Case 000: A Whole New World

[Katrielle Layton]

The Seven Dragons had left long ago, leaving Katrielle, Ernest, and Sherl alone in the Richmond mansion. The not-so-abandoned residence groaned, sighing as the guests filtered out. With only two people (and a dog) still standing inside of the royal grounds, the place echoed with loneliness. Eventually it would be left behind, a tale of a misunderstanding that ruined lives for years, and a story of revenge that never needed to be. And eventually it would fade away into an old memory.

Layton's daughter turned to face her assistant, whom refused to look her in the eye. It was understandable-- he was Richmond, after all. He was the one that planned out the whole incident. But in the end, no one was hurt. No one held any grudges. Yet he stood there, glancing down at his feet and remaining silent. His tears had run dry a while ago.

"...Hey, are you alright?" Katrielle asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It's just... well, it's a lot to take in at once. And on top of learning that I've been living a lie... I don't know how to take it. All my life I've been trying to exact justice for everything my family lost, and now, finding out that all that I've been working towards was worthless, I--"

"--can start anew and be happy?" she finished, taking his hand. "Because that was the point of it all.  Now that everything's settled, well... I guess that's up to you, isn't it?"

"...You're right. I can start over. I can finally leave this behind."

She gave him a smile and started to walk towards the door. "So, what are you going to do now?"

Her assistant was silent for a little bit, examining his hands in thought, before realizing that Kat was leaving. He ran over to catch up to her, giving her a smile of his own. "Well, I was thinking I could keep working for you?"

She blinked in surprise. "Really? I thought after all that you'd--"

"Why wouldn't I? You brought me peace. You brought them peace. I couldn't be happier to work by your side."

A grin plastered itself across her face. "In that case, come on! There are plenty of mysteries in the world to solve!" She interlocked her arm with his, nodding towards the door.

He gasped and blushed, overwhelmed by the fact that they were this close together. "Any mystery solved!" he added, also with a grin on his face.

"Then let's go!" And with that, they rushed off into the light.

And then it was dark.

Katrielle wasn't sure how to react. The fact that she was suddenly in a black void registered first in her mind. The next thing she realized was that Ernest wasn't with her either-- same with Sherl. She tried to glance around, but her entire body was frozen in place. What... what was going on?

She stood in silence for a few minutes, trying to comprehend what was happening, when a figure popped into existence just off to her right. It was almost blindingly white-- an opposite of a silhouette-- with a wide grin that, while the detective didn't find it trustworthy, didn't give her the impression that the being meant her any harm. So even if she had any control over her body during that moment, she still would've let it approach anyway, if only so she could get some information on just what on earth was going on.

“My name is Omni. This is not the world you know. This is the Omniverse. You interest me, so I have made you part of it. The Omniverse is a place that reflects the wishes of those who are part of it. But! There are rules. I will explain them only once, so listen carefully.”

Despite her reasoning for staying (although that was a moot point anyway), Katrielle was startled at the fact that this thing was actually talking to her. It seemed that even here, her instinct was right on the nose. Still, she wasn't exactly pleased to hear the news-- she had things to do back home: mysteries to solve, things to do, people to find! She couldn't really do that in the "Omniverse" now, could she? And yet Omni dragged her here because she interested him. She couldn't blame him, though; ask anyone and they'd say Katrielle was an interesting person.

Omni hands you a glimmering orb in which all the colors of the rainbow coalesce. “This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing. With it, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most."

Omnilium. The word flowed through her mind like a sweet scent as she admired the circular chunk in front of her. All the colors she could name-- and several she couldn't-- bubbled and swelled into various patterns underneath a globe of transparent film. It actually reminded her of those kinds of sweets where one would dip them into a swirly vat of chocolate and vanilla and such and the pattern would stick to the candy on the way back up. This was just as appealing in it's own way-- even more so when the orb merged with her body and a warm, fuzzy feeling erupted within her.

“You will not be alone in the Omniverse. There are others. Of course, they, too desire Omnilium. Do not fear death. For as long as you interest me, you will be reborn. That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching … and waiting.”

Other people. Of course Omni would've gathered everyone he thought was interesting, so... The thought suddenly occurred to her that perhaps her father was brought here too. Maybe that was why he vanished: he had been brought to the Omniverse! Probably a case of wishful thinking on her part, but who knows? According to Omni, she had all the time in the world to find him.

After a moment, she discovered she could move again. Given that she had been in a walking position with her arm entangled in a now non-existent-Ernest's arm, she had been positioned way too awkwardly for a drop-off. She entered a standing position, blinked, and then suddenly she found herself staring into the light again. Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to make sure that she wasn't seeing things, and when she confirmed that the landscape wasn't going to change on her again, she took a deep breath and examined her surroundings.

The world was white, almost blindingly so. Countless beings flittered below her, unaware of the newcomer above them, but despite that, she still couldn't tell where the floor was. Or the ceiling. Or anything for that matter. Katrielle took a step forward, hoping to determine where she was, but almost fell over when her foot met an incline she wasn't expecting. Stumbling back, she finally decided to look under her feet.

She was standing on top of some sort of sphere, seemingly made out of marble despite the years of neglect turning it to a bluish-green color. Something about it was familiar, but the detective wasn't sure why from this angle. Dropping to her knees and elbows, she crept up as close as she could to the sloping surface before toppling over with purpose. Fast as lightning, she adjusted herself as she fell so she could land on her feet.

Her landing had caught the attention of some of the passersby, but within a few moments they returned to what they were doing. Dusting off her shoulder, she turned to see what exactly she had just jumped off from.

And in that moment, everything clicked.

She found herself staring at the Bowlyn Man statue-- the imagery of a man holding a huge ball on his shoulders was far too obvious. But now it had been repurposed into a fountain for some reason, with the water streaming down the spiraling stand despite the lack of an emergence point. The last time she had seen it, she had been trying to flee from its runaway ball, but here, it's integrity was solid; thank goodness for that.

But that left the question of why it was here in the first place. Seeing as she could touch it, there was no way it was an illusion. Was it just tradition to have a noticeable statue or fountain from the newest Prime's world? Whatever the case was, she had more important things to focus on.

Sherl would be fine on his own, but Ernest would probably be distraught over her sudden disappearance; as much as she acted like she didn't notice his passes at her, she knew he needed her. Was it possible to bring him here? Only one way to find out.

She focused on the Omnilium within her, teasing it out and molding it into the shape of her assistant. Slowly but surely the parts began to line up. After 15 grueling minutes, the green-haired man now sat in front of her, his head swiveling to and fro in puzzlement, although he didn't seem scared.

"Miss Layton?" He slowly stood up, staring up at the Bowlyn Man statue. "What is that doing here? What are we doing here? Where are we?"

"I don't know, only Omni knows and WELCOME TO THE OMNIVERSE!"

[Katrielle Layton]

"Well, Layton, that's all fine and dandy, but what exactly is the Omniverse?"

The detective threw her hands up in frustration. "No clue, really. Omni rules it and it has people from other universes, but that's all I know."

"Oh! It's just like one of Rector's movies!"

"Hmm?" Layton said, feigning interest as she examined the horizon.

"Yeah! I think it was called "M.T: Multi-Terrestrials"? Anyway it was about this race of aliens that abducted the best warriors of the multiverse and pitted them against each other in gladiator death matches. Last one standing got to go home. You think that's the case here?"

"I don't think so. Omni said I would come back to life in a week if I died. I'm guessing everyone else that's here will be revived too if they die."

"Makes sense... but how will we get home?"

"I. Don't. Know."

"Guess we'll just have to make ourselves at home. Which gate do you think we should explore at first?"

"Well, I think we can rule out those volcano lands." She pointed towards the Burning Steppes. "And I think we can ignore those two for now." She gestured at the Pale Moors and Frozen Tundra, but paused when she noticed a large, blue truck chugging along as it drove towards Camelot from the freezing gate. A logo of a fish cut in half was emblazoned on the sides of it, so it was probably a fish delivery truck.

"Maybe we can convince the trucker to let us ride with them?" Ernest suggested, trying to catch a glimpse of who was in the driver's seat to no avail thanks to the tinted windows.

"Worth a shot." And with that, they drew closer to the vehicle and started waving and gesturing. At first they thought the driver was ignoring them, but as the gap grew smaller, the truck eventually slowed to a stop.

"What do ya want?" Growled a feminine, yet rough voice from inside the vehicle.

Nervously, they approached the door-- there was no going back now. "Um, hello miss," Katrielle started. "I'm Katrielle Layton and this is my assistant, Ernest Greeves. We're new here and we were hoping we could tag along with you or at least get a suggestion as to where we could go."

"You're new guys, huh? I'm assuming the lady's the Prime?"

"Prime?" The detective repeated.

She could almost see the driver rolling her eyes. "Did Omni bring you here?"

"Yep!" She answered.

"She brought me here," added the assistant.

"That means you're her Secondary, boy." A long tract of silence followed as the stranger probably sized them up, but eventually she hummed in approval as she popped open the other door. "You don't look dangerous," She said, her voice taking on a friendlier and more natural tone. "Get in and make it snappy."

The two chimed in with thanks as they raced to the other side of the truck, but promptly froze as they saw who was driving-- behind the wheel sat an anthropomorphic shark with gleaming cyan scales covering her bulky frame. She wore blue jeans with a ripped, sleeveless black shirt and a sailor's hat. A hole had been cut in the back of her seat so her pierced tail wouldn't be crushed.

She stared back at the two with her bemused, yellow eyes. "Don't worry. I don't bite."

[Katrielle Layton]

After a moment's hesitation, the two piled into the other seat, finding an awkward balance on the lone chair before strapping on the seatbelt. Thankfully it was designed more for people that were similar in size to the shark, who stood about one or two feet taller than most adults. Despite that, it was still a tight fit for the duo, whom had found themselves packed together in a tangle of limbs. "Uh, maybe keep it slow and steady for now?" Ernest suggested, twisting his arm so he wasn't shoving his hand in Katrielle's face.

"Sure thing, sport." The driver gently placed a foot on the gas and accelerated to a decent speed. "And before you ask, the name's Erastelle."

Layton watched the Bowlyn Man statue from behind the one-way-tinted window as it shrunk and eventually disappeared in the distance. However, a glance towards the gate they were driving towards seemed to imply that they weren't moving forward. "Is it just me or-"

"Don't worry; we're moving," the driver cut in. "The gates really only get closer when you're right up on them."

"Quite the curious illusion," Ernest added, shifting so he could get a better view. "I wonder why that happens?"

Erastelle shrugged. "Beats me. The Omniverse works in strange and mysterious ways. For all I know this place could be bending over itself to do that."

"So how long do you think it'll take before we get there?" Asked the detective.

"At this speed, I'd say about thirty minutes. Better get comfy."

The three passed the time by talking. As the two had expected, Erastelle ran a seafood restaurant in Camelot and delivered fresh fish to her establishment every month or so. What they didn't expect was the fact that people often requested her assistance in driving to Camelot-- especially Secondaries, since they couldn't summon a form of transport. At least once or twice some of them tried to attack her and/or steal her truck, but she always managed to fight them off. "It's thanks to the trolls in the Frozen Fields that I know how to fight," she said. "They believe everything in the Fields is theirs and they will attack anyone who believes otherwise. I learned the art of battle through dealing with them."

There was something about that answer that Kat felt was odd-- maybe it was that moment of hesitation she had when she spoke, or when they questioned her about the ruby pendant around she wore around her neck and got the nervous claim that it was a family heirloom, or when they glanced at her only to find her staring at them. While that could just her being cautious around strangers, it almost felt like she wasn't telling the whole story. Still, she was giving them a ride and it'd be really rude to pry right now. If the detective wanted to find out later, she could always ask around.

The gate finally began to draw closer, and Ernest looked on in awe. "It's huge!"

"Yep! And wait 'til ya see what's on the other side!"