Just so you know, there are probably going to be lots of switched POVs until I figure out how to best organize it.
The two parted ways, each going into a separate room for their first question.
Mandark - First Person:
I really have to hand it to Dexter, this virtual world really is quite spectacular. Although my shirt could be a little bit looser…I guess I could "un-button" it but the constant clinking of the "chain-buttons" is going to get on my nerves. Not to mention how strange I'd look walking around with half my shirt open.
Anyways, the first room seems pretty simple. It's a bedroom, with one closed door being the only other exit. There's a woman softly singing a lullaby to her baby in a wooden rocking chair. I'm not sure if I should just approach her and ask for a riddle or if I should try the door first.
"Uhh…hello…" I say awkwardly, taking a few steps forward into the room.
She looks up at me, her eyes are a piercing green. Weird. Just like my eyes.
"Greetings traveler. Who might you be, and what brings you to my humble abode?" The mother asks, with what I believe is a faintly Austrian accent.
"I'm here to save the kingdom, I think?" I shrug. "They said I need to solve a riddle to pass each room."
"A riddle? Oh." Her eyes lit up with recognition. "You must be talking about these strange words that I keep hearing. Here, I've written it down-" She shuffles over to her bed, taking a roll of parchment from under her pillow.
I take it, reading the riddle aloud to myself. It's not really a riddle, it sounds like a multiple choice question that would be asked on an AP Exam or something. (1)
"Which King established Prussian Absolutism by building up his army, creating a strong centralized bureaucracy, and turning Prussia into a military state?"
I think it was Frederick William I. Should I be saying that aloud or something?
"Uhh…Frederick William I?" I answer to no one in particular.
The next door creaks open, and I give the lady back her parchment. "Thanks."
She smiles. "I'm glad to help. Do be careful on your journey. Some of the people you will encounter will not be so cooperative as I."
I nod and leave the room, feeling a little bit silly as my belt clinks incessantly. It's like I'm a walking key chain.
The door shuts behind me, and I find myself in a huge hallway filled with hanging tapestries with intricate designs of animals - roaring lions, flying dragons, and…little kitty cats?
In the center of the hallway and pacing back and forth across a regal red carpet is a tall (and kind of good looking now that I think about it) Spaniard. He's also carrying a green and yellow parrot on his shoulder, for whatever reason. Like me, he's wearing a long, flowing cape, only his is a royal blue with yellow trim.
I hope he speaks English. "Hello." I approach him cautiously, eyeing the sword he has in his scabbard.
The man turns around, and bows upon seeing me. "Hola, Usted. Are you a fellow explorer like myself?"
"In a way." I reply, feeling a little odd with the respect he's giving me. Strange what a cape can do to people. "I'm a traveler and I seek to speak with the king." One of the most poorly worded sentences I've ever spoken, but I've got no time for trivialities when I'm racing against Dexter.
"Ah, I see." He nods. "Then perhaps you could help me with this strange question that suddenly appeared when I was taking my tea."
"What is it?"
The explorer hands me an unfolded letter, which reads, "He was considered the Father of humanism, a literary movement that broke from medieval traditions and emphasized secularism."
"Petrarch." Too easy.
Two doors on either side of the hallway immediately open. I ponder for a moment and choose the left one.
The man wishes me buena suerte, good luck, and I'm on my way.
I wonder where Dexter is?
--
(1) Cough. I should be studying for that.
Oh yeah and Usted (or Ud.) is formal in Spanish. Like "sir"…only Senor is more of Sir so it's like, even more formal than THAT.
So he does that cause Mandark looks so pimp in his outfit haha.
I'm really trying too hard, huh?
--
POV Switch: DeeDee's Room. Simultaneously:
"So how come you guys came over anyways?" DeeDee asked, glancing over her Loveless manga at Olga (who was also reading one). She was lying down on the rug, propped up with a few pillows as she read.
"Um, I guess so we wouldn't get in trouble for missing curfew. Your brother sort of randomly invited us." The teen answered, flipping a page. "I was kind of surprised too. I thought our brothers used to hate each other."
The blonde chortled. "Hate? Far from it, in fact-" She stopped herself before she said too much.
Olga looked up at her curiously. "In fact…?"
"Uhhh…Mandark's the closest thing Dexter's ever had for a friend!" It was technically true. Sort of. "At least, since Douglas had that whole fight and all…"
"Oh. I heard about that." Olga frowned. "Several versions of it actually."
"They didn't actually punch each other, if that's what you're referring to. But there was a lot of yelling." DeeDee sighed, reminiscing. "And when Dexter gets mad it's freaky. He seethes."
"Ah. I imagine verbally sparring wouldn't be fun."
"Yeah. Dexter just has this way with words that makes you feel so…" The blonde paused, searching for the words. "So stupid. Like you don't know anything, like you're worthless."
"That's like Mandark too. He's always been good with debating and arguing." The raven-haired teen rolled to her side to look at the other. "Geniuses are so…"
"Frustrating?" DeeDee offered, smiling wanly. "But it's good to have someone smart you can rely on, and cause of the whole sister and brother family bond thing we'll always be able to forgive each other."
"Mmhm." Olga nodded. "But sometimes…it feels kind of straining."
"How so?"
"Like…I know Mandark's a genius and all but sometimes I still have to guide him. Especially when it comes to being social and interacting with other people. And it's kind of weird for me, because I'm his baby sister. You'd expect it to be the other way around." She added. "But no matter how calm he seems on the outside, on the inside he's sort of…"
"Unstable?" DeeDee suggested, an understanding smile on her face.
"Exactly. It's like I have to help keep him steady, you know? But I'm afraid that one day…" She looked down at the ground, lost in thought. "One day…I won't be there anymore to hold him together..."
"And he'll fall apart." DeeDee finished sadly.
The two sat in silence for a moment, in awe of what had been revealed.
Who would have imagined we could ever have so much in common?
Our concern and worry for our brothers…
Geniuses, the smartest people in this world
But so fragile and sensitive
Like glass
It's our duty to protect them…
So we tease them
and we annoy them
We criticize them
and humiliate them
It's better that I do it
then if someone else does
Better that he hears it from me
then from a total stranger
So that he won't feel as much pain
So that he won't be as hurt
DeeDee stood up suddenly. "Let's go give them huge bear hugs!"
Olga grinned. "Yeah!"
They bounded down the hallway, bursting through Dexter's bedroom door.
"DEEEEEEEEX…ter…" The blonde stared at the empty room. "I guess they're in the lab…"
"Are you serious?!" Olga did a facewall. "And I was totally prepared to go completely out of character!"
"Don't worry, we'll just go in the lab." DeeDee grinned, going over to the "secret" entrance. "It's strange because Dexter's usually really anal about his lab. He only lets me in because I'm stubborn."
The passageway in the wall opened up, and they entered.
I know it's a lame ending but I couldn't really think of any profound deep words to say. Unless I could somehow fit in a metaphor about how Dexter's really the only one who'll let his sister "in", literally and figuratively and likewise with Olga and Mandark.
And I really don't know about that weird poem up there either. Think of it as both girl's thoughts at the same time. And I know Olga's kind of a jerk in the episode, but DeeDee is too sometimes. And I like to think that deep down inside we all really love for and care for our siblings. So that's my reasoning.