paixaorpg | Jade and Zelos's Excellent Adventure [active]

Entry tags:

Jade and Zelos's Excellent Adventure [active]

Character(s): Jade and Zelos
Content: Jade and Zelos go on a magical adventure to the beach ~~or do they~~?
Setting:
Time: Not long past noon, Week 37
Warnings: Speedos

Now this? This was exactly what Zelos needed. Did he really believe all that stuff about this place being in some kind of interdimensional castle? Not really. Even with all the stuff he'd seen in his life, that was just a little too far-fetched. But it wouldn't hurt to take a look, and it got him out of that snowglobe for awhile (melting or not).

And what better find could there be if it was true than a beach? The sun, the sand, the beautiful women sprawled out on their towels just waiting for a handsome guy like him to help them put on their suntan lotion... No, if there was a chance for that, there was no way Zelos was going to miss it.

Zelos took a look around the old church, frowning a little. This place? Really? It sure didn't look much like a gateway to him. Well... maybe since that colonel wasn't here yet, he'd just sneak off to the side and get ready. It was a good thing he'd bought that thing in Altamira just in case.

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Jade adjusted his glasses and took a moment to collect himself outside the church. Even now, after all he'd been through with Luke in the others, he wasn't much of a team player, but...it made the most logical sense to have someone with him when he explored. Zelos was clearly a moron but this wouldn't be the first time dealing with someone of his type. In fact, there were certain advantages.

"Zelos?" he called as soon as he opened the door, striding within.

"Just a moment~!" Zelos called back, and after a few more minutes he exited the small side room he had slipped into. With a grin he flipped his sunglasses up to rest on top of his head, seemingly unashamed of the fact that he was currently wearing nothing but the sunglasses, his headband, a pair of sandles, and a purple speedo. "For someone who said to come ready for the beach, you sure don't look ready to hop in and swim."

A hint of suspicion twinged at the back of Zelos's mind. Something didn't really seem right here.

Edited 2012-01-17 01:17 (UTC)

"..."

What was he wearing. What was he wearing? Dear sweet Yulia...why did he have such a penchant for gathering weirdos to himself? Jade cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, forcing himself closer. "I don't have a swimsuit. It's fine, it's fine...you can have enough fun for the both of us."

He smiled his charming smile and lead the way upstairs. If what he'd read was true, it was a door somewhere up here that would lead into the so-called "Castle Oblivion."

Huh, that was a muted response, not that Zelos expected this guy to really understand. Being a pickup artist was serious work. It took an art that not many people had. The Chosen folded his arms behind his head and followed after Jade at a relaxed pace. "You should see if you can find somewhere in the city that sells them. Someone out there'll probably take you."

He looked around, unimpressed. "So what are we looking for again? Some kind of magic portal or gateway or something?"

"Ah, but I'd pale in comparison to your magnificence, I'm sure," Jade chuckled, smiling crookedly. "We're looking for a door. That's all. A regular, normal...ah." He stopped suddenly, eyes drawn to the door at the end of the hallway. So that was it? In his experience, the most average appearances often held danger.

As he approached the door, he opened it carefully. "Well, off you go~" And with that, he grabbed hold of Zelos' shoulder with surprising strength and pushed him in first.

A door? What was a door going to do? Sure, this one looked different from the others around here, but was it really that simple--ah!

Suddenly Zelos found himself stumbling into an entirely different room, only barely managing to keep on his feet. For a moment he just stared at the sterile white room around them, looking back and forth with wide eyes. "...Woah." Maybe there was something to this whole castle thing after all.

Jade followed him into the room slowly, red eyes scanning the surroundings quickly. His boots clicked on the smooth white floor, echoing in the vast silence of the hall. "Indeed." In his observation, he saw all that wasn't there...namely, any indication of a human presence. "Let's continue."

A few more awkwardly quiet moments of travel and he found what he was looking for -- the orb that would allow them easier access to the floors already unlocked. The quicker they got out of this unnerving hallway, the better.

"We'll use this to visit the next world."

Really, all Zelos could think was that it was still better than the Tower of Salvation. Sure, the lack of lived-in-ness was unnerving, but not much compared with the sea of coffins in the tower. Zelos suppressed a shudder at the memory. Yeah... The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that all this Chosen business really wasn't for him and never would be. So far he didn't have a single reason to go back. Even all those experiments they talked about on the journals... That part may not have been all that different from home, but even so...

So preoccupied was Zelos with his thoughts that he almost missed Jade going to the orb entirely. But once he noticed, Zelos was quick to hide his frown, walking up next to the colonel to stare down at the black orb. It didn't look dangerous, but Zelos wasn't goign to be the one to touch it first. "Are you sure you're seeing all this for the first time?" he asked, giving Jade a suspicious sidelong look.

"What, impressed by me already?" He smiled again, touching the orb -- immediately, a holographic display popped up over it, the light reflecting off of Jade's glasses and obscuring his eyes. "Amazing what a little reading will do." Still, based on how easily he seemed to be navigating the menu, such as it was, it really did seem like he was used to this.

"Ah, here we are. This world seems promising." And before Zelos could see what world, exactly, they'd be going to, Jade smiled a little wider and clapped his hand on his shoulder. "Off we go!"

And then they were transported.

Zelos watched the room around him shift and distort, his mouth hanging slightly open in shock. Just what the hell was this place? What kind of technology or magic could do all of this? Maybe... Maybe there were other worlds in here somewhere. "Sh, Sheesh..." he breathed, holding his palm to his head. How could that guy be taking everything in stride like this?

Although now that he got a better look at it... "Everything looks the same. You sure we actually moved anywhere?" Zelos's eyes strayed toward the doorway at the end of the hall. There was only one way to find out, wasn't there? Not that he really liked the idea of being the first one to go through.

Jade's reaction was nothing more than a quick intake of breath and furrowed brow. That was...different. Uncomfortable and strange. However, if what he'd read was true, the convenience more than made up for the strange feeling. Shaking it off, he ignored Zelos for a moment to take in their surroundings and then stride to the nearest door.

"Ah!" He looked surprised, one hand to his face as he looked out into the view he was obscuring with his body. "Look at all these beautiful women! And they're wearing such little clothing! Aren't they cold?"

Expectedly, Zelos perked right up at the mention of women and immediately came up to Jade. "What? Where? I can't see a thing. Come on, let me through!" he said quickly, squinting against the bright light filtering in from the doorway and trying to move around the colonel.

"Hello, my darling beach hunnies!♥" he called through the door as he moved around Jade. "The radiant Zelos Wilder is at your--AGH!"

It only took one step for Zelos to find himself sinking into a field of snow. It wormed its way into his sandals and pressed against his bare legs and every flake and gentle wind that blew against the rest of him stung. He held his arms against his body, shivering in the cold with a less-than-pleased expression. "That's not funny! We just left a snowglobe!"

Jade's deep chuckle preceded the crunch of his boots in the snow as he followed Zelos. Looming into the other man's personal space, he smiled widely, the reflection from the snow obscuring his eyes behind his glasses. "Oh~? Sorry, this old man's eyesight plays tricks now and again. Why don't you get changed so we can explore this area a little bit?" He moved away, arms behind his back, to take stock of their surroundings.

"Besides, there may be a woman or two here waiting for someone like you to warm them up."

Zelos shot a glare at Jade's back, but quickly went about to changing clothes, muttering to himself around chattering teeth. "So was all this just one big setup to dump me in the snow?" he asked as he pulled on a boot. HE was going to be the one needing to be warmed up by the time this was all said and done. Hopefully he'd find someone in the city that would join him. The girls here could have their snow for all he cared.

Ignoring the complaints and grumbling, Jade let his gaze wander from one gaudy decoration to the next. The lights in the nearby village were bright and colorful, red and white striped canes lining roads and...was that...a small, plump person with pointed ears? Suddenly regretting bringing Zelos here -- though not due to the others discomfort in the least -- he folded his arms and looked down at the other man with a mildly put upon expression.

"This world may not be as promising as I thought. Let's not dawdle."

Zelos's sour disposition remained as he finished dressing and walked up beside Jade. "It looks like the kids' section of an amusement park," he said, giving the red and white poles and colored lights strange looks. He wasn't sure what kind of amusement park would look like this, though, and he couldn't help but feel a little bad for the kids forced to dress up in that goofy-looking get-up.

"So what was supposed to be so great about this place to you?"

"The only thing that's constant in this place is that nothing is what it seems." He glanced at Zelos out of the corner of his eye, sliding his glasses further up his nose. "I had thought perhaps a secret or two might be hidden here to dissuade people, but..." He stopped suddenly as a reindeer pranced by, all jingle bells and happy smile.

"...I've been wrong before." Jade put his fingers to his temple and sighed. "Let's find a warm place and regroup. Why don't you ask one of the...natives for directions?"

Zelos stared after the reindeer, the whole jingle bells thing really wasn't helping this place's image. He'd rather not do anything more that the Colonel asked of him, given how well that seemed to be going so far, but the want of somewhere warm ended up finally beating out his reservations.

Awhile later he came back, looking confused. "They just stared at me for awhile and said they couldn't tell whether I should be on the 'naughty list' or the 'nice list.'"

"Really? It seems obvious to me. Naughty list." Jade gestured for Zelos to follow him into what appeared to be a cozy tavern further in the town. Inside, it was blessedly warm, but more lights and decorations awaited them, as well as a throng of the little chubby people that apparently occupied this place. "Find a place for us to sit, I'll order some drinks."

Approaching what surely had to be a bar, Jade cleared his throat. An adorable little man with rosy cheeks and a festive hat popped up. What followed seemed to be an awkward exchange and by the time he came to where Zelos had sat, he was carrying two steaming mugs of cocoa and a small smile that most certainly didn't reach his eyes.

"...they don't know what alcohol is."

Zelos kicked back in the corner of the tavern, watching the exchange between Jade and the man curiously. What was with this cheery place, anyway? All these kids (were they even kids?) were really starting to creep him out.

When Jade finally came back, Zelos stared at the mugs in silence, an odd look on his face. "...Right," he finally managed to say lamely, and took one of them from the colonel. "At least it's warm. I guess." And they were still out of the snow so he really shouldn't complain too much.

"You know, I'm really starting to think we should have headed to the beach."

"There's as many bikini-clad girls there as there is here," Jade said, taking an experimental sip from the mug. He blinked -- usually he wasn't a fan of sweet things, but this cocoa was just so...perfect. Like a warm hug from an old friend, comforting and magical.

He set it aside.

"I've already been to the beach and there's nothing there. What's the point to these floors? What purpose could they possibly serve?"

"At least it'd be warmer," Zelos grumbled underneath his breath. He set his chin in his hand and glanced down at the mug of cocoa. At least they had that, as much worth as a mug of cocoa could be.

"Maybe we're not supposed to be here," he said, shrugging. "The people in the city didn't seem to keen on letting anyone out. My guess is that the people who ended up here stumbled on something they weren't supposed to find." Zelos frowned as he said it. He'd mostly been following his thoughts there, and he really didn't like where they'd ended up. Paradise was starting to look more and more ugly as time went on. Figured it'd be just a pretty paint job.

"But it wasn't always that way," Jade said, tapping one glove-clad finger against the table in idle thought. "The mayor in the main city has only recently come into office and, unlike his predecessor, seems to have something to prove." He smiled slightly, tilting his head. "As the young always do. But before Praetoris, things were more lax and people like us came and went with far more ease...so your theory has some holes in it."

He glanced as one of the chubby little elf people burst into cheerful song with his friends...something about the spirit of giving and getting along. Jade's smile faded and he adjusted his glasses. "...and why anyone would want to come here in the first place is just as mysterious."

Zelos fought hard to keep from cringing at the sudden happy, corny song in the background, managing to express only a tight grimace for his efforts. "A young guy stuck in the old ways... great. That sounds like a lot of fun." He'd hate to think of what the guy would be like if he got older.

"Haven't you noticed yet? Paixao is fun for everyone," Jade said cheerfully, smiling sweetly despite the acid underlying his words. "Well, this floor is obviously a waste of time." He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a small, leather-bound book, a pen clasped inside. As he spoke, he wrote something within.

"There's still several others to investigate. If you'd really prefer to see the beach, we can go, but as long you promise to keep your clothes on." He snapped the book shut, smiling at Zelos. "If I see any more of your body, I may just be overwhelmed by lust and go insane~"

Zelos couldn't help but agree with the colonel there. The place was just cheery enough to be kind of creepy in a way. The only good think Zelos could think of about it was the cocoa, and even then that wasn't enough to bring him back out here.

He gave Jade an odd, slightly creeped out look and unconsciously scooted an inch or two back in his seat. "...Right." Zelos shrugged. "I guess we could go somewhere else, too. What places are in here, anyway?" Now that it turned out the weird castle thing was true.

"I suggest Halloween Town. It's close by and decidedly less cheery than this place." He snapped the book closed with one hand and placed it back inside his coat before standing up.

"I suppose I should warn you we may be in for another surprise, however." Jade lead the way out of the establishment and back into the suspiciously fluffy snow.

"...What kind of surprise?" Zelos asked suspiciously, but followed Jade nevertheless. The colonel seemed to have some idea where he was going and Zelos was curious as to just what was going on here now. He guessed he was just along for the ride for the time being.

Placing his hands in the pockets of his coat, Jade smiled back at Zelos. "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise. Let's just say you're in for an outfit change." Reading back on the network had yielded some surprising revelations for Jade -- visitors had become something more monstrous or "spooky," but only on that floor. And this was not a phenomenon unique to Halloween Town.

If this castle could change their very essence, there were some decidedly unpleasant implications for Jade to consider.

What was with this guy and secrets? "You know, it's okay if you don't have the monopoly on secrets," Zelos muttered under his breath. Still, what was he supposed to think about an "outfit change?" And exactly who was going to be doing the changing here?

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Jade and Zelos's Excellent Adventure [active]

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Apologies for shortness. >.O

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