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Idea master
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 Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 2:29 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry for the delay, had to do some world-building and job-defining for the young Harold. But now I'm back, and we're taking a random girl with us into the brave unknown!
Chapter Two - A world unknown
Harold bit his lip and rolled his eyes. This had to be some sort of delusion. There was no way a whole forest, other world, or what have you could be accessed by one door and one key. Out of the corner of his eye, Harold spotted Lucy McGuire, undoubtedly one of the prettiest sophomore girls. Her hair was a wavy brown that cascaded over her shoulders and framed her face perfectly. Her eyes were a deep blue with flecks of green in them...
And she was headed right for him, for reasons unknown. Harold straightened up and tried to close the door. At least, he tried. No matter what he did, it wouldn't shut. This was bad. Lucy would be here any sec-
"Hi there, Harold!"
Correction, she was here, and there was still a forest where a closet ought to be. "Hi Lucy, what's up?"
"Not much Harold. Say, what's with this closet?"
Ah, not even ten seconds, and she had noticed this little issue. Harold thought really, really fast. "I think it's some sort of wallpaper. I'd just close the door and be done with it, but I think it's stuck."
"Well, that's easily fixed. Just let me see here..."
Lucy walked closer to the doorway, and bent down to the ground to see if there was something blocking the door from closing. After a few seconds of close scrutiny, she stood up again. "No, I can't see anything that would stop-"
Unfortunately, her hand went past the doorway at that point. There was a rippling effect through the doorway, and suddenly, Lucy was on the other side, standing in the forest on a dirt pathway. "Well, that's probably not good," Harold said more to himself than anyone.
Lucy seemed to hear him and started banging on the doorway, seemingly unable to get back. Every time her hands impacted, there was a rippling effect, but she didn't come back. Harold sighed and said, "I can't leave her all alone in there, now can I? Maybe if I reach out, I can grab her real fast and pull her back without getting pulled in myself."
Having thus reassured himself, Harold reached out with one hand tentatively to the doorway. The instant he touched it, there was another rippling effect.
If asked later to describe it, Harold would say the experience of going through his first portal between worlds was like being pulled through ice-cold Jell-o. The fluid, if that's what it was, was chilling in the least. It pushed him quite quickly through the doorway and out the other side. He staggered a little bit and caught his balance.
"Come on, help with this doorway! There has got to be a way to make it let me through!"
Ah. Lucy didn't like being here. Understandable, really. Harold turned around and saw that the door was set as part of a tree, which would explain, he thought, as to why a tree wasn't blocking the view of the forest. Just as he moved forward, the door shut itself and vanished from the wood.
Harold looked at Lucy. "Well, that's not good," he stated.
Lucy sighed. "Well, what do we have as supplies?"
"Well," Harold said, going through his backpack, "I have my lunch, along with my Algebra textbook and my binder of homework for all my classes."
"And I've got," Lucy picked up while rummaging through her backpack, "A history textbook, a binder of homework for MY classes, some money for lunch, and a purse full of feminine products."
"You know," Harold said, "I'd have thought that you'd have been much more of the break-down-and-sob types in this sort of situation."
"No," Lucy said, "I'm just cut off from all things I've known by a doorway that I've never seen before...I mean, really, why would I cry? This has got to be a dream of some sort. And even if it wasn't, then we've no way to reproduce the effect to go somewhere more civilized, much less home."
"Oh, I forgot to mention," Harold said, holding up the key ring.
“What is that?” Lucy asked.
“Well, it’s just my key ring that opened up the doorway. I’d have said something before, but even now, it’s kinda silly. I mean, there’s no doorway anymore.”
Lucy jumped up. “No, there isn’t,” she said, “But I bet if we follow this road, we’ll get to civilization, and there’ll be a door there we can use, I bet!”
Harold picked up his things with a sigh. “The road goes ever on and on…*”
*Bonus point to whoever knows where that’s from!
-
“Um.” Harold simply stated about an hour later.
“This is not what I had in mind when I said civilization,” Lucy said.
It was something that closely resembled a village, but the houses were made so beautifully that there was no mistaking who the pointy-eared inhabitants were.
It was an elven village, and they had stumbled on it following the road. No sooner had they moved two steps further towards the village than a tall elven female stood before the two humans. “You who come down the Key-Bearer’s pathway, which one of you bears the keys?”
“Er…I do.” Harold said, and held up the key ring again. The elven woman turned towards him and made a short bow.
“Key-Bearer, we thank you, for this is an hour of need. We require your services once again-”
“Er, wait a second. I’m not the original, not by a long shot. I was just given these keys without any explanation as to what I was getting into. So a little backstory as to what the Key-Bearer position entails would be nice. So would food and rest for me and my companion here.”
The elf lady sighed. “We had feared that. Although the magic does keep you ageless until your thousand years have been fulfilled, this creates trouble for us telling you apart. Food, rest, and tales shall all be yours this night, and you must be ready to act in the morning.”
Harold and Lucy were led to a large chamber somewhere high in the village. It looked not like it had been carved from the tree, but more like the tree had grown this room over millennia of effort. Other elven maidens came with plates of food that Harold did not recognize nor turn down, for each piece tasted finer than the last. Comfortable chairs were brought in for them to sit in. As Lucy and Harold slowly ate, the maiden from earlier began to fill them in.
“Ever since the birth of the worlds, there has been a Key-Bearer. It is his job to be sure that the traffic between the realms is as it should be.”
Harold nodded. So, he was like a traffic cop now.
“It is his job to ensure that no divine influence seeps through to the worlds, and that no two incompatible worlds meet. It is because of a lax Key-Bearer that the ‘dinosaurs’ were wiped out long ago, and it was only though haste that the planet was saved.”
Harold gulped, almost choking on what he assumed to be a large piece of pork. He was a traffic cop that could seriously screw up all life as he knew it if he got the smallest thing wrong. A few quick thumps on his chest saw the pork safely to it’s destination without killing him.
“There have been Key-Bearers who did not live to a thousand, but this, it is said, is because they did not open their first door and go through it. The magic of the door gives them their infusion of life and near-immortality. It also enhances the traits of the key ring and the keys.”
Harold had a puzzled look on his face, and so the maiden elaborated. “As long as you have the keys, you will be able to tell if there is a door that is open that shouldn’t be, or if someone is opening a door that must be stopped. The ring will let you know if a key is missing, though it happens not but rarely. The keys have a link back to their home worlds, and you can draw on their strength for nigh-unlimited energy and magic.”
“Magic,” Lucy said. “How does that work? I mean, back where we’re from, we have equations about matter and energy, but where does magic factor in?”
“Magic,” the maiden said, “if given will and energy, can form matter. Magic, if given will and matter, can form energy. And energy can always be transformed into magic, at a one-to-one ratio. Now, you’ll have to learn how to use those spells on the fly, seeing as your predecessor was so rude and got you into something without telling you what it was. We have a crisis here. A demon is being summoned, so a doorway is being opened ever so slightly by agents of darkness. You must find the portal to the dark realm here and close it before they complete the summoning. After is okay as well, seeing as it will cut him off from a lot of the energy he’ll be drawing on, but he’ll still be able to wreak havoc.”
“Yeah, about that…we may have a problem,” Harold said. “My predecessor did say that he lost a key somewhere. So how do I do that whole ‘listening for lost keys with the ring’ thing?”
The maiden paled. “This is worse news. If a key falls in the wrong hands and a doorway is opened between incompatible wrong realms, then if the key is destroyed…the door will remain open forever. Not only wiping out one world, but the one it’s connected to as well!”
“Well, how do we know that we aren’t incompatible with your realm?” Lucy queried.
“The magic of the doorway protects you from such issues, as part of the Key-Bearer job.”
Harold gulped. He had a few choices now, and he wasn’t sure which one to make…
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
We can either go after a huge scary demon, or track down a wayward key before something goes boom! Or we could try to leave or wake up. The choice is yours, so let's hear your reasoning!
F12
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
_________________
...So I've been summoned back from beyond the veil.
...No plans yet.
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Chinaren
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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I think go after the key first, but only assuming you have someplace to start looking. Otheriwse the demon door.
Nice chapter IM.
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Crunchyfrog
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 3:45 pm Post subject: |
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Good chapter! I f5 Chinaren, go after the key, I think. 
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:19 pm Post subject: |
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Ooo, that was an interesting story. At first I kind of found it starting to happen sort of like Narnia, but then the whole Key Bearer thing came into play, and how it's connected to many different worlds. I liked it IM, and how could you have gotten this idea from a dream? It's amazing...
I think that he should go find the other key first, because if that's lost then one door goes open forever and worlds are destroyed, but if he gets that key, and there's only a door left opening slowly, at least he'll have some time.
Great story IM 
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Idea master
Magus Extraordinaire
Joined: 10 May 2004
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| Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:02 am Post subject: |
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Poll options will be going up soon! Get yer ideas in now!
So far we have...
Key first, then Demon!
He musta been lying, go fer the Demon!
Run away!
Magic lessons, anyone?
Any ideas that didn't get in?
_________________
...So I've been summoned back from beyond the veil.
...No plans yet.
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Mastermind
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| Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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Demon first, then the key.
The demon seems more like an immediate threat, while the key is just lost - for now.
_________________
Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.
Henrik Tikkanen
Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.
Bill Watterson
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Amichan
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 8:57 am Post subject: |
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I have to agree it sounded like Narnia but it's staring to have a Narnia /Kingdom Hearts feel to it as for the DP TAKE THE DEAMON OUT with a vengence MUAHHHHH!!
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 2:29 pm Post subject: |
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Idea master
Magus Extraordinaire
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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The poll has run rampant from the zoo and is even now tearing up a small village. In five days time, I'll put it down.
_________________
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...No plans yet.
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Lilith
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 1:12 pm Post subject: |
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Nooo! I'm too late!! Damn it. Oh well, it should be good whenever you decide to get the next chapter posted. Sigh, even though the demon is a more immediate threat than some stupid key. Oh well. 
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Crunchyfrog
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| Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 1:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Grrr, missed it too, but I would have gone for option 1.
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Idea master
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| Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I DID warn you.
Apologies all, my inspiration was kidnapped from my brain and flushed down the toilet. Once I'm done raiding the local sewer, I'll be back with a chapter.
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...No plans yet.
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| Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 4:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Idea master wrote: | Well, I DID warn you.
Apologies all, my inspiration was kidnapped from my brain and flushed down the toilet. Once I'm done raiding the local sewer, I'll be back with a chapter. |
That is probably the best excuse I've ever heard for not posting up a chapter 
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Chinaren
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Lilith
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