Stepping through, his body finishing its elongating, going straight up this time, Norbert looked at the room he just entered. The most surprising thing that Norbert saw was the sky outside. Walking forward as if in a trance, Norbert made his way there, seeing a balcony overlooking a mountain range.
Norbert stared for longer, amazed at what he saw. The snow coming towards him stopped by the barrier there. He reached forward, and his fingers popped the barrier like a bubble, the wind blowing through his clothes.
The white snow tickled on his nose as it blew forward; moving his hand back, Norbert heard the barrier snap back into place, the wind and snow cutting off once more. Norbert sees it hitting the barrier. Brushing the water off himself, he sees a mini puddle on the ground from the snow melting.
Obsius fluttering around the room, Norbert turned around, seeing his two other guests enters the room he found himself in. Count von Count unwrapped himself completely, leaving a pile of clothes coming off him with every step, before turning to Norbert and seeing the balcony and the sky outside.
He groaned to himself as he turned around the way he came, picking up the clothing and wrapping himself up again, grumbling as he did so. Lily walked past him into an area Norbert hadn't seen before. As Norbert stares around, seeing the purple and red motif continuing throughout the room.
The granite base within the rest of the halls was still here, the floor and furniture made out of the material. All the accessories, however, are dotted around the place with the purple and red theme.
As Lily sat at the table, pulling a chair out and landing on the seat, the purple cushions with crimson thread joined the two together; with a huff, she leaned forward, putting her face in her arms, muttering to herself.
Norbert walked back inside, hearing his wet steps on the stone floor. Sitting beside hers, she saw three other empty chairs at the circular table, each evenly spaced apart. Taking the seat on her left, he could see the balcony and the entrance to the abode he found himself in.
"What's the deal with you and that announcer dude?" Norbert asked Lily.
Lily reeled back, looking at Norbert, her cheeks flushed red. "You mean Stumpy? He's just a power-hungry, annoying man who is too big for their shoes." Lily replied.
Before Norbert could answer Count von Count, having wrapped himself back up, plopping into one of the empty chairs beside Norbert and opposite Lily, "What kind of name is Stumpy?"
Lily chuckles to herself at the name, likely remembering the past interactions with the announcer. "When a parent doesn't like their child." She responded to the vampire's question.
Count von Count snorted. "You can say that again, and why does he have such a stick up his butt." Count von Count replied, leaning forward as he picked up the jug on the table, looking inside as he swirled it around.
Turning around, Norbert exited his seat and headed toward the kitchen area. Walking towards the cupboards, Norbert opened them, the purple handles calling out to him. Looking through the cupboards, he found, taking four out, he walked towards the table, placing them in front of each chair.
Count von Count takes the jug, filling the three cups with water. Norbert points to the third one, the vampire raising an eyebrow, questioning Norbert. In return, Norbert nodded as the vampire continued filling the fourth cup.
Norbert picked up his cup, swirling the water around, lifting it to his mouth as he drank it, wetting hit. All three placed their cups down on the table, the stone of the cups reverberating.
Count von Count pointed to the empty seat. "Have a guest coming?" he asked the room.
Lily turned to Norbert, waiting for him to respond. Norbert just shrugged his shoulders as he took another sip from his cup. "Call it instinct. That someone will walk through that door in five."
Norbert said as he pointed to the door.
"… four" as Count von Count raised an eyebrow at him.
"… three", Norbert continued, Obsius looking up from what she was doing, looking around the room at the commotion that would be happening.
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"… two" as the three turned around, looking towards the door.
"… one," Norbert said, now everyone in the room staring at the door.
"… zero." Norbert finished, clicking his fingers and pointing his index finger to the door like a gun.
Everyone was in silence for a moment, waiting for the big reveal of who would be behind the door. As the seconds ticked, everyone held their breath in silence, waiting for the fateful person to appear.
As the four of them waited, nothing happened. Count von Count cracked a grin. "Can't believe you had us going there." He said, unable to hold in his straight face, letting it go with a round of laughter.
Lily just shook her head, sipping her drink to quiet herself. Obsius rustled her feathers slightly as she turned towards Count von Count. Norbert knew she would join in with Count von Count's antics.
As the laughter slowly calmed down, Count von Count wiped a tear from his eye, flicking it over to Norbert. Blinking in response, Norbert just leaned back in his chair. Count von Count smiled in response, "Guess you're not that lucky." He responded, just smiling as he took another sip of his drink.
SLAM
The sound caused Count von Count to jump in his chair as he looked towards the door. The portal light pooled into the room as someone stepped through. The bootleg came as the chestnut hair flowed forward, and the door closed before the person entered the room; Count von Count looked towards Norbert, mouth open as Sally entered the room. Without looking around, she made a beeline towards the empty seat, plopping herself in it as she took the cup. She gulped the water before placing the stone cup back on the table.
Opening up, she looked down at her jacket from inside one of the pockets, pulling out a glass bottle. Popping the cork, she poured herself some before placing the glass bottle on the table, Norbert smelling the alcohol wafting out of the neck.
She took her cup to her lips, wafting it under her nose before taking a sip, sighing in comfort as Norbert saw her keep it in her mouth for several seconds before swallowing it.
Gently place it on the table, not a sound coming off as the two pieces of stone made contact. Count von Count turned to Norbert, mouthing the words, "How did you know?"
Norbert smiled as he took another sip of his drink, starting to wonder what the drink tally just poured into it was.
Norbert placed his own, not as quietly as Sally's, as he leaned back in his chair, starting to rock in it. "What brings you here to this neck of the woods?" Norbert asked her.
Still looking down at the cup, Sally tilted her eyes upwards; Norbert felt the wrath behind them of what she wanted to do to him if he dared to cross the line.
Rubbing the brim of her nose, she sighed again, placing her hand on her leg before looking back up to Norbert. "The pain that you three have caused me." She said, nodding each at Norbert, Count von Count and Obsius.
Obsius jumps towards Sally, chirping at her. Sally just staring at Norbert, waving an open hand at the bird.
"She's saying, how dare you compare me to these two ruffians, placing us in the same boat. Are you mental?" Norbert said to Sally.
Sally just raised her eyebrows as she stared down at the bird. "I'll get to you later."
Staring at Norbert, stating "Now you've caused me the biggest headache of them all." Sally said accusingly.
Norbert placed his hand over his chest, mouth open as if he were gasping for air after being stabbed through the heart. "Shot through the heart, and you don't care," Norbert said, starting to reel backwards in his chair, feeling himself tip precariously backwards, teetering on the edge of falling.
"Yes, you, your stint at the training area, just smashing through everyone, pretty much made the entire second half null and void for you," Sally said.
Norbert just shrugged. "Can't be helped if I'm just better than everyone," Norbert said, feeling the grand chutzpah growing inside him.
Staring forward, Norbert felt the look drowning down on him; leaning forward, the chair no longer rocked as it landed on all four legs; Norbert caught himself with his feet, stopping the chair from slamming into the floor.
"It wasn't that you beat everyone; it was the fact you did it without stopping. But even that could be excused. Why did the two constantly annoy Stumpy with your whistling and everyone else around you." Sally said, turning between Norbert and Count von Count.
The vampire raises his hands in the air in surrender. "If he can't take a bit of whistling, that's his issue." The vampire said, trying to defend himself.
"Well, when you do it for hours on end, in an annoying mush and purposefully antagonising the announcer and shower of it the entire thing, someone is going to get annoyed. And let's not even begin with your entire mental projecting." Sally finished leaning forward.
Lucy asked Sally, "But isn't Stumpy full of himself?"
"Oh, he is," Sally said. Smiling at the thought, "Worth it every time to annoy him, for what he's done to all of us." She said. Lily just nodded in approval.
Norbert stared between the two. "So, what did Stumpy even do?" Norbert asked her.
Sally just smiled at him. "What's your next plan?" She asked him.
Norbert groaned in response, waving his hand in the air. "The first is to wait for the person I thought was coming," Norbert said, standing out of his chair, pacing around the room, walking back to it, sitting on it, feeling something underneath him.
Feeling hot breath on his neck, he felt whatever was now on his chair, leaning forward. "Guess you're more excited than I thought ", Luck said.
Norbert turns around. "What took you so long?" He asked her.
Scrunching her face, she replied, "A wizard is never late, nor early, but arrives precisely when they mean to." Lily to Norbert.
Turning around in Luck's lap, "But you're not a wizard." He said accusingly.