video;

[regretel]

[The young woman who appears in the feed looks unimpressed, almost bored, as she faces the camera. The garden spreads out behind her, but her eyes are trained on a spot down and to one side, disinterested in the scenery.]

I didn't know I could still be used as a piece after that sacrifice gambit.

[She's quiet for a moment before her gaze flickers up to the camera and her brows draw together in an irritated frown. Her hair slides back over her shoulder and the cheap, pink hair ties that hold her half-pigtails in place click together.]

What does this mean? Did Oniichan win or did Beatrice? Why did another game start?

[A beat during which she is very likely tapping her foot. After a few seconds pass and she doesn't get an immediate answer from out of thin air, her expression smooths back into bored disinterest.]

I'll find my own way out, then. Sankyuu. Shi yuu ah-gen. [Her last words ("Thank you. See you again.") are spoken in heavily accented Engrish before she cuts the feed.]

Comments

video;

[thneedifestdestiny]

Uh...this isn't a game, kid.

[He has no idea how old she actually is, but anyone shorter than him is a kid. Officially.]

Unless people in your world go around kidnapping each other for funsies all the time and torture them with magic. And if that's the case, well. None of this will surprise you like at all.

video;

[regretel]

[Well, he's definitely not anyone she knows, so her suspicion that this is not, in fact, Rokkenjima is growing.]

Try surprising me anyway. [Come on, bro, tell her what's up.]

video;

[thneedifestdestiny]

[He cracks his knuckles and decides to take that as a challenge.]

Alright so. This is Wonderland. It's some...other world thing, and no one knows how we got here, or how to get out. We're stuck unless this place decides to spit us back out - no one actually goes home on their own, just because they wanted to.

With me so far?

video;

[regretel]

[She crosses her arms and leans back on the bench she's sitting on, settling in for what might be a long explanation.]

I'm following.

video;

[thneedifestdestiny]

Good.

You can take whatever room you want, and they all have magic closets that give you whatever and the kitchens do that too. Basically, it's just to keep you happy until events happen. And when events happen I highly recommend just becoming a hermit in your new room for a while. They're terrible and sadistic and no one likes them, which means they happen semi-frequently. You'll spend most of your time alternating between being bored off your butt and never wanting anything to happen in your life again.

[He sounds so bored explaining all this weird magic and stuff, but don't worry. The mansion's terrors have left him dead inside, that's all.]

It's kind of like magic prison. In a big house. So, uh. Magic house arrest, I guess.

video;

[regretel]

[Ange glances around as though to say "But I'm outside..."]

What is an event? It's a vague term.

video;

[thneedifestdestiny]

[Eh. There's a mansion. She'll find it.]

That's because it's a vague...thing. Every other week-ish, this place inflicts something on us. Sometimes just the scenery changes, but most of the time something ridiculously awful and stupid happens.

video; private;

[ofletters]

Lot of times, you can come back after a sacrifice play.

[ Or after refusing to make one. ]

video; private;

[regretel]

[Ange frowns. This guy sounds like he knows what he's talking about--or like he thinks he does--but she doesn't know him, which makes it suspicious.]

According to whose rules?

video; private;

[ofletters]

Wonderland's. And a lot of other worlds.

[ "Trust me." ]

video; private;

[regretel]

"Wonderland."

[Like rabbit hole, off with your head shit? Really?]

Why would these worlds need such a rule?

video; private;

[ofletters]

The one and only. Apparently.

[ He shifts where he's apparently standing. ]

I doubt they need it. But wouldn't you rather have it that way? A second chance?

video; private;

[regretel]

[She opens her mouth to answer, then frowns and pauses. After a minute, she starts again.]

As long as I can do what I need to do, yes, even if I'm just someone's piece.

[hamburellakind]

[Boop boop, Sburb possibility alert, wee woo wee woo.]

you were playing a game?
what kind of game?
who're oniichan and beatrice? the white queen and black queen?
did you go god tier when you "sacrificed"?
who're you talking to?
why'd your accent go weird?

[regretel]

That's too many questions at once. Pick the most important one and I'll answer it.

[hamburellakind]

[John stares at his questions, vibrating slightly as he tries to decide what the most important one is and wow lady they are all important.

But eventually:]

what game were you playing?

[regretel]

It doesn't have a name, but I guess if you needed to compare it to something, it's closest to chess.

[hamburellakind]

omg.
were there planets involved?
and um uh.
god tiers and stuff?

[regretel]

I wouldn't call them planets. I'm not sure what that second thing is.

[Text]

[kunsel]

Hey, try and be careful, won't you? This isn't
some kind of game. At least, I don't think it is.
If it were, there'd be a way to turn it off, and
there isn't. More or less... we're stuck.
Anyway, don't get lost out there if you decide to
go exploring, okay? For being walls on two sides,
a forest and an ocean on the other, Wonderland
still seems pretty big. There is a maze and
everything, and who-knows-what wandering around
out there besides us newcomers and the oldbies.

[Text]

[regretel]

I'm not sure if you're concerned or just being patronizing. Either way, I can take care of myself.

[Text]

[kunsel]

Huh? Wait, hold on a second, I'm not trying
to be patronizing, I promise. If I offended
you, consider me as sorry as they come. It's
just... this really isn't a game.

[Text]

[regretel]

I think what you mean by game and what I mean by game are very different. The game I'm referring to isn't fun or safe.

[Text]

[kunsel]

Really?
Just what kind of place did you come from, then?

[Text]

[regretel]

The kind that isn't worth anything. I still need to go back, though. Any helpful advice on how to do that?