#it has an axel of purple between the couch and the art

[blagueofchaos]

Edit: didn't mean to post this to this blog, but if you like it, check out my new Design Home sideblog resplendent-dwellings!

[the-ghost-of-pastels]

subliminal sides

A Fractured Fairytale of Alice in Wonderland but it’s me and i meet my sides.

y’all wanted to read this.

I’m new to writing so it’s not the best thing in the world, but i’m improving!

You don’t know how you got here.

You stand up and adjust your glasses and take in your surroundings. You are in a medium sized, dimly lit room with all sorts of bizarre looking machines. There are exposed gears and wires everywhere. You spot a rusty looking door to your right that is slightly open.

You open the door and walk through it to find a similar room to the one you were just in. the room is larger than the room you woke up in, but it is just as dark and cluttered. There are a couple different doors scattered around the room. Looking around, you find that the shadows in here are getting bigger and darker the more you look.

You take a hesitant step back. You hear footsteps approaching the room.

One of the doors is thrust open by a small boy with surprising strength. He closes to door and locks it with a large complicated-looking padlock. He turns around and spots you. He looks surprised.

BANG BANG

Both of you jump in surprise from the noises coming from the other side of the door. The shadows are getting darker still.

You try to ask him what’s going on but he puts a finger to his mouth to signal you to be quiet.

He takes a step back and watches the door closely with stern purple(?) eyes. Dark shadows start to pour through the cracks around the door. His tenses.

BANG BANG

The boy huffs in frustration, runs toward you, takes your hand, and starts leading you through a different door in a hurry.

The two of you run through a series of doors, rooms and hallways. Each room is as dark and cluttered as the last.

You make the mistake of looking back at what you’re running from.

There is a dark humanoid figure with piercing green reptile-like eyes covered in shadows chasing you. You feel your heart beat faster and your anxiety spike. The boy holding your hand seems to notice.

The two of you make a sudden turn and hide behind some old looking storage containers. You sit on the ground, and the boy joins you.

You turn to the boy and quietly ask for his name. He turns to you with his striking purple eyes. And holds up his hand. His hand is in a fist, palm facing you, with his thumb sticking out in between his ring and middle finger. Then changes it so fingers are making an ‘o’ shape, then making another fist with his palm facing you, and his thumb on the side, then twisting his hand to the side with his first two finger sticking out like a finger gun without the thumb.

(Noah)

You blink. He’s talking in sign language. You smile and sign ‘nice to meet you’ as best you can with your limited sign knowledge. You sign your name to him as well.

His eyes light up in happiness. Even though you have to explain to him you don’t know that much sign, and only know the alphabet and some basic signs. He understands and explains to you that he isn’t deaf, but he can’t talk.

He reaches into the pocket on his oversized, purple-patched jacket and gives you a articulate, fancy looking gold key with a small purple gear on the handle. He tells you it’s a gift.

He stands up, adjusts his black beanie, then grabbing your hand again and leading you down another hallway.

You ask where he’s leading you. He gestures for you to keep quiet, then signing the word secret. You hesitantly follow, trying to trust Noah. The two of you walk through more hallways, eventually arriving in a room with 4 doors besides the one you just came through. Each door has a wildly different look.

The door they just came through looks like it has seen the apocalypse and been rusted to the bone. The door next to it looks a lot cleaner and really futuristic. The door after that is black with lots of black and white posters of various kinds. The next door looks like a normal bedroom door with a nameplate that is very hard to read at the distance you are at. And the last door is a dark green metal door with a crap ton of warning labels on the door.

You ask Noah if any of these doors will take you home.

He leads you towards the second, futuristic door. You hesitate, but he assures you that it is safe.

Probably.

That really doesn’t help you calm down but you let Noah drag you towards the door anyway.

---

Out of all the things you were expecting, a space station really wasn’t one of them.

When you walked through the futuristic door, you were instantly greeted with a massive window with a view of space. It looks beautiful out there. There are stars everywhere, and you can see what you think is Earth pretty clearly.

Noah leads you away from the beautiful view towards a door with the words “BRIDGE” above it. You jump as the door opens automatically as soon as you get close to it. The two of you walk onto the bridge and find a nice room with screens, computers, and controls everywhere.

In the middle of the room there is an older person sitting in a fancy chair, wearing a clean, cool looking uniform, and looking intensely at their computer. They turn around when the two of you walk into the room.

“Ah excellent. You are both here.” They say, standing up and walking towards the two of you. “I need your help with something very important, but introductions first.” They adjust their black square glasses as they speak. “My name is Axel. I am the captain of the UNS Everest. Pleasure to meet you.”

You nod and tell Axel your name, and ask what they need help with.

“Ah, well you see, recently an enemy spy placed a tracking device on my ship,” They say, showing slight frustration in their voice. “and I need another person to help me disable it.”

You look at Noah, then back to Axel. You ask if it is dangerous.

“Dangerous? Well only if you do it incorrectly.” they reply. Noah lets out a noise of discontent. You can’t help but feel the same way. “But do not worry,” Axel continues, “With me and Noah helping you, there should be no problems.”

You hesitantly accept and Axel smiles and leads the two of you into another room. There is a table with a large box sitting on it. The box has all sorts of wires, words, and buttons all over it. You start to feel a little bit anxious. It looks really complicated.

Noah squeezes your hand reassuringly.

“Now,” Axel walks over to another table with a large book on it. “I will ask you a series of questions relating to the device, and you will answer as quick and clear as possible.”

You agree, and sit down at the table with the device. Axel starts asking questions. Stuff like: “how many batteries are there?” or “Are there any blinking indicators?” You answer the best you can.

After what felt like hours, Axel finally tells you to put the device down and that it should be disabled now. Your head feels clearer now, and you let out a sigh of relief.

“You did great. I appreciate your help immensely.” Axel says, gratitude clear in their voice. You tell them it’s no big deal, and that you are happy to help. “Excellent. You want to get home, correct?” You nod. “Alright. I shall accompany you on your journey.” They give you an asymmetrical silver key. “You’ll need it.” You accept the gift and put it in your pocket.

---

Back in the room with the 5 doors, you find yourself feeling a lot better than you did around an hour ago. You still feel weird and out of place, but you’ve made some friends and you feel safer with them.

Axel leads the two of you to the door next to theirs, the black door with the posters all over it.

You take a deep breath and walk through the door, wondering what will the three of you experience next.

--

On the other side of the goth door, is an even more goth living room. There is a black couch with a white throw blanket on the side. There is a black fuzzy rug on dark hardwood floors. The entire place is very aesthetically pleasing to look at.

The three of you walk into the center of the dark living room.

…

After a minute a waiting Axel sighs and clears their throat.

You can hear muffled footsteps in the distance. The footsteps are getting closer and closer until a door next to the couch is thrown open by a very out-of-breath teenager.

“OH THANK GOODNESS YOU’RE HERE!” They exclaim, trying to catch their breath. The teen has short black hair, subtle dark makeup, and round gold glasses covering their scarlet red eyes. They adjust their short black skirt and take a deep breath. They turn to you.

“Greetings! My name is Percy, and I really need your help.” They say, taking your hand and kissing the back of it, making you blush. Axel rolls their eyes. “What did you do this time?” They ask, as if this has happened more than twice.

Percy makes an annoyed face at Axel, “I was trying to make this story about these two characters who adopt a child.” Percy explained, “But I can’t think of anyway to make the story interesting!” You notice Noah flinch at how loud Percy is being.

You ask Percy if they can keep it down a little. Percy looks at you, then at Noah. “Oh… OH!” They exclaim, then flinch at their own loudness. “I’m sorry, dear Noah. Would you like to help me with this?” They ask. Noah nods their head and takes Percy’s hand.

Percy smiles. “Wonderful! I will need you two to help as well. Please follow me.”

Percy leads the three of you into another room just as goth as the first one, but this one is more of an studio with art supplies everywhere and paper thrown about the room.

“Now,” Percy starts, picking up a notepad and a fancy black mechanical pencil from one of the desks. “These two characters have been married for 5 years. The child they adopted really trusts character A, but can’t seem to trust character B.” Percy makes wild gestures as they explain their story, Noah looks mesmerized. “I need a way for the child and character B to bond, but I don’t have any ideas!”

“Why can’t the child and character B just talk?” Axel asks.

“Because that would be boring.” Percy shoots back. “Besides the child doesn’t trust character B remember? They can’t just talk to each other.”

Noah waves a hand at Percy, getting their attention. (Why not injure character A, so B has to take care of the child while A is in the hospital?) He asks.

Percy smiles wide. “That’s a brilliant idea Noah! High five!” Percy raises a hand, and Noah giggles and happily accepts.

“But why and how is character A injured? You can’t just put them in a hospital with no explanation.” Axel states. Percy stops to think for a moment. “Well, I can’t have character A dead, or in a coma” They pause for a second, “But they could have broken a bone or two! In a car accident!”

“How did they get in a car accident?”

“Because character A is overworked and sleep deprived from a tough month at work!”

“Then why were they driving the first place?”

“A wasn’t the one who was driving! B was driving because they were worried for A’s health!”

(Wouldn’t that make the car accident B’s fault?)

“No, the one at fault was the other driver! Who was drunk and texting. But B still blames themselves for it!”

“I guess that makes logical sense…”

“Really??” Percy beams at Axel. It seems that these two don’t agree that often. Axel smiles back. “I think it’s a wonderful idea, Percy.”

Percy smile fades for a second. “Something’s missing though…” They say, in thought. “What does this story need?”

You say that maybe a fantasy or supernatural element would help.

Percy looks at you for a second.

“Oh my god. That’s… a great idea!” They scribble something on their notepad. “What if after the accident the child develops wings??? Like magical, rainbow wings? Ooooh I’m getting ideas!” Percy starts scribbling rapidly in their notepad, mumbling excitedly to themselves.

After a minute or two, they set down the pencil and notebook and stretch out their hands. They sigh in relief. “I am so thankful to you guys for helping me! This has been bugging me for weeks! Here, hold out your hand!” They ask you, “I have a gift!”

You nervously hold out your hand. You watch as Percy pulls a shiny black key with a white skull and red rose design on it and put it in your hand. “That’s for helping me.” You accept the gift, and put it in your pocket with your other keys.

“Now, I hear you’re trying to get home correct?” Percy asks you. You nod. “Oh wonderful! I shall help you! I know where we need to go next!” Percy guides the three of you back to the room with the 5 doors.

----

You arrive back at the room full of doors. Percy walks over to the next door over, which is the plain bedroom door with a nameplate on it. Looking closer now, you can see the nameplate says: “Theo’s Room.” in slightly messy handwriting.

Percy opens the door, and the four of you enter the room. It looks like a decent sized garage with all sorts of cool toys and gadgets. There are skateboards, roller blades, rock climbing gear, jumprope, all sorts of stuff. There are two doors on one wall.

And immediately you can tell something isn’t right.

Noah grabs your hand, and Axel narrows their eyes. Percy walks around the room. “Theo?” They call out.

They wait for a second before calling out again.

You scan the room, looking for anything that looks out of place. Next to what looks to be a foam pit, you see a yellow rose with a piece of paper next to it on the floor. You immediately call the others over.

Axel picks up the note. They sigh, and hand it to you.

The piece of paper is blank, except for a smiley face drawn in green sparkly sharpie. You don’t know what it means at all. Noah looks over your shoulder and tenses. Noah’s face changes from worried to angry. He crumples the note and starts heading back for the room of doors.

“Noah! Wait a minute!” Axel calls after him, but Noah doesn’t listen. Axel huffs and runs after him.

You and Percy look at each other for a moment before following.

---

You and Percy catch up to the other two, and find Axel holding Noah and talking softly to him. As you get closer, you notice Noah has fresh tears running down their face as they shakily sign to Axel.

Axel notices the two of you, says something to Noah, waits for a second, then motions for you two to come over.

You ask if Noah is okay. He shakily nods and signs. (Panic attack.) You nod in understanding, knowing how difficult those can be.

Percy pulls out a sketchbook and fancy black mechanical pencil out of nowhere and sit on the ground. “Do you want to watch me draw?” They ask Noah quietly. Noah nods and Axel sets him down and he sits next to Percy, who starts drawing something random.

Axel stands stands next to you for the next few minutes as you watch Percy draw random characters with Noah watching intently.

After it seems Noah has calmed down enough, Percy puts the sketchbook and pencil away and helps Noah stand up.

You ask what the note ment.

Noah looks at the ground. Axel puts a hand on his shoulder. “One of our friends, Theo, has been kidnapped.” You gasp in surprise.

Now you understand why Noah had a panic attack.

“We do know who did it though.” Axel continues. You ask who.

“Cecile.”

You look around at the other two. Percy seems upset, and Noah is clutching Percy’s arm.

(I want to rescue Theo) Noah signs. (But it’s very risky. A lot could go wrong) Axel squeezes Noah’s shoulder reassuringly. “I’m sure it will go smoothly if we have a plan.” They tell him.

“Now.” Axel continues, “Let’s make a plan.”

---

As you walk through the dark green door full of hazard signs, you can help but feel anxious. The room is dark, with dim green lighting filling the long hallway.

Eventually, the four of you arrive in a large room. The room is also dimly lit, and there are scientific looking machines everywhere. There are vials of mysterious substances on a table to the left, and a large circular container of glowing liquid to the right.

Straight ahead, there is a wall made of glass, with a door in the middle. The door has a pretty impressive lock on the handles.

There is a faint voice coming from the room.

You hesitate as the other three run up to the wall.

As soon as the three cross a certain point, another glass wall lowers in between you and the others.

Noah turns around and presses against the glass wall. Staring at you with scared eyes. You stare back.

You hear a noise behind you, and you dash for a hiding spot behind some large containers.

You watch as a figure in a lab coat and bright green reptile-like eyes enter the room. He spots the three behind the glass wall and smiles.

Once you know the figure isn’t watching, you dash for the exit. Looking behind you, thankfully the figure doesn’t notice you. You run back to the room of doors and close the green door.

You sink to the floor and try to take a deep breath, but you find it hard to catch your breath.

To be fair, you have been through a lot in the past two hours. You actually feel a little proud of yourself for making it this far without breaking down.

You feel yourself shaking, and dissociating. You feel incredibly tired, and your hearing is muffled.

You sit there for what feels like only seconds and at the same time feeling as if days are passing by.

You barely register lying down, nor do you register someone putting your head on their lap.

Someone is running their hands through your hair. It feels nice. You feel as if you could sleep for days.

After what felt like forever, while also feeling too soon, your feel your senses coming back to you.

You finally notice the person behind you.

He’s your age, soft blue eyes, big round glasses, backwards baseball cap and freckles everyone. He smiles at you. “Are you okay?” He asks.

You can’t answer, your voice won’t come out.

“It’s okay if you can’t answer” He says. He helps you sit up, and offers you a water bottle. You accept.

“My name is Theo,” You perk up at the name, “How are you feeling?” He tries again. You make a face and a meh gesture with your hands. “Well at least you won’t fall asleep I hope.” He says. You nod to confirm. He sighs in relief. “That’s good.”

“Are you able to tell me why you’re here?” He asks.

You are able to tell him in a slightly raspy voice all the events that led to this moment. He listens intently. When you’re finished he chuckles. “It seems my friends have found themselves in a situation huh?” He smiles.

You watch as he stands up and stretches his legs. You can now see he’s wearing a gray shirt with a blue, pink, and white striped flag on it, cargo shorts, and a turquoise checkered flannel tied around his waist.

He offers you a hand. “Come on then! Let’s save our friends!” He helps you stand up, and you ask if he has a plan. He makes a face. “Oh… I’m not really good at making plans, really. I just go with the flow. See what happens, then make do accordingly!” You can’t help but feel anxious at that.

“Well now’s not the time to worry about that!” he says, walking towards the green door. “We got a couple friends to rescue!” You smile and follow him.

He stops for a second, and you nearly bump into him. “Oh! I forgot to give you this!” He hands you a silver key with a light blue heart gem on the handle. You accept it and put it in your pocket with the others.

“Okay now. Let’s go!”

---

Through the green door again, you and Theo are silently walking towards the laboratory. When you arrive, the two of you hide under some tables. You can see your friends have been moved to the main glass room.

Axel is staring into space, Percy is drawing on the walls, and Noah is watching. You and Theo can’t help but smile a little.

You also spot the scientist, Cecile. He is typing away at a computer at a desk near the glass room.

“Wait for my signal.” Theo whispers to you. You nod, and he gets out from under the table and approaches the scientist, to your surprise.

Theo casually walks up to Cecile. “Hey CC! What’re you up to?” He asks in a friendly way. The scientist turns around, startled. “Jeez Morality! You scared me.” Cecile gives Theo a look.

“Aw sorry, I didn’t mean too! You’ve been dissociating again! Should you be doing all this work like that?” Theo asks concerned. Cecile scoffs at the teen. “I’m perfectly fine.” He says.

“What’chu workin on?” Theo innocently asks, giving you a hand signal behind his back. You nod and sneak your way to the glass room door.

He signs a series of numbers to you, which you use on the keypad of the lock.

It opens with a green light, and a beep. You smile and open the door.

“What are you doing?” You hear behind you. You turn around to see Cecile walking towards you with Theo just behind him.

You hesitate, before stating that you’re rescuing your friends. No need to lie about it, you’ve already been caught.

Cecile raises an eyebrow at you. “Oh really?” You nod.

Axel, Percy, and Noah go through the door and stand behind you.

You and Cecile stare at each other for an intense minute.

Then Cecile sighs and shakes his head. “Well if you just asked then you wouldn’t have had to try to sneak your way in.”

“Really?” Theo asks, thoroughly surprised.

“Uh. yeah? I’m not rude.” Cecile folds his arms. “And Logic, you really should know by now that you shouldn’t touch my stuff.” Axel gives Cecile a look. “I didn’t touch anything!” They protested. “Your little trap activated on it’s own!” Noah was clutching Percy’s arm, who sighed.

“Yeah, because you got too close!”

“You should mark where is too close!”

“You should know by know where that is!”

“You know I have bad depth perception! And why did you kidnap Theo in the first place? You gave Noah a panic attack!”

“I didn’t kidnap Morality! I just wanted to give him a rose and you took it the wrong way--”

“Guys!” Theo yells. The two immediately shut up. “Can we not do this right now? We have a bigger problem.” He gestures to you.

The four of them look at Cecile, who sighs.

“Fine. But please get Anxiety to stop looking at me with those cursed puppy dog eyes.” Noah in turn, stuck his tongue out at Cecile. “Wow. Real mature of you.” He walks up to you, and pulls something out of his lab coat pocket.

It’s another key. This one is a dark green with a snake carved into the handle. You accept it.

“There should be another door in that other room. You can use it get home.” You nod at Cecile.

You say your final goodbyes to your new friends, then head back to the room of doors.

And just as Cecile said, sitting on the opposite wall, was another door with 5 different colored locks on it, each door corresponding to the color of each key. The door itself was beautifully made. It is made of a nice dark wood, with silver decorations every here and there.

You take a deep breath, and insert the keys, and walk through the door.

---

You awake on your bed. Your sketchbook is sitting next to you, and your headache is gone.

You look around, confused as to what just happened. You notice a couple things sitting in front of you.

A black beanie, A logic puzzle, a fancy mechanical black pencil, a ring with a blue heart gem on it, a yellow rose, and a piece of paper.

You open the paper.

It’s blank except for two words next to a green smiley face.

“Thank you.”

The End.