Blending In

"So, any idea how to get in there? Anyone?"

Officially standing outside the ruin's grounds, the group of ten looked over the outside of the building, noticing the lack of a proper entrance. Eddy himself was wondering if climbing the walls would be a good idea if it wasn't for the fact that most of them were wearing heels.

"I have to ask; whose idea was it to come to some dilapidated castle in the middle of the Enchanted Forest? I'm pretty sure this type of thing is left to those 'knights' that are taught at Ever After." Cleo raised an eyebrow, tapping her foot impatiently.

"It was mine, actually." Ghoulia said, tapping into the text-to-voice app quickly. "I figured that something like this would be a little less boring for those that crave more active hangouts. Plus, it would also encourage everyone here to work together."

"This is also to put some action into the fic and keep the attention of the readers." Maddie moved to the large front door of the place, ignoring the incredulous looks as she looked it over. She knocked on the door, attempting to pull at a handle. After receiving no response, she turned to the rest. "I don't think we're getting inside the normal way."

"That obvious?" Eddy turned and started to walk the buildings perimeter. "The place is old enough, so there's probably some wall busted down or a broken window to crawl into. Old buildings have those all the time."

"Why do you know that?" Apple said, following close behind. The Eds looked at each other uncomfortably but didn't necessarily give her an answer.

"Hey, Ghoulia right?" Cerise asked, easing at the zombie's nod. "What exactly did you find on this place?"

"Not much, to be honest. The adventuring website put up some information about some treasure, but none of it is substantiated by known proof." She clicked open the site where she found the coordinates. "It seems a few adventurers have attempted to come here before, but either were called out to something better or left for lesser reasons. Figured that it would be nice to take it off the list for good."

"Knowing Eddy, he'll love the treasure part." Double D kept his eyes open as they moved across the perimeter. No windows that they would fit into or reach without some reasonable climbing skill, as far as he could tell. "Well, depending on what definition of 'treasure' that article says."

Clawdeen rolled her eyes. "Don't tell Cleo about it. She might throw him out of one of those windows to get to it herself." This caused some laughter within the group, though it was slightly subdued after a questioning glare from Cleo silenced them. "Speaking of which, how long does it take to find an entrance to-"

"Found something!" Eddy suddenly piped up before moving into a large hole within the castle. Maniacal laughter could be heard as he moved in, sneakers hitting the cobblestone before his feet. "Better catch up before I call dibs on anything cool!"

"Wait up!" Ed ran on in as well before anyone could stop him. The rest shook their heads but joined on in much more coolly.

The inside of the place was remarkably well kept, despite the state of the outside. It looked like they had entered the dining hall, a large, wide open space that was sparsely populated by some furniture. Any signs of civilization were rare, but some chairs were scattered about as far as they could see, along with the occasional curtains covering the windows. Each one they could see had an insignia of a black bird, wings out and standing proud on a gnarled branch. Purple eyes lacking irises were seen glaring out to those who looked at it.

"Hey, Raven, look!" Apple moved to one of the curtains and stared at it closely, bouncing on the heels of her feet. "Isn't this one of your mother's old symbols?"