Chapter 13 : The Quest
Star was packing up her things as the last class came to an end. Star was eager to get back home - it was Friendship Thursday. It has been a while since they had a normal Friendship Thursday, though this wasn't exactly normal either. Normal had been changed to include Seraph.
Marco wanted to start showing Seraph some movies. She often missed references to pop culture, so Marco thought this would be fun way to make her catch up.
Star would admit that she missed having the night just between them, but she understood why Marco wanted to let Seraph join them.
Class was over and everyone was heading out. The room was almost all emptied out. Marco looked over "Okay, ready to go."
The air around the room wavered as a rift formed before them and Hekapoo stepped out.
"Mom?" Seraph was confused, neither she or Marco expected her to show up.
Some of the students stared at the arrival of Seraph's mother and quieted down to see what brought this magical being. Even some people in the hallway stopped to peek into the room.
"Huh, so this is your school." Hekapoo looked around, not realizing all the eyes on her. "Its design reminds me of that prison we were in."
"Huh? It kinda does." Marco looked around, starting to realize the similarities.
"Wait, you were in prison?" Janna, overhearing that, spoke sounding a tad impressed.
"Together?" Star questioned it further.
"Long story." Marco shook his head "There was an insane king who imprisoned everyone who disagreed with him. One of her clones was imprisoned there, so I got caught and thrown in to find her."
"Then we broke out and led a revolt, overthrowing the king." Hekapoo finished his story. "It's not that interesting."
"You led a revolt?" Janna asked.
"Another one?" Star added.
Jackie, who was one of the people looking in from the hall, let out "Another one?!"
Marco didn't even take that in. "… Actually, that might have been the third or fourth one."
Star made a note to sit down with Marco and ask him in greater detail about what he did in that other dimension.
Marco got back on point. "Hekapoo, what are you doing here?"
"Right, " she pulled out a scroll, "I'm here to invite you two on a quest."
"A quest?" Seraph looked at her mother curiously.
"A long time ago, I made a something that would help the users become more powerful." Hekapoo began to explain, "…I never got all the kinks worked out, but it showed a lot of promise and worked well enough. Before I could really get into it though, someone stole all my prototypes."
"Couldn't you have just made more?" Marco pointed out.
Hekapoo shrugged. "I guess I could have, but the material to make them is rare and then I was looking for the thieves and just sort of lost interest in the project. Though I made sure to keep an ear out for any clue about where they went. I never really heard much about them until today. I found this map with clues and a description of my stuff. It was mixed in with some of the stuff we found when me and the commission beat back Ferrovax. And guess where the map leads?"
"No clue." Seraph shook her head.
"Earth!" Hekapoo unraveled the scroll, "That's why I'm inviting you two. You can help me get around this world better."
"Where on Earth?" Marco asked.
Hekapoo glanced at the scroll and pulled out a modern day map of Earth, "Okay, let's see. I think you call it Paris."
"France or Texas?" Marco asked.
Glancing at it again, Hekapoo answered. "France."
A lot of the people still around picked up on the location.
Marco quickly grabbed the scroll. "So you're saying this is a quest to a foreign land, solving riddles and puzzles and daring challenges all just to get some ancient magical relic?"
"Yeah, that sums it up."
Marco squealed before pulling out his scissors and opening a portal, running into it. No one expected that.
"So, is that a normal human reaction?" Hekapoo looked around.
Just as confused, the others just shook their heads.
"Yeah, didn't think so." Hekapoo turned to her daughter. "So, how was your day at school?"
"Pretty good, we're starting a new book. It looks like it's gonna be an interesting read."
"What is it about?"
"About Mocking Birds and why they sing,"
"Sounds fun."
I would not be.
Marco quickly jumped out of the portal, now wearing his black leather jacket, a leather fedora and carrying a whip.
"I finally get to live out my Indiana Jones fantasy."
"A trip with your baby mama and your kid that you just found out about. Hope you liked the Crystal Skull." Janna mumbled to herself.
Jackie walked forwards. "Why do you have a whip?"
Janna smirked and just glanced at Hekapoo in an accusing manner.
Everyone just looked at Marco being a dork. Well, he was living the dream. Most of the people still remaining started to leave. Most understood that this had nothing to do with them.
"I get to go on a quest with my parents!" Seraph's eyes grew bright.
"Right you are, let's get going." Hekapoo patted her daughter's head.
"Yeah! Let's get going!" Star placed an arm around Seraph. "This sounds like fun."
"Uh… sure, okay." Hekapoo wasn't expecting Star to invite herself.
Janna was overlooking the scroll, focusing on a drawing of a manor. "Hey! I know this place."
"You do?" Marco questioned.
"Yeah, it's a famous Haunted house, super old and has a lot of stories about people vanishing when they go in there. Now France doesn't even let people in there anymore. If you're going there, I am coming along too. Visiting it is on my bucket list."
Marco couldn't refuse her - if she knew about the house, she might be helpful. That and he was certain he couldn't keep Janna away if she was interested.
"What does it say here?" Janna pointed to the scribbling next to the house.
"I don't know, a riddle?" Marco looked at it. "I can't read it, it's in French."
They heard a chuckle, It had come from Brittney, "I can. Take me along and I'll translate for you."
"You want to go on adventure with us?" Marco couldn't believe it.
Brittney just scoffed. "No, but I do want a free trip to Paris. There is a lot of great shopping you can only do there. I can't even order De Miraculous Chair Noir Perfume, you have to go pick it up in store!"
Marco could believe that. "Okay, that's a deal."
Jackie spoke, "If everyone else is going, mind If I tag along?"
"What? No, the more the merrier." Star quickly replied.
"I wanna come too!" Starfan 13 yelled out, hugging Star, "If Star is going, I'm going."
Hekapoo huffed, "I'm not so sure." Hekapoo looked the fan girl up and down.
"Please let them come along!" Seraph pleaded with her mother, giving her big puppy dog eyes. "I want them to see how awesome you are!"
Hekapoo relented. "Well, if everyone is ready, let's get this quest started."
0000
They dumped all their bags and stuff into Marco's room through his portal and then headed to France.
A portal opened up in Paris and the group walked out into a dark street. As they walked out, they looked around. Since it was late at night, it seemed mostly everything was closed.
"Wait, why is everything closed?!" Brittney shouted.
"Uh, France is nine hours ahead of California, so it's nearly midnight." Marco was quick to inform her.
"But my shopping!"
"I'll bring you here another day, on the weekend or something, so it will be day and you can shop all you want."
Brittney stared at him suspiciously, "Okay Diaz, but don't think of backing out of our deal."
"Shouldn't we be closer to the outskirts of Paris?" Jackie looked at the map.
"Yeah, but this is a quest and there are rules." Marco raised a finger before he and Hekapoo both turned to Seraph.
"Okay, what do you do for a quest?" Hekapoo questioned her daughter. "What is the first thing you have to do to get ready?"
"Access the situation" Seraph answered.
"And what else?" Marco prodded her.
"Find what you need for the quest."
"So, what do we need?" Hekapoo asked next.
"Okay, we don't have a lot of details. If anything, it looks most like a dungeon crawl with some people we have to escort through it."
"That's good, but expand on it." Marco told her.
"Okay, okay." Seraph bounced on her heels. "You, mom and me and Star would have to deal with any monsters we come across. This map seems old and forgotten so we probably won't deal with anything like that, but there could still be dangerous traps."
"Right, " Hekapoo nodded, "Me and your dad will take point - should we run into anything dangerous, we will deal with it. Star and you will be in charge of keeping the girls safe and, if needed, providing support with long range attacks. For the most part, judging by all the clues, this is probably going to be a lot of traps and puzzles, so fighting is low priority."
"We still have to be careful and make sure we stay together and careful." Marco made it clear. "This looks like a short run, but before every quest you should always make sure to-"
Seraph sighed, "Make sure you eat."
"Right!" Hekapoo smiled, patting her head.
"Mom!" Seraph bemoaned.
They decided to go to a nearby café and get some pastries. They didn't have any local currency, but when you give someone a few hundred dollars, they usually take it.
"What's with all the RPG talk?" Janna asked while drinking her hot chocolate with a cupcake.
"Master Monroe." Both Hekapoo and Marco spoke with reverence.
Marco smiled as he started off, "When I was chasing Hekapoo, I needed some money as I tried to locate her. I found a guild and joined up. They gave me food and a place to stay, they even helped me get some jobs to earn money. It was run by this guy called Monroe."
"Little old dog guy with a Scottish accent." Hekapoo smirked. "I found Marco and when he went off on a quest, I went to the guild and joined up." Hekapoo snickered at the memory.
"Yeah, when I came back and saw her, I ran at her trying to blow out the flame while she was distracted." Marco shook his head, "But the instant I got close enough to try and blow out her flame, Monroe smacked me down with his cane."
"The guild was pretty famous for having a certain rule - no member of the guild can attack each other"
"Yeah, if someone tried to attack another guild member he'd smack you with his cane." Marco rubbed his head.
Hekapoo giggled, "You gave up after the third attempt."
"He hurled me across the hall with that cane of his, I wasn't going to see what he would do at a fourth attempt." Marco wasn't even sure how Monroe got so close to him without making him notice every time. Marco shook his head and got back to the point, "Anyway, those rules about quests - we got them from him. He drilled them in our always made sure every guild member had a good meal before they left on a quest. Things happen and it was best to make sure you had a good meal when you could. He treated everyone in the guild like family."
Hekapoo chuckled. "I knew that and joined just because I knew it would make things harder for Marco."
"You set me up." Marco shook his head.
"Yeah, you're easy to read sometimes, and it just gave me more chances to mess with you. I'd get protection without even having to lift a finger."
"Uh, why didn't you just quit?" Jackie asked, sipping on some tea.
Marco shrugged. "Well, it was a kind of a challenge, plus while being in the Guild I picked up skills, learned a lot, met a lot of great people, got three meals a day and a place to sleep. That and I was saving the money I was making to get supplies for the trial. Also, Monroe was such a nice old man - it would be impossible to go to him and tell him you're quitting."
Even when he hurled him across the hall, Monroe somehow raced across the room and caught him before he hit the floor - he did it just to scare Marco.
"Yeah, that old schemer, he would assign me and Marco on quests all the time. He made it very clear that we weren't allowed to hurt the other one in any way."
Star asked, "So what happened?"
"Yeah, but that was around my second, maybe third year in that dimension" Marco continued. "I had just been barely scraping by thus far, but then I joined the guild that changed. Monroe took me on to teach me how to survive and hunt and do all sorts of things. He taught me things I would never have figured out on my own, at least not as quickly. He helped me become better. The whole guild was filled with amazing people - they would laugh and joke and we'd always have amazing adventures."
"Seems like you guys had fun there?" Jackie noted.
"Yeah, we did." Marco admitted, taking a sip from his drink.
"Oh, I loved being there. I had access to Marco for days at a time when we were both at the guild. I would just mess with him all the time!" Hekapoo chuckled.
"That wasn't as fun." Marco took a bite from his pastry.
"Oh, do you remember the time I warped the threshold of your bathroom so that when you stepped out, you walked right into one of the girl's room?"
"You didn't have to steal my towels too." Marco said irritated.
Hekapoo was already laughing at the memory, "You ran so fast out of there! Ha! Down the hall! Yelling like a screeching owl!" Marco pouted, "Oh, don't be like that, some of the guys actually gave you a round of applause."
"That's not the point,"
"I got you dinner that night and explained it to the guild."
"Yeah, but you kept stealing food off my plate."
"I don't eat that much, what do you care if I nibble a little off your plate."
"I don't mind sharing food. I did mind you stealing my stuff all the time."
"Nothing that you were using at the time and I always gave it back." Hekapoo moved over and placed an arm around Marco. "Come on Mister Grumpy, you know I was just playing with you."
Marco let out a snort. "I guess. You just have an odd way to show affection."
"Well, it worked for us." Hekapoo glanced at her daughter, dipping a cookie into some chocolate milk.
"Yeah, it did." Janna whispered to herself as she watched Marco wipe crumbs off Hekapoo's cheek.
Janna looked at her reflection in her drink and thought how she'd pretty much done the same thing with Marco for years, but Hekapoo had gotten a lot closer to Marco than she had.
They might not have been a couple, but they got along so well and they had this cool daughter.
"So, what happened?" Starfan questioned them, "You're not in the guild anymore, right?"
They both grew quiet for a moment.
"We must have been at the guild for maybe eight months when age got him" Hekapoo spoke with solace. "There are two ways to become guild master. One is by beating the current master in duel and the other by the previous one stepping down or dying and naming you the successor. Monroe left me in charge when he passed away."
"We worked together to keep things in the guild in order and from falling part. Everyone took it pretty hard when he died." Marco told them while looking at his drink, "After that was done I challenged Hekapoo. It was the only fighting that was allowed in the guild."
"We could have changed that rule…" Hekapoo admitted, "But it was Monroe's rule, a rule he set up to keep everyone close and friendly. It wasn't something either one of us would break."
"Yeah, that was when you set up the challenge for the duel, a sword fight."
"Yeah, it seemed right. Monroe spent months trying to teach you to use that thing. He said it would save your life. Your martial art skills were good, but you should carry a weapon."
"He was right, it did save me a lot of times."
"You didn't have it down yet though. So, I made it the challenge."
"You smacked me with your sword every time I tried to fight you."
"But you started to get better and eventually got good enough to disarm me and blew out my flame."
"Then I became the guild master. I stayed there for a little while, making sure everything was taken care of and getting all the supplies I could carry. Then I went back to the trial full time."
"Yeah," Hekapoo smiled, "when Seraph was born I told her a lot of stories about our time in the guild."
"Yeah, and I told her a lot of stories about guild life too." Marco admitted.
Seraph sipped on her drink, shrinking in her chair.
Marco admitted, "Monroe left a deep impression and gave us a lot of good advice. It's hard not to pass that on."
StarFan13 clapped a bit at the end of their story. Brittney just looked on quietly - she, like everyone at school, had heard about their odd relationship and kept her thoughts to herself for the moment.
Star, Janna and Jackie just stared, learning another level of Marco's life and his relationship to Hekapoo. Marco and Hekapoo had 16 years together - they had grown from rivals to something much more.
Marco and Hekapoo both raised their drinks, Marco saying, "To Monroe."
"The best guild leader Dragon's Flare Guild ever had." Hekapoo smiled.
0000
They traveled to the manor via another rift, finding an old metal gate locked up with heavy chains and locks. The manor was old and looking over a scenic view of the river, and on the other side a lush forest gave it plenty of privacy.
"Oops~!" Hekapoo smirked as she touched the chains and locks, melting them in a moment. She kicked the gate open and they started to walk to the manor.
"Okay, Janna, anything you want to share about this place?" Marco questioned.
"Well," Janna began, "this entire land was prime real estate even in old times. Some nobles just showed up one day and bought this land from the king at the time. Over time they built this huge house, the Trésor Manor. The King was willing to give them titles and everything, but they all just wanted to be left alone."
"Probably the thieves" Hekapoo noted. "Trying to hide on Earth. Never did find out who stole my stuff, must have been trying not to bring attention to themselves. I probably wasn't the only person on the lookout for them."
Janna continued, "No one talked to the owners, the king just let them stay to themselves. Time passed and eventually everyone assumed that they had died. Some people were sent to check on them, but they never came back. They sent more people to talk to them and they vanished too, and that kept happening until they sent someone and they did come back. They walked up here one day bringing every tool and item they thought they could need and found the doors open. They walked into the house but found no one - everything was left untouched and undisturbed. After everyone who had vanished the king kept to his words. The house would always remain there and the land would never be divided. The king's grandson did eventually give the land to another group of nobles, long after everyone forgot the story, but they vanished within days. People went to look for them, searched around the house and started to vanish. People kept checking the house over the years and more people disappeared. They got scared and stopped trying to go there. Some nights people who are either too brave or too stupid are said to come up here and vanish. Some nights, people swear that they see figures in the windows, that rooms are lit and people are moving inside. Some say that those who vanished are still inside, hoping to find a way to escape."Janna looked over to the others, disappointed none of them seemed scared. "Eventually the government locked the place after the occupation in WW2 when they heard some German officers decided to squat in there and no one saw them again. There came a few ghost hunters to look into the place - some vanished, but the ones that didn't never found anything. Though they were fined for trespassing."
"Doesn't sound like a haunting?" Hekapoo scratched her head. "Ghost can be pretty territorial and they can make a lot of noise if someone goes into their place. They can be pretty dangerous, but they're not really about keeping people - most would rather have people leave as fast as possible, or at least leave some remains."
As they reached the door, Marco looked back. "Okay, everyone stay close to each other, keep your eyes open and speak up if you think you see anything strange."
"Yeah, Marco" Jackie chuckled, "we've seen horror movies before, we aren't some stupid teens going into a haunted house from which no one comes out of …." Jackie paused. "Wow, we're literally teens going into a haunted house that no one seems to come out from. We're already breaking rule one of what not to do in horror movies."
"And I have never actually seen any horror movie." Seraph pointed out.
"And most of us are minorities" Janna pointed out. "That doesn't speak well for us."
That train of thought came to an end when Marco kicked open the door. "Everyone just be careful."
"We'll be fine." StarFan13 assured the others, "We have Star and her wand, Marco and his daughter and Hekapoo! What can stop them?"
"Now you're just jinxing us." Janna let out.
0000
They walked through the dark rooms that were only lit by Hekapoo's flame, finding stuff left behind by previous tenants that seemed like no one was brave enough to come back for.
Marco handed the map to Brittney. "Okay, there is a riddle written here, translate."
Brittney sighed, already annoyed that she wasn't getting her shopping trip today. "Give me a moment, translating is an art, not science. Uh…'To get the treasure you seek one must start where we eat. The first step is to light what lies within and reflect. Face a test made by yourself and try not to die to get to the other side."
"That sounds like we have to go to the dining room." Star pointed out and they walked there.
They quickly found the room, discovering it was pretty dusty.
They found a single candle waiting on the table, sitting on a gold candle stand.
"Uh, why is the candle new?" Brittney pointed out. "Everything is else is dusty but the candle is clean."
"It looks old, like, style-wise." Jackie pointed out. "Like it was made at the same time the manor was."
"I think it's part of the test thing." Janna looked at it. "Light it!"
"Okay, everyone stand back." Hekapoo waited for everyone to take a step back and let a flame spark on her finger, lighting it. Marco got ready to fight, Star readied her wand and Seraph got ready to do anything she could.
Nothing happened - the candle just flickered. Hekapoo looked at a mirror that sat above the fireplace and how they were being reflected in it. "I guess that didn't-" The mirror glowed and hummed and the images vanished, leaving only the candle's glow.
Then Hekapoo's light went out.
Suddenly the chandelier above their head lit up filled with magical light. The room was warm and bright and clean, as if ready for huge banquet.
Marco looked at himself in confusion. His clothes had changed - he was dressed like a prince, with a red jacket with shoulder tassels and everything.
He looked around to make sure everyone was safe, but they had their clothes and hair changed too.
Hekapoo was wearing a crystal blue off the shoulder dress with a knee-high slit on her right. Along with it she wore a long, transparent cape and snow-white heels. Her hair was now in long french braids.
Seraph was wearing a purple dress with pink accents, a lavender corset with a lace pink ribbon on top. Her shoes were missing for some reason now. Her hair was tied into a long french braid with flowers woven into it.
Star tugged at her own dress. It was a dark teal traditional gown made out of cotton with stylish slits for movement. It was a simple dress with gold trimmings.
Janna seemed saddened that her favorite beanie hat had gone missing - Marco wasn't even sure what was the last time he saw her without it. She was wearing a lavender greek dress with golden straps, a long skirt with the hem ending just above her orange-sandaled feet.
Jackie found herself wearing a periwinkle dress and her sea-shell necklace now seemed to be part of it. She had an extra transparent skirt over her normal one that flowed behind her, reminding Marco of a wave hitting the shore.
StarFan13 seemed delighted by her outfit change - she wore a sparkling silvery-blue ball gown, with opera gloves and a delicate white petticoat. Her hair was done in a traditional french twist, complemented with a light silver band replacing her horn headband.
Brittney had a conflicted expression on her face. She was wearing a golden ball gown with a simple bodice, wrapped off-the-shoulder sleeves, with long yellow opera gloves matching her outfit. Her long wide-hemmed floor length skirt went down to her yellow high heeled shoes. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail by a golden ribbon.
"Whats going on?" Janna fiddled with her dress.
"Not sure" Hekapoo tried to pull out her braids.
"Hey, we both have braids!" Seraph pointed to her mom.
Hekapoo gave her daughter a smile, "Uh, I'm not sure, but I think it's the first test to get to the treasure. Reflection, it's supposed to reflect us in some way. The mirror reflecting the light of the candle was a trigger."
"So we're all dressed like princesses because?" Jackie turned to Star.
"Don't look at me! I hate those princess movies!" Star flailed her arms. "They project the idea of perfect princess and it's just not fair standards for real princesses!"
Marco groaned. "Your point is valid, Star! But we've been through this, they have stopped trying to do that. Most of the movies now have more three-dimensional princess with faults to overcome, compelling motivations, and their own goals besides just marrying a prince and being pretty. They are trying to make better princesses for girls to aspire to be like. I'm not going to have this argument again!"
All the light left the room, and then it all went back to reveal a man standing where the candle had been. This man's skin was wax-like and Marco realized he was made of wax with his clothes gold like the candle holder. A wick stuck out of the top of his head lit.
Music started to fill the air and the man started to tap his foot.
Be our guest
Be our guest
"Is he singing?" Hekapoo questioned.
"Yeah, what's with that?" Star pointed out, "You don't just have a musical number. How does everyone know the lyrics and how to dance in time with everyone?"
"Not again!" Marco let out. "Not now!"
Put our service to the test
Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie
And we provide the rest
Chairs came to life and moved behind them until they sat down. Napkins jumped off the table and wrapped around their arms, tying them down to the chairs which scooted right up to the tables.
Chairs came to life and moved behind them until they sat down. Napkins jumped off the table and wrapped around their arms, tying them down to the chairs which scooted right up to the tables.
Dishes and plates revealed themselves and to the group's disgust they all seemed to have food made of human entrails.
"I think we know what happened to everyone that went missing." StarFan13 cringed.
Soup du jour
Hot hors d'oeuvres
Why, we only live to serve
"I think they're gonna eat us!" Star let out, trying to get out of her bounds.
"I didn't sign up for this!" Brittney yelled.
Try the grey stuff, it's delicious
Don't believe me? Ask the dishes
Brittney stopped yelling when a dish pulled right up to her - she was sure that was brains. One of the dishes started to eat the brains.
Marco and Hekapoo started to fiddle with their bounds.
They can sing
They can dance
Knifes began to dance on the table as they moved to the group.
Marco hopped on the chair, "Come on!"
"You used to be faster at this!" Hekapoo moved her arms until her arm spikes started to cut through the napkins.
"I'm out of practice. You haven't tied me up in years."
"Been busy!" Her bounds broke. "Maybe you should try taking the initiative."
Marco let his weight hit the wooden chair and it broke beneath him, releasing him.
He jumped up.
As Star struggled, she found Seraph leaning over and using her horn to cut one of Star's hands free. With a hand free she pulled her other one free. Quickly, Hekapoo and Marco rushed to their daughter's side to free her.
After all, Miss, this is France
And a dinner here is never second best
Go on, unfold your menu
Take a glance and then you'll
Be our guest
The knives rushed at them. Hekapoo held out her arms as she intended to melt them all, but no sparks, not a single flame formed.
"Come on! Come on!" Star waved her wand trying to blast them.
"Your powers aren't working!" Marco yelled, seeing Seraph's powers were failing too.
"I see that!" Hekapoo told him, "Just let it go!"
Hekapoo grabbed the table cloth and yanked it off, throwing everything around as she Candle Man just jumped avoiding being tugged off and kept in rhythm with the dance.
From another room knight armors started to march towards them.
Oui, our guest
Be our guest
Beef ragout
Cheese souffle
Pie and pudding "en flambe"
We'll prepare and serve with flair
The armors pulled out swords and readied their attack.
Marco growled as he found his scissors were not transforming. "Seraph! Star! Get them free! We've got these."
"Marco!" Star panicked.
"We've got this!" Hekapoo rushed at the nearest armor, impaling it with her horns. The armor fell to pieces and she grabbed its sword. Using it quickly she stabbed another one and, as it fell, grabbed its sword and tossed it to Marco. Armed, he rushed with sword in hand.
"Okay, you've got this." Star mumbled as she went to help her friends.
A culinary cabaret
You're alone
And you're scared
But the banquet's all prepared
No one's gloomy or complaining
While the flatware's entertaining
As the knives moved towards them again, Janna kicked one into the air and caught it, using it to free herself. Seraph and Star moved to free StarFan13 and Jackie.
We tell jokes
I do tricks
With my fellow candlesticks
Countless candles rushed towards the girls, huge flames shooting out of the wicks.
"Uh, are you still flame proof?" Star asked Seraph.
"I'm not sure." Seraph admitted.
"Don't risk it then."
They both quickly dodged the flames, pulling the newly freed Jackie and Janna away.
Marco spotted this and slashed a rope by the wall - and the chandelier fell right on the candles.
"Thanks dad!" Seraph called out.
"Catch!" Hekapoo grabbed another two sword from the armor and tossed them towards Star and Seraph. They quickly grabbed them to defend themselves.
"What's going on?" Marco asked Hekapoo as they fought.
"I think this whole place is a Reflection test! It's sucking up all of our magic to work." She stabbed another armor. "The test is meant to reflect us, all of us. You find the key holding it together and knowing us, it would be that guy." She motioned towards the candle man. "I think if we extinguish his flame, the test will end. If we don't, then when this song ends the whole place comes down on us."
And it's all in perfect taste that you can bet
Come on and lift your glass
You've won your own free pass
To be our guest
If you're stressed
It's fine dining we suggest
"Haunted mansion! With living furniture. I should love this." Janna yelled out annoyed as a wardrobe rushed at her and opened up. A lamprey mouth waited inside, trying to gobble her up.
"Janna!" Jackie smashed a trolley cart with food right at the wardrobe, pulling it away from her friend.
Star jumped up and stabbed it, pinning it to the floor.
Seraph was chopping up all the chairs and dishes attacking her as she freed StarFan13. The girl was actually just enjoying the song.
You walked in and oops-a-daisy!
It's a guest
It's a guest
Sakes alive, well I'll be blessed
Wine's been poured and thank the Lord
"Duck!" Marco yelled out.
Everyone fell to the floor and countless wine bottles pointed towards them, firing their corks. The walls behind them started to get Swiss-cheesed from the impacts.
"Can someone untie me now?!" Brittney yelled out, still tied to the chair and all the corks just missing her.
She'll want tea
And my dear that's fine with me
While the cups do their soft shoeing
I'll be bubbling, I'll be brewing
I'll get warm
Piping hot
Tea kettles moved towards them, trying to shoot scalding tea in their direction. Seeing them coming the girls managed to escape, but it caused them to split up.
Heaven's sakes! Is that a spot?
Clean it up! We want the company impressed
We've got a lot to do
Is it one lump or two
The scalding liquid took the form of a human reaching for the escaping girls. Its fist expanded, smashing towards Star. The princess ducked just in time to miss the attack, but the wall wasn't as lucky as the liquid fist went right through.
For you, our guest
She's our guest
She's our guest
She's our guest
Be our guest
Be our guest
Marco yelled out to them, "Snuff out his flame! It should end this, we have to snuff it out before the end of the song!"
"Another flame to put out?!" Star couldn't help but question it.
"It reflects us, our thoughts, our past, our fears and desires." Hekapoo told them as she kicked a cracked tea cup.
Jackie looked around. She was starting to see some of them being reflected. Janna normally would have loved haunted furniture coming to life. The goal being putting out a flame was clearly tied to Marco, Hekapoo and Seraph's lives. The whole fancy banquet was probably something from Star's life as a princess. The dress up probably came from StarFan13. Jackie felt that everyone being pulled away was probably something she remembered from a certain sleepover and that Truth and Punishment game that had left her with some nightmares.
"Who thought up a musical number?" Janna punched a clock.
Our command is your request
It's ten years since we had anybody here
And we're obsessed
"Me!" Brittney yelled out, "I loved those movies! I loved the musical scenes. My dad used to watch the movies with me when I was small and call me his little princess! It was the most time we got to spend together!"
More candles arrived and tossed the tied up Brittney onto the table. Utensils moved around her and began to prepare.
With your meal
With your ease
Yes, indeed, we aim to please
While the candlelight's still glowing
Let us help you
We'll keep going
Cabinets grabbed Hekapoo and Marco, tossing them to the table.
Course by course
Dozen of tea cups rushed Star and pushed her onto the table.
One by one
The tea trolley came back and slammed into Jackie, throwing her onto the table. Chairs grabbed Janna and Starfan and threw them onto the table as well. Napkins wrapped around Seraph, dragging her onto the table and then tying up the others, keeping them from moving.
'Til you shout, enough, I'm done
"I'm done!" Brittney shouted, hoping that would end it.
The fireplace warped and changed, now the fully lit fire turning into a giant maw.
Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digest
The candle man stood at the far end of the table and it tilted upwards so that the group started to slide towards the mouth.
Tonight you'll prop your feet up
But for now, let's eat up
Seraph, in panic, grabbed anything she could - which was a knife. Seeing the trick that Janna had done before she decided to try something. She turned to the side to get a look at the candle man.
Be our guest
They started to slide towards the fiery mouth that was eager to eat them up. They yelled out as they tried to slow their fall.
Be our guest
Seraph tossed the knife as hard as she could, hoping that having something more solid would help her aim.
Be our guest!
The knife cut through the wick.
Please, be our gu-!
The flame flickered out, now cut from the wick, and in a puff of smoke it vanished. Everything stopped and the room went dark, returning to its dusty former self. Untied and in their regular clothes, they all sighed in relief.
Everyone cheered at their survival. Marco and Hekapoo hugged their daughter.
"You were amazing sweetie!" Hekapoo cuddled her.
The table cracked beneath them and they hit the floor with a groan. Then, with a creak, the floor crack opened and swallowed them.
0000
Outside light shone through all the windows, and with a great big rumble the manor collapsed into itself until only wreckage remained.
If you like this story I suggest going to the original source here https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12364479/1/Like-Father-Like-Daughter?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=4pf7ygKuGopWjEuhI5WxBNTRg3JzMKNoUqNYyNTXM6k-1639571418-0-gaNycGzNCaU
And if you want more like this I suggest going to the original author of this story ADdude's home page https://www.fanfiction.net/u/2674558/ADdude