Oh, my gosh, I'm so behind on this! In writing I'm already on day 12... here's the final part of day 9!

Day nine part six

"Go over the fence? Are you sure?" Bean asked.

"Absolutely," Marigold confirmed. AW was surprised at her confidence.

"Really? It's just that you didn't want to come to the fence in the first place, and now you're saying we should do something risky about it..." Win said.

"No, you're right to be confused. It's just that... I... understand now," Marigold explained slowly.

"What, what do you understand?" Reese pleaded.  Marigold turned and faced them, slowly, slowly.

"That the fence was made to keep the secrets out," she said. "And that we are going to let them in."

~~~~~

At dinner, Catsquill was discussing D&D with Darkking. (And also Harry Potter. Somehow the two came to be related.) But out of the corner of his eye, he was watching Marigold and Winter, who were talking together in whispers. The look of them unsettled him somehow. He knew they were up to something, and he was wondering whether it was good or bad.

Reese and Devin, meanwhile, had invented a new food game: on the count of three, they both picked a food from the vast array that was before them, then once they had both picked something, they were obligated to try the two different foods at the same time. Obviously, the two mischievous AEs went for the weirdest foods they could find. It made for combos like margarine and hot sauce; applesauce and pudding; and, Devin's favorite, gravy and an entire wedge of lemon. Some of the others decided to join in, taking small bites of the crazy combinations- usually to spit them back up almost immediately. 

Catsquill and Darkking got distracted from their conversation by the craziness, but Marigold and AW didn't. They were the only ones who knew what all was said in that conversation... and it certainly concerned the Mystery, though they didn't know what it was called at the time.

Dinner ended in higher spirits than was usual for the group; Devin's games always seemed to bring some amount of happiness and energy to the guests. Simul was glad to see it; she did think that everyone was too mopey all the time. But she could understand why they'd be dispirited- probably better than most, she could understand.

As per usual, the guests dispersed after dinner, breaking off into groups to play games, watch movies, read books and the like. Darkking had taken up an offer from Devin to race around the hallways of the Fire corridor. Mor was in the fire dorm at the time trying to read, but she soon found herself beside the two boys, ready to prove she could be faster than them- which she did, when she used her wings.

"HEY!" Devin shouted. "THAT'S CHEATING!"

"No it isn't; there aren't any rules to cheat on!" DK pointed out.

"Oh, right. In that case..." Devin unfurled his black, dragonic wings and took off, leaving Darkking behind in last place.

"Oh, hey!" Darkking said to himself, "I have wings too!"

And so he bounded into the air after the other two. Devin looked behind himself to see Darkking gaining on him and propelled himself forward- smashing right into Mor. Both of them tumbled to the ground. Darkking landed beside them.

"Maybe it would be better to do this outside," he suggested. They both agreed, though Devin didn't quite see the chaos as a problem.

As those three trooped out to the vast lawn, Bean, Estrella, Porcelain, Marigold, Catsquill and Wren were plotting about bringing something totally new to Magicae Palace: they were going to put on a play. Marigold and Catsquill were to take the lead rolls as a bold scholar and a rogue knight; Bean was to be a wise queen; Wren, a quiet friend and advisor; Estrella, a plotting warrior seeking revenge; and Porcelain a mighty dragon. They planned and laughed for hours; many of them thought of it as one of the main highlights of the ski lodge.

It's a shame the play never got to be put on...

Devin, Darkking, and Mor, meanwhile, stopped their wild flying races and sat on the lawn, catching their breath and chatting. The light of the sun was dimming to a glowing orange tinted with a soft pink. After a while, they sat in silence, enjoying their time together and the view they had.

It was a good night for everyone- a rare and welcome thing to happen. Even those who weren't with either of the groups found themselves content, and the elemental instructors too- it was good for them to see their students having fun for once. 

Slowly but surely, the activities came to an end, and the the guests started going off to bed. The group doing the play was eager to see when they might be able to put it on. As the night wore on, more of the guests fell asleep... except for three of them.

Agent Winter and Marigold met up in the entrance hall, sitting cross-legged on the stone floor. Win shifted around and looked from side to side. Even though she doubted anyone was up, much less somewhere near them, she couldn't help but be on guard.

"We talked about it plenty at dinner," Win hissed. "Why'd you want to meet again?"

"Because I've realized something," Marigold replied calmly, "About the fence. I forget what day it was that Simul first put it up... but it wasn't there when we first came, and she was acting so strange the day she did it. And I was thinking about how we have to go over it, to find out what's beyond it... and, I guess, I just put some of the pieces together.

"Simul had to put up the fence because someone had already gone beyond it and found whatever it is that's being kept from us. Someone found out before us," Marigold whispered.

AW gaped at her. "Someone found out...? But, who? Do you know?"

"I think I do," Marigold replied, her voice filled with both excitement and fear. "The murderer killed Gracia and we think it's because of what she knew. So I'm think it was either Gracia... or the murderer themselves. That would explain the coincidence of Gracia's death just after she was going to tell us something... that maybe the murderer didn't want us to know."

"But- but, then," AW started, her voice now rising above a whisper, "How could both of them know? Do you think they both went beyond where the fence is? Or do you think, like, one found out from the other, or something?"

"That's the part I don't know," Marigold admitted, "And I'm at a loss for how we could find it out."

"But... why would it be so important, to know how someone found it out?" Winter asked.

"Because I'm thinking, if we could figure out the 'how'... we might also know the 'why'. And, that could show us how we could find out more, should the plan with going over the fence fail," Marigold explained.

AW took a deep breath and nodded slowly. And she thought getting the information she had before was a lot to take in... but, she reasoned with herself, it was!

"Okay. Okay. So, we need more ideas... on how to find out... how Gracia knew everything, and how the murderer knows? But how can we do that if we don't know who the murderer is?" AW questioned.

"So... that's just it," Marigold whispered. Win had to lean forward to hear her. "We have to find out."

Win opened her mouth- but no words ever got to come out. She was pierced in the back by an arrow with a poisoned tip. Marigold followed.

The murderer lowered their bow and gazed at their two victims for a moment before turning away from the scene and tiptoeing back to bed. 

~~~~~ Top! 

Day ten part one~

Caspian took a deep, shuddering breath and picked up his spoon with a shaking hand. He was making a valiant effort at a normal morning after the death of his CBer. Most people either whispered consoling things to him or averted their eyes. It seemed everyone at the table had experienced the same thing. Reese wasn't even at breakfast; Alex had seen her, as a cat, darting up a staircase, away from the entrance hall.

Estrella looked around the once again silent table; including her there were only a dozen guests left. She gazed around the table at them all in turn; Alex with a book in her lap; Caspian without his usual composure; Darkking whispering to Mor; Porcelain with an unfocused look; Nihil sitting almost perfectly still; Bean appearing almost restless; Wren eating in tiny bites; Catsquill poking some cold eggs with his fork; and Devin bouncing his feet. And Reese, who wasn't there. The only ones left. Estrella felt a little empty, knowing they were alone like this now.

Someone's spoon clattered into their bowl, making everyone jump. They had all been lost in thought or spacing out. It was Porcelain's. She gazed into her bowl for a moment before getting up abruptly and leaving. Nihil's eyes flickered around at he other guests for a moment before she got up silently and went after her CBer.

Estrella took a deep breath and got up to leave. The rest slowly followed.

~~~~~

Aqua paced his classroom, awaiting his students... but, he was dreading their arrival... there was only one of them left. It was Wren. She would be all alone, with him. For so long, it seemed, they had Marigold as well... but now...

Numbers were dwindling in all the classrooms. Earth had the most with four- Caspian, Darkking, Catsquill and Estrella. None of the other classrooms were down to one like water was, but Alex and Bean were the only ones for life, and Mor and Devin the only ones in fire. Air had three left; Nihil, Porcelain, and Reese, the latter of whom was missing from the lesson. Caeli, like Aqua had, excused Reese of it and tried to make conversation with her other two students. But Porcelain seemed oddly distant that day, and, well, Nihil was always distant. Caeli found herself defeated and gave up on small talk.

Porcelain was thinking about Marigold and Win, of course... she was thinking about their warnings to her, that going after these secrets could end in being killed, and now, to look at what happened... this was no coincidence. 

Blowing a breeze about the room, she also came to realize something else; that, even though the magic is what brought her to the ski lodge, it wasn't about that at all. People were being killed; secrets were being uncovered. the whole focus of Magicae Palace was, at that point, far from the magic it had promised the CBers. She almost thought it was a shame- many of them had dreamed of this, having magic to use at their fingertips, but they had of course been distracted, barely paying attention to this gift they had. Really, how many people were able to use magic like they could? Enough to get invited to a castle by a magical lady to learn how to use it?

Porcelain took a deep breath and tried her very hardest to concentrate on her magic. These were magic lessons! She was learning how to harness the power of the air! She may as well use it to its full potential. She blew a breeze around the room and let it rustle her CAPTCHA's fur, then blow around Caeli's feet, which made her laugh a little.

"You've been making good progress, Porcelain!" Caeli said brightly.

"Thanks," Porcelain replied softly. Yes, it was fun to learn this tricks, and so cool that she should have the ability to... but what was going on around her seemed to be so much more important. She couldn't ignore the deaths of her friends and companions for some gusts of wind.

But... did she really want to continue to find what Winter and Marigold had been trying to? They had just died for it. Porcelain knew the risk it was to join them, and she knew what the murderer could do... but to see it happen like that... well, it didn't feel the same.

By the time the lessons was over, she was still undecided; Reese, however, was not. She had spent the time she usually would have been eating breakfast and going to her magic lesson pacing and asking herself questions; questions about her CBer, about what she was going to do, but most of all, about the fence. And after spending that time thinking about it so much, she was certain; she absolutely had to go over the fence.

While Marigold and AW's deaths made Porcelain think twice about going back, it only made Reese more determined. Reese was going to find out what had been so important to Win that she would die for it, even if she had to do it alone. She wasn't sure about many things, but Reese had made this clear to herself: Winter would not have died in vain. She was going to make sure of it.

Her sadness was replaced with a hot, strong fire. Reese marched out of the room she had been hiding in, setting out to gather Porcelain, Bean, and perhaps a few others to go over the fence. But she never got there; the chance was stolen by another guest.

It was Darkking. He approached her, breathless and clearly excited. "Reese!" he exclaimed, "We were wondering if you'd be in the mood to join us... me and Catsquill have rounded up just about everyone. We're going to play games, together, ALL DAY. Caspian's in on it too, but, you know, if you don't want to..."

He trailed off, looking at her expectantly. Reese opened her mouth and closed it again. She furrowed her brow. The truth was, she really did want to go over the fence, a big part of her did... but she was tired of feeling gloomy and serious, and, if she was being honest with herself, she didn't want to go to the fence alone. And from what she could tell of Darkking's statements, Porcelain and Bean had probably agreed to the day of fun as well.

"When do you think we'll stop?" she asked finally. "I mean, we have to go to lunch and dinner and magic lessons- that stuff."

"Oh yeah, of course! We're planning on taking a break for lunch and lessons, then going back for the afternoon and stopping sometime before dinner. But if you don't feel up to staying with us all day, you can go back inside anytime you want," Darkking explained.

"Back inside?" Reese asked.

"Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to mention that this will all be outside," DK added. He watched in slight confusion as a smile spread over Reese's face.

"Yeah, sure," she said eventually, "I'd love to do that."

"Great!" Darkking said, excited. "We've already grabbed, like, a hundred board games and Devin raided a few of the closets for some random stuff like kickballs and jump ropes and that- is there anything you think ya want?"

"Yeah- lemme get my skateboard and I'll meet everyone outside!" Reese shouted, bouncing up the stairs she had just come down. She had a brilliant plan- a day fun AND a day to learn secrets! If everyone was outside anyways, it would certainly be easy enough to slip away and go to the fence! It was perfect!

As she grabbed her skateboard, the one she had begged AW for forever, Reese began to plan in her head a trip over the fence, wondering who she could get on board... not realizing the ways she and her determination would change Magicae Palace for good.

~~~~~And TOP.

Hello, if you're reading this, I haven't heard from much of anyone for a while other than Quill- if you have any feedback or theories, I'd love to hear from you! I honestly have no idea how many people are reading this anymore- posting lets me know somebody's still there, and motivates me to keep going. :) 

My CAPTCHA, Boo, says dynvr! I wonder if he'd like me to take him to Denver...

thank you, Mice! ^^

Day ten, part two:

Darkking smiled as he watched Reese go. He was glad to see she wouldn't spend all of her time moping around, and he knew she could make many situations more fun with her chaotic ideas. he turned around and bounced down the stairs. He knew Catsquill had rounded up just about everyone, if not all of them, and that they were probably waiting outside. Darkking, ready for some fun, couldn't wait to meet them.

In the back of his head, DK was afraid something bad would happen that day- other than the bad things that had already happened to Agent Winter and Marigold, of course. But, well, the group didn't have a very good track record when it came to having fun, and Darkking was crossing his fingers that nothing would mess it up for them this time.

The murderer, however, wasn't thinking about doing anything at all to spoil the fun. In fact, they were grateful for a distraction like that. And if anything, they deserved the break from the craziness too; the headaches had reached a point the murderer never thought they would. The murderer didn't know who had begun to figure it out, other than Marigold and Agent Winter, but they knew there were others... others searching for the truth.

Suddenly, the murderer felt the Mystery again, like they had when Gracia discovered them.... Trying to take over, convince them… the only way…

The murderer gasped, trying to regain control of themselves. They knew the Mystery was in their head, but it was still annoying to find it could still take control… and honestly, the Mystery was doing this more often than the murderer would like to admit. They took a deep breath and tried to push away the voices and their own fears. Today was a day for fun; they weren’t going to let the Mystery ruin it for them. The murderer plastered on a smile and faced the other guests around them.

~~~~~

Bean looked around her. She was sitting not far away from the castle, on top of the hill it sat on. The sun was bright, almost inviting the guests to a fun day under its warmth. Devin was at the bottom of the hill, probably scheming something big and chaotic, and Reese was standing just by the drawbridge, having just emerged from the castle. Bean wondered how she was doing; she did seem to look fine, and ready for the day outside. Caspian was doing fine too. The thought of them doing so well made Bean smile; she hated to see her fellow guests feeling so down.

“Heyy, Bean,” called Nihil, “Cann youu come help usss?”

“Of course!” Bean replied, getting up and brushing off her pants. “What do you need?”

“Were sett inng upan obst acle curs,” Nihil explained as Bean scrambled down the slope of the hill.

“Er... what?” Bean questioned, needing a translation.

“An obstacle course,” Wren explained. She motioned toward a stack of hula hoops, plastic cones, buckets, and other miscellaneous objects. Bean looked at the parts of the course that had already been set up in two rows by Wren, Nihil, and Alex. It looked like they would be for a competition; maybe with two teams competing to see who could get to the end first.

“Here, Bean- could you take these to that end down there and set them down?” Wren asked, handing Bean a pair of hula hoops. Bean took them and did as instructed.

Meanwhile, as Bean had guessed, Devin was planning something big and disastrous. Reese had offered to help him set it up. Even Devin didn’t know exactly what his goal was with it, but he did know it included pies. They didn’t know it, but Mor was observing the two as they worked. She didn’t plan on telling anyone what they were up to, though; she was just watching and wondering where Darkking was. She hadn’t seen him for a little bit and she had been wondering if he was with Devin and Reese. Not having found him there, she turned away to go back and see if he was anywhere in the castle. She carefully removed herself from the unintended hiding spot, brushed off her knees, and headed for the castle, hoping with all her might that nothing bad had happened to her CBer.

She called his name from the entrance hall and didn’t hear an answer. Mor tried again as she began to ascend one of the staircases; that time, Darkking called back.

“What’s up- oh, sorry Mor, I didn’t mean to scare you!” Darkking said. “I found another one of the traps in this one library and I decided to take it down.”

“Iits okay,” Mor replied. She actually thought it was pretty great of him to take his time to disable the trap and possibly save someone from a horrible fate, but it would be a pain to articulate all of that in CAPTCHA-speak. Together, the CBer and CAPTCHA made their way back outside, unprepared for the sight that awaited them.

~~~~~

Dun dun duuun! 

Day ten, part three (TOP!)

Caspian looked upon Catsquill’s crazy new plan as it was being hatched; Catsquill appeared to be doing something that involved water balloons and kickballs, though Caspian had no idea how- or why- the two were related in Catsquill’s mysterious scheme- that Mor and Darkking had happened to stumble in on as they came back from the castle. Caspian chuckled almost wistfully. The death of his CBer was of course still heavy on his mind and weighing him down, but he was sure Marigold would be glad to see that he could still have a good time following her death.

Wren, Nihil, Bean, and Alex, meanwhile, had finished their obstacle course and were talking about it with Porcelain; she seemed excited about the idea of it. A little competition never hurt anyone...

Reese and Devin were still planning when to bring their great plan to life, and on whom; as they were debating, Porcelain began to recruit people who were interested in the obstacle course. It seemed everyone was- except-

"Where are Devin and Reese?" Alex asked. Upon hearing their names, the two attacked. It was perfect; everyone was in one big group, like they were waiting for the two mischievous AEs!

The group of innocent CBers, AEs, and CAPTCHAs was doused with a concoction that included mustard, pudding, and other food items that had appeared before at Magicae Palace in situations where everyone seemed to be having fun. Everyone was covered- except for Mor, who had been expecting it and flew out of the way just in time. She couldn't help but laugh at the guests who were soaked with the disgusting slime.

"EWWW," shrieked Alex. "This is so disgusting! And now these clothes are ruined! Augh. Now I have to take a shower..."

"No you don't! There's a hose just around the hill that you guys can wash off with!" Reese hooted.

"So your plan was to get us soaked?" Porcelain asked angrily.

"No," Devin replied, "Our plan was to prank you. And we were successful!"

"Yes, I know that," Catsquill grumbled. "I'm covered with slime and I smell like garbage juice!" That made Devin laugh so hard his sides began to hurt.

"Whatever. I'm going to use the hose. It's better to be wet than covered in this stuff," Bean decided. In the end, everyone agreed with that statement, though some- like Alex- were reluctant to get soaked. Devin and Reese high-fived each other for their victory.

After they had all hosed themselves down, the guests congregated back at the obstacle course, this time with Devin and Reese. Porcelain took charge and split them all up into two groups: Bean, Nihil, Alex, Reese, Darkking, and Porcelain herself were on team one; that left Devin, Estrella, Wren, Catsquill, Caspian and Mor for team two. Then Bean explained how they were going to go through the course and what the rules were.

"First rule is that you can't use any powers or extra abilities to win. That means you can't use any wings, elemental magic, or special abilities you wouldn't otherwise have. So that means Reese isn't allowed to turn into a cat and Nihil isn't allowed to use her shadow powers, and so on."

"Aww," mumbled Devin. After his racing last night with Darkking and Mor, he was looking forward to using his wings as an advantage. Maybe he would anyways...

"If you break this rule, you get disqualified, and your team has to figure out how to go on without you."

Oh. nevermind. Devin pouted- the rule wasn't worth breaking is he would get disqualified for it.

"Second rule is that you have to get through the course using the guidelines we're going to give you for each segment. So, if we decide that to get past the hula hoops, you have to do a handstand, you can't do a head-stand instead. That's a really bad example, but you know what I mean. Breaking this rule will also get you disqualified.

"The third rule is that you absolutely cannot deliberately try to injure or slow down anyone on the other team. So if someone on the other team is jumping over a hurdle, you can't move the hurdle or trip them or anything like that. If you break this rule, your whole team is instantly disqualified, and the other team wins automatically.

"The fourth rule is to be a good sport and have fun!" Bean finished with a smile. Taking a look around the guests, she started to wonder if anyone paid any attention to the rules...

Nevermind if they did, she thought. They'll still get disqualified if they break some of these rules... She eyed Porcelain and headed back over to her team, letting Porcelain explain how the course was to be run. Rather than dozing off during Bean's explanation of the rules, this is where some of the guests started to get unfocused, forgetting that failing to pay attention could cost them their place on their team and in the competition. Some like Alex, however, listened very attentively, so she could know exactly what she was expected to do- and so that she could relay the information to her team, and they would never have to lose a member.

The gist of it was that it was a relay race and an obstacle course mashed together. There were certain points in the course where there would be a team member waiting for the person before them to tag them in to the next segment of the course. Both teams got into a huddle, discussing who would go where, what kind of strategies they might use, and also, what they were supposed to do, because that was still unclear to those who hadn't listened to Porcelain. After some minutes, both teams had formed their plans, and everyone took their places along the course. Darkking was starting for team one, and Estrella for team two. They took their places at the beginning of the course and started getting ready. The guests paused for a moment and looked around at one another.

"Er... who's going to count us off?" Darkking asked.

"I could!" Devin offered.

"No thank you," Estrella replied firmly. Devin grinned.

"I, um, I suppose I could..." Wren said.

"Yeah, sure! You did help make it anyways," said Darkking. Wren was slightly surprised by his cheery response.

"Okay, um." Wren swallowed. Everyone looked at her with anticipation.

"On your marks." Darkking wiggled his foot from side to side and balled his hands into fists.

"Get set." Estrella took a deep breath and focused on Mor, who she was supposed to tag in.

"GO!"

Estrella and Darkking took off, and their teammates exploded with cheers. The big competition had begun. 

TOP TOP!

Day ten, part four

Simul took a long sip from her coffee cup, standing in the middle of a long hallway. She hadn't seen any of the guests since breakfast, which was weird. She almost always wandered past one or two of them in the halls, or at least heard signs of life coming from somewhere around the castle. But that day, it was completely quiet. It was freaking Simul out just a little. She wondered if she should do anything about it. Then she realized that she was, in fact, in charge of the ski lodge, and should probably make sure that nothing catastrophic had happened to her guests.

Now moving quickly, she stumbled upon Terra in her search for the guests. "Ay, Terra," she shouted, "Do ya know where all the guests are?"

"They're all outside," he called over his shoulder. Simul blinked, then realized that Terra wouldn't be elaborating at all.

"THANKS!" she said, then continued with her descent.

~~~~~

Darkking stumbled over a hurdle and slapped Caspian's hand, then collapsed on the ground, panting. He hadn't gone very far, but his determination to win had pushed him to run, maneuver, jump, skip, and whatever else the course demanded of him with all the vigor he could muster. Looking from him spot on the grass, he saw Mor, who was still waiting for Estrella to tag her in. He stuck out his tongue at her. She did the same.

Darkking scrambled up from the ground so he could see what was going on better. He had succeeded in giving his team the lead; he watched Bean, who was doing fairly well with the obstacles but wasn't all that fast, make her way through her part of the course. To his left, Mor got tagged in by a panting Estrella. Mor, Darkking knew, was small, but quick enough and nimble; she would almost certainly do well with her section of the course.

"BEAT 'EM OUT, BEAN!" Darkking shouted at his teammate. He didn't know why, but he had become deeply invested in the competition; Darkking had to win.

It was at that precise moment when Simul burst through the castle doors and waltzed down the drawbridge to go and see what her guests were doing. It was almost like when she burst in on the pudding thing, but this time none of the guests feared they might get in trouble- in fact, none of them noticed she had appeared there. They were all watching the competition, or running the course themselves. Simul looked upon the course down below at the bottom of the hill and smiled. The guests, she knew, deserved to have that kind of fun. It made her happy to see them enjoying themselves. But like she had with the pudding, she felt a desire to throw herself into the craziness and have some fun for herself. Instead, she only stood there, looking upon the fun with a smile on her face.

Meanwhile, down below her, things had somehow gotten more intense; the two teams were now neck and neck, Bean and Mor having tagged in Reese and Devin, the two craziest and most athletic of all the remaining guests, both determined not even to win, but just to beat the other. Their teammates were shouting like crazy. Porcelain and Bean were surprised neither of them had broken any rules yet- at least not noticeably.

Reese and Devin scrambled through plastic tunnels and emerged to see their teammates waiting to be tagged in, which they did at the exact same time.

"HA!" Devin shouted. "I BEAT YOU!!"

"WHAT? NO YOU DIDN'T! I BEAT YOU!" Reese argued. Some of the others joined in, arguing for their teammates or trying to insist that it was a fair tie, but none of them were heard; both Devin and Reese were determined to prove they were the faster AE.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME," Devin shrieked. "I TAGGED WREN WAY BEFORE PORCELAIN EVER EVEN MOVED."

"THAT'S TOTALLY NOT TRUE! I SAW PORCELAIN PASS WREN LIKE TWO SECONDS AFTER I TAGGED HER!" Reese screamed back.

As they debated, Porcelain quickly made her way through the obstacles, weaving around orange cones and skipping through hula-hoops. Wren was behind her, not quite as graceful or as quick. Devin began to fear his team would lose. Reese cackled at him; if she got the bragging rights, she would never leave him alone. 

Even though it only took about eleven minutes, the obstacle course seemed to last forever and generated an excitement from the group as a whole that nothing else had- and nothing else that day would. In the end, it was Reese's team that won; They got behind when Alex was doing her piece, but Nihil's swiftness and skill saved them in the end. As she had promised herself, Reese taunted Devin with the win for as long as she possibly could. He never did hear the end of it.

Once the whole obstacle course had been finished, Catsquill went back to working on his own big scheme, the one involving kickballs and water balloons. It wasn't quite as disgusting or harmful as Reese and Devin's prank, and it was more of a game than a trick, but he could guarantee that people were going to get wet.

In the midst of all the craziness and fun, as well as her newly-earned bragging rights, Reese had all but forgotten about the plan to go over the fence; it was forced from her mind and replaced with some much-needed laughter and fun. Still, somewhere in the back of her mind, she continued to remind herself about the promise she had made for Agent Winter... whatever secrets the fence held would not be left undiscovered.

Soon, however, it was time for lunch, and magic lessons after that. Lunch was much more lively that day, and full of chatter.

"That time flew by!" Bean said excitedly. "It was like, one second we're making an obstacle course; the next we're taking it down."

"I know!" Porcelain agreed. "I guess it just felt like time passed so slowly when we were all feeling so down..."

The guests around her nodded solemnly. They knew the feeling of sadness, and the silence that came with it, all too well.

Despite the moments like that where they remembered all those who were killed and how that had impacted the mood of the guests, lunch was still lively. Nothing crazy like a game of truth or dare or a giant bowl of pudding ensued, but lots of talking did, and for the guests, who were usually dispirited, that was enough.

The proceeded to magic lessons after that. Nothing drastic happened there either, but again, nothing terrible did either. Many of them were distracted not by the murderer, but by the prospect of the fun they could have outside. Maybe having a good thing to look forward to instead of a bad one encouraged them to do better with their magic rather than worse. Some of the elemental instructors thought that would make sense; nobody had really made progress when they were all saddened and silent; but that day, when they were all feeling good, they were doing work just as good as in previous days, instead of going backwards.

To some guests the lesson seemed to drag on and on; to others, it was over in a second. But, either way, they were all outside afterwards, ready for some more fun.

"Hey, guys!" Catsquill shouted. Somehow he had already made it down the hill, and he was standing next to a hodgepodge of toys. "You wanna play this weird game I invented this morning?"

Most everyone answered with a "Sure!", and even those who didn't went down the hill anyways, just out of curiosity. Once everyone was standing around him, waiting for an explanation, Catsquill began to explain the rules of his odd new game.

"As you can see, I have a bunch of water balloons, some kickballs, and an assortment of CBers, AEs and CAPTCHAs," he stated. Most of them were instantly intrigued; some by the water balloon and kickball combo, some by the fact that he mentioned the array of guests standing before him.

"The game is pretty simple. Two people will be throwing water balloons on one side of field... station... zone... whatever. Everyone else will stand on the opposite side and try to dodge the water balloons. BUT, they can only use kickballs to block the water balloons... they can only stay in a certain designated space... and they can't use their hands." 

At this, Devin hooted loudly, and Darkking shouted, "What is it with you and taking away people's right to use their hands?" That got a laugh out of many of them. But at that moment, Darkking would have rather stuck his face back in a bowl of pudding than participate in a game that ensured he would be dripping wet. In fact, a lot of the other guests were thinking along the same lines as Darkking; Catsquill's crazy idea, though it did sound somewhat fun, also sounded like they were going to be pummeled with water balloons by two AEs- almost certainly Reese and Devin- while being frustrated at their useless weapons.

Porcelain was the one to finally voice that opinion. "I'm not sure, Catsquill," she said, looking around at the other guests. "It sounds like that'll end up being sort of... frustrating? With all the restrictions on the people who are getting fired at."

"Maybe we could change up the rules just a bit to make it more fair," Bean suggested.

"GIVE US OUR HANDS," Darkking shouted, partly as a joke and partly as a plea.

Catsquill looked at his fellow guests, thinking about the game he had created. He was, admittedly, proud of what he had made himself, but he thought he would be willing to change it some. "All right," he gave in, "I'll give you your hands." Darkking sighed loudly with relief. Catsquill was struck with an idea.

"AND," he added, "You can win the game by hitting the two people who are throwing water balloons with your kickball. If you use up all your kickballs and they're both still standing, you lose the game!"

"Now THAT sounds like fun! Dodgeball meets water balloons!" Caspian exclaimed. Everyone agreed.

"I AM GOING TO THROW WATER BALLOONS," shouted Devin.

"ME TOO," shouted Reese. No one found a reason to question that. They all headed towards the largest expanse of flat, grassy land they could find. Caspian and Alex helped Catsquill set up. Devin and Reese, on their own side of the field, were standing next to each other, both with a bucket of water balloons near their feet. On the other side, all ten of the other guests were now lined up, each standing in their own designated space, with a kickball in front of them.

"ARE YOU READY???" Catsquill rumbled. He was met with cheers and shouts. "ON YOUR MARKS! GET SET!

"GOOOOOOO!!!!"

~~~~~ 

TOP TOP TOP!!

Day ten, part five

Simul had long since left her position on top of the hill, but she still had the image of her guests yelling, cheering and running in her mind. She was realizing that she had been trying way too hard to distract them from the murderer and the Mystery; so far, it seemed, the best distractions had been the ones they had given to themselves.

Indeed, thoughts of the fence had all but evaporated from Reese's mind. The promise she had made herself started to feel less and less relevant- though never less important. But her quests for secrets and answers seemed like a distant memory to her then, as she dug her hands in a bucket filled with water balloons and loaded her arms with them. Beside her, Devin was already firing away, his mouth open in a wide smile.

Reese scanned the ten guests facing her, wondering who she should aim for. Some of them had their kickballs up in front of their faces, some were positioned to throw the kickballs, and some just looked like they didn't want to get wet- or more wet than they already were. Reese knew it would be most constructive to throw them at the ones who were going to fight back, just to show them she meant business... but Alex looked like she needed a good splash. Reese smirked and took aim.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, some of the others were trying to strategize. When, and how, would it be best to throw their kickballs? Would it be best to throw them all at once, or slowly? Who should throw? How wet were they willing to get? 

Some of them were determined to beat the two chaotic AEs, thinking it wasn't fair that the two best athletes should be on the same team- and a team with lots of water balloons. Plus, it would be satisfying to see Reese's face if she lost...

Darkking was the first to throw his kickball. He wasn't aware of the schemes Catsquill, Estrella, Bean, and Porcelain were coming up with on how to win. His kickball sailed right on past both the AEs, soaring half a foot away from Devin's left arm. Devin laughed at Darkking's attempt and hurled a water balloon at him. Darkking ducked sideways, and it hit his shoulder. Estrella sighed in frustration and watched the water spread across his shirt. Thanks to him, one of their precious kickballs was lost.

"NICE JOB, DARKKING," Catsquill shouted.

"I AM SORRY," DK shouted back, turning his shoulder to avoid a water balloon that was sent whizzing past him.

"Calm down," Estrella told Catsquill. "He's fine. Stupid maybe, but whatever. We only have to change our plans a little bit." Catsquill supposed all of that was true, so he gave up on scolding people. After that, no-one threw a kickball unless they were supposed to, according to Catsquill, Estrella, Porcelain and Bean's great plans.

"What do you think they're planning?" Reese asked Devin as she hurled a water balloon at Wren.

"I dunno," said Devin as he crouched down to search for the perfect water balloon. "Probably trying to figure out a way to win!" He picked out what was, in his opinion, the best balloon of the bunch.

Reese laughed out loud. "If they think they can win, that's pretty cute," she said mercilessly. Devin pelted Caspian with his incredibly good water balloon and watched with satisfaction as it hit him right smack dab in the middle of his shirt.

As the two AEs' supply of water balloons began to dwindle, the other guests still stood, shuffling around, kickballs still in hand, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Nihil wondered if the AEs would really be fooled by their plan; after all, they had plenty of experience with CBers who were trying to put a stop to their craziness, and she was sure they had figured out how to get by all the usual methods.

Porcelain gave her CAPTCHA a significant look, then nodded. No matter what Nihil's thoughts on the plan were, they were going to do it... starting now.

Alex, Estrella, and Wren all threw their kickballs, and all three of them missed.

Devin laughed. "Is that all you got?"

As he would soon find out, it wasn't.

Devin and Reese started to talk to each other, smiling widely and digging out the last of their water balloons. For the other guests, it was all too perfect. All at once, every single on of them threw their kickballs at Reese or Devin, depending on who they were closest to. A few of them strayed far away from their targets, a few of them barely missed... and two of them, thrown expertly by Porcelain and Catsquill himself, found their way to their targets.

Reese and Devin both froze, almost comically. Slowly, they turned and looked at each other: they had just been defeated.

Across the field, Catsquill laughed, hard and loud. The others joined in, one at a time. Their victory was incredibly satisfying, especially when Reese got on her knees and cried "NOOOOOOOO!!" to the cloudless sky. Just as the defeat on the obstacle course haunted Devin, taunts of the water balloon fight followed Reese and Devin all throughout the rest of the ski lodge. Reese, at least, could maintain her victory on the obstacle course, but for Devin it was torture; he was used to having something to dangle over other people's heads, and the switching of those roles made him extremely uncomfortable. ("Atase ooff your ownn medi cine," Nihil called it.)

After the big activity, and the huge victory for most of the guests, the rest of the afternoon and the beginning of the evening was spent outside in a relative calm; no-one arranged anymore big events like the obstacle course of water balloon fight. Still, the guests enjoyed themselves, playing smaller games like hopscotch, tag, and Hide and Go Seek. Lots of them enjoyed just sitting with their companions and chatting like they had at the very beginning of the vacation, before everything had gone wrong for them.

They only started heading inside when their howling stomachs demanded it. Before they did, they decided to go visit the little graveyard out back, just to pay their respects to their fallen friends before leaving. They stood before the stones for a few serious and quiet moments before deciding it was time to go in.

"Wait," Wren said. She looked around her and found a patch of Queen Anne's lace near the edge of the forest. She went and plucked it from the ground, then laid little bunches of the delicate, white flowers at each of the stones.

"Aww, Wren..." Bean said, "That was so sweet of you!"

Wren blushed and whispered a "thanks." In truth, she would have felt bad if she'd done nothing at all for the other guests but stare.

Together, the band of tired, content CBers, AEs and CAPTCHAs marched around the lawn and started the trek up the slope. It was only when she reached the doors of the castle that Reese remembered her plans to go over the fence. She did a little double-take as she mentally kicked herself; something like that absolutely should have been her main priority!

"Areyu okay?" Nihil questioned.

"Oh, uh- yeah, I'm just dandy," Reese answered hastily, continuing on her way in the castle. Nihil raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else. Reese sighed. She knew in the morning she would regret her decision to go inside instead of going out to the fence... she knew her excuses weren't all that good... but, well, she was tired, and hungry, and about ready to fall flat on her face. But most of all, she was... happy. She was purely happy with how she was, and what she had done that day, and she didn't want the heaviness and seriousness of the fence and its secrets to ruin that.

So Reese, forcing guilty thoughts of her CBer out of her mind, grinned and sat down among her friends at the dining table, gratefully awaiting a good dinner and an end to the long, wild, wonderful day. 

TOP TOP TOP!! Darn, this thread never seems to stay on the first page... 

Day eleven, part one

Nihil woke up early the next morning, before anyone else in the Air dorm. She began to remember the things that had happened yesterday, but the first thing she remembered wasn't the water balloon fight or the obstacle course... it was Agent Winter and Marigold's deaths. Her eyes wandered to AW's empty bed; a new absence. She knew, though she didn't like the thought of it, that she would get used to seeing her bed empty soon enough.

Nihil decided to get up and get an early breakfast; she hoped her thoughts wouldn't follow her downstairs. They were, as it happened, chased away at the sight of Estrella, who was already sitting at the dining table with a book, waiting for Simul and breakfast to arrive. She looked up from her book and gave Nihil a nod of acknowledgement before going right back into it. She was still reading Lord of the Rings, but she was on the final chapters, and she had made up her mind that she was going to finish right then and there. The Battle of the Shire seemed to go on forever...

Nihil sat down about halfway down the large table. With the guests that were left, they no longer took up much space. Nihil saw it as a way to better spread out; no-one would have to be in anyone else's space. She waited in what was close to silence; there were only the sounds of a shuffle or fidget, the ruffle of pages, and the occasional hmm-hmm of one of them clearing their throat.

Finally, Simul arrived, whistling and bouncing her head from side to side. The sight of them made her jump.

"Claaws!" Her golden eyes darted from person to person, AE to CAPTCHA. They both watched her with mild interest. "I didn't expect you to be here yet. Sorry 'bout that!"  

Mustering a smile, she twirled her hand about and made breakfast, large and delicious as always, appear before them. "Have a great day, y'all," Simul announced, then turned and left with a loud bang of the door.

"We'll try," Estrella muttered. She didn't even attempt to start making herself a breakfast; she had made it to the last chapter. Nihil reached for the toast as silently as she could, not wanting to disturb Estrella.

Soon enough, the other guests began to arrive; Alex, also with a book in her hand, followed by Wren, Bean, and Porcelain, until the table was as full as it was going to get. By the time the last person arrived, Estrella had finished; she gently closed the book and laid it in her lap, little tears in her eyes and a small and thoughtful smile on her face. Satisfied, she looked to the food that was laid out in front of her and started to make herself a plate.

Once breakfast was finished, they proceeded to go to to their morning lessons; a routine they had quickly become used to. Perhaps it was because of the fun they had yesterday and the attitude that had put them in, but all five of the magic instructors found that their students were doing extremely well that morning. It was weird, Caeli thought, how much their mood seemed to effect their performance in magic class. She had watched her students disappear, grow sad, and become better at their magic; it was amazing for her to watch them, the few that were left, talk together and show how much power they truly had.

One guest in particular, however, wasn't quite doing their best work. They, unlike the others, did have something on their mind, and not just what an amazing time they had yesterday; it was Reese, and she had a knot in her stomach, thinking about the fence she would have to climb just as soon as the lesson was over. She smiled on at Porcelain, Nihil, and Caeli, thinking about Agent Winter and how she wasn't among them... and how she was determined to find out what kind of mess she had gotten herself into. Now Reese was too, no matter the risks. She walked out of the lesson feeling even more determined.

She waltzed from the classroom though the hallways with confidence, taking wide strides and jutting her chin out just so. That big, scary fence had nothing on her. She could scale it just as easily as she could beat Devin in an obstacle course. (In the back of her head she knew that it hadn't really been quite so easy to beat him, but she loved the way the comparison sounded, so she decided she could keep it. She wasn't going to be the police of her own simile, anyways.)

She reached the fence, feeling the rest of the journey was almost routine at that point; walking through the castle, out the doors, meandering through the forest paths. She took a deep breath, telling herself not to hesitate. But she did. She couldn't help it. She thought about Agent Winter, and Marigold, and Porcelain and Bean; Agent Winter was the first to figure out some of what was going on, and she didn't want to do it by herself. She and Marigold helped each other out. Then they brought Porcelain and Bean into it too, and now they were just as invested as Reese was.

She clenched her fists and shifted weight from one leg to another. Just do it already!, she told herself. Just go ahead!

"I will," she mumbled, "But not alone."

~~~~~

Wren gave Bean a shy smile from across the table, her fingers working expertly at a fortune teller. She looked at her colorful array of pens, trying to decide which one would do best for what she was going to do next. 

The knock on the door came, not from Reese herself, but from Porcelain- though Reese was standing at her side. When Porcelain caught Wren's eye, she looked back towards Reese, who nodded. Reese knew she should be suspicious, but she couldn't bring herself to believe Wren would do something bad to any of them. Porcelain, however, insisted on being just a little bit more cautious.

"Reese, are you sure we should just start telling everyone about all of this? I feel like that isn't, you know, a very good idea," she hissed.

"Porcelain," Reese whispered back, hanging on to the doorway, "I'm planning to tell everyone about all of this before the day's done. That way, everyone will be in on it. Everyone will be looking for these answers and aware of what's going on. It seems only fair. And that way, we won't have to be concerned about weather or not we've told the murderer about things only we know." 

Porcelain stared at her, almost in awe. That was a statement she hadn't been at all prepared for- and neither, really, had Reese. She shocked herself in saying all of that- it had only been a vague idea, telling everyone. But, she guessed, that was the plan now, and she'd stick with it. 

Let's see how many nudges it takes for the thread to rise to the front page... top!

TOP TOP

Day eleven, part two

The murderer was alone, in a darkened room, as they had found themselves on multiple occasions. Their breaths came slow and shaky, like they were trying to regain control of themselves again.

There had been, since the very beginning, voices in their head, bending them to the will of the Mystery, forcing chaos into Magicae Palace. Cruel whispers that guided the hands holding knives and lightsabers and crossbows... mean commands that moved along the pen that scrawled threats...dark forces that shaped the very fate of Magicae Palace, and in more ways than one. the murderer had been taken through a roller coaster- the Mystery had seized them, they had almost mastered it, and now... it was back.

They had noticed it, growing stronger... going in a direction they never thought it would take them. They had known the Mystery had somehow malfunctioned, and made them the murderer in the first place, and they knew they were aware of secrets they never should have been- at least, not in the way they were...

But... the Mystery was designed to remain unknown to the Chatterboxers. And there was one thing that none of them, by any means, could ever know. And the Mystery, it seemed, was... betraying itself. It was supposed to remain hidden; that was the point! But the voices, the darkness lurking within the mind of the murderer, was certainly the Mystery... and it was telling the murderer to go after that one thing they shouldn't.

The murderer couldn't help it. They didn't choose to be who they had become, after all, and they hadn't chosen to get tangled up in this crazy mess. They didn't choose to respond to the Mystery when it told them to write threats and set traps... and they didn't choose to listen to it now, now that it was telling them to do the one thing they shouldn't.

It makes no sense, they thought to themselves. Why would the Mystery want me to try and learn the one thing it's designed to hide?

Of course, it could only be because of the malfunction that got them in their position in the first place. And L and C, the only ones who could possibly know what went wrong, were still uncertain about why things were happening the way they were.

L and C! Of course! The murderer felt an odd mixture of relief and the desire to smack their head with their hand. How could they forget? They could go to Simul and request they have a meeting with L and C again. They did agree they could still meet if need be.

The murderer took another deep, shuddering breath, and nodded to themselves. Their head was once again pounding. Now that they had a plan, they could feel more in control. They stood, slowly, and pulled themselves together, then exited the room- or tried to, before they heard voices.

It was Estrella and another AE. "...where are you headed now?"

"Just this one room where I saw a bunch of movies, all made before 2005. I'm going to see if Simul had the extended versions of Lord of the Rings, though I bet I'd settle for the theatrical versions too. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you." The murderer heard Estrella's light footsteps pass by their room.

Without thinking, they seized the handle, opened the door a crack, and looked to their right. No sign of the second AE. Their hand was guided to their shoulder, where an arrow was waiting, its poisoned tip spelling doom for Estrella. The murderer fitted the arrow into their bow and pushed the door open just far enough to get a good shot. They fired it into Estrella's back. 

As soon as the arrow had been released, the murderer realized what they had just done. They looked down at the bow in their hands, then retreated back into their dark, quiet room, trying not to sob.

~~~~~

Reese bounced around the castle with Porcelain and now Bean in tow, marching towards the castle gates. She knew the fastest way to the fence- at least, in her mind it was the fastest, but really it was the only route she had ever taken. She had decided that, after what happened with Wren, it would be best just to take Porcelain and Bean, who were already familiar with what was going on. She tried not to think about her proclamation that she was going to share all this with everyone by the end of the day- she didn't know she'd made more promises than one to herself. Still, she marched on in the relative silence, and Porcelain and Bean followed suit.

Reese, for the second time that day, was facing the fence. If you were to take away the mystery it was shrouded in, it would probably be a very non-intimidating fence- it looked like the fences around little league baseball fields. Reese refused to hesitate this time around. She marched towards the fence and forced her fingers through the diamond-shaped holes in the wires, and she started to climb. Porcelain and Bean watched from below.

"Are you sure you're good up there?" Bean called.

"Do you want us to do anything?" Porcelain asked.

"I'm fine!" Reese shouted back. "You're good! I... am just fine..." She reached the top of the fence and made the mistake of looking down at the other side. It looked pretty far down, but that wasn't what scared her- it looked so much darker over there. She bit her lip and managed to swing her legs over to the over side, sitting on top of the fence. With one big push, she slid down the fence, her clothes getting caught on the wires many times before she fell to the ground.

She landed shakily on her feet. After fixing her shirt, she took a good look around- it did seem to be darker over here, though she couldn't figure out how that would be possible. Unless there was some weird, giant cloud that only hung around this stretch of land in a crescent shape, there weren't any physics that could explain it.

"Well, uh, there's one sign already that this place is messed up," Reese said, looking over her shoulder at Porcelain and Bean, "It's somehow magically darker on-"

Reese was cut off. The odd darkness definitely wasn't the only thing wrong with this side of the fence. There were secrets, no doubt... she could feel them, hear them, but she couldn't understand them. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she was scared.

Reese backed up to the fence. Porcelain and Bean were talking to her, asking what was wrong, if anything could be done, but she ignored them. She knew she'd done something horribly wrong.

What do you want? she asked in her mind. What have I done?

She didn't get the answer she wanted, or the answer that could have saved Magicae Palace... she instead got the answer she needed. It was only one word.

Ghosts.