| Opening Log

[shadowqueen]

Everyone's waking up at once, covered in bits of rubble, temporarily without abilities and with a lurking headache. The castle looms around them, irrepressibly gray, huge and silent. The only noises are the people, rustling as they extract themselves from their sarcophagi and look for exits along the arching walkways.

Better take a look around, and see if anyone else knows what's going on.

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[stillshinigami]

Puzzle? Seemed like it to him.

"Maybe only the smart asses get out alive?" He mused as he looked up the side of the tall wall, then back up to the chain. Looks like that's the only way up. He reached up and grabbed it with both hands, lifting his legs to hang before dropping down again.

"Okay. Let's give it a shot." He reached up once more and got a hold, then pulled himself up and grabbed another link a step higher and began to scale the chain. It was tough, but no more difficult than climbing up a fire escape ladder from this far down. Once he was up high enough he used his legs to help him up.

"Whooa... okay. How the hell do I get over there anyway?"

[duomaxwell]

"Good thing we're smart asses..."

Watching him, head lifting the higher he got, Duo could only scratch his head and wonder the same thing to himself. He reached forward and gave the chain a tug, pulling it back a little. It didn't give much with the weight on it, but enough that it gave him an idea.

"Hey! Can you swing on it up there?"

[stillshinigami]

Here goes nothing. Duo climbed about a food or two higher than the ledge itself and got a firm grip. With that, he swung back, then forward, then back, until he gained the momentum to fling himself forward. With the way he landed, he had to roll, but he at least made to his feet. He walked over to the ledge and looked down at him.

"C'mon up. Seems like you might wanna aim better than I did though.""

[duomaxwell]

"Got it!"

He grabbed the chain, making it still before hauling himself up. He wasn't out of shape by any means, but it wasn't every day he climbed up a chain. This was certainly the most difficult thing he'd done in a while.

He got to about the same spot Duo had and started swinging his legs out, trying to get enough momentum to throw himself over. Unfortunately he undershot where Duo had overshot and went crashing in to the side of the wall, stomach striking the edge painfully. He managed to latch on to the stone with his fingers, but he wasn't going to be pulling himself up on his own that way.

"D... damnit... ! Not... what I meant to do... !"

[stillshinigami]

Duo watched him move up the chain, nodding when he started building his momentum, but from his perspective? He almost didn't see it til it was too late, but he was there when Duo was dangling. He reached down and gripped Duo's wrist, pulling upwards to help him get a little leverage of his own.

"Gonna break another couple of ribs if you're not careful!" Duo said once he'd pulled him up half the way. Once he was clear, he sat back, panting a little bit.

[duomaxwell]

"Y-yeah, well... this wasn't excitin' enough. Or somethin'..." Duo groaned once he was on the ledge, rubbing his torso where he'd hit the edge. That was going to bruise later.

"... sorry."

[stillshinigami]

"What're you apologizing for?" Duo asked, a hand on the other one's shoulder before he rose to his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"It's not as though we had time to plan this out. Course then I've never been an acrobat either so what are you gonna do?"

[duomaxwell]

Why was he apologizing? He really didn't know, other than maybe the fact that he didn't like worrying people.

"... right," he muttered awkwardly, getting to his feet. There were three windows near them, but while two were blocked in something that probably couldn't be broken easily, the other one was wide open and led in to another room.

He approached it, standing on the tips of his toes to peek over.

"'nother room... looks like there's a big stone door in here, too," he said, hoping quietly that maybe, just maybe it was going to lead outside.

[stillshinigami]

He wasn't worried. Not yet anyway. Anything you can walk away from. He followed the boy over to the window. Hm. He crouched down and entwined his fingers, offering to let Duo step up.

"Get up there and give me a hand." Simple enough. He didn't foresee either of them getting hurt this time.

[duomaxwell]

"Gotcha."

That was easier than the chain at least. He hoisted himself on to the large, wide windowsill easily, turning to crouch down and hold a hand out for Duo. A cold draft came through the room at his back, coming from somewhere high above. Maybe there really was a way out of there.

[stillshinigami]

Duo took his partner's hand and let him help him up. Once he was high enough, he pulled himself up the rest of the way. He felt the breeze too, looking down off the ledge of the window into the room below. On one side of where he stood, there was a ladder. For once there was a small convenience, but he didn't go for it yet. Instead he looked around the room from his vantage point.

"Something blocking the door down there. Another ladder over there." He pointed out. Which way do they go?

[duomaxwell]

Duo stared at the door, then at the ladder. It was difficult to tell where it led, but he thought he saw a pathway going across the high wall where the door was set. The door itself was blocked by odd stones, and he wasn't sure if it was just dust in his eyes, but the carvings over them appeared to be glowing faintly.

He squinted, leaning forward a bit.

"... 'ey. Is it just me or are those stones kinda... giving off some light?"

[stillshinigami]

That drew his attention towards those stones and he nodded slowly. Thinking back to his conversation with Buffy, he spared a thought over the idea of magic. He really didn't want to believe it, and denying it was just a coping mechanism.

"How do you feel about his all being caused by some freaky magic spell?" He said, starting over for the ladder to make his way down.

"Cause some girl was pretty convinced that that's the case."

[duomaxwell]

Duo just kept staring at it, still trying to reason that it was something messing with his eyes.

He did hit his head pretty hard...

Slowly he rose and let out a huff, hands on his hips for a moment.

"I don't know... and I'm still tryin' to figure out if it's a comfort or a curse that we're not the only one's stuck here..." he answered, finally making his way to the ladder.

[stillshinigami]

He climbed down the ladder and dropped down the last few feet, walking into the middle of the room to wait for his doppelganger. A curse, huh? Possibly. He just shook his head and began to look the set of stones over.

"Depends. I wasn't comforted by those other people, that's for damn sure." He walked up to the stones and pressed a hand against it. Along those lines, he too could see the flickering of lights.

[duomaxwell]

"We don't know anything about them..." was Duo's argument, which... admittedly felt a bit weird to say to some one who was basically, well, him.

But getting in to that right then just seemed liked a bad idea.

He dropped down and moved to join the other at the stones, but something strange happened the second they were standing together. Arcs of electricity lashed out from them, the lights glowing brighter as the arcs struck both of them. But rather than injuring them or even really shocking them, it seemed instead to pull them closer to it.

"Wh-what the hell is this?!"

All at once the two sides rumbled and started to slide apart, and the glow died down, the arcs calming and eventually stopping all together.

"That--..."

He had no words for what just happened.

[stillshinigami]

That's true! They really didn't. Especially the younger once since he had been his only encounter thus far. It wasn't as though they had much choice in interacting with them in the long run though. As far as Duo's concern though, he really didn't know how far he would actually go in trusting these people.

He stepped back when the crackling arcs of light started coming off the doors, ready to run. As they hit him he felt locked in place, sliding forward as he watched the stones move right before him.

Crazy, that's what the hell it was! "Holy--" Duo said, peering through the gap. Well, that opened their path. He looked back to his double, dumbfounded. "Either that's advanced technology, or--" Eeeeeeh. Yeah.

[duomaxwell]

"... magic?" Duo croaked out weakly, unable to make his feet move any further forward even though the doors were wide open now. He looked a little pale, as though whatever stamina had returned to him was suddenly gone again. That was not normal. At all.

[stillshinigami]

Buffy was right after all. He really wasn't on board with the whole magic thing. It was so outside his depth, seeing it in action terrified him. He grew up in a world built upon technology and the supernatural had been since mostly rejected by the masses--except for God anyway.

Taking in a deep shaky breath, he looked from his double to the doors again and exhaled in a sigh, a hand going to his forehead to scratch.

"...Here's an idea. Don't think about it. Do not think about it." He started onward again, looking back and gesturing with his head for the other to follow.

[duomaxwell]

"Y... yeah..." was all Duo managed to get out, his voice rather high and tense for some one who was usually so laid back. The other had a point, though. If he didn't think about it, then maybe his head wouldn't explode from the possibilities of it.

He started forward again, stumbling after him.

[stillshinigami]

Despite everything, Duo turned back his head and smiled. It was a very weak smile, an attempt to keep the other from letting his doubts get the best of him. Let him know he was in the same boat. And it's funny, he might not have done that for anyone else.

The next room was sizable, aglow with light from a active fountain spring. It seemed to almost glow, the stones around it having an almost blue-green hue to it. He stopped about five yards from the spring, looking around the area. Farther away from them there was a table, and on the other side of the room? Doors. Quite a few of them, actually.

"This place is huge. No joke. I'd like to see this place from the outside." He snorted. "I can't believe I thought this place might be an old Romefeller holding. It's way too big, even for those old moneybags." Oh look! Topical humor!

[duomaxwell]

The smile didn't do much, but the joke did get a quiet 'hurrhurr' laugh in response. He looked up, taking in the view of the very high vaulted ceiling, finally noticing just how worn down the placed actually looked.

Once upon a time, people might have lived here. But those days were clearly long gone, and if the bits of crumbling stone here and there were any indication, the castle was very obviously in disrepair on a serious level.

The fountain, however, looked very out of place. As though it had just been dropped there, not even made of the same material as the rest of the structures around them.

"I don't think Romefeller was in to castles... Treize, maybe..."

[stillshinigami]

Oh well. At least he tried. Can't fault him for that, right?

He shrugged and walked on close to the fountain to take a peak into the waters. He had noticed the same thing about the castle, earlier when Buffy had brought up the concept of the sarcophagi' being newly constructed, but Duo dismissed that idea outright.

"They may not have operated out of them but some families did actually own a few castles. Landmarks and stuff. But it's not really that important. It's not like they're around anymore."

[duomaxwell]

"Nah..." Duo muttered quietly, finally turning his attention away from the ceiling to the fountain, and then to the doors. He approached one, but like before when the other Duo was standing in front of it alone it didn't move or react.

"I get this feeling... we haven't even seen half this place yet..."

[stillshinigami]

"I know. I kinda just said that." Duo said with a shrug. He reached out his arms, stretching and crossing his hands behind his head. Hmmn. So now what? Which way?

He walked over to his doppelganger and peered at the door. Would the same thing happen here as before?