[hr][hr][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/SR52k84p/54b4e63d635603b22d80f72a4ba2be54.png[/img][hr][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019e8fda-abae-72dc-b11e-39d057b78113.webp[/img][hr][@Achronum][@Blizz][@Forsythe][@Kirah][@PatientBean][@Trainerblue192][@KazAlkemi][hr][h3][color=AC3EFF][b]Morning - Sun. January 16th, 2039 - Los Angeles, California[/b][/color][/h3][/center][hr]

The group had agreed to meet at the Haunted Tree at 8 o’clock. It had been a compromise between those who wanted to leave for Otherworld as soon as possible and those who struggled to wake up before noon. Most at Margaret Carter were familiar with the Haunted Tree - a gigantic wych elm, it cast shadows over the nearby buildings, large and looming. There were no benches near it and even the other trees seemed to keep their distance. It would have been ideal to study or read under, had it not been for reports of childish voices and laughter, the ghost of some poor child clinging still to this pane. There were whispers as to how this ghost came to be, rumors of sightings and even the occasional paranormal investigation, but never anything definitive, never anything with proof…

And now, mushrooms had grown at its base, forming a near perfect ring. A portion of the circle was on the tree itself, a handful of mushrooms growing sideways on the trunk. And in the early morning light, there was almost an eerie shine to them, as if the mushrooms were not of this plane. 

[hr][hr][center][h3][b][color=ed1c24]Percy Novikov[/color][/b][/h3][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019b29ec-87e6-745e-afed-c64ed081c458.webp[/img]
[hr][b][color=ed1c24]Location:[/color][/b] Margaret Carter - the Haunted Tree
[b][color=ed1c24]Magic Items:[/color][/b] Mystery watch from Agatha Harkness, Dorian sex bracelet, anti-touch ring
[b][color=ed1c24]Travel Day Fit:[/color][/b] [url=https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019f0aff-07a8-72b9-bbb5-ce787cc47c46.webp]Green jacket, navy shirt, jeans, and hiking boots, with the pen necklace, ring, bracelet from Danni,and the Dorian bracelet[/url] [hr][/center]

Danni had been insufferable all morning. 

Traveling to Otherworld required the use of a faerie ring. They could be found all over the world, with local legends and superstitions warning of the danger of stepping within one. Children disappeared, loved ones vanished only to reappear stuttering and strange. In their vicinity, strange voices and apparitions were reported, the ghostly laughter of changelings, the melancholic songs of sirens, and trails of blood without a defined start or end. Entering a faerie ring puts the subject at the whims of Otherworld, of story magic - a force somehow more unpredictable than the chaos magic wielded by the Scarlet Witch. 

The nearest one just happened to be at the Haunted Tree. 

And Danni wasn’t about to let [i]anyone[/i] hear the end of it. There had been a flurry of texts in the group chat the previous night, an onslaught of tree 🌲and ghost 👻 and 🧚fairy and 🍄mushroom emojis, long after Percy had woken up in the movie nest, curled up around his boyfriend. Dorian had apparently planned something for just the two of them in a secondary location, forcing Percy to sleepily teleport all of the pillows and stuffed animals and blankets back to Dorian’s room, all while his head was pounding as if he’d had a sugar high… which he essentially had had. The memories of being Gemini were a little indistinct, a little hazy around the edges, but he remembered the rush, the immense energy at his fingertips - remembered how so many of his inhibitions and boundaries and walls had fallen away, belonging to someone else - remembered with a pang of sadness how easy it had been to hold Danni’s hand and that even the occasional stray contact from Ben hadn’t been bothersome, even welcomed. 

Dorian and Percy had relocated to the school’s observatory - it wasn’t as grand as others in the area like the Griffith, but a fair amount of money had been placed into its construction. Margaret Carter was not at a high elevation relative to the rest of Los Angeles, so light pollution was a constant battle, even with the height of the observatory compared to the rest of the school. It had been just the two of them, even more blankets and pillows spread out on the floor, letting them gaze up at the stars. Percy had pointed out to Dorian all the constellations he could see, a touch of sadness in his voice as he showed him Orion, but it was replaced with amusement as he pointed out Gemini to the east with its shining twin stars. Dorian had somehow even known to get Korolevskiy. He must have asked Percy’s moms. It was a complicated traditional Russian cake for birthdays and celebrations, layers of chocolate and cherry and walnut and poppyseed cake, bound together with Dulce De Leche or caramel buttercream, and covered in even more chocolate and fruit. His mother had purchased one from the Russian grocer nearby every year for his birthday. She must have told him about the snacks he had with it, too, as the ginger beer and peanut butter M&Ms were there with it. 

The quiet, tender evening had done wonders for his fried nerves. He’d almost cried when Dorian gave him his birthday present - a ring that put a small shield all around his body, dampening out stray, accidental touch, but not so strong as to keep him from feeling his boyfriend’s arms wrapped around him, holding him tight to his chest. It had come with a cost though, beyond Danni blowing up their phones just as Percy had stopped watching the stars and begun kissing his boyfriend’s neck. 

A cost that he hadn’t realized until the middle of the night, when he’d woke up thrashing, his body damp with sweat as a nightmare had held him in its grip. Everyone had died in his dream. And it had been his fault. He hadn’t been prepared. He hadn’t been ready. And before he had fully woken up, before he had managed to catch his breath, Dorian had crashed down on top of him - he’d been floating in his sleep - and it hurt more than usual. Somehow, Danni and April and Amelie had slept through the startled scream - through Percy frantically pacing as he realized he had [i]nothing[/i] packed for the trip - through him trying to time travel back a few hours to when Ben wasn’t asleep in their room and he’d be able to throw his things together - to him struggling and only managing to go back eight minutes, having to hide out in the hallway to avoid paradox psychosis - to Dorian dragging him back in by his ear and telling him that he was bringing his magic tote bag and Percy could just borrow whatever he needed and he was going to go back to sleep [i]now[/i] whether he had to possess him or not. 

He still woke up early, though. He had quietly gone back into his room, tiptoeing as to not wake Ben if his roommate was still there. His camping supplies were… he had no idea where they were. He hadn’t touched any of it in over a year and he couldn’t show up at his mothers’ house and tear apart the garage looking for them. So instead he managed to quickly pack what he could find, rolling the clothes up so as to squeeze them into his bag better - two changes of clothes, his compass, his water bottle, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss, a journal and the pen necklace Dorian had given him, Agatha’s watch, Nemo’s journal on Otherworld, and a tiny first aid kit he’d kept in his dorm room. He almost forgot the most important thing, however - one of his copies of the Iliad was thrown into his bag at the end. He didn’t have any food, he didn’t have any means of creating shelter or sleeping comfortably… but at least he would be clean. Hopefully they could pull some pillows and blankets out of Dorian’s tote if they needed them. At the last second, he had thrown in his commander deck, too. Just in case. 

And at least they’d had time to grab coffee at Secret IdentiTea before they’d headed to the tree. Danni had only been awake for little more than an hour and he’d delivered his bragging monologue about how he’d always known the Haunted Tree was important and no one believed him and if he hadn’t taken Bennie and Milli-illi-illipede there with Rillie on the tour, no one would’ve found the fairy ring and they’d have no way to go to Otherworld to get Poisson-Pas and his ugly mustache back. 

Percy had asked DanThé for six shots. He might have been better off asking for twelve. 

Or for something even stronger. 

[color=ed1c24]“So, how does this work?”[/color] he asked, taking another sip of his coffee before crouching down to the ground, examining the mushroom circle. It started on the ground but had grown onto the tree itself, a good three to four of the bright red mushrooms attached to the trunk of the wych elm, with the remaining dozen or so firmly on the ground. His eyes darted over towards Ben. He seemed like the type to know things about mushrooms. [color=ed1c24]“Do we simply focus on our goal and step in? Is there a phrase or incantation? Do we need to hold hands to ensure no one is separated?”[/color] He hadn’t been there last night when everyone had discussed their findings about Otherworld. He regretted it slightly, but he knew he would have been a spicy, irritable mess today if he had been. Dorian had done the right thing by planning something for just the two of them. He was really lucky to have such a caring boyfriend. He had Dorian’s bracelet on his wrist. 

Heavy on his hip was the scabbard with Nemo's - with [i]his[/i] sword. 

[hr][hr][center][h3][b][color=42A9FF]April Kingston-Gray[/color][/b][/h3][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019b2a42-176d-736d-87cd-e80ef331aa59.webp[/img]
[hr][b][color=42A9FF]Location:[/color][/b] Margaret Carter - the Haunted Tree
[b][color=42A9FF]Magic Items:[/color][/b] Kingston-Gray Bracelet, River Styx Water, Hair Dying Comb, Tote Bag
[b][color=42A9FF]Travel Day Fit:[/color][/b] [url=https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019f0b01-09ee-76ce-ae33-1bb2ef8ebde7.webp]Grey-blue jumpsuit with steel toed boots, Kingston-Gray bracelet[/url][hr][/center]

April had had a blast at the party the night before - even if it was a little weird that Percy and Dori never showed up for it, even if it had been kinda rude of Chase to snatch the plate of enchiladas out of Leah’s and their hands. But still, sugar and roller skating and karaoke? Incredible! They weren’t as good at roller skating as they were ice skating, keeping them from showing off and doing tricks (being able to control the ice on the rink was incredibly helpful) but they held their own all the same. How did Chase manage to close off the rink on the gym’s second floor for the party? They had no idea! And they hadn’t cared to ask. Their (private) socials were filled with pictures from the night and the new filters Filterella had to offer had been to die for - Leah with a duck face had been [i]iconic[/i]. And if April had used the opportunity to also save some photos of Marlena with hearts around her… that was no one else’s business.

After the party winded down, April had received a little help in heisting their meds - and with the lithium pills acquired, they were all set to go to Otherworld! Their usual stuff had been tossed inside their school bag - the medication, the magic comb, the water from the River Styx, two gigantic water bottles that could barely fit inside the bag’s outer pockets, both covered in an onslaught of stickers, some sunscreen and sunglasses, the collapsible batons, a keyboard button fidget toy - and of course, the snacks they’d gotten from the store. Their tote bag was folded up and shoved inside too, so that way they could just reach on through to grab changes of clothes, toiletries, towels, blankets - whatever it was they might need. Their Kingston-Gray bracelet was on their wrist, even though it seemed the magic of Otherworld decided no adult interference - which was [i]iconic[/i]. Pops would kill them if he knew what they were up to. 

Also, Danni and Millie and Ben and them had been the MVPs of the group by finding the way to Otherworld!!! The Haunted Tree was all they needed!!! 

They’d slept soundly and securely all night, curled up around Danni with Amelie snuggling in. The room had been a little warm but it was Los Angeles, even in winter it didn’t get super cold, so April didn’t think much of it. They’d just gone to bed wearing a tank top instead of a long sleeve and it had been enough to regulate their temperature. They’d woken up an hour or so before Danni the next morning, enough to hear Percy panic packing the next room over, but rather than do any extra packing themself, April scrolled through Snikt! There was an insane video of someone making sourdough bread and replacing all the water with blueberries that they [i]needed[/i] to replicate. And one of a girl chopping wood with an axe that April watched a little too long. 

But once everyone was up and it was time to go, they breezed through their morning routine - they texted a check in to the parents, just a heart emoji - did their skin care - combed out and styled their hair, keeping the rainbow dye for now - pulled on a grey and blue jumpsuit that was comfy and easy to move in while looking rad as fuck - did their makeup, relatively simple except for blue around their eyes and tiny little gems at the corners - and obviously rushed to Secret IdentiTea to get a venti white chocolate raspberry mocha and a molasses cookie from DanThé. 

[color=42A9FF]“Our first real adventure!!”[/color] April squealed excitedly, hugging their brothers and anyone else who would let them - they didn’t try with Percy, for which he was grateful. [color=42A9FF]“Once everyone is here, we should take a selfie!!! It’s a huge moment!!! We’re moving up in the superhero world and can start doing things to help people!! We beat Arcade, we beat the Young Avengers and the Hex Girls, and now we are going to save Ser Nemo!! Also, Otherworld is gonna be so cool!!”[/color] They didn’t even think Pa had been to Otherworld. They could hardly contain their energy and excitement, as they bounced in place from foot to foot. 

[hider=Special Instructions]Please include in your post what your character is bringing to Otherworld. Remember, they have to carry everything they bring. If it isn't listed, they don't have it! If you do not do this, your character has the clothes on their back and their phone and that is it :)

Examples - 

April: [list][*]Bipolar medication (lithium), 3 month supply
[*]Backpack
[*]Magic Comb
[*]River Styx water
[*]Gigantic water bottle x 2
[*]Collapsible baton x 2
[*]Keyboard button fidget toy
[*]Sunscreen
[*]Sunglasses
[*]Jolly ranchers, twinkies, granola 
[*]Kingston-Gray bracelet
[*]Kingston-Gray magic tote
[*]Current clothes (jumpsuit + steel toed boots)
[*]Phone[/list]

Percy: [list][*]Backpack
[*]Dorian sex bracelet
[*]Friendship bracelet from Danni
[*]G'raha Tia Commander Deck
[*]Change of clothes x 2
[*]Compass
[*]Water bottle
[*]Deoderant
[*]Toothbrush
[*]Toothpaste
[*]Floss
[*]Journal
[*]Pen necklace
[*]Nemo's Otherworld journal 
[*]Agatha's watch
[*]Small first aid kit
[*]Copy of the Iliad 
[*]Phone
[*]Sword + scabbard 
[*]Current clothes - green-grey jacket, navy shirt, pants, hiking boots [/list]
[/hider]