Defenders & Artefacts: Broken Rules

     Location: Library

     Discoveries: None

     Verde stared at the book lying on the floor for a long second. Suddenly, it levitated and swiftly flew back into its slot on the bookshelf, sliding perfectly between two other books. It was no longer glowing white, however Verde had a strong suspicion that if one of his friends saw this exact book, it would still have its faint white aura around it in their eyes. He turned around to check his options in the room. On one hand, he could return to the Entrance Hall from the door he had entered and on the other hand, he could go through the only other door in the room, on the right-hand side. He checked his wristband. On its green surface, he noticed that a small purple dot appeared in the room on his right; Purpura was in the Abandoned Room and she had obtained a mask. He decided to continue his journey there, turning right and leaving behind the vast knowledge that the Library hid.

     Upon entering, he saw Purpura clutching the mask in her hands. It was a fine artefact and of good quality. She was standing next to a rubble of wood in the middle of the room and she looked quite dizzy.

     “Is everything going well, fellow defender?” he asked her jokingly, as he got closer to her. He noticed the remains of the coffee table on the floor. “There must be some very hungry petpetpets living in this house,” he said, pointing at the broken pieces.

          “I’ve just had a very strange experience. The whole room was spinning around in my head - or at least I believe that it wasn’t physically spinning - as soon as I touched this mask. As if it wanted to tell me something…” she replied while gazing down at the mask in her hands, suspiciously.

     “Sounds like a vision from the house!” he exclaimed and gave one clap of excitement, “I hope I get one too.” Verde lived for these experiences, of discovering the mysterious and concealed.

     “That’s my worry though, I haven’t seen anything of use, anything of value,” she explained. “Be careful, Verde.” she said and gave him a little pat on the back.

     He turned to inspect the room and he was not satisfied with the condition he found it in. No one had taken care of it for so long, given its bleak state. However, this room provided him with three new doors to choose from, considering that his plan wasn’t to return back to the Library through the door on his back. According to his map, the door on the right would lead back to the Foyer, therefore that was out of the question as well. With a nod and a grin to Purpura, he decided to move to the room on his left.

     As soon as his foot passed the threshold of the next room, a mystical aura dragged him in forcefully. He tried to fight it back but to no avail. It pulled him hard and landed him in the middle of a huge pile of items. He was surrounded. All around him were household items, old toys, cooking utensils, gold coins, all mixed together in a big heap in the middle of the room. It reminded him of the stories his grandmother used to read him when he was younger, about the adventures of Hannah and all the treasures she found along her journey.

     He couldn’t see much above the pile, since the clutter of items reached up to his face, but he could glimpse over the pile enough to identify the doors in all three directions. He was trying to shake free from the grasp of the pile by flailing his arms and leg and by pushing against wooden rocking Unis, until something bit him hard on the right arm. He quickly turned his head down to find the culprit. He caught a glimpse of something tiny, emitting a faint white glow and felt a sharp sting on his arm, the heat rushing across it. Suddenly, the pile started rotating around him.

     Colours mixed together as objects spun around him, with ever-increasing speed. He felt that the room was about to take flight, to spring away and detach from the rest of the house. In an instant, the pain was gone and the pile stopped moving, falling down in its original spot. The unexpected vortex of items unfortunately hadn’t disturbed their physical location and they still laid uncomfortably around him, impeding his every movement. He checked his wristband. He was unscathed from the bite without taking any damage. He was stranded inside the Junk Room but he couldn’t take his eyes off the new green holographic writing that announced Visions: TWO.

     Blanca

     Location: Creaky Hallway

     Discoveries: None

     Blanca stood up and stepped on the marble floor which let out a loud whine that filled her ears. She had sat down to regain her movement, after realising that it didn’t matter if she stepped on the marble strip or the wooden outer flooring, each step shrieked loudly. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that, like most of the defenders, even the room was against her and kept depreciating her. She wasn’t about to give this house what it wanted though.

     Her options were either to turn left, right, or continue straight. She checked her wristband to see the locations of her colleagues and found out that she was still the only one on the top floor. She decided to get out of this wretched room as soon as possible and decided to take the next door on her right, a creak reverberating with every step. She finally reached the door and entered the next room.

     A thick layer of dust covered the flooring. The red carpet in the middle of the room, which ran through the middle, looked brown because of the amount of dust hidden in every thread. The air felt stuff. Tiny specks were floating around, illuminated by the white light of her wristband, resembling minuscule snowflakes almost falling to the ground before being disturbed and energised again. She calmly walked through, grateful at least for the lack of noise in this room. It was an empty room, with no furniture. The options were once again clear: one door in each direction. She decided to continue straight ahead. Her shoes left imprints, disturbing the calm of the veil of dust, as she made her way to the other side of the room, leaving the Dusty Hallway behind.

     She passed through the door and entered the Game Room, which was apparent given the plethora of boards, decks of cards and a variety of other games lying around. Some were stacked on top of each other on shelves, others were left open and untouched on tables. She even noticed a checkers board with some pawns still in play. Frozen in time on a small coffee table in the corner, a few pieces had been eliminated already while others were waiting for their turn to capture the king. It was inevitable that they would be waiting forever.

     As she was exploring the room, she felt something small walking on her body. She felt tiny legs crawling, tickling her on their path, making their way up. Then another set of legs, and another one. She felt tiny legs on her face now, moving to her ears, making their way into her hair. Overwhelmed, she tried to brush them off by flailing her arms, attempting to knock them off. She managed to hit one, which fell in her hand. Despite her panic, she raised it closer to inspect what it was. It was small, green and cylindrical. It had long, tiny legs and a set of minuscule antennae. With horror, she realised that at least a thousand Skritches were crawling on her body, trying to hide inside her hair and bite her face.

     Exasperated, she understood what she had to do. She concentrated on her clarity, directing all her energy into clearing her mind, as educated by Zee. Oh, how she longed for her own force field to protect her! She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. Clarity might not have been her strongest skill but it was important that she at least tried. She had to fight the house and prove her worth every step of the way. However, no matter how much she focused, she recognised it wasn’t enough… The feeling of tiny legs suddenly vanished from her body, but not without a cost. She had lost a point in clarity.

     Azul

     Location: Corridor of Statues

     Discoveries: None

     “What was that all about?” Azul cried out, “What am I even doing on this mission?” he kept asking himself, unable to relax.

     He was still in shock from everything that had just happened around him. The moving statue of Queen Fyora, the loss of control of his body and his urge to follow this fake Queen had shaken him up. He glanced down at his wristband to confirm that he had gained an intelligence point and noticed the peculiar writing informing him of two visions. Each vision was attributed to two of his friends, therefore he concluded that the moving statues were not a vision. What had happened to him must have been a random encounter that can occur when entering a new, unexplored room.

     When he felt that he was in a state to continue, he moved forward, towards the only available door at the end of the corridor. The smell of a damp and salty cloth - the kind that made him feel like he was back at Camp and going through the aquatic training - filled his nostrils as soon as he stepped inside the Organ Room. The floor was soaking wet, creating a reflective surface on the marble floor that filled this room. The stains inside the marble material looked like waves and along with the liquid surface it gave the impression of a stormy sea. The walls were dripping with water, each drop falling and hitting the marble on the ground with a faint splash. Paying attention, the sound that the drops were making reminded him of the bells he had heard earlier in the Corridor of Statues. The organ itself was on the left-hand side of the room. The pipes were long and rusted, and the wooden frame that held them together had started to deteriorate and turn mouldy green. Loosely hugging each pipe were seaweeds which had started sprouting from within the floor and had reached the heights of the pipes, twisting and turning to securely grab onto the cylinders. He shuddered as the thought of the slimy seaweeds crossed his mind. He was not fond of the unknown deep in the sea, the thought of the vast unexplored abyss made him nauseous.

     He continued walking and stood in the centre of the room, with the organ on his left, and turned to admire from afar this gigantesque instrument that covered most of the wall. Without a warning, the water started draining from the walls and the floor as if something was pulling it together. The liquid was accumulating near the centre of the room, where he was standing, and it had started to take shape. Quickly, the water had started to resemble a three-dimensional figure, albeit distorted.

     The body of water had now taken the form of a liquid Snowager, as tall as the organ, looking down at Azul. Azul quickly turned to face the beast and let out a shriek of terror. He backed away from it, taking swift small steps backwards. Through its translucent body he noticed the door behind it. The Snowager’s tail was in the way however, wiggling it this side and that side, viciously hitting the floor and with every hit it splashed water all over the room. Its size was massive, taking up most of the available room for Azul to run. He couldn’t pass through.

     Azul covered his eyes to protect them from the stray droplets flying around the room. He needed to act swiftly. He turned his head upwards, to actually confront his enemy and looked at it through the gaps in between his fingers. Snowager’s face was continuously moving, the water droplets forming and reforming each of its aspects. The teeth seemed like they were moving inside its mouth, always reorganising themselves, the eyes kept changing locations on the face and the stripes usually found on its body did not follow a normal pattern. As he was looking up, he thought that its face had shifted. For a fleeting second, he thought that the face now resembled that of his father. The famous defender, although now donning a Snowager’s tail which blocked his progress. He shook his head to clear his vision. His father’s face reverted back to the mighty beast. It must have been his imagination.

     He formed his plan: there was a rhythm to the formation of the Snowager out of the droplets. If he was able to time it correctly, he could potentially run straight through the tail at the moment it dematerialised into its raw water form. He had to rely on his movement which was unfortunately his lowest skill. He started counting in his head, feeling the rhythm of formation pulsate around him.

     “One Terror Mountain, two terror mountain”

     He saw his opportunity. He ran.

     “Five terror mountain”

     He reached the watery tail while it was deformed and started passing through it. He got drenched in water, his eyes were closed but all he could do was to keep running. He was almost out, on the other side of the tail, to the other side of the room.

     “Ten terror mountain, one terror mountain”

     That was the crucial point. The beast finished forming once again, after its cycle of dematerialisation. Azul was almost out. With a jump his body was ejected from the water.

     “Two terror mountain”

     His foot had got caught in the tail during the materialisation stage for a split second. He felt a tingle run from that end of his body up to his head. As soon as he was fully through, he rushed to the door, with a burning sensation. He realised that this had cost him a point in clarity.

     Purpura

     Location: Abandoned Room

     Discoveries: Mask

     Purpura stared at the mask for a long while. Should she turn this in at the headquarters when they got back or was there a possibility to balance the ethical rope and use it for her own personal gain? She stored the mask in her pocket to carry with her in case she needed it in the future. It might prove to be useful during a task which required high intelligence, although she needed to be careful not to excessively lower her clarity lest she be rendered unconscious. It was time to keep exploring. She knew that Verde had taken the door on her left and that the door on her right would take her back to the Foyer, so she decided to continue straight and leave behind this wreck of a room.

     The next room she entered was almost empty. The floor was flat hardwood, smoothly polished and apt for dancing. The wall on the right hand side was entirely covered with an enormous mirror which reflected back Purpura and the floor. It gave the sense that this room was larger than its actual size. From the ceiling hang several chandeliers, dimly lit. Each one was decorated with elaborate glass work. Small crystals were dangling from the chandeliers, reflecting the dim light and scattering it into faint rainbows around the Ballroom. In the corner of the Ballroom, where the shades of an elongated rainbow cast from the chandelier furthest away appeared, she noticed something on the floor. She stooped low to examine the pile.

     There were two very old Usul dolls, one wearing a red dress and the other one wearing a black tuxedo. The dolls were left in a hugging posture by their last owner. They were quite torn apart, parts of the dress were missing, the suit was made out of patchwork and their ears seemed like they were about to get unsewn from the wooly head. Spyder webs had formed on top of the Usul hands, binding them even more to one another. The yellow and orange shades of the rainbow were lightly passing over their faces before drifting and becoming greens and blues, and continuing their trajectory on the floor.

     Purpura froze, staring at these dolls. Tears started to fill her eyes. This was one of the saddest things she had seen. She was reminded of her parents; like they disappeared so unexpectedly from her life, so did the owner of these dolls. What happened to the unfortunate young Neopian who used to play with them? Who would leave those precious dolls behind? With tears in her eyes she came to a realisation. This was another test from the house, another feat to break her, like it had tried to break the morale of her friends, as she had been informed by her wristband. She concentrated on her clarity. With deep breaths, she managed to calm herself down. However, the dolls were still there, lying on the floor, unable to make a move and perpetually locked in an eternal embrace.

     A conical purple light shot outwards from her wristband and scanned the dolls before retreating back. Afterwards, the purple light jumped out of the wristband, now from the surface. It informed her that, given sufficient clarity, she or one of the other defenders could potentially gain a powerful item by mentally scanning the dolls and their surrounding area. Despite that, high clarity didn’t necessarily signify success, especially given the fact that she only had ten seconds per search. There was still a possibility of taking a point of damage because of an unsuccessful search.

     Purpura considered her next actions very carefully. Her clarity wasn’t the strongest, her intelligence was her best skill. Unfortunately, wearing the mask at this instant wouldn’t help her either, since that would actually lower her clarity even more. Undeterred by the low skill, she knew she had to do it for them. She decided to give it her best and try to get an item, both for her parents and for her colleagues, most notably for Verde who was the one most determined to see this mission a success.

     She took a few steps back, getting away from the dolls so that she had them in the centre of her field of vision, along with a substantial portion of their surroundings. One of the last courses the defenders in training took was the control of mental skills to aid them in entering the mind world. It was a combined course, taught by every established defender, that taught them how to use clarity or intelligence as a means of tapping into the unseen world. It was a daunting task which drained the inexperienced user, but could prove powerful in the right circumstances.

     She closed her eyes. She took a few breaths and concentrated on her clarity. In her mind, the image of the room appeared, yet it was different. Every object had a black outline marking its surface, as if it was traced and redrawn by hand. The shades of the colours in her mind world were all in purple. Lighter colours were smooth mauve, darker colours appeared as eggplant purple, nonetheless their mixture created a cohesive copy of the actual room with its saturations and contrasts.

     The clock started ticking. With her eyes closed, she concentrated on specific parts of the room as it appeared in her mind. She scanned underneath the left doll, not finding any trace of a hidden item. She quickly moved her eyes without opening them, to scan underneath the right doll, to no avail. Time was running out, this was an impossible task! She regretted attempting this. Had she had higher clarity, searching would have been faster. With every passing second she felt her wristband pulsating, trying to warn her and tell her to stop. She scanned immediately to the right of the right doll, where the casted rainbow was now just another shade of purple. Unsuccessful. Within her mind, she saw a yellow flash emanate from in between the dolls, where their hands were touching, and quickly advance towards her. It hit her right in the mind. She fell backwards onto the hardwood floor, opened her eyes and found out that she had lost a point of clarity.

To be continued…