The portal dumped her into an almost maze-like room. There was a single hall in the centre, but it branched off to eight separate hallways that all dead-ended. There were about eight club guards prowling the halls as well. She stopped at the entrance, and thought for a moment about Del. What had happened? He had been there one moment, but then he vanished... Had she gotten someone else killed, too?
She stole along, and lured the first club guard to his doom. She checked his pockets for anything useful, something she hadn't had time to do again until now. She found a map and a little money, and a letter from the Red King.
Soldier,
You and your squad are to immediately drop any prior commitments and search for one called "Faith." She is an armed and highly dangerous rebel. As such, you are to deploy extra troops around Dementia and the Fortress. Perform well, and your troop shall receive honours. Perform poorly, and your troop shall be dead. Either by her or myself, this is not certain.
The Red King
"Whew..." she breathed. They thought she was dangerous. She turned back to the letter. Evidently this King wanted her as dead as the Queen did. "Well, he is her husband," she murmured, and folded the letter, slipping it and the rest of her findings into her sleeve. She had a second thought and pulled out the map. It was the fortress... and the guards' locations. That would really come in handy, she knew. Then again, she wasn't that great at maps, so perhaps if she met a rebel, she could give it to them. Maybe it would help somehow...
She crossed the centre hall to the opposite side of the one she was in. Another guard saw her beckoning for him and, curious, went. None of the other guards heard the soft thump, thump of the halves hitting the ground. She paused, not certain how to get rid of the other two in that hall without attracting the unwanted attention of the others, least of all the centre hall's guard.
After a moment of deliberation, she allowed a little of herself to be seen. The centre guard was suspicious, and sent two of the others to investigate. She killed the first on the spot and lured the second a little further before giving him three quick slashes across the chest. He collapsed forwards, and she had to stifle her disgust as she pushed the corpse off. That gave her an idea.
Holding the body of a guard in front of her, she leaned it against the wall and clasped the back of his head with her right hand. With her left, she controlled his arm.
The centre guard looked up just in time to see one of his guards nodding and beckoning to him for assistance. Impatiently he stalked forwards, and was met with Mara's knife across his neck.
Making quick work of them was easy, and she even had time to check several more pockets. More money, another map, and a flask. After smelling its contents, she concluded that it was a liquor of some sort. This too went into her sleeve. Calmly, she walked down the hall to the door, and found a portal. She walked through.
Almost immediately she found herself running, finding herself in another void. There were no tilting platforms in here, however. Instead, she was hard-pressed to keep up with four jigsaw pieces that constantly built themselves into a moving path. They moved at almost breakneck speed, but once Mara ran too fast, and barely caught onto one. She pulled herself up and sprinted to keep up with the first, which seemed much farther away than only one or two pieces off. She nearly flew off the side at an unexpected turn, but Cat appeared abruptly and bounced her back on track, vanishing immediately after.
As she reached the end a Boojum appeared just in front of the portal. It opened its mouth to scream but she ploughed underneath it and fell through the portal.
A tune played once, and she was hard-pressed to remember it when she saw the keyboard. She shook her head in disbelief. "Can I hear that again?" she called, to no one in particular. Silence.
She rested her cheek on her hand and sat down, trying to remember the tune. She practice-hummed it a few times, but didn't feel terribly confident. She checked the keyboard, and played a few scales on it. It was in a very strange key, she thought, and started picking out the melody.
G sharp, A, C sharp, down an octave, G sharp, A, and finally D sharp. No result, except a "ding!" that seemed to say that she got it right. "Cat!" She shouted, and was, for once, relieved to see his face. "What am I supposed to do now?"
"Self-reliance is a virtue. You should try it," he said in a lightly scolding voice, but all the while, his tail pointed in three directions: down, back, and at her. Confused, she walked forward to the edge of the platform. Three club guards patrolled on a platform below, and Mara grinned. It could be so easy just to take them out from right there...
She threw the knife three times, and they were dead. She smiled and wiped off her blade.
"Lovely aim," Cat said, with his ever-present grin. "Tell me, do you enjoy killing them?"
"What?"
"How much do you want to hit them when you throw that knife? Do you really care either way, or does your heart give a leap whenever it connects?"
"I dunno. I never really thought about it," she admitted, finishing with the rag.
There was silence for a moment. "Faith-"
"Mara, Cat."
Cat studied her for a moment. "Don't you think that using a new name is just another way to run from reality?"
She turned to Cat, knowing that he was right, but not wanting to admit it. "Why do you say that?"
"Never mind. I am not the one to have this discussion with."
She was silent for a little while longer, but he did not speak, except to tell her, in the words of Rabbit, to get going. She nodded and sighed, and jumped into the expanse of the void.
Cat jumped up to see if she was gone forever, and saw her walking back on the puzzle pieces, which followed her every step. He laughed to himself. She was a little more full of surprises than she had previously let on- he'd thought that she would be asking him how to get down.
She let them build, at her pace, this time leading her to a new platform with stairs leading to a single portal. She turned over to Cat, and was just in time to see his smile wink out. She paused momentarily, trying to get her bearing, and wondered what she would meet next.
She sprinted up the stairs and turned to survey the room around her. When she saw the mural, she froze. There were Cat, Rabbit, and a Gryphon, and they all were in the midst of a ferocious battle against the card guards. But they weren't diamonds and clubs - they were hearts and spades... and chess pieces. She hesitated before turning around and going through the door.
She ended up at the top of the castle wall, just above the window to the skool. She laughed to herself, knowing that once she got in, it would get even harder, yet knowing that she was a hell of a lot more prepared than before. She grimaced. The card guards were more annoying than anything else, she thought. They can't even aim right. She walked to the wall and balanced on it for a moment, watching the sunset. It felt strangely peaceful, after all she had done so far, and she knew that from here on in, she would be lucky just to see another sunset again. She laughed suddenly, realising that she had spent less than twenty-four hours there so far and had already... ah well.
She scanned the area below for the window, but didn't find it. It was on the other side, she remembered. She hopped off the wall, and started over, and was highly irritated when two Boojum started flying towards her. She rolled her eyes and jumped, swinging herself through the window before they could reach her.
She stole along, and lured the first club guard to his doom. She checked his pockets for anything useful, something she hadn't had time to do again until now. She found a map and a little money, and a letter from the Red King.
Soldier,
You and your squad are to immediately drop any prior commitments and search for one called "Faith." She is an armed and highly dangerous rebel. As such, you are to deploy extra troops around Dementia and the Fortress. Perform well, and your troop shall receive honours. Perform poorly, and your troop shall be dead. Either by her or myself, this is not certain.
The Red King
"Whew..." she breathed. They thought she was dangerous. She turned back to the letter. Evidently this King wanted her as dead as the Queen did. "Well, he is her husband," she murmured, and folded the letter, slipping it and the rest of her findings into her sleeve. She had a second thought and pulled out the map. It was the fortress... and the guards' locations. That would really come in handy, she knew. Then again, she wasn't that great at maps, so perhaps if she met a rebel, she could give it to them. Maybe it would help somehow...
She crossed the centre hall to the opposite side of the one she was in. Another guard saw her beckoning for him and, curious, went. None of the other guards heard the soft thump, thump of the halves hitting the ground. She paused, not certain how to get rid of the other two in that hall without attracting the unwanted attention of the others, least of all the centre hall's guard.
After a moment of deliberation, she allowed a little of herself to be seen. The centre guard was suspicious, and sent two of the others to investigate. She killed the first on the spot and lured the second a little further before giving him three quick slashes across the chest. He collapsed forwards, and she had to stifle her disgust as she pushed the corpse off. That gave her an idea.
Holding the body of a guard in front of her, she leaned it against the wall and clasped the back of his head with her right hand. With her left, she controlled his arm.
The centre guard looked up just in time to see one of his guards nodding and beckoning to him for assistance. Impatiently he stalked forwards, and was met with Mara's knife across his neck.
Making quick work of them was easy, and she even had time to check several more pockets. More money, another map, and a flask. After smelling its contents, she concluded that it was a liquor of some sort. This too went into her sleeve. Calmly, she walked down the hall to the door, and found a portal. She walked through.
Almost immediately she found herself running, finding herself in another void. There were no tilting platforms in here, however. Instead, she was hard-pressed to keep up with four jigsaw pieces that constantly built themselves into a moving path. They moved at almost breakneck speed, but once Mara ran too fast, and barely caught onto one. She pulled herself up and sprinted to keep up with the first, which seemed much farther away than only one or two pieces off. She nearly flew off the side at an unexpected turn, but Cat appeared abruptly and bounced her back on track, vanishing immediately after.
As she reached the end a Boojum appeared just in front of the portal. It opened its mouth to scream but she ploughed underneath it and fell through the portal.
A tune played once, and she was hard-pressed to remember it when she saw the keyboard. She shook her head in disbelief. "Can I hear that again?" she called, to no one in particular. Silence.
She rested her cheek on her hand and sat down, trying to remember the tune. She practice-hummed it a few times, but didn't feel terribly confident. She checked the keyboard, and played a few scales on it. It was in a very strange key, she thought, and started picking out the melody.
G sharp, A, C sharp, down an octave, G sharp, A, and finally D sharp. No result, except a "ding!" that seemed to say that she got it right. "Cat!" She shouted, and was, for once, relieved to see his face. "What am I supposed to do now?"
"Self-reliance is a virtue. You should try it," he said in a lightly scolding voice, but all the while, his tail pointed in three directions: down, back, and at her. Confused, she walked forward to the edge of the platform. Three club guards patrolled on a platform below, and Mara grinned. It could be so easy just to take them out from right there...
She threw the knife three times, and they were dead. She smiled and wiped off her blade.
"Lovely aim," Cat said, with his ever-present grin. "Tell me, do you enjoy killing them?"
"What?"
"How much do you want to hit them when you throw that knife? Do you really care either way, or does your heart give a leap whenever it connects?"
"I dunno. I never really thought about it," she admitted, finishing with the rag.
There was silence for a moment. "Faith-"
"Mara, Cat."
Cat studied her for a moment. "Don't you think that using a new name is just another way to run from reality?"
She turned to Cat, knowing that he was right, but not wanting to admit it. "Why do you say that?"
"Never mind. I am not the one to have this discussion with."
She was silent for a little while longer, but he did not speak, except to tell her, in the words of Rabbit, to get going. She nodded and sighed, and jumped into the expanse of the void.
Cat jumped up to see if she was gone forever, and saw her walking back on the puzzle pieces, which followed her every step. He laughed to himself. She was a little more full of surprises than she had previously let on- he'd thought that she would be asking him how to get down.
She let them build, at her pace, this time leading her to a new platform with stairs leading to a single portal. She turned over to Cat, and was just in time to see his smile wink out. She paused momentarily, trying to get her bearing, and wondered what she would meet next.
She sprinted up the stairs and turned to survey the room around her. When she saw the mural, she froze. There were Cat, Rabbit, and a Gryphon, and they all were in the midst of a ferocious battle against the card guards. But they weren't diamonds and clubs - they were hearts and spades... and chess pieces. She hesitated before turning around and going through the door.
She ended up at the top of the castle wall, just above the window to the skool. She laughed to herself, knowing that once she got in, it would get even harder, yet knowing that she was a hell of a lot more prepared than before. She grimaced. The card guards were more annoying than anything else, she thought. They can't even aim right. She walked to the wall and balanced on it for a moment, watching the sunset. It felt strangely peaceful, after all she had done so far, and she knew that from here on in, she would be lucky just to see another sunset again. She laughed suddenly, realising that she had spent less than twenty-four hours there so far and had already... ah well.
She scanned the area below for the window, but didn't find it. It was on the other side, she remembered. She hopped off the wall, and started over, and was highly irritated when two Boojum started flying towards her. She rolled her eyes and jumped, swinging herself through the window before they could reach her.