over Shiganshina island. The flying castle had finally landed in the Land of the Orients where the family will be spending most of their summer.

It was festive in the island, and there were many locals and tourists anticipating the flying whales, even preparing giant food to tempt some to stay awhile so that people could get pictures.

Rumors were flying around about where one could find the best seats in town to enjoy the view, and there were many people on winged mounts soaring in the sky, checking out the horizon for the first signs of the travelling whales. Then they came.

Boy were they ginormous! The first pod that arrived was of a mother whale and her little ones. The twins, Markl, The Witch of the Waste, Mr. and Mrs. Pendragon, and their little daughter Rhea were all looking up in amazement from the flying castle. The door downstairs opened then banged closed, followed by rapid footsteps and a gallop and James burst into the balcony saying, "Are there still more whales?!"

Roleplay Skittle​

 

[Katsuya]

-Tea Time-
-City of Chinpo-​

"Sure! I love haunted houses!" Serena chirped excitedly, her azure blue eyes glittered at the idea of going into a creepy place. The atmosphere, the creaky floors, the possible cracked windows with shadows passing by? What's not to love? The violinist spun in place before running down to the boat, her strap summer pink dress flowed and billowed, revealing black shorts underneath. Her golden blonde hair pulled up in a high ponytail as her black sandals made a loud 'tap tap tap' sound with each excited step she took. Her violin, as usual, in her hands.

Chenglei thought for a moment as he needed to grab somethings fro the Prince, but he suppose it wouldn't be so bad to spend the day out for once. Even he needed a break if just a bit. So he flipped his wheat colored hair back flamboyantly and smiled his princely smile.

"Why! I'm honored that you'd invite me, my dear friend." That was a yes. The soldier walked down as well, winking at the cat girls who noticed his glittery aura and blushed red while waving back shyly. Some were purring. What girl wouldn't like a guy in uniform, right?

"Echo, come on! Ghosts are not scary." Renee said, pulling as hard as she can, her face turning pink. Tiny wings on her head flapping hard. The fawn shook her head, ears folded back as she hid behind the entrance.

"No! Ren, stop! I really don't want to go!"

"Why not? It'll be fun and besides Johnny will be there." It seems that Echo is really scared of ghosts or anything with the undead which is kind of funny in Renee's book. The red head can fight a Deathknight, but she wants to avoid ghosts like it was the plague.

"Come on! You can hold his hand if that will make you feel better."

Echo sighed, her ears wilted down at her friend who didn't even make her budge physically.

"Fine..." When she stopped hiding and easily released Renee's hands by waving a bit, the Pendragon sister almost fell down from not getting her balance right; her arms waving around until she stood up straight. Then she grinned happily.

"Good! Now let's go. Johnny! Wait up! We're coming with too!" Renee yelled as she came down to the boat, wearing a white loose cotton shirt with straps and it reached down to her thighs with a stretchy material at the end, securing itself around the area; revealing her freckled shoulders and bird skin covered arms. Dark orange shorts that reached down to her knees underneath with brown short boots on, revealing the same purple skin around her knees down. There's a thick black ribbon tied into a bow to hold her shoulder length white hair back, a long braid from the side flowing around a bit from the slight breeze.

Her pink gems placed over her gloved hands shined brightly from absorbing the sun as she petted Fray, smiling and trying to make him relax in the boat. Doing the same for her brother and poking his sides to tickle him.

Echo sighed again as her hooves clopped on the steps to the boat, black leather bangles around her fluffy red furry ankles and her thin wrists. Her usual white loose shirt billowed a bit like the green sash around her waist that acts like a cape of sort. Her dark brown caprice stayed in place since there's cuffs holding it down.

'Why?...Just why haunted houses?!' She really didn't like haunted houses. Ghosts freak her out because they are supposed to be dead and yet they come out of creepy dolls and make them move and-!

The fawn sighed again before snuggling against Johnny and gripping his hand. 'Please let there be no ghosts!' She prayed mentally.

-Third Meeting-
-Renee Pendragon-​

She was downstairs, preparing on the snacks for everyone to munch on while watching the flying whales pass by. That's when she heard someone's heavy footsteps stomping hard and that was her cue to go upstairs too.

Renee smiled wide as she took the tray filled with chips, different assortment of sandwiches, drinks, and chopped fruits with cream on the side, letting Calcifer know that she will be going up as well.

"See ya upstairs, Cal." She said as she slowly made her way up, making sure none of the food and drinks falls over.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Panzer]

-Tea Time-
Cromwell Manor Ruins.
Main Hall / Entrance.
​

Stuart decided to bide his time by observing the place. He didn't know why, as he has seen this place for Most of his entire life- and then after- and found it to be as familiar as his own body. yet , he couldn't help but marvel at the beautiful decor. The interior of the manor held wooden curves and smooth shapes that placed a sense of elegance to the room. Light shone through holes and windows like rays of sun that illuminated the dust that passed above. He could even see the streaks of ash that coated over the bright stone walls, turning them an eerie gray.

"No visitors today, Huh?" He asked the entrance doorway, boredom seeming to manifest in his voice. He seemed too underwhelmed by the eerie silence to acknowledge the his original activity.
He turned his body to face the door, leaning on the table and crossing his legs for comfort. It had been so long since he had stopped to admire his home.

A sudden crashing from the table made stuart jump from shock. The sound caught his attention almost immediately after it occured. Stuart turned himself back to the table, wearing a startled and shocked expression as if he were to shriek. Yet what lay before him seemed to override that feeling with its mere presence, and its curiosity overwhelming his fear.

A small brown squriel had jumped onto the table, curious of the small arrangement of items set on the light colored table. Stuart chuckled with glee, admiring the adorable little animal as it stepped around the table. It gave him a feeling of warmth inside his chest, similar to laughter and joy. However, another emotion seeked to expand within him as time passed...

Stuart found his hunger to be satisfied. Sadly, the little critter had become silent along with the rest of the house. He didnt pay much attention to the silence, or the blood that dripped down his face. Stuart sat back down on his chair, facing the view once more. The soft breeze seemed to take his attention from him, letting him relax and ease his thoughts. He held his teacup in his lap and quietly gazed at the passing of time.

Katsuya Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Tea Time -
City of Chingpo​

"I hope we see lots of ghosts!" said Johnny excitedly, hugging Echo and holding her hand. He noticed her reluctance to this, just like that one time they went to a creepy abandoned house in Dalaran and got cobwebs on their hair, but if Echo says she'll go then who was he to stop her from braving her fears? "We need to borrow a camera too and take photos!"

Thwack

An arrow had stuck itself to the side of the boat beside Renee, but the water street was so loud and busy full of people getting off the docks that the boatman, a hippo-man, did not notice. There was a roll of parchment tied to the arrow, that looked like one of the Oriental's arrows. If she opened it, it read:

'Renee, baby, please buy me nice clothes! Kenren won't let me go on a shopping spree, the fragglespock, so will you please, please go to a tailor and have him put my order first and tell him I'm willing to pay extra for it to be rushed and finished in two days, but also tell him that if a thread is out of place I will not pay him a single coin.

These are my measurements . . .'

Below that was a list of numbers in inches labeled accordingly, and underneath that was a long list of a bunch of clothes all in fashionisto lingo, and underneath that were more instructions to give to a shoe maker for some handsome leather boots.

Thwack

Another arrow, this time with a small pouch that had gold in it.

Thwack, thwack, thwack.

More arrows with more gold, and one that had a ring of the Rathmore family crest.

"Hey, what that's sound? --- Hey, who's shooting at me boat, eh?!" said the boatman angrily.

Thwack

Last arrow had, 'Thank you, baby! Kisses, kisses, hugs, hugs ~ '

Needless to say, the boatman told them to get off, pay for damages and find another boat. If Renee looked back to the direction of the warship, she'd see the small distant silhouette of her sweetheart waving at her cheerfully from the first deck of Kenren's master warship, holding his bow with two soldiers flanking him watchfully.

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle

 

[Katsuya]

-Tea Time-
-City of Chingpo-​

"Right...photos..."Echo mumbled, trying her best to smile and it came out as a grimace.

Renee had to blink in surprise when she heard a familiar noise from the side and looked down to find an arrow...with a note? Looking back to see that their boat man didn't notice it, she quickly grabbed the arrow and unrolled the scroll to read it. Then she sighed in amusement, trying her best to not laugh.

Fragglespock? Kenren fragglespock...That's a nickname...a really funny one.

Then four more arrows came by, with small patches of gold, a ring with his family crest on it, and another note that made her blush. Though she cringed a bit when the boatman told them to get off and she turned around to see Seifer waving at her....with two guards beside him.

Oh dear...

Renee coughed a bit and waved back, smiling wide though her blush turned red. She offered to everyone if they wanted her to fly them into the market instead as she does owe them for losing a boat ride.

"I'm really sorry for my silly boyfriend and his antics, guys." She's ready and willing if they honestly want to. Since she felt it was her fault somehow (by association), she payed the boatman with her own money for the damages.

As she listened for any other idea of how to pass through to the city, Renee tried putting on the ring but his finger size was too big for her thin ones; so she tucked it into the small pockets within, along with the bags of gold and the notes into her satchel so she wouldn't lose them.

"If there's a way to go shopping, I'm up for going to the market and find a camera there." Renee suggested, smiling.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Panzer]

-Tea Time-
​

Stuart found himself struggling to keep awake. His body seemed to be fighting against him. The warmth of his last meal eased his body and the day of boredom fried his mind. The ghoul knew he couldn't fall asleep so early- but the temptation was unbearable.

After a while of determined and stubborn laziness, Stuart finally dragged himself out of his chair. He arched his back and stretched his joints,with small pops occasionally popping from his bones. He then lightly dusted off his black shirt and straightened his collar.

The ghoul was now resembling a zombie.
He stepped groggily past the tea-party mess, his large weary eyes drooping without energy. He shambled towards the door and walked deeper into the manor...

Sooner-or later he finally found his room. It was a small and fairly compact room with a small wooden dresser that sat next to a small charred bed. He threw himself down onto the bed without hesitation, finally putting his weary bones to rest.

Zer0
Katsuya

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

-Tea Time-
​

Lydia had never been outside of Frankia until she had left for Kingsbury. She had never seen the sea, she had never traveled by airship, nor had she traveled with friends. All of these new experiences that she had claimed as her own were things that she wrote about and would one day tell her own children and grandchildren about and they had all touched her immensely. With Sasha riding on her shoulder, nestled next to her jaw as she seemed to like to do, Lydia placed one hand protectively and gently against the owl's wing as she carefully stepped onto the boat with the others.

Having spoken with some of the servants around the warship, Lydia took their advice and dressed accommodatingly for a city filled with water, a sleeveless top with a mandarin collar, capris, and strappy sandals on her feet. The whole concept of a city where one primarily got around by boat was unusual and she couldn't help but find the idea incredibly appealing because it wasn't typical of a city. Lydia's attention was drawn away from the city and back to Johnny when he spoke of the haunted house and she couldn't help but smile at the idea. Her date with James had been interrupted back at Dalaran and while they wouldn't be alone, it was like a second chance. Her cheeks flushed at the idea that something might startle her enough to grab hold of him and she began giggling bashfully at the idea, both at how absurd it was for her to be scared or at least admit to being scared, and at the idea that she was thinking about something so silly.

Gently nudging James she smiled up to him, "it could be fun!" her attention turned to Serena and she laughed slightly, "you could probably provide some good atmosphere with your music, Serena..." she looked thoughtful for a moment, "I wonder if your songs could summon forth spirits...?" that would be an interesting theory to test as far as she was concerned.

When Seifer's first arrow hit the boat after they had already begun to move, Lydia jumped slightly, first looking at the arrow, then Renee, then the direction that the arrow had come from, her lips pursing out slightly as her brow furrowed, then all of the other arrows started flying from that direction and hitting the boat one after another, causing the small witch to jump back slightly, "really?!" for all of the niceties Seifer had grown to start showing, he still had absolutely no manners, "He couldn't he have talked to you before you left instead of wrecking someone's property?" her arms crossed over her chest and she glared back in the direction that Seifer had shot from, catching his form waving at Renee and shaking her head as they were kicked from the boat, "you should use his money to pay for it and tell him that's what happens when you commit property damage."

Lydia laughed slightly, she didn't understand how someone so considerate of others could be with someone so considerate of only himself.

Zer0 Katsuya

 

[Zer0]

- Tea Time -
" Cromwell Manor, City of Chingpo "​

James held Lydia's hand as he perked up, smiling. So she was into spirits. "Then, shall we do a séance?" he asked everyone.

"Eh?" said Johnny, giving him a look as though he just suggested they go poke a sleeping ogre in the eye. "And actually try to talk to the dead who might be violent?"

"We dealt with a deathknight, what could be worse than that? They're probably weak spirits who need a Oujia board to talk, my protective charms are strong enough for that." added James boastfully, puffing his chest out.

"You alright with that, Echo?" said Johnny, squeezing her hand.

After their discussion, they were off to look for a camera. Johnny summoned Butters and together with Echo marveled at all the odd bits and tidbits he's never seen before: different breeds of hippocampus, creatures that were half-horse and half-fish, pulling the boats of nobles and common folk alike, fisher cat-folk in their watery backyards catching fish with the help of stork-like birds that dove into the water and speared fishes for them, and farms where plants were grown through hydroculture.

James placed his arm around Lydia and settled comfortably in his seat with her, pointing out things that piqued his interest: like a hat woven from reeds which he tried on, but was actually a lamp shade without its lamp, a bubble ring for kids --- which he bought --- that was enchanted to create huge bubbles that didn't pop as easily as ordinary bubbles when waved, and, to his surprise, water-proof fireworks made by the Cool Beans Guild.

"This is the twins' invention." he told Lydia, incredulously. "It's actually here. Renee, look."

"Only six gold a piece for your basic firestarter kit, but if you buy two, you get one free! On sale only for today!" grinned the selling hawker.

James bought a travel brochure that had a map of the city and talked about the things to find in this place and where to look for them. There were museums about the history of the city and how it was first an underwater village of mere-folk until the hippo people came down from the east where the rivers were shallow and began trading corn bread and clay pots for the mere-folk's strong fishing nets and rune stones that preserved wood underwater. "I'm totally checking this out tomorrow." he said.

Johnny tasted all sorts of weird food and invited Chenglei and James to taste them too: fish flavored ice cream, seaweed flavored ice cream ("Not bad" said James, ordering another scoop), escargot , crab cake, and live baby squid ("I-I don't want to kill it, it's just a baby." said Johnny looking at it all pitifully. He and Butters secretly kept all of them in his mouth and freed them in the water later). There were many other things and he, James, Butters, and Frey ended up going to the toilet to throw up because of food poisoning.

James bought a cook book about how to make sashimi and other basic oriental dishes, though it had a dash of mere-folk flair in a few of its recipes, like using ham instead of raw fish. When Johnny was able to borrow a camera, his face lit up. "Johnny, can I take pictures?"

"Not now. After the first haunted house. We only have three rolls of film and fifty shots each." said Johnny.

"Alright. Lydia, want to have pictures together later?" said James turning to her eagerly.

It took them two hours to get to the first haunted spot as they made many stops, but at mid-morning the group finally came upon the Cromwell Manor.

It was the creepiest haunting in Chingpo. Located in the outskirts of the city, it stood eerily on a lonely plot of land that had been burned down ages ago. Johnny was so very excited and held the borrowed camera eagerly. "Yosh! One group picture before we head in?!"

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Katsuya]

-Tea Time-
-Cromwell Manor, City of Chingpo-​

Renee laughed a bit at Lydia's suggestion, her wings fluttering awkwardly. "I could but then that would be stealing...and I don't steal." Unless it's for a prank when said item returns to their owner afterwards.

When James suggested to doing a Seance, Echo really wanted to say 'NO!' but she held her calm and gave Johnny a wary smile. "You guys can play it. I'll just sit in the corner...with Renee." Because she will make Renee sit next to her. The fawn does not care; she will make Renee sit next to her when they talk to a spirit.

"I want to play! It'll be interesting to talk with a spirit, don't you think?" Serena chirped.

Echo enjoyed going around the city to see the many different things and tasted the seaweed ice cream with coral sprinkles. She looked at her boyfriend weirdly when she noticed something moving around in his mouth as she kissed his cheek a couple of times only to smile warmly when he and Butters let the baby squids go in the water.

"Aw~! That's sweet, Johnny." She kissed his cheek again. Then she praised the large ram too for being as sweet.

Though she wished the boys didn't eat every types of food because even Chenglei, someone who has a strong stomach, threw up in the bathroom with James, Johnny, Fray, and Butters.

"Well that's a waste of food..." Renee bluntly commented as she waited with the other girls outside, licking the puffer fish ice cream that has sea salt crumbled over it. She came back from the clothing store as she did what her boyfriend would want first, showing the ring she gave him and his signature in case the store owner didn't believe her for the orders because it's really ridiculous but oh well. "I'll be back within two days~!" She told them as she left to look into the art and herb stores in the area.

So now she's carrying...nothing? Where did she put all her bags of art supplies, spell and medical books?

Unbeknownst to everyone in the group, Renee put her stuff in the coin purse, glad that she doesn't need to carry heavy things while visiting here. So all she's carrying is the ice cream cone in her hand and her satchel. When the guys came out of the bathroom, the Pendragon sister passed each one a tonic for their upset stomachs, shaking her head in their silliness.

Serena was playing music in the meanwhile, basking in the sun and wonderful water city. There was a familiar firework marshmallow bomb in her hair like it was a decoration.

When they finally reached their first haunted spot, Renee excitedly hopped in place and trying to move Echo in front of the haunted manor. Then fawn kept looking over her shoulder as if she's expecting some sort of demon to scare them already. "We're down for a picture!"

Chenglei nodded in agreement and stood behind Renee, making a 'V' sign behind her head with his two fingers sticking out; Now she's a bunny for the photo and he's smiling like loon. Serena giggled and stood next to Lydia with a large grin of her own, posing with her violin bow pointing up for some unknown reason. It made Echo laugh a bit when she saw Serena's epic pose for the photo.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Panzer]

-Tea Time-
The manor looked devastated from the fire.
The stone gate that surrounded it was not touched , but time and decay had set onto it like a plague. It's iron bar doors that once stood tall and lively now resided into dilapitation. One of them had fallen over while the other swung on it's hinges, giving off a high pitched whine of creaks and sqeaks.

The stone walls had fallen over, mainly spreading against the ground like regular rocks or debris. One of the walls looks like it had been broken through, leaving a large -human sized- cut through it.

The soil the adventurers stept on held the same eerieness of the house. It held a grey-ish and blackish tint , looking much like a scorched earth. Ash seemed to cling to their shoes and blacken it like the ground beneath them.

The grounds seemed to get worse the closer it got to the house, with stone quuckly replacing grass and spikes replacing the flowers. It looked perilous to even walk through it, as spikes of wood shot out of the ground like small trees.

The remaining structure moaned and creaked as wind poured through the abundant holes in the wood, creating a whistling sound that joined with the moans of the wooden structure. It created such a symphony of soft and uneasy noise that barely sounded much more than a whisper. It was almost calling out to them, whispering gentle requests to enter its sanctum.

Three small graves greeted them at the gate, hiding behind the broken door. They leaned onto eachother, giving them a look of a loving family that stood in this haunted place. The graves had something written on them...
​

Zer0 Katsuya

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

-Tea Time-
​

Smiling to James as he took her hand, glad to see that he seemed a bit less reluctant after her suggestion, she nodded in agreement with his suggestion and looked to the others enthusiastically. She giggled slightly to the exchange between Johnny and James, finding it amusing that Johnny was so keen on visiting the haunted houses but not much more and how James puffed out his chest was simultaneously silly and flustering at the same time. She gave his hand a little squeeze.

Lydia didn't feel like arguing why it wouldn't have been stealing if Renee used Seifer's money to pay for the damages, instead content to just lean against James as he put his arm around her and settled in once they were back on another boat. When he tried on the woven reed 'hat' Lydia couldn't help but giggle, her hand covering her mouth with her fingers splayed on either side of her nose when she snorted softly once they were informed it was a lamp shade. For herself she bought a paddle fan with a picturesque view of the Chingpo painted on it. She had brought Sasha in hopes that the little owl would find something that she liked as well and she picked a little round bell with a blue bow tied above it and a string that attached the whole to a small disk with a painting of koi fish jumping out of a pond, Sasha could easily hold the metal hoop tied at the top of the decorative item, but she seemed to be the most fascinated by the bell and the bow.

Lydia was just as fascinated by everything in this city as she had been by everything in Dalaran. As mundane as Frankia was, it was hard for her to believe that places like this actually existed and when she had read about them in her books, she had always assumed that they were all just fantasy, so actually being there, being able to explore them was like a dream. Her attention was drawn away from all the sights when James drew her attention to the twin's invention and she looked at it in surprise before looking back to James, "they're entrepreneurs?!" she hardly believed that they had the drive to commit to something like retail, she only ever knew them to pull pranks and cause mischief and mayhem, though she supposed after travelling with Seth, she had learned that he was at least reliable. She didn't know Sen much better after their time in Dalaran before the group was separated once again. She looked to the seller dubiously, she didn't know what she would do with fireworks outside of prank the twins, but they weren't there and it would hardly be honorable to use their own invention against them. Honorable pranking, she laughed and shook her head, "no thank you, sir."

Lydia nodded along with James when he was looking at the brochure and declared his intention to check it out, "if you'll let me, I'd like to go too..." she didn't want to invite herself along, but she was curious as well, it all sounded very interesting to her and she was also curious about the runes.

When it came to the taste testing of the various foods, Lydia was a bit more discriminating. She had escargot before and wasn't a fan, and everything else that Johnny picked sounded so unusual that she was very hesitant and in the end only tasted the seaweed flavored ice cream because James said it wasn't bad and she trusted his opinion. She was glad she hadn't been so adventurous in the end because she didn't end up sick in the bathroom like the others. She also agreed with Johnny about the baby octopi, that just seemed too cruel. It was a good thing that Renee was there and brought the tonics, otherwise she was afraid their excursion would be cut short since food poisoning was horrific and didn't go away that quickly.

When Johnny was able to borrow a camera and James suggested that they take pictures together later, Lydia smiled and nodded demurely, "I-I'd really like that..." and after they got to the Cromwell mansion and Johnny asked for a group picture, she nodded enthusiastically. When they all took their places, Lydia stood between Renee and Serena and in front of James, she was short so she wanted to make sure she was in the front. She couldn't remember the last time she had a picture taken with a group that wasn't family and the smile on her face was undoubtedly genuine.

Zer0 Katsuya Panzer

 

[Zer0]

- Tea Time -
" Cromwell Manor, City of Chingpo "​

Johnny set the camera on a burned stump, flipped it to take a shot after ten seconds, then hastily joined the others, hugging Echo and grinning with his cheek pressed against hers; James hugged Lydia's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, grinning brightly.

Flash

Purple smoke plumed out from the camera. "Two more!" said Johnny. "Different poses!"

"So, are we doing a whacky one or a proper --- " began James, but Johnny had already re-set the camera and James was so flustered he just ended up doing the same pose, though on the third one he summoned all his summons to join in, which Johnny did too and they both did some kind of whacky shenanigan where Meatballs was tilting his head panting, Butters was making a scary face --- who knew rams could look like that?, Frey was pretending his tail was a nose while James' glasses were on his rump, and Pond had her great giant arms open in welcome behind them --- she squeezed them all into one giant group hug later, feeling very happy.

Once they had steeled themselves for the exploration of Cromwell Manor (Pond poofed out once she learned they were actually going to go inside), they followed the path and goaded each other to go first and push open the creaky front gates.

Creeeeeak

It was eerie . . . As though the very air was still and something hidden, something horrible was waiting for them here.

"There are graves." whispered Johnny looking at the side; James tightened his grip on Lydia's hand, jaw set firm.

Johnny took a picture with the camera curled close to him and very slowly, approached and wiped away the soot and grime to see what was written there.

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Katsuya]

-Tea Time-
-Cromwell Manor-​

On the second photo shoot, Chenglei went behind James with his arms raised and hands over him like he wanted to catch him. A large and disturbing grin appeared on his face.

On the third, he hugged him from behind, trapping his arms with one of his and nuzzled his cheek on his cheek; holding his head in place with his unused hand under James' chin. "My goodness, Little brother Jams. Your cheeks are so soft~!" He gushed quietly in his ear. Glitter appeared everywhere with flowers blooming; the flowers this time are spider mums to go with the haunted feeling of the Cromwell Manor.

When they were done posing for the picture, Chenglei immediately lets go of James and grabbed Renee like she was a shield. Which is kind of funny to see since the blonde oriental is as tall as the older Pendragon if not a few inches taller. "Ah! Put me down! Chen-"

"Nope! You must save me from your brother-"

"It's not my problem if James kills you-! Chengle-"

"I'm sorry. I thought you said you will call me 'Big brother Lei lei'."

"..." Renee glared heatedly at Chenglei and she gritted her teeth. Her wings puffed up. It's almost hilarious at how similar Renee and James look like when they are angry. "...Please put me down, Lei lei-onii-chan..." Was that a growl?

"Of course...after James calms down." Renee sighed and just gave up, letting Chenglei carry her around while her face turned bright red. She really hated being short and light right now...she loved it when Seifer did it but with anyone else...

How she really wanted to punch him...or kick him...or scratch him...

Echo warily walked in with Serena excitedly looking around, commenting about how she wanted to play a tune for the dead. She said it's called the 'Macabre Danse'. The fawn wished she could be like Pond and poof herself away too...

"Serena, please stop making it more creepy."

"That's the point of being here, Echo."

"..."

The red head stayed close to Johnny, holding her hand tightly and her ears folded back, uncomfortable with the grave stones. Why are there grave stones on the property?!

"Wh-what...W-Whose name is it?" She asked quietly, her voice trembled.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Panzer]

-Tea Time-

-Cromwell Manor-


Reven Cromwell

XX - XX

(Age - 32)

A loving father and brilliant captain.


May his passion burn brighter than the sun, and his love burn brighter still...


The grave marked the death of the man, it's soil being barren and calm in contrast with the manor. The stone grave looked serine, and almost peaceful. A small black cross design hung above the name, outlining a small picture of Reven in the stone. He held the look of confidence and nobility to him.


Next to it, a smaller grave stone had appearantly fallen flat on it's face. It hid it's contents from the looking eye.


The grave beside the fallen stone appeared untouched, and easier to read.


April Cromwell

XX - XX

(Age - 34)


Her kind heart shall be remembered, and her energy shall live on.


The grave stone had a feeling of warmth

on its cold stone. It had several cracks that tipped at the edges of the grave, but otherwise looked untouched. Like the last grave, a small black cross hung avove the name. It contained a small picture of April. She smile bright with joy radiating from the picture.


A small tombstone lay face-down on the grey ash, being in-between the two other graves. It had a large crack that zig-zagged diagonally across the stone. Upon furthur examination, the tombstone seemed completely dilapidated. Its text was completely greyed and decayed, leaving only the outline of the text.

Stuart Cromwell


xx - xx


(Age- 13)


The text seems to end there.


Stuart Cromwell; the "Ghost of The Cromwell Manor." . Although the reports vary on who haunts the manor, most of the reports state that the son protects the ruins...


-Tea Time-

-Main Hall, Cromwell Manor-

Stuart couldn't sleep. He could never rest easy with the constant creaks.It just kept happening and happening! It was just about driving him insane. The gate always creaked lowder when it was swung open. He used to blame his almost sensitive hearing to the point of paranoia. The creaking of the gate usually meant one thing: his day had gotten a little longer.


Stuart marched upstairs to a small window with a blank expression of annoyance, expecting animals or humans who enjoyed playing with the gate. They were always spooked off easily, so it shouldnt be much of a problem.


Stuart gazed out the window with wide eyes and cold fear. This wasn't some sort of mischief by kids or curiosity by animals. It looked like a bloody Expiditionary team! Stuart held his breath as he watched them from the second floor window, praying that they wouldn't spot him.

​

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

-Tea Time-​

Lydia placed her hands on James' and leaned her head against his slightly while Sasha remained perched on her other shoulder. It may have been such a small and common thing, but to her it was monumental and she appreciated the energy that Johnny had involving the picture taking.

It seemed that Sasha was better able to deal with picture taking than either Lydia or James because when the time came for the second picture and James got flustered and Lydia got a little flustered as well because she wasn't used to taking pictures with friends, Sasha handled it like a pro and flew up on top of James head, looking very proud. Of course the situation of the couple probably wasn't made any better by Chenglei's antics because while he didn't mean to, his enjoyment from making James feel uncomfortable by default made Lydia feel relatively awkward and she wound up with an embarrassed smile on her face instead of just a happy one.

And it may have been a complete fail for Lydia on the third picture because as it was being taken, Lydia was caught mid sneeze with her handkerchief being brought up to her face since Meatballs was out. Of course that whole picture was probably a circus with James practically being molested by Chenglei. When it was done and Chenglei started hoisting Renee around like a shield, Lydia couldn't help but laugh, the ridiculousness of the picture definitely made it a good memory. She couldn't help but giggle later when they began heading in and Pond disappeared, she thought it was funny that a creature so big would be afraid of ghosts, but she supposed that Pond was a very gentle creature despite her size and that made Lydia smile.

Lydia held her breath as they walked through the gates and it was released with a shudder as James squeezed her hand, she had let Sasha return to her home realm, mainly because she was such a little thing and had been through so many creepy and scary experiences, Lydia didn't want her to be scared, so with the hand she would have used to protectively curl around the owl, she instead grabbed James' arm. Of course she peeked back over her shoulder and gave her a big grin as she started playing creepy music, it wasn't so bad since it was upbeat, "maybe we'll get to see some dancing spirits?"

As everyone's attention was drawn to the gravestones, Lydia' bit her lower lip as they discovered who the graves belonged to. It sounded like a whole family and all fairly young, that made it a lot more depressing.

Zer0 Katsuya Panzer

 

[Zer0]

- Tea Time -
" Cromwell Manor, City of Chingpo "​

James ended up chasing Chenglei around, and when he could not catch him because he was using Renee as a shield, went back to Lydia and asked her to hug his back and rub her cheek on his to erase Chenglei's touches.

"Reven, April, and Stuart Cromwell." said Johnny to Echo, hugging her. He looked sadly at the thirteen year old's grave, took off that red flower always on his blue hat and laid it on the ground in the middle, clapped his hands, and bowed his respects. "We're coming in." he whispered to them.

Butters, Meatballs, and Frey were too heavy for a dilapidated old building and could not fit through the door, so they waited outside, looking at the house and its surrounding ruins with interest. Once more goading each other to go and open the front door, those who wanted to go in instead of exploring the remains of the mansion's grounds entered the dusty hall and looked around.

Johnny wanted to go check out the bedrooms on the second floor with his camera, while James asked Lydia where she wanted to go and followed her there. The place was huge, and as they walked, James looked for a good place where they could do a séance, though if the brochure said that the son haunted these ruins, it's probably best to do it in his bedroom.

Serena's creepy music was definitely doing its job and Johnny, thrilled, and at the same time even more scared because of it, marveled at how brave the violinist was.

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Panzer]

​

Upon entering the ruins, they were greeted with a somewhat chilling sight. The main halls stood quiet and dark, with windows and doors staring down at them like eyes. Wood whined and popped silently, settling from its place.

Small bits of furniture were common in these rooms, but an unusually messy table was left in the middle. It seemed to recreate a small Tea Party. It had 3 chairs that surrounded the circle table in a neat pattern, two of which were occupied by a mop and a bucket. They even had name tags set neatly in front of them, granted they were soiled with tea. They had hasty scribbling on them.

Ms. Scroft -Aunt
Mr. Mop​

The name tag stood in front of the bucket, which was apparently named "Mr.Mop". Another name tag sat in front of the other item, which was the mop.

Mr. May - Grandfather
Ms. Bucket
​

The third seat held nothing. It was secluded away from the table and turned to the door, joining the doors and windows as they stared . The name tag before it held nothing on it and had small drops of red that stained it....

​

The hallway seemed to be pitch black, separated by small holes of light that rain from the floor above. The air above became more violent, whistling through the wood. Its movement created a soft "oooooo..." in the halls, slightly masking the soft footsteps that boomed just slightly behind the two adventurers...

-Tea Time-​

Stuart watched them, observing their details from afar. They didnt notice him, which was forunate for him. Now he could see them clearly. As they passed by the graves, he noticed something about the adventurers. Most of them seem to be mournful of them, with some of them already having a frightened look in their eyes.

It hurt him on the inside to see such display, as they hugged and held hands as they stared at the stones. He felt a feeling of jealousy within himself that he hadn't met such friends like that. It brought a joyful tear to his eye.

He turned around to the cold darkness behind him, wondering how long he has been in this lonely house without such companions to interact with. He talks to a bloody mop for Pete sakes! Of course, he has had this happen in the past. He would try to make friends, only to have the visitors scream and run away. It always happened.
But, Stuart had learned from a young age that sometimes: persistence is key.

With a sudden reboot of energy that seemed to pour from his still heart, Stuart wiped the tear from his eye and took a deep breath and thought for a moment. what would be his plan?

Simple, he would wait behind a corner and step out into view subtly, making it much less intimidating than watching from a distance or getting too close. His ears rang with the creak of the entrance door, signaling his plans execution. It was go-time...

His ears heard the beats of footsteps draw closer and closer to his corner. He drew a grim grin on his face, waiting for their arrival. A moment later, he knew it was the time to- turn inti mist form. Almost immediately after stepping out of his corner, he quickly turned to mist and retreated away from the light. He was way too shy to greet them, and while his heart (would be) racing, decided to keep his distance. He stalked the two visitors, wishing he were braver than himself to greet them. He had completely forgotten about the blood that still stained his face and his bed. The two of them (Echo, Johnny, and Serene) seemed to be going straight for his bedroom...

Perfect...

Zer0 Katsuya Roleplay Skittle

​

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

-Tea Time-
​

Lydia just shook her head and giggled slightly when James chased after Chenglei and did as she was beckoned when he came back to her and symbolically erased Chenglei's touches before the group continued on into the mansion.

Maybe she was a little bit desensitized to undead things after the battle of Holt, but there was little trepidation to Lydia's step as they neared the house and entered despite the fact that her heart was beating a little harder than usual and her hand clenched James' a little tighter than it otherwise may have. She cast James a surprised glance when he asked where she would like to explore, she thought it unlikely that anything would have survived the fire that had evidently ravaged the house, but she still thought it would be nice to check out the library.

As they crossed through the main hall, her gaze fell on the display that had evidently been a tea party and she paused in her steps, reading the place cards and smiling slightly, wondering if the seemingly misplaced name cards was intentional or if it had been an accident or a prank. The fact that these cards had evidently belonged to actual people before they were taken over by the inanimate tugged at her heartstrings and she wondered what had happened to the people that those names belonged to.

Zer0 Katsuya Panzer