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phoenix-writez · 6 months ago

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I deadass forgot about this tumblr account LMAOOO

HI YEAH YALL ON TUMBLR ARE WAAAAYYY BEHIND

SORRY I'LL FIX THAT

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Entry #3

[CUBFAN]

I'm drenched in some weird black substance, and I can see eyes peering out of the walls.

I had just recently jumped down after revealing a hole in the ground, deciding that chaos truly was an answer that needed calling. Of course, I don't actually know where I'm headed.

But, man, who needs to figure that out? I have a sense that where I'm headed is full to the brim with anger. That just gets me going.

After walking through sludge and eye soup, I find a button. Normally, I wouldn't really press just any button out in the open. But this felt like it needed to happen.

So I pressed it. It opened a large door, kinda felt sci-fi. I slid to the wall, hiding behind the doorway that coincidentally hid me perfectly. I looked inside the room, there were two people chatting up a storm.

“You have no idea what's happening down here, do you?!”

The voice sounded like a woman, but I don't assume. The other voice sounded almost like a gremlin, but with a deep and intimidating voice. That I didn't actually care for, because I've heard worse from Tango.

“Oh, Shrub… you're naïve. Theatre of course is an act, but they all act like children.” The other one said.

Shrub, I guess, began shouting. “They are children! A bunch of teenagers trapped inside of this time capsule! Xornoth, for the gods' sakes, you're so aggravating!”

Xornoth snickered with a sinister hiss of breath as he leaned down towards the mushroom lady, “I am? Awh, a shame.” He pat her on the head, “I pity you. Stuck here with no idea on anything. There, there, little one. I'll be here to save you in your time of need.”

Shrub frowned, she glared at the ground. “No… you've controlled my life far too much already, Xornoth. I can't let you just save me just because I'm stuck in the basement of a maze.”

My eyes widened and I guess I forgot to be quiet, as I quickly gasped and slammed myself back onto the wall so I could be well hidden. Xornoth slammed his hand onto Shrub’s mouth. “Did you bring someone here?!”

Her expression was wild, as she tried to shake her head in refute. She muffled an attempted shout and Xornoth grumbled under his breath, lifting his hand from her face. “NO!” Shrub yelled.

She took a deep breath and veered towards the doorway. “There's no one here. You probably heard wind, or maybe someone else is in this stupid maze trying to get out. Who knows?! There's so many people in this damned building!”

“Damned is not the word I would use.”

“Of course! You'd use perfection! This building is extravagant to you! The best thing that could ever even exist in your plane of life!” Shrub held herself, her fingers tightening on her arms as her face scrunched up with every shout she made.

Xornoth couldn't help but laugh, he began walking away. I heard it, the stomping of his boots against the wooden floorboards. It had been headed away from me, I finally let out my breath.

Arguing fuels me, my mother is the god of chaos and strife after all. But this argument felt oddly draining, like all of my energy was being sapped away as they spoke. I sat down and tried not to be seen.

Of course, that failed.

As the mushroom lady herself hung around the hallway, then marched towards the door. Towards me.

She leaned on the doorway, hands grasping the walls like she was depending on it to keep her steady so the wind didn't blow her away.

She was rather petite, I looked up at this mushroom lady and immediately was frightened. When I said mushroom lady, I didn't exactly mean she had fungus growing in her hair. I saw a mushroom cap on her head, but I assumed it was a funky little hat, and she even wore an outfit that fit her cottagecore yet definitely-lives-in-a-cave aesthetic.

“I almost didn't notice you here,” Shrub smiled nervously. “Nice, uh, glasses, I think? Is that how you talk to people?”

“Weren't you just talking to someone?” I tilted my head as she began laughing. Quickly, she sat next to me and spoke so gently, “That man I just spoke to is Xornoth, I have no idea where he'd come from, or what he's doing here. I'm sorry you heard all of that, or if you don't understand half of what we said.”

“Exactly what do you think I don't understand?”

“The… time stuff? About this place?”

The corner of my lips lifted, only one though. It's a smirk, I never realized I had to explain one before. I snickered and leaned back, “I came here to assist in breaking an important group out of this place. Unfortunately, only one made it through. I'm fully aware this place is one giant time and space continuum joke. I have no idea what's causing it.”

Shrub fidgeted around with her hands. I watched as grass grew from the floorboards, flowers even began to sprout from the wood. She smiled, “Will you call me crazy if I talked about gods?”

“Would you call me crazy if I said I was the son of one?”

Shrub’s eyes widened and her whole body whipped around towards me. I've never seen a smile so bright and innocent before, it made me feel a little guilty. After all, I'd just eavesdropped on an argument.

“NO WAY!” She shouted, “I'm the daughter of Ceres!”

I paused, “Ceres? Like…”

“Oh you know, some Roman god.” Shrub’s hand flapped and went limp, as if she were shoving her words away because they meant nothing. “What about you?!”

“Uh, Eris.”

—

I think I began losing track of time around thirty minutes within that maze. We walked around for so long, avoided Xornoth like the plague, and trapped ourselves in dead ends.

Shrub whined for a while, I guess the mushrooms in her body began to hurt. Because at one point, I glanced at her to figure out the issue and I found a fungus digging its way through her skin.

We made it to a hallway that was splattered in reds, greens, and blues. I scratched the back of my head and stifled a giggle. “Looks like some computer artwork failed here.”

“Computer…” Shrub thought for a moment, “Wait, Cub!” She grabbed me by the shoulder. I turned towards her, “Yeah?”

“Vulcan!”

“...Please speak in terms we can both understand.” My brows lower as I suck air through my teeth, “I can't exactly, y'know, translate Latin to Greek in three seconds.”

“Vulcan is literally Hephaestus! Don't be dumb!” Shrub groaned. “Oh, buddy, if you wanna see dumb, you should see my friends back at camp. Especially the Hermes cabin, good lords.” I look away, back at the RGB modern art on the walls.

“If we're gonna theorize Hephaestus, the best we can do is figure out what this was made for.” I waltzed around, taking samples of the paint and anything I could find.

Shrub shivered, “You think this was just sheer pettiness on his part?”

“Of course it was, everything he does is petty. Should've been the god of being petty, but all the gods are.” I tapped on the walls and felt a pressure change immediately. “Uh,”

“WE'RE FALLING!!” Shrub held onto the nearest thing. Unfortunately, that was me. And we fell faster, because I'm no parachute.

—

We woke up in a ditch, and there we saw him. Laying on his side, my eyes widened in fear and surprise. “Who is that?” Shrub whispered. “Are they dead?”

I got up and walked towards him, poking him. “Cub! What are you doing?!” Shrub stood up.

“...Impulse? I thought you left with the rest of them. What's going on? Why are you…” I looked to my right. A wrench, I picked it up quickly and stared at Impulse. “Your gift is here, buddy. What's going on?”

I pulled him to where he now laid on his back. His lips were covered in fuzz and blood, and his head was a mess. I looked back at the wrench and found blood sticking to it, “This is hours old. Probably days.” I dropped it.

“Cub, what's going on here?” Shrub walked towards me, the concern living on her face along with all the dread.

I sighed, “Remember how you brought up Vulcan?”

“Yeah…?”

“Impulse is his son. Not Vulcan’s, but Hephaestus’ son,” I turn to look at her. “He brought us here for a reason. He told us to find Impulse.”

Shrub got lost in thought, I watched as she peered down at the floor once again. The floor this time was concrete, dry and painful to even step on. She seemed to count the lost pebbles that mixed in with the concrete. Her eyes closed.

“The fate of machine will be washed away by hands that prey on the day.”

“...Hey, I heard that prophecy.” I frowned. “Just before I got here.”

“So did I.” Shrub sat down next to Impulse, “Prey on the day…?”

“Is there some type of Apollo kid here?” I looked around, “Don't see one.”

“I'm the closest we have to day. I'm the feast… the farm, the crops, the nature.” Shrub planted her face on her hands. I glared down at Impulse. “We'll find the answer soon enough, I think I know who's doing the preying.”

Impulse never moved from his spot.

I didn't know if he was ever gonna move again.

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phoenix-writez · 9 months ago

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HEY! TUMBLR VERSION FOR GRIAN'S POV IS HERE!!!

I still don't know how to format as the spacing is weird. If I get rid of extra spacing, it looks too jumbled up so... Unfortunately we're gonna have to make do!

This is in first person, so if you're not a fan of such POVs, sorry! :3 I have another fic coming up that's in 3rd person! Maybe that'll be up your alley!

But anyhow, welcome to Grian's POV! Enjoy :)

—

Entry #2

[GRIAN]

We'd finally gotten him out, and I didn't know how to explain to this poor kid that he's on the borderline of humanity.

There we were, sitting at a random table outside of a restaurant. Scar swore he knew what place this was, but that it never used to look so bright before.

Gem and Scott distracted him while I figured out a way to explain his situation. I open my mouth to speak. That's when it hit me.

He probably knows.

“Scar?” I ask, and he turns towards me. “Yeah, Grian?”

“What's your opinion on, I dunno, mythology?” I smile awkwardly, not knowing what I'm doing. Scar fidgets with his hands, “Oh! Not much, honestly. What kinda mythology we talkin’? Greek? Roman? The Bible or something???”

“Let's start with Greek.”

Scott and Gem look at me with nervous expressions on their faces. I nod at them slowly while Scar giggles to himself.

“I know that Zeus is pretty bad, I mean, no one likes that guy.” He places his hand on the table, leaning forward with a smug grin on his face that would be almost attractive if he wasn't such an idiot. I look at the other two with concern, “Really? That's all?”

“Hmm… a lot of, I dunno, sibling relations? Really odd, I mean none of them care! It's just something they do! Oh, yeah! Why do you ask, by the way?” Scar continues.

“Would you think I'm insane if I said that they're real?”

“I would.” Scar blinks, “But I did just escape from a time traveling theater that's making me wonder how old I am now.”

“You'd still be sixteen.” Scott says, “You haven't grown at all since you entered or left.”

“Huh.” Scar looks down at his hands, “I haven't even cut my nails in a week and they're still short.”

“Exactly.” Scott looks at me, “Think of it as a time freeze, but the world around you continues anyway.”

“Funny… So if I can be stuck in some otherworldly place for years, who's to say deities can't exist at this point! That guy who escorted us out had one eye, for God’s sake!” Scar says with irritation. I smile, “Good! This makes this easier.”

—

We left the restaurant after a while of talking, then we took some public transit (big risk) to the nearest place to our camp.

Scar spends our entire time looking uncomfortable. Though, I guess I would be too if I was on a wheelchair and people stood in front of me on a bus crowding me.

“Are you okay?” I ask him, Scar clutches his hands near his legs. “Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.”

“Uh-huh…”

“It just reeks here.” He looks away and frowns. “I mean, yeah, public transit always does.” I giggle. “Not like that. It smells like something's rotting.” Scar glances around. Then his eyes widen.

We turn towards where Scar’s looking. “Oh!” I cover my mouth. The people in the bus were sitting and acting normally, except for this couple sitting by each other.

“Hey! Hey! Wake up, hey!” They shouted. That's when the bus took a strong and short stop. I grab onto Scar’s chair quickly as I'm still watching. “What's going on?!” The person continues.

Scar blinks, “She died as soon as I said that.”

“What?” I look at him. “She was still living.” Scar frowns, “But it smelled like–”

“Are you okay, Scar?” Scott leans over. “Can we get out?” Scar asks. “We have to anyway.” I get up, then smile at Scar. “Let's go.”

And we do, we all leave. An ambulance shows up, but Scar sighs like it's too late. I glance at him, then at Scott. Scott shrugs. Gem dusts herself off, “Eugh, thank the gods we left that bus. Dusty old man does not feel good on your shoulder.” She grimaces, then she glares at Scar.

“Something's up with you, bud. But for now, let's head off, shall we?”

“Are you mad at me?” Scar asks. “No, just concerned.” Gem says, “I have a suspicion, and I'm not liking the odds.”

“Of what?!”

I flick Scar’s head, “Let's just go, we're close to camp anyway.”

“This feels like a cult.” Scar jokes. I roll my eyes, “You've already decided to join, let's go.”

—

Camp looks eerie, especially that no one is here. I look around, “We're back! Uh, fellas?”

Not a single person answers, so I walk in further. Then I run towards the Big House, “Hello?! Hey! Martyn! Anyone?!” I yell.

Then I turn towards the others. “Where did they go?” I frown. Scar holds himself, “So, Grian, what's the story here, man?” He giggles anxiously.

I smile, though the corners of my lips seem to shake with the effort. “Greek gods, we're their children. That's all.”

“Where are you all?!” I open the doors to the house, and that's when I see it. Martyn on the ground with a broken mirror. A mist of water surrounding him falls as the rainbow fades.

“What are you doing here?” He looks at me slowly, “I thought you were on a quest…”

“We were searching for others just like us, ‘cause the satyrs are currently preoccupied with wildfires.” I say, “Martyn, what are you doing?”

“None of your business, how's the sun looking?” He stands up, then walks out the door. Pushing me aside in the process. “Good. Good.” He places his hand on his head. “Sorry, Ren just gave me one of the worst Iris messages possible.”

“Oh, what did he say this time?” I cross my arms. “He and those stupid Ares kids are close to death, Bdubs decided to go with them knowing he can't really get on their level. I… ugh.” Martyn walks away.

“Wait! Is anyone else here?” I ask. “Everyone's helping the satyrs. You should check on Taurtis.” Martyn continues onward. I watch him leave to his cabin, then I turn towards Scott, Gem, and Scar.

“Welcome home? I guess?” I frown. Scar looks at me and I feel a sharp sense of guilt. “It– it's usually better on the first day!” I say, then turn towards the forest. “We just gotta fix that.”

Scar rolls towards me. “You think it's just a wildfire?” He asks. “I hope it is.” I start walking.

—

The fire was larger than I thought it was.

I rush in, “Taurtis! What happened?!”

Taurtis bleats and splashes water on one of the trees. The tree forms into a dryad, “Thanks for the water, but I'm not the one on fire!” She says. “Sorry, Lizzie.” He groans, “I'm so tired.”

“You're fine, I think you should get some sleep. Besides, maybe this newcomer is a Poseidon kid!” She grins. “I doubt it.” I say, then gaze at everything else.

Scar rolls towards us, “Poseidon?”

“You can control water, right? Maybe breathe in it or–” Lizzie looks at him. “No.” Scar says.

“I can't even swim, if you couldn't tell.” He tilts his head. “I mean! Who said you had to swim?” She giggles.

Scott walks in and stares at the forest in horror. “Oh… oh my gods. Gem, any idea to fix this?”

“Well, first off. All dryads please turn back to your humanoid forms.” Gem says, “Scott, you're good with animals, take them and get them out of here temporarily. They can live in whoever's cabin caters to them the most.”

“Demeter’s, probably.” Scott nods, then delves deeper into the forest. I stand there next to Scar, and Gem looks at us both. “You should probably look for… survivors, maybe.”

“There's tons of those.” Scar tilts his head, “I don't think it's gotten that bad that people are suffocating.”

“Illness travels fast when you breathe in smoke.” I say, then I walk off. Scar cracks a grin, “Well excuse me, mister! I didn't take you for an expert!”

—

I found some of the others, mainly the Hephaestus kids. Surprisingly, they'd created some tools to help with the forest.

“Doc!” I yell, and immediately he turns to me. “What do you want, Grian?! We're busy!” He answers. He's so kind to me.

“Gem is devising a plan on how to fix this, but I've got something figured out.” I grin. “What do you guys got there?”

Doc gazes down at his own hands. “Oh, this. It's just an enlarged water gun. We had to go down to the river, explain to the naiads what was occuring, and get drenched in freshwater before we could finally get this made.”

“Naiads…” I groan, and Scar curiously raises his hand. “I'm real out of the loop here, guys. Also, how am I supposed to help?”

I look at Scar and smile, “Do you know what you can control?”

He shakes his head, “No-can-do. I don't have solar powers, stealing skills, master fighting skills or whatever!”

Doc hands him a piece of scrap metal, “Anything you can do with this?”

Scar stares at it, “It's just a piece of metal. It's really sharp, I could stab someone with it.” He smiles at Doc, who looks disappointed on sight. “Right, of course you can. My mistake for being too vague, can you create something?”

“Nope!” Scar gives the scrap back to Doc. “I've never actually created a thing in my life! Except for a few excuses here and there, maybe. Cat ate my homework, best line used this century!” He giggled.

I rolled my eyes, “Who believes that?”

“You'd be surprised!”

Doc crosses his arms, “You aren't very pretty, so not Aphrodite… nature. Can you assist with nature? Like farming, or whatever.”

Scar smacks his own legs lightly, as if he were playing with his hands. “I don't think so, I live in a city. We don't really have nature there. Or farms. Didn't really have a calling for it, either.”

Doc hums to himself, then he looks at me. “I'm concerned.”

“Why?”

“If he's not even just a little bit like the gods, there's only so few choices left. I'm not liking the odds.”

Scar fidgets around with his fingers, “Are you saying I might be a child of the big guys?”

“Might,” Doc stares right at Scar like he can see his soul, “is too weak a word for this occasion.”

Scar leans towards me, as much as he can in his confined space. “What is he saying?”

I shake my head, “Let's focus on the trees for now…”

And that we did. The satyrs spent most of the time asking the naiads for assistance, the rest of us hacked down broken branches that were too weak to truly thrive anymore. Then I stole someone's water gun thing and started spraying the trees.

The smoke bellowed upward and only got worse and worse till we finally asked the gods to assist.

That's when the rain came down, and Scar yelped and nearly cracked open the earth.

—

“What did he do?”

I sit down and stare at the clouds above us. “Nothing too special,” I look towards Gem. She furrows her brows, “Grian. Scar did something when Zeus gave us that storm. What was it?”

“There was an earthquake, Gem.” I shrug, “The ground broke beneath us, boohoo.”

“Why are you covering for him?! Poseidon’s quakes haven't been active in this area for years!” Gem squints. “Maybe he just decided we needed one. Maybe he was giving us a tsunami in an attempt to clear the fire. I don't know, Gem! I don't know what Scar did, I'm trying to create my own logic here!” I wave my arms frantically.

Gem sighs and sits next to me. “He broke the ground.”

“Yeah…”

“...Did anything happen afterwards?”

“It fixed itself, he panicked and tried to reverse what he did. Told everyone not to worry, casting more attention on himself. It was barely noticeable, looked like a hair fracture.” I pick up a pebble and stare at it.

“He's talking to the watcher right now.” I groan, “This is so irritating.”

“Not knowing, huh?”

“That I might be wrong?! That this was natural, and he just freaked out over something that happened right as he panicked?! Maybe! Or that I'm absolutely correct, and he's the son of Hades for the gods' sakes!” I toss the pebble and rake my hands through my hair and pull.

“He's done other things resembling that of a Hades kid, Grian.” Gem pats me on the shoulder, “Why are you stressing so much about this?”

“... Don't you get it? Any of the big three having kids is insanity. The fact that he's still alive amazes me yet terrifies me at the same time.” I look into the distance, “I'm so sure that a monster may have gotten to him before…”

“He probably survived off the same thing you did.” Gem says. “What's that?” I turn towards her.

“Stupidity.”

“Oh.”

—

Scar’s wheelchair is parked but he's not on the chair. Alarms ring in my head as I look around, “Scar?! SCAR?!” I shout, running around.

It didn't take long for me to find him. Mainly because he didn't really go far at all. There he was, trembling and holding onto a tree. “Scar?” I say.

He nearly jumps out of his skin as he turns to me. “Grian! Ah, I'm so glad you're here! I'm a little bit, uh, stuck…” He grins. “...What happened? Why aren't you in your wheelchair?” I blink.

He laughs awkwardly, “I thought I was in good enough condition to walk again. But it turns out, my brain and my legs still aren't as connected as I thought they were.”

“I'll get the chair for you, Scar.”

“Thank you so much–”

I lift my finger and stare at him, “You've gotta remember to be careful, Scar. No one cares if you walk or not. We're still figuring out who you are.” I say, then I turn away and start going for the wheelchair.

When I do reach the wheelchair, Martyn approaches me.

“Have you seen Impulse?” He asks. “Not since we left the theatre.” I place my hands on the handle of the chair, pulling it out of the mud it happened to get stuck in. “Jeez, this thing has to be cleaned now…”

Martyn rubs his face in annoyance. “He's been gone for several days. How can he just go on a quest and go missing like that?!”

A sort of revelation hits me, and I stop in my tracks. “He’s in there…”

“Huh?”

I curse under my breath and turn around, “Shoot– Scar! I've got your chair!” I run towards him. I quickly help him into the wheelchair and promptly glance around.

“Something bothering you, Grian?” Scar asks.

“Ah, nothing too serious.” I smile, “You alright?”

“Yep! Better than ever, thanks G!” He places his hands on the wheels and pushes himself forward.

I watch him leave, then think momentarily. “Shoot, shoot, shoot.” I mutter, “Impulse, we left Impulse!”

I remember Gem shouting where everyone was, I already knew where Cub had gone. Kinda. Under the theatre, but I don't really know if he's gonna be gone for long. But Impulse, he went in with us and vanished.

Just what is that theatre?

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phoenix-writez · 9 months ago

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Decided to post entry #1 here as some people may not enjoy reading things on ao3 :D

I'm not sure how to format the fic on tumblr, so feel free to give me criticism! (Constructive. Criticism. I will ignore insulting)

So, have fun with Scar's POV! It's in first person, so if you're not a fan of that... Sorry! I try to analyze the characters beforehand and write them as themselves! Scar's a silly little guy, so I hope I got that down!

—

Entry #1

[SCAR]

August 18, 1997

This place is fun, honestly! I got here just four days ago!

A theater filled with red and pink strobe lights, it feels rather disco-ey, if I'm being honest. There's a rather large stage where people step up and say whatever they want. There's actors, circus acts, and even singers. Or karaoke.

Why is karaoke spelled that way? It should be kareoke, but to each their own!

Either way, I've gone up there a few times just to sing songs from my favorite cartoons. Had a few cheers from the crowd, but not many.

I loved it here though!

When I first got to the theater, I had been with a few friends. I don't know where they went, lost track of them. I remember this guy welcoming us, holding out his hand and grinning fancily.

“Welcome, all! This is the Eye’s Spy Theatre!”

Trust me, it's not spelled theater. I learned the hard way.

“Want me to take you to your rooms?” The fella acknowledged each of us. He had a towel folded over his arm, just like a butler would in a fictional story. I tilted my head to the side like a dog, “Sir? No offense, but I don't recall this being a hotel.”

“Perhaps you missed the sign, but all is well, Scar Goodtimes, your room is already booked. First floor, as always! Can't be giving you anything further than that with your given situation, can we?” He says, then steps behind me.

I raise my hands, “WAIT– Hands off, fancy guy! Firstly, what do you mean?”

“How do you know his name?” My friend asked. Fancy Guy looked over, “When you book a room, we get your names on the screen. Besides, I know everyone in this town.”

Right.

—

August ??????

I woke up with a start, hearing a bang nearby. I pull myself onto my chair and roll onward, out of the room.

“What?! What happened–”

I look towards the stage, my breath slows. “Oh! Obviously.” I giggle, then I do a double take. What the– “What am I doing up there?!”

On the stage, was me in a weird outfit. I've never seen this kind of outfit before, honestly. Maybe some new fashion shaped itself in the six days I've been here.

Wait… how long has it been?

I blink, but I can't really think. My memory is kinda foggy.

I see more characters on the stage, some blue haired guy and this ginger lady clearly tired out and breathing heavy. I'm not sure if it was Hollywood level acting, or they were actually just overworked out of their minds.

I roll towards the bar, and no, this bar isn't necessarily an alcoholic bar you see at night time when everything else closes. I'm sixteen! I can't even drink anyway! I doubt rules changed that much when I've been here.

I grin at the tender, “Do you have anything other than really warm milk? It was you, after all, who said you'd make this the best experience possible y'know.”

“I… we do, in fact. Anything you want, dear hero.”

“Hero? My name is Scar, did you forget that fancy pants?” I smirk. “No. I did not.” He said flatly.

“Oh.”

“I'd like just a simple water, honestly.” I said. “Ah, only the crispiest we'll hand out for you.” The man kneels towards the shelves.

Huh? I blink. He's reaching up at them actually, I swear I've been seeing things.

I spend my time drinking the water and distracting myself from the fact I may have just met my walking doppelganger. Though he's using a cane, still those legs can work and I'm jealous.

Just kidding, I don't care.

—

After a few minutes, I nearly jump, but I keep my composure. Another guy, looks around my age but surprisingly short. I'd give him a… 4’11? Jeez, really needs a growth spurt by now.

He ordered an orange juice and stared into the distance. That's when he spoke to me, “Fun act, right?”

“I wasn't really interested, too confusing. What was that back there, some kinda jester or whatever?”

“I'd give it a 5 out of tried their best.” The short guy said, then he turned to look at me and giggled. “You look like one of the actors.”

“Must be a long lost brother.” I put my cup down and look at him, and woah. My eyes widened and I smiled awkwardly. “Well! That's a… so what's your name, orange juice?”

“Oh! My name's Grian.” He smiled so brightly. I chuckled, “Cool! My name is Scar.”

“Oh I know–”

“Huh?”

“Sorry, long story.”

“Everyone knows my name in this place!” I look back at the table in front of us. “That would be a given. This place isn't really, well, real.” Someone walked towards us both.

Actually, a group.

The actors.

“Aw, I'm getting a standing ovation from the fellas themselves–” I look around. “Where's the guy who looked like me?”

“Hi.” This strange lab coat wearing guy– oh! I know him. Cub?!

I blinked. How long ago did he show up here? Two days ago I saw him on the news and he looked much shorter, and he'd been running away from a police department, some sort of forensics office he'd blown up.

Cub raked his hands through his hair, it looked really messy. “I sorta used this weird amulet to change my appearance.”

“Are we still acting?” I asked, “Amulet, you say? Well, I simply cannot!” Immediately, my hand impacts my forehead dramatically. “... We're acting, right?”

“No.” Grian said, “Though he is lying, listen, Scar. I'm gonna ask you a really weird question and you have to answer me.”

“Uh-huh…”

“What year is it?”

“Oh! That's easy, 1997, duh! Did you guys hit your heads or something?” I smiled, chuckling. The bartender finally came by and gave Grian his orange juice. Then he vanished.

Grian grabbed his cup and he took a sip. “1997, hm? What if I told you it's not?”

“I wouldn't believe you.” I giggled. “I've been here for a week, duh! Got here just Monday with some of my friends. Where did they go, though?” I looked around. I still couldn't see them.

“They probably got out.” The sassy blue guy said, “Yeah, or stuck.” The ginger crossed her arms. I looked at them. “They’re just in their rooms.”

“Why don't we take a look then, huh? Where are their rooms?” Grian asks, I shift awkwardly. “...Third floor.”

“This thing doesn't have an elevator for you?” Cub asks.

“If a building ain't as tall as five stories, there's no need.” I lean back in my chair. “Which is, uh, needless to say, no.”

The ginger thought for a moment, then she grinned. “Tell them the numbers, and we'll go on from there. I'll stay back with you, just so you have someone near you!”

“I'm fine on my own.” I looked at her. “Absolutely not,” she glanced at me up and down, “genuinely, if I had to guess. You're dehydrated, probably haven't eaten much, and the moment you see the sun your eyes will wish you'd gone blind.”

“With these strobe lights? Might as well have gone blind already.” I shrugged, she stared at them. “They're LED now.”

“Meh! I think they always have been, luminescent and whatnot.” I said, “What's your name, by the way?”

“Gem. That there is Scott, he's uh… something, alright.” She sighed. Scott, the fancy blue guy, waves. “I'll go up third floor, what's the room?”

“Rooms, uh… 307, 315? I think?”

“Why are they so separated?” Grian’s eyes widened. “The rooms might've been taken between ‘em.” Cub immediately began his journey towards the stairs.

“Eight rooms between them?! Cub, there's seven people in this room!”

“Most people got drained after the second day and went to sleep. Haven't seen them since.” I added.

Grian paused. He looked at Gem, and they both seemed to come to an agreement. I heard Gem mutter, “Hypnos,” and she sat by me. Grian stood up.

“I thought that guy was fine by now! What's going on?” He grumbled. My head laid on the table like my neck had gotten exhausted from holding it. “Maybe he changed his mind.”

“Or maybe, this establishment is really old and he forgot to tear it down.” Grian sighed, then he took a step forward and looked at the ground.

“What's… this symbol doing here?”

“Aren't you supposed to be heading up to the third floor?” I said, for some reason my body felt like all the energy was getting sucked out of it. I don't know how, but everything in my field of vision was getting blurry. And Grian had sharp-ish ears, and an elven face. I swore he didn't look real.

Because he didn't.

I glanced at Gem, and she looked completely normal. Besides the fact that she was actively plotting something and had a sword in her belt. I don't know what I saw before, but I guess I just assumed she was in some sort of costume.

Everyone wears costumes around here. I've seen a giant guy with a hundred arms walk around here demanding for some cyclops guy, then he exited the building fine as that.

I felt nauseous, and everything went black.

—

I don't know. I don't know what today is. Everything is the same.

I wasn't out for long, fainting spells don't usually last longer than a minute. I woke up and everyone was staring at me with concern. “We found your friends.” Scott grimaced, “And we found you, doing the same thing as them.”

“I passed out, I don't know what happened.” I groaned, “Grian, since when were you an elf guy?”

Grian giggled, “I'm not an elf, idiot.”

“Why are your ears all sharp then?”

“Oh! That's just normal, I was born like that.” Grian shrugged, “But back to you. You passed out on our watch, which means this doesn't happen when you're on your own.”

“Possible.” Cub gazed at the floor, then he leaned and played around with the tiles like it was a puzzle. “What do you mean possible? We proved your hypothesis, thank you.” Grian tilted his head.

“What if we're not registered here?” Cub lifted himself, holding a brick that revealed a gaping hole underneath the building. “What if we're just simply wanderers with no true meaning to this place?”

“We'd still be people, hun.” Scott said flatly.

“Not in this place. I think this is an entirely different world compared to, well, Earth.” Cub grabbed a coin out of his pocket, and he dropped it into the abyss.

“Scar, do you perceive things differently than normal people?” He looked up at me. I couldn't help but think that this situation is way too serious for a random questionnaire I've had billions of times when I was younger.

The answer is yes.

It's always yes.

“When I was, like, six, my mom found me digging at the ground. It's ‘cause I heard some rattling, and I wanted to free the thing that was suffering. When I finally did, it was a skeleton monster! She grabbed me and pulled me away, told me never to do that again.” I started, “That those things are dangerous, that my father would be back and he would never want to see me playing with creatures I can't define.”

“I mean, a skeleton monster is pretty much accurate.” Grian laughed, “Wait, you don't know your dad?”

“Nope!” I smiled, “Always asked, was told he died.”

“...So how would he be back?” Scott squinted. “We had a ouija board in our house, although it's only for eight year olds and older, and I was barely able to simply sleep on my own.” I sighed.

But, the presence of the board didn't scare me knowing what it did. I quite like the idea of ghosts, and I know we had some in our house. They slept in the corners, watched me do my chores, and stared at me when my health declined.

Not much they could've done anyhow.

I felt my hands clenching on my legs, and I released them. “Uh… I never believed that. There was no grave we visited. Ever. She just said it like it was a fact from years ago.”

Cub nodded, then we heard the coin ding and slam itself into what sounded like concrete. I glanced at the floor. “What was that?!” I press my hands to the wheels of my chair. “Cub?!”

“I heard what I needed to hear.” He smiled, then simply disappeared.

We all stared where he left. “UGH! CUB!” Grian grabbed a knot of his own hair and tugged, but not pulling anything out. I gazed at the underground, and I swear I felt a calling.

Like I needed to be somewhere.

That's when the stupid butler grabbed all of us and dragged us out. “I do believe your time here is over, thank you for being so kind.” He shoved us out the door. I locked my chair and looked around, frozen.

“Where's Cub?! WHERE'S IMPULSE YOU–” Grian grabbed Gem and pulled her aside. She'd been yelling at the guy the whole time we were getting kicked out. I had no idea there was another person with them that had gone missing.

I had a theory, but it wasn't so friendly.

And I swear I could see that guy in a different form now that I had been placed outdoors.

He was tall, almost goopy, and I swear he had one giant eye in the middle of his face that stared deeply into your soul.

Normally I saw him as just this generic black-haired guy. He had this way about him that felt, well, casual yet business.

Like he was familiar with you but he didn't want to get fired.

I covered my face with my hands. Just thinking about my mother made me realize something.

“Guys, what year is it?” My tired eyes felt like they were dragging on the ground. I could just feel the hot pavement scraping my eyelids.

“...Scar, it's 2025.” Grian said.

“...Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

I stared at the outdoors, and felt like I'd been through multiple disasters at once.

“It was just a week…”

But now I realize how much time I truly spent there. And it doesn't make me too glad to know it.

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