paixaorpg | The Happiest Place On Earth?

Entry tags:

The Happiest Place On Earth?

Character(s): Genie and Death
Content: Genie enters Paixao surprised to meet up with Death of all people in what he believes is still Disney World.
Setting: Vanaheim
Time: Afternoon
Warnings: None!

This wasn't the line to see Animal Kingdom's 'Tree Of Life', was it? Last he could recall, there was only one tree, not two. The fourteen-story masterpiece had been sculpted by more than a dozen artisans, the swirling tapestry holding over three hundred animal carvings. This work of art held none. Perhaps the attraction was under reconstruction?

Taking a place in line, the rather perplexing blue being summoned a map of Disney's Animal Kingdom in hopes to locate his destination. Perhaps this was a new installment they had yet to add to their park map? He was almost certain he was on 'Discovery Island'. After 'Donald's Safari Breakfast', he had been just pumped to explore the rest of 'Africa' before heading down to Discovery Island. Ah, yes, all you can eat Mickey Waffles, scrambled eggs, and honey glazed-ham. He was stuffed after that meal.

After applying plenty of suntan lotion, throwing on a pair of flip flops, his Goofy baseball cap, and ugliest beach shirt he owned, he was ready to go. Now all that was left to figure out was his-

"Name?" came a rather ennui voice from behind the genies his map.

Confused, he slowly brought his map down to find himself before a tall booth. Ah, a park entrance, no doubt. Must be for security reasons or something. He shrugged.

"Well hello to you too!" he greeted warmly, a large smile stretching across his lips with ease. "How are you on this simply gorgeous day? I heard it was supposed to rain today but thankfully all those storm clouds got out here! Now it's nothing but beautiful sun. Speaking of which, are you getting sun enough sun today?

The man quirked an eyebrow, pausing for only a moment. This guy was just so... Happy. Hardly anyone was pleased to find themselves here, it made for an unusual change. "Yeah, sure. Can I have your name?"

"Certainly! You can call me Genie. It's spelled 'G' as in George, not 'J' as in 'Jhon', 'E' as in 'Egypt' which I had the pleasure of seeing just last week, 'N' as in 'nacarat', a bright orange-red colour if you're unfamiliar with it, 'E' again as in 'eBay', an online alternative to traditional collecting where 'mint condition' means only kinda-"

"I'll figure it out." the blonde interrupted, irritably glaring down at his paperwork as he scribbled over it fiercely.

"Hey," Genie began, suddenly seen just barely peaking over the mans desk inside the booth, similar to how a child would. "Whatcha doin', grumpy gills?"

Surprised by this, the poor citizen leapt from his chair. "GAH! HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?!"

Catching the man in his arms, the genie chuckled. "I used the door."

The citizen began to kick in protest, wishing to be placed down. He granted the gentleman's request, soon leading to finding himself being pushed out of the booth. "You can't be in here, get out! Get out!"

"But I'm just need directions to 'The Tree Of Life'!" he protested, pointing to the map in his hand. In response, the citizen only shoved a blue device into his hands before giving him one final shove out of the booth and slamming the door.

Returning to the front of the booth, Genie opened his mouth to ask a similar question. However, before he could so much as let a sound out, the man behind the glass window pulled the blind down reading in large, bold letters 'closed'.

"And here I thought this was the happiest place on earth." he said to himself before wandering into the city.

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FAR FROM IT, ACTUALLY, came the response from the other side of the gates, ESPECIALLY WITH RECENT EVENTS.

Death's meeting with the Doctor the previous night had been rather uneventful. He was glad to have imparted his information to someone who seemed like they would be able to do something with it, and for now he was looking to see if he could possibly find any other useful tidbits.

He saw no harm in warning the newcomers to the city, especially after what had happened to Timon's friend (and consequently to Timon). Forewarned, as humans seemed to be fond of saying, was forearmed.

I WOULD BE CAREFUL IF I WERE YOU, he finished.

"Hm?" Turning to find the source of the voice, Genie found the last person he expected find be here: Death himself. "WHOA!" he cried in surprise, leaping right out of his shoes -er, sandals, rather. Now he knew what good a jump he must have given the poor citizen back in the booth, or at least had an idea.

Catching himself in midair, he, unfortunately, found he could not catch his belongings as well. His map and journal tumbled to the ground beside his now forgotten flip flops as the genie quickly zipped toward the Grim Reaper. He circled the psychopomp many times curiously.

"Of all people, I certainly wasn't expecting you to be here." the genie finally said, giving the old bag of bones a good slap on the back. "Do you ever know how to make an entrance."

Reeling himself in closer, he brought his arm over Death. "How's it hangin', Grim? And, if you don't mind me asking, why so serious?"

The now white, Joker faced genie's intention was only to kid, for he had not forgotten Death's warning. Given who it was from, Genie knew it was quite serious. Though, he would surely like to know what was responsible for such caution. What were these recent events he had mentioned?

He licked his red, poorly painted lips before brushing his loose green hair from his face and speaking again. "What is it everyone here is up to nowadays, hm?"

It had been a while since someone had been so loudly surprised in response to Death's appearance. He'd almost gotten used to people treating him as though he weren't out of the ordinary. Almost.

Then again, everything this blue person did seemed to be loud and exaggerated. The backslap both drove home that point and nearly knocked Death to his knees. THANK YOU, he replied, swiftly regaining his balance. I THINK.

VERY LITTLE GOOD, he replied simply, realizing that everybody in the nearby vicinity could hear him. Sometimes, that was a good thing; when imparting sensitive information, however, it turned into a bit of a disadvantage. ONE NEED ONLY CHECK THE NETWORK TO SEE, he intoned, removing his journal from his robe and puzzling slightly over just who this blue newcomer could possibly be. Death had never seen him before, yet the blue man was greeting him like he was an old friend. It was simply another mystery to add to the growing list.

Returning to his normal state, or at least as normal as Genie could be, he allowed Death some space as he listened attentively to what he had to say. However, it wasn't very long before he found himself confused. Network? What network? And exactly what event could have possibly occurred to suck the happiness out of Disney World?

He raised a brow as the skeleton revealed a device from his robe that was strikingly familiar. "A Nintendo DS? No Way! You play? Oh, we are totally battling Pokemon! -you're into that, right? I've been leveling up my bad boys all week. Whose in your line up? I've got..."

Trailing off as he continued to observe the item in dear Grim's possession, the genie realized something. "Wait a minute, that's not a DS. That looks like... Like... Hm." Snapping his fingers in hopes of the memory returning to him, a light bulb appeared above his head, simply levitating. It wasn't until the jinni shouted in true recognition, 'AH HA!', the bulb lit up.

Giving the bulbs pull chain a tug to switch it off, it vanished into thin air before he flew over to where he had dropped his possessions just moments ago. He picked up his journal, as well as his map, and studied both carefully. It appeared the 'Nintendo' was some sort of communication device, something that he was far from new with. He caught on to how to use the journal in a matter of seconds.

"Ah, I see..." he said, scanning over a few recent posts quickly. "Disney World has developed a rat problem. Don't worry! Nothing I can't take care of for yeah! As long as you can point me to the 'Tree Of Life'."

Death simply remained silent through the entire exchange. He'd come to the conclusion that talking with this blue man was not unlike talking to a wizard: they tended to speak at great length about nothing, but the bottom line was there if you knew where to look. After decades - centuries - of summons by wizards, Death could pick out a conversational point that was no sharper than your average wheel.

The long and short of this man's words were that he was rather mistaken as to where he was and he was willing to help.

But first things first. THERE ARE NO LIVING TREES IN THIS PLACE, Death intoned, NOR ANY OTHER PLANT LIFE FOR THAT MATTER. WHERE IS IT EXACTLY YOU THINK YOU ARE?

A pause was given between Death's words and Genie's response, and a lengthy one at that. He had heard Grim's words clearly, but the thought itself was hazy. No plant life? Here? How absurd. What about the 'Gardens of the World'? He fondly remembered learning the secrets behind the lush landscapes and gorgeous gardens of the Walt Disney World Resort. In fact, he planned to apply many elements in which he had learned to his own garden. So how could Death say such a thing?

Maybe it was a joke? No, no. That couldn't be it. He was hardly the jokester. This seemed to serious to be a joke, anyway. Still, the jinni was tempted to ask wither this was part of some attempt to be facetious.

Turning his map to face Death, he revealed the many attractions, resorts, restaurants, and much, much, more in what had become known as 'The Happiest Place On Earth'.

"Walt Disney World?" Genie asked sheepishly, allowing the characters on his map to jump about and wave to the Grim Reaper before they began talking amongst themselves.

Death looked impassively at the map turned to face him. This man could never be a wizard - the enchantment was entirely too clever and too easy done, and he'd not known wizards to disguise themselves so frequently and with such great abandon. This, he decided, must be a djinn of some sort, though it certainly had a greater sense of humor than those he'd met on the Disc.

He swept a hand through the enchantment on the journal. TRY "PAIXAO."

"Paixao?" he repeated, pausing briefly in puzzlement. "Must of taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque!" Giving a loud, hardy, laugh at his own joke, the genie tosses his map aside. "No need to keep that then. Better find one more appropriate. I must have a map or something here somewhere."

Summoning a stack of tour guides, maps, and several other useful sources tourist information before him, a tall shadow fell over Death. But, as quickly as it had appeared, it began to shrink. Genie, now hidden behind the descending tower, could still be heard as he searched through the pile. "Let's see... Paixao, was it? Paixao, Paixao, Paixao... How do you spell that? P.I.E.S.H.O- How did this get in here?"

Revealing a kids colouring sheet from a anonymously named restaurant, the jinni's attention was instantly absorbed in the unfinished maze puzzle. He simply could not rest until he successfully lead 'Ollie the Olive' through the maze and to his friend 'Liza' at the exit. Taking a seat, he chipped away at solving the maze with a blue crayon he had produced just for the task.

Finding herself in a strange places was quickly becoming something of a familiarity to Susan. Not that she appreciated it any more, all the same - and the fact that it hadn't been by her own will this time didn't help matters again. Really, you'd think that an anthropomorphic incarnation would be able to deal with his own problems. And without dragging her into some strange places that kept a lid over... was that a city? That had to be one of the worst concepts she'd ever seen.

Honestly she had half a mind to simply leave this place and return to Ankh-Morpork. Or at least, would have if not for a morbid sense of curiosity as to just what she was supposed to be doing this time, not to mention a vague sort of curiosity as to why anyone would want to stand in line to get into a city. And the fact that nearly everyone in line was blond wasn't precisely comforting either. But there wasn't any real option, and the line moved relatively fast at the least, so within a manner of moments she was heading in through the gate.

Conveniently enough, the very person she wanted to speak wasn't far away. He hadn't ever been hard to spot in crowds, and that blue ... whatever-it-was that was standing nearby wasn't something you normally see either. But it wasn't important right now. Death was.

"Grandfather. I thought you'd had enough of interfering with my life."

THERE IS A MAP ON THE JOURNAL ITSELF... Death's attempt to inform the djinn trailed off as the djinn was once again distracted with...something. A children's game from the looks of it. Death watched for a few seconds, idly pondering how a creature with such a limited attention span had survived for so long.

He saw the woman arrive - Susan Sto Helit, said the name - heard her address - she was searching for her grandfather, it seemed - and ignored it. With any luck she would find this grandfather of hers, but Death wished to know more about the djinn before him.

A few seconds of mutual silence passed before he realized that no grandfather was responding to the woman's comment. Odd.

A few more seconds of that same silence passed before he realized that the woman was still there and still looking at him. He looked back at her, then turned around to see if perhaps this grandfather was behind him.

Not a soul. Not unless this woman was related to one of the Paixaoan citizens, and Death highly doubted that.

Thoroughly confused, he turned to face the woman once again. EXCUSE ME?

Genie hummed to himself idly as his crayon traveled down the page. Things were going smoothly before he found a wall blocking his path. But there was an opening on the side, so he decided to take that route. This lead to three new paths, puzzling the djinn momentarily. He wasn’t sure which to choose, for they all looked promising.

There was only one way to settle this.

"Eenie Meenie Miney Moe," he began, singing the tune softly to himself before selecting a path and continuing on his journey. "Hang on, Ollie! You're in good hands. We're almost- Where'd this wall come from?" Frowning, he realized he had leaded himself straight into a dead end. But he could retrace his steps, and thus he brought himself back to the three paths he had found himself at earlier. This was tough, how was a kid supposed to figure this stuff out?

Speaking of kids, Genie suddenly found his thoughts interrupted by a young woman's voice. His gaze traveled up from his activity sheet at her questioningly. What was left of his tower of books disappeared into a cloud of blue smoke, his crayon and maze puzzle following shortly after.

"Grandfather?" he repeated, following the woman's line of sight to Death. Since when had Grim become a grandfather? It didn't sound as though he knew himself with his confused response. How puzzling.

Taking a step back, he observed the two.

Susan's first impulse was to slap some sense into Death. After all he couldn't possibly have forgotten about her, not when he remembered everything. But since that would have done nothing save for earn her a sore hand, that urge was quickly smothered under the blanket of common sense.

"I know you don't forget things, so you can't possibly have forgotten about me," she accused. Or at least, not without things being deeply, seriously wrong.

"And yes, grandfather," she answered to the other question, although it was more an after though than anything else.

[Aaaaaand almost a month later...sorry. ;;;]

Were it possible for Death to be truly confused or truly curious, he would certainly have been scratching his head at this point. With no emotions, however, the best he got were mild befuddlement and keen interest. Somehow this young woman piqued both of them in him. He knew of a Sto Helit family on the Disc, but his interactions with them had been...limited, to say the least. How could she have known him?

YOU ARE CORRECT, he intoned thoughtfully, I DO NOT. I ALSO DO NOT REMEMBER YOU. A bit harsh, certainly, but there was no sense in beating around the bush. QUITE THE CONUNDRUM, ISN'T IT.

If anyone was up for a family reunion, it was Genie. It didn’t need to be his family for him to enjoy himself, although in this particular case it seemed a lot more complicated than the norm. None the less, if what this woman had stated was true, and that dear Grim was indeed her grandfather, they had a lot of catching up to.

Eager to help the two, he snapped his fingers and summoned a chair behind both Death and Susan, motioning the two to take a seat. In the process, the jinn acquired a grey suit as well as a matching mustache and side hair. However, the top of his head remain completely bald.

“My first guest says that Death, otherwise known as Grim Reaper, is her grandfather.” He began, looking where one might suspect a camera to be if Genie were actually hosting some form of T.V talk show. “Today we are joined by both individuals in hopes of finding some answers, and, if possible, bringing them closer together. To start things off, I feel I need to ask what everyone at home, in the audience, Death here, and myself are probably wondering: why is it you believe so strongly that this semi-omnipotent being is your grandfather?”

Dr.Phil, eat your heart out.

Impossible. Well, not entirely impossible. There had been that bit about Mort changing history accidentally, if she remembered her family history correctly. But that was over and done with. Therefore, she and her family should exist within Death's memory.

But that was suddenly of less importance as soon as ... Death's current companion spoke up again. Why did she believe that Death was her grandfather? The simple answer was because he was, for all that he was a skeleton. But sometime genetics were passed on through the soul. This was one of those times.

"BECAUSE HE IS," she answered simply, voice echoing with the same sort of tones and subharmonics as Death's voice itself did. A voice which brooked very little argument.

Death remained silent both through the djinn's accent and after the rather unexpected turn of hearing Susan use his voice - his voice, which no living creature could mimic or resist.

Intriguing indeed.

WERE YOU AWARE, he began after several long moments of that same silence, THAT THIS CITY SOMETIMES BRINGS PEOPLE OF THE SAME WORLD FROM DIFFERENT TIMES? It was the only explanation that made anything resembling sense, or what passed for "sense" in the city.

Well... There really was no arguing with that tone. The objects he had summoned vanished, his own ensemble following shortly after. Without a word, Genie quickly sat himself in midair and watched the two in levitation. Now seemed as good a time as any to stop talking.

Listening to Death finally speak, he refrained the best to his ability -by literally zipping his mouth closed- from interrupting. There were many questions that this produced, many of which Susan would hopefully ask for him.

To be perfectly blunt, she hadn't been. On the other hand, it seemed patently outrageous. Except for the part that Death didn't know what he should have. And for Death to not know there was either something seriously wrong or his telling the truth.

"You're telling me," she began, disbelief all too clear in her voice, "that you're from a time before me?"

It was an easy explanation, yes. But easy wasn't always right.

Death wasn't too fond of the explanation himself: he too was wary of easy, as easy often either covered up or created something very difficult indeed. It was an explanation that had been presented in the city before, however, with several notable examples (if the message boards could be believed).

He did not miss the djinn's actions, and while he didn't quite catch the reference he definitely appreciated the gesture. If this person was truly his granddaughter, then they had a good bit of catching up to do.

THAT IS HOW IT SEEMS.

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The Happiest Place On Earth?

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