BazmundLady Katashi bridled at Daniel and Morgan's comments. "Rude children," she breathed as the air itself thickened with tension, "deserve to be punished." The room itself darkened, windows slamming and clattering, books and gems and jewels clattering and making an ungodly noise as Katashi's robes fluttered angrily in what must be a gale that's flowing right through the children, not affecting them in the slightest. Not yet, anyways. "Do you know what happens to naughty children?" teases Katashi, drawing her hand across in a swipe as a loud zipping noise occurs, sealing Morgan's lips together with the swipe. "I'm kidding, don't answer me, let me show you."
And then she turned Daniel into a pig.
The transformation was so swift and sudden that it might've taken a while to comprehend what really went on. Daniel fell to his knees, his clothes stretching rather dangerously, as his arms and legs turned into stubby legs and trotters. A tail poked out of his hanging trousers, his white hair sitting rather nastily on the top of his head like a furry patch of mould. Katashi cackled with laughter, waving her arm around, causing the poor boy to run around in circles squealing madly. It may have been the scariest thing to witness thus far, watching poor Daniel panic in his new body for the best part of five minutes.
Katashi let the poor beast be, releasing her invisible grip on Daniel's porkish form. Slowly, he reverted back to normal on the ground, panting as his clothes once more fitted him, but were considerably baggier than they started off as. The witch returned her cold glare on the other children, the ghost of a smirk playing on her lips as she savoured their expressions.
"But, good children get their questions answered." added Katashi, ignoring Daniel completely as she returned her attention to Mae. "The silent one, I have to admit, is my favourite. Children are to be seen, not heard." she sneered, standing up and waddling in front of her desk.
Lady Katashi waved an arm, and a myriad of large, translucent humanoid...things came into view. They appeared to be just projections, staring blankly into the space in front of them. "Spirits," explained Katashi. "These things are spirits. I am a spirit, as is everyone who resides in this world. You, all of you, are spirits too."
"I separated you from your body and brought you here to my bathhouse, for one simple reason; profit!" cheerily exclaimed Katashi, clapping her hands together. The spirits held out both hands, each having a handful of translucent gold in their palms. "In another Bathhouse far away from here, business has increased a fair bit due to the fact a little human girl, around your age, helped for around two days. Two days, and they're famous! The gold is just pouring in, everyone wants to go to the Bathhouse where the human was."
"I have to outdo them. You wouldn't understand, dearies, you're far too young to comprehend why this, hehe, 'damn hag'..." Katashi trailed off, staring at Morgan, unable to hide the amused grin on her face. "...Why she took you away from your parents to work at a Bathhouse? You don't have to understand that at all. But you do need to understand this."
Katashi looked at Blake this time. "You can all go home, as soon as you sign this contract. Just a bit of paper, really. Just put your names down and you'll be able to go back home and live in peace until you die a normal death. Trust me, it's nothing serious."
Five sheets of paper fluttered from the desk, each with an ink quill dripping with ink that never seemed to stain the carpet, and words started to form. The only down-side to this is that they appear to have been written in a type of Japanese lost to time, archaic and ancient, some characters not even looking like a Japanese word in the slightest. The quills quivered with anticipation of being picked up, the names signed on the dotted line below using them.
"Like I said," sighed Katashi wearily. "If you sign those contracts, you're free to go. If you don't? I'll turn you all into pigs. Because I forgot to mention a little something..."
"...Human souls are considered really, really tasty if they're turned into a pig or a cow or a chicken, here in this world. Some spirits pay a lot of gold to get their hands on some."
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Sorry for the wait, people! The busiest period of my life has passed, and I have much more free time. Time to work on an IC post!
EDIT: Lady Katashi's such a nasty woman. I LOVE IT.
EDIT: Lady Katashi's such a nasty woman. I LOVE IT.
Before the Children were left alone...
Yoru stared down at Mae. He doesn't even deem the notepad with an answer, remaining as silent as the girl herself...but the look on his face, in his eyes. Those cold eyes were narrowed into green glittering slits which showed no mercy. No empathy at all, just darkness. He was, however, surveying Tori with a look of mild interest. It seemed some of the children still thought they were dreaming? And he knew about the oldest boy...the white-haired one. He knew of his protective streak, it was shining out like a massive beacon. Hardly surprising, there had to be at least one. And then there was the stubborn girl.
Yoru took Morgan's shoes ever-so-carefully along with the others, glancing over the children one more time before the lift closed. He didn't care for them at all, but was worried about what they would do to Lady Katashi...still, he had his orders. There were other things that needed attending to. Moments before, moments before the lift closed completely. Literally seconds away from the doors shutting, anyone who was staring at the crack in the door closely might have thought they saw something. And it might've been a trick of the light, but for a moment it almost looked like Master Yoru wasn't really...human, almost ever-so-slightly different in appearance. But the doors shut too quickly to take notice of it.
Back to the present...
The massive doors opened up with a loud creak, revealing a lavish office. The room itself was huge - almost too big for the bathhouse itself. It must take up an entire floor. The rugs there were so carefully looked after that they were almost completely brand new, not a single thread out of place. To the children's left, a huge fireplace, made with a bright white marble mantle decorated with all kinds of exotic ornaments. The fire itself was crackling and purring in the background to the rhythmic clicking of rock against rock, coming from the shrouded front desk. Right through the middle of the room were thin, translucent lilac drapes, which distorted the other end - which, in hindsight ,was a good thing considering what lay just behind it.
"Well...?" croaked a voice. "Are you just going to stand there gaping, or are you going to come - IN!"
Upon the snappish "In!", the poor children were dragged in by their waists by an invisible force, leaving almighty carpet burns on their heels as a faint reminder of the incident. Nothing could be explained away now - that was almost certainly magic. The massive doors behind them slammed shut with a resounding crash, and the drapes flicked open. A pair of bright blue eyes peered out from the darkness, hardened by greed, reflecting the piles and piles of gold that surrounded them.
Upon the threshold bore Third Witch Katashi of the Bathhouse of the Third Witch.
She certainly was something. Without the large, overbearing head-size she looked almost normal, was it not for the slightly inhuman look that all of the denizens of this bathhouse bore. Her hair was thick and reminiscent of a massive mop, tied into a sleep bun. The robes, a deep pinkish hue, glimmered with the reflection of the mountains of gold she was carefully counting. Her wrinkles were so deep and pained that she looked as if her had been folded tightly by the passing of time. But even now, there was something very...dangerous about her, perhaps the little arrogant smirk playing on her lips. She was beyond intimidating, and she knew that she was.
"Hello, dearies." she crooned, in a raspy voice. "Do you know why you are here? Do you want to ask me anything before we begin?"
Yoru stared down at Mae. He doesn't even deem the notepad with an answer, remaining as silent as the girl herself...but the look on his face, in his eyes. Those cold eyes were narrowed into green glittering slits which showed no mercy. No empathy at all, just darkness. He was, however, surveying Tori with a look of mild interest. It seemed some of the children still thought they were dreaming? And he knew about the oldest boy...the white-haired one. He knew of his protective streak, it was shining out like a massive beacon. Hardly surprising, there had to be at least one. And then there was the stubborn girl.
Yoru took Morgan's shoes ever-so-carefully along with the others, glancing over the children one more time before the lift closed. He didn't care for them at all, but was worried about what they would do to Lady Katashi...still, he had his orders. There were other things that needed attending to. Moments before, moments before the lift closed completely. Literally seconds away from the doors shutting, anyone who was staring at the crack in the door closely might have thought they saw something. And it might've been a trick of the light, but for a moment it almost looked like Master Yoru wasn't really...human, almost ever-so-slightly different in appearance. But the doors shut too quickly to take notice of it.
Back to the present...
The massive doors opened up with a loud creak, revealing a lavish office. The room itself was huge - almost too big for the bathhouse itself. It must take up an entire floor. The rugs there were so carefully looked after that they were almost completely brand new, not a single thread out of place. To the children's left, a huge fireplace, made with a bright white marble mantle decorated with all kinds of exotic ornaments. The fire itself was crackling and purring in the background to the rhythmic clicking of rock against rock, coming from the shrouded front desk. Right through the middle of the room were thin, translucent lilac drapes, which distorted the other end - which, in hindsight ,was a good thing considering what lay just behind it.
"Well...?" croaked a voice. "Are you just going to stand there gaping, or are you going to come - IN!"
Upon the snappish "In!", the poor children were dragged in by their waists by an invisible force, leaving almighty carpet burns on their heels as a faint reminder of the incident. Nothing could be explained away now - that was almost certainly magic. The massive doors behind them slammed shut with a resounding crash, and the drapes flicked open. A pair of bright blue eyes peered out from the darkness, hardened by greed, reflecting the piles and piles of gold that surrounded them.
Upon the threshold bore Third Witch Katashi of the Bathhouse of the Third Witch.
She certainly was something. Without the large, overbearing head-size she looked almost normal, was it not for the slightly inhuman look that all of the denizens of this bathhouse bore. Her hair was thick and reminiscent of a massive mop, tied into a sleep bun. The robes, a deep pinkish hue, glimmered with the reflection of the mountains of gold she was carefully counting. Her wrinkles were so deep and pained that she looked as if her had been folded tightly by the passing of time. But even now, there was something very...dangerous about her, perhaps the little arrogant smirk playing on her lips. She was beyond intimidating, and she knew that she was.
"Hello, dearies." she crooned, in a raspy voice. "Do you know why you are here? Do you want to ask me anything before we begin?"
LIAR. Anywho, working on the IC post right now.
Heya! I hope you had fun and all. I liked your latest post. MASTER YORU MUST BEAT THE MANNERS INTO YOU- I mean, uh, I can't wait to see how Morgan changes with no help whatsoever from a swift backhand to the face
All of your post, guys, are brilliant. The intro is going past really quickly, but all of these busy things will settle down after a while.
...Stitches is still around.
"The big idea," said a voice just behind Morgan, "is none of your concern."
The voice had no emphasis, no emotion or feeling to it. It was almost robotic in its emptiness and held nothing but information, passed on in the form of words. Just as suddenly as it was said, the body that followed the voice appeared onto the deck of the small rowing boat. He was tall, with an indeterminable age. His long black hair was tied into a neat ponytail behind him and his features were almost reptilian, with dark green eyes that, like his voice, were blank. His face, however, was showing a look of hostility - of disgust - towards the children. He wore an odd, traditional-looking Japanese outfit made of silk. "Follow me. Do not wander off. If you do, you're liable to getting killed." he said idly, tossing out the 'death' part with a little more volume to his voice, just to make sure everyone heard him right.
Just as he gave out the order, a bright light appeared on the horizon.
It was some sort of grand, brightly-lit palace in the dark. The golden glow pierced the night sky like a large firefly, decorated ornately with red walls and traditional looking screens. Fairy lights were scattered around the trees, and a single lantern shone brightly on the top of the tower just behind the castle-like building. A large bridge arched into view, leading towards a bank. There was another boat also headed to this building, an it was monstrously huge; Like a cruise ship, covered in paper lanterns. The people inside were difficult to make out from this distance, but perhaps the denizens of the boat caused the reptilian man concern, as he flicked his wrist and the boat lurched forward at a much faster pace.
The reptilian man turned back to the children. This time, however, he crouched down so he was eye level with all of them. His voice carried that adult-like urgency, something that would instinctively put most children on edge. "Listen to me carefully, humans. You must follow me, and stay close to me. The things inside of that bathhouse won't hurt you, but soon there will be guests-" the reptilian man waved an arm to the massive boat they were overtaking, "-and they WILL kill you. You will refer to me as Master Yoru. Do not ask me any questions, because I refuse to answer them. Do not say a word when you're in the bathhouse, and avoid eye-contact with the workers. And again, stay close."
There was a jarring thud as the boat scraped into the bank. The barrier disappeared suddenly, allowing the children to step off of the boat. Master Yoru went first, before holding a hand out to help the children out. Should they accept his helping hand, he'd flinch a little, as if he was picking up something revolting, but help the children out all the same. The water, now a pitch black in colour due to the darkness, was ominous enough without anyone falling into it.
Yoru strode forward with purpose, not really giving the children time to catch up with him. Every so often, however, he'd pause a little so that the children can catch up with his larger strides across the bridge. Despite all of his hostility, it seems he really did want them to stay as close as possible...on the other hand, however, he deemed it appropriate to only glance disdainfully over her shoulder at the dawdling kids before walking on.
Once the group passed the curtains, a scene of chaos unravelled before them. Man were running about in white cloth robes, almost like a uniform, carrying brooms and cloths and sometimes massive plates of food that looked too delicious to be real. Upon closer inspection, these chubby men ere almost toad-like in appearance, with pencil moustaches and wide-spaced eyes, and very large mouths. Just as suddenly as a closer inspection has occurred, it might be revealed to the sharper children that they really ARE frog-people, some of them looking more toad-like than the others. Along with them were a group of ladies in pink uniforms, scrubbing the floors, wiping the poles, carrying buckets of soapy water to and fro. The din was awful. Everyone was yelling at each other to either help them or get out of the way. A team of chubby girls with very small tufts for eyebrows giggled at their own joke, wearing ornate-looking robes that were ever-so-slightly low-cut for them.
Silence fell as soon as the children stepped in. A hundred pairs of eyes stared at them as the workflow paused. Toad-like faces gaped, the girls stopped laughing, the uniformed ladies stood there with cloths dripping water onto the floor...and then Yoru spoke out, his voice ringing in the sudden silence. "The first one to say 'Human' gets the Big Tub. Now get back to work." he yelled, breaking the spell over the workers. Reluctantly, the toad-things went rushing away again, but the buzz of conversation hung in the air like angry wasps. Clearly the arrival of the children was expected, but not so suddenly. "With me," ordered Master Yoru.
He strode past the reception desk and it became apparent how huge this place was. Bamboo screens separated each area with small bath mats upon the entrances, revealing what appears to be large bath-tubs. The walls were painted with stylized renditions of trees. Above all of them, were row upon row of small screened-off rooms, some of which were producing very strange shadows from behind them. Paper lanterns decorated these 'upper' floors,and the room itself was brightly lit and huge. Everything about it screamed opulence and Japanese culture. Of course, there would be barely any time to take all of this in, as they went straight for a lift. "Everybody in," called master Yoru. Once everyone was crammed into the lift, he pulled the lever right up to the top floor and the lift trundled away.
There was nothing but a stony silence from Master Yoru. After a while, he decided to perhaps say something. "This place is a bath-house. Things come here to get washed and bathed. Once we reach the top floor, take off your socks and shoes if you have them, and leave them in the elevator. Lady Katashi is waiting for you. Do not be rude, else she will punish you severely."
There was a pause, a silence in which the children could talk for several minutes. Then the door opened up to another floor - if any of them thought that the first floor was fancy, then it was nothing compared to the upper regions of the bathhouse. The room was just about as huge as the first floor, but covered with massive golden pillars, gems sparkling in the walls, paintings and patterns all over the walls and floor and lamps. There was a plush red carpet under their feet, and two huge doors lay before them - closed - with a single golden knocker on the left side beside the handle. Master Yoru made sure everyone had taken off their shoes and socks, peered hopelessly at Blake's filthy feet, and rushed them outside of the lift. The lift doors shut behind them and the lever to call to lift clicked as it jammed in place, keeping the children on the top floor. The doors stood ominously before them, but they didn't have to go in just yet, they still had time to talk to each other.
The voice had no emphasis, no emotion or feeling to it. It was almost robotic in its emptiness and held nothing but information, passed on in the form of words. Just as suddenly as it was said, the body that followed the voice appeared onto the deck of the small rowing boat. He was tall, with an indeterminable age. His long black hair was tied into a neat ponytail behind him and his features were almost reptilian, with dark green eyes that, like his voice, were blank. His face, however, was showing a look of hostility - of disgust - towards the children. He wore an odd, traditional-looking Japanese outfit made of silk. "Follow me. Do not wander off. If you do, you're liable to getting killed." he said idly, tossing out the 'death' part with a little more volume to his voice, just to make sure everyone heard him right.
Just as he gave out the order, a bright light appeared on the horizon.
It was some sort of grand, brightly-lit palace in the dark. The golden glow pierced the night sky like a large firefly, decorated ornately with red walls and traditional looking screens. Fairy lights were scattered around the trees, and a single lantern shone brightly on the top of the tower just behind the castle-like building. A large bridge arched into view, leading towards a bank. There was another boat also headed to this building, an it was monstrously huge; Like a cruise ship, covered in paper lanterns. The people inside were difficult to make out from this distance, but perhaps the denizens of the boat caused the reptilian man concern, as he flicked his wrist and the boat lurched forward at a much faster pace.
The reptilian man turned back to the children. This time, however, he crouched down so he was eye level with all of them. His voice carried that adult-like urgency, something that would instinctively put most children on edge. "Listen to me carefully, humans. You must follow me, and stay close to me. The things inside of that bathhouse won't hurt you, but soon there will be guests-" the reptilian man waved an arm to the massive boat they were overtaking, "-and they WILL kill you. You will refer to me as Master Yoru. Do not ask me any questions, because I refuse to answer them. Do not say a word when you're in the bathhouse, and avoid eye-contact with the workers. And again, stay close."
There was a jarring thud as the boat scraped into the bank. The barrier disappeared suddenly, allowing the children to step off of the boat. Master Yoru went first, before holding a hand out to help the children out. Should they accept his helping hand, he'd flinch a little, as if he was picking up something revolting, but help the children out all the same. The water, now a pitch black in colour due to the darkness, was ominous enough without anyone falling into it.
Yoru strode forward with purpose, not really giving the children time to catch up with him. Every so often, however, he'd pause a little so that the children can catch up with his larger strides across the bridge. Despite all of his hostility, it seems he really did want them to stay as close as possible...on the other hand, however, he deemed it appropriate to only glance disdainfully over her shoulder at the dawdling kids before walking on.
Once the group passed the curtains, a scene of chaos unravelled before them. Man were running about in white cloth robes, almost like a uniform, carrying brooms and cloths and sometimes massive plates of food that looked too delicious to be real. Upon closer inspection, these chubby men ere almost toad-like in appearance, with pencil moustaches and wide-spaced eyes, and very large mouths. Just as suddenly as a closer inspection has occurred, it might be revealed to the sharper children that they really ARE frog-people, some of them looking more toad-like than the others. Along with them were a group of ladies in pink uniforms, scrubbing the floors, wiping the poles, carrying buckets of soapy water to and fro. The din was awful. Everyone was yelling at each other to either help them or get out of the way. A team of chubby girls with very small tufts for eyebrows giggled at their own joke, wearing ornate-looking robes that were ever-so-slightly low-cut for them.
Silence fell as soon as the children stepped in. A hundred pairs of eyes stared at them as the workflow paused. Toad-like faces gaped, the girls stopped laughing, the uniformed ladies stood there with cloths dripping water onto the floor...and then Yoru spoke out, his voice ringing in the sudden silence. "The first one to say 'Human' gets the Big Tub. Now get back to work." he yelled, breaking the spell over the workers. Reluctantly, the toad-things went rushing away again, but the buzz of conversation hung in the air like angry wasps. Clearly the arrival of the children was expected, but not so suddenly. "With me," ordered Master Yoru.
He strode past the reception desk and it became apparent how huge this place was. Bamboo screens separated each area with small bath mats upon the entrances, revealing what appears to be large bath-tubs. The walls were painted with stylized renditions of trees. Above all of them, were row upon row of small screened-off rooms, some of which were producing very strange shadows from behind them. Paper lanterns decorated these 'upper' floors,and the room itself was brightly lit and huge. Everything about it screamed opulence and Japanese culture. Of course, there would be barely any time to take all of this in, as they went straight for a lift. "Everybody in," called master Yoru. Once everyone was crammed into the lift, he pulled the lever right up to the top floor and the lift trundled away.
There was nothing but a stony silence from Master Yoru. After a while, he decided to perhaps say something. "This place is a bath-house. Things come here to get washed and bathed. Once we reach the top floor, take off your socks and shoes if you have them, and leave them in the elevator. Lady Katashi is waiting for you. Do not be rude, else she will punish you severely."
There was a pause, a silence in which the children could talk for several minutes. Then the door opened up to another floor - if any of them thought that the first floor was fancy, then it was nothing compared to the upper regions of the bathhouse. The room was just about as huge as the first floor, but covered with massive golden pillars, gems sparkling in the walls, paintings and patterns all over the walls and floor and lamps. There was a plush red carpet under their feet, and two huge doors lay before them - closed - with a single golden knocker on the left side beside the handle. Master Yoru made sure everyone had taken off their shoes and socks, peered hopelessly at Blake's filthy feet, and rushed them outside of the lift. The lift doors shut behind them and the lever to call to lift clicked as it jammed in place, keeping the children on the top floor. The doors stood ominously before them, but they didn't have to go in just yet, they still had time to talk to each other.
EDIT: For now, I'm allowing Reap to go under the post limit, as she is very busy on her vacation. I'm glad she found the time to post though, and again - thank you for the patience. I'll put up the next post now.
EDIT EDIT: MONSTER POST. That thing was huge! Some things I want you to remember:
1) Your character could think it's all a big dream. Remember Chihiro yelled "I'M DREAMING I'M DREAMING I'M DREAMING!" when she saw all of the water?
2) Toad people. Toad people and lost of hostility and no hugs and new surroundings and lots of noise. Your character could start crying at some point in there.
3) It's late at night, at an indeterminable time (Time went backwards to the 'start' of the evening so to speak, before the spirits arrive, when they went through the tunnel) and your kids are probably used to 8pm bedtimes. They might be tired, just sayin'.
Until then, I look forward to your posts!
EDIT EDIT: MONSTER POST. That thing was huge! Some things I want you to remember:
1) Your character could think it's all a big dream. Remember Chihiro yelled "I'M DREAMING I'M DREAMING I'M DREAMING!" when she saw all of the water?
2) Toad people. Toad people and lost of hostility and no hugs and new surroundings and lots of noise. Your character could start crying at some point in there.
3) It's late at night, at an indeterminable time (Time went backwards to the 'start' of the evening so to speak, before the spirits arrive, when they went through the tunnel) and your kids are probably used to 8pm bedtimes. They might be tired, just sayin'.
Until then, I look forward to your posts!
Reap is away on vacation, so I will work on a solution as quickly as possible. Thank you for being patient!
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