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

THE TEMPLE

[fujimaru]

You find yourself in a wide-open throne room that appears to have no ceilings. There are columns that thrust up and disappear from view, swallowed up by a soft blue sky that is crowned with a wide circle directly overhead by a dark ring. If you look up, you can see what appears to be an endless void.

Before you are hundreds of steps, so white that they glow faintly in the ambient light, and there is a throne at the very top. A man sits on that throne, looking down at you. His expression is flat, his lip curled in just the beginning of a bored sneer.

[cultfavorite]

[Ah yes, he remembers the glimpse he got of this.

Saturn recalls Crobat, and he begins up the steps, taking them one by one, looking right back up at that man.]

[fujimaru]

He raises an eyebrow at Saturn's approach, but he does not move, and other than that, his expression does not change. There are a lot of stairs, and it seems to be solely to make it difficult for anyone to approach unless they were deeply determined.

When he is maybe halfway up, the King of Men says, "So you have come."

[cultfavorite]

[This sucks?! Fuck you, Goetia, he's tired at this point! But he keeps going, struggling up the steps, and without breaking eye contact. It's tempting to summon Toxicroak to carry him, but that would ruin the mood entirely. The mood is important.]

Yes. I didn't expect it to be you waiting for me.

[fujimaru]

Unfortunately, things that look cool have their downsides in reality, and also Goetia is a cheating cheater who, like Solomon, does not necessarily have to walk in order to go up these stairs. He doesn't straighten out of his bored lounging posture, but he tilts his head, giving Saturn a long, coolly assessing look.

"And why not? This is my throne. This is my Temple. Where else would I be?"

[cultfavorite]

Because this is where I saw her. I suppose you were occupied with me at the time. . . . But here I am. As you asked.

[He keeps taking the steps, one by one, each one burning at this point after he's walked this far, but it's not like this is going to be where he stops after all that.]

[fujimaru]

Good job, gold star for him.

Up close, when he finally makes it to the dais where the throne is, the Beast is... perhaps not as large as he might have seemed, more of a lean sharp build than simple bulk strength. He does finally sit up when Saturn reaches him, and this is clearly the body he was meant to have; there is none of the awkward implied discomfort or stiffness when he had been moving through Ritsuka.

"I did," he agrees. "And do you know why?"

Re: THE TEMPLE

[rugpull]

Sorry about the blood.

Re: THE TEMPLE

[fujimaru]

The King of Men raises an eyebrow, then snorts. "I will pay it no mind. It's hardly the fault of those who come through such a place. Congratulations. You have done as I have requested."

Re: THE TEMPLE

[rugpull]

[who the fuck are y--]

It wasn't easy but I do what I set out t'do.

And along those lines, I ain't finished yet. There's someone I wanna see.

Re: THE TEMPLE

[fujimaru]

He rises from his throne. There is something familiar with the body language, though it might not be immediately obvious. He's in his proper body here, at least, and not struggling to use Ritsuka's (much) smaller frame for his movements.

"I told you to come and find her. Why do you think that I did?"

Re: THE TEMPLE

[rugpull]

You think I thought about it that hard?

I guess cuz ya want her found.

Re: THE TEMPLE

[fujimaru]

He inclines his head, gracious as a proper king; the sniping does not seem to bother him.

"This is no place for her," he says. "Or for anyone, save myself. If you wish to find her, she has been found."

He beckons. A portal opens behind him. Ruggie will still need to climb all those damn stairs, but once he's there, he can follow, if he wants.

Re: THE TEMPLE

[heartlands]

[looking around curiously for a few moments before he sees the man sitting. he's a ways away at the bottom of the steps, but he calls out anyways as he starts to climb]

Hi there!

Re: THE TEMPLE

[fujimaru]

The man only tilts his head slightly, not straightening out of his insouciant lounge, eyeing him with a long, unblinking stare. He does not yet answer.

Re: THE TEMPLE

[heartlands]

...Okay. Silent type. Got it.

[he'll continue up the stairs.]

Re: THE TEMPLE

[fujimaru]

As he approaches, the man still does not straighten out of his lounge, but he does look slightly more interested. There's a lot of the stairs, and when he makes it about halfway up, the man says,

"And who are you, to have made it this far?"

Re: THE TEMPLE

[heartlands]

[he pauses in place to wave.]

Hi! I'm Rupert, I'm Ritsuka's friend. Do you know where she is?

Re: THE TEMPLE

[fujimaru]

"I do," he says. "Better than the rest of you, even those who claim closer kinship to her than I."

Something about the way he says that is deeply self-satisfied.

"And having come here seeking her out, what do you intend, once you find her?"

[eggstinction]

—more stairs!?

[fujimaru]

The man on the throne only laughs. It's not a friendly sound, but it might be somewhat familiar; it sounds a lot more correct in this deeper voice than it did in Ritsuka's.

"Now you falter? After you've made it all this way?"

[eggstinction]

I am not faltering! I am complaining! It is different.

[starts climbing]

[fujimaru]

"You may complain all you wish! Are those really such a bother to you?"

He sounds more amused than anything, though he does not straighten out of his lounging position as Moon approaches.

[eggstinction]

They are not really. I could fly if I wanted to.

[but he's still just climbing]

[fujimaru]

"Then, why don't you? A king should be willing to display his power, where he has the opportunity."