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mirrormask: helena campbell

First post! :D

Who: Helena Campbell and OPEN
Where: The entrance hall
When: In the middle of all the chaos.
Rating: G, hopefully
Summary: Helena arrives at the mansion, and she has NO IDEA what's going on.
the Story: Helena appeared in front of the mansion, at the edge of the forest, her two hands raised as though holding a mask to her face. When she realized she was holding nothing, she let her hands fall to her sides, as she stared blankly at the sprawling grounds and the gigantic building before her, blinking in the sunlight.

"...again? Valentine, where..." She glanced around, confused, looking for someone. This isn't my room, she thought. She could feel panic rising in her chest, a knot building in her throat. All the hope she had had of going home and seeing her mother well seemed to be draining out of her. She was in a completely new place, and Valentine seemed to be gone. She had nothing. She closed her eyes and fought the panic down, regaining her calm.She wiggled her toes inside her rabbit slippers, trying to find comfort there. I must be brave.

Frowning, she walked carefully to the mansion. Instead of knocking on the large wooden doors, she nudged them open, and peeked inside. "Hello?" She pushed the huge doors open wider, and walked into the main hall. "Is there anyone there?" Her voice cut off short. She looked around her, startled at the magnificent ceiling and walls, and raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I ever drew this." Her voice was awed, with a hint of amusement.

(OOC: Poor girl. She has no idea what's going on. Feel free to help or troment her, at your discretion. :P )

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Saffron had been stalking the halls. She had been in a high temper for days now because of the war between the two halves of the Mansion, and she desperately wished she could find someone to sharpen her metaphorical claws on. However, as she walked through the entrance hall, thinking she might go outside for a bit of fresh air, she came across a very confused-looking young woman. Oh, fresh blood. Fantastic. She allowed her scowl to relax and fade, then put on her most approachable smile as she neared the girl.

She put up her hand in a wave. "Hello. I don't think I've met you before. Are you new here?"

[ooc: If you need help with anything, I'm more than happy to do what I can!]

Helena looked carefully at the approaching woman. She looked pleasant enough. "I think that would depend on where here is. I'm a little lost right now."

In her mind, Helena laughed at her own words. I've been lost for some time.

[OOC: Help would be appreciated! I'm new to livejournal, and I don't know how to do that link thing. The one that says "There's no place like home..!" The whole story appears below it, for some reason. :( ]

Saffron grinned. New people were so exciting. "Well, hi! I'm Saffron. Welcome to the Mansion." Her smile faded a bit. "This was probably a terribly inconvenient time for you to arrive. Um... how about we head to the kitchen and I'll explain what's going on?" She put out her arm for the girl to hold or not and turned in the direction of the kitchens. "It's probably safer there, anyway."

[ooc: When you post or edit the entry, highlight all of the text that you'd like to be hidden behind a link, also called a cut. Among your options buttons, there's one that looks like a paragraph with a squiggly line in it. Click that one and type in the text that you want the link to display.]

"I'm Helena." the girl replied, her interest sparked. She followed the woman obediently, looking around her at the arches and tall doorways. "Mansion doesn't sound so bad. What did you mean, 'inconvenient'?"

Being there at a bad time meant something to Helena; it meant she could help, and she was actually quite determined to.

[ooc: Okay, that sounds like it'll work. Thanks! :D ]

Guiding the new arrival into the kitchen, Saffron set about making tea for the pair of them. The irony of it struck her a bit, as she hadn't performed the Companion Welcoming Ceremony in years. But making tea seemed to be the thing to do when you wanted to comfort someone, and this girl was definitely going to need some comfort very soon.

"Well, personally I'm grateful that I didn't land here in the middle of all-out warfare, but you don't seem to have that kind of luck." She leaned on the counter as the kettle warmed. "The Mansion isn't exactly a friendly place. It's sort of... a living thing. And we're here for food."

"...food." Helena repeated, somehow not surprised at all. "That's really. Odd." She sipped at her tea, the hot drink revivng her.

None of this made sense, but that was a comfort to her. When things got really weird, there was one simple explanation that she could fall back on, something that had been itching at the back of her head since she had arrived. "So... I guess I'm still dreaming, then."

Saffron rummaged around in a cabinet for honey to add to her tea. "Well, it doesn't actually eat us. Just our memories, which is odd enough, but at least you live through that." She found what she was searching for and spooned it into her drink. At the girl's speculation, she offered an apologetic look. "Sorry, sweetie. You're not dreaming. Someone explained it as sort of... alternate dimensions? The Mansion plucks you out of your world and keeps you as long as it wants you. There are several groups of people trying to escape, but it seems pointless to me." Finally settled, she pulled a stool up to the counter and sat down.

Sweetie? Helena thought.

"But...But that's the kind of thing that happens in dreams!" She pressed the her hands tighter around the cup of tea, warming them. A little doubt creeped its way into her system. Suddenly she didn't feel like drinking her tea anymore.

Saffron frowned sympathetically, but inside was a bit frustrated with this girl. She was refusing to believe what her senses were telling her, which could well get her killed here. "It's the kind of thing that happens in nightmares, but I assure you, it's very real."

"This is unfair!" the girl cried, standing up suddenly, sloshing her tea all over the table. I was done! I did everything I had to do!

Saffron pushed her stool back quickly to avoid getting tea on her shirt, then shook her head as she searched for a towel to wipe it up. "Of course it isn't fair. The Mansion pulls people in as it pleases. You either accept it and try to be happy while you're here or you spend your whole time miserably searching for a way home." Saffron tilted her head with a sarcastic little smile. "You didn't think the world worked out the way you wanted it to all the time, did you?"

Helenea certainly didn't appreciate the sarcasm, especially when she was feeling so fragile (although she'd never admit that she was, even to herself.) She scowled a little bit at Saffron, and decided to change the topic to something more comfortable.

"You mentioned something, about a war?"

Saff let out a huge sigh. She'd hoped to ease the girl into this topic- it was going to be difficult to explain this part. She wiped the spilled tea off the counter and sat down again. "Oh, yeah, that. Well, here we have not just one world, but two. There's the Mansion itself, which except for some strange events is actually a pretty alright place to live. And then there's the Mirrorverse." She swished her tea around in its cup. "Everyone who lives in the Mansion has a mirror version of themselves. It's like bizarro you. Looks the same, but a completely opposite personality. It's extremely creepy. And every one of those Mirrors was created to serve the Queen of Hearts. She controls the Mirrorverse, and possibly also the Mansion."

She took a sip from her cup. "There is no mirror of the Queen on this side, and there is no mirror of a few of the Mansion's Residents. And there is no mirror of a girl named Alice. Alice has been here so long that she has only one memory left: the memory of her kitten, Dinah. Recently, the Queen held a trial for Alice, because Alice annoyed the hell out of her. Everyone on this side of the mirrors did their best to defend Alice, but the Queen judged her guilty. The sentence was to be carried out this week, something about killing Dinah. So this week there's a war on. Most everyone is trying to save Alice and her cat."

"A bizzaro me? It's so similar..." Helena muttered to herself. She was still trying to understand it all. Even the use of 'mirrors' caught her attention, reminding her of her old dream.

She was still standing. Remembering the dream made her think about the evil dark queen. If there was another evil queen here, in the mansion, then Helena knew what she had to do. Certainty lit up her eyes as she looked at Saffron. "We have to help them. Alice, and her cat." She was desperate to get it over with and go home, but at the same time she knew that she could help. She was determined to.

Saffron frowned. Similar? Similar to what? I seemed that the new girl was just like everyone else here- determined to take on an impossible mission to save someone she didn't even know, someone who wasn't even really herself anymore. It was a little pathetic, the way they kept throwing themselves at the Queen like ants trying to take down a wall. "Helena... I know you want to help, and I understand, really I do, but... I haven't finished explaining. The Queen of Hearts controls everything here. You can't beat her. I've been trying to convince my friends all week that they're in terrible danger. There's just... no winning. Not here, not against her. I'm tired of seeing my friends use themselves up trying. It will suck the life right out of you. It isn't worth it. This girl... what's happened to her is terrible, but if you go after her then the same will happen to you."

Thinking maybe she could get back at Saffron for her sarcasm earlier, Helena said, amused, "You're not scared, are you?"

Saffron chuckled. Scared was hardly the word to describe it, but Helena didn't need to know that. "Mostly, no. I mean, of course I'm a little scared. I'm worried about my friends, and I'm worried about what will happen if the Queen decides I'm next. But mostly I'm just trying to keep myself alive. Better to keep to myself and live a long life here than to stick my neck out and lose my head for the trouble."

"Oh." Helena udnerstood what Saffron meant. She sat back down. "Have people died here before?" Only after she had asked it did Helena realize how silly the question sounded. People died, all the time. She had never thought about it that way before.

Saffron frowned at this question. "That's... complicated. Short answer is yes. But they don't always stay dead." She thought about Dean. "Which can be good or bad."

Helena frowned. She didn't really understand. "I still need to go home though. I have to. Helping this Alice girl seems like the first step."

Saffron wanted to scowl, but her self-control kept it to a sympathetic-seeming grimace. This girl obviously wasn't getting it. "You can't go home. There isn't a way to get there. Not until the Mansion spits you out, and who knows how long that will take. Some people have been here for years and years."

Perhaps Saffron didn't realize the effect her words would have on Helena (although admittedly, she probably did). Regardless, the teenager hung her head and fought back the tears that were threatening behind her eyes. Thinking of her sick mother, she ran her hand over her face, trying to hide her expression, one of mingled guilt and sorrow.

When Helena looked back up at Saffron she seemed firm, almost angry. "I'll find a way." With that, she left the kitchen, hurridely, before she broke down again.

As the girl rushed crying out of the room, Saffron felt a tiny stab of remorse. Perhaps she should have been a bit more gentle. But in the middle of a war, there was no time for gentleness. Helena needed to know that this was a serious situation. Saffron hoped the new girl could find her way to a friendly set of arms and learn to deal with her new life in the Mansion.

Considerably less angry, she put away the teacups and returned to her room. Perhaps all was not yet lost for her mission.

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First post! :D

HI WELCOME TO EWAY

Re: HI WELCOME TO EWAY

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