The Crystal and the Key v1.3 (Harlowe)

"I'm off for a walk," you say, as you head out the front door. "I'll go through the park, so I'll be a little while!" Your Mum waves you goodbye. When you get to the park, there's no-one else around, so you have a quick play on the swings and the little flying fox thing, then head to the water fountain for a drink. As you bend over the fountain, you spot something shining amongst the roots of a nearby tree. A quick search reveals a weird, bright orange crystal! You hold the crystal up to the last bit of sun as it sets, and it begins to glow: brighter and brighter, until there's a flash of orange light! You're no longer in the park, but in a strange, featureless white room. On one side of the room is a regular-sized green door which looks like a lot like the front door to your house. On the other side of the room is a weird old door made of wood and metal that looks like it belongs on a castle. There aren't any other exits. You notice the crystal has turned a sort of smokey grey colour. You don't know what's going on, but the crystal seems important; you put it in your pocket. Which way should you go? * [[Go through the green door]] * [[Go through the castle door]]

{(set: $crystalColour to "green")}On the other side of the door is...your house! You're so relieved to be home you decide to have a shower, trying to forget all about the weird room and the crystal. Maybe it was all a dream? Afterwards, in your pyjamas, you find your Mum in the kitchen and give her a big hug. You don't think she'd believe the weirdness in the park, so you decide to keep it to yourself. "I'm so glad to see you," you say. "Well, I'm glad to see you, too," she says. "Did you go to the park on your walk tonight?" You nod. "I heard on the news that someone lost something valuable around that area. You didn't see anything, did you? I think it was some kind of jewel." Hmmm...maybe it wasn't a dream after all? "Um...maybe. Hang on." You go back to your room and pick up your clothes from the floor. The crystal is still in the pocket...but now it's a deep green colour! As you examine it, you notice something weird about your bedroom door: it now has a keyhole! Except the keyhole is way bigger than a normal one - in fact, it looks the right size for the crystal to fit inside it... Something doesn't seem right, but you can't figure out what. Maybe you should just [[give the crystal to your Mum]]? She'll know what to do. Or you could [[stick the crystal in the door]] and see what happens?

{(set: $crystalColour to "red")}You heave the heavy door open. It's fairly dark inside, but you can feel sand under your shoes, and in the dim glow of the crystal - which has now turned red - you can see a curved wall made of large stones. The door slams behind you with a clunk that says "locked". Torches burst into flames around the room as a huge cheer goes up - you're in some kind of arena! All kinds of people in strange-looking clothes are seated above the stone the wall, looking down, and there are more big doors spaced out around the big circular area. "The challenger from Earth!" booms a voice, though you can't tell where it's coming from. The crowd cheers some more. "They will face...the champion of Roshlent 9!" One of the other doors opens and a huge, weird creature steps out. It's a bit like a magpie the size of a house, if magpies had weird noodle-things for legs, sixteen wings and three heads with smoke coming out of their beaks. The voice booms out "Begin!", and the creature charges at you, breathing fire out of one of its mouths! There's no way you can fight this thing, if that's what you're supposed to do. You could [[try putting your hands up->Put up your hands and surrender]] - surely they'll see there's been a mistake? Or maybe you could [[use the crystal somehow?->Use the crystal]] It clearly has magical powers...

This is all too weird! You decide to do the sensible thing, and take the green crystal back downstairs to your Mum. "I...I found this in the park," you say to your Mum. "I picked it up and saw some weird stuff. I don't know what happened. But when I found it, it was orange!" Your Mum takes the crystal from you. "Of course it was," she says. "Orange is the colour of your world. But green...green is the colour of this world." And when she looks back at you, she's not your Mum any more - she's some kind of weird creature! "Thank you for bringing it to us," says the Mum creature, still speaking in her voice. "It's a pity you failed the test. I only realised after we spoke that I asked you a question even though your mother already knew the answer!" Before you can figure out what she means, she lifts the green crystal up and there's a flash of light - and you find yourself alone in the featureless white room. Only this time, there are no doors at all! The creature's voice echoes around the room: "Now we can enter your world and take it over! Thank you for your help!" And those are the last words you ever hear, as you are trapped forever in the room between worlds... **THE END** (click:"Want to try again from the start?")[(restart:)]

You hesitate for a moment, and then realise what was bothering you - your Mum *knew* you were going to the park! Why would she ask? She always pays attention to you! As you cross your room to the door, you hear footsteps outside in the corridor, and your Mum's voice. "You *did* find the jewel, didn't you? Come on, then; give it to mother." That is *not* how your Mum talks - plus the footsteps are getting heavier and heavier. They sound like something a lot bigger than your Mum! You slam the door as the footsteps get close and shove the green crystal into the hole in your bedroom door just as the door handle rattles on the other side. There's a flash of green light - and everything goes quiet. You're in your own room, but now there's no lock on your bedroom door. The crystal in your hand has gone back to its original orange colour. "Well done," says a voice. "You have done well. Bring the crystal to the park tomorrow and all will be explained to you!" Okay. That's really *weird*. * [[Take the crystal to the park]] * [[Throw the crystal away]]

In the morning, you bring the $crystalColour crystal down to breakfast with you, and stare at it for a while before heading off to the park. You wait around a bit until no-one else is there, then you head into the park. A young woman steps out from behind the tree where you found the crystal. She's wearing a sort of uniform, with the symbol of a key on the pocket. Before you can speak she puts a finger to her lips and holds up an orange crystal. You hold yours up too, and a spark jumps from hers, turning yours from $crystalColour back to orange. "Welcome to the Order of the Crystal Key," she says. "You passed the test, and you're one of us now. We guard the portals between the worlds. Each world has its own crystal colour, except the world of doors. Earth is orange." (if:$crystalColour is "green")[You ask about the world you visited. "The green world is an evil reflection of ours; they want nothing more than to infiltrate and destroy us. You did well to realise it was all a trick!"] (if:$crystalColour is "red")[You ask about the world you visited. "The red world used to be all about fighting, but they actually gave that up centuries ago. You passed because you realised fighting wasn't the only option!"] (if:$crystalColour is "blue")[You ask about the worlds you visited. She raises an eyebrow. "Well, the red world was supposed to be your test - but you were very clever to escape to the blue one! That's where the headquarters of the Order is - and you impressed our leader!"] She turns as if to leave, and when you don't follow, she looks over her shoulder. "Come on," she says. "It's time to start your training!" You jog off with her to learn all about the Order and how to protect Earth from other worlds... **THE END** (click:"Want to try again from the start?")[(restart:)]

You look at the $crystalColour crystal for a long while, but it's all too weird for you. You hide it until the next morning, which luckily is bin day; you get up early and wait for the garbage truck to come. As they're emptying your bins into it, you quickly toss the crystal at the crusher in the back of the truck. (if: $crystalColour is "green")[There's a small explosion and a green flash of light, and one of the garbagemen is knocked over! You run over to help him up, and as you do so, you see his eyes flash green, just for a second. "Thank you," he says, in a voice that sounds weirdly like your Mum. "This will do nicely." The garbageman jumps back onto the truck as it drives off, and you never see him again...but many years later, as you run from the evil creatures who now rule the world with an iron fist, you realise that was the beginning of the end of the world...] (if: $crystalColour is "red")[There's a crunching noise, and a gout of red flame pours out the back of the truck...which turns into the magpie-thing! You think it's going to go on a rampage, but when it sees you, it makes a very happy sounding warble and rubs one of its heads on your shoulder. It becomes your best friend, and you become rich and famous as the world's only monster trainer!] (if: $crystalColour is "blue")[At the last minute, one of the garbage men reaches out a hand and catches the crystal! He turns to you, and you realise it's the three-eyed wizard being in disguise! "You could have just said no," it says, "and since you have...well, I'm afraid I can't let you remember any of this." It waves a hand and you forget everything weird that happened. For the rest of your life, every time you jog through a park, you search around the base of the trees, but you never ever know what you're looking for...] **THE END** (click:"Want to try again from the start?")[(restart:)]

You shove the crystal back in your pocket, take a deep breath, and step forward with both your hands in the air. "I give in - you win!" you say. "I'm not here to fight, I think there's been some kind of mistake!" The creature keeps sproinging towards you, and you close your eyes. *It was worth a go* you think, as you feel the warmth and wait to be turned into ashes by the flames... But the flames don't come. The thunderous noodle-steps stop. You open one eye and see one of the beaks right in front of your face, the eyes at the other end looking back. There's a pause...and then the crowd erupts in cheers once more! "The champion of Earth has triumphed!" it says. "Well done. Fighting should never be the answer!" The magpie-thing bows, which is pretty impressive on noodle-legs, and then wobbles back to its door as the crowd continues to applaud. "Now go home," the voice says, "and rest. But take the crystal back to the park tomorrow to get your reward!" There's a red flash of light and you find yourself back in your bedroom. Tired and freaked out, you go to sleep, but the next morning the crystal is still on your bedside table. It wasn't a dream... * [[Take the crystal to the park]] * [[Throw the crystal away]]

(set: $crystalColour to "blue") Remembering how you got here in the first place, you hold the crystal up just as a jet of flame spurts out of the magpie-thing's mouth. The light shines through the crystal, and there's another flash of red light. You think you hear the booming voice say "Wait a minute..." but you can't be sure as you instantly find yourself out in the open air. Unfortunately that's all there is: air! You're falling towards what looks like an endless ocean, far below. You frantically try waving the crystal at the sun, but that's when you notice there are three of them, and anyway you're tumbling about so it's hard to keep the crystal still. As you get closer to the water, you see a small island nearby. It looks kind of muddy and soft. You flap your arms a bit...you can probably steer yourself. * [[Try and dive into the ocean]] * [[Try and land on the island]]

You decide the land is too risky, and aim for the water, trying to remember all the swimming classes you had in PE at school. You stick out your arms, and try to enter the water safely - but by the time you hit the water, you're going so fast you go all the way to the bottom! The impact makes you drop the crystal, and you're not sure you'll make it back to the surface before you drown... ...and then you wake up in your own bed. You're about to write it off as a dream when you see a small card on the bedside table. Picking it up, you see it reads: (text-style:"italic","mark")[You showed great initiative, but you are not ready. We'll find you again next year.] You've no idea what that was all about, but it seems you're destined for more weirdness in the future. You get up and, realising your adventure has left you very hungry, head to the kitchen to find some breakfast. **THE END** (click:"Want to try again from the start?")[(restart:)]

Deciding that the ocean is probably just as dangerous as solid land at this speed, you try and steer yourself toward the soft looking part of the island. It turns out to be some kind of bog, but it's more gold coloured than muddy, and as you hit it you realise your guess has paid off - it's like a giant jellyfoam mattress! You sink slowly into it's surface, and once you stop bouncing around, manage to jump off onto the island. By this time a small crowd of weird people has gathered. They look just like the people in the arena! One of them, who looks a bit like an old wizard with three eyes and blue skin, steps forward. "You gave us quite a surprise," the being says, "but you did very well! We will send you home. Rest tonight, and tomorrow, take the crystal back to the park to know the truth." It bangs its staff into the ground and there's another flash; you appear outside your house. It's late, so you run inside, get an earful from your Mum, and head to bed. In the morning, the blue crystal is still by your bed. * [[Take the crystal to the park]] * [[Throw the crystal away]]