thirdtenkaistar | Welcome to Budehuc (Open)

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Welcome to Budehuc (Open)

The Castle next to the Lake had obviously seen better days - the walls around it are crumbling in place, and the castle itself is swathed in ivy, but it was the charm of a well-worn manor with the rich red brick, and fluted white columns.

Budehuc was by no means empty - if one enters by the main steps, they would see that several shops had formed a half-circle around an old fountain, as small groups of people milled about, chatting, bartering, and sight-seeing. There are white-feathered Duck folks, tall scaly yellow and green lizardmen, people of various skin tones and costumes, it looked almost like some place out of a children's story. The whole place gave off a very welcoming, open-arms feeling to anyone passing through, or looking for a place to get off their feet.

At the gate is a young girl in plate armor, hefting a spear, carefully watching for signs of trouble, with several bundle-carrying dogs resting by her feet.

The air has the fresh clean scent of the lake, a whiff of horses, vegetables ripening in the sun, and flowers blooming on the summer day.

((Budehuc is open to all visitors, but mind your manners. If anyone acts hostile in here without good cause, Thomas will try to evict you.))

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"Uhm... actually, no one in the castle has any idea what would've done that." He swallowed a bit nervously. The rusted on the broken bits of bars seem to confirm that this happened a long, long time ago.

"Maybe the library has something, but I rarely get a chance to check it out on my free time, oh well!" He quickly moves up the stairs. "Careful, the steps are a little uneven!"

All things considered, that was probably for the best. Whatever had managed to bust out of something like that, it was something I didn't want to meet even in my worst nightmares. Though Thomas could be a LITTLE less obvious about his OWN desire not to know.

I minded the step; good thing, as I could see how it'd catch someone off guard. "Where're we headed next?"

Have you seen some of the wild life, Kyon?

"Well, the ship of course!" On the next floor is a rather-friendly, but not that bright-looking dog-man searching in some jars.

Right by it... is a grave yard with an open hole that leads to a small bridge of sorts. There's even pale blue lights flickering around the area.

"It's right through here."

Wait, were those... hitodama? And Thomas was passing right by them as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with this scenario. Either this is a common as hell thing around here, or Thomas is slightly crazier than I gave him credit for. "Uh, this cemetery's kind of... creepy," I commented, watching the lights dance.

In the back of my mind, I could hear Haruhi grill me for details on this. Not that she'd believe me even if I DID tell her about all this. The saving grace, I guess.

He glances back. "Kyon?" Thomas cocked his head, and then followed his gaze. "Oh, the ghost lights, don't worry." He gives an assuring smile. "If you don't respect the dead, they don't bother you."

"I admit there could much better places for the bridge, but this was already here." The brown-haired boy walked carefully around the three graves and the half-dug pit. He wasn't about to knock another hole in the castle. "It'll be better once you get on board."

Respecting the dead was one thing, but I sort of preferred respecting the dead when they weren't all around me. It's not supposed to WORK like that.

...but I suppose the Nexus has already screwed with THAT idea thoroughly. I miss not knowing this stuff.

I just nodded a bit, not particularly wanting to air these thoughts. If it were Haruhi, I would've let fly in a heartbeat. But Thomas? Not so much. I followed him in, wondering why a ship would have access through a place like this.

Turns out the ship had ran aground (or was tossed up) onto the cliff - a similar gap in the hull that was big enough for one of the Lizard-men to bounce on their tails through like a certain tiger-like plushie. It looked like a galleon, and if there were any valuables in it - it had long been removed and retrofitted into storage and living quarters.

"There's a nice view of the lake on deck, as well as a bath house." Thomas started. "I've been told this ship wash up in a... Oh, Hi Belle, still having problems?" He questioned as he spotted a girl hammering on a barrel with wheels and metal bits.

"Oh! Yea, Gadget Z's still can't speak correcting." She frowned.

"BZZKT... VISITOR... BZZZKT... NOT FROM HERE...BZZKT!" The 'robot' stuttered.

"What is wrong with him now?" Belle pouted as Thomas gestured for Kyon to head up before questions are asked.

Well, it was a ship all right, but its seafaring days sure were over if the big gap in the side was anything to go by. "So you guys basically converted a capsized boat into part of the castle? I have to admit that's pretty resourceful," I commented. Once again: So very glad Haruhi's not here. She'd probably want there to be pirate ghosts or something, and before you know it? Pirate ghosts. And she'd be the only one not to see them, natch.

We passed by a young girl with a... robot? If it could be called as such. A WOODEN robot, no less. I'm not sure why of all the nonsense I've seen here THIS should stand out, but it did. One would think it's slightly unfeasible to have a robot made of something combustible...

Wait, did that robot just say what I think it just said?

Thomas heavily implied that I should follow him pronto, and I figured it probably wouldn't be such a bad idea. Last thing I needed was to get completely outed by a pile of gears and bolts. Please, let there not be anything else around here to make this more complicated!

"Sebastian told me that they think it was a smuggler's ship, and they decided to abandon it when a storm had ran it around." Thomas explained as he leaned against the deck.

"And is it me, or did Gadget Z...?"

"Well, that makes as much sense as anything," I conceded, looking off the deck out towards the lake. "Their loss is your gain, I guess." More Haruhi assertions ran through my mind -- hidden treasure! Dark secrets! -- which further reminded me that the SOS Brigade was really starting to get under my skin.

I winced a bit. "Let's just hope that gets chalked down as a malfunction in the robot or something," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. Hey, technical difficulties works on everything else, right?

"Probably... apparently it's been malfunctioning for a while," Thomas remarked as he watched a kid drop a message in a bottle overboard, smiling a little.

"Bathhouse is over there," He nodded towards that direction. "perhaps for another time. I like to come out here just to think."

Right. We could run with that. I'm not sure how people around here would respond to someone like me being an interdimensional traveler anyway, and it's not like I could defend myself if it wasn't a good reaction.

...why do I have to be the slider again?

I looked towards the bathhouse, then back to Thomas. "Oh? It certainly is calming out here," I admitted, looking out. And then, because might as well while we're out here: "So, uh, you don't look like you've been sleeping well. Is everything okay?"

Thomas glanced about wearily, and once a woman came up to collect her child and left, he visibly slumps - letting his exhaustion seep through his body.

He nervously pushed his bangs from his face. "Nnnhn...not really, the nightmares wouldn't go."

Nightmares? A little knot sat in the bottom of my stomach. Well, I mean, nightmares would be expected after what he went through, right? Certainly it wouldn't be a sign of an ongoing curse. Of course not. "What sort of nightmares?" I asked anyway, not really sure I was going to like the answer.

He rested his face in his hand, ignoring a brief wave of being lightheaded. "I was in the co-courtyard, but it was all monochrome, something was really weird about the buildings, li-like they were flat and not. Everyone I knew was there, even you."

Thomas swallow. "With that ring - wanting it, te-telling me what I missed out, even my Mother...." He shook, from anger of all things.

Okay, this was looking increasingly bad on the "curse not lingering" front. But what was a dream, really? ...okay, maybe on occasion it was in reality the last stand for everything you know not being drastically rewritten by a bored and self-centered teenage girl, but that was different, right?

"Well, I'm sure it was just a dream, right? The ring's buried now. It's not like it can do anything anymore," I said reassuringly, even though I wasn't really sure I believed it. Not after what I was told...

But let's not panic Thomas here, okay?

He swallowed - okay, calm down, Thomas - don't let the bad dreams get you down.

Thomas quickly seem to perk up - but it's just very good fakery. "Ye-yeah... I mean having yo...your memories uhm, tinkered with is pretty disturbing."

In a way, I could sympathize with Thomas. How many times was it that we had relived those two weeks of summer? Hadn't Nagato said it had been nearly 500 years worth of days, of which we only had a scant memory of each iteration? I suppose it wasn't quite the same, but memory is still a precious thing.

"I'll bet. No wonder you're having nightmares. That would've given ME nightmares. Hopefully, they'll fade soon enough."

I need to do something about this lying habit.

He frowned, "Hopefully - I'm... not sure how long I can do this." Thomas had let it slipped out before he even realized it.

"Uhm! I'll be fine, really. Thanks for the concern."

I paused. Was he having doubts about his ability to lead this castle? It seemed like he was doing a fairly decent job, but maybe I was missing something? "Do what?" I asked anyway.

I shook my head. "Hey, you're the first guy I could relate to in the craziness of the Nexus. I think that warrants a little concern for your welfare," I said, grinning.

"Keep maintaining things despite not sleeping well." He leaned back.

"Well... guess that comes with being relatively 'normal' in that place... for weird definition of normal."

Oh, so he wasn't having second thoughts about running the place in and of itself. That was something of a relief, as it was good for me to see someone like him handling this sort of responsibility. It was certainly a pleasant change of pace, at any rate! "Don't worry, I'm sure this will clear up soon enough," I said.

I shook my head. "In the Nexus? I take normal where I can get it." I chuckled. "And if it happens to come from a guy running a castle full of lizardmen and ducks, I'm not about to say no."

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