Sorry I took so long

Just re-watching story mode episode 6

good lordie i love this episode x)

~~~

No one moved.

The wooden floor shook and then began to fall, chipping out of their place like pieces in a puzzle, then swiftly crumbling like cookie bites.

The slab of wood just under the carpers fell down towards the first floor, crashing against the floor in bits of splinters.

Ear-shattering pieces of wood crunched sickeningly against the floor and Papisuu winced at the sounds.

"Go," Cassie said simply.

No one moved. Cassie's eyes widened.

"Go...go, go, go, go go go go go go go," She repeated, shoving everyone towards the other side of the hallway,

By now half of the slim slender hallway had collapsed, tumbling like ends of puzzle pieces subsiding to the ground.

Cassie shoved the edges of everyone's costumes, puffy and silky, smooth and polished, or clean, towards the door near the second floor that lead onto the other rooms.

The hallway continued falling, the room beginning to shake, rumbling and crumbling under its breath, embedded somewhere.

The crumbling cracking bits of steps began to disperse faster.

Boredom felt her leg slip out from underneath her, and everything went soaring. The world felt like it was circling around her, and her face went ghostly, shock bouncing around in her mind.

Adrenaline burst through her system and leaked into her veins like salty sea water or crisp air, chilling her and numbing her mind, her hands.

Unable to breathe, apersonofboredom winced and tears came to her eyes, and she felt like fainting, her eyes paling.

The world blurred by in a swoop of colours, faded seafoam, lime, aqua, turquoise, copper, swirls of strings and faces....

Then impact.

Boredom felt distance from the others, then yelling, her eyes drooped ever so slightly, feeling wetness washing over her face.

Her bones moved in an almost unnatural way, like a broken airplane, crumpled and crooked, torn and sinking.

"Oh holy frick," Rush yelled out, eyes pale and shivering. Cassie turned, whimpered.

Boredom suddenly yelled out, the world circling once again, feeling like she was floating on cream wispy clouds, like paper stars and cold colours settled into her skin, making ice shoot up her spine and make her hands go numb.

The floor crumbled behind her. Apersonofboredom clicked onto the edge, her arms shaking wildly.

"A little help!?" She yelled, slightly smiling. Aranna and Investigator quickly rushed to aid her, pulling her upwards.

Boredom stumbled slightly, her knees buckling and hot salty tears stinging her eyes.

"Are you okay!?" Rush asked, concern floating through her voice. Boredom stumbled and almost fell over.

Before anyone else could respond, Cassie rushed them through the oak polished doorway, and became enclosed in darkness.

~~~

"You there?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

A small flicker.

Cassie, Papisuu, and Investigator got a hold of their bearings, breathing shakily. Their eyes adjusted to the bright lights.

Colours of tan, sandstone, and auburn burned around them, the warm welcoming scent of cinnamon settled into the atmosphere.

Cassie looked out, her hand clammy and sweating, her apple-swept hair matted, and her face pale, looked over to the others.

Or...other two.

Investigator had milky eyes, pale faced, her grey eyes misted over. Wisps of her sleek hair floated through her face, as the girl put her hands on her knees, her investigator's cap drooping ever so slightly.

Papisuu however, wasn't as panicked, taking in the room, like in her own world, floating on cream clouds that would never surface on crystal smoothed beaches, frothy pebbles of lime light shining in her swirling ocean teal eyes.

(...I don't know...)

Cassie herself hoped she didn't look as absolutely ghostly as she thought she looked, wanting to disperse and melt away.

Overall, the two weren't looking too bad.

She felt a bit better knowing the two of them were okay...but the others....were probably dead.

Or worse.

(...expelled)

"You guys seen where the others we...." Cassie's words melted as her eyes misted over and her mouth fell open.

She looked at her ankles, and around her legs, shaking. Papisuu and Investigator shared a quick look.

"Oh god...where's Winslow?" Cassie squeaked, whimpering and grasping her head, grabbing hold of her clumped red hair, sinking to her knees.

"Cassie!" Investigator bashed, gasping.

"No taking the Lord's name in vain!" Cassie growled and continued flipping through books and papers to find her calico.

Investigator took a good long look around the room, feeling the slight even marigold warmth of the torches on the walls.

A long slender thin birch desk leant against the walls, filled with books open, with slim trailing burgundy bookmarks.

The room smelled like smoke as a fire blazed brilliantly behind two giant chairs, both a pale coral red, a few messy blankets stashed around.

The walls were the same oak wood as the rest of this mansion, the floor red and the carpet a nice slightly crumbled navy blue.

"Oh, this is my library, you guys can sit, there's a coffee machine if you guys wanna make some hot cocoa," Cassie mumbled absentmindedly.

Papisuu and Investigator looked at each other, then nodded and shrugged. Taking one of the blankets, Investigator curled up in one of the bigger chairs.

Papisuu rushed over to the coffee machine, grabbing a polished auburn navy mug and filling it to the brim with frothy caramel bubbles.

Two small marshmallows dropped from the top and bobbed lazily in the chocolate swirling mix.

Cream poured through and rose in vanilla clouds around the mixture, and Papisuu's mouth watered at the comforting smell of the cocoa.

She plopped into the other swerving rounded chair, the cocoa stirring dangerously close to the edge of its cup.

"Winslow!" Cassie yelled, startling both girls. Turning, they saw the redhead pick up her calico from his hiding place and hold him close.

Winslow purred mildly, nuzzling his head into her chest. Investigator rolled her eyes but barely suppressed a smile.

"We can probably hang around here until morning, or until it's safe or dark enough to go look for the others," Cassie suggested.

"Hey Cassie, how did you get a coffee machine to make hot cocoa?" Papisuu asked, stirring the warming mixture with her pinkie finger.

Cassie flushed as the small slender calico melted in her arms, stretching out in a web of colours, flecks of marigold, tan, black, and white spreading over his body like warm waves.

"Oh, I uh, invent quite a bit, in my spare time...I like inventing simple things, like a ukulele that makes bird noises, or uh, hah, a coffee machine that makes hot cocoa," The girl brushed over, obviously embarrassed.

Papisuu turned back to her warm mug, then smiled.

"Cool."

Cassie was abashed.

"R-really?"

No one had ever really noticed her inventions, how she could take a cream mug or a paper clip and shape it into a melted molded trap.

Each of the youtubers traps were set with care, everything in an order, a snare in the seafoam sky, or a glistening sand trap.

Back home, before she got banished to this dimension, no one considered talking with her, like she was a real human being with ideas swirling in her foggy mind, barely acknowledging her.

But here, it was nice.

She could clear her head, stand under an evergreen and watch the rain fall while the sky was splashed with lime.

Cassie could carefully prep each of her traps, woven together like a string webbed misted basket, ready for any variable.

Sending out the cream colored invitations with such care, written in shadow ink that melted into its soft smooth paper.

The youtubers had come so easily, but the one variable was that there would be more people coming, ones just trying to get out of the night.

Shame washed over Cassie.

She had killed people. Real people with thoughts, and ideas, swirling in their foggy minds, just like her.

And she had just treated them as variables. Just like her old home...

Wow.

I'm a jerk.

"Cassie?"

The burgundy haired girl snapped back, her face flushed, and as she had realized, wet with crystal tears, forming on her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry," The awkward girl stuttered.

The two girls looked at each other, washed over with sympathy. They gestured to the cocoa machine.

Cassie sighed.

~~~

The three spent about an hour in Cassie's office, waiting until it was silent enough for them to look for the others.

Papisuu had taken the liberty of making hot cocoa for the others, napping by the crisp fireplace, her soft snoring muffled by Winslow, who decided the best spot to sit would be right in the girl's face.

Investigator blew bubbles with her investigator's pipe, filling it to the brim with the warm mixture in her mug.

Cassie was sitting by the window, hugging her knees to her chest, a small white blanket lazily thrown on her.

The mug sat at her feet, a bit having accidentally soaked into her blanket, just above her 1920's costume.

Clouds and fog covered everything, giving the illusion that it was lighter out, almost a baby blue, the rain softer now.

The rain was softer, splashing the windows with small drops, pliping, plinking, drumming on the windows in a foggy song.

A small calming song rumbled on, flowing from a small note block on the edge of Cassie's desk, flowing along peacefully with the calm drumming of the rain.

The two conscious girls looked over to Papisuu, now snoring a bit louder, Winslow's ears folding over his cream pelt in annoyance.

"We should probably give her a blanket, it's pretty cold in here," Cassie wondered, almost in a daze.

A depressed gloomy misty eyed foggy daze, which she was most likely not coming out of for a while.

Investigator picked up one of the calming slate blue blankets, thin and comforting, throwing it awkwardly over her older friend.

It landed on her back and a bit of the ends stuck to her hip. Cassie snorted. At her snort, Papisuu's eyes snapped open.

"I'M AWAKE!" She yelled loudly, startling Winslow, hitting her head on the top of the fireplace, her fern eyes swirling with embarrassment.

She flushed.

"Sorry, I'm tired as frick," She mumbled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck, embarrassment at nodding off washing over her.

Investigator took off her patched up investigator's costume, pulling another thin, baby pastel pink over herself.

Cassie's feet nodded slightly, staring at the window with longing, feeling the calm of the rain pliping outside beautifully.

But her face was like a raincloud, gloomily clouding over, fog making her eyes wispy and milky.

"You okay?"

Cassie's spine was washed over with cold dry ice, and her back snapped towards Investigator.

The young girl (and as Cassie had remembered, the youngest here,) looked at her with a look of pure sympathy.

Cassie looked at her, before she couldn't help it.

Cassie did something she had never done before.

She cried.

It was barely noticeable, but came out like clear crystal oceans, streams of clear shining tears pouring down her face.

Her face went coral, and she scrunched up her hands to her face. Cassie felt her mouth open in shock.

She was crying.

Holy crap.

She couldn't believe she was crying. She hardly ever was open to her feelings.

But the stress of tonight and the few couple of weeks ago where so many had fallen, sent waterfalls down her face.

There was a silence in the room, the clouds wafting by, the calming music continuing to soothingly continue.

Finally, Cassie sniffed.

Her eyes were still as thin as ever, her skin going back to its normal pale watercolored tone, everything about her calm and milky.

You could barely tell she had been sobbing.

But it wasn't true.

Because she had.

And she felt like such a coward.

The two other girls shared an oh- my- gosh-our-host-is-crying-what-are-we-supposed-to-do kind of look.

"They didn't deserve this..."

Cassie exhaled miserably.

"They didn't deserve any of this..."

The girls knew she wasn't talking about them or their friends. She was talking about the Youtubers.

Papisuu gulped, then sighed.

"Well, if it's any help, we believe you....we know it, you're not the same person anymore. You're crying!"

Cassie looked up.

"Did you cry before when you were murdering the others? No, but you are now...you're not the same person..."

Silence.

"...The Youtubers would be proud of you."

Cassie felt hot tears sting the backs of her eyes, threatening to overtake her, become roses with spikes, sobs choking the back of her throat.

The tears felt salty but plenty, another stream of sand and bones, deserts and saltwater seas, swimming in her eyes.

"Really?"

Investigator smiled calmly, placing her pale hand on Cassie's shoulder, nodding ever so slightly.

Good lord I'm such a coward, Cassie thought miserably.

Cassie's sighed, her mind fogging with whether to let herself be consoled or fight through the sea of saltwater, crystal and shining, past sand and bones and traps, and just be herself again.

Aggressive.

Strong-willed.

Cold.

For the time being, she would be both. She let Investigator's hand come down onto her own shoulder.

But she was still Cassie.

All of a sudden, the calmness of the room vanished, the window slightly opening, sending a cold breeze through.

The survivors shivered.

"Brrrr..." Cassie commented.

"...it's getting pretty chilly out here," she mumbled calmly, shivering, "I should put some more wood in the fire."

Grabbing a small stack of edged lazily thrown oak wood, crumbling and crackling under her fingers, Cassie placed them carefully in the dying fire.

Almost instantly, the fire sparked again, embers shooting through the air, giving the air a beautiful smoky smell.

Cassie felt herself smile.

Investigator's voice broke the silence of the crackling fire.

The sparking, small ashes started dancing calmly, floating over and aimlessly touching Cassie's burgundy hair, a few strands of her navy beret mixed into the strands.

Investigator picked up her investigator's costume, her outfit underneath being a simple grey hoodie, some black nike shorts, and her white sneakers.

"Uh, guys...?...the door's locked." The small girl jiggled at the lock, the sleeves of her grey pullover hoodie swiftly bouncing.

Panic began to set in, and Investigator felt herself gasp, the breath being taken out of her throat, hot tears stinging the backs of her eyes.

"The what?" Papisuu asked absentmindedly, sipping her hot cocoa with a milky dreary drowsy expression.

"The door is locked," Investigator sparked, each syllable splashed with watercolors of anger.

Cassie felt herself snicker.

Rolling her eyes, she commented, "Well then. This is just wonderful..." while kicking a small bucket in the corner.

Papisuu laughed.

"Well, this day's been going well."

Investigator jiggled at the lock again, and Cassie noticed that from her sleeves were small bits of metal, in a string hanging down from her arm.

Those were the small clips that she had used to turn the lights of the mansion on so brilliantly, when she had waved her arms in welcome.

"Uh, Investigator...?" Cassie started, but her breath was caught in her throat as the lights shut off.

The giant clunking switch echoed around the empty - feeling room. Investigator's scream shook the others.

FWOOSH.

The fire blazed up to the top of the fireplace, swishing calmly, but turning a lime teal green, an ocean aqua of surprise.

A girl's figure was shown spiraling into the fireplace, her curled hair bobbing as she fell. Her yelp.

Papisuu turned to the others, her skin burning, marks of green, decaying and crumbling away, began to turn seafoam splashed.

Marks of ash coated her face, but she realized she couldn't stop the inevitable, of her burning alive.

"Heh, well....I'm burning..." She joked, but panic settled into herself, and her breathing became milky and shaky.

"Papisuu...?" Cassie asked hopelessly.

Papisuu just laughed weakly.

"W-well, at least I tried, right?"

Those were her final words.

FWOOSH.

Investigator took one futile step towards her, before the lights came back on, and Papisuu kneeled over, respawning in a puff of smoke.

The fire calmly died down, the window now closed, the illusion of the light blue white cream wispy sky continuing to flourish.

The smoke flowed like a sea, Papisuu's stuff (mostly potions, a couple of cookies, and a stuffed lizard,) scattering through the thick fog.

Eventually, it melted and dispersed.

Investigator sank to her knees, mouth open wide, her eyes and face going pale, her shoulders shaking.

No, no no no, not Papisuu. She was like an older sister to her. They would skip rocks together in the stream. They would bake muffins.

They would fall down stairs and watch movies and write fanfiction, biking down the autumn paths as crisp marigold leaves swirled around them.

Now she was gone.

Investigator whimpered.

"No...Papisuu..."

Cassie absentmindedly wiped at her eyes, then, realizing what she was doing, shook her head nervously.

She settled her hands on Investigator's shoulders, the small girl's back facing Cassie. Cassie sighed.

"Kid...I'm sorry...but we have to go find the others...okay?" Cassie asked her calmly, softly.

Investigator nodded ever so slightly.

"Ok..."

Placing a small lavender creamy flower at the base of the fireplace, Investigator got up and sighed heavily.

The two left.

Cassie suggested the two split up through the painting system. Cassie's painting had honestly just been a few secret hallways, nothing less.

But this murderer, whoever they were, were apparently more set on killing more innocent cinnamon rolls.

Because this giant elaborate system of wooden oak stairs and birch walls and stone hallways that led to another room was as complicated as a wooden maze.

Investigator took the painting upstairs, Cassie taking the route downstairs, her small loyal calico walking by her, then with her, briskly, purring.

As they made their way, Cassie swore she could hear talking...