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"It's marvelous, having you all back at the castle. Queen Delirium and I were getting rather lonely." 

Schizophrenia had been talking for what felt like forever, but none of the words made any sense, and they were nothing but a dull buzz in Harper's ears. He felt empty, afraid, mad. He didn't quite understand, but it felt like he was sinking and staying afloat was terribly hard. He was drowning in the craziness of Nowhere and wanted to cling to whatever made sense. Sadly, in Nowhere, one plus one was a yellow humming bird and red and blue combined created rainbows. That was the problem, nothing made sense and it terrified him more than it probably should have. 

However, that wasn't the problem at the moment. The problem was that they were forgetting more and more. 

First, it was their birthdays and yesterday it was the color of his bike. The way little details were starting to flit away, the way names were becoming harder to recall, it all terrified him, rendered him unable to sleep. Nowhere was destroying them slowly, from the inside. If the chaotic stars and dragons didn't get them, then the insanity would. They had to complete that list and they had to do it soon. Why weren't the others as worried as him? Or maybe they were just better at hiding it? He didn't really know, though Harper wished he could be as brave as Hakuren or as calm as Mado.

He looked at all the pastries in front of him. He couldn't name half of it if he tried, but oddly, he wasn't hungry.

"Don't be shy, my lovelies. Eat, eat, after that little adventure you must all be famished." The Queen was seated on the other side of the long table, a teacup in hand and a generous smile on her face. After they returned from the town of Yonder, they were told to rest, but this mornight they had been invited for a cup of tea. Harper decided to go and the others did too though it wasn't mandatory and he noticed that a few of his fellow "Lost Souls" were nowhere in sight.

Harper decided to reach for a cinnamon bun. Everything smelled great, but it didn't feel right, feasting when people like Emily and Numair had fallen to their deaths from the Shakespearean. It could have been him, Leila or even Haku, but they had lived for some reason. They had been lucky. "Thank you very much, we appreciate all the help." He noticed Leila seated across from him and gave her a small, encouraging smile. "I have to ask though, what happened to them?"

The Queen frowned. "They failed, and there was nothing anyone could do. I'm sorry you had to run into them, dearies, but don't worry. We'll do everything in our power to help you. The guides will be with you every step of the way and I'll support you all the best I can." She looked genuinely upset.

Harper wondered why she was so nice. They hadn't done anything to deserve it. The citizens of Nowhere were lucky to have her. "It's appreciated, a lot. Thank you." He couldn't bring himself to say more so he took a sip of lemon rocky road tea while the Queen and Skitz chattered on and on about curtains and fancy dresses. By the looks of it, the Queen was planning another fancy ball to keep everyone happy and entertained. He stopped listening and turned to look at Leila. Harper decided to be friendlier than usual, they were in this together after all and their journey was far from over. "That mission was really interesting, huh?" Interesting...yeah, they had almost died. "I mean, how are you doing? How's Haku?" The two seemed closer than most and he believed Leila and Hakuren were friends. "How do you like, erm, Nowhere so far?" He couldn't remember ever speaking to Leila, so the process was just a tad awkward, but he persisted anyway.

Despite the lovely music in the background and the food scattered generously around the table, the atmosphere was heavy.

[center][b] The New Hummons - The Cake Shop[/b][/center]

[center]The Cakesmith[/center]
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"Oh me, oh my! I wasn't expecting guests. I'm terribly sorry for the mess...if I had known, I would have cleaned up a little." The Cakesmith was a chubby grizzly bear who towered over his guests, but he was very polite and gentlemanly in demeanor and on top of his head rested a top hat that was few sizes too small. "Do make yourselves comfortable as you wait. Stephen, I mean, Froggy will be here in a bit to pick you all up and bring you to the castle. It's not too far from here, but we don't want you getting lost. I mean you've been away from the rest of your batch for quite a bit now."

Mr. Cuddles ran the best bakeshop in Nowhere and was known for artistically designing his cakes. He was a master at what he did and the nobodies loved him for it, even the queen couldn't get enough of his cakes, tarts and muffins. His shop wasn't large, but he had a counter, and a few ovens here and there.

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Cuddles, am I right?" Riley gave the bear a toothy grin. He was an interesting character and he was very [i]fluffy[/i]. It was a shame that they couldn't stay any longer, she would have loved to interview him. "Everything here looks great!"

"My, my, don't flatter me." He pulled back a chair and motioned for the girl to sit. 

"Such a gentleman and adorable too." The girl sat down happily and watched as Mr. Cuddles offered both Vinny and Lesley a seat. D'aww he was so nice.

Mr. Cuddles tipped his hat to the trio then looked at the oven in the kitchen. "Inadi," he called out nicely. "Would you mind getting the cookies out of the oven before they burn? I don't want them the gingerbread men to start crying." The Cakesmith let out a hearty chuckle. Unlike, the trio that had arrived not too long ago, Inadi had been staying with him ever since the last train arrived. The poor boy was lost in the station so the Cakesmith took him in. He would have brought him to the queen, but he had been so busy. Thankfully, Stephen would be coming to pick the humans up soon. "Oh, and Inadi when you're done come say hello the guests." He turned to look at Lesley, Vince, and Riley. "He's such a sweet boy, he's been helping me around the bakeshop. Things have been so much easier, it's a shame you all have to go."

The giant grizzly bear waddled towards the kitchen and came back with a giant chocolate cake. He placed it on the table and gave his three guests a broad smile. "Let me cut the cake. Oh, and Idani, come get a slice, don't work yourself to death, lad." It was clear that Mr. Cuddles was the type who fussed over his friends. He disappeared inside the kitchen for a moment and came back with a very large and deadly looking axe.

Riley laughed. "Wow, that is some cake cutter, Mr. Cuddles. Vinvin, Lesley, whatcha guys think of Mr. Cuddles' knife?" 

"Oh thank you, it's my favorite." The bear raised it high above his head and brought it down on the cake again and again and again. Icing flew all over the place, into his fur and onto his guest's faces. When he was through "cutting" the cake it looked more like a pile of mush. "Would any of you like to cut the pie?"

Riley scooped some of the frosting with her finger then stuffed it into her mouth. Despite the cake's bad appearance it actually tasted great! "Guys, mind if I cut the pie?" No one gave an immediate answer so she happily took the axe from Mr. Cuddles and gave them all a mischievous looking grin.

"Pie's in the kitchen." The bear stated before he called out to Inadi again. What was taking his assistant so long?