→ o1. [video]

[aperfectthird]

[The feed opens quite abruptly on a young man looking into the device with a combination of consternation and confusion. A finger appears and taps on the screen, then the view promptly swings around to a pair of perfectly polished dress shoes. The view shakes for a moment before coming back to Percy's face, brow still furrowed.]Oh, I think it's

Comments

video;

[oneminutemaze]

[ Ow. Yes, they can hear you. More importantly, the confusion toward technology and the red hair remind her of several people she knows. ]

There should be a button to turn it off, probably a red one, but they turn on themselves half the time anyway.

[ Pause. ]

I can't help with the rest, though. None of us can.

video;

[aperfectthird]

[A moment of shock as the girl appears on his screen, then he squints and peers at it, looking to either side of the phone as though looking for a secret fireplace before looking at the keypad.]

A red - yes, I see it now.

What do you mean, no one can help with the rest? That's absurd.

video;

[oneminutemaze]

[ There's a slight smile as he looks at either side of the phone; yes, definitely someone who isn't used to this sort of technology. ]

Let me rephrase that. None of the people who are likely to answer this can help, anyway. We've all been brought here -- this place is called the City, by the way -- by some beings who call themselves deities. They don't seem to have any intentions toward letting us go; instead, we get to deal with strange happenings everyone calls 'curses' every few days. No one outside the City can hear us on these, and there are barriers preventing anyone from leaving.

[ There's a pause, and then she gives him a slightly rueful smile. ]

I'm Ariadne. I've been here for about a month and a half now, though apparently I've been here before, which I don't remember at all. I can send you a guide, if you'd like. It's a bit outdated, but it's a good reference tool.

video;

[aperfectthird]

[There's a moment as the information sinks in, and his brow furrows.]

Hello, Ariadne, it's good to meet you. You're absolutely sure there's no way out at all? I'm sorry, but that's impossible.

video;

[oneminutemaze]

You too -- though I didn't catch your name.

[ And here's that guide. ]

Oh, no, people get out. We just don't know how. [ There's a slight shrug. ] One of my roommates was told that you can feel it coming, before you're about to leave. Not everyone does, though. I know at least one person who's been here for three years. [ His sister, as a matter of fact. ]

video;

[aperfectthird]

Oh - my apologies. Percy Weasley.

People have been here for years?

video;

[oneminutemaze]

I thought you might be a Weasley. I know some of your brothers, and your sister. I'm sure they'll get in contact with you soon, if they haven't already; last I saw, Fred and George were having a... body-swapping issue.

[ Guess who doesn't know Fred is dead. ]

Yeah. Apparently it's not common, but it does happen.

video; 1/2

[aperfectthird]

video; 2/2

[aperfectthird]

...did you say Fred?

video;

[oneminutemaze]

[ ... Well. That's an interesting reaction. ]

Yes?

video;

[aperfectthird]

Fred Weasley?

video;

[oneminutemaze]

[ She is getting the feeling that she's been Missing Something. ]

Yes, Fred Weasley. Co-runs a joke shop, likes orange, looks exactly like George but with both ears.

video;

[aperfectthird]

[He presses his lips together, clearly trying to keep his temper under control. When he speaks again, his voice is tight with barely controlled anger.]

Is this a joke, Miss Ariadne? If so, it not funny and in extremely poor taste.

video;

[oneminutemaze]

[ Wow, okay, now she definitely knows something is up. She's immediately on the defensive, though, her own temper flaring -- she didn't do anything other than trying and be helpful. ]

It's not a joke.

video;

[aperfectthird]

Then I've no idea what you're playing at, because my younger brother Fred who co-runs a joke shop, likes orange, and looks just like George but with both ears -

[His breath catches.]

- died last week.

video;

[oneminutemaze]

[ And just like that, her temper's gone, eyes wide. Her first reaction, kneejerk, is denial -- no, that's wrong, you're wrong, I just saw talked to him yesterday. It's fading quickly, though, something sinking in her gut. She knows they have secrets, all of them have secrets, but thisBut she remembers grabbing him, kissing him in a moment of anger just a week ago, and she'd thought it had been winter's chill but maybe the cold hadn't been from the snow and ice but had been from something else (like the hand of the boy in the graveyard in Harry's memory, and it's frightening, how she knows what corpses feel like now thanks to some of her closest friends in this place). She remembers glances, the way certain subjects are always quickly changed or skirted along, looks in eyes that imply there's more. She's been trying to behave herself, trying not to push -- it doesn't work on Ginny, and Harry relived one of her own memories, so it's too dangerous to push in case he pushes back. George has told her things accidentally, without thinking,