Palace Game 6/5

[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

[messianic]

[ oh cute... this is precious.

He should be focusing but obviously he's going to look for the Cerberus colored things first. ]

[fujimaru]

With some persistence, he will in fact find a whole ten separate items:

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.

He will not necessarily recognize the symbols for what they are, but as a Persona protagonist, he is probably used to Symbolism Tied To The People You Know.

[messianic]

[ Oh my godddddddddd. They're precious. Minato pokes the disgruntled fat rabbit with a muted but definitely delighted look on his face. ]

Aha... Ritsuka's image of Satoru is the most accurate of all.

[ anyway, he probably shouldn't be snooping in her associated symbolism with her teammates, but he couldn't resist!! He will gently arrange them all on the bed before he continues, I'm sorry he's wasting so much time here. ]

[fujimaru]

UNFORTUNATELY(?) FOR HIM, the more he handles the items, the more he will get the sense of feelings that bleed through. Some of them take a little longer to settle in than others, but the little antlered puppy and the planet figurine are an immediate sense of deep and abiding fondness. It feels like being embraced, a body leaning comfortably against his.

[messianic]

[ oH NO HE'S MADE A MISTAKE

i mean it's a warm and comfy and cozy mistake but aaaaah. Once they are all properly settled on the bed he steps back and presses a hand to his face. ]

Ritsuka... you're very cute, and I'm going to have to apologize a lot after this, huh...?

[ ...... DEEP BREATH. Okay!! He's leave them alone and move towards the ripped up bingo sheet. Just how ripped up are we talking here? ]

[fujimaru]

FOR SOME REASON SHE JUST REALLY LIKES THE TWO PEOPLE TIED WITH THESE FIGURES, HOW WEIRD,

The bingo card looks like it was first ripped into quarters, and then two of those quarters further shredded. As he approaches, the tentacle turns to look at him, all of those red unlidded eyes glittering.

[messianic]

[ HOW WEIRD, HOW SOFT AND WHOLESOME,,

Anyway Minato looks back.

And waves a little. ]

I'm gonna take a look at this, okay?

[ i mean, he thinks he knows what it symbolizes, but assumptions are bad. ]

[fujimaru]

It does not answer him because it does not have a mouth, and when he reaches for the card, it shies away from him.

[messianic]

[ listen he's trying very hard to not be totally rude about romping around in Ritsuka's subconscious and it's going wrong at every turn.

So he's going to try to pick up the bingo card pieces and put them together to see if he can read the card. ]

[fujimaru]

The card will take some time and patience to assemble, but when he puts it together, it's just her bingo card. Unlike the Cerberus figures, there is a sense of unease and uncertainty that lingers in the pieces, both torn and put together--a longing and a wistfulness that she clearly feels no real way forward on.

[messianic]

[ Poor Ritsuka... it's not a surprise to him at all, but he doesn't want to leave anything unturned. He leaves the card carefully assembled on the shelf, frowning a little to himself as he props his hands on his hips and inspects the mass of tentacles. ]

I know the tarot card, and the dokkaebi... but you...

[ hmmm. He bows his head to it briefly. ]

First... thanks for protecting her, during that time when the rest of us couldn't, in that task.

[fujimaru]

All of those eyes stare at him. They don't have the lids to blink, but it appears to be sort of... warily pleased? It sways a little in place, but does not otherwise try to move.

[messianic]

[ okay, tentative olive branches are good. ]

We've gotta find her though, you know? Can you help at all?

[markofkaine]

Is that your team?

[...picks up the dog with the heart in its mouth. squishes it in his hands.]

[messianic]

[ Fondly: ]

Yep, this is all of us. That's probably Randy-san.

[markofkaine]

Tch. Fitting.

[gonna put him back with the other plushies, next to the moon dragon.]

[messianic]

[ he thought Randy and Kaine were close??? Maybe this is how Kaine shows his affection...??? ]

Yeah... her impressions of everyone are pretty spot-on. That fits her, honestly.

[markofkaine]

[look. shut up.]

Which one is you?

[messianic]

Hmm... I'm pretty sure it's this one.

[ he nods to the puppy with the deer antlers, though he doesn't try to touch it again. ]

[markofkaine]

Antlers...?

Well if assembling her team isn't the clue we need, then what else is there?

[messianic]

[ a shrug!! You'd have to ask Ritsuka about the antlers. ]

That shelf...

[ with the tentacle creature et all. ]

Those things are pretty prevalent, aren't they?

[markofkaine]

Looks like they're the games she's been in.

Why's the bingo card ripped up, though?

[messianic]

[ aha...ha... ]

... If it's what I think it is, then... the doki-doki bingo game was pretty hard on her.

[fujimaru]

The feeling he gets, the longer he holds the dog, is a sense of affection for sure, though muted--it takes a couple of seconds for that to come in, along with a sense of general bewilderment, and under that, very faint, almost buried, a sense of... well, it might be fear? A fear that is not really powerful, but still there.

[markofkaine]

[???? well that's. something.

Okay... puts it down]