More TWC back here with @spacebrick3 , @arynneva , @superwaywardangel , and @no-url-ideas-tho !!
It’s gonna go downhill from here! Leave tips and tricks for our characters to survive perhaps?
Chapter 3: The Wishful Cursing
After a slight detour that none of the characters will remember at all, the characters discover more blocks, again written with their names.
These blocks were able to be open, though how wasn’t clear. They needed to discover how to open the blocks, what could be inside?
Cayol examined her block, seeing a four-letter combination on it. She tried a few combinations.
FOUR.
CODE.
NOTE.
Cayol sighed but tried one last time, AICE.
The block opened with a small click.
Inside the block was...a box.
Cayol pulled it out and shook her head.
“What material is it?” She asked herself, despite the fact it was clearly wooden, “Well, wood you look at that!”
There was a moment of silence, before everyone sighed.
“What?” Cayol giggled, “Don’t be so hard on me!” She tapped on the hard side of the box as she spoke.
Moving on from Cayol’s puns, the others tried to figure out their puzzles.
“If it’s a bad pun like my name, then it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out, right?” Ion Anec said, looking over his block, it also had a code, though only three letters long.
He shook his block, hearing nothing.
Ellienne Emperaire watched the others with a sigh, “Come on guys! It isn’t that hard!” Somehow, someway, she had already opened her block and was waving it around. Empty, huh?
If that was something to be suspicious of, the others would be required to decide.
“I’m not the traitor!” Ellienne Emperaire suddenly insisted, having realized the subtle insinuations of the narration.
“Notey, you are anything but subtle,” Aspen pointed out bluntly as he was quick to do despite not having even managed to open his block yet. “There’s literally nothing on this block but my name!” He shouted to the empty room.
It wasn’t exactly true, but Aspen wasn’t allowed to know that, he needed to unlock the block first. So did Ion, but at least there was a finite number of combinations for him, only 15600-17576 possible ways.
But would he have the time to figure it all out?
~
That night, when Eli (EST) got online to peek in on the server, they were shocked to see that they were the only admin online! It was a wonder for it to happen, but they didn’t question it much. It was late after all and they should have been asleep ages ago.
They wouldn’t question anything, despite how much questioning was needed.
They didn’t know of the voice call gone wrong, the link that was made, or the TWC.
“So, uh,” Ion started, looking at the black cloud that was now growing, free of the restraints of the white void room. “Should I apologize for that?”
“No,” Aspen answered, “It’s Notey’s fault for not telling giving even the slightest hint that you shouldn’t have opened it.”
“Well, at least now, we’ll probably make some progress?!” Ellienne Emperaire guessed.
“Or not,” Aspen interjected with his otherworldly knowledge, that knowledge being of the world they came from, “Notey’s probably off socializing and too busy to write any action this chapter, if she even writes it at all.”
“You know what I like?” Ellienne Emperaire suddenly said, “Socializing! Which I can’t do here! Gosh, Notey why would you do this to me?”
“But, you’re socializing here with us?” Ion pointed out.
Ellienne Emperaire paused, “Oh, you right, you right, Ion.” Ellienne Emperaire stopped, realizing something.
Ion seemed to realize it too, “Why can’t I say my name?” He asked, “I mean, I can say Ion, but not...Ion?” Ion shook his head and frowned, “This isn’t working.”
“I’m Cayol the Kale, so I don’t really mind,” Cayol offered. “ But, I can say Aspen’s name.”
“Yeah, because it’s the same name!” Aspen shouted, “When’s that going to become plot relevant in this poor excuse for a fanfiction, huh Notey?!”
“...Nowotey, pwease, save us?” Cayol decidedly said.
“Cayol, you’ve just made her more likely to not help us.” Aspen sighed and started to look around. “We’re in a field now, why?” Aspen was growing more and more frustrated. It was like a poorly designed video game in his eyes,
“Maybe,” Ellienne Emperaire offered, “This is all a plot to allow us to redeem the Malformation!” She pointed at the cloud, utterly serious. “So, Mally, tell us,” Ellienne Emperaire leaned forward, “How do you feel today?”
The cloud offered no response other than it’s continually growing state. Ellienne Emperaire sighed and tried to come up with another plan, scanning the group before her before settling on one person. An idea struck here.
“Ion! You’ve written Malformation fanfic! What’s it thinking?” She asked urgently, looking at Ion deadly serious.
Ion took a step back, raising his hands in defense, “It’s an AU, but I had to ask Notey about everything for the Malformation. I’m all for malformation good but…” He eyed the cloud, “Is that even the Malformation?”
“If that’s the Malformation…” Cayol started, “And Notey’s the Malformation...then….” She looked up, “Who’s writing this story?!”
“Plot twist!” Ellienne Emperaire helpfully added. “But, I thought Aspen was the Malformation?”
“I’m a being of chaos, not an entity. There’s a difference.” After answering the question, Aspen began to look around, for anything really.
They were in an empty field, well, mostly empty. Not too far off there was a forest of trees and the opposite way looked far too dangerous to even consider but that didn’t mean they should. After all, this was a novel and the easy way was usually the wrong way.
“Which way do we go?” Ellienne Emperaire asked the group, “I have no idea, since I’m not the traitor and I don’t know how the story’s gonna go!”
“Yeah, yeah, Ellienne Emperaire, we get it. You don’t want us to think you’re the traitor.”
“Ellienne Emperaire, ugh,” Ellienne Emperaire frowned in disgust, “I hate it. Fuck the French and their ‘N’s and ‘E’s and Notey, how dare you give me a name like this!”
“I dunno, Ellienne Emperaire, it’s kind of funny,” Cayol giggled.
“Aspen gets to keep his name! Why?”
“I wish I could tell you,” Aspen muttered. They needed to get back on task, figure out which way to go and what would that do. It was this moment, that Aspen realized something. They still had their blocks and the last time he had thrown something onto the black cloud, he received something from it.
“Okay, I have an idea!” Aspen announced, “Throw your blocks into the cloud.”
“But what if it hurts Mally!!!” Ellienne Emperaire gasped, “We can’t do that!”
“Look, either we stay trapped in here and journey endlessly with no tools of survival or we try to see if we can get something out of this cloud.”
“But...what if the blocks are our tools of survival?” Ion pointed out.
“Ion, at least get rid of the cursed block that gave us this black cloud of ambiguous morality.”
It took a moment, but Ion gave in with a shrug and did his best to throw the empty block into the cloud. It rumbled ominous before spitting something out.
Another box.
Everyone was silent for a moment.
“Oh come ON Notey!” Aspen shouted, “At least develop the plot!”
Ion picked up the box and examined it, “I don’t think we can open this one as easily, but something tells me we shouldn’t damage it.”
“Keep it away from Aspen then,” Cayol warned.
“Wait, Ion,” Ellienne Emperaire started, “How do you know not to break it? Are you the traitor!?”
“He did get a note that he didn’t disclose to anyone,”Aspen muttered.
“I’m not a traitor! I promise!”
No one thought to quickly trust him though.
“Well, whether you’re the traitor or not,” Aspen started, “I want to get back at Notey. Therefore, I’ll be bringing up her mind control kink.”
Aspen’s decisions were not appreciated, despite the fact that his existence was.
“Notey, you’re not allowed to use the narration to sass or compliment me,” Aspen said, again forgetting the fact that he had no power in the realm of the TWC. “Rude. You agreed I was an being of chaos and now you claim I have no power?”
Aspen, despite bringing up fairly valid points was to be ignored, because the black cloud of ambiguous morality was still growing and beginning to cover the sky in size.
“We should leave,” Cayol helpfully offered, “Now.”
“Agreed,” Ellienne Emperaire said, “Nice, safe woods or spooky path that will inevitably lead us to our doom?”
Everyone wanted to go to the nice and safe woods, but they knew what they had to do.
Ellienne Emperaire sighed, beginning to lead the way, “Spooky path that will inevitably lead us to our doom!”
~
The absence of Notey (PST), Aspen (PST), Cole (EST), liv, and Charlie was becoming noticeable. Where had they all gone? School? Work? Had their internet just broken? Despite all these questions, the people were still online, still on Tumblr.
no-url-ideas-tho had still been posting about her projects and her excitement for them.
arynneva was still working away at her worldbuilding and sharing small facts about her work.
writerofwriting had her regular posts rambling incessantly about new projects and ideas.
spacebrick3 had an AU going regularly each morning.
superwaywardangel had his queue and was responding when tagged in things.
