Please bring this to the top. Also, my dear friends, Day 1 has been done yesterday in the post above. Please do keep in mind all is well, and your friend is safe. We shall attend to Day 2 briefly.

Creepy! RIP Malachite...

Who on earth does this The Fortune of Death person think they are? How dare they-

Quill, chill! Oh wait, that rhymed!

And?

T.F.D couldn't have killed Malachite, the person was downstairs with us all.

Then who did it, Zeon?

... I don't know.

*Facepalm*

I do not trust this place one bit, Ashlee.

Me neither. 

Day 2 My Friends ~ (I have a spectacular ending, so do keep in wait)

It is oddly spectacular that when someone dies the whole world seems to stop. Poor Quantum spends her evenings crying, writing depressed poems, and crying some more. Wingnut sits hidden among the books flung to the ground in pain, tapping the Pencil of Logic against the ground, thinking. 

"Wht if we leave?" Wignut asks.

"No! I will not leave dear Malachite's body alone in that... that... maze," Quantum says, sobbing.

Wingnut gets up and wanders to the window, looking out to the Rose Maze beyond. Such a beautiful place, Malachite would love it if she were still alive.

~ ~ ~

September, Kestrel, and the CAPTCHA Chester were all gathered in the dining room, enjoying a quite festive activity of eating sandwiches. 

"Did you know sandwiches were invented when a man so big in his poker would play all day and wanted to eat something non-messy that could be held in one hand?" September says cheerfully.

"That's... interesting," Kestrel says between a mouthful of her very protected caramel ice cream. "But why the name?"

"4h erl of snandwih," Chester says.

"Ah, okay. Hey, Gossamer, Zeon, why don't you two come join us!" Kestrel shouts, waving to the passing AEs in the hall. 

Unfortunately, unfortunate events were very prominent in that hotel. Too prominent. Zeon races in, slipping unintentionally on his own sandals, and falls flat on his face. Gossamer, running in her heels to keep up, slips and steps right on Zeon's head.

A flash of darkness rushes over the room as the lights are suddenly stolen from their youth.

"Ahhhh!" Numerous voices, both unfamiliar and known cry out.

A gasp, moan, and thud were heard within that interval as someone pulls open the curtains of the cafeteria. Glass shatters, footsteps heard, as a flood of beautiful mountain sunlight floods into the large room.

Near the door was Zeon, unconscious, the back of his green-dyed hair soaked with blood. Gossamer kneeled at his side, holding her ankle with one hand and pressing against Zeon's wound with the other. She let out a deep moan and suddenly passed out from the pain of her ankle.

"Zeon!" Quill shouts, racing into the room with Ashlee quickly behind. "Oh my goodness, who did this?"

No one answers. Ashlee looks around the room and sees numerous things at once: Gossamer and Zeon unconscious, September wide-eyed and paralyzed with shock, her CAPTCHA nowhere in sight, broken lightbulbs, and Kestrel... dead. Two clear puncture wounds marked neatly on her neck, swollen and soaked with her own blood. 

At the sight of all this, Ashlee faints, collapsing against her unconscious AE. Quill, unafraid of such dismays, slowly approaches the dead girl.

"Kestrel?" She whispers, afraid to break the silence of the room. "Kestrel?"

Now, there are times where being quiet are good, needed in fact. Then there are times where the silence penetrates one's brain, makes them paranoid, every creak of the floor, break of a branch, sets them scrambling for a weapon. This was one of those times.

The squeal of an old wooden door rung out ever so slightly, and Quill jumped. She grabbed the only weapon available, a butter knife still with soft butter on it in September's hands.

"Who are you? Come out you... you foul, desolate-brained beast!" Quill cries, spinning around aimlessly in panic.

Someone puts a hand on her shoulder and she screams, whipping around and whacking the now-not-paralyzed September in the face with the knife.

"Ouch!" She cries, holding her cheek. "What... What happened here? Where is Chester?"

The first thing someone needs to hear after a catastrophe is that it was all a dream, everything will be okay. Not that there is another crisis. 

"You've got to be... Got to be... You are not serious, right?" Quill asks, her face going stony white. "Poor Kestrel..."

At the pronunciation of the hated word poor - for often relating to death - the assistants and The Fortune of Death race into the open cafeteria.

"Oh my, not another one! This is just absolutely frightful, isn't it, my friends?" T.F.D asks, frowning. "Ah well, when their time comes, their time comes."

"Not by a brute murder! And my dear Zeon, h-he's..." Ashlee starts, having woken up.

"Dead? Not in the least!" T.F.D exclaims, spinning with his arms in the air. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"What? Kestrel being dead? Zeon being-?" September starts.

"Hmm? No, no, I moved on from that topic already. Catch up with the present, my friend! I was saying this hotel, isn't it wonderful?"

"I think not," Ashlee mumbles, lifting Zeon into her arms. "Zeon, are you okay? Zeon?"

As the assistants took away Kestrel's blood-soaked, limp body, everyone held in their screams of torturous pain and sorrow.

"Wh-Where am I?" Gossamer asks, sitting up.

"Gossamer!" Quill cries, runing up to the AE. "Are you okay? You fainted!"

"I am well, but my ankle has been wrecked, I fear. And Zeon- I... slipped and my heel stabbed him."

Ashlee's face goes blank, and she turns, straight-faced.

"You stabbed him with your heel?!" Her anger, frustration, and pain was released all in a flooding wave. "He's my AE, my sweet, sweet AE! HE MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!"

The Fortune of Death coughs into his gloved fist, trying to get everyone's attention. He repeats the action for the effect.

"Ashlee! Enough, please, my friend. Zeon will be fine, it's just the slightest of puncture wounds about two inches wide and half an inch deep in his scalp. He'll be okay! It's a wonderful day, as I said."

Ashlee stands up, and Gossamer struggles to keep her down. September rushes forward and holds her back.

"How is this a wond-" Ashlee begins again, furious.

"I shall be going. Assistants, take my friend, will you not?" T.F.D asks, turning on his heels and walking out of the room. He closes the giant wooden doors behind him.

"Ah, such a wonderful day," he says to himself. "I love days like this. It's such a shame no one else enjoys them as much as I."

The assistants take Zeon's weakened, bloody body out the doors, chattering to themselves. Left with nothing, nowhere to put her anger, Ashlee sinks to the ground, sobbing. Quill sits by her side, comforting her sweet CBer.

September helps Gossamer out of the room to rest her ankle, and as they say, all's well that ends well. But where is the well in this seriously not-so-pleasant situation? That group of AEs, CBers, and CAPTCHAs have yet to find out. News spread quickly of the death and injuries that afternoon, leaving everyone more solemn than before.

But all's well that ends well. Or at least, they say.

Death Toll: Rest in sweet peace, Kestrel... and Zeon? Or does he live another day?

When death touches one's heart, it leaves them broken. Unless, of course, you make their death a time of celebration as I have done for so many. Rest in the sweetest of peace, my friends. ~ The Fortune of Death. 

My friends, I just wanted to let you know, I have not forgotten about you! These people:

Destiny Silverstone, Ember, Nebula, elementgirl, Anna, Sequoia, Connie, Stan, and Fleetfoot will be mentioned or active within the next one or two days, I promise. HAB and Spyro will be in those as well, although the reason I did not put them in the list is for they were in Day 1.

Overall, your lovely stay here will include everyone actively! But with twenty-three very depressed, upset guests, it takes time for me to equally include all of them.

As for Zeon, I cannot tell you of his life status at the moment, you'll have to stay here longer. And Chester... where did he go? Also, I must give you my deepest apologies, I treated Chester as a CAPTCHA, I forgot he was an AE.

Enjoy your stay, my friends! And let's hope that all's well that ends well.

This is great so far! Might you be. . . Killim?

Ooh... this is getting suspensefull! Who is the murderer? Is it one of us? Who will be next? And, most importantly, where can I get a brownie?

*dramatic music plays*

seriously though, I'm hungry and craving chocolate. Keep up the good writing T.F.D! 

Kestrel! No!

Despite my friend being dead, this is a very good ski lodge so far, and I am enjoying it very much. Except for, you know, the dying. *whispers* It's so creeeepy!!!

Day Three ~

My friends, all such a wonderful bunch, no? Depressed, angry, furious in fact, but all such a wonderful bunch. It is such a shame they are displeased with the pleasures of the hotel and wonderful weather, but ah well. Some people just are not appreciative, I fear.

"Anna, my friend! How do you like it here so far?" I ask, a slight jump in my step.

"It's disastrous! Tremendous! We are dropping like flies!" Anna cries in dismay.

So unappreciative...

"Well, I do have a pleasant surprise for you all today. The Rose Ma-"

"Zeon's missing!" Nebula screams, running down the carpeted halls. "He was sleeping in Room 5, and he is gone."

Oh my, not another one.

"Excuse me, Nebula, my friend-"

"I am not your friend."

"-Zeon is around here, probably partying with his AE friends!" I say cheerfully.

Anna and Nebula stare at me as if I had been struck by a cast iron pan. Which I have, when I was younger... but that's another story.

"Zeon does not party with AEs, T.F.D. I would know, I am an AE myself after all," Anna says proudly.  

Just most unexpectedly, someone light bounces on the back of my shoulders, laughing.

"Heeyyy!"

I turn around, eyebrows raised, just to be met with the face of HAB.

"You are in a good mood, my friend," I say.

"Good mood? No! I wanted to tell you Zeon's missing and Gossamer's ankle is still broken because your assistants are fools!" HAB says, frowning. "Aren't you going to do anything about it?"

I laugh wholeheartedly at this comment. Fools... Hmm, I would just have said slightly unproductive, stay-in-bed-all-day-and-do-nothing assistants. They lack the "assist" in "assistant" I fear. 

"Ah, she'll heal. Ankles are just unuseful parts of the body anyways! Someone can lose an ankle and still walk-"

"No, they cannot," Nebula says, facepalming.

"-In their dreams, they can walk," I finish smoothly. "Dreams are what make the world spin... without them, who are we to be? Now come, I wish to show you the Rose Maze! Maybe Zeon went there to admire it's beauty as well."

Grudgingly the group of not-so-happy campers follow, whispering among themselves. Such a pity, I've been preparing this party for the past ten years in honor of the wonderful, still very much living, man who created this hotel.

A few minutes later we arrive outside in the pouring rain, yet just noticeably lighter than the day they first came. I spread my arms wide, grinning as lightning flashes behind me.

"Friends! The place I have been waiting to show you, the Rose Maze. Isn't it beautiful?"

Nebula and HAB glance at each other questioningly, while Anna nods her head in the most obvious fake way. Why, if only they understood it's beauty.

"Uhuh, now can we go back inside?" HAB finally asks.

"No, no, my friends! Follow me further, it is even more stunning once you are lost inside its world," I say, grinning. "Come along!"

Minutes past as I bring the group through the twists and turns of a maze I have learned to memorize so well. Then I remember - my assistants buried both the bodies here. Knowing my friends, it will displease them deeply seeing their lost souls.

"Ehm... Follow me," I say hurriedly, turning away from the center of the maze. "I just remembered it's... unhealthy to be outside in the rain."

"Wha-" Anna starts, before a scream splits the air like sirens.

Ah, screams... I am all too familiar with them.

"Noooooo!" A girl yells, with an audible tumble.

A young girl, Destiny I believe, breaks through the wall of the maze, falling at my feet.

"Oh dear, are you okay?" I ask, helping Destiny rise.

Just then, an AE, Sequoia, falls through as well.

"Since when has it started raining friends and friends?" I say, frowning.

"Since you decide to drag dead bodies through a Rose Maze!" Destiny cries.

"It is a very informal way of doing such activities," Sequoia adds.

The air seems to fall still as the other three take in the news.

"D-Dead bodies?" Nebula whispers.

This is exactly what I was afraid of...

"My friends, this is a complete misunderstanding! The Rose Maze is where my assistants buried your friends, there shouldn't be anyone in the open unless-"

"Unless another AE is a maniac!" Anna cries, hiding behind HAB.

"What on earth-"

Then I turn around, and my face drops. My was-in-a-comma friend, Zeon, blood dripping from his jaws, bent on all fours, a creepy look on his face, stands right in front of us. He spits out flesh, and I scream. Now mind you, I do not do that often...

The whole group starts screaming, Anna is crying, Sequoia standing oddly still, evidently paralyzed - or crazy - one of the two.

"Run!" HAB shouts, pushing Nebula forward.

I grab the paralyzed AE's arm and drag her along as we race through the maze. The patting of Zeon's bloody feet on the grass makes me sick. I've spent so long tending this maze, just for it to be ruined by cannibalism! Or AEanism...?

"This way!" I say, turning left. That's when I notice everyone besides HAB and Nebula are gone.

"My friends, where did the others go?"

The piercing screams answer my question.

HAB pushes his way through my perfectly pruned roses, not stopping when I call his name. Nebula follows, leaving me only one choice - to follow along. We break through the walls to enter at the feet of a mass bloody scene.

"I had to do it, I had no choice! He was at Destiny's throat!" Anna sobs, falling to the ground.

In her hand is a single thorn, a two-inch long thorn from my rose bushes. At the poor AE's feet lay Zeon, pooled in blood and believe it or not, dead. 

"My friends, this is such a sorrowful sight. My apologies that you had to experience this," I say, putting a smile on my face.

My optimistic attitude doesn't work, everyone is sobbing into one another's shoulders. All but Sequoia.

"Miss, why do you not cry like the others?" I ask.

"She's traumatized," Destiny says, hands on her throat.

The girl seems shocked her skin is still intact. Ah, why does this all have to happen today of all days? I really wanted them to experience the Rose Maze peacefully. How did...

"Zeon's dead," HAB confirms, checking the AE's pulse. "He's dead."

Once this sinks in yet again, everyone seems to break. Sequoia turns, stone-faced, and exits the maze. HAB and Nebula follow, heads hung, a tear rolling down Nebula's cheek.

Anna stares at her hands, the thorn, Zeon's dead body, and back at her hands, shocked that she committed murder to save someone's life. 

"Anna, my friend-" I start, stepping toward her.

"No! NO, stay away! I might kill you too!" She cries, sobbing. "I'm a monster! I killed my own friend!"

I back up, hands held out.

"Listen, Anna, you did what was right," I say carefully. "You are not a monster-"

"Just go, okay? Just go."

And with that, I turn on my heels, whistle for my assistants to bury my friend's body and exit the Rose Maze. Why do all my friends hate me so much? Now the wonderful, gorgeous maze is tainted with my friend's blood, the stunning stormy weather not so beautiful anymore.

How can I enjoy anything when my guests are so depressed?

How will they live on, knowing what happened this afternoon? Cannibalism from a person so unlikely... How can anyone live on?

Death Toll: RIP Zeon. May the Rose Maze accept you as one of your own.

While many terrible things happened this afternoon - cannibalism, murder, death, shed tears - one thing lays true: in your hearts, you will find happiness and peace once again, my friends. This I promise. ~ The Fortune of Death.

This is insane, The Fortune of Death! You are insane... I love the story, it's the creepiest thing I've read since the Hotel Le'Faye. But Zeon... AND Kestrel, Malachite, RIP.

My sweet brother! How did you turn into a cannibal? How did you wake up?

*Zeon's Ghost* I... I don't know.

Zeon?

*Disappears in a cloud of smoke*

Z-Zeon?

He's gone, Quill. He is only in our imagination now...

I cannot wait to see your future installments of the story, T.F.D!