FOLLOW THEM ==>

You decide to try to follow Lillie and Nyarl. You stand up, and move toward the door in one smooth (and silent) motion. You open the door, and it creaks. You sprint out into the hallway. The hallway is lined with doors. You open one, curious. 

The room is another study. It is, as far as you can tell, completely identical to the study you just left, except for the fact that a different person is sitting in the armchair. It's a middle-aged man, his eyes shut, completely unmoving. That's the only door you try opening, but something tells you that you would see the same thing behind any door. A study, with someone else in it, their eyes closed. Waiting to be used for some unknown purpose. 

You walk quickly down the hallway, which turns into an abrupt corner ahead of you. You can hear footsteps somewhere down there. You turn the corner. This hallway is identical to the first one you were in. But you can see the people you were looking for.

YOU: Uh... Hello?

The two of them turn to look at you. Nyarl is wearing his little green pinstripe suit. He has a darker complexion, and short, curled black hair. He smiles. 

Nyarl: Ah, more company. 

Lillie is looking at you now too.  She's very tall, taller than you. She has thin lips, brown skin, and wild, curling blonde hair that looks dyed. She's wearing a loose brown suit, and she has a noticably long, pointy nose.

Lillie: Hm. Who is this?

Nyarl: Well, this is Miss Wren Hawthorne. I suppose she must be sleeping. You just missed Ten.

YOU: Lillie, is it? 

Lillie: Yep.

YOU: I've been helping Ten look for you. You vanished, apparently.

Lillie: Yeah, I did. Thanks for helping Ten, man. This guy kind of kidnapped me. 

Nyarl is still smiling, the way an advertiser does. Flat, and insincere. 

Nyarl: It was necessary. She is the future Lord of this land. It falls into her hands to destroy the Old Voice, and bring peace to this land.

Lillie: Yeah, I'm not exactly too interested in doing that, but I don't actually get to, uh, choose.

Nyarl: Your prescence is necessary. I'll allow you to speak with Wren for a moment. 

With that, the little guy turns to leave, heels clicking. You clear your throat. 

YOU: Ten was worried about you. They thought you were hurt, or something. 

Lillie: No, I'm just the chosen one, I guess. Which is less cool than I thought it would be. I don't really have a strong connection with "The Land," or whatever.

YOU: I've been calling it "Garbage Narnia."

Lillie: I like that. 

YOU: ... It turns out I'm kind of a "chosen one" too. I always thought that kind of sucked, just as a trope, but whatever.

Lillie: Yeah. It's not like I'm a hero or anything. I'm really just a puppet being toyed with by forces outside my control.

YOU: That's how I'm feeling too. Like, poor Ten, I can't imagine if I woke up and my girlfriend was missing. Because she got kidnapped and shoved into some other universe.

Lillie: Yeah. It sucks too, because we'd just fought about... I don't know. something Dumb, definitely not something I'd leave someone I love so much over. And so... Tell them I'm okay, and I, y'know, love them, and I can't wait to see them again. And-

She's cut off, because the wall to your side tears open like a sheet of paper. A bright light shines through the hole. And then the creature (or is that the Old Voice?) steps through. It turns to look at you, you assume. It has no eyes, so?

The Old Voice: hhhh. you. we let you leave. we showed you mercy. once. but not again.

It moves incredibly quickly, slashing It's arm across your abdomen, brusing your ribs, and dealing 5 damage. You collapse, and it starts to slowly stalk toward you.

What do you do? 

FLEE==>

Yeah, you have basically zero chance of winning this fight. No shame in running away. At the same time, you don't want to abandon Lillie, if she died it would kind of invalidate all the adventuring you've been having to do. You yell at Lillie to run. She does, but first she makes a fist, hitting the Old Voice squarely in the chest. It flinches, and hisses sharply, lashing out with It's long fingers, tearing into the sleeve of Lillie's suit, and drawing a little blood, but failing to get a good grip onher arm, as she bolts down the hallway alongside you. 

The events of the chase are a little difficult to place in any particular order, as you spend the majority of the time filled with adrenaline.  It's a rush, an insane rush. Lillie is just a little bit behind you, but you imagine Lillie isn't on a track team, so she's going exceptionally fast. She also just punched a monster that she is fully aware wants to kill her. That's kind of cool. You think that probably she's being too modest when she says she "isn't a hero." The Old Voice leaps forward, hitting you and knocking you down again. 

You struggle to get up, and the creature dashes toward you.

Old Voice: your journey. ends here. along with your-

You never figure out what the creature was going to say, because Nyarl appears suddenly, in front of the creature. 

Nyarl: Lillie. Go, now. 

The Old Voice starts to hit him, again and again and again, a strange black fluid flowing out of him as he's hit. He's clearly not human. Lillie grabs you, and runs. The Old Voice sees what's happening, and It leaps forward, slamming into you. It bursts through a closed window, grabbing on to you, and the broken glass digs into you. You hit the ground, which hurts quite a bit. You lay there, realizing that you cannot move. The Old Voice stands up, crawling up the wall and into the window.

You feel very tired, so you close your eyes. 

When you open them, you realize that you just woke up from your dream. You're being carried by alex and Diana, for some reason? You're at once glad that you didn't really die, and kind of creeped out. That was a real body you were in while you were dreaming. Could you find that body? Bluhhh....

What do you do? 

okay! 

@hawkstar: I will post a part with your command soon!

with that out of the way, i wanted to say that we're near the end of part one (of four, probably). of course, there's still a lot to wrap up, but while i was thinking of it, i wanted to thank everyone who's reading, and posting commands! and also everyone who's reading and not posting commands! you thought i couldn't see you? think again. think. again. 

so, thank you to lyric, celine, hawkstar, nyxie, moon wolf, bushy tail, poinsettia, and all the silent ones.

i hope i got everyone? if not, yell at me in a comment, and i'll yell back at you. but, i will yell... nice. things. and apologies. and compliments. 

thank you, all of you! you make my day! and this story literally could not work without you. you are valued, dawg! 

SPILL THE PROVERBIAL "BEANS." ==>

You wriggle around, and Alex and Diana drop you, surprised. You scramble to your feet, out of breath.

Diana: Hi Wren! We know where Lillie is now!

YOU: Yeah, I know, Deen. I... Actually, that's kind of what I need to tell you. Ten?

Ten is pretty far ahead of you, looking over a hill. But when they hear you call their name, they turn back and walk toward you. 

Ten: Yes?

YOU: I... While I was dreaming, I went to the same place you did. I think it's somehow, like, an actual location in this place. In Garbage Narnia.

Alex: "Garbage Narnia?"

YOU: That's what I'm calling it.  

Alex: Hmm.

YOU: But the point. The point is, Lillie is in trouble, Ten. She's being attacked by that creature thing. And, It literally, like, killed me. Or my dream self. I don't know. We need to be ready to actually fight. Which will probably be hard.

Diana: You met Lillie!

Ten: Yeah, is she okay? Did she, uh, mention me?

YOU: Yes. She says she's okay, and she loves you, and misses you.

Ten smiles, turns red and turns in the opposite direction.

Ten: Okay, that's good!

YOU: But, uh, she is probably in danger. The little dream man gave you directions, right? We should run in that direction.

Ten: Well... The guy said to turn at the giant floating obelisk, which I do not see.  We did see some flying worms though! That was cool. Look up!

You look up, and you do see some worms hovering in the air. interesting.

Diana: WREN they do not have wings oh my gosh it is incredibly cool I want one!

You continue looking up, and you see something in the air.

YOU: I think that might be the obelisk?

Ten looks up too. 

Ten: Okay. we need to turn left. It's in that direction. 

The four of you run into the woods. As you run, you pass some interesting things. What looks like a house (who lives here?), a patch of red trees, and what looks to be a row of old televisions. Weird. You wish you had more time here, because you would love to explore the literal alternate universe you ended up in. But noooo.....

Ten stops, and points forward. 

Ten: I think that must be where she is! 

It's a building. A pyramid actually, a green pyramid. There's no door, but there are several ... Windows. Just normal windows. It's kind of surreal. You look at one window and see it's broken. Good, that's a way in. Below the window is

A dead body.

Your dead body.

What do you do? 

okey dokey! i wanted to clarify a rule. if you see that a person has already put in a command, you can still submit a command. i'll use a random number generator to determine which one gets used, i just want everyone to have a chance at being able to influence the story! 

no part tonight, i'm trying to do one part daily now? to make time for my actual schoolwork. (barf) 

CONFIRM THAT YOU ARE ALIVE==>

You desperately grab Diana's arm, pulling her toward you. 

YOU: I am alive.

Diana: Well, yes? 

YOU: I am alive.

Diana: Yes, you are. Are you feeling okay?

You look at her. She's genuinely concerned. Of course she is. You sound insane. You feel insane. You're looking at your own dead body.

Are you insane?

YOU: Deen... Look. Look at that body.

Diana looks over at the body. She makes an exaggerated expression of shock. Alex turns to look at it as well, and spews out a long string of profanity.  You're at least glad that they're reacting the same way. This is terrible. You and your companions walk up to the body.

Ten: The... The old voice did this?

YOU: Yeah.

Ten: And. And Lillie is fighting It? My Lillie?

YOU: Well, she hit It pretty good, but I think she's running from It instead of fighting It. Which is good, because It... Uh... Killed me.

Diana: Is that... Really you? Is it... Or, uh, is she... Does she have a soul? Is this, like...an extra life, like in a video game, or a clone with your memories, or?

YOU: I dunno, Deen. I think the second? It...

You feel every thought in your head dissolve.

Alex: Uh... We should probably pay respects in some way? Not, like, a full on funeral, but just... Something other than leaving the other Wren here to rot.

YOU: Okay, uh... I'll give a eulogy I guess. Um... I distinctly remember being this person, or inhabiting this body, but not for very long. I'm going to choose to believe that this was always just a mindless body that briefly served as a host for my body, but... Um. I'm only planning on believing that because if I believed the alternative, I think I would have difficulty sleeping, and just... Doing things in general? I... um. If this was a living person, with a soul, I hope it finds rest. I guess. 

There's a pause.

Diana: I love Wren. And so, I love you, alternate Wren. And I hope you find rest too. 

Diana turns to you slightly, and you can tell she's trying to subtly discern whether you approved. You nod and smile at her.

Ten: Okay. I'd like to thank... Both Wren's. For helping me, and Lillie, when they could have easily not. And when there's literally nothing to motivate them beyond kindness. Thank you, Wren. You're good. You're a good person.

They turn down toward the body.

Ten: And I'm sure you were a good person too.

Theres another pause, and the Alex steps forward. He clears his throat. He starts quietly chanting the Kel Maleh Rachamim. It's nice. He has a surprisingly nice voice. 

He stops, and the four of you stand in silence for a while. It's a strangely okay moment.

And then a horrible sound happens, ruining the moment. It comes from inside the building. You could try to get in through the window, or look for a door.

What do you do? 

CHECK IN WINDOW==>

You climb up the green bricks of the wall, checking inside the window. It's one of the nondescript studies. You see a body sitting in the chair, and you recognize the person. It's Sam, a friend of yours. Interesting? The window is broken, so you climb in. You're careful to avoid any broken glass. Ten follows you, with surprising grace and ease. Diana climbs in, cutting her arm, and she yanks Alex up the wall, and through the window. 

Diana: Is that Sam?

YOU: I guess so.

Diana: COOL!

You watch in bafflement as she walks over to Sam, slapping him across the face.

Diana: He will not wake up!

YOU: Yeah... I don't think that's how that works.

Diana: Interesting!

You press your ear up to the closed door, and you can hear the sound of wood splintering, and shallow, brief shrieks. 

Ten: Is that Lillie screaming? 

YOU: I'm not-

Ten doesn't respond. Instead, they start breathing heavily, and start running at top speed into the door. They manage to break it down, splintering off its hinges. 

Alex: Yeah, that door was never locked.

Panting heavily, Ten turns, and looks in shock. You and the others run forward, looking down into the hallway. 

The Old Voice was evidently the one screaming. It's skin is tined green now, instead of the prior white color. It's shaking violently. Lillie is there too, and she's bleeding pretty severely, but she's managed to fight the thing to a standstill, or something close to it. 

The Old voice turns, and starts to sprint toward you.

Oh man, what do you do?