You know, this cost me a bit to do. In response to me digging around like that, I had to deal with a rather invasive feeling in my own mind, and got a terrible nosebleed.
So, before I share this, I'd like to make sure... You'll continue to share everything you learn with me, as well, right?
Why, of course! It's the least I can do. I'm not stingy with information like some people here are. As far as I'm concerned, the more people know things, the more likely it is that someone will find a way out. And then we can all reap the benefits, which would be just lovely.
Great. Then let me get to the points, as much as I can put them into words:
- The resort almost feels as though it's "alive." Not in the sense that you or I are, but in the sense that it's made of energy, both positive and negative. These seem to push and pull at each other. The negative energy seemed rather high when I checked, but I will have to look more into it to see if it's consistently that way.
- There are guests here that seem to be lost souls, or spirits. They're not like the rest of us; it's as if they're a blend of living and nonliving. That attachment yet separation, as if unware of it themselves, came across clearly to me.
- I can't quite tell what exactly the staff are. At least the ones I looked at. The ones dealing in the casino seem particularly suspicious. They seem to be sucking at the energy within all of us, including those guests that seem to be lost souls.
- Along those lines, the thing the replenishes our energy the most is most definitely sex. It's not solely beneficial to the resort, though it does seem to be pulling off of that, as well. Naturally.
- And similarly to that, the guests that have sex frequently are markedly different in their energy. Strongly positive, like the opposite of those casino dealers, even if some of them are lost souls.
[Goodness, that's a lot. And some of it's rather beyond him, as someone with no magical abilities or spiritual tendencies. Regardless...]
You uncovered a lot.
[He blew a fair amount of chips in April taking people out and plying them with food and drink for info. Each time he got less in return for it than Esikko just gave him for free.]
Someone else was speculating the staff aren't quite real. I always just thought they were regular people who had the misfortune of being brainwashed, but it seems he was right. I don't really understand what a "blend of living and nonliving" means, though. Or what it means to be a lost soul. Is that sort of like being a ghost?
As for the energy thing, that's what the first person who replied to my post said. That sex generates energy, which is why they want us to have so much of it. If that's the case, I'm not sure why we're supposed to have it with different people, though. Lying with the same person several times should theoretically yield just as much energy. And do you know for sure that nothing else could work as a substitute? I only ask because someone shared this:
[And here he uploads a diary page. One that Tomura shared with him on his network post.]
That line about "what it takes being dependent on the person" sort of stuck out at me. To me that would imply it runs on something else besides just sex. Though the part about some guests being "more valuable than others" lines up with what you said.
Naturally. It was a little difficult without spare organs, but I made it work.
A blend of living and non-living is exactly how it sounds. Someone who's died without fully passing on, for example. It's that same sort of feeling. Tied by something to this place, without a knowledge or care in the world that I can detect. Their presences felt just like this. So yes, a ghost, depending on your definition.
As for that line... It is a curious one, isn't it? I was thinking on that when I read the notes listed in your post, but when I was searching, it was quite clear to me that sex is the largest energy source.
I would wonder if they are after us for more than energy, with a line like that.
For example, those who had sex with many different people left a much stronger impression during my search than those who had it with fewer. This means that their souls were weaker, in a sense— that they were less positive, and more negative. Hmm, how else can I explain this...
Strength seems to lie in those who sleep around the most and with the most.
Are the "career residents" the ones who are like ghosts? By that I mean the ones who've been here a long time and act like they've been brainwashed.
[He only gets more discouraged as he reads the rest of the message. "Those who had sex with many different people left a much stronger impression?" First of all, how does he even know each person's bed count? And second of all, ergh! There goes his last resort! The one where he approaches the House and asks them to cut him a deal: no sleeping with 52 people, just sleeping with the same person 52 times, in 52 different positions or whatever! He hadn't really expected it to work, but if all they want is "energy" and the chance to voyeur, there's a chance they might have gone for it!]
Then it doesn't run on sex, it runs on promiscuity. Which is fine if that's what you're into, but I'm through with it.
[That's, er. That's not how he meant to phrase that.
But he's so distracted by other stuff that he fails to notice his slip-up.]
This still leaves countless questions. For starters, why do they let people rank up and down? If they want everyone to have sex with as many different people as possible, letting others change rank is counterproductive. You can sleep with the same person twice, once before they change rank and once afterwards, and it will count as collecting two "cards," or so they say. One girl even came up with a strategy where she and a group of friends rank up and down repeatedly to reduce the number of people they have to sleep with. Is that permitted, or is it not?
And this all makes it sound even less likely that they'll truly let us go home. I mean, just think about it: it doesn't make *any* sense that they would. There are only three explanations:
1. 52 is a magic number. It stops giving the House energy once you've slept with 52 people, so they let everyone go home once that magic number is reached.
2. 52 isn't a magic number, but they're perfectly happy to let go of valuable "energy sources" who've already given them tons of help just out of the goodness of their hearts.
3. The "we'll let you go home after you complete the game!" thing is a lie, and they don't intend to let anyone go. Everyone just ends up like J.
I'm most inclined to believe the last one. Unlike in a detective show, the simplest explanation usually proves true in real life.
As for what else they might want from us, I wonder if *that* has something to do with those suit effects. Half of those don't seem the slightest bit conducive to intimacy: things like having nightmares and acting violent towards others won't help you "collect cards." If anything, those will hinder card collection. I know that if anyone got violent with me, I wouldn't go to bed with them. I'd simply tell them, "See you in court next month!"
Which begs the question: do they even want us to complete the game?
I don't know if promiscuity is necessarily the key, either. This was one probing, so I'll be doing more. However, what was that about being over it? So you were once that way before?
As for your little list, I believe that none of these quite nail what it is that's happening here, though the third one is the closest. From what I can tell, anyway. This is purely opinion.
My opinion continued is that sex is vital, is key, but that this flow of energy may not be the only reason we are here. A method for battery, certainly, but a battery is not the main show of any technology, is it? The question "what does this flow of energy do for the House" is what interests me. I wasn't able to press past those energies before my mind began to ache.
The game, to me, must add something to the equation. Plans like this aren't run with any extra parts. Everything is placed out for purpose. Make sense to you?
I would've thought the answer is just that it allows this place to operate. Though I'm not sure *why* they put in the effort, since it doesn't seem like they're making any profit off the resort. It's starting to sound like this is just an amusement facility for half-dead souls or a holding ground for ghosts, and those don't sound the least bit worthwhile to me.
[There's a pause as he rereads the message again. He's still stuck on the part about people who haven't gotten around as much—how their souls are "weaker." And then he thinks about that part in the diary page again. "Some of us are more valuable than others."
.....]
About the guests who have "weaker souls" - do you think that has anything to do with why people keep vanishing?
I believe it's what you said, actually. There's no need to be so shy when I'm only being honest with you in return, you know.
As for your question, I think I'd have to know the moment when someone vanishes and look into it as immediately as possible. Not only that, but there are countless strings in a complex web tied throughout this resort, interacting with one another— the roots are too tangled to isolate quite in that manner.
So, I have no idea. There may be correlation, but it may be unrelated. All I know is that those ones receive less energy than is being stolen from them, and the imbalance results in a less robust or comfortable feeling.
He almost denies it. But A, what does it matter, and B, Esikko does have a point about honesty.]
It just doesn't really seem relevant to our questions about the resort.
[Says the guy who's prone to getting off-topic... but at least he dodged instead of just lying.]
If you do want to investigate that, I have a couple of names I could give you. Someone on that post informed me of two more people who've gone missing. Unlike Rinne-senpai, their names weren't listed in the registry when I checked. But it sounds like you've exerted yourself just getting the information you shared with me, so I won't expect you to do anything more at the moment.
[He's worried about that, too. Not that he was close to either of the missing people, but he liked one of them well enough. And if it can happen to them...]
I'm surprised you can sense who's slept with a lot of people and who hasn't, honestly. You don't have magic eyes that enable you to see through people's walls, do you?
But basically, everyone's having energy stolen from them - not just those who frequent the casino - and the only way to replace that stolen energy is by being promiscuous, as far as you can tell. Do I have that all right?
Everything is relevant. The types of people who come here, their history, their personality, their souls, their lives. They can all be keys to the puzzle. That's all. You can rest easy.
I would be interested in those names. I'd like to do what I can, even if I grow tired. I do have limited time, after all.
As for being able to see it, no, I don't. The spell temporarily revealed to be the web of roots, or strings, connecting this place, these people, this world. Reaching out and touching them would grant me information, tracing along them could reveal more— it's a bit complex to explain, but think of it like the strings of a musical instrument, since you're so musically inclined. Plucking those strings releases a note, and that note echoes and is answered back— you can tell what note it is, the richness, the tone, the length, right? And two strings, if harmonizing... Well, it's something like that, I think.
But you're mostly correct. Energy seems to be stolen most often on the casino floor, by those dealers. Energy is replaced by sex of any form, but those who have it more often and with more people seem more robust with it. That is the summary.
... Hiyori doesn't disagree with the first part. A good detective takes stock of everything (at least according to TV shows!). But he's just going to skip past that part of the text for now.]
The first one is Deuce Spade. Which sounds like a fake name the House would come up with, but it's actually the name his mother gave him! Or so he said, and he didn't seem like the type to lie. His username is @ spadesarewild. And then the second one is
Sorry, hold on a moment.
[After going back to some previous conversations:]
The second one is Azul, and I'm pretty sure he and @ mostromngr are the same person. If you do end up finding something out, let me know so I can pass it on to their upperclassmen. He seems to think they'll be alright, and it'd be nice if he was right about that, but
[He just has a bad feeling, since their accounts are no longer listed. He didn't have the heart to say that to Vil, though.]
So that's what you meant by "roots."
That makes it sound like anyone someone's been intimate with leaves a stain somewhere deep down. One that can't ever be washed out or erased. I presume it works like that even if it's just a meaningless act of "collecting cards," huh.
In any case, thanks for the summary. It sounds like everyone who isn't sleeping around should stay far away from the casino. Actually, I can't think of any good reason to go there either way, so we should probably all stay away. I doubt Rinne-senpai will listen, but it couldn't hurt to try!
[...]
I really do appreciate you sharing, by the way. I might have something for you in return tomorrow, since there's someone I'm planning to question. I don't know how reserved they'll be, but it's worth a shot!
I'll note these names. It sounds like someone else may be doing some digging as well, to bring them up, but if anything comes up I'll be sure to let you know.
( A genuine thanks does earn a pause from him, but he eventually manages to reply to it, too. Sort of. )
How interesting. I'll wait in eager suspense to see if you have more news, then.
He said he'd look for them, anyway. And that he already tried asking the staff, but they were just useless. Not surprising now that we know they're ghosts!
I don't have any new information yet, but that should change soon. First, however, I need a memory! Care to describe something that happened to you in the past? It sounds like it can be absolutely anything, so you don't have to choose something sad or difficult.
Though I wouldn't choose something mundane, either, just in case that bores her. Something that makes for a good story!
Someone on my post suggested that the owner of the Red Cardinal might be the woman from Victoria's diary entry. The one who'd been planning on opening a bar, and who said that "what the resort takes from each guest is dependent on the person."
I asked if she was the same woman, and that *did* turn out to be true, but she wasn't willing to share much because she doesn't know me. So now we're in the "getting to know each other" stage. And she wants me to do 2 things for her:
1. Eat her dishes for a month 2. Collect the memories of 3 guests and bring them back them back to her
She said all I need to do for the second one is have 3 people describe a memory. She didn't ask for a specific kind of memory, like "a childhood memory" or "a sad memory," so I guess anything goes. I'd try to choose something interesting just to be on the safe side, though.
I don't know for sure that she *can't* do magic, but she seems like a regular bar owner. That's why she stands out, really. She doesn't act like she's been brainwashed the way the rest of the staff do. But if you're still leery, you can always go with something that isn't too personal.
Or I can ask someone else, I guess. I'm good at talking to all sorts of people! I just thought I'd ask you since we're already sharing all this information. Plus I didn't get the chance to hear your "earliest memory" at the Hearts party.
( Hmm. Of course, nothing comes free. Hiyori's been sent on a task, it seems, and Esikko doesn't exactly want to stop him from it. Besides, he knows from reading through Hiyori's post that a certain bodyguard had leaked a little too much information already, so... )
Well, it won't be my earliest memory, but I will give a relevant one. There are some memories I could do without, anyway.
I remember snow falling on the side of my face being the first sensation after a long period of darkness and pain. It must have been the first snow of the season, but I was beginning to be covered by it. My body was bloodied, beaten and weak. I thought for certain I was going to die. I couldn't remember how I'd gotten there, in that forest, if I'd crawled myself or been dumped, but when I felt a foot nudge into my side, that spike of pain gave me an ounce of energy to look up.
That was how I met that bodyguard. He was peering down at me, looking surprised to see me move at all, and I used the last of my energy on a breath asking him for help before I passed out again. When I came to once again, he had taken me to a dingy little shack somewhere, but I was alive. Patched up and cleaned, even, as he was making food.
But at what cost? He's not sure what he expected to read, but it wasn't that.
A multitude of questions flit through his mind. But does he really want to ask them? And is now really the time? Probably not, so after a minute or so he just writes back:]
Thanks. That should work.
[And now he'll put the prince's unpleasant memories out of sight and out of mind!
... or so he'd like, but certain details are nagging at him. Remembering his Network conversation with Kirma brings up even more questions, most of which he does know better than to ask. But after another pause:]
[....... has anything ever gone right for this guy?]
If you say so.
It's fine if you want to reinvent yourself. I'd rather keep being me, though. And I'm sure you don't like being tossed around and forced to obey the House any more than I do, since it sounds like you already got enough of that treatment back home. So!
In order to make things better for you *and* for me, I'll just have to figure out what it is they're after. Why exactly they're doing this, and what exactly they value. Once I've solved that, I'll be sure to let you know!
I have a generous heart, you know. So I'm afraid there's just no helping how I feel sometimes. I'm not sure what lessons you were taught growing up, but my family always told me that it's our duty to help those who are less fortunate. That's what you call the principle of noblesse oblige.
Though I don't think they were talking about royals when they said that. Royals are supposed to be even more blessed. You're sort of an odd case!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
So, before I share this, I'd like to make sure... You'll continue to share everything you learn with me, as well, right?
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- The resort almost feels as though it's "alive." Not in the sense that you or I are, but in the sense that it's made of energy, both positive and negative. These seem to push and pull at each other. The negative energy seemed rather high when I checked, but I will have to look more into it to see if it's consistently that way.
- There are guests here that seem to be lost souls, or spirits. They're not like the rest of us; it's as if they're a blend of living and nonliving. That attachment yet separation, as if unware of it themselves, came across clearly to me.
- I can't quite tell what exactly the staff are. At least the ones I looked at. The ones dealing in the casino seem particularly suspicious. They seem to be sucking at the energy within all of us, including those guests that seem to be lost souls.
- Along those lines, the thing the replenishes our energy the most is most definitely sex. It's not solely beneficial to the resort, though it does seem to be pulling off of that, as well. Naturally.
- And similarly to that, the guests that have sex frequently are markedly different in their energy. Strongly positive, like the opposite of those casino dealers, even if some of them are lost souls.
I think that covers the basics.
no subject
You uncovered a lot.
[He blew a fair amount of chips in April taking people out and plying them with food and drink for info. Each time he got less in return for it than Esikko just gave him for free.]
Someone else was speculating the staff aren't quite real. I always just thought they were regular people who had the misfortune of being brainwashed, but it seems he was right. I don't really understand what a "blend of living and nonliving" means, though. Or what it means to be a lost soul. Is that sort of like being a ghost?
As for the energy thing, that's what the first person who replied to my post said. That sex generates energy, which is why they want us to have so much of it. If that's the case, I'm not sure why we're supposed to have it with different people, though. Lying with the same person several times should theoretically yield just as much energy. And do you know for sure that nothing else could work as a substitute? I only ask because someone shared this:
[And here he uploads a diary page. One that Tomura shared with him on his network post.]
That line about "what it takes being dependent on the person" sort of stuck out at me. To me that would imply it runs on something else besides just sex. Though the part about some guests being "more valuable than others" lines up with what you said.
no subject
A blend of living and non-living is exactly how it sounds. Someone who's died without fully passing on, for example. It's that same sort of feeling. Tied by something to this place, without a knowledge or care in the world that I can detect. Their presences felt just like this. So yes, a ghost, depending on your definition.
As for that line... It is a curious one, isn't it? I was thinking on that when I read the notes listed in your post, but when I was searching, it was quite clear to me that sex is the largest energy source.
I would wonder if they are after us for more than energy, with a line like that.
For example, those who had sex with many different people left a much stronger impression during my search than those who had it with fewer. This means that their souls were weaker, in a sense— that they were less positive, and more negative. Hmm, how else can I explain this...
Strength seems to lie in those who sleep around the most and with the most.
no subject
Are the "career residents" the ones who are like ghosts? By that I mean the ones who've been here a long time and act like they've been brainwashed.
[He only gets more discouraged as he reads the rest of the message. "Those who had sex with many different people left a much stronger impression?" First of all, how does he even know each person's bed count? And second of all, ergh! There goes his last resort! The one where he approaches the House and asks them to cut him a deal: no sleeping with 52 people, just sleeping with the same person 52 times, in 52 different positions or whatever! He hadn't really expected it to work, but if all they want is "energy" and the chance to voyeur, there's a chance they might have gone for it!]
Then it doesn't run on sex, it runs on promiscuity. Which is fine if that's what you're into, but I'm through with it.
[That's, er. That's not how he meant to phrase that.
But he's so distracted by other stuff that he fails to notice his slip-up.]
This still leaves countless questions. For starters, why do they let people rank up and down? If they want everyone to have sex with as many different people as possible, letting others change rank is counterproductive. You can sleep with the same person twice, once before they change rank and once afterwards, and it will count as collecting two "cards," or so they say. One girl even came up with a strategy where she and a group of friends rank up and down repeatedly to reduce the number of people they have to sleep with. Is that permitted, or is it not?
And this all makes it sound even less likely that they'll truly let us go home. I mean, just think about it: it doesn't make *any* sense that they would. There are only three explanations:
1. 52 is a magic number. It stops giving the House energy once you've slept with 52 people, so they let everyone go home once that magic number is reached.
2. 52 isn't a magic number, but they're perfectly happy to let go of valuable "energy sources" who've already given them tons of help just out of the goodness of their hearts.
3. The "we'll let you go home after you complete the game!" thing is a lie, and they don't intend to let anyone go. Everyone just ends up like J.
I'm most inclined to believe the last one. Unlike in a detective show, the simplest explanation usually proves true in real life.
As for what else they might want from us, I wonder if *that* has something to do with those suit effects. Half of those don't seem the slightest bit conducive to intimacy: things like having nightmares and acting violent towards others won't help you "collect cards." If anything, those will hinder card collection. I know that if anyone got violent with me, I wouldn't go to bed with them. I'd simply tell them, "See you in court next month!"
Which begs the question: do they even want us to complete the game?
no subject
I don't know if promiscuity is necessarily the key, either. This was one probing, so I'll be doing more. However, what was that about being over it? So you were once that way before?
As for your little list, I believe that none of these quite nail what it is that's happening here, though the third one is the closest. From what I can tell, anyway. This is purely opinion.
My opinion continued is that sex is vital, is key, but that this flow of energy may not be the only reason we are here. A method for battery, certainly, but a battery is not the main show of any technology, is it? The question "what does this flow of energy do for the House" is what interests me. I wasn't able to press past those energies before my mind began to ache.
The game, to me, must add something to the equation. Plans like this aren't run with any extra parts. Everything is placed out for purpose. Make sense to you?
no subject
Is that what it sounded like?
[Yep, that was a dodge!]
I would've thought the answer is just that it allows this place to operate. Though I'm not sure *why* they put in the effort, since it doesn't seem like they're making any profit off the resort. It's starting to sound like this is just an amusement facility for half-dead souls or a holding ground for ghosts, and those don't sound the least bit worthwhile to me.
[There's a pause as he rereads the message again. He's still stuck on the part about people who haven't gotten around as much—how their souls are "weaker." And then he thinks about that part in the diary page again. "Some of us are more valuable than others."
.....]
About the guests who have "weaker souls" - do you think that has anything to do with why people keep vanishing?
no subject
As for your question, I think I'd have to know the moment when someone vanishes and look into it as immediately as possible. Not only that, but there are countless strings in a complex web tied throughout this resort, interacting with one another— the roots are too tangled to isolate quite in that manner.
So, I have no idea. There may be correlation, but it may be unrelated. All I know is that those ones receive less energy than is being stolen from them, and the imbalance results in a less robust or comfortable feeling.
no subject
He almost denies it. But A, what does it matter, and B, Esikko does have a point about honesty.]
It just doesn't really seem relevant to our questions about the resort.
[Says the guy who's prone to getting off-topic... but at least he dodged instead of just lying.]
If you do want to investigate that, I have a couple of names I could give you. Someone on that post informed me of two more people who've gone missing. Unlike Rinne-senpai, their names weren't listed in the registry when I checked. But it sounds like you've exerted yourself just getting the information you shared with me, so I won't expect you to do anything more at the moment.
[He's worried about that, too. Not that he was close to either of the missing people, but he liked one of them well enough. And if it can happen to them...]
I'm surprised you can sense who's slept with a lot of people and who hasn't, honestly. You don't have magic eyes that enable you to see through people's walls, do you?
But basically, everyone's having energy stolen from them - not just those who frequent the casino - and the only way to replace that stolen energy is by being promiscuous, as far as you can tell. Do I have that all right?
no subject
I would be interested in those names. I'd like to do what I can, even if I grow tired. I do have limited time, after all.
As for being able to see it, no, I don't. The spell temporarily revealed to be the web of roots, or strings, connecting this place, these people, this world. Reaching out and touching them would grant me information, tracing along them could reveal more— it's a bit complex to explain, but think of it like the strings of a musical instrument, since you're so musically inclined. Plucking those strings releases a note, and that note echoes and is answered back— you can tell what note it is, the richness, the tone, the length, right? And two strings, if harmonizing... Well, it's something like that, I think.
But you're mostly correct. Energy seems to be stolen most often on the casino floor, by those dealers. Energy is replaced by sex of any form, but those who have it more often and with more people seem more robust with it. That is the summary.
no subject
... Hiyori doesn't disagree with the first part. A good detective takes stock of everything (at least according to TV shows!). But he's just going to skip past that part of the text for now.]
The first one is Deuce Spade. Which sounds like a fake name the House would come up with, but it's actually the name his mother gave him! Or so he said, and he didn't seem like the type to lie. His username is @ spadesarewild. And then the second one is
Sorry, hold on a moment.
[After going back to some previous conversations:]
The second one is Azul, and I'm pretty sure he and @ mostromngr are the same person. If you do end up finding something out, let me know so I can pass it on to their upperclassmen. He seems to think they'll be alright, and it'd be nice if he was right about that, but
[He just has a bad feeling, since their accounts are no longer listed. He didn't have the heart to say that to Vil, though.]
So that's what you meant by "roots."
That makes it sound like anyone someone's been intimate with leaves a stain somewhere deep down. One that can't ever be washed out or erased. I presume it works like that even if it's just a meaningless act of "collecting cards," huh.
In any case, thanks for the summary. It sounds like everyone who isn't sleeping around should stay far away from the casino. Actually, I can't think of any good reason to go there either way, so we should probably all stay away. I doubt Rinne-senpai will listen, but it couldn't hurt to try!
[...]
I really do appreciate you sharing, by the way. I might have something for you in return tomorrow, since there's someone I'm planning to question. I don't know how reserved they'll be, but it's worth a shot!
no subject
( A genuine thanks does earn a pause from him, but he eventually manages to reply to it, too. Sort of. )
How interesting. I'll wait in eager suspense to see if you have more news, then.
no subject
And great! Guess that's that. Talk to you later 👋
[Now we wait to see how this pans out.]
no subject
Alright, so! ⭐️✨
I don't have any new information yet, but that should change soon. First, however, I need a memory! Care to describe something that happened to you in the past? It sounds like it can be absolutely anything, so you don't have to choose something sad or difficult.
Though I wouldn't choose something mundane, either, just in case that bores her. Something that makes for a good story!
no subject
( Is someone gonna like, eat it? He's got plenty to spare, but... At the same time, he doesn't!! )
no subject
Someone on my post suggested that the owner of the Red Cardinal might be the woman from Victoria's diary entry. The one who'd been planning on opening a bar, and who said that "what the resort takes from each guest is dependent on the person."
I asked if she was the same woman, and that *did* turn out to be true, but she wasn't willing to share much because she doesn't know me. So now we're in the "getting to know each other" stage. And she wants me to do 2 things for her:
1. Eat her dishes for a month
2. Collect the memories of 3 guests and bring them back them back to her
She said all I need to do for the second one is have 3 people describe a memory. She didn't ask for a specific kind of memory, like "a childhood memory" or "a sad memory," so I guess anything goes. I'd try to choose something interesting just to be on the safe side, though.
I don't know for sure that she *can't* do magic, but she seems like a regular bar owner. That's why she stands out, really. She doesn't act like she's been brainwashed the way the rest of the staff do. But if you're still leery, you can always go with something that isn't too personal.
Or I can ask someone else, I guess. I'm good at talking to all sorts of people! I just thought I'd ask you since we're already sharing all this information. Plus I didn't get the chance to hear your "earliest memory" at the Hearts party.
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Well, it won't be my earliest memory, but I will give a relevant one. There are some memories I could do without, anyway.
I remember snow falling on the side of my face being the first sensation after a long period of darkness and pain. It must have been the first snow of the season, but I was beginning to be covered by it. My body was bloodied, beaten and weak. I thought for certain I was going to die. I couldn't remember how I'd gotten there, in that forest, if I'd crawled myself or been dumped, but when I felt a foot nudge into my side, that spike of pain gave me an ounce of energy to look up.
That was how I met that bodyguard. He was peering down at me, looking surprised to see me move at all, and I used the last of my energy on a breath asking him for help before I passed out again. When I came to once again, he had taken me to a dingy little shack somewhere, but I was alive. Patched up and cleaned, even, as he was making food.
It was the moment he became my bodyguard.
That should be sufficient.
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But at what cost? He's not sure what he expected to read, but it wasn't that.
A multitude of questions flit through his mind. But does he really want to ask them? And is now really the time? Probably not, so after a minute or so he just writes back:]
Thanks. That should work.
[And now he'll put the prince's unpleasant memories out of sight and out of mind!
... or so he'd like, but certain details are nagging at him. Remembering his Network conversation with Kirma brings up even more questions, most of which he does know better than to ask. But after another pause:]
Mind if I ask one more thing?
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( It feels awkward, sharing unpleasant things like this, but... well. There's no point in refusing additional questions, he guesses. )
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The one you were both traveling towards, that is.
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Well, it's just as much an inconvenience as it is an opportunity, really.
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If you say so.
It's fine if you want to reinvent yourself. I'd rather keep being me, though. And I'm sure you don't like being tossed around and forced to obey the House any more than I do, since it sounds like you already got enough of that treatment back home. So!
In order to make things better for you *and* for me, I'll just have to figure out what it is they're after. Why exactly they're doing this, and what exactly they value. Once I've solved that, I'll be sure to let you know!
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How noble. I'm grateful that you're going to share things with me, and I with you, but try not to waste your sympathy or pity on me, either.
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I have a generous heart, you know. So I'm afraid there's just no helping how I feel sometimes. I'm not sure what lessons you were taught growing up, but my family always told me that it's our duty to help those who are less fortunate. That's what you call the principle of noblesse oblige.
Though I don't think they were talking about royals when they said that. Royals are supposed to be even more blessed. You're sort of an odd case!
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