Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

Welcome and Unwelcome Reunions

As Kipo climbed the spiral stairs, the constant turning reminded her of the own turmoil in her thoughts. An endless circle, but unlike this staircase, they weren't going anywhere.

They came here for answers, and answers is what they got, though in return, now they had a lot more questions. The story, the history of this world, was so simple, and yet Kipo was having a difficult time wrapping her head around it. She assumed that act one was the 'before' everyone here kept mentioning, and that made sense, but the fact that someone would completely destroy their own world to create a new one... why? And who could even think of killing so many people to do so?

...Ok, Kipo could think of at least one person she knew that would so that. But it was still such a hard concept to wrap her mind around, and Kipo was certain she was missing some things. A lot of things, actually.

At the moment, though, it didn't really matter. Kipo had reached her destination, the top of the staircase, after a solid fifteen minutes of climbing. Everyone else was still downstairs, talking to the director, but not about the play, because the director's lips were still sealed on that. Instead, they were discussing much more important topic of the various things Luz had gotten in trouble for in her drama club.

At least the mood wasn't completely somber, Kipo reminded herself, trying to force herself to be positive, but with everything they had just learned, Kipo wasn't exactly in the mood to force herself to talk, so she came up here to find something.

And find it she did.

Kipo paused at the entrance to the staircase, staring out into the time warped, but still recognizable, throne room from the play.

Kipo was almost impressed. Other than the fact that it was a real thing a not a bunch of props on a stage set, they looked close enough to clearly be the same thing. There was the throne, knocked over and falling apart at the seems, but still stubbornly dignified despite it all.

There were the pillars, still holding up the ceiling, or maybe the ceiling was holding them up instead. It didn't really look like it needed support, after all. But now, instead of one row of pillars, there were two, on either side of the dirty and ripped up carpet that led to the throne.

There was also, surprisingly, the golden cage that had held Coraline, or technically the person she was playing: the princess Vanellope. Of course, it was broken down, unable to hold onto anyone anymore, and it was empty. Where had the mad king gone, Kipo wondered. Had he left? The director had called the story 'slightly fabricated', so Kipo had to say she had no clue.

Well... maybe she had a guess. She assumed the people keeping the kidnapped kids here wouldn't be happy about the nearly escaping, and the mad king had power that could be better used elsewhere.

Kipo frowned, sitting next to the cage. Thinking back to what Arlen had told them... was this the escape he had been referring to? No... he didn't say it was in the castle, he said it was a little bit away from the castle. Of course, Kipo did not believe him even a little bit... but she was curious about what he meant.

Slowly, Kipo got up from the floor, moving towards the only prop that was missing from the throne room: the window. It's not like it couldn't have been there once upon a time, but now, that entire section of wall had been torn away, leaving a much bigger window, a slight breeze blowing in and making Kipo's hair whip around. It was cold all the way up here, almost as cold as the village they had just left, but somehow, the throne room had been protected from any snow.

Kipo shivered in the cold, having abandoned her coat, like the rest of the them, back at the door, but she wasn't about to leave just yet. Instead, she edged closer to the hole in the wall, and sat down, staring off into the distance. Despite the cold, it was peaceful here, and Kipo took a deep breath of the first fresh air she'd had since... well, she wasn't sure if it had been long or anything, but she was long overdue for it any way. Since leaving the burrow, Kipo had found she was sick of stale air.