☆ Event: Mirror Mix-Up

[moustre]

Event Log: November, Mirror Mix-Up

The 20th of Noveuer starts out innocuous. The Looking Glass House is quiet and still at this late hour, largely empty but for the apprentice Witch dusting the many mirrors on the walls in the middle of the night. When the bells chime for 3 am, though, a night of tidying turns into something... a little more hectic. He panics, initially, as things push through various mirrors to scatter across the floor, and then animals, scurrying about, unhappy with their current change in locations. He clings to his duster and waits apprehensively for more Mirrorbound to slip through, prepared to run and get Miss Nessie, but the minutes tick by, and none come. Eventually, he can't ignore the mess any longer, and flees to fetch someone higher up to deal with this nonsense.

I. Early Morning Message The initial hours after 3 am are a bit of a nightmare. Miss Nessie is unavailable, stuck in a long Parliament meeting with Mhairi that has continued into the early morning, and her assistant, given new duties lately due to her packed schedule, is sent to speak with her. It's a bit of a cluster, everything - they've never had something like this happen before! Then again, they'd never had people come through either, until the first group of Mirrorbound several months ago. She gets away long enough around 6 am to make a magical announcement to Mirrorbound only, her voice, at a casual speaking tone, carrying across the city enough to be heard anywhere. "Good morning, Mirrorbound! So sorry for disturbing you at this time of morning, dears, I am. It's just that we've had a bit of an incident in the Looking-Glass House last night! How strange, what I'm hearing, how bizarre. If you would all please report to the Looking-Glass House at your earliest convenience, we believe we may have some things of yours, we do. The sooner the better, as- well, some of the things come through the mirrors last night must be pets! They're terrorizing my poor staff. Now, I won't be the one to greet you, I'm afraid, I'm still quite wrapped up with Parliament, but I hope you'll all be kind to my Assistant Theodore and his Bonded, Sowilo. They'll be making sure everyone gets their things back. Theodore might be a bit buttoned-up, but he's a good lad! Bye for now, dears, I must away back to my meeting, but rest assured, we will be looking into today's unexpected surprise!" After it's been heard, the message cuts off - it's impossible to miss unless one is trying very hard to miss it. Miss Nessie's duties will keep her away during this event, but limited NPC interactions, IC or handwaved OOC, are available with her newly-minted assistant Theodore Rosethorne, and his Bonded Fae, Sowilo. In the future, anything requiring Nessie may also be brought to Theodore! The NPC Contact page will be updated in the next few days to reflect this change. There may be a slight delay on Theodore's responses, but all NPC interaction requests will be answered as soon as possible.

II. A Bit of a Mix-Up It's a red-headed Fae in shoe-lifts who arrives first, glamoured to look perfectly put together despite his long hair being up in a haphazard bun, having been dragged out of his bed to deal with a crisis this early in the morning. He immediately starts directing efforts, red dragonfly wings occasionally flicking with irritation as he reads things off a clipboard and directs this to be piled there and that pet to be corralled before it crashes into something or sets something on fire. The other Witches are a little apprehensive about his presence, but when one protests, he just says with a scowl, "Excuse you. I am Bonded to Miss Nessie's right hand man." The efforts to reunite incoming Mirrorbound with their possessions and pets are... well, an effort is made. Sowilo may just shove something into your arms and announce in an authoritative voice, "You look like you could use one of these." He hears no arguments that it doesn't belong to that person, brushing them off with a haughty, "Well, find the owner, then, make yourself useful, hm?" Before he flits on to the next Mirrorbound, the next item or creature, eager to get rid of everything cluttering up the Looking-Glass House. Fae. Sometimes they're just like that. While the Witches are bustling around trying to get everything sorted out (it's impossible to match things to mirrors, but an attempt is made anyway), it's easy enough to breeze past them and survey the goods on your own, but no one will be allowed to leave with more than one item or creature in their hands or pockets; Sowilo has a sharp eye, and attempted theft will result in an illusion being placed on the thief of being trapped in a maze with their worst nightmare. It lasts until the extra item is returned or will otherwise dissipate after three days. Those that can see through illusions naturally or through practice get a stickier punishment - literally, one of the Witches present will, when prompted by Sowilo, charm the thief with a glue-trap spell, which will cause them to stick to everything except what they're trying to steal - again, until the extra item is returned, or until three days have passed. There isn't much warning about the punishment for attempted theft. The rumors have it that Sowilo's family are descended from Unseelie, and he's... a pain in the behind, to put it lightly. As a reminder, all mixed-up items should eventually find their way back to their original owners unless explicitly plotted out otherwise!

III. Late Morning After a couple of hours of Sowilo's "management", Theodore Rosethorne finally arrives. One quick glance and the poor Witch already looks like he's going to faint. Miss Nessie's assistant is a young Witch who seems to hold himself as prim and proper as possible. Clothes neat and straight. The only thing that seems to be impossible to tame is the mess of curls on his head. He takes the clipboard from his Bonded, but seems at a bit of a loss. Mirrorbound arriving later in the morning are much more likely to get an item that actually belongs to them, though mix-ups may still happen. He gives the best smile he can offer before adjusting his glasses. Exasperated. "I'm quite sorry. Terribly so. If it isn't too much trouble, it would help us greatly if you could find the original owner. I only just escaped digging up documents from Miss Bell's desk..." Needless to say, the poor guy seems to have been thrown into the thick of it and already overwhelmed. Oh, and about Sowilo? "I apologize. He's...Well, he can be a lot when you first meet him." Or a lot in general. Sowilo is quite the character! For those having trouble finding the original owners of whatever they've been given through more conventional means such as word-of-mouth or the Watches, a quick spell is taught and passed out in slips of paper meant to be stuck to the item in question - it acts as a divining rod, pointing the item toward the owner and pulling the person holding it along for the ride. Careful! The charm has no mind for things like walls and doors and people in the way, and will always try to pull the holder in the shortest possible line to its owner. This isn't much help for pets, though, who have minds of their own, and, in some cases, just don't want to be corralled by strange and somewhat-frantic Witches or Monsters.

Welcome to November's event log! Regains arrive through the mirrors ICly on the morning of the 20th. Questions can be found HERE, and if you wish to interact with Theodore and Sowilo, our newest NPCs, comment HERE. You have the option of handwaving the IC interaction to OOCly ask what questions your character might have for them, for us to summarize an answer for, or you can request an IC thread. Simply specify in your comment's subject and we'll respond accordingly. As always, feel free to use this log or make your own!

Comments

[activatingcombatmode]

[wtf That's kind of cute and Zack is completely taken off guard by it.]

Nyu? Really?

[Geeze, Kaede. He's going to tease her later about this...]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Nyu didn't ask for this!!]

W-what? It's what I'm called!

[She starts to make another little squeaky "nyu," and stops herself in the middle.

That reaction's clearly flustered her.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[He can't help it- There's a small snort of laughter as Zack smiles widely.]

That's cute. That's not fair whatsoever.

[She can't make cute noises like that. All he's seeing is Kaede doing it.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[That--that wasn't the response Nyu had been expecting. Her ears flicked back, startled by the noise, but soon returned to their previous posture. It...wasn't a bad reaction, or a scary one.]

What do you mean, not fair?

[Nyu's brows furrowed in a little frown. With her ears flopped and her expression unguarded and disarming, though, it wasn't very intimidating.

She mumbles a little, though the sound is lighter than one Kaede ever made.]

...I guess it's a unique name.

[EIP Kaede's street cred]

[activatingcombatmode]

[She's never going to live this down.]

It's not fair because you're not allowed to be this cute.

[Kaede is usually a lot more... reserved. But it does round Zack back to this actually being quite concerning.]

You must of his your head or something. Especially if you don't know who I am.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Nyu smiles, brief--but not nervous, once she got a sense of how he was reacting. He wasn't making fun of her--or maybe a little, but not maliciously. It was safe.]

I was sick, like I said. At least I think. It's all fuzzy.

[activatingcombatmode]

All fuzzy?

[Maybe he should take her back to Ursula as soon as he can... But first, he reaches out to brush some hair from her forehead to gently check her temperature.]

... Alright, well you don't feel hot.

[long_live_the_queen]

I'll be okay.

[Unlike her other self, Nyu wasn't afraid of touch. Her ears flicked a little when Zack touched her forehead, but she didn't flinch away or stop looking at him. Even though he had claws.

In fact--]

Your hand tickles.

[activatingcombatmode]

[He's unsure about that-- Will she really be okay? Acting so strangely and with apparent memory loss?

He raises an eyebrow, his fingers still brushing against her skin.]

I still think you should let me take you to a healer.

[He takes his hand away.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[It's not an "I'm fine" lie, but it stemmed from the same place. Even split personalities didn't come from nothing, as far as Nyu was concerned.]

If you think it'll help.

[She made that little squeaky 'nyu' again when Zack brushed a thumb over her forehead, but didn't shake her head or brush a hand over where his had been to straighten her hair again. Either she didn't mind the rumples or didn't notice.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[He's never going to get used to that cute squeaky noise she keeps making. If Kaede ever returns back to her normal personality he's still going to be thinking about it. Wild...

He motions for her to follow him. Off to the Coven buildings they go to find a NPC healer. Even if it'll probably be a moot effort.]

Do you remember anything from before today? Or from a while back?

[long_live_the_queen]

[Traumatic gunshot wounds and anime logic are an Adventure.]

I do! A lot of things. Though...I don't remember when I was small...

[Nyu trots along right after Zack, like a duck. A gangly legged, sometimes tumbling duck. She never wanted to get too far away from him.]

I was...normal, though.

[She stole a glance at her clawed hand, repressing another shiver at the pointed talons. And there was the tail, swishing behind her. At least that looked nice.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[That's some serious disconnect. Zack frowns lightly before he tries to smile instead, a hand patting her shoulder for a moment.]

Well, you've looked the way you look now for a few months now. The wings and the fur and tail, kinda cute don't you think?

[She doesn't remember getting any of them...?]

[long_live_the_queen]

I--

[Nyu blinked, falling briefly out of step. Weren't they scary things? Inhuman things?]

The...feathers are pretty. [Nyu admitted. She could look at the feathers on her arm without staring at those claws.

The stripes, though, she didn't know about. They're on her back and Nyu hasn't looked at that yet.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[His eyes drift over her feathers on her arms and he gives a casual nod.]

Yeah, they're real pretty. [Just like her!!] You helped me when I got my feathers once, once upon a time.

[long_live_the_queen]

[The antlerless Chimera caught up to him with a few stumbling steps, ears flicking back for a moment.]

I did?

[Those feathers of his did look soft, at least the ones close to Zack's body. The flight feathers themselves looked sleek and shiny. Impressive! But maybe not for touching.]

[activatingcombatmode]

Yeah, when my wings were first coming in you pulled my blithering ass off the ground.

[He laughs at the memory now. The wings are so much bigger than he first expected them to be. Large heavy hanging hawk wings that shine glossy black in the sunlight.]

I used to hate my wings when I first got them. I guess they're not so bad these days.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Nyu blinked up at him--she picked him up?

...her other...self must have done that. It didn't seem like something Nyu was capable of.]

Can you fly with them?

[activatingcombatmode]

[Well, as much as she could have. It was more like pulled him to his feet by one arm.]

I probably can. I've never really tried, though. I've glided around at most.

[Guess he's still a little tentative about them.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Nyu hummed thoughtfully, her mind only considering the idea a moment before voicing it.]

Why don't you try now?

[Optimism also sounds weird coming out of something with Kaede's face, soft and cheerful as her expression was.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[Nyu- What??]

Uh- [Yeah, it's kind of strange hearing Kaede's voice sounding so softly optimistic. He almost has to frown.] I don't know about that.

[long_live_the_queen]

[She blinked up at him, ears flicking back a moment. That frown wasn't lost on her. But it wasn't meant for her, right?]

Oh--maybe not here, I guess. There's a lot of buildings.

[But! Nyu wasn't about to give up. The Chimera glanced this way, that way--and spotted a courtyard down the road.]

There's space this way!

[Without a second thought, Nyu grabbed Zack's wrist and started tugging him that direction.]

[activatingcombatmode]

Hey! Wait a minute! Kae-

[Nyu?! He's still not getting used to that name. But he can't really deny her tug so he goes with her with a short laugh in his lungs. This cute side of Kaede is too adorable.

But still--]

What if I fall flat on my face?! You'll have to see that!

[long_live_the_queen]

[Nyu's ears flicked back at the start of that name, but nothing followed it. So she went about her business like she heard nothing--her business this time, apparently, being dragging Zack off for flying practice.]

You'll get back up again, I'm sure of it. [She chirps, tail swishing cheerfully behind her.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[She's awfully positive about the very real possibility that Zack could break his face on the ground. But part of him is rather charmed so he follows her with a pretend sigh.]

Alright, alright. Let's see if I can manage it. But I'm sending any healing bills for any broken bones to your house.

[He grins, his wings opening up to stretch as he does.]