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Heyyyyy I was writing and had the most unusual fancy to post a picture of a chicken. So naturally, I decided I would do so.

This is Cassy, named after Cassy from Lake Lelillo!

P.S. The next installment should be up later today. Meanwhile...sorry for the randomness!

 

I am SO SORRY it took me this long to get the next installment out. Thank you Jwyn and the other toppers!!!

Day Eleven, Part Four: Novissime simul Revelatio

The maps reappeared on the screen of the phone, and the Chatterboxers assembled themselves into two teams.

On team one:

Jayfeather

Cinderpelt

Hotairballoon

Autumn Leaves

Joan

Elvina

Nighthawk

Briar

On team two:

Moonfrost

Booksy Owly

Brooklyn Newsie

Wordsy

Puck

Ariel

Poetic Panda

Winter Lilac

After being organized into their respective teams, the Chatterboxers memorized the routes to their bases and prepared to begin the game.

---

Nighthawk surveyed team one’s base with keen eyes. It was nothing more than a wooded clearing ringed with boulders, at the center of which stood a red flag on a pole. Cicadas and summer insects hummed loudly in the surrounding trees, blocking out all the other forest sounds. This had an isolating effect, making Nighthawk feel almost as though she were on an island. The day was so still and warm she had a hard time believing that things were about to get intense.

“How many people are here?” Nighthawk asked, turning around to face the other CBers. She performed a quick head count and came away with eight CBers total, including her. “Okay, all of us. Um...what do we do now?”

“Formulate a plan?” suggested Elvina.

Nighthawk shrugged. “Yeah...I guess we should. Who wants to guard the flag?”

While the CBers planned, Jayfeather beckoned Briar over to the back of the clearing. “What?” Briar asked, sounding annoyed.

“What’s our plan?”

Briar shifted hesitantly. “Um, what do you mean?”

“I mean, you know they aren’t going to want us to have any fun!” said Jayfeather passionately. “Meanwhile, we’ve got Puck and Ariel and Wordsy to watch out for!”

Suddenly Bri understood what Jayfeather meant. “But you heard the recording!” she exclaimed fearfully. “There are traps!”

“Not a lot,” Jayfeather scoffed.

“I’m not doing anything risky,” sniffed Briar.

Jayfeather sighed, letting his eyes wander to the ever-present shifting of the forest’s leaves. “The only risky thing you’ll be doing is following the Chatterboxers.”

Briar was stubbornly silent for a moment before caving in to her impertinent curiosity. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jayfeather drew his eyes away from the forest. He gave Briar a mysterious, fleeting glance, as if he himself were wondering the same thing. “Just trust me.” Then he was looking away again.

Briar cocked her head.

“So, are you in?” Jayfeather asked with renewed gusto, turning back.

Briar was at least wise enough to understand that there was something going on here which she wasn’t aware of.

She sighed. “Sure.”

~ ~ ~

“Okay who’s ready?” Ariel asked, jouncing up and down. The base of team two was a grassy clearing, also in the forest, and was ringed by magnificent birch trees.

“Ready for what?” Puck asked, cocking her head. Ariel had dragged she and Wordsy over to the far end of the clearing for no apparent reason.

“Ready to beat team one, of course!”

“You don’t seriously expect us to actually play capture the flag?” Wordsy gasped.

“Well we kind of have to,” Ariel pointed out. “And we might as well make the most of it.”

“Um, I beg your pardon,” Wordsy said, shaking her head. “But we’d surely die if we did any such thing.”

“Hey, I’m not going to explain my logic to you. Are you in or not?”

“Um, I have to agree with Wordsy on this one,” Puck frowned. “This is dangerous.”

“According to the Chatterboxers everything is dangerous,” Ariel pointed out. “And also there’s that part where we kind of have to play.”

“Fair enough…” Puck gave him. Then something sparkled in her eyes, a bit of her old self poking through. “Hey, you know what…”

~ ~ ~

And so it had begun. The Chatterboxers, of course, had not taken the murderer’s advice and chosen to enjoy themselves. Rather, they turned the entire ordeal into a methodical effort, in which they pretended to play but were really doing quite the opposite. Their first manner of business was to find and dismantle the traps...Their AEs, on the other hand, had a different plan.

Jayfeather knew--by some strange feeling--that there was a high chance that nothing would go wrong during this game. His eagerness to use this notion to its full potential surprised Briar; this Jayfeather was nothing like that sour AE she had spoken with a couple of days before. However, this had no personal impact on Briar--not like it did on the other CBers.

The change could’ve been scary to them, but it wasn’t. Jayfeather was better; that much was for certain. It was almost as if nothing had ever happened before...and there was nothing in his demeanor that suggested any trace of his prior depression.

This confused many CBers, but only the murderer knew why Jayfeather had recovered so fast…

~ ~ ~

So what do you think? What does Jayfeather know that the others don't?

This installment was a little shorter/less eventful than I'd hoped it would be, but hopefully it was still somewhat interesting! While I was writing I came up with an idea I hadn't originally planned on.

EEEEEEEEEEEEE Micearenice, you should turn this into a book. Keep up the bfkvhjkbjbfdv AMAZINGness!!!!

So a couple of things--

1st, I'm copy/pasting from a new writing software, so hopefully the formatting works out alright!

2nd, the title for the last day was a little inaccurate, so apologies for that if you managed to translate it. I was getting ahead of myself!

Day Eleven, Part Five: Capture the Moment

Jayfeather
and Briar tiptoed through the emerald-green forest, keeping as quiet
as possible. Now that they had snuck away from their Chatterboxers,
they had to be careful not to get caught.

“Where
are we going?” Briar hissed.

“To
the other base, remember?” Jayfeather replied. “We’re stealing
their flag.”

“Do
you even KNOW where it is?” Briar demanded.

Jayfeather
nodded. “Of course. It’s...this way,” he said certainly,
pointing in the general direction of where they were headed. The
forest was gradually becoming more birch-inclined, which told the
Alter Egoes that they were at least making some kind of progress.

“Are
we on their land yet?” Briar asked.

“Shhh,”
Jayfeather demanded. “Almost.” Then he froze. “Do you hear
that?”

“Hear
what?”

“Shh!!!”

Jayfeather
crouched down and Briar followed his lead, bending awkwardly behind a
bush. Jayfeather pushed the leaves roughly aside and narrowed his
eyes.

“Ooo.
It’s team two,” he declared, voice barely audible.

“Did
they see us?” Briar was surprised to find herself caught up in the
moment, despite the fact that she couldn’t even see past the wiry
branches of this flower-covered bush.

“I
don’t think so...”

“Wait,
there are Chatterboxers guarding our flag, right?” Briar wondered.
Team Two could be heading to steal their flag right then and there!

“Yeah,
well if they’re smart then there are,” Jayfeather replied.

Soon
enough the faint sound of the walking team faded away into the
distance.

“Let’s
keep going! Now we know which direction to go in!” Jayfeather
exclaimed.

The
two Alter Egoes emerged from their leafy hiding place and continued
on their trek. Five minutes had passed when Briar stopped.

“Wait,
do you hear that, Jayfeather?”

“Hear
what?” Jayfeather halted under the boughs a majestic birch.

“I
can’t quite place it…,” Briar said with a frown. It sounded
like a rustling—a scritching—but it didn’t seem to be coming
from anywhere. She looked back, then left, then right. “I
don’t know.”

Jayfeather
tensed. “Maybe it’s a trap. Don’t move.”

An
icy fear gripped Briar’s throat and she swallowed, the fun draining
from the moment.

The
scritching grew into a rustling and Jayfeather’s brows furrowed.
“Wait—a minute—“

Suddenly
something fell down from the sky and Jayfeather shouted out in
surprise, flailing his arms.

“GOTCHA!”
someone yelled.

Briar
screamed and tried to stumble backwards, but she tripped over a root
and fell down onto her back. The air was painfully expelled from her
lungs, and as she lay there, stunned, she saw hands hanging down from
above, trying in vain to snatch her, and she almost screamed again
until she realized it was just...just Ariel. Hanging upside down on a
branch while trying to tag her.

Briar
clutched her chest, catching her breath, face twisted in some strange
mixture of anger and relief. “Oh my GOSH, Ariel, don’t SCARE us
like that!”

Ariel
laughed and swung himself gracefully back up onto the low-hanging
tree branch. Meanwhile, Puck was dropping to the forest floor, wings
spread victoriously.

“Tagged
youuuu,” she grinned at Jayfeather. “Come on, prisoner.”

Briar
stood up and began to dust herself off, heart still racing. “Oh--”

“Briar,
what are you doing?! RUN!” Jayfeather cried.

“Run??”

“Yeah,
and save me later if you can!”

“Want
me to tag her?” Puck asked Ariel.

“Nah,
let her escape.”

Briar
turned on her heel and fled back into the forest without a second
thought. The branches whipped at her clothes, but she kept going
until she could no longer hear or see Puck, Ariel, or Jayfeather.
Then and only then did she stop, leaning against a tree to get her
breath again. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and turned to face
the direction from which she had come.

‘Save
me,’ Jayfeather had said.

“I’m
not crazy!” Briar murmured to herself. “But I mean...it’s just
a game. And I never let myself have fun!”

She
rubbed her chin. “Hm, but sitting here is pretty fun.”

Briar
sighed. “Of course, Nighthawk is always saying I should toughen
up...”

She
threw her hands up. “Oh fine, I’ll do it!”

~
~ ~

Briar
set off at a brisk pace throught the forest, keeping much of her
focus on the trees above. There was nobody around, so she didn’t
see any purpose in sneaking. Her footfalls were loud and obnoxious,
but the way she saw it, the more conspicuous she was the less
suspicious she would seem.

“This
isn’t so bad!” she said to herself. It was quite a pleasant
stroll, too—until she realized she didn’t know where she was
going.

Which
direction did Jayfeather say the camp was?

Briar worked her way through the
woods for a good fifteen minutes before she finally found a familiar
spot—the place where Puck and Ariel had ambushed them.

She turned left there and followed
a narrow trail until the sounds of voices reached her ears.

Briar stopped, tried to hide,
tripped on a root, and fell into a bush. A couple of moments later,
Winter Lilac and Poetic Panda walked by. “So...no one has found the
traps yet?” asked Winter Lilac.

“No,” Panda replied. “It’s
taking forever to find them. I think we should just start trying to
get the flag and forget the traps, honestly.”

“The AEs are really getting into
the game,” Winter Lilac said. “Puck and Ariel caught Jayfeather.”

“Aw. Sounds like they’re at
least able to have some fun.”

“Yeah. I guess that’s good.”

Briar felt like there were ticks
crawling all over her—her skin tingled in disgust. As soon as
Winter Lilac and Poetic Panda passed by, she sprung up from the
foliage to shake the twigs out of her hair. But she didn’t wait
long enough—the two Cbers were only two feet past—and they
whipped around in surprise as soon as they heard her.

“Oh! Briar, we didn’t see you
there. What, um, are you doing?”

Briar wobbled for a second,
brushing her hair back nervously. “Oh! Um, uh, walking around. I’m
lost. Where’s your base?”

“That way,” Panda told her,
pointing.

Well
that was easy…,
thought Briar with
a grin. What a
clever plan.

“Thanks!” she said to the two
Cbers, who continued on their way.

Briar
followed Panda’s directions until she came into sight of the flag.
It took her a few moments to find Jayfeather—he was seated
in a tall tree, swinging his legs back and forth, staring
nonchalantly over the camp. His lips were moving—he was obviously
having a conversation with Ariel, who stood guard at the bottom of
the tree—but Briar was too far away to hear him.

How
can I get him out? wondered
Briar. She’d never even
climbed a tree before.

Maybe,
she thought, I
should stick to what I’m good at.

Briar grinned to herself and
stepped away from her hiding place. She looped around Team Two’s
base until she reached the tree Jayfeather was trapped in, not caring
to muffle her footsteps.

“Hey!”

Ariel appeared in front of Briar,
hands on his hips. “Thought you could sneak around me?”

“Um, sure,” Briar replied,
glancing upwards to where Jayfeather was watching the exchange in
dismay. “I still can.”

“Haha, you’re funny,” Ariel
said, tapping her arm. “Get up there, prisoner.”

Briar sighed dramatically. “Oh,
sorry Jayfeather, I tried my best.”

She heard Jayfeather grumble
unintelligably from above. Ariel pulled Briar around to the front of
the tree and told her to climb up.

“But I can’t climb
trees,” Briar whined. “Can I just stay on the ground?”

“No. C’mon, Bri.”

Briar gave a feeble attempt to
scramble up the trunk but ended up falling on her rear. Ariel sighed.

“Well, don’t go anywhere.”

“I won’t,” Briar assured him
obediently.

A couple of minutes passed.

“Hey so when are you letting us
go?” Briar chirped.

“Let you go?!”

“Yeah. I’m bored. So is
Jayfeather, probably.”

“You’re going to have to wait
until your team comes for you.”

“But my butt hurts.”

“You can always stand up.”

“But I don’t want to.”

“Then why do you want to leave?!
It’s either sit down or stand up whether you’re here or not.”

“Maybe if I was up in that tree
I’d be more comfortable.”

“You can’t climb trees,
apparently, so that’s a no.”

“Puck could fly me up...”

“She’s trying to steal your
team’s flag with Wordsy right now, so also no.”

“Could you use your wind bag to
fly me up?”

“Don’t call it that, and no,
not for something as unimportant as that.”

Briar sighed dramatically. “Oh
well. Maybe I can get comfortable here.” She shifted around on the
root upon which she sat, trying to find a place where her back and
her legs would be at the most comfortable position. Unfortunately,
it’s hard to get comfortable against a tree with bark as rough as a
birch’s. Eventually the scraping sound of Briar’s squirming got
on Ariel’s nerves.

“Comfortable yet?” he asked
exasperatedly.

“Not...quite…,” Briar
informed him. “Almost. Could you bring me some dry leaves to sit
on?”

“No.”

“Oh.” Briar continued
squirming.

Jayfeather was still perched up
above Briar. “You haaaad to get caught, huh.”

“Hey, I tried,” Briar defended
herself.

Jayfeather’s leg jittered in
anticipation. “I really hope somebody comes for us soon.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll
get free soon,” Briar assured him.

“Maybe if you’re quiet I’ll
let you go,” Ariel cut in.

“Haha, no, maybe if you
let us go I’ll be quiet,” Briar laughed.

Jayfeather’s ears went back. “No,
please Ariel, let her go!”

Ariel pursed his lips. “Mm, I
don’t think so.”

“Suit yourself…,” Briar said
to him. “Want to hear some jokes?”

“Spare us,” Jayfeather moaned.

“No, really; I’m sure you’ll
love this one—Okay so what do polar bears eat?”

“Fish,” Ariel answered.

“Seals,” muttered Jayfeather.

“Wrong. They eat ice!
Hah!”

“That doesn’t even make sense,”
Jayfeather protested.

“Next. What did the Pink Panther
say when he stepped on an ant? ‘Dead-ant, dead-ant, dead-ant
dead-ant dead-ant dead-ant dead-annnnnt!’”

Briar continued giving out dumb
jokes and then moved on to talking about her favorite shows and
characters and pop stars and all that good stuff. As she rambled she
gained momentum until her tirade became an unstoppable avalanche. It
took her less than ten minutes to annoy Ariel so badly that he had no
choice but to get rid of her.

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!” he
exclaimed, stopping the AE mid-sentence. “You can go. You’re
free, prisoner. Please go away.”

Briar stood up. “Only if
Jayfeather can come. I won’t leave unless you free him!”

“Fine, fine. Jayfeather, you can
go too.”

“Thanks, buddy!” Jayfeather
exclaimed, leaping out of the tree. “C’mon Briar, let’s go.” 

Let's top this thing!

*Cue topping music*

Toptoptoptoptoptoptoptoptoptoptoptoptoptoptoptoptoptoptop 

Yay it's back!

Briar have you ever considered a career as a stand up comedian? Those jokes were top-notch.

Also Panda is the best at this game, wow. "Hey where's your base?" says the extremely suspicious forest lady obviously playing for the other team.

"Oh, uh, right over there." 

Yeaaaaah. Suspicious....

@HAB - XD The polar bear joke is also an inside joke between me and my sister. It's so unfunny that it's funny now.

So, take two with the formatting! This post took forever to prepare; hopefully it doesn't look weird!

Apologies for the length of the post, but I really wanted to finish Day 11. Be prepared for some excitement at the end!!

Day Eleven, Part Six: Down, Down, Downtime...

And so the two AEs turned away towards the forest with a subtle nod at one another.

“Yay, thanks for letting us go!” Briar chirped happily as she and Jayfeather cut across the center of the clearing, straight for the flag. The CBers who were ‘guarding’ it barely batted an eye; they had long since tuned out Briar’s voice.

Once they were close enough—that is, as soon as Ariel noticed what they were doing—Jayfeather lunged for the flag and dodged between the sudden surge of Cbers responding to Ariel’s frantic shouts. When it became clear that Jayfeather would not make it out untagged, he hurled the flag to Briar, who held her hands out wide for it.

It rammed into her side and she fell to the ground, knocking Booksy over as she tumbled. Breathing fast, Briar leapt to her feet and wrenched the flag off its stout wooden pole. She stumbled away as the small crowd noticed her, Ariel at its head. It surged after her, but Briar pumped her feet as fast as she could, swiftly disappearing into the woods. She heard some shouts—and whoops—and after a moment she was all alone, with no one after her. Briar stopped running.

She breathed in and out, startled by the abrupt serenity that had befallen the woods. The surrounding leaves whispered softly, rocking to the steady beat of the lanky branches from which they grew. Late afternoon sunlight dappled the forest floor with warm, hazy green and gold patterns that laced the vibrant undergrowth in intricate, mysterious designs. Briar herself was covered in these shadows, and they melded over her body as she turned round, searching for signs of the Cbers through the gently-illuminated tree trunks stretching off into the distance.

Suddenly, the peace and quiet was ripped apart by the cacophonous sound of two feet rapidly churning through fallen leaves. Two moments later, Jayfeather burst out of the trees, panting heavily. He grabbed onto a tree trunk and came to a jolting halt.

“So here’s the scoop,” he gasped. “Um, team two already has our flag and that’s why they aren’t after us anymore.”

“So we lost?” Briar pouted.

“No not yet. If we can get their flag to our base first then we win! So run!!”

Jayfeather snatched the flag from Briar’s hands and zipped away, faster than she could ever even think about going. Briar jogged off after him, but he was always about a hundred feet ahead of her.
They practically flew through the forest. Victory was in reach! Briar’s lungs were burning, but it was so exhilarating to believe that their team might pull through at the last possible moment. What would everyone think when they beat those odds!

“ALMOST THERE!” Jayfeather shouted jubilantly. Their base was in sight!

Briar watched Jayfeather hurtle over the invisible boundary and into their camp. She watched the few Cbers who were there jerk in surprise as they saw him wielding Team Two’s flag. She watched Jayfeather nearly run into Joan as he came to a stop. Briar watched all the Cbers grow closer until she too was in the camp.

“We won! I got their flag!” Jayfeather was declaring.

“Were we in time?!” Briar cut in.

The Cbers looked from Jayfeather to Briar. “We don’t know,” they admitted. “Either way it was a close call.”

“How will we know who got there first?” Briar asked. She desperately hoped they had won.

There was a little pause. Just when Joan was about speak, Briar’s question was answered for her—in the form of Team Two and the rest of Team One entering their base.

“Hey, it was a good try, Jayfeather and Briar,” Hotairballoon said, emerging from the crowd. “We almost won, but they got our flag in the end.” He, too, looked disappointed that Team One hadn’t won.

Jayfeather and Briar frowned. “It was still fun, though,” Jayfeather said to Briar.

“Yeah,” she agreed.

“That was actually exciting!” Nighthawk exclaimed, following Hotairballoon out of the cluster of Team Two members. “Briar, I can’t believe you actually decided to play.”

Briar frowned. “Well gee, thanks.”

“We went for your flag while you were all looking for traps to dismantle!” Puck exclaimed with a grin.

“And yet no traps were ever even tripped!” Panda declared happily.

“See, nothing to worry about after all,” Ariel said with a look at Wordsy.

“Yeah, I guess it was kinda fun,” Autumn Leaves laughed.

“Mhm,” Elvina agreed.

“What do we do now?” wondered Winter Lilac. Everyone turned to Autumn Leaves. She had the infamous phone with her.

“Oh.” With a nervous grimace, Autumn retrieved the phone from her back pocket. Everyone gathered around to see what it would do.

It was silent for a few seconds before flashing to life. The all-too-familiar scoreboard popped onto screen. “CBers” had another mark under it!

Wonderful job, Chatterboxers, came the murderer’s voice. I’m glad you all decided to have fun and play. Congrats to Team Two for winning!

I don’t really have much else to say here. Cassy is safe and sound now. How about you all enjoy the rest of your day?

With that, the phone shut off, leaving the CBers standing dumbstruck in a circle.

Cassy was safe. That was good.

They were safe. That was good.

They couldn’t believe they were safe.

But the murderer was right; there was nothing to—nothing to worry about right now. They’d had an actual fun time playing Capture the Flag. They’d be lying if they said they wanted to go back to clue hunting right now.

“Maybe we should,” Joan said. “Maybe today could be our vacation day.”

“Vacation from vacation from vacation from vacation,” Winter Lilac murmured, amused at her personal scenario.

“We can go swimming,” suggested Brooklyn Newsie hopefully.

“I mean I guess we could try to relax today,” Hotairballoon said. “We should go tell Lily and Pierre that Cassy is safe first though.”

“Sounds good.”

~ ~ ~

The Chatterboxers gathered their things and headed back into the house. They informed a relieved Lily that her sister was safe, although was unfortunately once more out of their grasp. They weren’t entirely sure yet if they wanted to go off and find her again, or leave her be. It was apparent that things could go wrong either way.

The CBers did end up deciding to enjoy themselves for the remainder of the day. They played board games, group hide-and-seek, and went swimming. Hotairballoon went kayaking with Ariel, Jayfeather, and Pierre.

Soon enough the sun began to set over the parched Lake Lelillo in a radiant display of golds and oranges. The CBers watched it go down from the balcony, capturing its beauty in their cameras or painting easels.
Once the sun was down and the moon came up, the air started to cool and a breeze began to blow towards the lake. The CBers retreated inside to watch movies and eat dinner. Afterwards, when it was sufficiently late, they headed into bed.

But at around 12:30 AM, one CBer felt her stomach begin to rumble.

She sat up, and it rumbled again. Why am I hungry?! I just ate dinner! Oh, well I guess that was five hours ago. I guess this is what happens when you stay up late.

The CBette looked around, frowning. She didn’t particularly want to get out of her nice warm bed—why, she wasn’t even wearing her socks!—but she was certain she wouldn’t be able to get to sleep if she was so hungry. So she threw back the covers and stepped out of bed, bracing herself to walk across the surprisingly cool floors of the Noodle Manor.

The CBette exited her bedroom, snuck through the living room, trekked along the hallway, and tiptoed down the stairs. The mansion looked very different in the dark—a mixture of spooky and stately. It kind of reminded her of her own home, for which she felt a pang of longing at that moment. She wondered how the farmer was doing on her own. The CBette felt selfish for leaving her on her own so soon after becoming her assistant, but the farmer had insisted she accept the vacation invitation in order to solve her own mystery.

Winter Lilac (formerly Dragonrider) sighed, brushing those thoughts aside. She didn’t want to disturb anyone while she was getting a midnight snack, so she set all her focus on being quiet. It didn’t take her long to find the kitchen...it was just through this dining room.

But wait, what were the lights doing on in there?

Winter Lilac entered the dim dining room, where the lights from the kitchen spilled out, bright and cold, onto the red carpeted floor. They bounced painfully into Winter’s eyes, and she blinked to let them adjust.

When she could make out the forms beyond the kitchen door, Winter Lilac spotted Lily sitting within at the small kitchen table. She was talking on the phone, feet propped up on the table, facing away from the door.

Winter Lilac knew that it’s wrong to eavesdrop. It is especially wrong to eavesdrop on someone who trusts you. But when Winter heard the word ‘Cassy’ come out of Lily’s mouth, she just couldn’t turn away.

“Cassy! Slow down, slow down! I know you have a lot to explain! But I really don’t know what’s going on and it doesn’t make sense--”

Winter put a hand over her mouth. Lily had successfully contacted Cassy…!!

“I know, I’m really glad you picked up. I don’t know why I didn’t think about calling you sooner. I thought you wouldn’t answer.”

There was a really long pause.

“I know. I was there. They don’t know why you’re doing it, though, and—well, I think I do, but I hope I’m wrong! Cassy, is something wrong with the Mystery?!”

An even longer pause.

“F-failing?”

“Cassy, please just explain!”

“I know. I know. But how—how did I let myself be influenced?”

“You think it affected me too?” Lily was sitting ramrod straight. “Shoot, well that explains it. But--”
Lily listened very intently to what Cassy had to say. The she relaxed. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Oh my goodness, I cannot believe that happened to me.” She shook her head. “But—why didn’t you just tell me sooner?!”

“You mean you wanted to let me play along?”

“Well how would you fix it? I guess prevention is the best medicine. Sorry I was so clueless or I would’ve helped!”

Lily stood, tense. “I wish we could talk in person. This would be a lot easier. Do you have any thoughts on what’s causing it to break?”

“No, no, I definitely get what you’re saying there. It’s pretty obvious there are holes in it.”

“Hm. I’ll think about that. And about that dizziness--”

“You TOLD them?! Who’d you tell??”

Lily laughed, sounding nervous and impressed at the same time. “Oh. Good to know.”

“Did they? Oh. Hm.”

She was quiet for some time again, her good mood dissipating. “I see. Thanks for telling me, sis. Yeah. Okay. I’ll see you later, then. Bye.”

Lily walked over to the wall and hung the phone back up. Winter Lilac’s mind reeled with the broken pieces of information she had allowed into her mind. It was like treasure in a treasure chest. She was sure that if she sat down with it she could connect some puzzle pieces—but right now she had a much more immediate problem to worry about: Lily.

The chaperone turned, almost in slow motion, from the phone to the open door. Winter Lilac briefly considered running before, all of a sudden, Lily was yelping in plain shock.

So much for running.

“Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy,” Lily said nervously, plastering on a grin. “You, uh, here for a midnight snack?”

Winter Lilac blinked. “I am, actually.”

“You’re not...here for something else? You didn’t hear anything did you?”

“I did, actually…,” Winter Lilac responded. “Um, I heard a lot. About the Mystery. Which is apparently breaking…” Winter Lilac drew in an excited breath. “Lily, I don’t know if you knew this or not, but I came here to find out about the Mystery. It’s the whole reason I accepted the invitation.”

“You’re right about that,” said Lily, albeit warily. “The Mystery is the reason everyone accepted the invitations.”

Winter Lilac looked down. When she drew her gaze upwards once more, her eyes held a desperate light.

“Tell me about the Mystery. Please, Lily. I need to know.”

“I don’t want to make Cassy faint again,” Lily blurted.

“Wait, what?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Lily said hastily. “Would it be too much to ask you to forget about this whole thing? I’ll make you a muffin.”

Winter Lilac shook her head stubbornly. “No. Because then I’ll just go talk about it with everyone else. And you obviously don’t want that. But I need to know—tell me why I did what I did! What makes a murderer do what they do?”

“It’s called the Mystery,” Lily answered.

“I know!” Winter Lilac shot back. “But what is the Mystery?”

Lily pursed her lips. “Okay. I can tell you a little. But you’re going to have to accept what I give you.”

“Okay.”

“You’ve been ‘the murderer’ before. But you woke up at the end.”

Winter Lilac blinked. “Yes. How do you know?”

Lily waved her hand dismissively. “The Mystery is the driving force that caused you to become it. It’s the driving force behind all ski lodges. Make sense? It’s as simple as that.”

Winter Lilac nodded, brows furrowed. But what about the caves? What about the words? What about you guys trying to hide it from us? Why can’t we know about it? What about ‘checking on the Mystery’?

“Well, apparently it’s breaking for some reason.”

“Wait, how can it break?”

“We don’t really know.”

“Where is it? How is it breaking?”

“We don’t know.”

“How do you know it’s breaking then??”

“Things that don’t usually happen are happening.” Lily paused. There were a quite a lot of things she could tell Winter Lilac right now. This CBette was a special case, but she didn’t need to know that…

“You know how you remember your other ski lodge?” Lily decided to ask.

“Yeah,” Winter Lilac replied.

“That doesn’t usually happen. The Chatterboxers aren’t typically aware they’re at a ski lodge, either; they view it as a vacation. Although that’s not really a rule, so it’s not too much of a big deal. Chatterboxers don’t typically remember past ski lodges. They don’t usually bring stuff over from other ski lodges. They don’t ever leave—remember the CAPTCHAs from the farm? Remember how they left?”
Winter Lilac’s forehead wrinkled. “Wait. So you mean everything that happens—is manipulated by this Mystery?”

Lily shrugged. “Not in the way you may think, but yeah, basically. Also. Chaperones aren’t really supposed to, you know, die.”

Winter Lilac’s breath fell short. She remembered the farmer, and how he’d sadly died at the end of their vacation.

After a hearty moment of silence—in which Winter Lilac was desperately trying to figure out how Lily knew all this—she came up with another question.

“Surely there are exceptions?”

“...Well, yeah,” Lily replied. “But when they all start adding up like this...Plus, Chatterboxers are definitely not supposed to be aware of the Mystery. Even the fact that you overheard us talking about it...”

“Oh.” Winter Lilac was thrilled to finally have her eyes open. But the way Lily was talking, it didn’t seem like such a good thing for her to know the truth.

“Well...what happens if it breaks?”

Lily arched her eyebrows. “No more ski lodges. Not like you know them.”

“...Oh. Well in that case, I’m sorry...”

“It’s okay,” Lily said quickly. “It’s not really your fault it’s failing.

“So you and Cassy are trying to fix it?” Winter Lilac was filled with a sudden surge of understanding.

“That’s why Cassy’s working with the murderer!”

Lily nodded. “Yep!”

“Did you know?”

“No. Actually, funny story, the Mystery’s been affecting me since around day three or four. Pretty hilarious huh?”

“Um. Yeah.”

Lily walked over to the fridge and pulled out a jug of milk. “Want some?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

Lily pulled two glasses out of the counter and set them down with a gentle clack. Winter Lilac watched creamy milk fill each one and accepted hers gratefully when it was brought to her. She took a sip as Lily sat back down at the table. The chaperone’s face was calm and appeared sleepy.

“Lily, how do you know so much about the Mystery?”

Lily smiled. “I can’t tell you that. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Thanks for telling me what you did.”

“Oh, you’re welcome. Just remember our deal. Don’t tell anyone else.”

Winter Lilac nodded, yawning. She felt exhausted, but now her mind was all but tired. She wanted to keep thinking about the mystery of the Mystery! She had actually gotten what she’d come here for!

“I guess you’d better head back up to bed then,” Lily told Winter Lilac after they’d both finished their milk.

“Yeah. See you tomorrow,” Lilac said to Lily.

“Good night,” replied Lily.

Winter Lilac headed back upstairs. She climbed into bed without even brushing her teeth again. She lay awake for most of the night, marveling over her newfound discovery, relieved that her mission was finally complete. 

----------------

OoooOOooOOOoo, I've been planning that part for MONTHS!! (And Day 12 is going to be even better! :3)

I finally let you hear what kind of stuff Cassy's been telling the CBers--no more cutting out the explanations. How much of that was new to you, and how much had you already figured out?

By the way, I put some foreshadowing in this installment. Did you catch it?