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For a second, there is static.
Endless nothingness, with only a strange, scratchy sound to keep you company.
And then you hear a voice. A grumpy one.
"I don’t think this is going to work, Rose. I hate to break it to you, but your plan’s dumb. Even if we can get this camera, which, might I add, is ANCIENT, to work, what do we do then?"
A figure comes into focus. Two of them, actually. A teenage girl with brown hair, a black and white headband, and an olive green jacket fixes the camera, while a person with short, curly auburn hair and a blue sweater looks angrily at her.
"What did I tell you, Atom?” The girl grins at the camera. “I told you, with a little perseverance, we’d get this thing working. Now we can carry out my AMAZING plan!" She claps her hands and the curly-haired person scowls. The girl turns to the camera and stares—at you.
"Hello there!" She says, and you jump back. "I’m Rose, and this is Atom! We’re talking to you from the Somewhere Hotel!"
"Some hotel this turned out to be,” says the person named Atom. “I truly do not think this is a very good idea. Maybe you’ll convince some people to come, but that will not change the fact that you can’t get Echo to come out of her room—"
"—What Atom means is that we’re inviting you to stay at our wonderful hotel, and the owner, Madam Echo Lunation herself, will be here to greet you!"
"Will she?” Snaps Atom. "Or will one of her colorful personalities be here instead?”
"ENOUGH!” You jump again as Rose yells at Atom. "Everything’s going to be okay, okay, Atom? Now I know you don’t want to believe it, but it is going to get better. These people will help us, as we will help them. So there.”
Rose turns back to you and gives what seems very much like a forced smile. "As Atom has mentioned, our hotel has fallen on some… Tough times. Perhaps you have, too? Maybe you just do not know it. We need a helping hand here, and we’re willing to offer you one in exchange: an exciting adventure here at our extraordinary hotel! What do you think?"
What do you think? Should you go on this adventure and help Rose and Atom and this… Echo character? Do you even have a choice?
You’re thinking when an envelope slips out of your CD player. In it is a strange letter.
"Gotta go—good luck!" Rose’s voice grows staticky and harder to understand. "W-w-w-we’re counting o-on Y—Y—YOU…" the TV shuts off.
You read the letter:
Welcome! To enjoy a completely free 13-Day stay at the Somewhere Hotel, please fill out the following form:
Name:
Pronouns:
Appearance:
Packing list (please note that any silver watches will be confiscated if found):
Personality:
Lucky number:
Is the glass half full or half empty?:
What do you say at the end of a story?:
Is it going to be okay?:
What’s in the mirror?:
Favorite beverage:
*starts singing Broadway Musical songs*:
You wake up and realize that someone has dyed your hair purple. What’s your reaction?:
Aren’t I so good at writing questions?:
Last, and most important of all… What is your greatest weakness? Something you want to fix about yourself?:
Anything else?:
Hmm. This is quite the puzzler, you think. But what else were you going to do—watch reruns on your TV all night? No. Perhaps this 13-Day stay will do you some good. Besides, it’s a hotel. A weird one, but weird is cool. What could possibly go wrong? You fill out the form and lean back on your couch, ready to start this strange adventure.
~~~
We hope to see you soon!
submitted by Echo, Rose, and Atom, The Somewhere Hotel!
(May 1, 2022 - 8:50 pm)
(May 1, 2022 - 8:50 pm)
Hello Writing! You are pretty important in the next part (you're not dying yet I promise) and I have a question for you that I should have asked a while ago. On your form you put that you use both xe/xem/xyrs and they/them/theirs pronouns. Does this mean you want me to alternate between the two or do you have a preference? I'd seen a post where you said preferred xe/xem/xyrs, so I just kind of assumed, but I now see how rude and disrespectful that was and so I apologize! Sorry!
(June 11, 2022 - 6:33 pm)
Ah, alternating is fine! I do prefer xe/xem, but again, they/them is also good <333 Thanks for asking!
[I wonder how ill be "important"... ohohohoho-]
(June 11, 2022 - 8:01 pm)
Day 3, Part 8
Wondering why she’d chosen such a solemn outfit and too-small loafers to wear today, Rose switched to a pair of Encanto Doc Martins with flowers and yellow butterflies painted all over them. On the toe of the right shoe, it said “the miracle is YOU” in small letters. Then she skipped downstairs to take attendance in the lobby, where all the guests, Atom, and one of Echo’s alters were waiting for her.
“Everybody ready?” Rose asked after taking attendance. “Let’s go!”
She opened the door to reveal a gorgeous castle made of stone and covered in Virginia Creeper. Surrounded by evergreen trees, the castle stood tall and almost blocked out the sun.
Excited by the beautiful, peaceful scene, Sterling ran up to one of the towers of the castle with their sketchbook, sat on one of the windowless windowsills, and started to draw.
The other guests made their way into the castle too, exploring. There was one point where Avara had to catch Tsuki because Tsuki had thought it would be a good idea to go up to another windowless window and stand on it. It had been a good idea until she tripped and fell, screaming. Foxwood and Reuby went on their own adventure in the woods with their foxes. Rose toured the whole castle, humming “Let it Go” happily. Atom sat under one of the trees, journaling and, Rose thought, probably thinking about Sonder.
With everyone out in the castle and the woods, Echo’s alter, Metanoia, stood there, feeling very awkward. Sonder and Syne were good at this kind of thing, talking to people, befriending people, people in general. But not Metanoia. She preferred to sit in her fort, listen to music, and draw. But she didn’t have her MP3 player or her sketchbook here. She couldn’t just stand there doing nothing all day long. She had to do something. So she wandered aimlessly to the back of the castle. And that’s when she ran into someone.
“Oh, gods!”
As Metanoia and whoever she had just ran into were both knocked to the ground, Metanoia considered what this person had just said. “Are you polytheistic?” She asked as she stood back up. She then realized that was a weird and personal question.
“Uh, no, I just read Percy Jackson?” Writing got up and brushed xemself off, staring at Metanoia.
Metanoia went into I’m a Search Engine Mode. “Percy Jackson is a five-novel series created by Rick Riordan, as well as the first series in the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles. Two movies based off of the books have been created, and and a TV show is in the making. The series is extremely popular and a New York Times best-seller, selling over 20 million copies.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.”
The two lapsed into an awkward silence. Eventually, Writing asked, “Are you Echo? Or someone else?”
“I’m Metanoia. I’m one of Echo’s alters. You’ve met Syne and Sonder, yes?”
Writing paused. “Well, yeah, but I didn’t really talk to either of them. Syne seemed pretty friendly though, and Sonder seemed… Loud?”
Metanoia laughed. “Yeah. That’s them.” She pointed to Writing’s band shirt. “You’re into music?”
They nodded, and Metanoia’s smile widened. “Me too! I listen to music on my MP3 player while I draw.”
“You like drawing?” Writing asked. “So do I! What kinds of things do you draw?”
Metanoia paused, and her cheeks turned pink. “Fan art,” she admitted.
“ME TOO!” Writing was bursting with excitement by now. “I make fan art for The Owl House and Percy Jackson and Steven Universe! And some others!”
“Cool!”
They kept on talking, wandering around outside the castle. Turns out, when you put two socially awkward people together, it goes pretty well.
***
Atom sat under the tree. They had sketched a picture of Sonder eating peanut butter and Cheez-Its. And a picture of Sonder riding a dragon. And Sonder holding Atom’s hand. Eventually he stopped before it got out of control and titled the drawings “B.O.M.D.” Then they blushed and slammed the journal shut. Suddenly, he heard somebody talking. Well, not talking, more stammering nervously.
“I’m, um, Writing, I w-was talking to, uh, Metanoia? But then you just kind of appeared? Which is very confusing?! Who are you?”
There was a sigh. Not necessarily an annoyed sigh, more of a “I’m feeling shy and am not in the mood to explain who I am to someone” kind of sigh. “I’m Aesthete,” said a voice, a lot like Echo’s but perhaps a bit higher. “They/them pronouns, also known as ‘Mom’ because, well, I worry. A lot. I’m an alter of
Echo’s. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation with Metanoia—she really needs to do more socializing, so I actually encourage it—I just cannot help it. I’m here when Echo needs me here.”
Listening to this, Atom frowned and thought, why couldn’t Echo need Sonder more?
“Why’s Echo need you here right now?” Writing asked.
“Not sure. But that castle is making me very worried. What if someone falls out of it?”
Avara and Tsuki heard this and said “Someone already has,” simultaneously.
Suddenly there was a scream (which made Aesthete even more worried) and everyone went running inside the castle, where a red-haired figure was slumped on the ground, golden eyes staring into nowhere and feeling nothing.
Flamarestii was dead.
~~~
Dead: 1 (Flamarestii)
Alive: 10 (Reuby, Writing, Silver Crystal, Sterling, pangolin, Darkling, Tsuki, Darkvine, Avara, and Foxwood)
***
Sorry these parts are a little dull compared to 6, I need to kill a few people off before you can learn interesting things. See if you can figure out what B.O.M.D. Stands for (or just look it up, whatever you like). I wonder if this was an accurate display of Writing? I did my best, it was not helpful that I have never read Percy Jackson though (I need to get on that)
(June 12, 2022 - 8:43 am)
AHAHAHAHAHA I KNEW I WAS GONNA TALK TO ONE OF ECHO'S ALTERS I KNEW IT! Best description of me by the way, of course I freak out when I meet another person who likes music and drawing and fanart-
And, yes, you do need to get on reading Percy Jackson :] (but nevertheless it was quite accurate)
I really like this! Sad that Flamarestii is dead tho :( I shall avenge youuuuu-
(June 12, 2022 - 12:21 pm)
Hmmm. I wonder if Foxwood or I are the Murders...we always go of together.........hmmmm. *muttering* did I add that Reuby likes to draw...hmmm I forget.
(June 12, 2022 - 2:41 pm)
Woahhh that part was so good!
Just like to say that thanks to this wonderful ski lodge, I've been doing a lot of researching into Dissosiative Identity Disorder and it's really interesting! One of the things that I have found most interesting is the difference in tone when people who don't have DID talk about it vs how people that do have it talk about it. For example, most general websites use the word 'alters', but most if not all of of people with DID that I read first person accounts about found the word 'alter' offensive, as it implied that there is one 'main' personality (ex. Echo) and the rest are just secondary personalities (ex. Sonder, Aesthete). Another interesting thing is that none of the systems felt that they had a 'main' or 'core' member. Also, did you know that multiple people can be fronting at the same time? Also, the idea of a headspace is so cool, especially since some people have entire towns and even countries that the members live in when not in front.
Anyway, I'll stop ranting now lol. Thanks for writing this awesome lodge, can't wait to see what happens next :D
(June 13, 2022 - 7:43 am)
(June 13, 2022 - 5:32 pm)
(June 18, 2022 - 3:07 pm)
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(June 19, 2022 - 7:13 am)
(June 26, 2022 - 11:40 pm)
(June 29, 2022 - 10:00 am)
Day 4, Part 9
The same thing that always happened happened.
Everyone was numb and scared and grieving. They buried Flamarestii right in the middle of those lovely woods. And then they forgot everything.
Aesthete had tried to hold it back, tried to stop it, but there was no stopping Layla. And now they were just as clueless as everyone else.
Meanwhile, Sonder was back in Echo’s body. He sprung out of bed at 6 in the morning and headed downstairs, where Atom already was.
“Hey, Atom!”
Atom looked up from his peanut butter-Cheez-Its. “Sonder?”
“Last time I checked, yeah, that’s me!”
“Sonder! I missed you!” Atom’s ears turned pink as they realized what he’d just said. But Sonder just laughed. “I missed you too.”
Atom got another spoon for Sonder, and they shared the peanut butter-Cheez-It breakfast just as they had a few days ago. And Sonder started to realize how different the world outside of his treehouse felt. He realized how much of his memories outside of sunflower hill had Atom in them. He also realized how much he liked that.
Hmm.
***
After Rose made breakfast and took attendance, everyone was on their way out the door. Outside was… A city? A completely empty city. “This is… Strange,” she said.
Sonder! You can walk on the walls, came a voice. Layla’s voice.
“Layla?” Sonder said, drifting away from the group so as not to look weird, talking to himself. “What?”
You can walk up the walls!
“How do you know that?” Sonder asked.
I just know. Try it, Sonder!
Sonder paused, then climbed onto a brick wall. Woah, Layla was right. “Thanks, Layla,” he said. But Layla was not listening. She had wandered away from the transmitter in Sonder’s treehouse and somewhere else, as her attention span didn’t last long.
Sonder was walking up the wall like a vampire, which, of course, everyone noticed.
“Woah,” said pangolin, climbing onto a different wall and walking on it. “This is so weird!”
Some of the guests experimented with the wall-walking, and others explored the empty city. Rose, eyes big, wandered by herself, looking as though she wanted to be left alone.
Sonder walked to Atom. “Come on up! It’s really cool.” He held out his hand to help Atom up.
Atom, blushing madly, grabbed Sonder’s hand and hoisted himself onto the wall. They walked on it together.
“I feel like Spider-Man,” said Sonder.
“Who?” Asked Atom.
“Spider-Man!” Sonder repeated. “Haven’t you heard of him?” Atom shook his head. “Dude! Even I’ve heard of Spider-Man and I spend, like, ninety-nine percent of my time in someone’s head! I guess this means you don’t know what the Marvel Cinematic Universe is?” Atom shook his head again. “Dude!”
Atom looked at their feet, then quickly looked away, because it was very disconcerting to look at your feet standing on a wall. “S-sorry?”
“No, no,” Sonder said quickly. “No, this is good. I will show you the MCU. We can watch the movies together. Tonight, let’s do it. Okay?”
Atom brightened. “Okay!”
They both stared at each other, smiling. Then they realized they were still holding hands and quickly let go, faces turning red.
***
Meanwhile, Rose had made her way towards a creamy yellow colored building with flowers and a sign that said CANARY PASTRIES. Pies and cakes were in the window display, but nobody sat at the counter.
“Oh,” she said. “Why are you doing this to me? I don’t want to go back. I can’t go back.”
Nobody answered.
Further down the street, Darkvine had found a wall with a painting of a dragon on it, which was exciting her, and Darkling had decided to try jumping off the roof to see if gravity would pull them to the wall or to the actual ground. Avara stood on the sidewalk below, ready to catch Darkling if the answer turned out to be the ground after all.
Everyone was having such a blast with the trippy experience, they didn’t notice as the sun got low, and suddenly it was almost dark and they were all hungry for dinner. So everyone went inside for dinner. They had empanadas, which were delicious. Then Atom and Sonder went into the basement to watch Iron Man, the first movie in the MCU, and Rose, knowing Atom would not want the guests ruining it, kept them all busy with an ice cream sundae bar and a guess-the-Hamilton-song challenge.
In the basement, Sonder turned on the TV and found Iron Man. “So this is the first movie,” Sonder explained. “There’s lots more. It’s like this big series. This one isn’t the best, but we gotta start at the beginning.”
“Okay?” Atom was confused. But he was excited to be with Sonder, and Iron Man sounded sorta cool.
This was true, it was cool. Very cool. Iron Man could fly! He was a genius. Atom wondered if the armor Tony Stark created to become Iron Man could actually be built. That would be amazing! “Wow!” Said Atom. “You were right! This is really good!”
Sonder laughed. “I think so too,” he said. And he noticed how beautiful Atom’s green eyes were, and how charming their smile was, and he noticed that he kind of wanted to hold Atom’s hand again.
Oh my stars, Sonder, this is worse than your sad little crush on Steven Grant, came Metanoia’s voice.
Sonder couldn’t even bring up the energy to tell her to shut up.
***
In the kitchen, Rose was doing the dishes. All the guests had gone up to their bedrooms, leaving her alone to think about the bakery. It had been her home for so long, and her love. But it wasn’t home without Paola. She couldn’t pretend it was going to be okay anymore.
She wasn’t a hero. She wasn’t going to be able to save Paola.
“Oh,” she said. Suddenly it was all too much, as if a storm inside her was bubbling to the surface. But she managed to push it down—for now. “I’ll go back when the time is right, and visit Eugene,” she promised herself. Deep down, though, she knew the time would never be right.
She was never going back.
~~~
Here we are with part 9! Yay :3
(July 2, 2022 - 10:43 pm)
(July 3, 2022 - 9:50 am)
lol, the wall part had me cracking up. this is really good so far!
(July 3, 2022 - 12:39 pm)
Atom and Sonder is the cutest thing I swear
(July 3, 2022 - 1:19 pm)