Roses, Lives, and Palette Knives

This is based off of the Indie Horror RPG Maker game Ib, partly Victubia, and The AJKey Kids story. Credit to Puppy and her story, Kouri for Ib, and Gabbi for Victubia. :) I'm going to do a switch-around point of view type thing on this.

Let's get this story started.

Introduction
''I was walking along the sidewalk, rain puddles splashing among my shoes. I had nowhere to go. I was unaware of this new place. I didn't know what to do. I needed a place to go, I concluded. The cold, icy drops of rain pattered on my head, running down my back and making me shiver. I was chilled to the bone, and my hair was clinging against my hollow cheeks. I continued to trudge along the drenched sidewalk, until I looked up, and saw the massive house.. ''

Chapter 1: The house, the roses, and the vitality.
Gray sat back in the bench, sighing in contentment and shutting his eyes as the bright sunlight warmed his face. The soft breeze lightly ruffled his hair, and he promptly cracked open his eyes and re-wrapped his silk scarf around his neck. As he leaned back against the back of the bench to relax, he heard a familiar shout. Groaning, he re-opened his eyes, and yawned and stretched, fingers curling in re-arriving contentment in the dappled sunlight. He stumbled up, and he headed back towards the house.

Chief had been asked to call Gray from the park nearby. She stared into the peaceful distance, watching the sunlight dance on the sparkling, crystal-clear rivers filled with sweet, cool water. She turned her glance back into the distance when she saw a familiar silhouette walking towards the house. She smiled and waved at her leader as he walked up the porch stairs, and stretched. "Hi, Gray." Chief said, her face clearly etched with happiness. "How were you in the park?" Gray stretched and sighed, then turned to Chief, a faint smile on his face as well. "I was about go sleep on a bench before you called me." Gray laughed, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "What's happening now?" Chief patted Gray on the back, chuckling, then she turned back to the house. "Smell it yourself." Chief laughed. Gray paused to smell the fresh air, and caught the whiff of delicious food.

"Mmm." Gray laughed, looking back at Chief. "Lunch?"

"Yep." Chief said with certainty, eyes glittering. "They made sandwiches with a side of Carrot Cake with a Cream Cheese glaze."

"Carrot cake?" Gray tilted his head, then paused to ponder, and realized how good everything already smelled. "Well, I guess I'll go for some. Let's go inside before I fall asleep in this warm sunlight."

As Chief and Gray walked inside, the cold marble floor squeaked under their feet, and Gray looked down to see his reflection on the polished floor, and Chief was busy sniffing the sweet, delicious scents rippling through the air. When they arrived at the long table, everyone was there, except a few. Everyone there was Puppy, Diamond, Uni, Nunya, Icefern, Klint, Deputron, Hurricane, Hawk, Lilypop, -Lily-, Jeff, Mango, Reka, Mario, Flaming, and a few others.

"Hi, Gray!" Avalon waved at the two. "It's lunchtime!"

As usual, Gray noticed that Caspiea was the only one missing. She was usually always hanging out in Victubia. Probably with Garry and Cry, Gray inferred. He slid into his chair, with Chief sitting in the chair across from his. "Where's Caspiea this time?" Gray asked, as he picked up a sandwich and took a bite out of it. Chief shook her head, and shrugged her shoulders, and passed a glance with Klint. "I don't know." Chief said, picking at her carrot cake. "She left early this morning, and she hasn't been back since. Probably back at Victubia." Gray nodded, then bit into his sandwich again. "That's what I guessed to." Gray said, waving his hand for emphasis.

"If she went to find Garry," Summer began. "Then she should've taken me with her!" Both Summer and Avalon said the second phrase at the same time. They passed each other a puzzled look, then went back to eating. Nunya, who was usually known for pranking and joking around with her usual spunk, had thrown a sandwich crust at Blue. Blue yelped and ducked under the table, and the sandwich crust had slapped onto the floor. Everyone turned and stared at Nunya, Gray's eyes splinters of ice. Nunya shrank under the table.

After lunch, Puppy had quickly bolted from the table, practically dropped her dishes into the sink, and swooped up the long, swirling steps to the second floor of the house. Quick as a wisp, she threw herself onto her soft, comfy bed, landing face-first. She rolled over, and took a bit of time to stare at the empty bed across the room. Jeff and herself shared the room, and, more than once, Puppy had a bad time sleeping due to Jeff's incessant snoring, constant fidgeting, or him playing a game all night. She sighed and looked back up at the ceiling, then reached over to her nightstand, and took up the book that she usually read every day. As usual, it was an animal book. About animals rescuing their owners from blizzards, storms, and things of the like. There's no such thing as a bad dog, she thought, reciting the very phrase she knew and loved. ''There's only bad owners and bad fortunes. ''She sighed, then set her book down after flicking through a few pages. She set her book aside, and just stared at the blank ceiling for awhile.

Night had fallen quickly, and Gray watched the slowly rising moonlight fall over the Aristell Gardens, the roses, blossoms, and lilies reflecting the moon's whispers of clear light, seemingly glowing pure. Gray was sitting at the window that overlooked the entire front yard. He sighed, then turned to hear the door open with its usual creaking. He let his vision carefully adjust to the now thick darkness, and saw Caspiea's silohuette in the rays of moonlight streaming down from the skylight.

"Oh, hi, Caspiea." Gray yawned, rubbing one side of his face with his hand. "How was your trip to wherever you went?"

"Fine." Caspiea said, hanging her Jet-Black trench coat on the rod, then stretching her arms with a yawn. "It's about to start pouring tomorrow morning."

"Oh?" Gray tilted his head. "How do you know? There's not a cloud in the Aristell sky."

"I just know." Caspiea said. Gray swore he could sense the searing sneer in her tone, usually characteristic to a ticked-off Flaming or a trolling Mario. "Expect the unexpected, Graystripe."

Gray watched Caspiea walk off, footsteps echoing across the sleepy halls. He sighed and and turned back to the window, then he felt his eyelids get heavy with sudden drowsiness. Too lazy to even head back up the swirling stairs, he dozed off, letting the cool, empty-smelling air envelope him into oblivion..

Gray thought he was just becoming wrapped into his dreams when he felt a hand on his shoulder, lightly shaking him. Moaning, he swatted at the hand and tried diving back into his dream. The hand shook him again, harder, then Gray had caught the smell of pancakes, sausages, and all of the usually classic english breakfast affairs. Lifting his head, sniffing, he cracked open his eyes, rubbed them, and turned to see Uni, who was smiling in amusement. "Took you long enough." Uni teased, patting Gray on the back sympathetically. "It's breakfast time." Gray rubbed his eyes again, and let his vision adjust to the now bright sunlight. "..What time is it?" Gray croaked, yawning. "Feels like the afternoon already."

Uni laughed, then said: "It's only 9 o' clock, Gray. Don't be so grumpy, breakfast will make you feel better."

Didn't Caspiea say it was going to rain this morning? Gray thought, then looked out the window. His breath fogged up the glass, and that told him that it was becoming colder outside. He stretched, and yawned once more. Then, he heard a commotion upstairs, where he guessed Caspiea's room was. He and Uni quickly made their way up the swirling stairs--careful not to trip--and found Nunya and Bluestar jumping and leaping around--and sometimes on--a half-asleep, clearly ticked-off Caspiea. She had been hugging her pillow and sleeping when Nunya and Blue--who had unfortunately been put in charge of waking up the short-tempered female--had leapt and attacked. "Stop.." Caspiea groaned, covering her face with her pillow. "Five more--ow--minutes.."

"Wake up, Cas!" Nunya was shrieking, jumping around and--again, sometimes on--the moaning, groggy Caspiea. "Wake up! It's breakfast time!"

"Guys," Gray stepped in. "You really should stop before THAT happens again.."

Nunya and Blue froze, still as stone. Then, practically tripping over each other, they tumbled out of Caspiea's room. Uni sat down next to the already asleep Caspiea, then reached down and gently shook her. She groaned. "Let me sleep.." she rasped, smothering her face with her pillow. "I hate going out during the day.."

"Don't be a vampire." Icefern piped up, popping in through the doorway. "Besides, I MUST confess that this breakfast is freakin' delicious."

"I'm not hungry." Caspiea hissed stubbornly. "Let me sleep."

Gray sighed. "Let her sleep the day away, guys. She'll come out eventually." Then, he walked out. Uni and Ice eventually headed on out with him.

At the breakfast table, everyone was gathered around huge platters of perfectly round, half-dollar pancakes dripping with maple syrup, stacked among piles of bacon and sausages. Tall, brimming, crystal glasses of chilled Orange juice were set out. Gray and Uni silently sat down while Ice had literally leaped into her chair.

Gray tapped a silver spoon against the side of a clear class, and everyone turned to him attentively. "Anything happen recently?" Gray called, his voice echoing clear across the great hall. "Please do speak up if you do have something you know." Everyone quickly started whispering amongst themselves, Blue and Nunya flickering quick glances at the empty chair that was supposed to house a silent Caspiea. "Well," Dia volunteered. "The roses have almost fully blossomed." Gray lifted an eyebrow, then leaned forward attentively. "Oh, really, Dia? The roses weren't due to bloom until next month."

"Yeah," Dia said. "I did too, but I checked on them this morning while Lily and Caspiea were trimming the thorns. The flowers were already fully developed and unfurled."

"That's good." Gray agreed finally, after a few moments of silence. "Make sure they are kept safe at all costs, and given sustenance regularly to keep them from wilting."

"Lily can do that." Nunya pointed to the silent young female, then went back to stuffing her mouth with pancakes, smearing her face all over with the thick, sticky maple syrup. Blue let out a laugh, then turned and saw Caspiea stepping down the stairs, looking clean and well-kempted, as if she had never slept a minute after 8 hours. Blue quickly let out a yelp, quickly crumpled up a napkin into a ball, threw it at Nunya's head, then tumbled under the table. Nunya turned and saw Caspiea, then also crawled under the table. Flaming put his hands to his face.

"Hi, Caspiea." Klint greeted, waving. "Come on over."

Caspiea silently took her place in-between Lily and Uni, then started taking bites out of a soft, unbuttered roll of bread. Everyone was silent, until Caspiea suddenly looked up and announced: "Thunderstorm." Right at that moment, a clap of thunder crashed through the air. Raindrops pattered hard against the roof of the mansion, and lightning slashed through the air, splitting the sky in two for a brief second.