A Party made Merry

AU

(o0×X×0o) walked thru the treacherous valley. In brown leather breastplate and boots that treaded over gravel and soil, she sought the one known as wizeman ahead. Her companions, the stoic doctor (╟п╨п╬) and her guard from the Shudderhouse monastery, (Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ) walked alongside her. The dull skies floated an overcast of grey clouds, often filling the atmosphere with rain day in and day out and constantly keeping the dust blowing and the acrid world a sepia tone of foggy disarray. Every being in these dreadful lands had evolved to hunt by sound, not by sight. And every human, anthro soul and speaking being knew that keeping one’s head down was the law of the land. Modesty was a virtue, the nobles were known as the speakless circle and Premier was granted the title of ‘Hushmost’, the ruler who lead by solemn dignity. (o0×X×0o)'s party keeping their heads down in baggy robes, crossed the sunwick desert, gravity seeming to keep the world in check in all things. The sword bearers, spearmen, medical travelers and acrobats had learned to travel by silence, not out of place among the morose towns with their stony arches and pyramids of worship. (o0×X×0o) heard a noise by a nearby spire. A feline with serpents wrapped around its neck hissed forward, vanishing in and out of existence, using quiet stealth to draw closer. “..its shy..” (╟п╨п╬) said.

She pointed out her finger and began blowing gently. A flame no bigger than a match sparked out, the flare hypnotized the hunter and while briefly dazed, (o0×X×0o) shot a feather out of her bow at it. They watched its eyes slowly close, the Beaknought poison sapping its energy. Again they traveled forward, Wizeman and his Gifts were said to be up ahead.

Once upon a time, the inhabitants met brutal fates to the creatures that roamed. Before walls were build, prior to spires and roads, the people, primitive as they were attempted to fight with pure force. Desperate, and hunted to the brink of extinction, their psychology changed. Civilization evolved crafted, pinpoint measures to defend the deadly beasts of yore.  Defend. But not defeat. Among the 17 languages spoken among the realms, not one had a word for what one might think as ‘magic.’ A push of water, a light of a room, a twinkle of the fire, a welcoming touch to the wounded. Teeny tiny adjustments, the lottery of the gifted given form in desire. This form was studied in many fields, but one could not teach it or harness it like oil in a daylamp. Much like the folk lore of the realm, some believed it to exist, some merely practiced it. The usage of stone tools and masonry gave rise to castles, ballistas and bare basic weapondary. Citizens relied on walls built, not shields or powerful barriers. The renaissance sciences could cure illness and diagnosis injuries, but the one with such a spark could merely sooth a cut, or close the most insignificant of wounds. Stabs were fatal. The spark of flames couldn’t counter a blizzard. It took a party of three to cross the sunwick desert outside the cobblestone towns and finally arrive at a small tower. The tower like all things in this world, was very humble. Barely a floor high, shorter than the surrounding spires. 

(╟п╨п╬) looked at (Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ), she gently pushed the door with her foot, boots rattling their way inside. A lynx sat in green dirty robes, meditating, his scruffy fur unkempt and ribs quite skinny.
(o0×X×0o) cleared their throat.“We’ve come for-” “The artifacts. I know. You seek the Handle of Heaven to travel where your mother may be cured. To your left. Best of blessings.” Wizeman told them, scratching his ears. Intuition sparks.. known for being the tools of sages, and playboys at parties. One could ascertain short moments forward in a nearby radius, but beyond ten seconds the future was voided, and their predictability was questionable at best.

(o0×X×0o) took the box nervously, she clicked the lock open and covered her eyes from the golden light. A shimmering doorknob made of solid gold with a sharp handle of ivory lay inside. Such ‘gifts’ were mere legend, and what they were capable of would seem nonsense to most. Cloaks that could turn one invisible, coins that doubled in salt brine, all the stuff of fabricated tales. She walked forward and without delay, pressed it into the stone wall, surprised how the ivory phased thru. 

“They say it can take one anywhere one desires..” “Anywhere with a door.” Wizeman coughed.“I need somewhere that can cure my mother. Or someone. Her illness is terminal.” “No one in this world has that kind of ability I’m afraid.” He shook his head.

“Then where?” (o0×X×0o) turned the knob, and opened it slowly.

Light and noise poured into the world, twisting the murky miasma of grey with colour to the corners of the world. Peaking inside, it looked like a strange tavern- strange lights and sounds that (o0×X×0o) had never encountered before left her terrified of what was inside. She stepped back swiftly and tried to shut the door, when a white gloved hand reached and kept it open. Pushing forward, was a woman with white skin and pure red lips.

 

 

Her outfit had midnight blue and colorful stripes, in stark contrast to the monotone of her guests. “Well howdy!” She grinned a smile that could curve over oceans with a pearly white sheen.  “H-hi?” (o0×X×0o) said. She tried to regain her composure, but one hardly prepares the solution to all one problems in the form of.. a jester girl? Was she an entertainer for a Hushmost?

“How may I help you?” Ellie asked, the colorful. spirals in her eyes twisting and turning without her intending to. 

“I.. I need a healer. Someone that can save my mother from sickness! Can you do that?” It was hard to meet the clown’s gaze straight on, her cheery presence not like anything she’d seen.

"I can do many amazing things sweetie! What was that part, you almost whispered it. Aren't you just a wee bit shy, its very cute. Who are you? What do you request?” The strange woman seemed so forward compared to the reserved trio. 

"I told YOU! I need someone to cure my mother!" (o0×X×0o) yelled. She covered her mouth, the other two as shocked as she was that she'd raise her voice. She turned to the outside door to make sure no creatures heard her.

Ellie chuckled, before she paced herself around abit and observed the trio. She leaned over, taking one good look after the next. “That’s. interesting. You have something like that here? I shouldn’t even be surprised with the plurality of worlds sometimes, diversity y’know? A different circus for every tent.” She waved her hand over (o0×X×0o)’s shoulder, as if swatting something invisible.  “R-right..”
“Hm? What did you say your name was again?” Ellie turned her head, keeping her neck and shoulders straight.
“Oh. I’m (o0×X×0o).”
There was an odd silence. “Gosh.. Sorry, could, you please repeat that?”
“I said my name’s (o0×X×0o)!”

Ellie looked all around (o0×X×0o) as if observing motes only she could see. “Silly me. Silly you too! I heard THAT part but.. hm, actually forget it.” She turned to (╟п╨п╬) “Wait,  what do you mean you need me? I’m not exactly a Patch Adams type. And not to put your girly on the spot but, you have a perfectly fine healer right there!”  Her elbow bent over to (╟п╨п╬). “Am I wrong?”

The three looked at each other confused. “(╟п╨п╬) cannot.. she cannot heal sickness or wounds.” (o0×X×0o) insisted. “She’s only here in case we get fatigued, or cut on a cactus.” “Are you sure? Because that’s..” she bent over to the adult woman, her dull grey clerical robes rather generic and leaving little impact in the visual field. “..a pretty high level for someone who cannot? She should be able to do it easily with her |!¤*'~``~'*¤!|.”

“What?” (o0×X×0o) was confused, she heard Ellie speak and then her mouth glitched on the last word.
The air distorted. Ellie’s mere voice seemed to echo in waves, causing slight distortions among the quantum fields inhibiting the limitations of the world. With each syllable those natural laws defected, bending backwards like rubber before pulling towards Ellie’s own calculus, her stronger presence bending it without a break.

“Gesundheit! I said she should be able to do it easily with her |!¤*'~``~'*¤!|.” The three heard it again, ears hurting from the sound they swore they heard. “Her |!¤*'~``~'*¤!|!”

All around the room, the wind ripped and sped up outside, as if she’d unleashed a big whoopie cushion around the universe. Ellie cleared her throat. “Maybe it’s easier if I just show you? Some worlds have a prime directive thing going on but, golly it seems like it's already kinda.. there? Not sure why you cannot see it yet." She slipped behind (╟п╨п╬) and got as close as possible.

"See what?!" In spite of (o0×X×0o)'s frustration, the knob had turned out to be real. That kind of thing she'd thought to be impossible, and her own desire to see this thru would have her willing to indulge Ellie clowning around further.

"This might feel.. weird and supersuper silly for a moment x3! Abit esoteric, exotic, even existential.. no, exit-tential? Exit-Tent-Dial? Exit-terrestia- ommf, twhhsted my tongue there! You've been in a fishbowl your whole life, funny right? Bet you don't even know what water is, let alone |!¤*'~``~'*¤!|." She rubbed her hands and licked her lips, before pressing the former on (╟п╨п╬)'s temples, meeting her tongue and pucker with the painted red of her lips.

(╟п╨п╬) was terrified at first, but felt a burning heat that electrified throughout her body. She tried to contain it, but it began draining the greys and whites of her being down to the floor in a murky, cloudy puddle. She could, for the first time ever, feel the weight of all the monotone grunge around her and wanted it elsewhere, off her arms and body. The girl bit Ellie’s lip a bit and breathed deep, sucking in, new thoughts and perceptions entering the corner of her mind. The room began to fill with color and she could see floating text, gauges, and animations floating around her. When she poked her hands carelessly at them, she could see all her equipment and history, along with ceaseless missions she’d done. Her own healthbar was visible right above her head, along with a dozen other visuals she’d only just learned to see.

Name: Tninti Benignia.
Class: Holy Priestess
Subclass: White mage Bishop
Lv: 89
Str: 24
Dex: 46
Luck: 65
Int: 85
Equipment: White mage gear, Glory godess staff, Church of Nottingham beret, Pearly Bolero, Soulspeed Sneakers, Broach of destiny.
Spells: True Light, Pain Seal, Canterbury Blessing, Pact of the Holy Coven, Strength of Thebes, Brighter Blast, Sacred Beam, Respawn, Agi up, Health Restore, Divine Magitech

As it all unfolded, Tninti felt a cool current washing over not only her previous muddled emotions, but her body. The monotone grey robes were washed away, leaving a hooded jacket with shoulderpads, a white pencil skirt with golden trims that went down to her knees, and capped hat with a cross atop. She started to sink into the ground, Ellie making sure to catch her and not releasing her lips all the while. “Mphhf! Wmmpft!” It was then that she realized the ground wasn’t sucking her further down, she was shrinking!
A white light started to form around her and Ellie’s union, and Tninti wondered if this woman was a sorceress, and if she was some kind of dwarf. She had a strange moment of doubt and wondered why she knew what those things were, but as Ellie continued to flow her essence thru the fabric of reality, Tninti was moments after only susprised that she’d forgotten.   The light expanded, adding colour wherever it went. Beyond the confines of the room, going so far as to melt away the dusty, greyish molasses that had drenched reality’s storecloset, changing apearances throughout. The heat and dry spell of the world started to turn into a mist that felt jubilant for every soul in the world, countless deserts growing grassy green fields like the sunwick they’d crossed, hilly canyons snowing in some places, sparkling springs and waterfalls crashing in others.

The increasingly bright colors laid in deeply across the citizenry and wanderers of the world, unlocking what potential was once deep inside. Like thick paint did they shed their old imbalances, stabilizing and recoloring as casts of a world on the cusp of the incredibly vivid. A shopkeep trying to contain her strength bursts into a muscular ork, her class reading "Berserker." She picked up a melon, surprised how small and soft it was in her palm. Hunters in drab clothes among dead soil saw as the fields rose wilted trees and graveyards, the wolves standing on two feet into lycan mobs and ground manifesting into undead monsters lunging around them. A solemn and silent church had its nunnery crackle and transform into latex-clad seductresses in sleek mermaid dresses, fangs showcasing the new vampire guild to each other before they started exquisitely pressing lips. Among quiet libraries, the bookish sorts predisposed towards knowledge were soon to realize the pointy-ness of their ears and supposedly longevity of their lifespans, becoming robed elves who studied the arcane. 

The mundane arches multiplied atop one another gaining multiple levels, connecting to various spires left about, soon restructuring the architecture of the 1-floor kingdoms into fantastical castles and guilds built into their town. Mines were soon filled with trolls, newly created springs turned children playing nearby into the fairies they were meant to be. A woodsman elsewhere rose their legs from the green flowing fabric, the dreary flannel soon flowing as luxurious silk before the new dryad laughed haughtily and said a prayer for the forest. The Hushmost of a nearby kingdom became the showiest, loudest, fattest and most indulgent regent the kingdom had ever known, stuffing her face while servants brushed her 6-foot updo and served her more plates for her gaudy emerald-coated throne that could barely contain the thick, heavy layers of blubber encasing her derriere.

Tninti pulled away from Ellie, soft pink lipstick now leaving from her partner's reddish tones.
(o0×X×0o) - rather, a Paladin known as Odessa Bellark, stood with shining armor and a lance. A massive fireball sat over her hand and she levitated three books without much distraction. Her hair was in a flaming red ponytail as opposed to Tninti's green twintails. Their third partner, Chrysalis Black Shalhart was a rogue in a bright purple skintight bodysuit, she stood cloaking her daggers and standing in silence. Whereas the salvation of the world prior depended on submission to silence, the new founding principle all seemed to acknowledge was that ostentatious displays of expression, culture and power were how individuals moved through the world. The party huddled together, grabbing Tninti while she gave speeches on justice and giving wrath to the sinful and wicked of the world. "Thank you way much, miss? I didn't even get your name! Mine is Odessa- but you can see that right here!" She pointed to her flickering title by her name, before gesturing and fading her status out.

"Oh, it's no problem at all! Call me Ellie! Hopefully you sillys can fix up what you need, with your mom- assuming she is still your mom." The girl giggled a bit, before a low rumbling growl filled the room.
"Hey.. what happened to Wizeman?" Odessa asked, as a shadowy silhouette of a minotaur was cast at large over the room.

"At ease girls! I've got my dice ready. What do you say you include me in your party for just a bit?" Ellie smirked at the others, awakening to Magic, Mayhem, Fantasy and fun, they all existed now in this world.

 A place permanently as colorful as she was.