Olivia's room
Inside this room are several pieces of well-worn furniture, inherited from past occupants: a bed, a long, squat dresser with a slice of mirror hung above it, and a small desk and chair. The rest of the room is decorated in what can best be described as "controlled chaos." Canvases cover most of the wall space, on which have been glued odd assortments of buttons, twine, bits of colored cloth, autumn leaves, pebbles of varying sizes, etc. Some of this "art" represents recognizable figures but most are unlike anything ever seen before. Overflowing bags stuffed with cloth scraps sit near the doorway, while more cloth, bobbins of thread, yarn, and ribbons cover the surface of the desk. Located next the bed is something that might be a nightstand (judging from the trinkets resting on it), but it too is built from a mishmash of smaller elements, twisting around and around like a corkscrew and then widening and flattening at the top.

After listening to the voice cylinders the other day, Olivia was prepared to have disturbing dreams, but if she did she can't remember them. Maybe a glass of warm milk before bed really does make a difference? And it's a good thing too, since she has the morning shift today… if she can get dressed quickly enough.

Olivia wakes to the sounds of other apprentices who also have the morning shift banging around in their own rooms, getting ready for the day. Slowly, she groans and sits up in bed, then throws the blankets off her body. Once she's up and moving, however, she gets herself together rather quickly except for her hair, which she pauses to brush and braid in front of her little bit of mirror.

Once that is accomplished, the last thing Olivia does before exiting her room is plunk her rose-hat on her head – after emptying the secret pocket of any old, leftover food bits. Then she walks to the main weaving room; a late breakfast will come after she has finished her shift.

As Olivia is heading to the main weaving room, one of the newer apprentices darts by. "Come on, you're going to be late," she calls back to Olivia. "And I doubt your Aunt is going to accept any excuses about being delayed by an amorous bat, this time. Even if the bat did keep you up late last night; that was quite a squeaking racket!"

Olivia comes to an abrupt halt at this. "What did you just say?" she asks the other apprentice, incredulous. "Amorous bat? Squeaking noises? There was nobody but me in my room last night!"

"If you say so!" the other apprentice calls back and waves. Giggling, she disappears around a corner.

Olivia shakes her head and continues on, really not wishing to be late. What in the world was she talking about? she thinks.

There's the usual crowding around the sign-in board, as nobody wants to be officially late. By the time Olivia gets her chance with the chalk… she sees that she's already been signed in, and fifteen minutes ago by the clock over the chalkboard.

Olivia puts down the chalk and stares hard at the sign-in board, trying to see if she recognizes the handwriting.

It sure likes like her handwriting.

Olivia rubs at her temples for a few seconds before heading over to her assigned loom. I've been doing too many other things lately and it's starting to affect my memory… yes, that must be it…

"Took a break already?" another apprentice comments to Olivia as he darts by. "You went to your loom not ten minutes ago! You won't meet quota at this rate!"

Click-clack-swoosh goes the loom, already being run… and at a good clip faster than Olivia would normally do it. The Skeek working it is dressed in familiar clothing, and even wears the same hat as she works the shuttle. The apprentices to either side begin to look worried as they try to keep up with the pace being set.

Olivia starts to grab the passing apprentice by the arm and demand to know what he's talking about, but she soon sees the source of his confusion. Getting rather irritated now, she approaches the person sitting in her place and taps her on the shoulder. "What are you doing here?" she huffs. "I'm supposed to be the one working this loom!"

The worker's head turns slightly, and for a moment… she has no pupils in her eyes, and maybe her fingers seem just a bit too long. But then the face is the one Olivia just saw in the mirror a few minutes ago. "Supposed to be supposed to be… " it whispers in an odd hissing voice. "Not though. Not anymore."

Olivia jerks her hand back at the sight of those pupil-less eyes and screams… as much to attract the attention of those around her than anything else. "What ARE you?" she yells at the creature.

"Keep it down," the apprentice to the left growls. The creature at the loom says, "I'm Olivia Weaver, just ask anybody. What are you?"

"Well, if someone keeps Olivia distracted today, at least we won't have to try and match her pace," another apprentice says to the one that had just asked for the two Skeeks to 'keep it down'.

Olivia backs away from her doppleganger now and in doing so, bumps into the apprentice on the left. "Uh… are you seeing two of me?" she asks, hoping she's not going crazy.

Even with its head half turned to watch Olivia, the new Skeek's hands don't pause in their work. The apprentice looks at Olivia, and asks, "What sort of stupid question is that? Do I look drunk or something?"

What's going on here… one minute people can see me, the next all they see is this other… me. I don't understand! Olivia thinks, mind racing. She takes a deep breath and goes back to her double, then puts her hand back on her arm. "What do you want with my life?" she asks quietly. "What's so important about it that you had to take it?" She's not quite sure that she'll get an answer she'll understand – or the thing could ignore her completely – but she has to try.

The faux-Olivia just smiles, showing chisel-like teeth. "To help you. A favor. Everything will be better now."

A few of the other apprentices whisper to one another. "What's she doing here?" "Yeah, doesn't her mother keep her locked up?" "If it was my crazy sister, I don't know what I'd do… "

"Well, wouldn't you be jealous of Olivia if you were her sister? She's practically perfect in Augusta's eyes. That could drive anyone crazy. But as much as I pity the poor girl … we can't have her interrupting work like this," the whispering continues around Olivia. "Yeah, Olivia, send word to your mother to come get this one."

Olivia finally puts two and two together – at least, she hopes so – and simply sits down beside the creature on the wide, wooden bench before the loom, which is plenty large enough to seat them both. "I've met you before, haven't I?" she asks quietly, so as not to disturb those around her too much. Judging from the whispering, if she makes a fuss again, they could drag her off to gods-knows-where. "When Djivan and I were spending the night on that platform. You came in the night and played with my hair."

"You shouldn't make up stories, Dorothy," the NEW Olivia whispers while working. "Djivan is my boyfriend. Just because you managed to dress yourself and find your way here, you shouldn't be thinking you have a chance with him."

Olivia sees that she isn't going to get any more information out of the thing that has stolen her shape and her life, so she merely gets up and heads for the door. Well, if this creature is being me for the moment, then I suppose I can go and do what I want, she muses. Don't know if this will help, but I'd better pay Liliana a visit. She then slips out of the room, ears burning from hearing the whispers around her.

"Good, she's leaving," the whispers continue. "Poor girl." "Poor girl? She's a freak. Just because they're twins … Dorothy keeps trying to be Olivia… "

Going through town doesn't help things any. There are plenty of sidelong glances at Olivia as she heads for the gypsy camp. Early shoppers grip the hands of their children a little tighter as they see her, and even the otters keep their distance.

Olivia's expression turns even more grim as she moves through town. Yeah, I can see that this visit is just going to help SO much, but I don't know what else to do. That other apprentice mentioned an amorous bat in my room last night, so perhaps Lili can help me. Or at least I can convince her that I'm not insane? Or my own dead sister!

Thankfully, Olivia quickly passes through the town and heads down the dirt road towards the Gypsy camp. The wind is light and the smell of the swamp is actually rather minimal today; hard to believe that the day is going as bad as it has been. And so intent on reaching the gypsies Olivia is that she doesn't see the approaching shadow. She does however notice when it tackles her into the bushes and a hand clamps over her mouth. "No screaming!" Gunther whispers in her ear, "They can't see me talking to you!"

The breath very nearly goes out of Olivia's body and her eyes widen as Gunther silences her, but she nods to show that she understands.

Gunther's hand slowly pulls away and he lets her sit up. His head darts around, ears and eyes flicking about. "Good, they haven't gotten you yet," he whispers quietly. "Hah, no one ever believes me that a threat looms over this town, not even you. Bet you believe me now, huh, Olivia? Though … it might be safer to call you Dorothy now."

Olivia rubs her back, bruised somewhat by the tackling, and peers over at Gunther. "You can call me that if you think it would draw less attention to us, but Dorothy was never meant to be my sister's name," she says in a low voice. "I wonder where that came from? Anyway – yes, I believe you about invaders this time. But who are they? Were you able pick out any others?"

"They're most of the town now," Gunther comments and flattens to the ground so he can peer out under the leaves. "As for who it is … it's the trolls. Don't you remember the fairy tales about how the trolls come and replace a disobedient child with one of their own? Well, looks like they've decided to replace the entire town. They already got the rest of my family … the Blacktails too. They haven't been able to get me, though, and they won't!"

Olivia hunkers down in the bushes, too, amazed at how paranoid she has become, and how quickly it's happened. "So that's really what I saw the night I went on my date with Djivan – a baby troll? I didn't think they could surface during the daytime, though… or at least, that's what I gathered from what Amy said about them." She shakes her head sadly. "Sorry to hear about your family, Gunther. Amy's, too. When I asked my double why it had taken over my life, it said that it was doing me a favor. None of the trolls spoke to you, did they?"

"Gah, you talked to it? In the name of Gods, why? That will just make them double their efforts to get you so that their movements aren't uncovered!" Gunther grumbles, "And where were you going?"

Olivia smiles faintly and squeezes the Kadie boy's hand. "Then I suppose it's a good thing that you ran into me, isn't it? So you can keep me hidden? You know a lot more about sneaking around than I do, that's for sure!" She rubs her temples again before adding, "And I was on my way to the gypsy camp. Do you happen to know if any of them have been taken away, too?"

"No idea," Gunther admits, "But what will they do? Djivan claims to be allergic to anything that involves work and Liliana, well, licks things. Hardly troll-destroying titans, now are they? But, I guess we can look."

"Thanks, Gunther. I never thought I'd ever say this… but we seem to be two of the last, er, sane people left in Stonebarrow," Olivia says, feeling a little of her equilibrium returning to her. "The reason I was headed there was because an apprentice mentioned something about a bat squeaking around in my room all night… and an amorous one, at that. Had to be Liliana… so I thought I'd ask her just what went on."

Gunther blinks. "Finally gave into her, did you?" he asks as he sticks his head out of the bush and peers around. "It's clear," he announces and slips out of the bushes.

Olivia grimaces. "I certainly didn't, but my double may have!" she whispers to the Kadie boy, then slips out of the bushes after him.

Indeed, the road is clear. Gunther is already darting down the path. Periodically, he darts off into the weeds and hides behind a tree. Once he decides it's clear again … further down the road he goes. Up ahead sit the colorful wagons of the gypsy tribe.

Olivia does her best to mimic Gunther's movements, but she feels a little foolish, invading trolls or no. When she gets close to the Kadie again, she whispers, "See if you can work us around to Lili's wagon. If possible, I'd like to observe her a while before I try talking to her. Just in case she's been replaced, too."

"Sure!" Gunther says and darts towards the camp and a set of barrels near one of the wagons. He dumps out the contents of one and slips it over his body. "Come on, do the same!" he insists. It's about then the smell of the contents hits Olivia: Kyootcumber pickles.

Olivia ughs softly at the scent of the things, but she does as Gunther asks. Yuck, why couldn't they have just stored water or something in this barrel?

And the sacred dance of the sneaking barrel starts across the gypsy camp. It seems to involve barrels sprouting feet now and then and trying to not run into things. Good thing each barrel has a knothole to peek out of. Up ahead is Liliana's wagon. It's easy to pick out, given all manner of frilly things hanging from the clothesline outside.

Following the Kadie boy's lead, Olivia positions her barrel in an inconspicuous place by Liliana's wagon, but close enough to see what's going on around it. When Gunther nears again, she whispers, "Give it about fifteen minutes, see if she comes out? If not… oh, I dunno, create a distraction so she does come out?"

It doesn't even take fifteen minutes before Liliana comes prancing out. She's whistling and dancing in a slow circle as she fetches her undergarments from the line. Why she has to announce 'boom-cha!' and shimmy her butt each time she grabs one is, well, anyone's guess.

Olivia tries to ignore the smell of the pickling brine and continues to watch the Eeee for the moment. So far, everything about the gypsy appears to be normal, but the Skeek can't be sure.

Liliana wraps one of the silken scarves around her face and purrs to herself, "I jus' bet she like dis. After last nigh', ner, I know she like lots of stuff! Ze playin' hard t' get made it all ze more fun."

Gunther's barrel scoots around a bit and Olivia can see his eye just staring at Olivia's barrel as if daring to ask her what she did!

The Skeek just ignores Gunther and thinks, Okay, Lili sounds normal enough. As normal as she gets, anyway! So here goes… something… Very quietly, knowing that the Eeee will be able to hear her with those large ears, Olivia says, "Lili, don't turn around. Please just act normally. It's Olivia. Is there anyone else near us right now?"

"Oooo, couldn't get enough o' me last night an skipped work?" Liliana chirps when she hears Olivia. Well … she is acting normally. It's probably not very helpful, but she's acting normally. "Can' even vait till ve get inside, is dat it? Vell, most peoples are off doing stuffs and Djivan still in bed… "

"Okay, then just continue collecting your underthings. I'm going to try and slip into your wagon without being noticed," Olivia replies, wincing at all of the colorful commentary. "And, uh, just so you're aware, Gunther is with me."

"Isn' he a bit young fer a … " Liliana starts to say, then shakes her head. Whistling, she returns to gathering her things. Gunther's barrel starts scooting towards the wagon door. And within moments, Gunther pops out of the top and launches himself into the wagon.

Olivia sighs to herself and scoots her barrel closer to the wagon, too, but manages to leave it behind the wagon instead of in front. Then she pops out of the top of the barrel and sneaks around to the door and enters, pulling it shut behind her.

Inside Gunther is … bouncing on the bed of pillows. "Springy," he notes.

Olivia manages a weak smile. "Considering what she does there, it would have to be," she comments with a pointed look.

It's a few minutes before Liliana pirouettes into the wagon and deposits her laundry onto one of her trunks. She grins and cocks her hips to the side, one hand resting on a hip bone. "I tol' vou I vas irresistible an' fun! Now you come visitin' an bring friends!" she comments.

Gunther comments to Olivia, "And she's supposed to help with stopping the invasion?"

Olivia shushes Gunther and turns her attention back to the Eeee. "Uh, humor me for a moment, Lili. Just, er, what did we do last night? And you don't have to go into great detail," she adds quickly, shooting another glance at the Kadie.

"Broke a few town laws, most likely," Liliana says with a fangy grin, "Vas it so good vou fergot it all? Tsk, bad form fer one of me lovers. I haf to try harder!"

Olivia swallows hard, only guessing what Gunther will make of that! "Did any of it involve biting?" she asks next. "Or, um, rough sort of play?"

"But of course!" Liliana declares triumphantly. She saunters towards Olivia, asking, "Need a reminder?"

Gunther is currently busy burrowing into the pile of pillows to have noticed much of the conversation.

"Then where did you bite me? On the neck, or somewhere else?" Olivia continues, backing up half a pace.

"Somewhere else," Liliana notes, still grinning. Olivia finds herself backed against one of the cabinets.

Olivia closes her eyes, just for a moment. "Then perhaps you'll humor me again by checking the bite-mark?" she asks quietly, not believing that they're even having this conversation, let alone asking for this sort of treatment in front of an audience!

Olivia feels Liliana's hand curl into the front of her shirt. And then something unexpected happens … Liliana lifts Olivia off the ground. "Tsk. I told them replace you sooner," she hisses, her voice shifting to a tone not unlike the creature pretending to be her at the Weaver's guild. "Some had hoped you would adapt to just being her sister, given you failed being Olivia and forced us to accelerate our plans. Such a disappointment… "

Olivia cries out in panic, then yells to the Kadie boy, "Gunther, I could use some help!" Out of sheer instinct, she jabs a kick at the false Eeee's chest!

Gunther practically explodes out of the mound of pillows and collides into the Eeee. The kick (which sinks disturbingly far into Liliana's chest), combined with a flying Kadie … well, 'Liliana' immediately drops Olivia and goes down under Gunther. There's a sickening crunch as Gunther's weight further crushes the Eeee's chest when they hit the floor To make matters worse, there's a crackling sound as Liliana's chest expands back out as it repairs itself. Grinning evilly, she grabs onto Gunther and they start fighting. Gunther shouts to Olivia, "Get out of here and head to where I showed you the trap designs! It's safe! No one goes there. I'll meet you there later, I promise!"

Olivia picks herself up from the floor and stares at the two for a minute, trembling all over. "But I don't want to leave- Oh, be careful, Gunther!" she calls, hoping the Kadie boy knows what he's doing. Then she sprints to and through the door and disappears into the forest, towards the Mint Dam and safety.

---

The underbrush snags and pulls at Olivia's clothing as she dashes through it. Ahead lies the Mint Dan and the old workrooms where moldering dam equipment resides and where Gunther had been prototyping burglar systems for the Weaver guild. As Olivia approaches the dam … something is definitely out of the ordinary. The Wingnuts and some of the Blacktails are walking across the top the dam and wielding nasty looking crossbows. They seem to be hunting for someone.

Olivia quickly steps back into the surrounding overgrowth, keeping well out of sight of the archers once she spies them on top of the dam. Well, navigation just got a whole lot more difficult, she thinks sourly. I'll just have to be careful. Now, where was that spot I fell into last time? I think I have to look for a place on the forest floor that doesn't quite match the rest of the area…

The spot was past the dam, actually, come to think of it. So, Olivia will have to sneak by the scouts (or wait until they leave the area).

Sighing at the memory, Olivia decides to head for the underground area now. She can't risk being out in the open for any longer than necessary. Slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible and stay well hidden, she starts creeping past the dam.

Perhaps spending time with Gunther has paid off; Olivia manages to make it through the underbrush without making much noise at all. In fact, by the time she's edging past the dam, the scouts have crossed over and disappeared into the woods on the far side.

Olivia lets out a silent breath she didn't know she was holding. She begins looking around again for that odd spot in the ground, now that she's finally passed the dam.

It takes a about an hour of searching (Gunther hid it well), but Olivia manages to locate the trap door that leads down into the old work room. From what light makes it down, she can tell the pillows are still below the fall. So … theoretically she can jump.

Carefully, Olivia sits on one edge of the trapdoor, then eases herself down until her weight forces her to fall through the opening. She just hopes the pillows haven't rotted away from disuse… or she's about to have a very sore bum!

Whee! Down goes Olivia and she lands on the pillows with a thump … and a very large cloud of dust. They didn't rot … they collected a mound of dirt.

The Skeek immediately rolls onto her stomach and starts coughing into the sleeve of her shirt, so she won't be heard. Gah, Gunther must not have been back here since we tested the security equipment!

That's probably a good observation, as there is a decent covering of dust on the floor and no sign of recent footprints. From what Olivia remembers there should be some lamps with tinderboxes nearby and the security equipment is in the next room.

Olivia feels around until she locates one such lamp and tinderbox, then chooses a corner well away from the opening above and lights it. Once the flame is going, she turns it up a bit to see how badly the room has suffered from its neglect.

The room isn't bad, it's just dusty. The doorway out to the main room is just ahead.

Olivia supposes it's best to get the light away from the trapdoor, to where it can't possibly be seen. She walks quietly over to the door of the main room and opens it, holding her lamp in front of her to see better.

The main room is just as dusty. Two of the three trap machines still sit, unused, in the room. The one that amused Olivia so much, the spinner, has been removed. Presumably for refinement and installation at the Weaver's guild. The room is deathly quiet. Tomb-level quiet.

Olivia closes the door behind her and steps through the silent room, taking care not to disturb the other two machines, so she doesn't set one off by accident. She was about to look around for a decent spot to rest, then thinks the better of that idea and scans the room for any sort of weapon Gunther may have left behind. She has a feeling that she's going to need something for her defense, very soon. For one wistful moment, she wishes she had her throwing knives.

The room is a mess of equipment and tools. It's hard to tell what might be a weapon or what might just be a tool. But … one item sitting in the pile sort of looks like one of Gunther's crossbows. How it works, though, isn't so obvious.

Olivia takes the crossbow-looking contraption from the pile and sets it aside, now looking for the bolts that might go into it.

Well, Olivia finds a strange looking box-thing that seems to be stuffed with crossbow bolts. It's long and thin and the two edges have tabs that look like they hook into something.

Olivia picks up one of the "bolts" and looks at the tab-ends, then looks down at the crossbow, trying to see where it fits in.

Well … it's hard to tell where it fits. The top is nearly sealed with only a slit for the bowstring to slide through. The underside has a wide, oblong slot that doesn't look bolt shaped. It does look like the shape of the thing holding the bolts, though.

Wondering if she's about to blow herself up or something equally nasty, Olivia puts the single bolt back into the box and tries sliding that into the oblong slot.

Click. It snaps in; a perfect fit. And once it settled, Olivia can now see a bolt tip sticking out the front of the crossbow.

Olivia nods to herself, suddenly pleased. Well, at least I have a chance of getting away again if another troll attacks me, she thinks. Only then does she settle down on the floor, well away from the trap machines, determined to get at least a little rest before Gunther gets back… she hopes. She cradles the crossbow gently in her lap after she sits.

---

Some time passes. How much time is uncertain and at some point, Olivia thinks she fell asleep. This is because a small hand is shaking her shoulder. It's followed by Gunther's voice, whispering, "Wake up. Gah, why are you sleeping?"

Olivia startles awake, trying hard in the next instant to keep the crossbow from falling out of her lap and firing off. "I'm sleeping because I'm tired, Gunther!" she whispers back, crossly. "What else am I supposed to do when I'm in a place I can't leave, and it's as quiet as a tomb?" Then she squints up at the Kadie's face. "But nevermind that… are you all right? Did Liliana's double hurt you?"

Gunther's right hand is covered with a makeshift bandage, but other than that, he seems intact. "Not terribly. I led her on a merry chance chase in the end," he answers with a shrug. He reaches for the crossbow in Olivia's lap as he asks, "Do you need help up?"

Olivia sits up a little straighter and replies, "No, I think I'll be all right." She looks down at the weapon in her lap and adds, "Found this among your tools. I thought we might need some sort of defense. Did you make it?"

"That? Oh yeah. Modified version of the repeater that was used to fight Valicross. A bit smaller and easier to use than the original design," Gunther answers and picks up the crossbow. He fiddles with it for a moment and attaches a shoulder strap, then slips it over his shoulder. "So … this is a mess. But … I think it can be cleared up quickly."

Olivia gets to her feet slowly and stretches. "Do you mean the room? Yeah, it is pretty dusty in here. It looks like you haven't used the place since we tested out the trap machines in here."

"Been busy with other things. Haven't needed to work in this room lately," Gunther notes with a small shrug. "Anyway, I'll start piling up some stuff in here. Can you go grab one of the brooms from the trap door room?"

Olivia nods and slips back into the other room, taking the time to light another lamp for herself to see by. She locates a broom lying on the floor and brings it and the second lamp back to Gunther. Her look asks him if he wants her to go ahead and start sweeping up the dirt.

"Yeah," Gunther grunts from where he's carting a large crate over to the corner.

Olivia sets to work then, sweeping up dust and debris and pushing it all into the trapdoor room. At least one of the rooms will be cleaner this way, she thinks as she sweeps.

Cleaning goes on for a bit as both Olivia and Gunther are carting things around the room. On the last time Olivia comes back into the main room, though … she feels a sudden, stabbing, pain in her backside.

"What the… ?" Olivia mutters, holding the broom in one hand while she turns half-around and swipes at the seat of her skirt with the other, trying to feel around for what poked her.

Gunther is leaning against the wall near the door to the trapdoor room. He's tapping a finger on the side of a spent syringe. "There," he comments, then looks up at Olivia with pupilless eyes, "As I was saying; this mess could be cleaned up quickly. You have been quite a problem for all of us."

Olivia simply stares at Gunther for a few moments, then drops the broom she was holding and makes a grab for the wall. "What are you going to do with me?" she asks, wondering how long it will take for whatever drug she's been injected with to take effect.

"You really do not remember, do you?" Gunther asks Olivia, then shakes his head. "I am sorry, but you failed us and had to be replaced, again." Already Olivia's entire body is feeling … strange. Itchy.

Olivia pushes back the desire to scratch herself all over and instead concentrates on speaking to the Kadie's double. "No, I don't remember, why don't you tell me? And what do you mean, replaced again? There's only one other version of myself that I've seen… "

"You were the first to be replaced so many years ago. Your mother hated Olivia so much … that she must have been a failure. So … we took Olivia, the original Olivia and gave them you. But, it seems you were as much a failure as the original," Gunther says as he looks oddly disappointed. It's a good thing Olivia isn't scratching herself … not with the spade shaped claw tips that are pushing out from the flesh of her fingertips. "We tried to fix that by replacing you with another and demoting you to her sister … but then you had to cause a further mess by trying to tell others."

Olivia watches in a horrified, detached fascination as silvery claws sprout from her fingertips. For another moment, the only thought that flashes through her mind is, I am trollkin… gods, I am one of them… "Then what have you done with the real Olivia?" she whispers. "And all the others of Stonebarrow, where are they? And what am I to do now?"

"The original? Well, she was modified into one of us, of course. We reuse all we take," Gunther explains with a small shrug, "As for the others of Stonebarrow well … the one that was Gunther … he has to be silenced permanently. After the damage he did to my sister in his attempt to escape, well, there was no other choice." He 'looks' over her shoulder and calls out, "It is done. This one is ready to be reclaimed."

For some reason, Olivia actually takes this news harder than her own. "Poor Gunther… he was only trying to protect me… well, at least he was trying to protect the person he thought I was. He doesn't deserve this," she whispers again, slumping against the dirt wall now.

Olivia's hair is starting to fall out in large clumps and her skin grows more wrinkly and loose on her frame. Out of the corner of her eyes she can see … Irene? Her Mother? Walking into the room. In her hands is a sturdy burlap sack.

"Deserve? He was a failure too. Or on the path to be one; he was not 'conforming'" the faux-Gunther notes a bit coldly. "Would not a Wingnut tell you a broken part should be replaced, after all?"

Olivia merely turns her head away and refuses to look at the other creature. Of course they would send my 'mother' for me – just adding insult to injury. "No, he issssn't a failure," she hisses, noticing that her voice is changing, too. "He wassss my friend… "

"Then perhaps you will join him in oblivion," the faux-Gunther notes. He then nods to Irene … who is right next to 'Olivia' now. "Remove the failure," he says calmly, then turns and walks away.

"I should have thrown you out years ago," Irene hisses at the barely recognizable Olivia now; the reversion nearly complete. The sack snaps open and then darkness falls over Olivia's eyes.

Olivia's mouth quirks into just the slightest of bitter smiles before the sack is drawn over her. And what good would that do for anyone? she thinks, in response to the false Gunther's statement. If I want to help the others of Stonebarrow, I can't give in to oblivion.

---

Sunken Amphitheater
The high stone walls of this wide chamber are almost completely covered in vegetation. Giant tree roots curl down from the upper rim like the claws of giants, while lianas, lichens and mosses hang down like green curtains. A channel has been worn in the north wall by a small stream that's eaten it away over the centuries. This feeds a clear pool that covers the stage for several feet, and drains out through two flooded passageways. The stone slab stadium seats are worn and weathered, and largely covered with layers of soil. Where part of the outer wall has collapsed and created a mound, a small stand of rubber trees has taken root, clustering close together. High above, the forest canopy tries to cover the sky, but even the giants of the Gnarly Wood are unable to completely block out the light.

Everything is dark for what seems like an age. And oddly cold and a bit wet, too. Then gentle shaking seems to push away the darkness. "Hey, wake up," comes a familiar voice, Gunther's voice. "Geeze, come on. Wake up. Why would you come out here?"
Startled for what seems like the thousandth time today, Olivia opens her eyes slowly and looks for the source of that voice.

And Olivia finds the worried face of Gunther looking down into hers. "You sleep like a rock," he complains, "I've been trying to wake you for ten minutes! You walk all the way out here to this weird place, then just fall over! I followed you all this way, too … and you didn't even go to meet a horde!"

Olivia blinkblinkblinks a few times at what seems to be Gunther, then quickly holds her hands up in front of her face to have a look at them.

Muck covered Skeek hands. Phew, they smell like swamp.

"Hellooooo?" Gunther says and waves his hand in front of Olivia's face. "Are you in there?"

Olivia sits straight up now, almost bashing her head into the Kadie's as she does so. She takes a look at the rest of her body next, hardly daring to believe her eyes.

"Yack!" goes Gunther as he topples backward when Olivia comes up. As for her body, well, it looks normal and is draped in her nightgown. The bad news is … it's also covered in dirt and muck in spots.

"What is wrong with you, Olivia?" Gunther complains. "Say something!"

Olivia turns on Gunther next, staring at him with wide, incredulous eyes. Then she shocks the both of them by pulling the Kadie boy into a tight hug and bursting into tears. "You're n-not d-dead," she stammers, almost incoherent through her sobs. "Thank the g-gods, you're n-not dead!"

"Buh!" goes Gunther and his arms stick straight out. "Of course I'm not dead. No one can kill me, I'm Gunther!" he comments. With a sort of halting, weirded out way, his arms come around and hug Olivia. Sort of. It's almost like how one tests to see if a pot is hot by quickly touching it and pulling away, really.

Somehow, the priceless nature of Gunther's reaction breaks through to her and Olivia starts laughing as well as crying. Much to the Kadie's dismay, this lunacy stretches on for a few more minutes before the Skeek forces herself to calm down. "S-sorry about that, Gunther," she apologizes, finally letting him go so she can wipe her face with the clean part of one sleeve. "I t-think I just came out of a b-bad nightmare."

"Uh, do you normally walk when you have bad nightmares? I followed you out here from town. What is this place, anyway?" Gunther asks, brow furrowing "Er, wait. You had a bad nightmare and it was about me dying? Uhm … did I die heroically, at least? Saved the town and stuff?"

Olivia gives the boy a watery smile. "Well, you didn't save the whole town, but you did save my life. That has to count for something, right - dying to save a friend?" Then she notices where they are and shivers. "This is the private date spot Djivan and I came to a few days ago. Amelia showed it to us. But, um, sorry to change the subject and all, but you said I walked in my sleep all the way from the Weaver's to here? I mean, the last thing I remember is falling asleep in my own bed… "

"Well, I'm guessing from the Weavers' anyway. I was on stakeout watching that Inay… er, I was running an errand and saw you walking through town. It was weird enough that I just, well, followed. You walked in here, then down that hallway and even knocked on the wall like it was a door or something. When it didn't do anything you walked back this way and sort of fell over," Gunther explains as he scratches his cheek idly. "There some secret snogging room past that wall you and the rat used?"

Confused, Olivia looks in the direction Gunther has indicated to see if she recognizes those places.

It's the long hallway that leads to the spire and the crystal far above.

Olivia gets to her feet and steps carefully over to the entrance of the hallway. She looks back over her shoulder and says quietly, "Can you show me where on the wall I knocked, Gunther?"

"Uh, it was just across from some big tower thing," Gunther says as he stands up and offers a hand to Olivia. "This way."

The Skeek gratefully takes the offered hand without a word and allows herself to be led along.

The walk down the passage doesn't take very long. When they reach the part of the passage near the spire room, Gunther walks over to the blank wall and taps a finger on it. "You were knocking right here," he explains, "But it's like, a wall."

As she is without the benefit of added light, Olivia releases Gunther's hand and runs both of hers along the wall, searching for anything carved into it, or any seams or hinges that might indicate a door.

The seams that show up would indicate a very wide door, nearly eight feet across, if it isn't just a slab like the rest of the wall pieces. Although, Olivia and Djivan did hear stone grinding against stone that night… and the surface of this particular slab looks a little cleaner than the rest of the wall.

"Do you always get so personal with walls?" Gunther has to ask as Olivia seems to lose her mind.

Other than that however, there don't seem to be any markings or hidden switches.

Olivia ignores this and asks Gunther instead, "When I knocked here, was it a regular sort of rapping, or did it seem different from how a person would normally knock on a door?"

"If you're asking if you were hopping on one foot or head butting the wall, er, no. You knocked on it as if you were trying to visit someone's house," Gunther comments. "You know, I think maybe you fell and hit your head… You should see the Phrenologist."

Olivia shakes her head and backs away from the wall, lost in thought for a minute. At last, she answers, "No, I'm not going to see the Phrenologist. I ought to see Isolde or Morgan, as they would be able to separate local legend from local fact much more easily… but I have to admit, I'd be more comfortable discussing this with Madame Natasha. I always feel like Isolde wants to scold me for getting into trouble all the time, and Morgan is less available than he used to be, training with Master Qing and such. Perhaps I'll ask Natasha about this first, then if she doesn't have any ideas for me, go and see the witches."

"I don't know why you trust those gypsies so much," Gunther mutters to himself. "Anyway, it's late and you should go home. So should I. I'm tired. And hmmm … you said Amelia showed you this place, so I bet she showed Zahn too. I'm going to grill him on what he knows. Grrr. Keeping things from me."

"You know, I wouldn't have told you about it, either, if you hadn't found out on your own. Amy made me promise not to spread the information around, and with good reason – do YOU really want everyone and their brother tramping up here and spoiling the place?" Olivia asks, twitching her whiskers mischievously. "At any rate, you're right – we both need to get home. By the way, is it still night or morning now?"

"Night," Gunther comments and grabs Olivia's hand. "C'mon, I'll take you home. Sounds like you shouldn't be alone after whatever weird nightmare you had actually made you sleepwalk."

At that, Olivia tightens her grip on Gunther's hand and nods in agreement. "Yes, let's go now," she says firmly. "Thanks for watching out for me, Gunther. Although I know saying this is probably going to get me into trouble later, I really owe you one!"