The Other World

As the orphans set to rest their bleary eyes, darkness slowly descended upon the mortal world. In most cases, the evening brought with it an ambiance and the peacefulness of sleep. It was anything but such in the case of the Brittle House. In many ways, the night shift of the Brittle House brought forth the most eventful hours of the day – after all, only the most… eccentric of creatures loitered about in the human world to seek the house’s nightly services. Now, how did Gwen know this? Well, seeing as he was one of the busiest waiters on the night shift, he felt that he had the right to pass judgement.

As always, the Dining Hall was marked with full tables and dirtied wooden floors that had just moments before, been swept and polished spotless. Gwen’s smile faltered as the sharp note of yet another shattered glass pierced through his ears. His ears, furred, triangular, and perched atop his head, flattened against his skull at the accompanying shriek of one of the female patrons. It was certainly from far away enough, but as a kitsune, a fox-spirit, he was granted the curse of keener senses – sensitive ears, a finer nose… Gwen stopped a moment when the one who’d screamed threw a glance in his direction… and the uncanny ability to attract the opposite gender, apparently under any circumstances. In a well-rehearsed maneuver, the waiter cut around a cluster of tables, away from the accident and unwanted eyes.

Really, in a place like the Brittle House, it was every employee for himself. Compassion or any sense of amiability never ended well. He knew from experience that there was no such thing as a ‘pleasant customer’, so Gwen took it upon himself to make his life a little easier to live. Just then, a distressingly familiar voice called out, “Gwen, why didn’t you wake me up?!”

… Well, as easy as he could make it when some others just tried to make it harder.

Now, it wasn’t that Gwen didn’t see the other waiter – it was hard to miss the vampire in his crumpled dress shirt, with red-amber hair a mess and silver nametag askew on his vest. It was just that he'd long since noticed a pattern with this individual: it seemed that whenever Ren appeared on the scene, the kitsune found himself in another mess to attend to. So he instead turned his attention to one of many tables, taking up the empty glasses to return to the kitchen. However, to his dismay, the newly arrived waiter chose to follow, continuing his onslaught of complaints. Before Gwen realized, the one-sided conversation had changed to something far more alarming.

"So anyway, Gwen, I had this dream last night," Ren started. A broad grin displayed his prominent fangs and his crimson eyes flashed with mischief. Nothing good ever followed that expression, so with a warning to his own green eyes, Gwen finally gave the other waiter his attention. "... and I've heard from some of the customers that it's supposed in some human cultures that vampires can turn into bats - " This already sounded bad. "– so maybe I could use echolocation!" Ren exclaimed, taking up one of the refilled glasses and taking a sip before continuing, "You know, that thing where you navigate using sound alone?"

"That's for a customer," Gwen snapped, but made no attempt to take it back. Instead, picking up a trayful of the other orders, he set off back into the fray of things. "Stop being stupid and get to work," he called before plastering on a pleasant smile and returning to his work.

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'Really, what sort of demented spirit orders mermaid with maiden's blood at this time of night?' Gwen was wheeling a trolley of various platters through the main lobby of the Brittle House at the request of one particularly... ravenous customer. The no-limit room service provided by the establishment was only one of many banes of Gwen's life. Others would include the ever-present fragrance of smoky incense, the shamelessly lustful patrons of the otherworld, and... Ren's ridiculous ideas.

Gwen's composed expression didn't do his surprise justice when he saw the vampire, just a few steps ahead, staggering about with black cloth over his eyes and a trayful of beverages. However, the bewildered one he wore when the blindfolded waiter tripped over one of several bodies strewn about by reception matched his sentiments fairly well. The kitsune didn't even bother wondering why the bodies were there. He abandoned his own order to deal with the one falling to the floor.

For once, it was fortunate that alcohol was such a common order in the Brittle House. Rushing forward, Gwen threw out his hand, and focused on the spilling crimson liquid – whatever it was had enough alcohol in it to be flammable… which was perfect for a kitsune’s ability. Before a drop could hit the wooden floor, the liquid burst into blue flame and evaporated. Fox fire – a convenient flame that burned only what Gwen willed. Unfortunately, it could do little to save the glass which promptly shattered on the ground.

Thoroughly agitated, Gwen rounded on the vampire, who had in the meantime, knocked into some shorter female figure and fallen to the ground. “Could you, for once in your life, not make a spectacle of everything you do?” he hissed in hushed tones, but was cut short as Ren pulled off the blindfold. The vampire’s eyes widened in surprise, and Gwen quickly realized why. All further words withered on his tongue.

Humans? That couldn’t be right. Humans were never at the Brittle House. They shouldn’t be there. They couldn’t be there… yet strangely enough, there they were. A glance told him that the short, black-haired girl – the only one conscious, was human as well. ‘Why now?’ Gwen knew all too well what role humans played in the works, and he knew that humans had been there before… Had… Brittle brought them?

Ren was the first to speak. “So, lovely first impression we made, eh, Gwen? To the most interesting guests, too.” Lighthearted words. Too lighthearted.

They foretold nothing of the fate to come.

He felt hands shaking him, but his eyelids weren’t obeying his orders and opening like he wanted them to. “Flan… time to wake up…” came a sleepy voice. He couldn’t quite place exactly who it belonged to, but it filled him with a certain feeling of peacefulness. “Wake up…” whispered the same voice - a worried, soft voice. “Wake up! All of you wake up!” He was shook again, and his eyelids flickered open slightly. “You have to wake up! Please!”

Flan groaned before shifting slightly on the ground. Strangely enough, it didn’t creak, but he didn’t have time to react on that development before something crashed into him. That provided the necessary stimulus to wake him up - and his eyes flickered open out of shock and hands flew to comfort the sudden pain in his stomach. What had happened? Had one of his new friends accidentally tripped over him... no, he had fallen asleep! He meant to turn around and apologize to his friendly almost-sister, but his excuses withered on his tongue when he saw the two people in front of him.

One was wearing a black blindfold and possessed red-as-fire hair. While there was nothing that off about his appearance, the male seemed strangely, mainly due to the way that he was staggering around - like those extremely exhausted people who had drunk too much liquid in those movies... But it was the other one who caught his attention. Not only was his hair as shiny and silver as those new coins, but he possessed silver fox ears and a tail. Although it was a costume of sorts, the second person seemed certainly eccentric. Both were wearing suitably formal clothing, with a silver nametag pinned on the shirt.

This had to be a dream. Flan attempted to crack a smile on the ground, before wetting his lips to address the people from his dream. They seemed to be pretty nice, and it wouldn't hurt to be ni - was that fire?! A bright blue flame was falling to the ground, and out of a reflex, Flan turned to stare at their surroundings. Even in this wreck - no...

Wait. His eyes had to be deceiving him, right?

The house was strangely lavish. Instead of the falling over wooden structure, it seemed to be almost a mansion. The floor, next to his eyes, was made out of wood. Not the half rotten wood that Flan recognized from his childhood, but some glossy thing that, had it not been covered in strange substances, would gleam like photographs. Despite that, it still shone. People, almost as strange as the second, were seen vaguely in the background, but Flan, eyes still fogged over with drowsiness, could not make out all the details.

Before Flan's confused eyes, the blue fire flickered and went out - seemingly without any outside interference. "Could you, for once in your life, not make a spectacle of everything you do?" hissed the person wearing a costume, rounding on the blindfolded man. Then, the blindfold came off, and revealed strange... red eyes. Flan nearly yelped from the surprise.

Maybe this drew the attention of the two males, but they both turned their eyes in his direction. Both of them - one silver, the other red - looked at the entire group with inscrutable looks, before one of them spoke in a nonchalant voice. "So, lovely first impression we made, eh, Gwen? To the most interesting guests, too."

He had to be wrong. Flan, wearily, pushed himself up to his feet. They were going to be members of the Brittle family - not just guests. Those two people deserved to know that their entire group would end up happy with their new life with the amazing, nice, awesome Brittle. It had to end up that way. He took a deep breath - not really feeling comfortable to talking to the strange, older people in his dream, but this was some sort of confusion that he couldn't - no, wouldn't allow to stand.

"Um..." his voice was quiet, so he surreptitiously cleared his throat again. So, how would he word this... "We're here to see Mister or Misses Brittle. We were adopted - he can explain." It seemed to be kind of awkward, so Flan attempted to tack on something to the end. "Sir. We're not just guests - we're going to be his family! With all the picnics on the lawn and fun scavenger hunts and everything!" He smiled, one that seemed forced even to him. "Me and Susan and everyone else!"

Can you relate to those times when you catch yourself falling asleep and wake up with a start.
It felt like that for Ashley Parker when she heard the smashing of a glass. Her body jolted in shock and her eyes flapped open to gain visual on a blurry scene. The surroundings smelt waxed and polished. Golden glows and passing shadows surrounded her as she felt her forehead.

Confusion lasted for a few moments, an uncertain state that left her not knowing where she was last. When she did recall her location her blue eyes widened in bewilderment. This wasn’t the run down house. Thinking it was a dream was out of the question when she sat up and gazed around taking in the other Orphans laying about; there was no way she would dream about these losers.

With her head on a swivel she noticed Susan and Flan already on their feet standing stock still, when she followed their line of sight she froze. Her heart flickered like a flame from the adrenaline of both excitement and fear. Just feet away stood two extraordinary boys.

One with glossy silver hair, eyes like a thunder-cloud and the ears and tail of a fox. The other with flame-like hair, crimson eyes and a smile that could stop any heart beat. For some unexplainable reason they were attractive beyond comparison and Ashley felt a lust she never knew she had in her for the silver haired boy. It was so powerful it made her feel physically sick that she wasn’t in closer contact with him.
With shaky legs she stood up behind Flan her eyes wide with uncertainty. The three Orphans looked like a litter of baby rabbits caught in the headlights of an on coming vehicle in the shadows of the two Brittle House employees who naturally (as spirits) stood feet above the small build of a human being.

“What’s going on?” Ashley murmured shallowly.

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The air is thick and murky with incense. The House manufactures foreign heat but those closer to the ground can only feel the bitter chill of the night. A small selection of special spirits loiter tentatively nearby a broad desk playing with their hair whilst sending stealthy glances in their master’s direction.

Through the smoke two luminous, reptilian eyes stare back at them.

Up on the top floor of the House they all linger in mysterious fog, nothing is solid or for certain on the top most floor of the Brittle House. It is the masters utmost domain and only the special spirits know what is what round there aside from him.

“Terra” comes his husky murmur from the midst of sweet scented cloud.

A special spirit steps forth and bows awkwardly whilst the others titter childishly to one another in discontent for not being chosen.
Two large Indigo coloured eyes gaze up at the master as Terra hangs upon every passing second waiting for him to bestow a message upon her.
She watches the master with eager eyes as he swirls a finger in the mass of water-coloured cloud that hung closest to him.

“New employees have arrived. Scattered and chaste in the otherworld, bring them to tea before they aggravate the customers.”

'Where are we?'
It was odd to have fallen asleep in a torn up home and awake in such a palace, perhaps they were moved during their slumber and placed on the floor? Susan kept searching for a reasonable explanation for this whole thing.Now what of the others around them, the odd look ones, especially the two in front of them? One held some interesting red eyes while the other held silvery fox features, were the cosplaying of some sort? She knew of cosplay cafes, but this, this was a bit to over the top. Even so the two men in front of them did have some attracting features she couldn't help but notice, especially the fox boy. She didn't like this attention, the eyes around them staring as if they were some foreign creatures. She looked towards the others, some still asleep, but Ashley seemed to be awakening. Almost subconsciously she moved behind Flan as if trying to hide a bit from the other creatures that took interest in them.
"Sir. We're not just guests - we're going to be his family! With all the picnics on the lawn and fun scavenger hunts and everything!"

Almost instantly she turned to look at Flan, how could he be so calm right now? Did he think this was all not real, maybe it wasn't though. Maybe this was all still her just dreaming, but to be sure she went ahead and closed her eyes tight and pinched herself as hard as she could manage. When re-opening her eyes they were still there, she pouted a bit, something she couldn't help. It would seem this would have to be real, she hadn't ever experienced a dream so real, now to make sure Flan knew. She pinched Flan on the shoulder, hopefully he would get the message.
Ashley though finally awoke and she asked the question she had planned to ask the suited men in front of them. “What’s going on?” Ashely didn't seemed too excited about the situation, but she wasn't freaking out either. She seemed to hold a calm demeanor to it all, but it looked as if something was bothering her. Susan couldn't help but think of Brittle, was this his or hers place? Was Brittle some sort of alien that adopted them to test them?! She really didn't want to be dissected like a frog, or perhaps they were going to be food? Maybe that's why Brittle adopted so many of them? She felt she was being a bit negative then usual, so she had at least tried to find something good of this. ' If Brittle really is just adopting us, then we get to live in this huge place!' Satisfied with that thought,
she spoke up " What is this place? Is this some sort of cosplay shop? Did you all drag us here?" her face held a childish suspicious look as she pointed at them from behind Flan.

As the others seemed to fall asleep around him for some strange reasons, Zurich could no longer hold his yawn as he felt his eyes closed tiredly. What was happening to him? Zurich turned his head and looked left and right but even his body seemed to run out of energy to panic as he laid down on a corner of the floor with a soft thump. Why was he so tired suddenly? W-was it because he had traveled for too long? Or was it something else? But whatever the reasons were, he couldn't keep his eyes open for even a minute. The teenager mumbled sleepily "...m-maybe I should just close my eyes for a second...yeah, a second only..." He curled into a tight ball as he hugged his chest protectively. He didn't feel very comfortable sleeping with so many others but there was no other choice. Sighing deeply, Zurich closed his eyes.

Yeah, he would just rest his eyes for a second and then he would wake up...

---

" Wake up! All of you wake up! You have to wake up! Please!"

A panicked voice woke Zurich from his unease sleep. What happened? Where was he? The teenager opened his eyes and let out a groan as he covered his head. His head hurt so much. Did something hit him on the head or something? And why was his body feel...stranger than usual? And why was there a girl's voice in his room? He looked around, extremely confused by the scene around him. T-this was not his room. Zurich closed his eyes and prepared to sleep again.

What a minute! This was NOT his room!

The teenager opened his eyes wide and sat up abruptly. His head hit a table and he groaned, pressing his palm tightly on his newest wound but didn't comment on it as he was still too busy staring at everything. Suddenly, yesterday's(?) memory flowed back to him as he looked at the others. There were some differences on them. Some differences he couldn't seem to spot and what happened to the old, abandoned house? This was not the place he had arrived. He was sure of it! Then....what was this place? It was big and...beautiful... He looked around...and noticed two...something came to their place and he unconsciously leaned farther away from them. Wh-who were they? They w-were not humans! One was with silver(?) hair and fox ears and the other had...r-red eyes! And the power...they both was radiating power! He cowered, trying to make himself as small as possible. What kinds of creatures were they?!

"...w-what is going on?"

He managed to croak out finally and frowned slightly as he noticed he was too far from the group...This was not good! Wh-what if the creatures decided to eat him...or...do something else to him? What possessed him to sleep so far away from the group? Oh yeah, it was his paranoia that made him do that...and now? It would kill him! He suppressed his fear as he gripped his hands tightly into fists and asked, his voice shook slightly "...w-what...I mean, w-who are you?..."

Zurich threw a depressed glance toward the three awakened orphans and silently measured the distance between him and them, trying to find a way to get closer to them...at least, that way he wouldn't be alone...He swallowed hard and tried to keep his emotionless mask on...He had to be...brave!...but it was so hard to do so when you were in a corner and alone with no one stood by your side.

Athens

It was a while before Athens finally woke to the sound of children pleading and worried voices. Her eyes felt heavy and she woke up slowly, instantly seeing strange colours, smelling strange smells and hearing unusual sounds. She groaned and looked around her wearily, her eyes catching on two unfamiliar figures standing infront of the orphans. She had to blink a few times to see what she thought she saw...fox ears? Tail? Silver hair? This couldn't be right, but it was and somehow she knew that none of this was a dream.

Before she stood up, she sized up the two boys staring at them, not being quite sure if they would lash out and eat them or leave the kids be, and then she finally glanced at her surroundings. Everything was glassy, polished and new...furniture she knew would've costed thousands, lights thats shined so bright she couldn't look at them for long...this was a very expensive room she was in, and she felt insecure being in it. In hope she looked down at her clothes, maybe they had changed--but no, she was still in the shabby, bags of clothes she was in before.

Looking closely at the two boys she noticed they were rather attractive. Athens looked away quickly and braced herself on the wall she was leaning against...slow and sore she stood up, her head feeling heavy and dizzy. She looked around at the other orphans, some awake and looking scared out of their wits, some still asleep and others just waking up like she was.

Her eyes moved to Zurich, scared little Zurich, and wondered how on earth he had survived so far in life. She didn't feel scared at all, she wasn't exactly sure why...maybe she had been drugged or something? Anyway, she didn't get scared very often. "What the hell?" she growled, looking directly at the two...strange beings who had greeted them. She was finally standing up straight, but still flat against the wall, ready if they turned bad and something happened.