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Post by hongkong on Oct 2, 2012 20:30:56 GMT -6
Leon had thought that maybe, just maybe, if he exited the manor itself, he would no longer be surrounded by darkness. The darkness seemed alive, clinging to his skin and his hair and his clothes, wrapping around him as if it wanted to choke him to death. The mist, the fog...everything seemed so eerily alive, as if it were watching him.
Outside it was no better. Everything around him was cloaked in shadow and fog. After walking for a while, he came to a metal fence, encasing him in and trapping him. When Leon reached out to touch it, an electric shock sent him reeling back in pain, red burns appearing on his fingers. He'd bitten his lip to prevent himself from crying out and took a bandaid (you never knew how that might come in handy when pranking) out. The pain still throbbed and that had been a while ago. How long exactly, Leon wasn't sure. Time didn't seem to move the same as it did usually.
At any rate, Leon had somehow ended up wandering through these fields. He'd been careful to avoid the taller grasses, unsure what might appear in them. He desperately wished to make a fire--it wouldn't take too much work. But something instinctual told him it would be a bad idea. Fire was equivalent to smoke and smoke was just a sign to every living creature in the vicinity that you were available to eat. No, Leon wasn't interested in that. Besides, he didn't have anything to burn, at least nothing lasting.
So Leon trudged on. The fields were endless and for some reason, no matter how far he walked, the manor seemed to be overbearingly close. The thought made him nervous. How could that be? A shiver went down his back. Something wasn't right here.
Leon felt a great deal more vulnerable. His wound from the electric fence had yet to heal...what was the matter? Had something gone awry? As a nation, he couldn't die...or could he? Maybe there was something with the Manor...something told him that he was very, very capable of dying here.
There was a rustling from the grasses on his right and Leon acted instinctively. He jumped back, his hand already diving into his sleeve, sifting out a firecracker.
No fear. No fear. No fear.
"Who is it?"
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Post by monaco on Oct 7, 2012 5:46:55 GMT -6
After she had visited the wishing well, Ciel searched to see if there was any possible escape from the Manor’s grounds. She highly doubted it. The chances were far too low for her liking, and she knew it would be futile in the end, but it would be best to be absolutely positively sure before fully ruling out the possibility. It was contradictory, yes, but as the saying went, it was better to be safe than sorry.
The chilling, dry wind from before started up again, directing several strands into her face, effectively irritating her. She brushed them back with her right behind her ear, her left hand still holding her flashlight. Ciel was starting to regret wearing her dress as a costume and desperately wishing for a pair of pants that would at least allow her to move with more ease. The fabric only proceeded to slow down her cautious steps in the dying grass, occasionally getting caught on a stray twig or the like. And each time, her uneasiness grew and grew.
Ciel walked and walked. She finally spared a glance behind her. She was startled to realize that the Manor seemed to continue to leer over her hauntingly, despite her being quite a distance away from the eerie building. It was like it was expanding, growing bigger with each moment…
She was distracted and not paying attention to her surroundings; and in the end, tripped over her own dress when she accidentally stepped on it. She fell nearly flat on her face with a small grunt of pain, and released the flashlight in the process. It landed several inches away from her with a nearly inaudible thud.
Suddenly, the grass rustled left of her. She immediately stiffened, her body tensed with dread. Her face was still pressed into the blades. She didn’t want to look, but she knew she had to.
“Who is it?”
Ciel nearly jumped out of fright at the quiet voice, but a sigh of intense relief followed. At least it was human… or so she presumed. She could only hope she was right.
Slowly, very slowly, Ciel lifted her head to risk a look at the person or thing she had stumbled across – or rather, what had stumbled across her.
She could nearly cry with joy when she recognized Hong Kong. He was wearing his familiar red and black garments. His black hair was exactly the same as Ciel remembered it. She propped her arms up to help her get off the ground.
“It’s Monaco.” The words were breathless, filled with relief and gratitude to whoever had let her be fortunate enough to find another nation. She wasn’t sure how long she could have bared the hostile silence.
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Post by hongkong on Oct 12, 2012 11:30:57 GMT -6
Leon couldn't stop the wave of relief that overcame him when another nation, Monaco, appeared in the grasses. But something inside him stayed tense. He couldn't be sure. No, one could never be sure.
Monaco's golden hair was covered in grasses and her usually neatly done braid was slightly tangled. She must've been out her for a while. It must've been his imagination, but Leon thought for a moment that the pink of her dress was an almost ashen gray, like the Manor had sucked most of the color out of it. The fabric was torn in places and enhanced the trapped look that the Manor seemed to specialize in.
Leon straightened himself up, tucking a miniature firecracker away just in case. It wouldn't do much damage, but when broken in half or thrown to the ground, it would create a great deal of smoke, enough cover for Leon to get away. Just in case, of course.
"Monaco," Leon said evenly. "Or should I call you Ciel?" Leon had never been particularly close to Monaco though he did know she was very intelligent, much more serious than certain nations like America. Her proposals were generally well thought through, how France managed to raise her to this extent Leon didn't know...
Still, this was the first nation Leon had met in a while. He glanced behind him at the Manor which still felt too close for the distance he had traveled. Maybe this was a good chance to gather some information.
"What do you think?" Leon asked in a low voice. For some reason, he felt uneasy about raising his voice here...it was like a loud sound would attract trouble, something Leon would honestly rather avoid. "Everything here seems so unnatural. It's like the Manor itself is living."
Feeling a little awkward, Leon shifted slightly. "Have you seen anyone else around? After we entered the manner it seems everyone somehow ended up in different places...it..." Leon trailed off. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say anymore.
Instead, he turned back towards the Manor. It was night and the moon shone brightly, though the usual liquid silver seemed to be almost evil. A cloud passed over it and briefly looked red. Blood moon.
A shiver passed through Leon.
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Post by monaco on Oct 14, 2012 18:25:08 GMT -6
It was slightly awkward to hear the other call her by her human name. Nations didn’t usually do that unless they knew each other very well. But she supposed that anyone at this point might not even care anymore. It was a scary thought, but it was even to worse to think that it could actually be legitimate.
Ciel winced as she tried to force her limbs to move and get off the grassy ground; it was uncomfortable either way. She unsteadily rose to her feet and nearly staggered, almost falling over once again. Everything ached, almost numbingly. It was strange; she felt the slightest pang from her muscles, yet nothing was throbbing painfully. Nothing was making sense. Or rather, everything was beginning collapse around her, its stability beginning to crack beneath its weight.
“This place…” Her voice was quiet, so very quiet, almost mirroring Hong Kong’s low tone. “Everything is wrong. Nothing is right.” Ciel was beginning to speak riddles and opposites on her own. That certainly wasn’t a good sign. It felt as if the Manor was beginning to take hold in her mind, a dark, impure seed taking place and planting its roots. Of course, it had already sprouted and was growing rapidly. “I have seen only a few… But we parted ways soon after.”
It occurred to her, then. Why did they even separate? It was foolish of them. She couldn’t remember anymore, what exactly happened. She believed to know a few she had met, but now she was struggling to recall when they had gone different ways. Ciel was about ready to panic; now she was starting to lose her specific memories or earlier occurrences. She didn’t understand. It was the Manor, she was sure of it – what else could it be?
But she managed to keep her exterior expression calm, despite the internal anarchy. She had to, for the sake of Hong Kong, who was known for his constant blank expressions. He looked as if was ready to give up to, she could see it in his eyes, which used to be so guarded and nearly impossible to read. But they couldn’t. They had to keep moving, pushing, and forging ahead. Forward was the only possible direction they could go.
Surrendering to the Manor’s dark bleakness was not an option.
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