Palace Game 6/3

[fujimaru]

The Dreamer In The Grand Temple
Humanity Foundation Value: ????

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

Comments

[fujimaru]

This time, it does make an offended noise, somehow, but it does not actually fight him when he grabs the ring. Once it's in his hand, it subsides back, going still in the same position as when he'd first entered the room.

The ring itself is heavy, solid gold, and he can feel that it is buzzing with some sort of ambient energy--less muted than what he felt in the first room, but something that is stronger, sharper, more immediately present. It is the same aura as being in the presence of the Beast, though somewhat muted.

[cultfavorite]

[Saturn looks the ring over with a curious little frown, then slips it onto his right ring finger, and then he reaches up to pet the tentacle again a few times. Thank you.

Is the dokkaebi the last thing on the shelf? He has to pick that up too.]

[fujimaru]

This one doesn't appear to have any memories or anything like that attached to it--there's just a sense of curiosity and tentative interest. It's something that leaves a warmly fond feeling in its wake, though there is, just at the edges of awareness, a sense of the same loneliness he'd gotten from her during that game.

[cultfavorite]

[He kisses this too. Crobat rolls her eyes behind his back. Then he gets to his feet, skimming over that shelf to make sure nothing else is on it, and hovering his hand over the tentacle as he considers taking it with him, but if it's gone completely dormant again, he won't.]

[fujimaru]

Saturn, please.

When he looks around the room, he can see there is something glowing on the wall on the opposite side of the bed. It looks like the outline of a door...? It was certainly not there before, but it's there now, slowly forming itself into existence.

[cultfavorite]

[Ah. That's . . .

Does it look like it's forming and staying, or like it might go anywhere anytime soon? He wasn't quite done poking around this room! But this looks important!]

[fujimaru]

It appears to be staying--when it's finished, it's an ornate golden door, just there in the wall where it wasn't, and it's not going anywhere for the moment.

[cultfavorite]

[OKAY GOOD. He's first going to go seeking out anything that is in Cerberus colors. What does she have around here that's that shade of purple!]

[fujimaru]

As it turns out, exactly ten items that have that color on them somewhere:

A leggy hound dog, with a Saber symbol tied to its neck.

A puppy with little deer antlers with a Caster symbol on its collar.

A disgruntled-looking fat rabbit with a blindfold, with an Archer symbol printed on the blindfold.

A dragon curled around a full moon, which has a Rider symbol etched among the craters.

A slim-bladed sword, with a Saber symbol etched into the hilt.

A sleek dark-furred cat with a Lancer symbol under her paw.

A dragon with a scroll in one clawed paw, a Ruler symbol printed on the unfurled paper.

A model of the planet Saturn, with a Crobat perched on top of it and a Toxicroak seated beside it. The Crobat has a Caster symbol in one claw.

A fluffy round dragon, not unlike a Squishable, with a Rider symbol in her teeth.

A mutt dog with a large red heart in its mouth, with the Lancer symbol on it.

Admittedly, Saturn might not immediately recognize those symbols, but he did at least get that crash course from Ritsuka about them.

[cultfavorite]

[He's gonna FIND THEM ALL and put them all on the bed together along with the bingo card and the Sun tarot! And the dokkaebi plush! He shows the Saturn model to Crobat, who lets out a pleased shriek. Yes that's right, she's the one on top! Superior!

Then he goes to do one last curious pass of the other assorted objects in the room, unless something happens when he does that with those ten.]

[fujimaru]

It does depend, honestly. Some of them just give a vague sense of fondness as he carries them, though not all of them are particularly intense.

He might note that the puppy's antlers are very similar to the ones Ritsuka had, in the throes of her possession, and that one--along with the Saturn model, and the fluffy round Rider dragon, have a much more immediate and deeper sense of affection when he picks them up. It feels like a hug, the weight of a body leaning fondly against his.

The longer he holds them, the more these feelings will intensify and clarify.

[cultfavorite]

[CUTE . . . okay surely it's fine to sit on the bed for just a little while and hold these and enjoy the schmoop, that's cool right,

. . . Can he pick up the tentacle this time. What happens when he tries. He's going for it with his left hand.]

[fujimaru]

The KING of BAD DECISIONS, ladies and gentlemen.

The tentacle recoils from his touch when he reaches for it. It's no longer aggressive, now that he's taken the ring, but it doesn't appear to be interested in sharing with his feel-good time.

[cultfavorite]

All right, if you insist. I thought you might like to make some friends.

[WHY WOULDN'T IT WANT TO SIT ON THE BED WITH THE OTHERS! But fine! He gets up again, going to skim the room one more time. He's looking for anything that might stand out as being Ritsuka. Maybe she doesn't need a stand-in for herself in this room, which is her room, but maybe there is one and if there is it should be with the others on the bed!

. . . He stops to pick up the Best of Tristan CD.]

[fujimaru]

Well, there is this that plays. This is unfortunately minus Tristan's actual flashbacks, but in its place is a halting description of what happened... and a genuine sense of fond amusement that grows and grows, though Ritsuka somehow manages to avoid laughing.

"Thanks for the great return gift," she says, though her voice is shaking with the effort of not cracking up, and after she's taken it, he can have the brief memory of her putting it away in her desk. She doesn't listen to it yet in this memory, but she does let herself giggle when she's alone.

[cultfavorite]

[Oh no. That's pretty hilarious?! Saturn laughs too, hand to his mouth, and puts the CD back where it belongs, even though he's tempted to take it and try to find somewhere to listen to it.

One more look around to make sure he's not missing anything that looks like a Symbol of Ritsuka!!]

[fujimaru]

Though he can find plenty of signs of colors of the other teams (at least one from every other team, in fact), there is nothing that seems to be Ritsuka herself represented here. The sense of her presence is here, unmistakable, but there is no sign.

[cultfavorite]

[This is a nice place. . . . He's gonna look for Tsuruno. He has to before he leaves! Where's the Tsuruno!]

[fujimaru]

There are a handful of items in the room that have Kraken's color on them somewhere:

A bubble tea charm, with the Archer symbol on one of the little boba.

A figurine of a phoenix in flight, wings open, with a Lancer symbol hidden in the flames.

An uncustomized ball-jointed doll, on a display stand, with a handful of different outfits in its arms. The Assassin symbol is stitched onto one of the outfits.

A little jar of fireflies, with the Caster symbol carved into the lid.

So, which one is the Tsuruno?

[cultfavorite]

[HE KNOWS THIS ONE. He picks up the phoenix carefully in his hands to rub a thumb over it and admire it.]

[fujimaru]

It's a very delicately-made piece--they all are, really. Whoever was the actual crafter of all of these pieces, they were obviously made with deep affection.

The feelings for Tsuruno's piece aren't as strong or as immediate as with the ones he found for certain members of Cerberus, but they are still there, filtering in after a second or two: a sense of affection and something that is almost childishly excited. Maybe it's been a while since Ritsuka has had a girl friend her own age, and what of it?

[cultfavorite]

[THIS ROOM IS SO CUTE HOW IS HE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE IT and how is he supposed to resist going around and finding the objects for everyone he knows and touching them and

He does not put this one on the bed, but he does put it on the shelf over the bed with the tentacle, because that's cool and fine, and then he one more time picks up his own piece to cradle it gently and feel those emotions again.]

[fujimaru]

There's that sense of warm affection again--for him in particular, it's more deeply pronounced, edged despite how gentle it is, and there's also an edge of lingering confused embarrassment, like Ritsuka herself is surprised at feeling this way at all. But it's there, and even if she's embarrassed, they're not going anywhere.

There is also, buried somewhere under that, deep deep deep down, a sense of wistfulness. This is something that is not meant to be mine, but I'll hold onto it while I can, almost lost under everything else.

[cultfavorite]

[He sits to meditate on this for a little bit, eyes closed, smiling faintly, until he can sort all of that out. Then:]

. . . You aren't the only one who feels that way. I wonder if I'm being selfish, with you . . . but I don't care. You're special to me, Ritsuka. I'll cling as long as I possibly can, as long as you let me.

[Then he sets that aside and stands again.

It's time to head for that golden door!]

[fujimaru]

The door opens...