~Third-Quarter

We were some of the last people to join the group of people surrounding the gigantic hole in the floor that hadn't been there earlier.  I didn't hear what happened, but Skylar did.  I found her first.

"Sky!" I cried, running up to her.  "What happened?"

"Someone fell in the hole," Skylar said.  "I think his name was...Caspian?"  The three of us were new on the Chatterbox, we were still learning everyone's name.  I don't think I've heard of him.

First-Quarter came next to us, and said, "Someone literally just followed him into the hole.  I don't know who it was, but I believe it was two AEs riding a CAPTCHA." 

"But why would anyone willingly go down the hole?!"  Skylar asked.  

"To see what's on the bottom, you moron," My sister snarled.  

"Guys," I said, holding up my hands to prevent a further argument.  "Don't we have bigger things to worry about?"

"Oh, yeah,"  First-Quarter said.  "Hover me down the hole, 3Q."

"What?!" I almost yelled, and the room fell into a sort of silence. 

Dewy saw, out of the corner of her eye, Pzun and Cloud flying down into the whole.

Flying...

She jumped up very suddenly, startling Lev, Midnight, and Sage. She run up to the whole, turned smoothly into a parrot, and dived right into the whole and hit the bottom. Pzun, Cloud, and an AE of aFountainPen followed.

"Caspian?"

~

Sorry for not posting! So, uh, is this a ski lodge now? Because that's... pretty ingenious, actually.

Sea Glass~

Celeste isn't here. 

I'm staying awhile in case she comes, but I've spent most of my time so far with one of my new friends, who I think is plaster under the paint. Nymph made a circuit around the room looking for Ivy, but came to me empty-handed. 

I am now seated in the rafters. Someone bumped into me a few minutes ago, and Nymph, happening to see, asked if I would like to go up. There is a lovely view. I do not think anyone sees me. It is peculiar--I am perhaps the most easily viewed AE in the room, yet no one is looking.

I am afraid to move. This I confess. The beams are sturdy, but my legs are not. However, if I remain where I am, I cannot fall. At least I would not fall into the pit. It is outside, though I can see it through a window. There is a trio moving dangerously close to it. I squint. They seem agitated. Suddenly, a sharp downward movement--one of them has fallen, and another has dropped to assist them. I realize as I watch that I have lost track of the third. What were they wearing? 

A throng quickly forms, and it becomes difficult to discern purpose in the churning. I look up just in time to see a small shadow detach itself from the ceiling. It is a bat--but now it is not, so surely this is Nymph. She spirals towards me and lands by my side, roughly the size of a miniature goat, but not at all the same shape. 

"Good view up here."

"Yes."

She shifts her weight. I am not certain if she is planning to take off, but I speak anyway.

"Could you bring me down now?"

"Oh yeah."

She quavers in her dim outline, and when I next open my eyes she is a horselike dragon. She motions one wing to her back.

"Get on." 

I had not realized how tightly I had been gripping the beam. It has left indentations in my fingers. I move to a crouch, skittish of Nymph's impatience, and follow her directions. As soon as I have a grasp on her mane, she is flashing forward and the ground hurtles up. The gathered crowd parts like a shoal of fish, and I see her aim.

It is the pit.

I think perhaps it is not a bad thing that Celeste is not in attendance.

Nymph~

My grand entrance has gone to waste. No one paid attention, and Ivy isn't here. I was about to leave when the screaming started. 

I was a bat at the time, hanging around inside, so I flew to where I'd put Sea Glass a couple minutes back. The view was great. I even said so. Xe just kind of agreed and asked to go down. So I brought xyr down. But I also maybe flew into the pit just to see what all the fuss was about.

There are four AEs down here. Four! I think one of them is called Cloud, but I don't know the rest. I sit so SG can get off.

"Um. Hello." 

~I had this idea about SG getting hit with a poisoned pie, but I guess not. I don't know what's going to happen now besides the note-finding. Take it, whoever! This stage is no longer mine. 

Barring any unforseen circumstances, I am going to assume that Caspian is lying at the bottom of the hole, dead from the impact.

That gave me a mental image that's actually kiiiiiiinda grim.

~~

Wendy stood looking down, contemplating whether or not going down herself would be a good idea.

"What is going on down there?" Wendy called to the people at the bottom.

Maki looked down into the gaping entrance. Her sapphire eyes flickered around, examining the other AEs then looked back down. She could jump. She could go down.

Weren't cats always supposed to land on their feet?

”Oh dear.” Aki deadpanned, looking down with a straight face. She adjusted her glasses and stayed silent.

Saki, on the other hand, was freaking out.

“Hello?” She yelled “cloud? Anyone?” The youngest of the three bit her lip anxiously, breathing shakily. 

Down below, the hole continued yawning. 

~~~~~~

The whole was a bit like a cave. Caspian could not, logically, be very far. Nymph landed lightly on the ground next to Pzun.  The five AEs searched silently, Dewy in a concealed panic. 

"Guys!" Pzun called, "I found- him..."

Dewy rushed over immediately, worried by Pzun's tone. She looked down to see Caspian laying facedown on the ground, dead.

Her voice caught in her throat, and all she could do was sit there and cry. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

"Don't worry," whispered Cloud, "You can't die permanently in the Chatterbox."

Pzun was the one who found the body. He supposed it was good it was him and not Sage or Dewy. He was used to death, raising animals that usually lived one to two years. And he hadn't known Caspian. Still, he couldn't help but feel a catch in his throat at Caspian's brown eyes, usually so vivid, dark and deep and empty of life, like a bar of chocolate turned into a mud puddle. (Actually, that wasn't a good example. There were plenty of living things in mud puddles, and he really hoped there wasn't any in chocolate bars.)

"We-we need to search for clues," he said, voice breaking. 

~First-Quarter

My feet touch the bottom of the pit unsteadily, and I can tell that my brother is scared that he's going to drop me down to the bottom.  I send a silent message that I'm fine to him before looking for the body.

I hadn't known the AE that had fallen -- Caspian, his name was? -- but we did come here to get to know everyone after all.  No better time than the present I suppose.  

I trailed behind the rest of the AEs at the botom of the pit, looking around for a sign of the AE who had fallen.  Then there was a voice.  

"Guys!  I found- him..."

That tone couldn't mean anything good, coming from anyone.  I followed the rest of the AEs as they came around the body of Caspian.  I could almost feel their sadness radiating from them.  I couldn't help but feel a little that way too.

The same voice said, "We-we need to look for clues."

I imagined what could have caused this.  "This couldn't have happened naturally, something must have caused it to happen on purpose.  Sinkholes don't happen like this."  I said, not quite realizing I said it out loud.