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

[rootsforyou]

[shakes her head]

It's not that I don't believe you. You're right, of course. No one deserves that kind of end. I'm sure you've tried countless times to leave. But I don't think that nothing can change that. She isn't the kind of person who would leave things locked in like that forever.

[fujimaru]

"I don't care about her," Olgamarie says, and now she is outright scornful, crossing her arms. "She was just a number! Part of Chaldea's headcount! How dare she actually act like she has any authority here?!"

[rootsforyou]

Well, she isn't acting like that...you could call it a side effect of where we are, that her desires might carry a bit more weight.

And, even if you don't care about her, she cares about you.

[fujimaru]

"I don't care!" She's outright shrieking now, fury and despair both. "I don't care, I don't want her pity, I don't want any of it!"

As she's screaming, though, Jiang Yanli can see one of the other figures in the hall starting to approach.

[rootsforyou]

I didn't say that you needed to feel any particular way about it...

[her head half turns, watching the approaching figure out of the corner of her eye. Lan Wangji will handle it if it's a threat, but if it's not, then...maybe a friend?]

[fujimaru]

The stranger approaching is a pleasant-faced man, looking more anxious than anything, waving both hands in an attempt to get Jiang Yanli's attention, making gestures to indicate that both she and Lan Wangji should move along before he hurries up, putting himself between them and her.

"Director," he says, "I know you're having a bit of a time, but you don't need to take it out on our guests--"

[rootsforyou]

[peeks out from behind his shoulder]

Lady Animusphere. If you have a favorite food, please allow me to bring it to you later.

[she won't press more than that, if this man is trying to usher them off down the hall]

[fujimaru]

As they pass, he mouths a thank you at Jiang Yanli, grimacing; as they leave, they can hear that he is at least doing his best to try and soothe her. It doesn't appear to be working, but he IS trying.

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji stops and stands still, watching her, declining for a moment to be ushered]

Director.

If this is the place you return, it is likely where your regrets are centered.

What are they?

[rootsforyou]

[HOVERS IN WORRIED SILENCE]

[fujimaru]

She hisses, trying to lunge at him like a furious cat; it's really only because the other man is holding her back. He has to actually bodily lift her a little as he says, in a strained sort of rush,

"That's very kind of you! But it's a bit more complicated than just that, I'm afraid!"

[strikingchords]

We are here regardless. It is unlikely many can remedy our lack of understanding.

Will you direct us to one who can?

[rootsforyou]

If it's difficult for her to speak on them, it would be better to come back at another time...

[fujimaru]

The man shakes his head, though there's a bit of a strained smile.

"Her situation is a bit... unique, among the three of us here," he says. "Though--it's not wrong to say that we're all trapped here, in a way."

[strikingchords]

We are searching for the Maiden Fujimaru.

[rootsforyou]

[her fingers dig into the edges of her sleeves]

...If you have any idea where she might be, it would be a great help, obviously. She might be able to assist with your predicament here.

[fujimaru]

"...I don't know exactly," he says. He sounds sincerely apologetic. "I know that the rest of them have been locked out of the areas where they could look for her. There's a key of some sort... but I don't think the current, ah, situation was really expecting anyone other than a Servant would be trying."

[strikingchords]

[he just waits; this guy doesn't seem as unhelpful, and he wants them to go away. they also want to go away. there are common interests here.]

[rootsforyou]

Do we, perhaps, need a Servant to assist us in locating her?

[fujimaru]

"You shouldn't!" he says. "From what Leonardo could tell--ah, she's the only one who really has any connection out of here--the others can't do that much. It'll have to be a place where Ritsuka would think to hide something. Her room is your best bet, in that case, and then it's just a matter of looking."

[strikingchords]

[inclines his head and turns to Jiang Yanli again; he'll defer to her decision...]

[rootsforyou]

[inclines her head to show she heard him, considering...]

If it isn't too impertinent to ask...are there perhaps any clues here that might help us locate her?

[fujimaru]

"Here? Ah..."

He glances at Olgamarie, then at the other woman down the hall--it's Da Vinci, from Sphinx, if either of them would recognize her--and then rubs the back of his neck.

"I don't know. I guess it would be me? I'm the clue? I can tell you that the King of Men doesn't not want her to be found."

[strikingchords]

How do you know?

[rootsforyou]

[clocks Da Vinci once again, to make sure she's still there; she definitely recognizes her, and knows it isn't the same as the one they were with...probably]

The King of Men is...

[gestures to her own antlers, for comparison]

The one who currently has her body, yes? He didn't seem like he was opposed to her taking it back...just that he had it while she was gone.