Wow… I just spent five hours straight binge reading Magicae Palace before realizing that all the spots here were filled… 

Oh well, I'll still be reading along 🙂 

Whoopsie I'm very sorry this took so long oops–

Name: Leafy/Leafpool

CBer, AE, CAPTCHA or CAPTCHAE (you can bring 0-3 companions): I'm a CBer and my AEs are in some dusty corner of my brain somewhere and idk where Hazel is so I'm traveling solo :,)

Gender/pronouns: Female she/her

Basic appearance: Wavy/ringlety medium brown hair, of which the bottom half or so is silvery greenish blue. I'm very short (I just hit the 5 foot mark! Yay!) and a bit chunky/muscular (I'm ripped yo). I have brown eyes and really like wearing oversized hoodies, mom jeans, and Converse. 

Describe yourself in 10 words or less (if you go over the limit, you will be publicly shamed by Gandalf, who will shout "Fool of a Took!" and whack you over the head with a mop that is actually his staff): A socially awkward yet extroverted fool of Took, yolo bro

Please give your detailed opinion on the color red: It makes me think of blood so idk. I can sometimes have a huge phobia of blood but then sometimes not. I don't know, in general it's not my favorite color I guess but it's pretty!

Packing list: A SNOWBOARD! Also, assorted winter clothes, a suitcase full of microwavable popcorn packets and hot chocolate packets, hoodies, a few fancy and sharp daggers, my sketchbook and some pens, peppermint lip balm, candy canes since it's almost Christmas, little Christmas presents for every guest, a boombox, M&M's

Other: Hazel said something which translates to "yeah well ****" which I'm taking to mean she's unhappy to be left out but oh well 

Leafy! Oh joy! Now we have everyone, and I can officially post part 2.

All of the CBers, AEs, and CAPTCHAs filed out of the bus. Once they were all out, they proceeded to stand awkwardly in front of Sam Crickett with Sakura's cabin sitting cheerfully in the background. They were on top of a large hill that was covered in surprisingly un-cold snow. Very slowly, the bus pulled away. It was very awkward, since Sam continued to beam at the guests in silence, and the guests shuffled around uncomfortably as they listened to Jem Louise Margaret drive the bus, in its precarious state, down a huge-gantic hill.

"Well!" Sam began finally, clapping their hands together enthusiastically. "I'm glad you're all here! I you haven't guessed already, I'm Sam. Before we go into the cabin, I'd like you to meet your friendly staff: Zach Lamborghini, Abie Bailey, Remi Mazí, and of course Jem Louise Margaret, who may or may not be back sometime in the near future."

The group noticed that three young adults materialized nearby. (They had no idea how. They didn't appear slowly, or right away, or in a way that was startling, or in a way that was perfectly natural. Just, boom. There they were.) The first was a young man with pale skin, freckles, and messy red hair. The second was a tall woman with long brown hair, light green eyes, and a shy demeanor.  The third was a short, olive-skinned woman with square purple glasses and black hair in a short ponytail.

At that moment they also noticed Gandalf lurking around. "Ah, yes, that's Gandalf," Sam said unhelpfully. Gandalf did have his mop-staff clutched nervously in his hand.

"Ooh! Can he hit me? Pleeeeaase?" Faith begged.

Sam laughed lightly. "Sorry, lovely, I can't allow Gandalf to give anyone unnecessary brain damage."

Would it be necessary brain damage if anyone had gone over the word limit? Honeybee wondered. Actually, she was wondering many things. So was everyone else. Orson, however, was the first to come forward and ask his question.

"Hello, yes, I don't have time for all of this- Orson, visionary filmmaker. I'm here to make the stunning new documentary, The Ski Lodge Story?"

Sam chuckled. "It looks like you AEs are out of luck today! My apologies, Orson, but I'm afraid you're here on a different mission than to create a documentary. I guess if you don't want your genius film-making skills to go to waste during your stay, you could make a promotional video for the ski lodge…"

But Orson wasn't listening any more. He was facing Bakerloo with an offended, insulted look on his face. Bakerloo looked at the ground guiltily.

"Er, well… you know, you could always make a promotional video…"

"My skills are far superior to the laughable atrocities of PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS!" Orson screeched.

"You guys, look at all of this!" Sterling gasped. Feli turned to see what Sterling was talking about- and then she realized, Sterling was talking about everything!

The hill they were standing on top of was surrounded by a patchwork quilt of beautiful, strange sights and places. There were castles. There were treehouses. There were mansions, lakes, cruise ships, spaceships, train stations, campsites, cabins, and beach houses. All of these things were dotted around the giant hill, each with their own distinct piece of land that connected to all of the others. Spellbound watched, spellbound. as a train started to pull away into thin air, tracks magically appearing before it.

"What is all of this?" Azalea wondered. "It's incredible!" 

"Wowwe!" Kali agreed.

"Oh, I'm glad you found it!" Sam exclaimed, hurrying over to the group. "Starting tomorrow, you'll be able to explore all of them!"

"Tomorrow?" Arya complained. "Why not now?" 

"Today, you all have to unpack, and I'll take you on a short tour of the cabin. I know, it's going to be a boring day, but I promise you'll have lots of fun soon enough."

Sam started leading the group of twenty-nine towards the cabin, and they followed reluctantly. Some of them started talking to Zach, Abie, and Remi.

"I'm convinced Remi knows everything," Abie proclaimed stubbornly.

"Do you?" Moondrop asked, awed.

Remi smirked. "From Ella Fitzgerald's birthday to how many lemmings it takes to conquer Canada."

"And?" Nightfall asked. "What are they?"

"April 25, 1917, and it depends on the ferocity of the lemmings," Remi said. Lucinda giggled, then started pelting Remi with questions in five-letter increments. Remi's answers were as follows:

"27, The Boston Tea Party, blue, she's self-conscious about her eyelashes, the poop emoji, marmalade, Freddie Mercury, contact lenses, Thomas the Tank Engine, that information has been classified by the FBI, and it's best not to tell you now."

Feline Fantasy laughed. "Do you know the meaning of life, too?"

"Oh, I already told you that one," Remi said dismissively.

"Here we are!" Sam called. Up ahead was a tall, welcoming wood building that looked like a large house. Everyone hurried to get a closer look at what would be their home for the next several weeks (maybe? They had no idea how long their stay would be). Sam opened the large double doors and everyone crowded into the small foyer, a neat little room with tile floors. Everyone made sure to keep close watch of their CAPTCHAs, fearing they would be trampled in the crowded room.

"Sorry it's so cramped in here! As you can see, this is the foyer. On that door to the left is the hallway containing all of the bedrooms. I'll tell you the sleeping arrangements once the tour is over. That door on the right leads to the kitchen and dining room, which we'll get to eventually, and the one behind me leads to the living room. I've just gotta get to it, excuse me- whoops, sorry Starlight!- okay, here we go."

The group spilled into a comfortable living room with carpet, a fireplace, and many cozy armchairs and couches. From there, Sam showed the group the library (many of the CBers and a handful of AEs instantly fell in love with the towering bookshelves), the ballroom (a rather empty room with an ominous grandfather clock), the kitchen and dining room (which had a gigantic round table for all of the guests to fit around) and the backyard (Sam told them it had experienced seasons, but it was snowy just like everything else). Then, they took the group to the second floor.

"There isn't very much up here, except for the staff bedrooms and some spiders," Sam explained. "While we're here, I thought I'd explain a few things." A few of the AEs groaned. "I know, I know- trust me, you'll have plenty of fun, but I'm legally obligated to make sure you have fun safely. I'll try to keep the list of rules short: be nice to each other, lights-out at eleven unless I say otherwise, no skiing or exploring unless you have one of us with you, no snooping in the staff bedrooms, pie fights are only allowed in the kitchen, and be respectful of your roommate's space. Speaking of which, here are your sleeping arrangements!"

Sam procured a clumsily folded piece of paper from their pocket. "Two people to a room! I mixed everyone up pretty well. If you have any objections, come talk to me later! We have: Azalea with Olive, Tumble with Lydia, Bakerloo with Spellbound, Kaliedescope with Arya, Nerd with Cherry, Quill with dreamii, Honeybee with Abcde, Dallas with Lucinda, Firefly with Bean, Moondrop with Starlight, Sterling with Orson, Morning with Faith, Quinn with Feli, Grace with Leafy, and Nightfall by themselves. Okay! You're all free to go downstairs, claim your room, and unpack your stuff! Meet in the dining room at 5:30 for dinner!" 

THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE IS THE MEANING OF LIFE THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE IS THE MEANING OF LIFE- oh, um, hi. Didn't see (read?) you there.

Luna, this is truly wonderful! There's so much personality and humor packed into such a small chapter! I can't wait to see where this goes. (Personally, I'm already suspicious of Orson, but then he is generally rather suspicious.) 

Obviously all of you are wrong and the meaning of life is 27 😉

Day 0, part 3

Eventually Jem Louise Margaret came back, but not for long. Minutes after she entered the cabin, Leafy found her stabbed by the pantry and promptly screamed. Sam and Zach came running, as well as Quill, Morning, Nerd, Firefly, Cherry, Grace, and Bean.

"Jem Louise Margaret was stabbed!" Leafy wailed, which caused a panic. Firefly was hastily trying to calm a distressed Grace, Quill and Morning were frantically checking for a pulse, and Bean was trying to soothe Leafy, who was shakily trying to answer Nerd's questions.

Oddly enough, Zach Lamborghini was smiling a little bit.

"Everybody, please, quiet down!"

The chatter died down and the group looked towards Sam.

"I'm really sorry about this, everyone. Please go to the living room. Zach, could you round up all of the guests? It's nearly dinner time anyways…"

Zach, with the help of Abie and Remi, went around the cabin gathering all of the guests and bringing them to the living room, which was soon abuzz with chatter. 

Sam got everyone to quiet down so they could explain. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this earlier… so, um, the thing about Jem Louise Margaret that we've discovered from being in the cabin is that, er, everyday she is stabbed. We don't know by whom. Or if it's anyone at all. But, fear not, because… um, how do I say this- everyday she just regenerates. Like, just comes back to life. Yes. Its weird. We know. We have no way of explaining this. Neither does Jem Louise Margaret…"

There was a very awkward silence for a few moments. Then Dallas started to laugh very, very loudly. "So- so- let me get this straight. Every day she's stabbed by like a ghost or the devil or something, and everyday she comes back to life?? AHAHAHAHAHAAAA! That's the best thing I've heard in my entire life!!!"

And so the room became very noisy again, now with many questions about how any of this made sense, and a conspiracy theory about Jem Louise Margaret being a demon quickly arose.

"Hey, Remi! Since you know everything, what can you tell us about Jem Louise Margaret?" Arya shouted.

"Not much, actually," Remi admitted. "I think a large point of her existence is to not make any sense."

"What in the world is happening here?"

"I was about to have an existential crisis over an undead woman with powers over death itself…"

"Hey, Orson, I bet this could make a good film… The Life and Death and Life and Death of Jem Louise Margaret…"

"Well, this definitely won't be a boring vacation."

"Well friends, I did tell you weird things would happen often. Okay! Anyways! Let's go eat!" Sam shouted.

And so the shocked, confused, disconcerted, gleeful bunch of CBers paraded into the dining room, not knowing that the daily stabbing of Jem Louise Margaret was not, by far, going to be the strangest thing they'd see in their stay at Sakura's ski lodge.

Dinner consisted mainly of tofu, popcorn, pancakes, pot roast, chocolate, and pie. That night there wasn't a pie fight, but there was a debate about which pie is best. (Abie was very clear that banana cream pie was superior in every way know to man, as she held an entire banana cream pie in her hands and ate it by the forkful.) Sam received many questions that were mostly about Jem Louise Margaret (who had mysteriously disappeared since her discovery), the mysterious thing they had come to destroy, and Gandalf. Sam did assure them that they could see Gandalf again soon enough, but they had no answers on the other two topics.

That night, with all of the guests sitting around the dinner table, something very important happened. The murderer was chosen.

It happened very quickly. The murderer hardly noticed the change themselves. Nobody noticed, actually. It was quiet, but obviously very important. The next night at dinner, one chair would be empty.

Stuffed with good food and conspiracies, everyone except the murderer fell asleep long before lights-out. But the murderer, with their new duty now sinking in, crept through the halls, looking for ways to set their plans into motion. In their search, they found a letter on the round table. It was to them, from Sam. It contained lots of important information. The murderer took a trip to the attic that night and took something from it, concealing it in their pocket. When their roommate asked where they had been, they used the bathroom as an excuse. They fell asleep peacefully.

~~~~~

Dead: nobody

Suspects: None

Stabbings of Jem Louise Margaret: 1 

Sure thing! There were also some indirect references to a few other ski lodges (for example the foods they ate for dinner, the origins of everyone's names, and the logo on Sam's shirt) but since I'm sure I'll include some more direct references to them later on, here are the more obvious ones.

TON's original:

http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/106893 

Lake Lelillo:

http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/283794  

The Disorienting Express: 

http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/351974

There might have been more, but I'm blanking at the moment, sorry. I'll probably start doing this at the end of every day. 

@Azalea- you just hold on tight, it's about to get a lot more morbid and a whole lot weirder. XD

Since I have it ready, here's the next part!

Day one, part one

"Very few of us are what we seem."

-Agatha Christie

~~~~~

They had pancakes for breakfast, and Jem Louise Margaret made them.

They knew very well that Sam had assured them she would be revived, but it was very strange for the guests to see the woman who was dead yesterday making their breakfast the next morning. Either way, Jem Louise Margaret made pancakes with blueberries and whipped cream. They were delicious, and one of them was also deadly. Because when the not-dead Jem Louise Margaret had finished making pancakes and had her back turned, the murderer poisoned the one at the very top.

"For those of you who want to go skiing, Zach is supervising the group today!" Sam announced. "The rest of you can stay here if you'd like, but if you want to go exploring the surrounding areas, you have to go with either Abie or Remi! Everybody needs to be back here by dinnertime!"

As one group started to get ready to go ski and another prepared for a day of exploring, the poison was beginning to take affect. Arya, Nightfall, Bean, Starlight, Azalea, Cherry, and Feline Fantasy had all decided to ski. Everyone else except Orson and Olive wanted to go explore- Orson was too busy mourning the loss of his documentary, while Olive was too busy being apathetic and moody. Unfortunately, one of the skiers was doomed never to return to the cabin.

Quill noticed, as she was in the ski lift, that the AE beside her was looking a little sick. "Arya? Are you feeling okay?" She asked.

Arya opened her mouth, closed it, looked around with a worried expression, then replied, "Er- no, actually, not at all… I'm feeling really sick…" She squeezed her eyes shut. Her stomach hurt- really, really badly.

Quill quickly surveyed the situation. They weren't that far from the top of the hill, where Zach was stationed. "Okay, we're not that far from the top. We'll tell Zach right away, then we can go back to the cabin and- Arya? Arya?"

The usually energetic and noisy AE was now slumped down in her seat, breathing heavily. Her heart was beating faster and faster- and soon it would stop.

~~~~~

Spellbound, Grace, and Tumble, unaware of Arya's state, were oooh-ing and aaah-ing along with everyone else. Abie was showing them a beautiful Japanese inn- a ryokan, she explained. It was surrounded with a beautiful array of flowers- though Abie warned against touching them, since many were poisonous.

"What's that?" Spellbound asked curiously, pointing to a strange piece of tucked-away land that was surrounded with purple light. She noticed there was an odd yet entirely fascinating veil, and she could only imagine what was beyond it.

"That's Deceptmyth, and you absolutely cannot go in there," Abie said seriously. "Sam said it would break reality." Dallas immediately decided he would go in.

Abie continued to explain all the different places and things the group pointed out. There was a train that somebody spotted Gandalf on- "He's the janitor," Abie told them; a different train station Abie warned then not to go on, since the train would crash almost immediately; and a space station that was tethered to the main island with rope. The patch of sky that surrounded it was inky and dotted with stars, like the ship was already in space. "It thinks it's already taken off," Abie joked.

Just then, the walkie-talkie at her hip crackled to life. "One minute," she called as she scrambled to lift the device to her ear. Moondrop watched, concerned, as Abie's cheery expression turned into a shocked and worried one.

"Everybody, we have to go back to the cabin now!"

~~~~~

Everybody was in the living room. dreamii was pacing quietly; Feline Fantasy, Cherry, Nerd, and Starlight were just stunned; Honeybee and Bakerloo were quietly asking Sam questions; and everyone else was sitting solemnly or trying to comfort Spellbound, Grace, and Tumble. Leafy was shoving little gift bags and candy canes into their laps, which they accepted numbly. It was hard to believe what they were being told- that Arya was dead.

"We believe her food was poisoned," Sam told them gently.

"Then have we been poisoned too?" Abcde asked frantically. "I'm too young and beautiful to die!"

"I don't think so… if we had all been poisoned, wouldn't we all be feeling sick be now?" Azalea pointed out quietly. A thoughtful and sad silence followed.

"…was it intentional?" Honeybee asked quietly.

"I think it looks like it," Morning concluded. "A single poisoned pancake that killed the victim relatively quickly? How could that be accidental?"

"So was it the person who made the pancakes? Or did someone tamper with one of them?" Bakerloo questioned.

"Quill, what did you say happened with Arya exactly?" Firefly asked.

As the discussion continued around her and hands rested consolingly on her shoulders, Spellbound was trying to decipher what she was feeling. She was sad, of course. She loved her AE, despite how annoying she could be. And she knew it would be hard for Grace to get through, and Tumble wouldn't understand…

But she couldn't help but feel like she knew this would happen all along.

~~~~~RIP, Arya. Rest in Pancakes.

I know I haven't gotten around to mentioning everyone yet, so sorry about that! All of the mentioned destinations they were exploring were references, which I will post links to at the end of day one. 

Day one, part two

Day one, part two

"Whats happe nning?" Qwinn chirped. Nerd shushed him quickly, then considered her CAPTCHA for a moment. This didn't really seem like the conversation for small, trouble-making CAPTCHAs- or their rowdy AE role models. She quickly came up with a plan to rid the two from the living room.

"Hey, Dallas, I heard some of the AEs in the dining room say that Abcde is the best AE," Nerd mentioned to him.

"HOW DARE THEY!" Dallas shouted. "Come on, Qwinn, we've got to show these idiots the truth-" he stormed out with the CAPTCHA in tow. That left all of the CBers and a select few of the more mature AEs- namely Bean, Firefly, and Grace- to talk.

Quill once again explained exactly what had happened to Arya on the ski lift; how her queasy appearance quickly escalated until there was nothing she or Zach could do. They consulted their memories for anything abnormal that may have happened at breakfast, but the only thing they came up with was the fact that Cherry had discovered a bruised orange rolling around under the table and had admitted to really wanting to eat it for some reason. They questioned the likelihood (and irony) of the possibility that Jem Louise Margaret, victim of daily stabbings, would slip a bit of poison into a single pancake.

When they had exhausted their conversations about how such a thing would happen, they turned to the question of why. It seemed they were all a bit confused. When they started to question the possible motives of the possible murderer, odd thoughts came to their heads. Many of them were experiencing an odd sense of déjà vu. Like they had known this before. Like it wasn't really a question if there was a murderer in their midst. Almost like… they had expected this.

Spellbound was the one to point it out. There was a nagging feeling somewhere inside of her, like the sadness she felt for Arya was far too familiar. It had happened before, she was sure of it. That's why they all came together and discussed so efficiently, because they knew what to do in a situation where one of their own was murdered. They had dealt with it before.

Little did they know, Sam was listening to their conversation with growing fear.

~~~~~

Back in the dining room, Zach and Remi were entertaining the AEs and CAPTCHAs. Zach was telling Liddy, Tumble, Cherry, Faith, and Kali all about his plastic sword.

"His name is Jack because it rhymes with Zach," he explained. "Jack has seen many fierce battles. Or at least I assume so. I found him in one of the rooms when we were getting the cabin ready for all of you. But anyways, he is glorious and he's mine now." Faith blinked and wondered a little bit about Zach's sanity. Over in the corner, Qwinn and Lucinda were playing tag- which wasn't working out very well, the two CAPTCHAs being a dust bunny and a shapeshifter. Starlight was in the other corner under a purple blanket, wondering why more people weren't more terrified about Arya being poisoned. Abcde and Dallas were causing a bit of a ruckus asking Remi who truly was the best AE ("Since you know everything, you'll obviously know I'm the superior one!").

Then the CBers came back into the dining room. "Whats going oonnn?" Tumble asked innocently.

"Well… that's a bit more complicated than we thought," Moondrop admitted. "Don't worry, we'll tell you all about it."

Just then, Sam entered the room. "Hey, everybody," they said. "This is a shock, I know. I'm really sorry this had to happen. We're going to hold a ceremony for Arya out in the backyard, okay?"

So the group, now with no choice, came with their confused thoughts to the backyard. It started to snow on them, but it wasn't cold. Kali started to catch snowflakes on her tongue before Azalea whispered that it was disrespectful.

Though the CBers still had nagging thoughts about how this experience wasn't new, the rest of the day was decidedly quiet for most everyone. Olive painted their nails. Honeybee read a book. Orson sulked. Leafy made popcorn in the microwave and made the mistake of bringing it into the living room, where a flock of guests swiped handfuls from her bag. Morning read an Agatha Christie E-book "for research purposes". Nightfall scribbled in a notebook and glared at people fiercely if they asked what they were writing. Moondrop entertained the CAPTCHAs with her moon powers once it got late enough. Bean played the guitar. dreamii made some digital art. Jem Louise Margaret was stabbed.

Sam was the busiest. Now that the guests were beginning to discover the Mystery, Sam's initiative was becoming more important. They knew the guests would get impatient about the truth of the "mission"; they would of course want to know what they were fighting, and what they were fighting for. There had to be a loophole somewhere… a way to save the Mystery without breaking it first.

~~~~~

Dead: 1. Arya, poisoned.

Suspects: what do you guys think?

Stabbings of Jem Louise Margaret: 2

References during this day:

Ryokan Suzuran

http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/369554

The Quendor Express

http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/439713

Galaxy Ski lodge

http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/368657

Hotel Le'Faye

http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/240599  

I was reading one of TON's ski lodges yesterday and I stumbled upon something so hilarious it made my day. Since my entire word count yesterday was from taking "notes" (quoting random things and typing out an overly long plot summary) on said ski lodge, I feel I should share it with you. 🙂

At the moment, the CBers are seraching for Charlie, a CBer who went missing.

Red: Gentlewomen! We do not stop till' nightfall. Or until we find Charlie. Either one.

Bounty: But what about breakfast? 

Red: You've already had it. 

Bounty: We've had one, yes. But what about second breakfast? 

Watermelon: I don't think he knows about second breakfast, Bounty. 

Bounty: What about elevensies? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he? 

Watermelon: I wouldn't count on it. 

They then find a note that says that Charlie has been taken by aliens. They go back to the cabin.

Red: Hey, Blackberry. Guess who imitated Aragorn out there in the search party?

Blackberry: Red, on the scale of things I want to date, with 100 being Viggo Mortensen and 0 being my shoe, you're somewhere around -50. 

(Viggo Mortensen is Aragorn's actor, for reference XD) 

Top! 😀