Jesse had come back into the room and showed the 'rules' around to everyone else as they trickled in. Try as they might, though, none of them could remember hearing anything about this 'Phantasmagoria' hotel before. Eventually, Jesse just stuck it back in her pocket, and they decided to come back to it later, after finishing the episode.
Another thing they decided to come back to when it was at a more godly hour in the day was when Petra tugged Gabriel and Isa aside and whispered something to them, before they nodded and she approached Jesse and told her that they needed to meet sometime tomorrow. Jesse had no idea what they were getting at, but you know.
As everyone trickled back into the room, they all shared what had been going on earlier. The Ancient Architects hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, although Otto did recall that one of the portraits seemed to be staring at them while they prepared some food. Gabriel and Soren returned last, sounding a little out of breath and explaining that they'd heard something whispering in one of the hallways, therefore having gotten a bit freaked out and sprinted pell-mell to get back to the living room.
Right now, though, she was a bit preoccupied with being half wrapped in a blanket like a cinnamon roll, with the other half tented over Lukas's head and wrapped around the two of them.
They both chucked a pillow at Gill when he told them to 'get a room'.
Jace had a head resting on Petra's shoulder, the blankets wrapped around them both so tightly they looked like they were wrapped in some sort of cocoon, although there was a little hole for Reuben to stick his head out of to watch the episode. The other occupants of the room were curled up in their own blankets, having changed into some pajamas.
Jesse had joined up with Petra, Olivia and Maya while they changed into some pajamas themselves, all of them politely averting their gaze from her back when Jesse pulled on her own set.
When they were all ready, Isa, who'd somehow gotten ahold of the remote in between the previous episode and the start of this one, picked it up and pressed the play button.
The screen loaded for a bit, before fading in to show a small stack of Blaze Rods on the ground. "Okay... okay, that should be good," Petra said slowly, twitching one into place, before sitting back on her heels and snapping her fingers.
The Blaze Rods all erupted into a little makeshift campfire, crackling cheerfully as if it had been going for hours. Petra made a pleased grin and sat back down, shifting her weight so that she was sitting on the ground and not her heels.
"Okay," Gabriel shook his head with a little smile, "now I'm a little impressed."
Jesse was watching the fire absentmindedly, stroking Lukas. The ocelot hybrid was curled up like a huge cat against Jesse's leg as he snoozed, tail and ears twitching happily. He also appeared to be asleep, and was purring like a carburetor at the same time.
Ivor glanced up from where he was poking through his bag next to her, trying to make some new potions without the brewing stand and having limited success, before smirking and shaking his head a bit. "Honestly, he never fell asleep when anyone else was petting him. What makes you so different?" he joked, before muttering a soft swear as his hand slipped and the empty potion bottle he'd been holding dropped.
Jesse's middle arm slipped out and caught it easily before it could shatter on the floor as she stuck her tongue out at Ivor playfully. "What? Ya jealous?" she teased, before passing it back and going back to petting Lukas.
There was a soft crunch, and Jesse looked up. The screen switched to show the Blaze hybrid biting into a black thing that the audience soon realized was a piece of toast that had been burned to a crisp.
"You really love burned food more than anybody else I know," Jesse said with an amused shake of her head. "It's a bit odd how you can toast an apple and eat it as happily as if it were something like- I dunno- cake. I really don't understand your eating habits."
Petra looked up from where she was eating her 'toast'. She broke it in half, a little rain of black particles dropping into her lap, before holding it out to Jesse. "Want one?"
Jesse looked at the burned bread for a moment, weighing her options, before shrugging and taking it. "Sure."
Next to her, Ivor pulled out a potion of something that looked like an inky, navy blue. Petra arched her eyebrows at him. "Potion of Night Vision?" she asked, nonchalantly.
"Do they really need it though? With the campfire and the portals combined, it looks like the hallway is plenty bright enough," Soren mumbled, softly enough so that only the rest of the Order could hear it. They nodded in agreement.
"No, energy drink," Ivor replied, before taking a sip and going back to attempting his potion brewing.
Real-Ivor resisted grinning a bit at some of the audience members' bemused faces.
Onscreen, the man glanced up from his potion as he added a slice of glistering melon to the bottle, before corking it and giving it a good shake. "You know, you liked being petted back then, too," he said. It took the spider hybrid a couple seconds to realize he was looking at her.
"Oh. Yeah, I mean, I remembered a while back... but, you know, people hardly ever pet me, except for you occasionally back then. And now, now that I think about it," Jesse added, thoughtfully. With that, she took a bite out of her piece of burned 'toast'.
Lukas petted Jesse on the head cheerfully, and she snuggled into his hug even more at that. He looked back up at the screen, hiding a grin that was tugging at his lips insistently.
Onscreen, Petra crunched down on the last of her bread, gold eyes sparkling with excitement. "Ooh, Jesse likes being petted? Lemme try!" and the Blaze hybrid practically vaulted over to where Jesse was sitting.
Both Real-and-Onscreen Ivor smirked in amusement at that.
Jesse also smirked a little, before it faded as Petra plopped down next to her and started patting her back lightly. The amusement turned into a glazed, dreamy sort of look. "Oh, that... that feels..." her lower arms kept stroking Lukas's hair while her back slumped a bit, a dreamy smile coming over her face. "... that feels nice," she said dreamily.
Petra grinned at Ivor, the latter looking rather surprised. This was probably the first smile she'd sent the potionologist in a long time. "Heh, you weren't kidding, Ivor."
"You look so happy like that," Mevia grinned at Jesse, gesturing at the screen. "Maybe one of us should try petting you."
"Noooo," Jesse jokingly buried herself under her blankets, squirming so that she was practically right up against Lukas's chest. The blonde glanced down at the petite girl who was now pretty much perching on his lap, before jokingly leaning forward and resting his chin on her head.
Jace glanced at Petra before snuggling even closer to her. Petra rolled her eyes and patted him on the back. Her lips totally weren't twitching in the tiniest smile ever. Nope. Not at all. I have no idea what you're talking about.
Now Onscreen-Jesse was actually starting to purr, but her chest vibrated slightly as she did it, humming absentmindedly and making it sound like a strange, vibrating lullaby. It was... surprisingly soothing.
Onscreen-Ivor grinned lopsidedly before going back to his brewing. The screen faded to a little later, where he was still carefully fiddling with his bag, when he heard an odd humming sound and he looked up.
Jesse had managed to slump right over Lukas sleepily, lower arms resting at her sides with her head on his back, upper arms on Lukas's head and still stroking absentmindedly. Petra had fallen asleep leaning on the two, hand resting on Jesse's back as she breathed in and out steadily. The fire had died to embers that glowed and dimmed in sync with Petra's breathing.
The potionologist shook his head slightly with a smile, eyes softening slightly as he watched the cluster of hybrids.
Real-Ivor let a soft smile creep across his own face. Had Real-Jesse seen, she would've innocently pointed it out and then made him scoff and pretend he had no idea what she was talking about. If Lukas had noticed, he'd just have given Ivor a smug sort of grin and then gone back to the screen without making a huge fuss. And if Petra had spotted him, she would've probably cracked some kind of joke, eyes still hard when she regarded him.
Good thing they were fixated on this scene.
Onscreen, Ivor moved more slowly and quietly, making sure not to clink the bottles together as he put them away. His eyes kept flickering up to the hybrids, as if worried that he might wake one up by accident.
When he'd finally finished, he shifted closer, as if on impulse, and brushed a lock of hair out of Jesse's face.
There was a loud squeal in the room, and everyone looked around before noticing Nell, her hands clasped together and stars practically glowing in her eyes. "That is so cute!" she squealed.
"Wha- no it's not- it's not cute-" Ivor spluttered, his face going bright pink in embarrassment.
"I dunno, I think it's pretty adorable," Harper grinned, before realizing what she'd just said, and feeling her cheeks go a little red.
She didn't notice the way Otto glanced at her appraisingly, a tiny smile forming on his own face.
That was an idea.
Onscreen, the spider hybrid stirred a bit, a small smile forming on her face. Ivor shook his head, a smile forming on his own face, before leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. A moment later, his shoulders slumped a bit, and his breathing evened out.
The screen blacked out.
"Oh my Notch. That was so cute," Maya was grinning like the Chesire Cat.
"Right?!" Nell agreed instantly.
"Nyeh," Lukas mumbled, although he really didn't seem all that displeased. Nor did Jesse, who was still leaning into his chest and looking very comfortable about this fact.
Petra scowled at the two of them however, feeling a faint pink blush forming on her cheeks. "That was not cute."
"Of course it wasn't," Jace said, looking up at her soothingly. The redhead relaxed, and had just gone back to staring at the screen when he tacked on, "It was absolutely adorable."
Petra turned her scowl onto Jace, who just smiled beatifically back at her. "You know, Jace, you used to be the most agreeable cinnamon roll child ever."
Axel lost it, cackling helplessly at that nickname. Olivia couldn't help but join in, muffling her giggles by biting her knuckles and shaking a bit, shoulders trembling as she tried to repress her laughter.
"What ever happened to you?"
Jace beamed at Petra innocently. "I suppose I've been hanging around you too much," he told her, cheerfully.
She had to admit that that was probably true.
The screen faded back in to show the four of them looking around the hallway. Ivor squinted at one, before glancing over his shoulder. "What do you all think about this one?" he called out, pointing at one of the portals.
Jesse came over to take a look at it. Olive green swirled within a doorway made of two rings of gold. It looked rather nice, actually.
"Mmm... maybe. Petra?" she called, pointing at the portal and arching her eyebrow as if to ask what the redhead thought of it.
Petra came over and took a look, squinting at it for a good three minutes before declaring, "It seems pretty good. What do you think, Lukas?" She directed the last part at Lukas (duh), who'd come over to see what the group was looking at.
Lukas's nose twitched a bit, and then he frowned and crossed his arms, looking slightly disconcerted. "I dunno. I can't smell anything. Usually if it's a Nether portal, it smells like... burning stuff, and if it's an End portal it smells sickly sweet. But I can't smell much off this one. Just some night air. Maybe some rotten flesh? Nothing really out of the ordinary."
Jesse shrugged, a small smile forming over her face. "Sounds good enough for me." And with that, she stepped straight forward, the screen blacking out as she passed through the portal.
The screen faded back in to show a misty forest, the groans of zombies puncturing the night wind and the slightly eerie music. Slowly, the screen panned down to show the arch of a graveyard. It abruptly zoomed in to show a little bat hanging upside down from the arch.
"Awww it's adorable," Jesse cooed a bit.
Reuben snuffled from where he was still sitting in her lap. She looked down at him and amended, "Of course, you're still the cutest Reuben."
Isa cleared her throat. "I actually think Benedict takes that role," she corrected Jesse. In her lap, the little white chicken clucked away.
"Nah, I think Winslow beats both of 'em out. Only by a little margin, of course," Cassie added.
"I vote Reuben," Lukas said, managing to extract his arm from the cocoons of blankets and raising it in sync with Jace and Petra. Axel and Olivia followed suit quickly.
"I vote on the bat," Em replied teasingly.
"Can we have a vote on the cutest pet after the episode?" Hadrian asked, not even bothering to disguise the heavy impatience in his voice. "I'd rather not miss anything here."
"Sorry," the three women chorused, and they all returned to the screen a second later.
The bat fluttered its wings, before taking off and soaring through the sky. It didn't get very far when Jesse suddenly materialized and hit it with her face on the way down with a shriek.
Everyone winced.
Petra, Lukas, and then Ivor also materialized out of thin air and crashed to the ground with yells of their own as well. A moment later, Jesse got back up, batting the bat off of her face gently, the bat flying off with not too much damage done to it.
Well, hopefully.
The spider hybrid looked around, the screen panning around to show mist and fog curling around them and clouding some of their surroundings from sight. Trees with vines draped upon them were pretty evident, though, and they seemed to be standing in the graveyard the audience had spotted earlier.
"Well, this isn't creepy at all," the narrator's voice spoke up for the first time in a while, sarcasm heavily lacing her- their- whichever- voice.
Jesse glanced up at the sky, before giving their surroundings another quick look-over. "Um, okay, guys, I'm seeing grass, forests, ground in all directions, all pretty good signs so far..."
"Ahem."
Jesse turned to see Ivor, who'd just tapped on her shoulder, his face looking slightly paler than usual, before he pointed. Jesse followed his pointing finger... and let out a long sigh at the sight of two moons hovering in the sky.
"Wait- but that's our world!" Lizzie exclaimed, staring at the screen in astonishment.
"Wait, we're in your world now?" Ivor exclaimed as well, twisting around to get a good look at the pink-haired girl.
Dan nodded frantically. "Yeah, we have two moons."
"I guess we could call it the Twin Moon World...?"
Everyone looked at Soren.
"What? It's not a bad name!"
"I vote yes on Twin Moon World," Lukas said meekly, raising his hand timidly.
"I vote yes as well," Jesse nodded from where she was still ensnarled in the blankets.
"A-ha," Jesse sighed uncomfortably, putting her lower arms on her hips with a frown on her face.
"Verdict says?" Petra asked as she drew level with Jesse and Ivor, "definitely not our world." And she proceeded to elbow the ocelot hybrid next to her as he came up as well. "You owe me two iron, Lukas."
Lukas rolled his eyes with a good-natured grin and tossed her the two bars of iron, which Petra snatched out of the air flawlessly. "There ya go, Petra, your two iron."
Jesse shook her head at them, smirking slightly. "You two bet on the outcome?" she asked, amused.
"Yeah. You didn't notice?" the narrator asked, sounding way too amused about that.
Jesse ignored them as Lukas shrugged. "We were bored," he offered by way of explanation.
The spider hybrid raised her own arms in a shrug herself, a playful smile on her face. "Well- I'm sure you guys can hear it."
Petra tilted her head with a confused look, scratching her head slightly with her free hand as she stowed the two iron away with her other hand. "Uhh... spooky forest?"
A good two-thirds of the audience repressed loud snorts at that.
Onscreen, the spider hybrid stifled a laugh at that herself. "No... well, yes, that too."
Several people were now giggling a bit at this.
"But, no, that's not what I was talking about. It's the sound of a new adventure! I bet this place is going to be awesome," Jesse said, gently pumping one of her fists with a grin.
"I hope you're right..." Lukas's smile faded. "It's just... I'm worried about Axel and Olivia."
Mentioned people exchanged a slightly surprised look.
Onscreen, Petra seemed to share their confusion, blinking at Lukas almost owlishly. "What? Why?" she asked, sounding bewildered.
"Well, if they followed us back to that Old Builder temple-"
"Gaaah, there it is again..."
"-and went through that portal-"
"Oh..." Ivor winced a bit as he realized what Lukas was getting at. "They'd arrive at Sky City... to find it overflowing with monsters."
Aiden winced at some of the looks he was now receiving.
"Well... they are basically half-monsters themselves. And they don't have to worry about all the citizens, like we did, so... I feel like they'd be okay," Jesse said, thoughtfully. "I'm not sure they'd follow us anyway. They don't know where we went... I mean, I left them a note, but-"
"Your handwriting isn't exactly what one would call beautiful," Petra finished, grinning at Jesse.
Real-Jesse made an indignant huffing sound. It would've been much more impactful if she hadn't been grinning widely the whole time.
Jesse sent Petra a jokingly deadpan look. "Geeee, thanks," she drawled, making Lukas chuckle a little and Ivor snicker.
When Ivor recovered from his amusement, "But yes. Besides, I'm sure if they do follow us, they can handle themselves. They'll probably find the next portal, like we did-"
"And hopefully, we'll all be back together again soon," Jesse finished the sentiment, smiling cheerfully at the rest of the group.
"Awww, thanks Jesse," and Axel reached over to ruffle Jesse's hair. The latter retreated into her cocoon of blankets with a little 'meh', to most of the audience's amusement.
"We can hope," Petra nodded agreeably enough.
Ivor raised his hand like a schoolboy. "I, for one, vote that we not be so hasty to try and get out of here. Who knows what sorts of treasures this new world could hold?" He lowered it a moment later with a sigh, looking around them. "Besides. Unless the next portal is... disguised as a tombstone, I'm not seeing anything like it anywhere."
"Good point," Sparklez mumbled with a frown. "How are they supposed to get back out if there isn't a return portal?"
Jesse tapped her lip. "Well, the return one in Sky City was hidden underground... maybe we need to dig our way out or something...?" she suggested, giving the tiniest shrug.
Stampy shrugged, shifting a bit uncomfortably at the mention of the flint and steel.
Onscreen, Jesse just let out a sigh of agreement, looking around. The screen panned around her surroundings, going over a small white pedestal- before zeroing back in on it. The spider hybrid squinted at it for a few moments, before glancing uncertainly at Petra. "You guys seeing some... sort of thing over there?" she asked, training her eyes back on it tentatively.
Petra squinted at it as well, gold eyes glowing slightly as she attempted to get a better look at it herself. "Yeah.. what is that?" she wondered, at last.
As Petra, Lukas, and Ivor moved closer, Jesse glanced up at the sky. "So, do you know what it is?" she whispered, dropping her voice to a lower volume.
"Yes."
"Are you gonna tell me what it is?"
"No, not really."
"Thought not," Jesse sighed a bit. "Not surprised, but- you know, never hurts to try." She moved along, carefully tiptoeing along until they reached the white pedestal, revealing the object atop it to be a book floating on top of the smooth white block. Actually, it might've been a tombstone... who knows?
The spider hybrid slowly reached out and took the book, gingerly opening it. "It says... 'invitation'," she read off the book.
"So far so good," the narrator commented. Jesse's eyes scanned down the page a bit more.
"And then... 'read immediately, your life depends on it!'" the spider hybrid exclaimed, looking a bit more startled at the end.
"Oh. Uhh..." Slab scratched his head. "That's not good."
"Annnd things just took a downward turn," the narrator replied.
Jesse cleared her throat, beginning to read through the next part. "'Greetings, traveler'-" and she was suddenly cut off by a series of loud groans. She looked up, the screen switching to show the hordes of zombies slowly approaching them.
"Annd that's even worse," Stacy said, flatly.
Onscreen-Lukas let out a rather irritated sigh, tail twitching slightly. "Yep, that- seems about right."
Petra whipped out her sword, flicking it right at a zombie and knocking it over. "Keep reading, Jesse! We've got your back!" she shouted, she, Ivor, and Lukas turning around to face the zombies as Jesse looked back at the book, a new sense of urgency entering her eyes. Her arms flicked out her sword and held it at the ready, and she focused her attention almost completely on the book.
"'I humbly invite you to my mansion for an evening of food and festivity with your fellow adventurers!'" Jesse read quickly, hopping back up onto the pedestal as a zombie halfheartedly swiped at her, using her sword to slice off a zombie's head.
Cassie's eyes widened.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
"That's-" Lukas grunted as his claws raked through a zombie's guts. "-odd."
"Yeah, weird, right-? Whoa!" Jesse yelped onscreen as she noticed the next zombie approaching, lashing out and smashing right through it.
"Toss it here!" Petra shouted, her area looking- for the moment- clear of zombies.
Jesse shut the book and tossed it in an underhand throw towards Petra, the book sailing in a lazy arc through the air and over the zombies, before landing in Petra's hand. Petra spun around and swiped through another zombie that had been attempting to sneak up on her.
"Cool," Nell grinned.
Ivor leaped up onto another tombstone, flailing his arms in an attempt to not fall off and chucking potions of harm at zombies while trying not to hit the hybrids in the faces with them. One potion barely missed Jesse's face. "Petra, anytime now! You can read, right?!" he barked at her.
Real-Petra scowled at Ivor.
"Hang on, hang on!" Petra snapped in return, eyes scanning the pages so intently that it was a bit of a surprise that the book wasn't in flames by now, jabbing her sword into an approaching zombie, "need to find Jesse's place- got it!"
Another zombie approached. Jesse lunged forward, Petra dropping to her knees suddenly as Jesse stabbed her sword straight into the zombie's face, going right through its eye and making it explode on the spot. "'Come to my home on the hill, just follow the path. Please look out for zombies-'" Petra brought her sword back, Jesse diving to her left as it came thrusting forward and skewered yet another zombie. "'Sincerely, the Host.'"
"Who's this 'Host', do you think?" Gill asked, leaning forward a bit.
"Good question," Jace told him, letting out a long breath. It sounded a bit as if he'd been holding his breath for an extensive period of time.
Petra corrected herself. She, Lukas, Jesse, and Ivor had just been in imminent danger. Of course he would've been holding his breath for a rather long time.
A/N: CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP NOW I WANNA MAKE A STEVEN UNIVERSE CROSSOVER WITH MCSM GAAAAAAHHHHHH WHY
Welp, anyway, things are going pretty smoothly. Almost done with all the character reveals from Phantasmagoria :3
The real fun for me hasn't started yet x3
RQTC: Has anyone heard anything about Season 2 of MCSM? Besides that the first episode is apparently called 'Hero in Residence'.
RQTC2: Has ANYONE figured the code out yet?!
Also. For the LAST TIME.
EVERY STORY THAT IS NOT THIS ONE OR PHANTASMAGORIA IS ON HIATUS UNTIL THIS ONE IS COMPLETED.
I have already said this multiple times in previous chapters; this is the last time I will be saying it. Please do not ask again. If you do, you will be referred to Chapter 109.
RWBYSTRQ: x3 / Thank you!
LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) Sleep sucks sometimes. / Hehehe xD not really a 'little' reference xD / Right?!
CrystalTearsofFaith: I KNOW RIGHT?! / (laughs) It's a little more intense than you might think.
RapidSammi: Hehehe. x3 / HAHAHAHA OMG / Yes, I'm not joking. Look it up on Google. There are now results. x3 / Ah, cool. :3
InsaneAcrobat: (laughs) I needed a way to get some hype off my chest. / I don't know about Azira. And we're not talking about MCSM Em here. They just happen to have a similar name. / No spoilers :3 / No, they are not sentient beings. / Yes, there is a season 2, but no one's actually said anything yet.
Savannah-the-Caracal: (laughs) It's fine. :3 / Yep, people will be here xD / Oh! I'm glad you like it :3 / Gush all you like xD / Er, sure, if you'd like.
S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) It's not too hard; just look it up on Google.
AquaK13: Pillows are nice :3 / (laughs) I didn't actually realize that at first. Good job! / Azira isn't exactly what I would call 'nice'... / (laughs) Yep. / Bai!
Guest: Read the above A/N.
DarkPrincess2001: Hehehe xD
Rabbits rule: Fluffy, no she doesn't. I would like to stay in the hotel too. xD / Yeah I like her.
LittleAngelbun: No, no connection.
the indecisive bird: I wanted to make some hype and introduce the one character that I really really love in it xD Even to those who've already met them in the character reveals. / Xes. (Did you figure out the code yet? If you didn't, here's the translated answer in a different code) Xdr.
J.M.M: ... not correct. At all.
SofiaTheWriter88: Yay! / Hehehe xD / Yes, I probably do xD / x3
Seastorm25: Sort of...? / I'm not spoiling anything, but... Bnqqebr. / Yes. / You're not really supposed to xD
LegoGirl794: Yeah hopefully xD No pressure or anything.
RavenBlaze4850: Sort of xD / It's... more severe than Napstablook. / (grins) / Ooooh~ / (laughs) (fangirls with you) I was in school when I saw it and I was like "fjdk;afjdk;ajd;jfd" for half an hour. I was grinning like an idiot in the middle of Computer Graphics xD / Mmm, I see. There's a couple that match your description though...
Baiii!
x.X. A.L. X.x
