The Castle on the Hill

Spoiler

Welcome to the roleplay, @Firerose and @Querenica! If you don't mind, Firerose, could you please give a description of what Natalia looks like so our characters can describe her? (Also, why did her Egyptian costume become real?)

Griffith was torn between looking at the boy running up the hill and at the person now standing in front of him, but ultimately decided that he needed to talk to the girl first; she was the one asking a question. "We're not going to harm you," he promised, trying to keep his voice calm and comforting. "The three of us just ended up here, and don't how we got here. I'm guessing you and him-" Here he gestured back in the direction of the boy running over to the castle. "-also had the same thing happen."

Taking the closest thing he could to a deep breath, he held out his hand to her. He didn't want her to discover just how thin his hand felt underneath his glove, but she seemed nervous. A normal social gesture could be enough to help her feel more comfortable and trusting of them. "My name's Griffith. Adeline is dressed like a skeleton, and Bleffles is the one dressed like a dinosaur. I'm not sure who the person running up the hill is."

((Natalia has black hair, blue eyes and she is dressed in a white dress, a golden circlet with serpent is on her head, she is wearing a necklace with a scarab beetle, she has a gold bracelet on and is wearing sandals.))

"I'm Natalia." She shook his hand. "Your costumes aren't real." She added in a wondering tone. "I was...compelled to come here, and as soon as I set foot on the step, my costume became real. I don't know how or why."

Bleffles turned around, and glanced at Natalia in confusion.

"Became...real?" she questioned. "What does that mean?"

Natalia stepped into what little light there was. Her hair hung down around her shoulders, a deep black color. "My normal hair is short. I was using a wig. Now it's real." To demonstrate, she pulled at her hair. It didn't come off. She took off her "crown" and handed it to Bleffles. "Originally, that was just plastic painted gold. Now it's real gold." She took it back and put it on. "The dress was real linen in the first place, so it hasn't changed."

((She is also wearing a red sash around her waist))

It wasn't something that regular people normally talked about, but Griffith was beginning to suspect that this wasn't the normal sort of encounter. He looked around at the other people present, studying them from underneath his plague doctor mask. He put the hat that Bleffles had handed to him back on, made sure it was nice and snug, and then drew himself up to his full height.

"I think it was probably magic," Griffith said. "I-I don't know how or why, but magic would also explain why we ended up here."

He took a few more steps into the building as he spoke; continuing to stand on the steps wasn't helping him figure out what was going on.

Finally catching up to the group, Trevor now made efforts to catch his breath. A girl dressed in what seemed to be an Egyptian costume was saying something about it becoming real, but he decided it was just his confused brain mistaking what she said--until he heard the smartly dressed boy say that word. Magic.

Mouth flapping open, Trevor repeated the word in a shaky voice. "M-magic? But how--" He stopped himself and swallowed hard. He paused for a moment and waited for his head to stop spinning. This wasn't starting in the right place at all! He amended: "I'm Trevor. I just couldn't help but overhear and... if magic got us here, then how are we going to get back?"

He looked over at the boy who had finally reached them - Trevor. Griffith wasn't sure if he had been close enough to hear what his name was the previous time that he had given it, but his first priority was answering Trevor's question. It was a question that was likely on everyone else's minds, and he did seem like he was the makeshift leader of the little group.

(But why did it have to be him?)

"I'm not sure," he hesitantly admitted. "I've never...I've never encountered magic like this before. But I think going inside this castle is the best chance we have at figuring out what's going on."

Natalia looked at the boy who had just run up. For some reason, the whole magic theory didn't sound all that weird.
"I agree with Griffith. Besides, I don't think we could just turn around and walk away. I tried and couldn't. As a matter of fact, the harder you try to walk away, the stronger the desire to enter the castle becomes. I was about to enter when you guys showed up."

Adeline pulled a face and glanced up at the looming castle. She had been debating walking away as well, and it was discouraging to hear that she couldn't even do that. Letting out a breath, she gently set her pumpkin down. Hopefully, when she made it out, it would be there waiting for her.

"Alright. I don't see us having any other choice. Magic or no, let's go inside."

Natalia put out her hand to open the door, then stopped and looked at Griffith. He seemed to be the leader of the group.

He finally fully stepped inside of the castle.

Thankfully, another group of bats didn't suddenly emerge from the darkness. He had been convinced that they would - it seemed like the type of place where that would happen multiple times. But, instead, he found himself looking at a fairly decent sized entrance way, with a tall, winding staircase running up the wall a few feet away.

He shivered; the air was chilling him to the bone. Crossing his arms to conserve warmth, Griffith hesitantly went, "Hello?"

There was no answer.

Shivering again, he began to make his way over to the staircase. He doubted they would find anything important on the second floor compared to what could be on the first, but he wanted to see what the view was from the higher levels of the castle - maybe something he saw looking out at the surrounding area would explain where they were.

Natalia felt a vibration as she entered. She stopped. "Does anyone else feel that?" She asked.

Adeline stepped inside cautiously, and gently reached to clutch Bleffles dinosaur costume with two fingers, seeing as Bleffles was the only one who seemed exited by the prospect of the castle. She also seemed nice enough to Adeline to not mind.

Natalia felt a pulling towards a door. She walked towards it, and pulled it open. She gasped as she stepped inside. She sank to the floor in ecstasy.

Griffith turned away from the stairs and went over to where Natalia was. He stopped on the very edge of the doorway, hesitant as he waited for some indication of what had been discovered in the room. One could never know what could reveal the truth about him.