Places to Chat
Chatterbox: Pudding's Place
You walk home from school, feeling utterly exhausted. Slumping on your bed, you close your eyes, trying to wish away the mountain of homework on your desk. It’s a warm day, even though it’s October and the leaves should be turning red and falling. The sun is shining, the sky is blue. The weather makes it hard to be grumpy, but you’re trying your hardest.
Suddenly, the room gets much hotter. You open your eyes, feeling grumpier than ever. Why can’t the weather be pleasant, for once, you wonder, forgetting that it was pleasant just one minute ago. When you sit up, you nearly fall over, thinking you’re dreaming.
Because standing on the outside of the window, looking very cross, is a phoenix. “Open your window, grumpypants,” it seems to say. You’re too shocked to do anything but obey. The phoenix hops inside, making the room even hotter. You open all your windows trying to cool the room down.
The phoenix unfurls its tail, making it look like a peacock on fire, and making you wish even harder that it was gone as the room becomes almost too hot to bear. A piece of smoldering paper tied with a piece of singed ribbon falls to the ground. “Goodbye, for now,” the phoenix’s voice in your head says, and it jumps through the window and disappears in a flash of gold feathers.
The room has now cooled down significantly. You pick up the smoking paper gingerly, hoping it doesn’t fall apart in your hands. It doesn’t. You gently tug on the singed green ribbon and it disintegrates, bits of ash floating down to your carpet. You wince, and uncurl the note even more carefully. In the top right, it says the date. Under that, it says Pheonixe Place.
Are they aware they spelled phoenix wrong? You wonder, but read the note anyways. In immaculate handwriting, it says:
Dear CBer,
My sister and I would like to invite you to spend a fortnight of vacationing at our house, Phoenixe Place. It’s located on the Edge of the World. If you accept, fill out the form below. You may bring up to one companion. Please no CAPTCHAs. Last time no one could understand them and they got rather upset. My sister doesn’t want to hurt their feelings again. Ten spots only, not including companions. Reply as soon as possible. Teleport to Phoenixe Place using the device attached at three o’clock on October Fifteenth. Forms must be filled for alter egos as well.
Name:
Pronouns:
Appearance:
Personality:
Luggage:
Age:
Favorite Color:
Companion:
Allergies:
Other:
We hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Fae (and my sister, Yasmine)
Underneath the note, a wooden phoenix is taped to the paper. You slide it out and put it on your bed. Then you reread the note. Wait. The Edge of the World? Earth is a sphere. Don’t they know that? Your frown and wonder whether to go.
You debate with yourself. A vacation sounds great, but do you really want to be murdered? After a few minutes, you catch sight of the pile of homework sitting on your desk. That does it. If it isn’t fun, at least you’ll be able to figure out what Fae and Yasmine mean by the Edge of the World. You fill out the form. It disappears, and you wait for October Fifteenth…
submitted by Fae and Yasmine, age Ski Lodge!, Pheonixe Place
(October 5, 2020 - 1:37 pm)
(October 5, 2020 - 1:37 pm)
Rewind...rewind....
Helpless!
Schuyler...schuyler...
(November 24, 2020 - 1:18 pm)
Do you know what Angelica said
When she read what you'd done?
She said
"You have married an Icarus
He has flown too close to the sun"
Wasn't it Owlgirl's ski lodge that turned into a Hamilton singalong/topping party? We are replaying history, in more ways than one.
Liddy says wtbxa. What the breadrolls, Xa? Who in the world is Xa? What did they do to you to inspire such foul language?
(November 24, 2020 - 8:14 pm)
Day 3, pt 2
Summer wasn’t dead.
But that was the only piece of good news.
“I- I- what- what happened- where’s Spring and- and Sage?” Summer sat up, panicked. “We were hoping you’d know the answer to that,” Bakerloo told her. “Do you remember anything?”
“I… well… Spring and I were standing outside Luna and Sage’s room- and- suddenly something banged me on the head- and I screamed- and- and- that’s the last thing I remember,” she finished.
Luna bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes. “I wonder what the murderer did this time,” she said viciously under her breath. Moondrop moved to put her arm around her but Luna pushed her away, stalking to her room and rubbing her eyes.
As the door slammed shut behind Luna, the murderer squirmed uncomfortably, more confused than they would have liked to admit.
“Are they dead, though?” Agent Winter asked, again in a brilliant show of optimism. But this time, it wasn’t completely far-fetched. “Maybe they aren’t!” dreamii said hopefully. “We haven’t found any…” Starlight winced as she continued quietly- “bodies…”
Sterling’s spirits began to rise, very much without her permission. She knocked on Luna’s door. Luna opened it, wiping her eyes. “They might not be dead,” Sterling blurted out.
Luna’s eyes widened. Sterling could practically see her thoughts whirring. “They… might not…” Luna repeated slowly, stepping out of her (and Sage’s) room and closing the door behind her.
Sterling half-smiled. But they might, she added in her head. Her smile vanished.
“But if they aren’t dead, what happened to them?” Nightfall asked. “They might have been kidnapped,” suggested Morning. “Oh great, so now our murderer is kidnapping people,” Orson grumbled. “Not necessarily,” Galaxy said grumpily. Orson was getting on their nerves. “The kidnapper could be someone different all together.”
Summer visibly paled. Galaxy immediately regretted their words. Summer had been the one to find Darkling’s body, and the one to be there when Sage and Spring vanished. It was impressive how well she was holding it together, even though it was only just barely.
As everyone thought about this further, Fae said something that made the CBers realize their hosts had been there the entire time. “They might not be dead. But something happened. Something probably dangerous. From now on, if anyone opts out of anything, I will stay behind with them while Yasmine takes the rest on the activity,” she said firmly.
Yasmine agreed. “Speaking of which. Summer, are you feeling up to a walk in the gardens? The wind is blowing in the right direction, so it’s not as humid and misty today.”
Summer nodded weakly. “Do you have any headache medicine, though?” she asked. Fae took a step towards her to examine her head. “Did you get hit rather hard? It doesn’t look like it from your head.” Summer shook her head violently, wincing. “No- no, I didn’t. I just have a headache,” she finished lamely.
Moondrop squinted. “But you were knocked out-” she started. “Shh,” AutumnArtist shushed her with a meaningful look, and Moondrop closed her mouth. “Never mind,” she said in a small voice.
“Yes, we have headache medicine,” Fae said, steering the conversation back on track. “Are you absolutely sure you’re up to-” “Yes, I’m fine,” Summer insisted. Sterling frowned. She wished she had a notebook, or something to write on, but no.
If Summer had been knocked out, someone would have had to hit her pretty hard. But somehow she didn’t look like she’d sustained any injuries.
A thump came from upstairs. It sounded like someone falling over. “What was that?” Morning asked, her voice seeming exceptionally loud in the silent room.
Summer turned even paler, something dreamii didn’t even realize was possible. “Summer, are you okay? You look like you’re going to pass out,” A.A. told her worriedly. Summer nodded vaguely. “Yes… I’m fine..” she said quietly.
Fae frowned. “I am going to make an executive decision. Summer does not seem well enough to go on the activity. “I’m… fine…” Summer protested faintly. No one was convinced. “I’m fine!” she said again, this time sounding more determined. Fae crossed her arms. “Fine. But if you show any signs of passing out I am taking you back here.”
Summer nodded. That would be okay.
“Okay,” Yasmine said. “Are we ready to go?” The CBers and AEs nodded, some of them casting worried glances at Summer, who really did not look up to walking anywhere, although she was less pale and no longer looked like she was going to pass out.
“Night-” Win said, tapping her AE on the shoulder. “What?” Nightfall asked. “Oh- not you- I was talking to Night Vision-” Win explained, tapping the AE again. “Oh,” the other Night nodded and walked away to put on their boots. Night Vision jumped. “Oh- hi,” she said. “Thanks.” Yasmine was already leading the CBers and AEs out of the door.
Five minutes later, they were walking through the gardens.
Even though it was October* everything was somehow in bloom. “How is everything actually in bloom? I’ve been to gardens in autumn- everything is just green and brown- but here, it’s like it’s the middle of summer,” Bakerloo observed.
Yasmine just smiled secretively. “That’s the phoenixes’ secret.”
“Speaking of which,” Luna asked suddenly. “Why do you spell “phoenixe” with an e?” Yasmine smiled wider. “Yay, I’m so glad you asked!” Yasmine seemed to like knowing more than everyone else, A.A. thought. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, though- Yasmine didn’t have a problem sharing that information either.
“Okay, well, I’m sure my answer’s going to disappoint you a little bit, but… whoever owned this place before us left a bunch of stationary behind. Actually, all of the notes you received were using that stationary. But anyways, on the stationary “phoenix” was spelled “p-h-o-e-n-i-x-e,” hence the name. Also, when we moved in we received a note that also spelled “phoenix” with an e. So, yes. That’s the boring explanation. Though, I also think “phoenix” with an e looks much nicer than “phoenix” without the e,” Yasmine finished.
“Well, that was rather anticlimactic,” dreamii said. “It was,” Fae agreed. “Thanks for the explanation anyways,” Luna added.
AutumnArtist sneezed. “Bless you,” Morning said politely. A.A. sneezed again. “Sorry- I have a slight pollen allergy,” she explained.
The murderer smiled. “Oh, okay. Good to know.”
~to be continued~
Dead: 1 (Darkling)
Missing: 2 (Sage, Spring)
Alive and Accounted For: 14
Suspects: Agent Winter, Nightfall, dreamii, Orson, Luna-Starr
Author’s Note: I’m sorry, this was very fillery and not very exciting, but what do you think happened to Spring and Sage? Are they dead? Kidnapped? By the murderer? Someone else?
In addition, I am officially moving installment dates to Fridays because I’ll be more likely to keep up with it. Apologies for the inconvenience.
(November 27, 2020 - 12:53 pm)
Actually, that was quite interesting. I feel like the Phoenixe-with-an-E is more important than it seems on the surface. So, Fae and Yasmine recieved a note, just like the rest of us. Are they, perhaps, just as clueless as we are? What did the note say? Who lived here before them? I'm so curious!
(November 27, 2020 - 1:51 pm)
Oh hey, it doesn't look like I'm the murderer since I was mentioned just before them in a way that made it seem like we're different people!
Hmm... perhaps the murderer blackmailed someone and forced them to kidnap Sage and Spring...
Maybe it's Morning? She was the one who said "bless you", then when AA said she had allergies, the murderer replied "good to know", and it would make sense if Morning said that.
(November 29, 2020 - 2:28 pm)
Topping all the ski lodges I'm in. They all seem to have drifted to the dreaded second page.
(November 30, 2020 - 6:14 pm)
I hope that even though I'm not in this ski lodge I can still comment because I was bored so I read all of it and I have some theories...
I think that Summer knocked herself because she was trying to see how the murderer would respond or something? Anyway, I think she was the one who captured Spring and Sage because she claimed she was hit on the head and passed out when in reality she probably either took Spring and Sage down (not killing them, though) when they were distracted (she did say it was morally wrong...), or somehow convinced them to join her plot. So, other words, I think that Summer faked being knocked out and either knocked out the AE's or convinced them to hide to aid her plan against the murderer.
Note: A.A is automatically eleminated from the murderer role as she had a conversation with him/her/them. So, neither she nor Summer, Spring or Sage could be the murderer, but pretty much everyone else is still a suspect. Luna is a suspect, and Nightfall seems suspicous, as well as Bakerloo... and a lot of others lol. Because the murderer said "oh, ok, good to know" right after A.A. was talking about her pollen allergy, we can assume that whoever is causing the deaths is not Fae or Yasmine, because they already knew about her pollen allergy, so... Also, I think Morning would be too obvious but it could still be her.
Sorry, I know I'm not in this ski lodge, but it's just sooooo good. Great job Lumi, your writing is amazing XD Can't wait for the next installment.
^owity^ = oh, its y?? who is why? yasmine?? CAPTCHAs are so confusing *sigh*
(December 1, 2020 - 12:32 am)
(December 3, 2020 - 12:45 pm)
(December 5, 2020 - 4:35 pm)
(December 5, 2020 - 6:30 pm)
How interesting! I wonder what's going on. Am I faking it? Honestly, that seems kind of likely.
I think (again) that Spring and Sage were killed or kidnapped by the murderer. Beyond that, I'm not sure, but I think something fishy is definitely going on.
(December 5, 2020 - 10:44 pm)
OH MY GOODNESS I AM SO SORRY I'M LATE-- though those words don't mean anything by now, probably XD Well, enjoy the installment....
Day 3, pt 3-
AutumnArtist sneezed again. “Bless you,” Yasmine said automatically. “Thank you,” A.A. said, and tried not to sneeze again. Someone tapped her on the shoulder. “Yes?” she asked. “I know something to help your allergies,” the murderer told her. “You do?” A.A. said skeptically. “Yes! Wait one second,” the murderer said impatiently, and ran off.
Autumn was slightly unsettled. “Are you okay?” Sterling asked suspiciously, tapping her on the shoulder. A.A.’s eyebrows were still raised skeptically and she was still staring at the spot the murderer had vanished. “Yeah…” A.A. said, but Sterling was already gone.
Fae was explaining something about lantanas that the rest of the group seemed to find quite intriguing. There was an abundance of lantanas here, in many colors, though the dominant one was multicolored, ombreing from a pale yellow in the center to a deep purple in the last concentric circle. It was quite beautiful, rather reminiscent of a sunrise.
The lantanas were like hedges, and they surrounded the white picket fence they’d passed when entering the property, and Morning thought it was a nice use of landscaping.
For the third time in the last fifteen minutes, someone tapped AutumnArtist on the shoulder. “What now?” she asked, perhaps a bit grumpier than she’d intended to be. But she was actually trying to listen to Fae’s lecture on lantanas, and she kept being interrupted by someone.
This time, it was the murderer. “Okay, I found it, come on.” The murderer raced off in the direction they came. A.A. frowned. Was she supposed to eat something in the garden? That seemed both unhygienic and impolite. She chased after the murderer after a moment’s hesitation to go tell them so.
They rejoined the group (where Fae had just finished telling them about the toxicity of unripe lantana camara berries, incidentally) about ten minutes later.
Moondrop nudged Autumn. “Where were you?” A.A. opened her mouth to answer, but Fae began leading them across the walkway, and she was saved from having to answer.
The rest of the tour went uneventfully, and by the time they finished, the sun was setting, creating a beautiful grey blue sky that faded to a deep orange as the sun sank below the falls, phoenixes zipping across it.
The CBers stopped to gaze at the view, (except for Orson, who casually assured everyone he definitely wasn’t afraid of heights and took a giant step back, and Bakerloo, who didn’t bother denying it and hung at the back of the group) until Fae pushed them along.
Summer had trailed at the back of the group for most of the tour, but now she seemed determined to stay at the front.
She was moving so fast it was actually kind of hard to keep up. Nightfall wasn’t slow (they were rather fast, actually) but even they were having a hard time.
“Will you slow down, please?” Galaxy asked, as politely as possible. Summer just kept running.
The CBers gave up on staying together and watched Summer disappear into the house.
When they *finally* caught up with her, she was nowhere to be found. “Summer?” Fae asked. After exchanging a look with her sister, Yasmine went upstairs to look for her.
Meanwhile, the CBers started eating. Fae noticed eighteen plates. Which was weird, because without Sage and Spring, there were only sixteen of them… unless…
She gasped.
“What happened?” Agent Winter asked, concerned. “Sage and Spring aren’t dead,” Fae said quietly.
If there’s one way to throw a table of CBers into pandemonium, it’s to tell them that the missing aren’t dead.
Because that means, definitely and fully, that this is not A Normal Ski Lodge.
“How do you know?” “What do you mean?” “What happened to them, then?” “WE NEED ANSWERS, NOW!” “How do we rescue them?!” “SAGE! SPRING! IF YOU CAN HEAR US MAKE A NOISE!” “This isn’t hide and seek! Stop saying that!” “AHHHHHH!” “COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!” “BE QUIET!” “How do you know they’re hiding?!” “What if they’re being tortured?!” “AHHHHHHH!!!!” “What if they’re being held against their will?!”
At this point, someone burst into tears. The room fell silent. Fae uncovered her ears. “WHAT IS GOING ON DOWN THERE?!” Yasmine shouted from upstairs. “ALSO I CAN’T FIND SUMMER- never mind, she’s right here! False alarm! Go back to whatever you’re doing!”
Nightfall raised their eyebrows. “Excuse me. I would like to explain.” Fae said, over the noise of sobbing, muttering, and the occasional annoyed humphing. The room fell silent. Even the crying stopped. “Sage and Spring aren’t dead. I know this, because some of you may have noticed I did not make the food. Neither did Sage.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” dreamii interrupted suddenly. “I’m getting to that part.” Sterling whipped out a notebook and pencil from somewhere and started scribbling in it. “This is going to sound like the most cheesy thing you’ve ever heard. Except, I’m sure some of you have already noticed,” Fae continued, sighing deeply.
“The house is magical,” Morning guessed correctly. “Yes. You might have noticed that if you want a specific book and forgot to bring it with you, the library supplies it. Or that each of these plates have food specific to one’s likes, dislikes, dietary restrictions, and et cetera. And how your doors are painted the colors you listed. I didn’t do that, and neither did Yasmine.”
“So the reason you know is because there are eighteen plates. Darkling was obviously dead. So Spring and Sage must not be,” Luna deducted.
“True,” Fae agreed.
AutumnArtist inhaled sharply.
“A-a-are you okay?” Starlight asked worriedly. A.A. opened her mouth to answer, but couldn’t get the words out.
Fae stood up sharply, but too late.
Autumn collapsed, falling off her chair in Moondrop’s direction.
Moondrop tried to scoot backwards but fell off her chair as well. (Though fortunately she wasn’t dead.) Sterling clapped a hand over a scream. Morning screamed and didn’t even try to cover it. Bakerloo, who had been sitting next to AutumnArtist on her other side, jumped out of his chair and took a couple steps backwards.
Agent Winter covered her mouth in shock, eyes wide. dreamii tried not to cry.
Nightfall tried not to scream in anger. All they had been looking for was a relaxing vacation, but nooooo. Of course they couldn’t have that- they were a CBer, so all they got was a dangerous, nerve wracking ski lodge! And Autumn was dead! And Darkling was dead! And Sage and Spring were missing! Why was everything going so wrong? Nightfall sighed deeply.
~to be continued~
Dead: 2 (Darkling and AutumnArtist)
Missing: 2 (Sage and Spring)
Alive and Accounted For: 13
Suspects: Agent Winter, Nightfall, dreamii, Orson, Luna-Starr
Author’s Note: I procrastinated, and I’m very sorry. This is late. *feels guilty* So I’m going to change my installment dates. It will be sometime between Thursday and Monday. I WILL GET IT IN, THOUGH, I PROMISE I’M NOT JUST SAYING THAT.
Also, feel free to take notes, ask questions, top using hamilton quotes. Also, how do you think the magic of the house works?
(December 6, 2020 - 1:00 pm)
I'm not the murderer, that's for sure. If I was, then I'd know that this wasn't going to be a vacation. I think the magic works using the phoenix eggs and such. The e. Mysterious e. So, they draw the magic from phoenixes, and then it's used in the magic.
*bows* I would do a full synopsis, but I have no more time. therefore, *bows* 'bye
(December 6, 2020 - 3:50 pm)
Aw man! I can't believe I'm already dead! I knew I should have lied about my allergies lol
(December 6, 2020 - 3:56 pm)
Yes! I! Love! This! The vibe is unlike no other- this is certainly Not A Normal Ski Lodge!!!
Great job, Lumi! This is so amazing!
i cant wait for the next part-
(December 7, 2020 - 2:17 pm)