28: If It Isn't Nailed Down

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The 28th episode of the The Magical Monster High School Drama! series. Released 7th of Mar, we follow Kiera, Móts and Zero as search for the princess in her castle.

## Plot

Continuing on to the fourth floor, the Lavender smell returns. On this floor there is another tiny, dark landing with a dull, blotchy painting that could once have been a family portrait. Kiereniel examines it, and manages to find the secret door - but not the trap. He feels a prick in his finger, and feels slightly woozy. He recoils and explains, then goes downstairs to briefly throw up out of a window. Zero orders Móts to open the door, as he is encased in metal. He does so, opening up a what seems to be a giant ventilation system. Zero can tell that there is a Y-junction at the end, and it smells musty and old. No one has been through here in a long while.

The party decides to check the last floor, but it’s the empty bedroom that Móts and Kiera entered the castle through. They venture into the secret passage, Zero first. Kiera summons a blacklight which follows them through the dark. Down the left path she would assume is the second tower; and through the right path leads more towards the middle of the castle and the main hall, but they are so high up, probably onto the main roof. Zero elects to go down the fresher smelling path towards the tower, but finds a wooden panel blocking the way. She can’t find any latch, but after the party rearranges themselves at the junction, Kiereniel can.

It opens into thin air, with part of the collapsed tower two stories below, and a little suspended above, very precariously. They back up and go down the righthand passage, finding a similar door which Móts, now leading, opens with Kiera’s instruction. They find themselves in the ceiling of what would have been a rather nice reception room, with a few chairs, a lot of space, Piano, loungers and a nice carpet. Right in front of them, there is a hexagonal alcove with a glass dome that comes to a point at the top. Possibly some kind of ceiling gallery, as there are paintings within it.

Móts and Zero jump down to the floor, Zero much more gracefully than Móts. Then, Móts decides to suit up, into his suit that weighs a ton and broke right through a horse. It also breaks right through the rotting wooden floor, and the next one, and the next one, before his fall is broken by stone on the ground floor. Thankfully his suit protects him. Zero steps back gracefully, standing next to the collapsed hole, and looks down. Keira is still in the ceiling rafters, watching this all go down.

From within this solarium reception room, which is light there are two big double doors. Zero senses a large amount of gold behind a painting of a hunt. She asks Kiera to check it for another secret door, which he has become quite adept at finding, into a small antechamber with a set of locked doors. Kiera moves back to the ceiling hole while Zero transforms, carefully, into dragon form, spreading her weight out to not collapse the floor. Then she destroys the locked doors, and surrounding wall. Transforming back to human form, she enters the vault.

Inside, there are many alcoves and plinths, lining the walls, each one with an urn. A skeleton lays collapsed against the wall, appearing to have been holding an axe, and wearing some jewelry. Móts tries to goop the skeleton, but this obviously doesn’t work. Zero pillages the skeleton’s gold, a quite fine necklace and a bracelet engraved with the name, “Dana”. She then begins opening each urn in turn, to find the gold she can sense within. They usually have three rings within, two bands and one with a ring. Being a gold loving red dragon, she takes all of the golds. There is also a sarcophagus, with a statue of a worn old man lying down on top. He holds what might have been a sword, and wears a crown.

Zewo cannot sense gold within, but asks Móts to slide off the lid of the coffin. Within is a skeleton with a sword matching the one on top, a dark, glassy crown, and a ring, possibly of bone. Zero takes the crown, as the shiniest item; Móts lifts the sword, and Kiera takes the ring. Zero then stops, stiffens, however. She looks suddenly grim, and asks to examine Kiera’s ring. She smells it, and declares that it is made of dragon remains. She passes the angel her crown for the ring. Then looks back in the coffin and smashes the skull of the king. She then swallows the bone ring, says “Nothing must be left” grimly, and leaves the chamber.

From the ballroom, Zero leads the way through the double doors into a small study leading to a bedroom. There is a desk which Zero examines, but there is nothing but ruined parchment. Kiera goes into the bedroom and rifles through the drawers. He finds a pristine, organised clothes drawer, containing both underclothes and vestments. All of the other drawers contain ruined clothes, save a pair of boots. But this one drawer is clean. Kiera also finds a toilet.

There is another door out of the study, which they go through, finding a corridor. They head down the corridor with several doors along one way. Another path looks like it leads to a marble stairwell that leads down. They go down, and can either go out onto corridor, or continue down the stairs. As Zero can smell more potpouri and possibly people, the go into the corridor. She looks around, smells the air, then leads the way down the corridor to one of the last rooms, by a tiny window. Kiereniel manages to barge the door down, the door falls in a cloud of dust. The room is very purple, with purple drapes, a fireplace with a mural above it, a bed, and a statue, covered in pockmarks, scratches and dust, looking into a mirror. Kiera comes to look at the mirror. In the bottom corner, he sees a face of a woman carved in the metal, looking similar to what might have been the statue’s features, beautiful in a Hellenic kind of way.

Kiera thinks there might be a connection between the statue and the mirror, but can’t quite put his finger on it. He looks around and finds a small box containing a rosary and some pearls, taking the pearls. Zero examines the statue, finding there is a wedding band actually made of gold around its finger. She dusts of the statue, and it peels, covering her fingers. Disgusted, she wipes her hand on her skirt and moves to leave the room. Móts finally enters the room. Kiera checks under the bed, finding a travel case. Inside are several leather bound books with attached pens. One looks like a journal, though Kiera can’t read the language. Another is clearly a ledger, it looks like the owner may have been buying and selling furniture, with one buyer’s name repeated. Zero, picking up another book, recognises the coat of arms from many of the urns in the crypt. This one contains receipts written in common, ONLY the repeated name from the other book. The last item is a mirror.

Móts at this point looks at the mirror. He sees the face in the mirror moving, looking at him. The others notice he isn’t moving, and shove him. Móts slumps to the ground, knocking the statue. It cracks, the plaster and grime peels off… revealing a horrid stench, wet, like an open wound. There is a woman inside, alive, though she seems to lack a tongue.

Móts lying next to her, sees her mouthing something. She looks burned. He doesn’t see anyone else in the room apart from this woman. She has no tongue. He morphs to medic mech and heals her. She appears to heal, the scabs falling away, then turns to dust.

No one else sees this. They observe the woman heal completely, even her tongue. After she finishes screaming, she asks a lot of questions. Zero stops her and asks what she did to Móts. She says that Móts is in the mirror, same as she was. She doesn’t know how to get him out, but says her husband bought it. She was trapped here until now. Zero says that given the state of the stone, she must of been here for many years. She has no recollection of any princess here, saying that her princess lives in the capital.

Móts realises that he is behind the mirror. He can see everyone else through the mirror, but they aren’t in the room with him. He tries to get bigger, but the room stops him from crashing through its bounds. In a smaller form, he tries kicking the mirror. This causes a wobbling on the other side, which everyone notices. Zero thinks Móts may be trying to get out, and removes the mirror from the wall. She confers with Kiereniel, who says there is a fairly high chance the soul would be released by breaking it. Zero drops it out the corridor window. Móts feels like he is being dragged along out into the corridor, and sees Zero drop him out the window. He transforms to winged form, though the gravity seems very heavy. Then everything is broken glass.

The others see Móts out the window. In the bedroom, is a perfect statue of Móts laying on the bed, where Zero put him. Móts sees the mirror is now only shards of glass, no metal frame, no face. He asks Zero to use her bag. She refuses. Móts flies back up and smashes through the wall, finding his own statue. He touches it, and it turns to dust. Then, taking the briefcase, he empties the dust into it, and collects the broken glass. The poor woman Móts freed somehow, has a mental breakdown upon fully realising she might have been trapped for hundreds of years while witnessing the actions of the party.

Móts suggests she come with them, as Zero heads off to go downstairs. She introduces herself as Elizabeth. Downstairs, Zero loses the trail, as she is overwhelmed by the lavender scent. Elizabeth offers to guide the party to the kitchens, and they follow, having no other leads. In the kitchens, there is a bank of bells along the wall presumably that can be rung from around the house, a bed is made up in a small alcove, a couple of huge ovens, a scullery, along with several benches and tables, presumably where the staff were fed, and a myriad of other kitchen things like, draws, sinks, breadbins, etc. Móts checks the breadbin, only to find what might have been bread a few centuries ago. Elizabeth checks the drawers, and among the rotten food, finds a can of beans, which Móts opens, and a jar of honey. Elizabeth and Móts eat these. Mostly Elizabeth.

Exploring further, they hear shouting from below, and find a trapdoor in the scullery. Zero has Kiera check for traps, then open the door. They go down slate steps carved out of the ground. At the bottom is a platform suspended below the foundations. The floor appears to be carved squares, but there are these large slate protusions, jutting out at an angle. Zero strides towards the argument, currently hidden behind these collumns. Everyone follows. Eventually, they come to a person Móts recognises, the woman he met, standing at a precipice.

She turns, and recognises Móts. Seems pleased Móts brought friends, but says they shouldn’t be here. Zero asks if she is Princess McGuffin. The woman says not to mention that name. The shouting comes closer. Zero decides to beast out at this point, knocking nearly everyone else off the ledge. Fortunately, Móts and Kiera can both fly and catch the others. Zero moves to grab the source of the shouting: a bratty child in pink. She shouts “No touching!”. The dragon finds herself unable to carry out the action, and instead stomps her foot and peers at the brat. Zero asks if the pink thing is Princess McGuffin, and the presumed princess responds by calling out

There is a whoosh, and from round a pillar comes flying another dragon. Green, with a pale underbelly, leaner than Zeroeth, but a little longer. Upon seeing them, Zero immediately spreads her wings and puffs up, spines raised. She stares directly at the other dragon, now ignoring the princess.

## Cast and Crew

* Game Master - Terry
* Akio - Marco
* Kiereniel - Josh (TheRealWiredUP)
* Mótsognir - Rory
* Violet - Kitto
* Zeroeth - George (Drake1000)

* Script Supervisor - George (Drake1000)
* Publication Editior - Josh (TheRealWiredUP)

### Production Notes

Violet does not feature in this episode, but we do establish later that after her successful sale of anti-dragon weaponry to the medieval peasant village, she decides to visit other nearby planes to further her weapons dealing buisness.

We do not talk of what happened to Akio.

## References

1. ↑ "Dana, my darling, i'm writing to you...", Sonata Artica - Letters to Dana
2. ↑ OwO
3. ↑ As much as we all assumed the green dragon was the woman, there is some doubt