Kirumi Tojo's Palace | The Ultimate Maid's Failures

[kandata]

By now everyone may be used to find themselves in bizarre locations, between going into palaces and visiting Nekyia. It might not come as a surprise that it has happened again.

What might come as a surprise, though...is how empty this place is.

All around you there's nothing more than a large, gray, featureless expanse. In the distance there seem to be bars, curving upwards to gather so, so high above you, possibly hundreds of miles above, so high it’s hard to distinguish.

It’s a cage. So unfathomably large. You could escape, were you to get to the edges of the cage, but...it would take forever. No matter how you look at it, you're trapped. The atmosphere is so...hopeless. Devoid of anything even remotely positive.

Not that you want to hang around for long, do you? After all, this is someone's palace. Not a place to stick around at. What to do, though?

It’s all so...empty. Silent. Featureless. A flat expanse of hard gray tiles.

Gather together, everyone. Gather and choose a direction. North, East, West, South. All directions look completely identical, but could it affect your time in this place, somehow? Probably not. But all treks start with the first step. Perhaps, if you get moving, you'll progress?

Comments

[destage]

...If it's the one I'm thinking of, it isn't an actual, living bear. It's more like a stuffed, robotic plush.

[emptyself]

You know about this, Sayaka?

[destage]

...Somewhat. Please keep in mind that this is just a lot of assuming based off of some stuff I know. I'm not entirely certain if this is the same thing as what I'm thinking of, but considering what I've talked about on a post to an anon before...and the fact that I can confirm one other person knew the name of this bear...

[Sayaka pauses a bit, shuddering some at the thought--red head brothers nearby, give her metaphorical strength...she's actually saying this in public, but she forces herself to calm down and look at Soujuurou.]

...If it's anything like what I went through, Tojo-san may have gotten dragged into a killing game by a robotic teddybear named Monokuma. I don't know if the circumstances are entirely the same considering what we've found, but...

[vogelfrei]

[ Ah... ]

I can confirm that your assumption is correct. The rules for that game were in her dreamscape last week.

[ And Sayaka... Well, suddenly arriving bloody with a knife makes a lot of sense. Funny how the pieces finally fit together. ]

[destage]

[There's pain in that realization. That their perfect and elegant maid could have been hiding so much pain from them all, despite being such a kind cornerstone. Her strength was incredible and something Sayaka wanted to emulate, and her kindness was something Sayaka appreciated...]

"Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered." I take it that was one of them, or at least of similar wording?

[Because yeah. Yeah, Sayaka's posture is tight but deeply resolved. And...

Honestly, she's shaking with both fright and anger that she's keeping very restrained.]

...So Tojo-san was the anon I talked to, who recognized that bear's name. That explains a lot.

[vogelfrei]

[ There is a surprised pause of recognition here. McGillis had been reading along with the other responses on that post - how could he not have, when he'd been so deeply involved and invested in the discussion? And if Kirumi is that individual, then...

Oh dear. A lot of things are clicking into place today. ]

Yes, it certainly does.

[ Ahem. ]

And yes, precisely. Once someone committed a murder, it'd be either execution or graduation.

[ And he sees now which path the both of you took. ]

[emptyself]

...

[ soujuurou takes this information and... simply accepts it. he gives her a grave nod, his composure extremely calm. ]

A killing game... I went through something a little similar in someone's dream, but there was no bear involved. Tojo mentioned to me once, that she was once in a situation where she and a group she was in was made to feel responsible for killing someone else. Does that sound familiar to you?

[destage]

...Very much so. Though...

I should be honest. I can't tell you too too much, because I was the first one who died where I came from. But us...we were meant to be going to a school that would ensure that our futures would be bright if we graduated, that only accepted the best in the world. Many people had graduated from it before, so we didn't think anything of it...

But that bear fully intended to keep us locked within the academy, and also introduced motivation to try and make us kill. It's very familiar.

[emptyself]

Sayaka, you're--?

[ honestly, everything else that she said just kind of. fell on deaf ears. because what do you mean that she died in her world? ]

[idealitas]

If Kirumi experienced an event similar to that, then it's very likely that the impact and trauma would influence the nature of her palace.

[ No mincing words here. A killing game doesn't sound pleasant. ]

[destage]

Exactly. It was a very traumatic experience to be forced into for all of us in my own group; I can't imagine that Tojo-san's group got it any easier.

[Yeah. No disagreement from her, essentially.]

...Especially if she was forced to live there longer.

[idealitas]

Longer...?

[ More inportantly, since as shitty as where he's from, he's never heard of a killing game and just assumes the worst. ]

If you are comfortable with doing so, can you explain the basics of how it was run?

[moodwrecker]

...What?

[No, seriously, what??]

[destage]

[...Sayaka's smile is both soft and sad at Aubrey, but...]

...I'm sorry, Aubrey-san. But I'm not lying to you; this is what happened to me before I came here.

[moodwrecker]

But... why?

And how?

[bloodweapon]

[Fray is here, and he can only imagine how difficult it is for Sayaka to say this. She's doing a good job, though, and he nods whenever she catches his eyes.]

[destage]

[Thank you, Fray. Sayaka nods back, shaky but resolved; if it'll help them through Kirumi's palace, she'll gladly give what info she can.]

[beautifulknight]

[ It must be difficult indeed for Sayaka to say this - he realizes this, considering...his expression softens at hearing this, looks over towards her.

Also as if to say in such a gaze if she needs a moment or anything, he will happily be there to help in that, even if it is just a hand on a shoulder. ]

...I see. That is most unfortunate.

I would not wish such circumstances on anyone.

[destage]

Neither would I. Which makes what happened to Tojo-san so...so...

[...Sayaka looks to him and looks away, though she offers one of her shoulders. The contact wouldn't be minded right now, to say the least.

But she remembers Kirumi's words, too.

However, you should not apologize for something that is not your fault. You are not to blame. Do not saddle yourself with the sins of someone else.

This isn't her fault. This isn't her fault.]

...We have to help her.

[beautifulknight]

[ He will rest a gentle hand on her shoulder. Argenti is certain she will not wish for so much of a big production to be made, but he will give a showing of understanding support - not willing to hold that back..

But not only that, of course. As Sayaka speaks, he too has words in turn: ]

You are most certainly right.

We cannot let her be submerged in this struggle alone. Even now, like this, I am certain she would wish for us to assist her.

[ Before, Kirumi may have faced the situation she was in alone. He does not doubt there will be possibly even more to be revealed, but just like before, he intends to stand steady. ]

[imperiosity]

So that's what you were referring to before, huh.

[The bear thing still sounds absurd even knowing that she wasn't talking about a real one, but the way Sayaka is acting here at least gives this more gravitas then he'd normally afford for such a statement.]

They ever tell you what the point of it all was?

[destage]

It was, yes.

[Sayaka nods her head at Aaron, firmly.]

For us, at least? It was because we were scouted by this so-called prestigious school as geniuses in our field, and that the bear in question wanted to watch us all kill each other and give into despair.

...The bear was very happy upon confirming that for us. I'm not sure if there was any deeper point, given how little I was around for it.

[finalmix]

[ ah. that anon post. ]

[ considering that there's only been one through the whole game so far, it doesn't take too long to put two and two together, though. ]

Peach?

[prozaic]

[Oh. Well. That solves one mystery then.]

[destage]

...0341. The other one wasn't me.

[It was Sunrise, at least that's what she got from the anon that talked with Eli.]

But yes.