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

[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.

[fujimaru]

"We... go a long way back, he and I." He grimaces, like he's embarrassed. "You could say that... before he was Ritsuka's, he was mine."

[strikingchords]

Then, would he help us?

[rootsforyou]

...

[looks between Olgamarie, and Da Vinci, and back to this man]

I suspect that the King of Men is a neutral party to all of this. If you're here now, then perhaps you didn't part ways amicably.

[fujimaru]

"Oh, he really is calling himself that?" For some reason, this appears to make the man oddly happy. "He's--well, I suppose a lot of his attitude is sort of my fault, yes. We didn't exactly have a falling out, but he was quite angry with me for a long time. But I don't think he'd hurt Ritsuka. Not like this, at least. In a fight, surely, but if he was in her body, I doubt that's what happened."

[strikingchords]

...

[nods]

We were told she had faded.