#threadedwheels

AFTER finding nothing of note from that ruined castle, leaving the area was a given but— the venture only led the group into another strange place.

the remains of a dead forest surrounds them. the path ahead was dark, decorated with dried leaves & torn off tree bark. utterly perfect for alerting anyone nearby of their location with just one misstep.

ortho did his best to assist by shining a light ahead for the group to see. reflecting on the path like bright flashlights from the android's eyes— it made the trek just a bit easier.

❝ ah— i see something ! ❞

ortho had mostly been quiet during their walk, but when he spotted an old backpack among the ruins he brightened up.

reaching down for the bag, the miracle was proven to be TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE when ortho's light highlighted another.

the owner of the bag, very displeased.

LEGS CROSSED ON THE GROUND,   they worked on different  portions  of the same entanglement of lights.   ripping them apart felt like a better option at that point,  the only thing stopping him was that  any  aggressive movements he made would mess up the other’s handiwork  —  something that he attempted to avoid.  teamwork was never his strong suit,  but this was the perfect  example  of,   the better they  worked  together,  the faster they got done.  a bit of group complaining was only a part of the team building,   really.  

decorating the dorm was far from his own idea,  likely  far from ember’s own idea as well.  however,   when it came to helping out  —  jack supposed he struggled to say no.  just a shame that they handed off such  cautious work.  meticulous work that took  patience & care,  he couldn’t pretend to be suited to it.  in offering his own help,  he expected to move furniture,  carry boxes.  instead,  hunched over a set of lights that must have resided in a box of  decades. 

More accurately, there are several somethings in the water that encapsulate the Octavinelle dorm, and the sheer depth of the lilac reef that extends around Deuce as he heads towards the Monstro Lounge is a perfect setting for the assortment of personalities that lounge in its wake. Endlessly vast, unsettling, and always with a threat of something dark lurking around the corner; that was Octavinelle to the core, and it made Deuce feel small in comparison.

That feeling remains even as he hurries to the cafe, patting down his uniform coat into something more presentable as he steps up to the host’s podium and explains his reasoning for being in the lounge. Though even that, it seems, is of minor importance when they wave him off after the first sentence. Azul’s already let us know, the rather bored looking host says to him. Your partner is already here. With a simple nod of his head, Deuce steps inside the lounge.

It’s a quiet afternoon in the cafe today, but even if it was busy Deuce had a feeling that it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. The aquarium wall is hard to miss, with the way it almost seems to light up the far side of the lounge with an aquamarine glow that’s in a cool contrast to the warmer purple lighting in the rest of seating area.

It’s also bigger than Deuce expects, much bigger in fact, but in hindsight he supposes that it would only make sense for it to be that big if they were expected to put on a show in the water outside of it. It was an incredible feature; though dorm pride dictates that it wasn’t nearly as beautiful as Heartslabyul’s own Rose Maze.

Peacock green eyes shift suddenly toward a quiet corner to the left of the wall, and after a moment, he realizes that the movement he caught was indeed a person. That must be Ember, he thinks as he makes his way over with careful steps; the last thing he wants to do is accidentally knock into a waiter carrying dishware, after all. The repercussions would be awful.

          “Hey,” Deuce says once he’s closer. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting. You said that you wanted to take care of the fish before we planned the actual show, right?”

EMBER PARCA has been issued by Azul to perform a show in the OCTAVINELLE AQUARIUM with DEUCE SPADE. ( @threadedwheels )

“It is weird, isn’t it?”

With the personalities at this party, it doesn’t shock Sebek to hear that some have dared to try the dish. Hell, Diasomnia’s contribution wasn’t much better! He watches from the corner of his eye as Azul offers an unfortunate cup of the brew to Kalen, apologizing in his head for whatever terrible effects it might bring to his stomach.

The cauldron of Diasomnia’s offering bubbles away, now somehow generating heat since he mixed the ingredients together. It looks even more menacing now, and surely tastes twice as fowl. Sebek looks down to the plate in his hands and back over to the roiling concoction on the other side of the dining hall, a curious thought running through his mind.

God, could the addition really make it all that worse?

“Excuse me for a second, Ember,” the half-fae excuses himself, weaving between the crowds as least suspiciously as possible. Everyone now was steering clear of the cauldron—thankfully—and he takes the opportunity to dump the meat into the pot, a few droplets of punch landing on his uniform.

TEAM 3, STARBURST CRUSADERS : @vipetriol, @hyaina, @troisfleur, @threadedwheels, LET'S GO!(one last time! )

everything happened in such a blur.

one moment, ortho was searching the contents of the forbidden laboratory alongside his teammates— then suddenly a bright light engulfed them, spitting them out onto a castle bridge.

when the android opened his eyes, cobblestone was underneath him. the wind whistled and howled like it was living…

and before he knew it–

❝ ARREST THEM! ❞

❝ IT'S THE MAGESTONE! ❞

ah shit.

…

the plan was relatively simple, at least for their team, all they had to do was distract the guards and buy everyone some time! only there wasn't much time to think things over– so ortho would do what he did best.

taking head of the charge, ortho could be found soaring through the air, blasting lasers at the castle walls. he would shoot holes in the wall, setting fire to or breaking several items in his path.

“Me traumatised? Nah!” He scoffed. Shaking his head as he thought over his life. He couldn’t be traumatised, nothing traumatic had happened to him. Right?

Denial was strong.

“Ok…let's get back into something easier to work with.” He sighed heavily. “Ortho…I said a shitty thing to him…how do I fix that?” Shame boiling on his face as he remembered what he said. “I told him that he was just programmed to be nice to me. That he would just delete all memories of me when he and Idia leave.” He groaned, burying his face in his hands.

Sebek looks down to the plate of food the other has offered him, uncertainty and curiosity buzzing through his mind. It by no means would ever be his first choice—far below the meat he had already sampled that night—but he wouldn't turn it down. The dish smelled neither rotten nor fowl. Could it be considered raw? Sebek recalls that eating raw meat was quite common in some groups living in Twisted Wonderland, so surely consuming it wouldn't harm him.

Or maybe this was all an elaborate test to see if he was worthy as serving as Malleus's knight?