Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

And Then NOBODY Died (Prologue)

The elevator doors opened up to a small room, hardly more than a large closet, and a stark contrast from the rooms above. Also, it wasn't very well, looking glum and grey with only a faint light coming from somewhere unseen. All in all, it was depressing, and with the brick walls on all sides other than the far one, it also looked like a prison.

But Fei Fei was the only one who noticed all that, because the first thing Kipo saw was Kai, sitting up in one of the chairs in the room, looking completely bewildered.

"Kai!" Kipo cried, stepping forward. "You're okay!"

Kai jumped, somehow not noticing the newcomers before. He frowned, patting at himself as if checking he was still real. "Er... yeah... are we all dead?"

Kipo tilted her head, slowing to a stop as she came up beside him. "Dead? Dead from what?"

"I don't know!" Kai cried, looking embarrassed. "All I know is that I fell asleep for a second, and woke up here!"

Before Kipo could answer, the door across from them (Kipo hadn't see it before, she realized) clicked, and opened up. Kai flinched, jumping behind Kipo, and Kipo had to admit she took a nervous step back.

But all that came through the door was Tulip and Coraline, looking surprised as they spotted them.

Tulip's brow furrowed. "Huh? Why are you all here? This is the first floor."

Kipo pointed back. "Elevator."

"I don't know!" Kai wailed at the same time. Tulip crossed her arms, still looking confused.

"But aren't you all supposed to be exploring a different floor?" she asked them. "What are you doing down here?"

"Truthfully?" Kipo said, rubbing the back of her head with her hand. "I don't really know. I think something brought us here."

Tulip and Coraline's eyes flickered to the elevator and their confusion grew.

"Oh" Tulip said, before they all startled, alerted by footsteps coming from behind Coraline and Tulip. The two glanced back, and then relaxed, stepping into the room to let Luz and Mabel run in, that painting still with them, bobbing behind them as they ran.

The two of them stopped in the middle of the room, panting. Mabel looked around, disappointed.

"Oh, so it was one of you?" she asked. The others glanced around.

"What was?" Coraline asked her.

"That crying," Mabel said, as if that was obvious, but as she looked around at everyone's completely dry faces, she seemed to get her own answer.

"None of us were in this room for very long," Kipo pointed out. It seemed like you were led here, just like the rest of us."

Alarm flashed on Luz's face. "So it's a trap?!"

Kipo shook her head. "I don't know, I mean the door is still open-."

As if to prove her point, Kipo stepped forward, but she was cut off as her vision was cut off, and her directional senses suddenly went haywire. Kipo stumbled, but it was like she was no longer walking on solid ground, more like she was swimming in water that she didn't feel. For a second, Kipo was nowhere.

But it was only a second. Before she could even think to panic, Kipo was back on solid ground, her vision restored, but the surrounding scenery that winked into place around her was completely new.

Kipo whirled around, disoriented. The ground was wooden under her feet, and it was dark, but not to dark for Kipo's eyes. She looked around. It looked like she was onstage somewhere, or more accurately, backstage somewhere. There was a big heavy curtain by her side, and a bunch of ropes, pulleys and lights hanging high above her. Scattered about were various set pieces, like tables, doors and doorframes on wheels, cups, fake food, fake swords... Kipo squinted, trying to make sense of it. Where was she?