We do, in fact, have nine guests arriving, since I am too lazy to reject anyone! The first part shall be posted either tomorrow or the day after. Toodles!

Day 1 Part 1

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Sterling was falling through a chimney.

Well that was new.

They'd been walking along a rooftop, like normal, sketching some of the wonderful sights of the city. And then, without any warning, some mysterious rooftop-walker had shoved them straight into a chimney.

Come to think of it, it was a fairly odd chimney. There didn't seem to be a grate, or fireplace connected to it, and there were several curves inside the chimney chute. Sterling was pretty sure that they'd fallen horizontally at one point, and diagonal at several. They didn't know how that was possible, but if it was, well, Newton was sure to have a headache.

As they fell, Sterling took the time to study the walls of the chimney chute. There wasn't much else to do (they'd been falling for several minutes now), and strangely enough, there were shelves and such on the walls of the chimney.

You know, I don't think I'm in the chimney anymore.

Perhaps they were in some sort of infinite wormhole pantry? It seemed plausible.

Sterling plucked a jar reading 'Orange Marmalade' off of a shelf, and looked inside it. There were several cobwebs in it. They quickly put it back on another shelf, for fear of spiders. Sterling tried picking up another bottle, which actually had deep purple liquid inside it. It was labeled 'Eat Me'.

Huh. Sterling put it in their trusty backpack, for future use. Things like this came in handy during dangerous expeditions to fictional realms.

But before they could admire the (mostly empty) shelves again, Sterling hit the ground with a resounding thump!

Ouch.

The air had been knocked out of their lungs, and every bone in their body ached. Sterling groaned, sitting up to look around.

"Ah! Our final guest, welcome, welcome!"

Sterling blinked.

A pair of bright red eyes blinked back at them.

Sterling screeched, scrambling back, and clutching the strap of their backpack.

"That's the most dramatic reaction we've gotten yet! I'll have to note that in the logbook," the person said cheerfully.

Sterling squinted at them. They were a tall, lanky woman in a fancy black suit, with crimson hair and sparkling eyes. There was a black diamond-shaped beauty mark under their left eye.

"Who–who are you?" Sterling asked, as polite as they could manage.

"Why, I'm the diamond butler!" the woman exclaimed, "Welcome to Wonderland."

"Why the–uh–violent welcome?"

Sterling gestured to the long chute above her, and the diamond butler sighed, adjusting her white gloves. "Do pardon us, we ran out of transportation methods, since you're the last one to arrive. But if you'll follow us, we can show you to your hotel room! We offer complementary snacks!"

"Don't worry, they're great!" a cheerful voice called from behind the butler.

Sterling blinked. The golden eyes of a familiar face poked out from just beyond the doorframe. Sterling perked up in recognition. It was Flamarestii!

"Is everyone else there already?" Sterling asked.

The diamond butler nodded. "Why don't I show you around then."

Sterling only debated for a second, before getting up to follow the diamond butler. What was the worst that could happen?

---

I am a day late in updating, but never fear, my dears! We're kicking off this ski lodge with a bang! And that's the question of the day–what is the worst that could happen? Leave answers in the comments–I'm excited to see how creative you get! 

This is great!  I can't wait to see what'll happen.

Day 1 Part 1

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Pancake wasn't entirely sure how to feel about the living hotel.

Sure, it was nice and all, to have the cabinets and wardrobes to rearrange themselves to help you find precisely what you were looking for, but at the same time, there was a constant, eerie feeling of being watched.

But perhaps Pancake was willing to deal with that for the comfortable conveniences of auto-organizing desk drawers.

Each of the nine CBers arriving had gotten their own room in the twelve-story tall hotel, that sat crookedly on the crest of the tallest hill in Wonderland. Pancake hadn't gotten much time to see the surrounding countryside (on account of her transportation being a high-speed lion, that had charged straight into the foyer of the hotel), but it looked rather pleasant to explore.

Her own room in particular overlooked the garden out back–a beautiful, but not particularly interesting sight. Inside, the room had seemed to tailor itself to Pancake's tastes, with various trinkets and wacky contraptions that read Wonderland all the way through.

There was a brief knock at the door. "Come in," Pancake called, from the window.

Pangolin poked faer head through the door, Virid perched on faer shoulder. "Hey! Pancake, the Diamond Butler invited us to teatime. It's optional, so you could just chill or explore too, but she said it's highly recommended so you don't get lost for fifteen years in the underground sewer systems of Wonderland. Apparently they're highly deadly."

Pancake shrugged, giving faer a thumbs up. Teatime sounded fun.

She followed Pangolin out the door, and down the wonky staircase, that went straight, sideways, diagonal, and down all at the same time. Writing and Star waved from the doorway.

"We were just about to head out to the tea party," Writing grinned, ruffling xir wings, "You two too?"

"Mhm," Pancake nodded.

The four of them circled around the hotel side to the garden, which was a positive riot of colors and scents and flowers. The Diamond Butler was carefully pouring four cups of tea by a fancy white tea table. There were also several platters of biscuits and cookies (whichever one your locale uses).

"Good afternoon my friends," they said cheerily, "You four were the only ones who decided to come to teatime. Honestly. The others simply don't appreciate the fine art of drinking tea."

"I'm sure it's not that," Star laughed, "maybe they just wanted to explore."

Pangolin nodded, sitting down. "But tea is better."

"Obviously," Writing agreed, "What kind is it?"

The Diamond Butler winked. "Just a mix of a few home-grown flowers, and my special sugar. Imported straight from the Palace of Hearts!"

Pancake took a sip of her tea. It was lukewarm, and it had a faint soft-sweet flavor, mixed in with the tang of lemon. It was a rather interesting combination, one that she'd never tasted before.

"So when is the Queendom Ball?" Star asked, reaching for a cookie.

"Did you not read the invitation?" Writing laughed, nibbling on xir macaron, "It's in two weeks."

"I did read it, just very fast!" Star protested lightheartedly.

"Like xe said, it's in two weeks. I hope you all brought proper attire," the Diamond Butler said, taking a sip of their own cup of tea.

Pancake traded glances with Pangolin and Star. All three of them definitely hadn't. Catching their looks, the Diamond Butler only shrugged. "It's okay, I wasn't really expecting you all too. Happens every year. We even have a fancy outfit fitting two days before the ball, since nobody brings outfits."

"I think Writing did, didn't xe?" Star said, turning to Writing.

Writing nodded, setting down half of xir macaron with a slightly peculiar expression. "I did, it's a–" xe paused, coughing, "–purple tuxe–"

Only now did Pancake realize that Writing's face was deathly pale.

Vaguely, Pancake considered that Writing had choked on the macaron (a morbid thought), before xe slumped forward, hitting the white tablecloth with a dull thump.

"Holy macaron!" the Diamond Butler exclaimed, and then cut herself off (realizing the expression may be a little inappropriate considering the moment), "Is xe breathing?!"

Oh.

Pancake hadn't even thought to consider that.

Quickly, she reached out, and pressed a finger to xir wrist.

Then xir neck, and then chest. Nothing. Not a single sign of a beating heart.

Bile rising in her throat, Pancake froze. "No pulse."

"Xir dead?" Pangolin asked, in a panicked tone.

Numbly, Pancake nodded.

The Diamond Butler's eyes widened, and she shoved back her chair, standing up. "Stay right there. I need to go."

With that, she dashed off.

Leaving Pancake, Pangolin, and Star in the garden with a dead body.

"Is–was the macaron poisoned?" Star asked, in a shaking voice, her hands shaking similarly. 

Pangolin reached out, and broke off a bit of one of the macarons, sniffing it. Fae immediately recoiled. "It smells like magic."

Pancake was silent. The entire garden was silent. Everything seemed to be silent.

How quick had that been? Not even a day, and this was already happening. It was difficult to concetrate, to think, when Writing was right there, slumped over in xir seat–

"Really shouldn't have eaten that macaron," a raspy voice snapped from behind Pancake.

Pancake turned around, and nearly fell out of her seat from shock.

Writing was floating there, in all xir glory, faintly white and transparent-looking, xir arms crossed grumpily.

"What? Never seen me before?" Writing asked.

"You're a ghost?!"

---

I'm very dearly sorry to Writing, but your worst fear did, indeed, come true. However, as a ghost, you do have certain spooky ghostly powers now, which may or may not aid tremendously in the murder investigations–so you'll play a larger role than you think!

And now, here's for the question of the day–favorite tea?