Character University

Even before Naomi Yamada opened her eyes, she knew that something was wrong. Jeanette should have started cooking breakfast by now. So where was the aroma of eggs and bacon? She was sure it was an eggs-and-bacon day. Jeanie said so right before she went to buy groceries yesterday. She sneezed and sat up, reaching for her glasses.

This was not the apartment. It looked like a college dorm that hadn't been occupied in ages—it was fairly clean, like someone came in and dusted now and then, but she just couldn't get over that musty smell of disuse. Naomi combed her thick black hair with her fingers, blinking sleepily at her surroundings. Since there were no regular occupants, the place was minimally furnished with white sheets on the two twin beds, white curtains, and beige walls and carpet. She did, however, find her laptop in its green hand-knitted sleeve under her pillow, which was a huge relief. Pretty much everything Naomi cared about was in that laptop.

When she opened a dresser drawer, she was surprised to see one of her regular outfits—white dress, blue tights, green sneakers—and even her favorite Hello Kitty hair clip. The drawer under that had her green purse with her makeup and keys and everything inside. Who was trying to mess with her? Jeanie was kind of evil, so she was a candidate. But she'd probably need help for something like this.

Naomi tried to turn on her phone, planning on calling Jeanie, but there was no reception. Oookay. This place was probably in a valley. Or AT&T was just being a big jerk.

A look outside the window confirmed the first hypothesis. Near clones of Mount Diablo and plenty of trees surrounded the university campus. If this was the United States, it was probably somewhere in the northeast, going by the trees' brilliant colors. Naomi couldn't have been transported from San Francisco to New England overnight, so that made the situation even more suspicious. The architecture, however, reminded her of Oxford with all the spires.

The clouds seemed to be bulging with rain, so after Naomi got dressed and squeezed the laptop into her purse (a quarter of it still stuck out, which annoyed her greatly), she kept her umbrella dangling from her wrist as she entered the hallway. It was an old-fashioned place, which she wasn't sure if she liked. It sure looked cool, but old places always had a sort of ominous air to her.

Once she made it to the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, she thought she saw some movement—a door or gate opening, someone lurking in the trees. She scanned the area with narrowed eyes.

A brown-haired young man in a green tunic wanders the grounds, holding what would at first glance appear to be a metal squid. Eight thin metal prongs bent inward at about forty-five degrees were where tentacles should be. The middle of the body is made of glass, revealing a faintly glowing metal coil and a complicated clockwork mechanism. The contraption is almost as large as his arm, and the thin man seemed to have a bit of trouble managing it, along with his large leather knapsack.

Cyrus Fenrir sweeps his hair out of his eyes and cradles his lightning cannon under his arm. The clanking noises coming from the loose items in his knapsack make him uncomfortable. This place is unfamiliar and while beautiful, it's formidable with its tall spires. Something nasty might hear him.

Well, it's a nice place, and he'd hate to soil the courtyard by starting a fire with his lightning cannon, so he'll just keep hoping that—

Oh, hell. That young lady with the black hair and white dress standing on her own over there looks kind of suspicious. Cyrus decides to cautiously approach, reasoning that she's probably seen him by now. If she's harmless, she might be able to tell him where he is. He slowly walks toward her. From this distance, she could easily mistake him for a short-haired woman and assume that his green tunic is a dress, but as he gets closer, she will conclude that he's definitely male. He hopes. It's always horribly awkward trying to explain it to people.

"Hello?" he calls out timidly. His voice is somewhat high and quavery.

Ena plunged through the endless darkness, only half-aware of her surroundings. The black void seemed to be closing in on her, surrounding her and trying to eat her full. In Ena's right hand was a sword - a Roman gladius, to be more precise. This particular one had a blade made out of a mixture of mithril and green scales, which Ena found to gleam when they hit the rays of the sun. However, right now Ena wasn't worried about the sword. No, she was worried about this eternal fall she had gotten caught in. Where was she going? Would she ever escape? The last thing Ena remembered was jumping into a portal that was supposed to take her to the realm of the chaos god, Yang. Then everything went black. Could this be a dream? That would be nice. But... no, it couldn't be. Ena felt awake. Too awake for it to be just a dream. There was a loud, booming crash, and then the void was eaten up by light.

Suddenly, Ena was falling through the sky. The grass on the ground was rapidly approaching her. Ena braced herself for impact, clutching her sword in a death-grip. There was a blast of air in Ena's face, and then she felt as if she were floating. Slowly, Ena opened her eyes. She was floating. How odd!

Then, the air shield vanished, and Ena got a face full of other-dimensional grass. Her body now aching, Ena stood up and took a quick survey of her surroundings. There were rainclouds in the sky... grass on the ground... a big building... huh. That wasn't really recognizable at all. Was she even in America?

From over a slight hill, Ena heard someone call: "Hello?"

Who could that be? Ena wondered. It didn't sound like anyone she knew. Quietly and quickly, she made her way over the hill to where the caller stood.

edited 4th Jul '12 6:43:24 PM by Collen

Through the near empty courtyard, the footsteps could be heard loud and clear. Well, one set of them were, the sound of what must have been a pair of dress shoes casually clacking along the earth perturbing the general atmosphere of the campus. Ignoring these loud, awkward and intrusive steps, however, one would be able to make out the sound of a much lighter, gentler pair of steps, moving in near time to the first.

After a few minutes, the footsteps revealed themselves to be more than a random noise. This pair of footsteps was, in fact, attached to a pair of people. One was a man, somewhat taller than average, and of a lanky build. He was the one donning the heavy dress shoes, though luckily that was not all he had chosen to don that morning. He had suited himself with a plain white shirt, the wrinkles on which begged the question as to which was more messy, this shirt which appeared to have never seen an iron in it's lifespan, or the man's greasy, uncombed, dark red-brown hair. This shirt was half tucked into a pair of dark blue jeans, which seemed to exist solely to throw off the rest of his smart ensemble. Strapped to his back was what appeared to be a large wooden stick, almost the size of the man himself. The other entrant to the courtyard was a young woman, who was dressed much more casually and consistently for the occasion than the man. She was wearing a pair of worn trainers, and a rather unclean ensemble of a dark grey tank-top and red, knee high skirt. Her clothes conflicted with the rest of her appearance, her face fair and pretty, and with long flowing golden curls, which had clearly taken quite a while to prepare.

"Peter, can I ask you a question?" the woman said.

"You just did, but sure, fire away," replied Peter, removing the large stick from his back, and tapping the bottom of it off of the ground.

"At what point did it fall into your head that you should bring me to a University for our third date, and which of your social disorders green-lighted that idea?" the woman asked, more teasingly than vindictive, though there was a certain aggression to her words that came with a woman of her apparent influence.

Peter stopped in his tracks, before simply smiling and saying, "so does that mean you count this as a third date?"

"Surprised?"

"No," Peter answered, "just proud that I managed to get a third date out of the regal Athalia, daughter of... well, daughter of some powerful Immortal lord. Speaking of which, does three dates mean I finally get to meet your family?"

Athalia scoffed and said, "Please, the day you meet my family is the day I consider a University to be a good place for a date."

"Come on, it's not all bad!" Peter protested, "I mean, look at the amazing architecture in this place! Can't you appreciate all this architecture?"

"You know, when we first met, I thought I would only have to put up with you going on about Physics stuff," Athalia joked.

"Intelligent stuff," Peter stressed. "Besides, I'm sure there's someone here who can tell us more about this place. Who knows, maybe there is some romance to be found here."

"Fine," Athalia said, "Let's ask around."

It was then that she noticed the girl by the fountain. Athalia practically skipped over to her, grabbed her by the arm and said, "Hi, I'm Athalia, and the guy over there trying to catch up with me is Peter. We were wondering if you could fill us in on this place, let us know if there's anything of interest around here, something like that?"

Antenna, mullet and pigtails! Anyone there?

You know squid hair, people might like you more if you don't make up annoying nicknames for them.

Well at least my theory was proven. It seems that after our exciting tale at the magi-science lab last night, the four of us were merged into a single space. But rather than being meshed together, we have somehow been separated by time. Meaning I occupy the space at two twenty five to three twelve, seven fifty two to nine o clock etcetera and the three of you take the other times. I don't understand it entirely yet.

So I'm guessing that's what all these books and internet is for? To research on how we can reverse it?

Oh how very insightful.

I know! It's said that eating live rattle snakes can fix the problem!

Wha??? No wait, its Corey isn't it?

You know, if I don't end up with a snake inside me too, I wouldn't mind if you test that yourself.

You know Prisha, it's not easy to keep this notebook updated if you keep hiding it like this.

Me hiding it? That was what I was meant to scold you for.

Maybe the notebook is like part ghost?

No it's definitely Ian. That idiot had no idea what this book was in his hand and threw it out without thinking. Explains why he wasn't making entries. Last time I switched back at a pool so he's not up with the research either.

Yeah Ian! This notebook is the only way we can communicate and update each other with what we found out! Hold onto it like your dear life!

What makes you think that would work any better than my big writing of the same thing on the cover and the wall of our appartment? Whatever, the next time you find this, keep it in your back pack unless you need to read or write in it. It'll probably end up in each others backpack too.

Of course! So if even if Ian finds this, not even he would be stupid enough to throw it away. Wait.

If anyone's wondering why we're up in the mountains, my research tells me about a rumor that some strange university around here had some information about our problem. Sadly I can't find much more about that place and it’s only a lesser known rumor. But it's a start.

Okay, but it's not easy when Corey and Ian keeps getting us in circles.

Well you better hurry up. Dark clouds are heading our way.

Rina finished reading the last few entries of the notebook before noticing the few droplets already falling on her and the notebook. Rina quickly wrote, Gee, thanks for the warning. Then put the notebook away.

Soon she came across a valley and found a set of fancy buildings at the centre. Could that be the university Prisha mentioned? Whether or not it is, Rina needed a place to get out of the rain for now. So she rushed to the entrance.

edited 18th Jun '12 6:42:45 AM by PsychoFreaX

I won't be here until this evening.

Scout found herself in a huge courtyard that she didn't remember entering. The clouds were brewing up a tempest and no one was in sight.

She grinned and whipped her head around. It was some sort of university. With those spires and such. Maybe something like Hogwarts! Too bad it didn't look similar enough to what Hogwarts was described like—unless good old JK fudged some details. In any case, where was her wand?

Scout shrugged and wandered off. She adjusted her red hoodie and headband. If she didn't have magic, at least she had the stuffed chick attached to it.

Ena whirled around towards Athalia, pointing her sword at the woman's neck. "I believe that is my question to ask. How do I know you're not here to kill me? Getting sucked into an entirely different land is not something that happens every day. Right now people are making attempts on the lives of me and my friends. This might be a trap. I must be careful. So, tell me... are you a friend or a foe?"

"Oh, isn't that cute?" Athalia said, grinning at Ena, "The girl thinks she can sword-fight."

"Whatever," Peter said, having caught up with Athalia, "Just don't anger her to the point that she stabs you, and finds out your little secret."

Athalia turned her head to Peter and said, "Come on, can't you just turn her sword into a snake? A snake that hates her?"

"While it is true that snakes are dicks," Peter said, "I don't want to start a fight with a girl as soon as I get here, so can you please just apologise for whatever you did to piss her off?"

"I know you won't believe me," Athalia said, "but I seriously didn't do anything this time. I was actually polite to this girl."

edited 18th Jun '12 6:53:47 AM by Dvdmacyoshi

As Rina walked through the entrance of the university, she was relieved the light droppings of rain died down. However, judging from the clouds, it doesn't seem like the peace will last.

Rina soon found herself in what appears to be the courtyard. Then was surprised to see a group of people and a fountain in front of her, "oops!"

One of them was a girl pointing a sword at some women's neck. Rina quickly raised her hands in front of her and smiled, "Sorry! Didn't mean to intrude here!"

Ena's glare faltered. Suddenly, the woman didn't look that threatening. "Sorry," she muttered, lowering her sword. "It's just that I have no clue where I am. I walked through a portal and ended up in the wrong place. Wait... hey, did you just insult me?" Ena threw her sword in the air and caught it with a single hand. "I'll have you know, I'm pretty good with a sword. More than that, I'm adept at the ancient art of Ardo. Sword magic, to the laypeople. You don't know what real sword-fighting is until you've battled with your weapon ablaze, standing in a circle of fire over a pool of dragon's blood. That's sword-fighting. Anyway, my name is Ena. Ena Neeves. Do you know where we are?"

edited 4th Jul '12 6:44:16 PM by Collen

Athalia giggled for a moment, then said to Ena, "Of course I know where we are, which is clearly why I asked you. Your sword tricks are nothing if you can't even think on such a basic level."

"To think I sometimes wonder why people try to kill you..." Peter said.

"Hey!" Athalia protested, "I think you mean, try to kill us. Besides, she pointed a sword at me within five minutes of me being here! That hasn't happened since..."

"... Tuesday." Peter then turned to Rina and said, "Oh, it's no problem at all, this happens to us all the time. Hell, if you have a gun on you, feel free to whip it out. I've been longing to have a mexican stand-off."

-Outside the University-

Somewhere around the University grounds, a bus stops, and a girl around the age of 16 steps out. Wearing a green t-shirt with a Mario mushroom on the front, blue sweatpants, sandals, and her signature gray hoodie, with a Mario Star sewn on the back of it. But the strangest thing is her pink hair, which for some reason, makes her smell like cotton candy. Looking above and seeing the overcast skies, she adjusts her glasses, brushes her hair back, and clenches her umbrella close to her. "It looks like it could rain again, soon." The girl, named Tina, says to herself as she walks closer to the University.

edited 18th Jun '12 10:29:40 AM by DiurnalBrocolli

"Right, that would be fun," Rina gave a slight chuckle then remembered she needed to research something here. She had no idea if the information she is after is public or not. But in hindsight, she rushed into the university too hastily.

Now the best option was simply to ask around. So she turned her attention again to Peter, "Anyways, this university seems rather interesting. So do you study here or what?"

edited 18th Jun '12 7:28:19 AM by PsychoFreaX

"No, I just got here," Peter answered, "I went to college in Ohio, and I have to admit, this place is several times more impressive looking than where I was educated. I mean, look at this beautiful architecture! It reminds me of Oxford, in that respect. Hey, maybe we're in Oxford. Now that would be amazing."

Rachel was pretty certain Selena and Robert were somewhere nearby when she went to sleep last night. So the silence that greeted her when she got up was quite surprising, to say the least. The silence wasn't the only thing that felt wrong, however - the soft mattress she found herself on was a far cry from the cot that she had chosen as her resting place.

She opened her eyes, and after some effort stood up. A quick look around told her that this place was not the farmhouse that the group had chosen to spend the night in. It was much more solidly built and furnished. It wasn't too much of a mental stretch for her to assume she was in an apartment of some sort.

Was she dreaming? Rachel would have liked to say that, but the temperature of the room felt quite real. More to the point, dreams usually didn't make her feel this groggy. Wherever she was, she was truly, physically there. Either that, or this dream was really realistic.

She waited a few moments until she felt awake enough, then took another look around the room. Besides the bed she was sitting on, there was a chest of drawers on the right side of the room and a desk sitting on the left. Directly opposite of the bed was a door. Light filtered in through a window that decorated the wall next to the desk.

Actually, that window might say something about where she was at. Rachel got off the bed and took a look.

Not only was this place not the farmhouse, it wasn't even her hometown. It appeared to be an abandoned (or at least closed) university, with some interesting architecture. While all the trees and hills definitely made the place look evil, the lack of infected shuffling around made her feel somewhat more comfortable. It was only a small comfort, though - while there were no infected, there didn't seem to be anyone else around, either.

For that matter, she still didn't have an answer as to how she got here. The only guess she could come up with was some sort of dimensional fluke, but as far as she knew the only place those could happen was in outer space. Not on planet Earth. Perhaps a more in-depth look at the other areas of this place could give her some answers.

A good place to start would be to examine this dorm more thoroughly. However, the pieces of furniture and the bedclothes were the only things in this particular room. Nothing was in the drawers, and nothing sat on the desk. Nothing so much as a change of clothes.

Rachel then took the time to look herself over. Unfortunately, whatever it was that dropped her here didn't bother to revert her own infection - her skin was still paler than a normal human's, her thumbs were still withered, vestigial stubs, and the rest of her fingers were still tipped with what were essentially miniature scythe blades. There didn't seem to be a mirror around, but she assumed that the rest of her still looked the same. She hoped that anyone she might find here - if she found anyone else here - weren't the sort to shoot first and ask questions later. At least she still looked like an ordinary teenage female otherwise.

At least her clothes - a white T-shirt and jean shorts - were still in good condition despite all the chaos the last couple weeks had put her through. She was going to have to be content with going barefoot, though.

She was still in one piece, so it was time to go look for other people. After some fidgeting with the door knob, she was walking down the hallway, glancing around and listening for any sounds. Come to think of it, she didn't bother to make a guess as to how high up in this building she was...she figured she'd find out soon enough.

"Well it is quite a sight isn't it?" Rina continued. Perhaps some books in the library would be the first thing to check, she wondered. Would she be able to find it in a gigantic place like this though?

Maybe there is a map around. She'll check soon. But she was already making good conversation and still wanted to find out what these people know about the place and asked, "So you must be here to pick up your girlfriend, I'm guessing?"

edited 18th Jun '12 8:09:48 AM by PsychoFreaX

A young man, his light brown hair cut rather short, appeared in one of the dorms. He looked around calmly, then looked down at his dark gray clothing. Well, he thought, at least nothing blew up in my face this time. The place was definitely not like anything in his world, so this was most likely yet another dimension. This might be a problem. He'd never created a portal by himself... unless you count what happened minutes ago, and that didn't seem too accurate. He wasn't even sure how to start, and the room he was in didn't seem like it had anything useful in it. I suppose I have to leave then. Loyce decided, opening the door and looking out.

edited 18th Jun '12 8:27:15 AM by YsaSlayerOfSporks

The library was a nice spot. It was huge. Oddly huge. Tyler briefly wondered if there were actually any books worth reading — experience with the siblings had shown that most college libraries had a nasty tendency to only be educational and the sort.

Also incredibly air conditioned. Luckily Tyler had long sleeves on, underneath a normal red t shirt.

And the chairs were comfy. That was another plus right there. This place was already gaining points in the book.

A small smile for Tyler, and a glance at the computers. Computers were a good idea. Nice and safe and full of all things modern. Although, not much point in going to the library to use what was in the dorm. Especially when one chose specifically to set out for the library.

Why was this destination chosen? Tyler could not seem to remember. Not that it particularly mattered. An adventure was an adventure after all, no matter the size or destination.

edited 18th Jun '12 8:33:43 AM by MrAHR

Ena quietly slipped away, wandering into the university and through the long halls. It's sort of like the Library of Secrets, Ena thought, climbing up a set of spiral stairs. All that's missing is an actual library.

As soon as she thought that, she came by a large door that was labeled 'Library'. What an inventive name. Ena pulled the door open and went inside. The library was surprisingly huge, but that wasn't the most interesting part. On the shelves, books of many different colors rested, collecting a thin layer of dust. The books seemed to be written in varied languages. English, Latin, Spanish... maybe a bit of German, and... What?! Ena pulled out the book that had caught her attention, and stared intently at the sea-blue cover of the book. It was impossible, but... the book looked like it was written in the ancient language used at the Library of Secrets! The cover read, 'The Dimensional Portal: The Inner Workings of the Multiverse, and the Methods to Traverse It'. Ena was about to open the book, but then the letters changed, morphing into another language that didn't look like anything written on Earth. Acting as if she were handling a bomb, Ena carefully set the book down on its shelf, and awkwardly shuffled out of the aisle she was in.

Ena soon found out she wasn't alone. In one clearing of the library, sitting in a chair by some computers, was somebody wearing a red t-shirt. Nervously, Ena ran her hand through her dark brown hair. "Er. Hi? Um, I'm sorry to intrude... are you a librarian or something? A student? My name is Ena. Ah, who are you?"

edited 18th Jun '12 8:57:17 AM by Collen

Tyler blinked in confusion to see a girl asking questions. Brown hair, similar to Tyler's own ear length hair, only much darker.

"A librarian." the tilt of Tyler's head as this statement was uttered indicated a question, even though the inflection was no help.

"Do I look like a librarian." Tyler spoke aloud, gesturing to their clothing, and the 5' 8" stature.

Tyler chuckled. "Yeah. Student."

edited 18th Jun '12 9:02:42 AM by MrAHR

Peter looked over to Athalia, then back to Rina. "No, she doesn't go here either," Peter answered, "and I'm not sure that I would describe her as my girlfriend... It's kind of complicated."

Athalia chimed in, "and I think it's better off that way. My father and brother would kill him if they ever met him."

"It's funny because that isn't a joke," Peter added, "It's very likely they would, considering my position."

edited 18th Jun '12 10:12:55 AM by SnowyFoxes

It was a transient journey. Blink once, and Raze was no longer in the usual bar, chatting with Code 92 or working out plans with Leonardo the bartender. The man in his late twenties was now on an university of some sorts. It was almost eerie for him, as if his whole life was a dream.

Before checking around him, he examined himself. He was dressed just like how he was before getting 'teleported' here, a white long-sleeved shirt and long black pants. His barely visible facial hair and a well-defined chin was felt when he rubbed them with his hands in puzzlement.

"Isn't this Oxford?" He looked at the building. "Am I on England?" He asked himself, having little idea of what was going on. His field of vision shifted towards the dark sky, which looked like it was about to pour down its tears.

"Gotta stay under a roof." He quickly ran towards the nearby building. He saw a door, and was about to open it when a man with short brown hair did... from the other side. Needless to say, he crashed onto the man.

"Sorry." Raze said as he recovered and stood.

edited 18th Jun '12 9:23:21 AM by LimitRemoval

Stairs, stairs. Where are the stairs? Rachel thought as she wandered through the empty hallways. The weather outside didn't look all that pleasant, but at least it was lighter out there. The general darkness of this building was unsettling; and it didn't help that it was in good condition despite the musty smell in the air. If it was just closed for the summer or something, then the state of the place was justified. But if it was abandoned...then she wondered if she really wanted to know who or what was keeping this place in good shape, and why.

Her thoughts were jarred a little when she heard something that sounded like a door opening. She looked around quickly, trying to find the source; but none of the doors around her showed the slightest sign of movement. Either she was hearing things or the source was coming from a different hallway. She was perfectly willing to assume the former - nothing about this place suggested otherwise.

That's the thing about dead silence...it makes you paranoid - oh hey, stairs!

Sure enough, Rachel had found a stairwell that lead downwards. She was on the upper levels of the building after all...or maybe she was on the ground floor and the stairs lead to the basement. She didn't see stairs leading upwards, so it had to be the former. Good, now she could find her way out of this building and maybe look into a way to get back to her hometown. Then again, her hometown was currently filled with infected. Maybe the lack of them here could do her some good.

Her mind flickered back to the sound she heard earlier. Perhaps that noise was, in fact, made by an occupant of one of the dorms. If so, perhaps that occupant would like to know where the stairs were, provided that they were a rational human being. On the other hand, said noise could have been made by a crazed survivalist that would have no problem identifying her as a threat. Or worse, the thing could have been a monster. Rachel may have been an infected, but she was far from the most intimidating of the lot.

In the end, common sense won out. If this other thing was smart enough to open a door, it was probably smart enough to find the stairs. With that, Rachel began her descent towards the ground floor.

Ena took a seat in one of the many soft chairs. "Seem to have a bit of a... monotone problem, huh? Anyway, I still don't know your name. Actually, I don't know where we even are. I think this is in another dimension, judging from a... ah, book that I found. Can't be sure, though."