Norbert looked forward, nodding his head in tune with the whistling and seeing out of the corner of his eye Count von Count grinning as he continued to whistle. The announcer entered the crowd; Norbert could almost see steam from the man's head.
The crowd finally parted as Norbert saw the announcer, wearing his suit, a black tux with a bowtie; Norbert was surprised to see the fashion here and on this tiny man out of everyone. Norbert looked down on the announcer, not small enough to be a dwarf but small for a human.
The announcer turned to Count von Count, asking the question, "Why, are you still here?"
Count von Count stopped his whistling with a start, pointing his thumb to Norbert. "Cause of him." He said before starting to whistle again immediately, picking up from his tune like he had never stopped.
The announcer now turned to Norbert, who continued whistling, looking past the man at the crowd just staring at the interaction; Norbert looked ahead as he squinted, noticing another staircase leading up again.
As the announcer began to open his mouth, Norbert just walked past, sidestepping the man entirely as he continued walking forward. As Norbert walked through the crowd, those parted and followed behind him. Breaking through, Norbert started walking towards the stairwell.
Hearing a flutter of clothes by his side, Count von Count having joined him, looking up and flicking to magic vision, seeing a trail of red coming from where the vampire was before. Looking forward, seeing the lines of the granite now being shown to him, the magic coursing through them constant but not intense, just a steady trickle down.
Changing back to normal, the usual colours returning to his vision, Norbert heard a voice shout, "Hey you! Come here!"
Norbert heard the announcer's voice from behind, not even turning around as the pair continued walking forward. Hearing steps following him, the group followed Norbert and Count von Count as the pair continued forward.
Obsius, on Norbert's shoulder, spinning around, looking at the precision following after them, chirping, notifying Norbert that the announcer had pushed forward, now between the large group and their much smaller group.
Norbert just grinned, not wanting to say anything in case someone overheard, losing the cool factor he was trying to grow with this stint. Those behind him would be the best that Morenas would be willing to show. Seeing that Lily wasn't in the competition, there must be some rules for this.
As Norbert continued forward, he finally saw the stairwell leading further ahead. Continuing at the same pace as before, the closer he came to the stairwell, the easier it was to see something standing beside it.
He went forward, smiling as he saw who was finally showing up. Waving his head, he saw Lily standing next to the steps. Seeing someone from behind come forward, Norbert nearly accidentally hit them as his eyes came forward.
As Norbert saw the announcer stop, he stared at Lily, "What are you doing here?" He asked her.
He was looking towards Norbert, pointing at him with her thumb. The man turned around, now furious again, as he stared at Norbert.
He was walking forward; Norbert once again moved past the announcer, pointing up the stairs. Lily responded with a nod as she started walking up to them as well. Norbert follows her, Count von Count standing at the foot of the stairs, with his finger and his thumb in the shape of an L on his forehead to the announcer before following Norbert up the stairs.
Norbert asks what the vampire was doing back there, responding after hearing the explanation, "Do they even know what the L stands for?" He asked back.
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Count von Count cackled at Norbert's remark, "Well, with a little voice in their ears telling them what it means, of course." The vampire made him forward.
Norbert looked ahead, suppressing the grin on his face, knowing the announcer would realise it was about him and catching up with Lily as she made her way up the stairs, meeting her halfway up the spiralling staircase.
As he made his way to the top with Lily, Count von Count was behind him as usual. The announcer cannot catch up with them. Norbert thinks he heard snickering in the crowd underneath him, still climbing the stairs.
I looked up once more, wondering what would be on this floor. Seeing a smaller corridor with doors and numbers etched on them, looking through, they seemed to be a random amount, with no order or rhyme.
Seeing them jump around the place, Norbert started walking down the hall, trying to puzzle it together. There was only a meter of distance between each doorway, its white wood with black veins going down them, all identical in design, like they were all cut from the same section of a tree.
Walking down the hallway, the doors blended into one another before the design changed. The entire theme of the hallway changes. The cleanliness he saw before was gone; the neatness and order had disappeared.
Slowly, it came onto him, piece by piece. Something was misplaced; something felt wrong. He stopped his walk, feeling like somebody was watching over his shoulder. Turning around, he saw nobody there; the only people in the hallway were the group meters behind, just crowding around the stairwell.
Turning back to look further down the hallway, a shiver ran up Norbert's spine. Staring further down, I see the black veins from the door slowly coming out of the doorways, creeping onto the stone like a fungus growing, sapping the life away.
Focusing on his vision, as Norbert was about to change it, a female voice whispered, "You won't be lucky if you stare into the abyss."
Whipping himself around, Norbert looked back, seeing a golden mote of light in the air, staring as it hopped towards his nose, and when it touched his, it disappeared.
Taking a shaky breath, Norbert started walking back, feeling something trying to crawl onto him, latch onto his body, and make its way out of there with him. Norbert pushed energy into his body, stepping forward as fast as he could. Turning behind and still seeing nothing, he turned to look forward again, smashing into the back of Count von Count.
The vampire stumbled slightly as he tried to gain his footing again, successfully doing so and turning around, looking down at Norbert. He watched the hallway for several seconds before staring at Norbert and beckoning with his head to where the announcer was, tapping his foot on the floor.
Norbert righted himself as he looked at the announcer. Having finally received Norbert's attention, he began, clearing his throat as he opened his mouth, "For the future, you will be here in these halls. Each door has a number attached to the one given earlier. This will be your home; the resources of the Halls of the Mountain King are at your disposal."
The announcer gave Lily a look before going down the stairs, Norbert wondering where he possibly could be going and what Lily did to him in the past to have that kind of reaction.
Everyone's eyes followed after the announcer as he disappeared down the stairs. Everyone looked at each other for a moment before they started to disperse. They were going down the hallway, looking at doors.
Norbert stared at the way he had come, the doors looking the same and cutting off after several meters. The doorways stopped as the hallway opened up into something else. Count grabbed him by the sleeve before he could correctly see Count von, nodding further down the opposite end of the hall.
Following his gaze, Norbert started walking, wondering what the vampire wanted to show him. Passing others who were opening their doors and not the room Norbert expected to see. Opening them up, Norbert saw the portal shining, its blue light bathing the floor near each one.
Looking back at them, Norbert saw his doorway, painted purple with a slight metallic red shine to it. Seeing the number 1543 printed on their number system and the lines going across, Norbert imagines it showing a house getting destroyed.
Looking for a door handle and seeing nothing, Norbert rested his hand against the doorway; feeling it push against his hand, Norbert lifted it, feeling the door swing towards him. He looked at the side and saw no hinges, his face bathed in the blue light.
He shrugged his shoulders, taking it as part of the magic of this place. A shiver went down his back as he remembered the black fungus hallway he had just come from. His skin suddenly felt itchy under him, like something was crawling under his skin. Norbert stepped through the portal, wondering what his room would be like if it was connected via a portal. The usual feeling of his body stretching to his destination engulfed him, lessening the chill he couldn't quite get rid of.