Tensions have gotten high in The Pandemonium Complex. Winthorp hasn’t sat at the concierge desk in days and has been roaming the halls. He’s acting casual, but we can tell he’s on the prowl. Most of the tenants have locked themselves in their rooms. The few that roam the complex are either powerful enough to hold their own and defend themselves or seem to be helping Winthorp. One that Siete has been informing most about is The Wanderer. He’s a massive man draped in dark gray robes and bandages covering his right eye. Something else seems to be reporting to him too. Siete’s children say the wind blows a cold chill and he’ll stop and seemingly listen to it before continuing.
Siete’s child who was interrogated with me was reluctant to return to me, but crawled back into my ear after her mother told her she had to. The pain of the small spider fusing back into my ear felt like nothing compared to what I just went through. Gunter has gone into a meditative state as he and Siete are trying their best to find Baba Yaga and/or her door. Jim, Jon and Mila are waiting in Mila’s massive room for our calls. I have chosen to roam the halls personally. Mostly to pass Winthorp on occasion. I make sure to exchange glances to show him my resolve and that he can’t scare me like the rest. He always smiles and greets me with a tip of his straw boat hat.
There is another problem. Him has been following me, but not like before. In the past he would stand dominant in the center to show his presence, but I’ve caught Him a few times peeking around corners. I know it’s Him by the fedora shaped hat that tops this shadow man’s head. So far no Her though. A problem I will most likely have to deal with soon. I’ve also passed Oddo and Desiree in the halls too. We exchange pleasantries, but they’re still a bit standoff-ish. They mentioned something seems off about me now, but I didn’t want to talk about what I went through after we met. They’re still new and I can tell they either don’t know the complex is on high alert or they don’t seem to care.
I’ve also passed The Wanderer that Siete has been telling me about. Once in passing I guess I was too close for his comfort, and he shoved me hard into the side wall without even looking at me. His one eye stared off ahead and I was seemingly just an eye sore for him to put aside. Siete was also correct in the cold chill that’s flowing through the halls. It surrounded Oddo, Desiree and I when we were speaking, and they definitely noticed it too. Desiree snapped her fingers, and the wind was blown back hard through the halls. I think that hinted to them that something was going on. I’ve also noticed the others that are also roaming the halls.
Everyone who’s roaming seems to be looking at the doors as well. I’ve been keeping an eye out for the woman who gave me the ominous warning or a door that looks like it would belong to a cabin. So far, I’ve seen more unfamiliar doors, but none resembling that. The halls of the complex are also beginning to shift more and more. Here if you round a corner and turn back you might come across different doors than what you passed before, but now the doors seem to be changing when you just turn away from them. Halls that seemed long but had an end in sight are now stretching infinitely and have cross section corridors. It’s becoming a maze, but I still have my keys so I can always find my way back to my room effortlessly.
I’ve also noticed that Him isn’t the only one trying to follow me. Some other creatures and beings have tried, but when I sprint and turn down some halls, I can lose them after a while. One that has been on my tail more often than the others is an albino humanoid raptor looking creature draped in a red hooded robe. His red robe matches the decor of the complex halls, but his pale white skin gives him away when I use my peripheral vision to watch behind me. I keep trying to lose it, but when I do I keep running into it eventually and it’s back on my tail. I was in the midst of losing it when I ran into Winthorp again. This time he decided to stop for a chat. He asked me if I’m looking for something, but all I answered back with was a hard glare full of hatred. Winthorp just chuckled back in my face which pissed me off even more.
I can hear Siete’s voice saying something in my ear, but my rage is deafening me. You know I don’t think a tenant has ever hated me more than you, Winthorp continues saying. I noticed there’s someone far behind Winthorp in the halls but kept staring into the mad god’s eyes. I knew Winthorp noticed too when he slightly peered behind his shoulder. Without looking I already knew it was Him by the darkness he permeated. I barely heard the, well maybe one, under Winthorp’s breath. Siete is yelling something loud in my ear, but I focused all my effort into the opposite ear as to hear only Winthorp. His mocking grin infuriates me to no end. He told me whatever I was planning won’t work and that I should just get comfortable. He even fixed up my room to make a suite look like a broom closet as an apology for our last encounter.
He definitely noticed how little I cared judging by his reaction. A cold chill surrounded us and I also then noticed Him was gone. Someone was coming our way behind Winthorp, but this unfazed Winthorp. He continued our chat; I had a very old friend that you remind me a lot of. Not your personality, looks or even spirit, but your hatred towards me makes you almost identical. I can feel the floors trembling and a warm air behind me mixes with the cold breeze. It’s in the eyes. Your eyes that can see almost all but choose to glare at me reminds me so much of-. Siete is screaming something and the wind blowing around us is mixing temperatures like crazy. I can see now the being coming up behind Winthorp is The Wanderer. The floor is shaking almost, but I can’t help but focus on the being that ruined my life before me.
1 word made everything change. -Klaus. As the name escaped Winthorp’s lips I tried my best to not react, but I knew it wouldn’t matter even if I didn’t react. Winthorp’s grin slowly became a scowl almost as soon as that name reached my ears. He knows. The floor feels like a small earthquake as the hot and cold winds around us blow hard like a small tornado. The Wanderer walked around Winthorp, but his face finally displayed something I thought almost impossible before, concern. I was suddenly pulled hard backwards and felt a familiar softness of green fur. Jim grabbed me and ran away with Jon. He held me behind and due to his speed, I was off the floor easily and able to peer behind me. Adrenepae, blocked their path behind us.
Adrenepae from what I heard was the wife of Apollo. They lived together in the complex, but she always hated the gods of old. Once they moved in here, she found out that the old gods were nothing but spirits and avatars of the elements. Their power tricked humans into worshiping them and believing their omnipotent gods, but they were nothing but greedy and blood thirsty beings. She practiced magic of her own and killed Apollo in his sleep one night and consumed his heart to gain his power. After that her body was engulfed in flames that she couldn’t control. Her body is a constant state of infinite fire that can match the sun itself. The only thing that can match that fire is her hatred towards the old gods. This stems from what they did to her beloved little sister, Medusa. When her gaze met The Wanderer’s, her screams were high and deafening. The halls were almost consumed entirely in a fire of colors ranging all over the rainbow. Loud booms and cracks can be heard in the blinding fire filled halls.
Thankfully Jim and Jon are fast. We ran and turned down every hall to escape the fire following behind us. Jim swung me to his chest and held me tight as he picked up his speed. I can hear my name being called over and over again. I then focused on Siete words. I responded and she sounded relieved that I finally snapped back. They found the door. When they were trying to inform me I was in the midst of listening to Winthorp. When she noticed what I was doing she sent out Jim and Jon to get me. That’s when she also noticed The Wanderer was approaching and I was being questioned again. Siete knew of Adrenepae’s hatred and power while she was roaming the halls as well, not too far away. She had Jon run and punch her as hard as he could to get her attention and chase them.
We kept running until the flames could no longer follow us. Siete had one of her children watching the door at all times to make sure it wouldn’t disappear or move. Gunter came around a corner and easily matched Jim and Jon’s speed. He had Mila wrapped around him and held his cornucopia down to not lose Siete either. It took us a few minutes to get to where the door was. It was an old dark wood with patches of moss. It was 5 vertical loose planks of slightly different sizes held together by 3 horizontal rusty iron slabs bolted in. We stared for a few seconds before Jim broke the tense silence, do we just knock or… Gunter walked up with wide eyes and knocked softly. He called out to Baba Yaga and told her it was him in a soft voice.
A few seconds passed and we heard what sounded like a ton of locks behind unlocked one by one. Gunter turned towards us and awkwardly said, she likes her privacy. After that last lock sounded we waited a few moments for either the unlocking to continue or the door to open. After a moment Gunter opened the door slowly. He entered first and we followed close behind. Her cabin almost exactly matched her door. Everything was mostly dark mossy wooden furniture and being held together by rusted iron works. Candles of red and black dimly lit the living room. Jon closed the door behind us and tried his best to lock it back up. We all looked around cautiously while Gunter called out to her. At first, he kept saying Baba Yaga, but then got shyer and said Babi. Jim, Jon and I exchanged odd looks and mouthed, Babi?, to each other in confusion.
The floor planks below us started secreting a familiar black smoke that covered the floor and ankle height, but no higher. We all looked around and prepared as best we could. Mila was the first to notice the black smoke rising behind Gunter and it was fully formed into Baba Yaga before she could warn him. It was too late. Gunter was barely able to look behind him before her hand swiftly smacked him across the head. Her hits were fast and fierce. Gunter had zero time to react. Blow after blow of light slaps all across his unprotected body and she yelled in an unfamiliar language I couldn’t understand, but a tone I knew all too well. She was furious and we couldn’t help as Gunter was on the receiving end of a wife’s punishment.
Gunter tried pleading with a thousand sorries, but they fell on deaf ears. Jon giggled behind us at the spectacle and was met with a thrown shoe to the face from the cabin owner that stopped him in his tracks. Gunter held his hand up in a giving up motion. The woman in the familiar black wedding dress threw her mourning veil back to unveil her face. She was…beautiful. This was not the same woman who gave me the ominous warning. She wore the same clothes and looked similar, but younger. Her pale skin and sunken eyes matched Gunter’s, but she could give Morticia Addams a run for her money. After yelling for a while and cornered our poor Gunter she stopped and stared hard.
She lunged at him, and he braced himself as best he could. She embraced him hard and held him tight. Gunter looked surprised at first, but then his expression changed to a look of sorrow. I did understand the next words she said in english, I found you. Gunter held her tightly back and we all just stood awkwardly. I saw Jon wipe a tear away like he was watching a romance movie. Gunter apologized again and kissed her with a passion of long-lost lovers. He explained that he didn’t leave her and that he entered the complex unwillingly and got trapped ever since. She asked how and he told her that he was looking for herbs that could help her and add to their garden but found a door in the middle of the woods and walked inside. She stared at him blankly and slapped him across the head again. You don’t enter random doors you just find, you’re a fae. That’s rule 1 of any fae you moron, she lectured.
We all heard an, ow, in our heads and Baba Yaga looked at Gunter’s cornucopia confusingly. She removed it to find Siete on Gunter’s bald head. She apologized sincerely and extended her hand to Siete. She crawled onto Baba’s hand, and she kept complimenting how beautiful Siete was. She was sitting there petting Siete with her pointer finger gently when Jim let out a very obvious cough to get her attention. She turned and then awkwardly started noticing the others in her living room. She gave a very awkward hello and wave before obviously whispering to Gunter who we are. Gunter apologized for the thousand and one time and started introducing us. He started with Siete and Mila who Baba Yaga seemed to adore. Then introduced Jim and Jon who were hunched over to fit in the cabin.
She then apologized and made a few motions with her unoccupied hand that expanded the room to fit all of us comfortably. Jim and Jon stood up straight and cracked their backs in relief while thanking her. Jon and Baba Yaga seemed to be akin to each other as they talked for a while about Jim and their relationship while she added her two cents about Gunter and her’s. She even mentioned how odd it was that their species even found each other since they descend from different parts of the world. Jon explained how they met, and Baba Yaga listened with full intent as she seemed to love the story. She then turned towards me, and I gave her a raised hand in hello.
Her expression from Jon and her positive greeting was forcibly held on to not show her real feelings towards me, but her fallen brows gave it away. She just turned to Gunter and said, a basic human? Gunter happily introduced me and told her I’m no basic human and failed to quietly whisper that I can remove my limbs at will. The sparkle returned to Baba Yaga’s face and yelled, really? I did my crappy removable thumb trick to show her how stupid Gunter was to believe it but was only met with his matched astonishment from the couple. Jim and Jon just held their faces in disappointment and we all silently agreed to not even bother trying to explain it this time.
We asked Baba Yaga how she also ended up in the complex and she informed us first to call her Babi. She explained that after Gunter disappeared, she tried looking for him all over the woods, the fae world and a couple magical realms but couldn’t find him. She’s been searching through time, space, realities and realms to find her Gunter but kept turning up nothing. She then tried using a tracking spell using one of his hairs and her cabin fused to The Pandemonium Complex. I was first to question, Gunter doesn’t have any hair, but then he too enthusiastically started undoing his pants to argue. We all collectively told him no, never mind and we got it while Babi was quietly watching him too intensely.
She’s been trapped in her cabin for decades before we even knocked. Something about the complex wouldn’t let her open her door. We’re guessing because she’s not a tenant she couldn’t access her door and therefore can’t enter nor leave the complex either. A trapped guest. We sat there for hours catching her up with everything and she was very insightful. We learned that Winthorp might be what she calls a pocket god. A god that is only all powerful in his own pocket dimension. They’re weaker than true universal gods, which explains his limited ability and the complex itself is his pocket dimension given sentience to try to make up for the lack of full godly power. We all told her our stories and how we found this place or how it found us.
My story piqued her curiosity when I explained to her my gifts. She asked to see them, and I gave her my keys, but told her I keep the blank red book in my room. She sounded disappointed to hear that I didn’t bring the book and then started inspecting my keys. She remarked how the bind on the gold key is so unique and perfect, but the silver key is like looking into a slot machine that has near infinite combinations. She asked what Winthorp said when I was given these. I told her,
“The gold key was for my room and my room alone and the silver key can open everything else.”
She laughed and stated, that’s why gods should leave spells to the professionals. She made the key hover between her palms as she waved like she was playing an instrument. An aura glowed from the key in a color I’ve never seen before. Images of transparent keys that looked identical seemed to come from nowhere and fused into my silver key. They started slow and few and became faster and plentiful. She explained, a simple word can throw a wrench in any spell and can make it better or worse. It can cause balance and harmony or chaos. Even the tone of a word spoken can affect the results greatly. This was either done intentionally or by accident I will never know, but-. The transparent keys stopped combining into mine and it began to hum -the silver key can unlock everything else.
I asked what the difference was, and she explained that when Winthorp said open it caused the key to open random doors. Her new spell now makes my key unlock everything else. No more randomness. I thanked her and put my key back with the other. We continued explaining to Babi everything else that’s currently happening and what threw me off is that this all seemed like news to her. I asked her what she meant by what she told me, and she just returned a confused look. She said she’s never met or seen me before and that she’s been locked in her cabin since the convergence. She asked what she supposedly said.
A door with no lock can only be open with the key.
Bound with binds of metal seals intertwined.
For the boundless wish to be freed.
Fate will be your friend and foe but destiny will know sorrow.
The House of Klaus is on the move.
For what lies in the depths of The Complex is about to be unleashed.
I told her what happened after Mila’s fight and what she looked like. Babi explained that she never changes her age like that and if that’s what she looked like then she must’ve actually been that old. She mentioned before that she can travel through time, but it’s a lot more complicated than that and she shouldn’t have been able to even speak to you with her power. If it was her then this must be really big for her to one, be able to do that and two, break the rules of time travel to give me that message. She fears the consequences that she’ll have to face in the future for doing that. Babi also mentioned that the first line in her warning is now coming to fruition. I asked what she meant, and she explained that the fact that she just gave my key a new spell means that the first line in her warning will now work.
If my key could only open doors, then how could I open a door with no lock. A door with no lock can’t be opened since it must be bound with something else. Bound with binds of metal seals intertwined sounds like more of a description than anything. I cut her off, a padlock. She said that makes sense and I told her no, it’s not a guess. Everyone stopped thinking and listened as I continued. There’s a door that sometimes appears. I never thought much about it since all the doors in the complex are so unique, but I’ve seen an old door that is chained shut and, in the center, holding all the chains together is a padlock. A door with no lock can only be open with the key! Bound with binds of metal seals intertwined! The door itself isn’t locked and can’t be open, but it can be unlocked! I yelled excitedly. Babi asked where I saw the door last.
I thought hard and remembered the stairwell. It appeared before me, but disappeared before I could use my key on it. I wonder if it knew it wouldn’t work yet. The stairwell is dangerous even for all of us. Siete cut me off with a soft, no. She knows where it is. We saw it not too long ago. If she’s thinking about the same door, then it’s waiting for us. I asked her where. Siete said she saw it when she was looking for Babi’s door. It’s in front of my room’s door. Siete checked again. It’s still there. I told her that’s awesome since I have my gold key and we can be there in a second. Siete said there’s a problem. I told her we’ll be so fast that Winthorp and The Wanderer won’t even see us. Plus, they’re probably still dealing with Adrenepae. Siete said that they’re not the problem.
Her is standing in between our doors. She’s staring at my door, like she’s waiting. I knew this was eventually going to be a problem. Of course, it just so happens to be at the worst time. Babi asked who Her was. We explained Her and Him as best we could, and Babi said that they sound like manifestations of some sort. Babi asked if she could be tuned in to the hive mind like us and Siete said she always keeps 2 kids on her just in case. One crawled from Siete’s hidden under belly and Babi put it in her ear. She tuned in with us and meditated like Gunter was. She said Him was also watching down the hall. Her and Him are definitely manifestations, but she’s never seen ones like those before. She also said something unseen is watching the halls. The wind has eyes. Babi held Siete to expand their abilities. The Wanderer has a wind djinn that he’s bound to himself.
The Wanderer and Winthorp also are wandering the halls again. Adrenepae must’ve been forced back into her room. So much for our distraction. Babi said she could distract Her and Him, but she’s bound to her cabin still and can’t project out without being a tenant. Jim and Jon said they have an idea on how to fix that. Winthorp and The Wanderer are closing in to my room as well and we’re going to have to move fast. It seems everyone knows what we’re up to now and we don’t have much time left anymore. I can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right. Wish us luck. We’re going to need it.