Day 7 part 1

"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth."

-Anonymous

~~~~~

All of the guests were sitting in the living room, staring at Sam.

Well, technically, a few things happened before that. Like when Bean sang an asdfmovie song. Or when Abcde freaked out at Starlight for spilling a drop of milk onto her pajama pants, causing Starlight to burst into tears and Firefly to escort her sister from the kitchen. Or when Leafy shouted "CWUH-SOOOOO" about seventeen times because they had croissants for breakfast. But the most relevant thing that happened that morning was Sam's explanation, so I'll spare you any more rambling from now on.

Sam rubbed their hands together nervously and examined the guests. They took a deep breath. There was no point in delaying any longer. They'd made everyone wait for this long already.

"I'm going to start by saying that this all has to do with the Mystery." Sam waited for the murmurs to die down before continuing. "You probably didn't realize it, but almost everything about the Mystery is in your head. You have all that knowledge now. And you'll need it."

The narrator has now decided it would be best to deliver Sam's speech in a single, unbroken paragraph without pauses to describe their movements or the expressions on the guests' faces. Info dump, GO!!

"You know that ski lodges can only exist because of the Mystery, and that means it has to be protected. You're here to save the Mystery. Back at the Farm, something happened that caused it to start breaking. It's been fractured ever since, and in Lake Lelillo, it was discovered that something- some force outside of the Mystery- is acting upon the Mystery to try and get it to break. Whatever this force is, you all have been tasked with destroying it. The problems we have now are that we're not sure what exactly this thing is or how we're supposed to fight it. But we know that only you, the Chatterboxers, will be able to stop it."

Sam started to answer the questions that followed, and at this point the narrator has decided that formatting can go die.

~Azalea: "How can we figure out what this thing is?" Sam: "You leave that up to me. We know that this thing is working from the outside, and you all won't be able to leave the ski lodge and the control of the Mystery like I can."

~Honeybee: "Will you also figure out how we're supposed to fight it, once you know what it is?" Sam: "Pretty much, yeah. Once I know what we're up against, I can start to build a strategy."

~Nerd: "What if we helped to form that strategy?" Sam: "...actually, I really like that idea. Once I know what we're up against, we can all plan together about how to approach it."

~Feli: "How soon do you think you'll be able to figure everything out?" Sam: "Excellent question. I don't have an answer, unfortunately. But I'll do my best to work quickly."

~Quill: "Can you tell us why you didn't give us this information right away?" Sam: "Yeah, I can. When you first came here, you knew nothing about the Mystery, like in most ski lodges- or at least, you were supposed to. You and Leafy remembered Magicae Palace when you went and visited it. I knew I had to come up with a solution for how you all could be able to know almost everything about the Mystery without breaking it. Long story short, you have that knowledge now, which means I can talk to you about the Mystery without breaking any rules."

~Spellbound: "Can we hear that long story not made short?" Sam: "Um... sure, I don't see why not. I thought about how the guests are connected to and controlled by the Mystery, and how that means some of the Mystery's power is within each of you. So I transferred some more of that power to all of you, giving you all of that knowledge and the power to unlock and understand the Mystery without killing it."

~Nightfall: "How do you have the power to do something like that?" Sam: "I'm a host. That in itself gives me a little power concerning the Mystery, but as you know, hosts can also have some other special powers. Mine has to do with the Mystery."

~Bakerloo: "So how does that... make sense? That you can have additional powers over the Mystery?" Sam: "Don't think about it too hard."

~Leafy: "What about the other staff members?" Sam: "They know everything. Though I wouldn't have put it past Zach to have forgotten everything."

And that was about it for their meeting. The guests were finally up to date, and now they were wrapping their mind around just how much depended on them- and how they didn't even know what they were going to be facing.

Day 7 part 2

The narrator began a quest for good jokes.

You must understand that following a very important plot point, events and actions of the characters usually don't yield good opportunities for gags. The narrator started to search through the cabin and see what the usual suspects- Dallas, Faith, Bakerloo, the CAPTCHAs, some others- were up to. Then the narrator realized that they should already know what their own characters were doing, which filled them with guilt. So they decided to go with their favorite trick- pull some random thing out of left field. And thus a pack of lemmings exploded from a random closet.

Something you must know is that lemmings are very small. However, these lemmings had been trained to conquer Canada and become the object of many jokes throughout TON's ski lodges. So their instincts were a little mixed. Do we attack the ski lodgers and take over the cabin? Or should we do something wacky for a good joke?

The lemmings pondered this for many moments. Then they started to take a vote on it, with two lemmings campaigning for each of the different options. Then when they went to actually vote on the matter, the subject of an electoral college was put in question, and just as that debate started to get heated, Abcde rounded the corner and promptly screamed.

The lemmings looked at one another and then began to chase after her.

Quill, Bean, dreamii, and Firefly heard Abcde's screams from their rooms, as well as her attempts to fight them off. (She was doing a brilliant job of throwing random things at the lemmings as sacrifices for the "greater good"- aka her shoes and perfect hair- but there were just too many of them.) The four emerged from their own rooms and were promptly filled with confusion. All of this was amounting to more noise, alerting more people, and... you get the idea. Soon enough, everyone was crowded into the hallway, staring at the lemmings.

Zach was thrilled by the lemmings. "I am going to name them all after 40s heavy metal legends," he declared.

"We haven't figured out what we'll be doing with them yet, Zach," Abie reminded him. "Don't count your lemmings until they're yours."

"I thought the saying was 'Don't count your Melodies before they die'," Zach said, puzzled.

"Hush, lovelies. Let's solve the problem first," Sam said coolly, as though herding lemmings and irresponsible staff members was something they did daily. (Which, come to think of it, might be.) Sam stared down at the pack of cute rodents. "Well, Chatterboxers, what are your thoughts?"

At some point in the discussion, people began to realize that things really didn't have to make sense any more. As Nightfall put it, looking very intense and emo as they leaned on the wall with black hair partially covering one grey eye, "There's nothing normal around here, and there's no going back. So let's embrace it." And their statement was followed by the sound of Jem Louise Margaret being stabbed.

It was ultimately decided that they should let the lemmings go, and if any of them decided to stay for whatever reason, they could. The lemmings that had wanted to attack the guests decided that consistent motives were for losers and sprinted out into the forest. The others that wanted to serve as comic relief were more committed to their original plans. And thus, a colony of lemmings began to live amongst the ski lodgers. Zach was very pleased and began to name as many as he could. Abcde, however, was not quite so pleased, and she insisted on putting up a good fight.

"Those lemmings chased me down a hallway," she argued, "And they weren't just appreciating my beauty. They could hurt us! And ruin our things! Like my mirror, or fan club pins!" Alas, her valiant efforts were in vain. The narrator was far too determined to have lemmings running around the cabin to let something trivial like common sense get in her way.

The murderer tagged along with a group that was going to Phoenixe Place because they wanted to escape the new lemming situation, though the murderer's intent was to clear their head. They couldn't help but feel that there was something else that they should be doing. Usually the murderer had much more power in a ski lodge. They created fear, they masterminded traps and games, they undermined all other occurrences. They were front and center. But that didn't seem to be the case for the murderer of Magicae Palace's sequel. It was true, the murderer reasoned, that their endeavors weren't the main focus in this case. There was something greater than themselves taking place. But they had a duty to fulfill. Following this was the bigger question: what could the murderer do about it?

Before they could answer themselves, the murderer was startled back into reality by Morning snapping loudly at Abcde. "Quit complaining!" she shouted. "This is going to be what it is! People around you are being murdered and all you can think of is how the lemmings are going to pee on your shoes!"

The murderer guiltily looked away as Abcde replied sourly, "We know they aren't actually being murdered. And what do you have against me wanting my shoes to look nice?"

"Okay, everyone!" Abie called from the front of the group. "Welcome to the Edge of the World!"

"Hey, I've been here!" Bakerloo realized, then shivered. "I wasn't very fond of it, though..."

"So have I!" Morning said, eagerly dropping her conversation with Abcde to join the group as they observed a trio of waterfalls fading out into nothing. "Sterling, weren't you here too?"

"Wh- Oh, yeah!" Sterling realized. "So was Nightfall. And dreamii. And Moondrop..."

"Which ski lodge was this?" Feli inquired. "This is my first one..."

After a moment to appreciate the waterfalls, the group meandered down a misty path lined with flowers. The scene frightened Starlight- she couldn't see where they were going through the mist- but the flowers and serenity that surrounded her made her feel right at home. Maybe because she had been there before too.

They toured the grand library and the large glass room that stood over the Edge of the World, watching phoenixes swoop in and out of view. This was a moment, for guests both at Phoenixe Place and in the cabin, to catch a breath. Between learning all about their mission and adopting a pack of lemmings, their day had been a little too hectic to pause and take everything in. The murderer was doing just that, watching the phoenixes blazing trails of orange and gold behind them as they flew by. When Abie came and told them that it was time to go, the murderer had formed a plan.

~~~~~

Dead: 6. Arya, poisoned. Cherry, stabbed. Olive, concussed and stabbed. Moondrop and Lucinda, poisoned by plant. Orson, stabbed.

Suspects: Bean, Spellbound, Nerd (any others?)

Stabbings of Jem Louise Margaret: 8

References this day:

Phoenixe Place

http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/455735

Day 8, part 1

"Life is more fun if you play games."

-Roald Dahl

~~~~~

When the murderer was plotting yesterday, so was Sam.

Their ponderings did concern the Mystery and the mission, though not in the way you might think. Sam Crickett was well aware of the responsibility on their shoulders and the numerous problems they had been tasked with solving. But they were just about ready for a break from all that, and they figured that the guests deserved a day of fun before the hard work of saving the Mystery really began.

Sam tried their very best not to become guilty. Planning a day of relaxation for the guests could very well seem to be procrastination to avoid the more important issues of the Mystery. In fact, Sam had nearly convinced themselves that they weren't doing this for the ski lodgers at all, but rather for themselves. But the truth was that the idea had been inspired when Sam observed Azalea gazing off into space with a notebook in her lap. When Bean approached her and asked what she was writing about, Aza replied, "The Mystery. I'm so worried about it. Like, what if we can't save it? What'll happen then?"

Hearing that hit Sam hard. They hadn't considered how hard it would be for the CBers to hear that the fate of all ski lodges was resting upon their shoulders. The thought of a day off before everything really began was conceived when Sam witnessed the stress they had put on their guests.

Back to today. Sam stayed up rather late to put something enjoyable together for the guests. They didn't consider what the murderer might want to do with that opportunity. Sure, Sam knew that sabotage was common in normal ski lodges during a fun group activity, but they had never thought of their ski lodge as anything normal. So when the murderer heard the announcement on the morning of day 8, the opportunity seemed perfect. And the truth is that it was.

Sam announced their plan, unwittingly inspiring the murderer, during a breakfast of waffles and fruit. "We're going to have a color war starting in a few hours," they stated proudly, bending to pick up a lemming from the floor. "I've split you into two groups- red and blue- that will be your teams for the rest of the day. We'll play one game, have lunch, then play the next two. I'll explain more once we get there. I'll leave you to do what you want for now, but I want everyone to meet me and the rest of the staff at the Moonlight Forest at ten am!"

And as Sam skipped happily away with a lemming in their arms, the murderer's mind started to work. Exactly how many weapons could they hide on their person and still be able to participate in the games?

"EEEEEEEEK!" Abcde shrieked. "THERE'S A LEMMING SNIFFING MY SHOE!!!"

"Get over yourself," Morning grumbled as Liddy faithfully climbed out of her seat to shoo the lemming away from Abcde. Nerd giggled from across the table. "Come on, I can't be the only one who finds this funny." Nerd herself had a lemming in her lap.

Abcde glared at Nerd. "Are you making fun of me?" she demanded.

"Um," Azalea piped up nervously. "I don't want to have an argument..."

"I'm not arguing," Abcde fumed. "I'm asking an honest question. Is she making fun of me, despite the fact that I am perfect in every way and have no plausible reason as to why someone would mock me?"

"Abcde," Morning said firmly. "Sit down."

As the dust started to settle in the wake of Nerd and Abcde's dispute, people started to get excited about the Color War and what games they might be playing. They eagerly began to get ready, and no-one was late for Sam's ten o'clock deadline. Abie escorted them, Remi and Zach already being near the forest with Sam. Jem Louise Margaret wasn't attending, seeing as she had been stabbed very early on that day, the incident happening just after breakfast.

Sam beamed. "Welcome to the Color War! I hope you aren't afraid to get a little dirty. For our first game, we'll be playing Capture the Flag. Remi will tell you which team you're on while Abie or Zach will hand you your team flag. The flag is in the color of your team and you're required to wear it somewhere on your body, weather that be your waist, head, elbow, nostrils, whatever."

The Red team was made up of Azalea, Tumble, Liddy, Bakerloo, Spellbound, Kali, Dallas, Quill, dreamii, Qwinn, and Nightfall.

The blue team was made up of Abcde, Nerd, Firefly, Bean, Starlight, Sterling, Morning, Faith, Honeybee, Feli, Grace, and Leafy.

The murderer accepted their ribbon with a smile, tying it around their head. Everything was just a game... games of strategy, games of competition... they were good at that...

A few minutes later, Feli was looking at her teammates with a determined smile on her lips. It slipped ever so slightly when she saw that Abcde was still giving NerdFace a look of distrust. Feli didn't like the thought of two teammates- and two ski lodge companions- being at odds. The last thing they needed at this point was a divide between them. It was going to be down to them to save the Mystery.

Feli shook her head a little bit. She should get her mind off of that for now. Morning, Honeybee, and Leafy were forming strategies. The task at hand was a game of Capture the Flag- Feli could worry about some of the group's more pressing problems later.

"Is everybody ready?" Sam shouted, looking from the red team on their left side to the blue team on their right.

"YEAH!" everyone screamed back. Their territories were outlined. Their plans were made. Their flags were hidden.

"On your marks! Get set! GO!"

I suspect Sterling.

Other than that, this is INCREDIBLE and I will have more random/slightly logical theories at the end of the ski-lodge-day. Thank you, Luna! And I am so sorry for forgetting about this for the 7 millionth time. I have memory-and-commitment issues.

We've achieved 100 comments! Oh joy!

Thank you for all the topping & comments! For the speed I'd initially been going at, this was a bit like falling off the face of the Earth. My apologies! Here you are with the next bit.

Day 8, part 2

The murderer darted behind a tree and, very cautiously, slid a grenade from their pocket.

I will pause for a second because I'm sure you are bewildered. A grenade? Really, narrator? You've done some silly things, but this is downright outrageous.

Your points are all valid. However, the thing is that I just don't care. I want the murderer to have a grenade, so poof, they do. Don't let it give you a headache. I beg you to simply embrace what this ski lodge has become.

Now, where was I? Oh, right. The murderer was clutching a grenade. They figured that an attack so early on would be very unexpected, which they were right about. However, they also had to consider that once people realized what was happening, they would instantly become more aware and suspicious of everything, putting the murderer at a disadvantage. So it appeared that multiple attacks in quick succession would be their best strategy, as long as they were careful to avoid suspicion and be able to have a decent alibi if need be. But if the murderer was being honest with themselves, they could admit that they were being overly cautious. They weren't causing much concern for the ski lodgers at all. The threat of murder loses its viciousness with the knowledge if its lack of permanency. 

While I was saying all of those fancy words, the murderer spotted Azalea jogging nearby. The murderer looked around quickly, confirmed that no-one else was around, pulled the pin, threw the grenade, and ran away.

I hope I do not have to explain to you that the grenade went boom and Azalea was no more. I also hope that I will not have to inform you that when grenades go boom, it's not very quiet. I do feel that it's part of my duty to tell you about how Nerd came running towards the sound, alarmed, and that she was followed from behind by the murderer. Before Nerd could ask what happened, the murderer took the opportunity and threw a knife into her back. Figuring that they couldn't get away with anything else before they were found by the others, the murderer changed their position so as not to look like they just threw the knife that killed Nerd, brushed themselves off, and screamed.

"I heard! I'm coming!" Spellbound shouted frantically from a short distance away. "What happened here?"

"I don't know!" the murderer wailed. "I ran over when I heard the explosion, and I saw Nerd, but then she-" they broke into sobs. Spellbound patted the murderer consolingly on the shoulder as Grace and Honeybee showed up, followed quickly by the staff. They tried their best to shout over the flood of guests that arrived with all their questions inconveniently exploding from their lips.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Sam shouted. They did. "Thank you. We are trying to figure out what happened here. We're temporarily pausing the game to do a roll call. Please stand still." The staff herded everyone away from the crime scene, and they realized that Aza was missing fairly quickly. (And Nerd, but that was painfully obvious, as she was lying on the ground not far away.) They held a futile search, followed by a funeral for the two CBers. As I'm sure you can imagine, it made for a quick and disjointed morning. And it also meant that Capture the Flag was canceled. This was quite possibly the greatest tragedy so far. The narrator was looking forward very much to explaining an epic game of Capture the Flag, but the narrator knew that this sacrifice had to be made. The narrator also wondered if her random humor injected into scenes of death was actually funny, but that was a question for later.

The ski lodgers ate a morose picnic lunch and mourned their friends. The murderer ate a sandwich that was full of ideas that tasted like cheese. And the narrator ate fancy words so her ski lodge could sound more photosynthesis.

Remi held a vote to see if the ski lodgers still wanted to play the next two games that had been slotted for the afternoon. The vote was in favor of playing the games, so Sam began to explain how they would play their next game of Hide and Seek.

"Since this is a big game, the team that's hiding will have three minutes to find a hiding spot, and only half of the other team will be seekers. After the whole team of hiders is found, they will hide again, this time with the other half of the seeking team doing the actual seeking. Then the teams will switch roles and we'll do the same thing. All four rounds will be timed and your times will be added up. Whichever team has the best total time wins! Everyone got it?"

The guests nodded collectively. "Excellent! The blue team will be hiding first. Please be aware of the murderer. Red team, quickly divide yourselves into two groups. In exactly one minute and eleven-teen seconds, Hide and Seek will begin!"