Hey Jammers! I've recently been to the Spooky Party, and even I– the infamous hater of change –love the new changes! Everything looks so starry and beautiful. ^_^
Because I loved this party so much, below I've written a "story tour" of the new-and-improved Spooky Party. Enjoy!
• • • •
Deep within the mountains West of mapped Jamaa sits an old castle. Impressive for its century but still lacking in the glamour of say– the fantasy castle, it's a wonder to any outsider why so many come flocking to it every Night of the Phantoms. But those who come year after year do so to take in the old architecture, play in the questionably glowing green pools, and purchase Night of the Phantoms costumes.
...But you are not one of the Spooky Party's regular visitors.
You are a paranormal investigator sent to do some undercover research on some of the stranger happenings on the castle property. Knowing that if you outright told the building's current owner what your job was that she'd throw the fakest magic tricks at you for publicity. No, this was serious.
You walk through the door and within a blink of an eye a tiger appeared, wearing a striking red fox hat that seemed to blend into her equally crimson coat. Assuming this to be the owner, you give a polite "hello" and assumption correct, she introduces herself as Darling Loopytiger, the current inhabitant of Loopytiger castle and directly descended from the original owner, Countess Loopytiger.
Weary from standing so much, you sit down on the couch in the middle of the room and take note of the seat's hard yet charcoal-like material. You prod the arm rest with your paw and it leaves behind a deep blue ash– phantom stone for sure. But why here? Phantom stone was what you'd make protective jewelry and armor out of, not simple furniture. You make a mental note to discreetly ask about it later.
After some introductory small talk, Darling Loopytiger offers to take you on a tour of the castle. Before you happily agree, her expression changes as if she's heard a far off noise and quickly darts down into the dark basement. "Wait here, I just have to check something!" she calls. Suspicious...
Without Darling Loopytiger's cheerful voice, the castle seems all the more eerie. You begin to wonder why the Spooky Party seems to empty. It's the most perfect night of the week, so why is no one here?
Feeling uneasy left along with your thoughts, you walk to the radio in the far corner of the room. Before you even touch it, the machine flips on with a start, the channel switch moving all on its own! This could be qualified as genuine proof the castle is truly haunted, but you want more evidence.
You take a quick picture with your tiny hidden camera and turn around to look down into the dark basement. No sound comes up, but there's definitely something down there.
But before you can begin to follow the red tiger down the steps, an irregular picture in the wallpaper catches your eye. Is that a–?
It's a hidden pet shop! Cool! Too bad those bats are for members only, you sigh.
Darling Loopytiger arrives from the basement as cheerful as before and abruptly asks to show you the outside. It is a cold night, but you're way too tired to argue.
You approach the famed "green pool" and think one little question can't hurt, so you ask about its strange glow and coloring. "Algae," was the simple answer you got back. Being more specific, you asked if it was safe and received a shrug. After an awkward minute out of curiosity you get in. It just felt like water, but had a weird fruity smell.
The smell went from faint to overpowering and you were only half listening as Darling Loopytiger explained the pool's history, a decision you'd later regret. Oh well. Shaking off the fruity algae, you followed the red tiger up the side of the mountain and gasp.
The moon was so big and the stars were so crisp and clear, they were like little snowflakes! Unobscured by trees, the sky was so grand that it was almost dizzying. You saw the warm-glowing eyes of the little bats who clung to the tree branches and wondered if they enjoyed the view, too. Of course they did– the sky was beautiful!
It seemed that you got so lost staring up at the moon that you barely noticed when Darling Loopytiger silently ran back to the castle. Even when you fully registered she had left, you couldn't take your eyes off the moon. You couldn't even blink, it seemed, and as your eyes watered you began to grow concerned if you'd ever be able to blink.
Then all at once, you fell asleep.
* * *
Who knows how much time passed until you woke up groggily and confused in the pumpkin patch. The mist passed thick clouds of dew over your fur and made you shiver. Chilled to the bone, you ran inside to look for Darling Loopytiger.
You knew she was probably down in the basement, but a part of you– even being a paranormal investigator! –was, dare you say it, afraid to? Ignoring that thought, you decided to explore the top floor a little.
You come upon many interesting shops filled to the brim with equally interesting wares. Even though you're well aware each and every item is probably haunted, you laugh as you consider buying one just for fun– but your laugh turns to a frown as you realize something about your gem count.
Just 5,362 gems?
Didn't you walk in with 15,362!?
You look around frantically for anyone who might have taken your gems or anywhere you might have dropped some. The building was empty, just like it had been when you walked in. No one was inside.
But outside, a pair of warm-glowing eyes hanging from the tree branch told a different tale...
That tiny freakin' bat stole my money!
Sure enough, that little stink's wings looked more stuffed than normal and from within came the telltale glimmer of colorful gems. "Give me back my gems, you little thief!" you call out angrily. The bat made a chirping sound and flew away with your tiny bag of gems clutched in their talons, waving it teasingly. Ugh...
At that moment, Darling Loopytiger walked in. She offered to sit with you outside and tell you more about this castle, as if she didn't already repeat herself a million times beforehand. How long were you here? An hour? Three hours? Time got all blurry since you fell asleep in the pumpkin patch. But didn't you fell asleep on top of that mountain!? Everything was so confusing about this castle, all you wanted to do was go home and sleep away all this weirdness.
But you agreed to go talk with her. This time though, you wouldn't just nod and smile. This time you were going to demand some answers.
* * *
After telling Darling Loopytiger about all you remember, you notice how nervous she started looking. There was a long and awkward silence. You thought she'd pipe in with something, but there was nothing but silence. You decided that if she wouldn't break it, then you had to be the one to.
"What are you hiding, Loopytiger?"
More silence. Her expression remained unchanged. "Loopytiger?"
"Alright," she gave in, "follow me."
You did so. You went slowly and carefully down the stairs and began worrying if you had hurt her feelings; that you were overreacting to perfectly normal events. Maybe being hypnotized by the moon and getting robbed by a fruit bat is normal in this neck of the woods? You never know...
She guided you down to the basement and a shiver ran up your spine. Just what was she hiding?
The light receded more and more as you got to the bottom of the stairs until she lit an old lantern. Light lazily set the center of the damp basement into a hazy glow, but darkness still fringed the edges of your vision. Your vision adjusts and you see...
A coffin? What was going on here?
You turn back to Darling Loopytiger for some sort of explanation and she has a downcast look on her face. "Now you know my secret..." she says ominously.
It was just as you feared. "You're not, like... a 'vampire' who sleeps in coffins, right?" You ask hesitantly. Man, if this is one of those annoying role players again, I swear...
She snapped back up surprisingly. "Oh that? That's just a dressed-up box that holds all of the gem donations. We used to collect them awhile ago. Y'know, funds to keep things going." Then as quick as she snapped up, her expression faded back down. "My secret is... look over there, see those sheets covering those boxes?" Your heart dropped. "Go... go take those sheets off the boxes..." Loopytiger looked away.
You cautiously walked over and shivering in fear, removed the cover to find...
Items? What– were these stolen or something?
"MY SECRET!" the red tiger fell to the floor melodramatically. "EVERYONE WILL KNOW NOW, LOOPYTIGER CASTLE WILL HAVE TO CLOSE ITS DOORS BECAUSE... BECAUSE..."
"Um... because what?"
"BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO SELL THEM! I THOUGHT THEY WERE FAR TOO PRETTY TO GIVE UP– AGH, I'M SO GREEDY! NOW YOU'LL TELL EVERYONE AND THE CASTLE WILL SURELY BE SHUT DOWN!" Darling Loopytiger wailed just like she was auditioning badly for a play.
At this point, all you wanted to do was go home and forget this mess ever happened. Who cares about being a paranormal investigator with stuff like this happening left and right? You made a mental note to quit and hopefully go into a field more rewarding, like sculpture. Or baking. Some cookies would be really cool right now...
"Jeez, I won't tell anyone. Can I leave now, I've been here for what, 7 hours?" You sighed impatiently.
Her ears perked up and her dramatic composure disappeared instantly. "Really? Great! What a cool cat you are– get it? Cool cat? Because I'm a tiger? AHAHAHAHA! Yeah... I'm pretty funny, right?" Loopytiger flicked a fake tear of laughter away and you rolled your eyes. Couldn't she just drop it already? This basement was getting real creepy real fast...
"But about leaving? Hah, sorry, but you can't go just yet! Y'see, the original owner of this place put a curse on me so I'd watch the castle while she was away, so you can imagine I've been here a long time. I've finally packed my bags and I'm ready to leave– you can take care of the castle for me, right? Haha, of course you can! Race you out the door!"
Before you could register exactly what this tiger had said to you, she'd already dashed straight out the front door. You tried to keep up with her, lugging your tired weight up the basement steps but as soon as you reached the top you could already see Loopytiger running away outside, heading in the direction of the nearest village.
Vaguely, you were aware of her calling something out. "Haha! To think, all those hundreds of years of being trapped in that gross castle... so easily undone by some newbie paranormal investigator fool enough to come after hours! Haha, smell ya later!"
You tried desperately to carry yourself out the door, but something stopped you that wasn't weariness. A force field, and a strong one at that– you rush headfirst into it and were repelled back five feet onto the rug. One thing was clear: you weren't getting out of here anytime soon.
Tiredly, you pulled yourself up onto the phantom-stone couch and slouched. You were certain you were in the middle of a big problem, but too exhausted from everything to expend energy worrying about it. You checked the clock on the wall– 5:15 AM. Soon it would be morning. You'd think about how to get yourself out of this then.
Besides, running the castle for a little while didn't seem too hard. You already knew the perimeter like the back of your paw and you'd remembered enough of the building's history to guide some makeshift tours and whatnot.
All you'll have to do after that is wait for some curious fool to come after hours, and then you'd finally be free to go home.
And hopefully quit being a paranormal investigator, too.
• • • •
The End! This took me way too long, lol
