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

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

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?

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[They don't have the same time that they would in the normal school world. If they want to save Kirumi, they need to learn about her and understand her as best as they can, but they can't take forever.

...Even so, Sayaka feels herself clam up a bit at first, her grip going to the sword she has with her and gripping it's handle tight. She's not sure what she should expect here, but she's prepped for the worst.

She'll go check the featureless hallway, first. What do we have here?]

[Fray's accompanying Sayaka; after all, he doesn't want her to be alone for any more shitty bear jumpscares. He takes a brief moment to rest a hand on her shoulder as if to remind her that he's here before returning his attention to the hallway.

And since he has eyes (11) is there anything noteworthy here to be perceived?]

Edited 2024-10-01 02:11 (UTC)

[Oh, you have clever eyes! Fray's perception will allow him to vaguely see on the overgrown grass peeking through the tiles...footprints.

Someone human stepped on the grass, going in direction of the storeroom entrance you'll find after going down the hallway.

Here's a more detailed outlining of what's over here in this hallway area.]

Edited 2024-10-01 02:27 (UTC)

[Sayaka's steps don't echo while she walks. Walking down the hallway, this seems to lead to the foyer of the school. Looking up from the center of it, this building as two floors. Doesn't seem like there's a way to ascend to the second floor, though.

What there is, is a stairway that leads to the basement, a door that leads to a pair of bathrooms -- one for boys (this one broken) and one for girls -- and a door leading into the storeroom. There also is another hallway which seems to lead to once another wing of the school, further beyond this foyer.

You have options to explore, Sayaka!]

[Sayaka's perception is sadly not as good as Fray's (4), but with his support, she will look to the paths before them and pause. Which one to go to first...]

...Let's check the storeroom, first. Maybe we can find something interesting in there?

[There has to be something they can use to help Kirumi. Has to be. Let's go inside and see what we can find!]

[Before we go, Fray will point out what he's noticed for Sayaka, though he nods at her words.]

Indeed. It would seem someone had a similar idea.

They did? We must be on a good track, then...!

[She sees it and smiles! Let's go check out the unholy large place has in store.]

[Sayaka's perception was not as good as Fray's. When she enters the storage room...nothing seems off. It sure is a large storeroom, bigger than a school would normally have. From a glance, it seems the shelves are full of items of all kinds, from the most useful you'd want in your daily life, to pointless ones. Why would you need a traffic cone?

This is going to take a whiiiiiile. There are several aisles, and each one has shelves that go way too high for their own good.

But there's a note here pinned on the side of the nearest shelf.]

Weapon.

[Very...unhelpful? There you go, Sayaka, Fray]

Edited 2024-10-01 02:45 (UTC)

[What a large room...nothing seems off here, at least, so maybe they've hit some kind of jackpot here. Even so, she does feel herself balk a touch--this is way larger than her school had any access to. It's almost dizzying, but Sayaka tries to keep her focus.]

Maybe we should find a ladder, first...I imagine we can't spend all day in here, but I wonder if we can find something useful. Do you want to take one side and I'll try the other?

[...That note is interesting, though--can she pluck it down and observe it? If not, she'll start by seeing if she can find a ladder, and start poking through the left side shelves (15). What do we have here?]

[You can pluck it down, the note is pinned low enough for that! Take it with you if you want.

There doesn't seem to be a ladder available anywhere. If Sayaka or Fray at any point want to check the upper parts of any shelf, you'll have to figure out an alternative way to do so.

At the left side shelves...there seems to be a lot of bottles, with cleaning solutions. Lye, floor wax, scented disinfectant, a mop, Mafuyu on the other side of the shelf, a few brushes for scrubbing, and a box of sponges.

Maybe you're here to get sponges, that's probably what you need to find, right?]

[...She's absolutely gonna have to ask to climb on Fray's shoulders if she wants to get higher, isn't she. Are the shelves looking at least climbable to spare herself the indignity...???

It seems like there's a lot of cleaning items here, though, which she supposes is interesting. Kirumi must have come to this place a lot. It's strange, really, and even stranger still is that weird purple mop on the other side--

Wait. That's no mop, that's a mop of hair! Sayaka blinks a bit, trying to put some items aside and get a closer look.]

Mafuyu-san? Mafuyu-san, is that you...? When did you get in here?

[...Given that she rolls a 2 here, if there's anything off, she's sure as fuck not gonna notice it--]

[The shelves look climbable, albeit a tad unstable. Watch out if you decide to climb!

With that failure of perception, Sayaka fails to notice anything off, but Mafuyu, upon being called, reacts. Her eyes widen, and she turns around to run. She runs in direction of the other side of the storage room.

You have two options, Sayaka: either continue your search related to that ntoe you found, or pursue Mafuyu to the other side of the storage room. Going together or separating from Fray is something to consider too. Choices are yours!]

[Sayaka seems to start when she sees Mafuyu run--she's never seen the girl so scared before, and of her?]

W-Wait, Mafuyu-san, it's dangerous here!! It's okay, we're not...!

[Sayaka pauses for a moment, considering. They only have limited time, but Sayaka doesn't see anything wrong with Mafuyu at all. If anything, she's worried deeply, though after running off after Soujuurou...

Sayaka looks to Fray, pursing her lips a bit.]

Fray, I'm sorry--please, we need to go help her! I'm not sure what's gotten into her...

[Looks like pursuing Mafuyu it is! Sayaka (and Fray, with Redd's permission, ty friend) will try to follow after the girl. Where is she going?]

[She's going to the other end of the storage room! And when Sayaka follows...

Mafuyu isn't there anymore. Oh, bother.

And at the other side of the storage room, the shelf over there tilts over. Slowly, it tilts, and hits the shelf nearby, making it fall down too, like dominoes.

You're going to get crushed under shelves falling like dominoes! Watch out!]

[...

So Sayaka doesn't immediately notice the domino shelves (4) because her concern for Mafuyu outdoes her self preservation for a moment, unfortunately. Fortunately for you and myself, I love a good bit of drama, so--

Guess who's absolutely just going to get hit by a shelf! Not crushed and nothing fatal at least, but girl is absolutely eating some shit and getting knocked over at minimum--]

Ow, ow, ow--

[Unlike Sayaka, Fray does notice the shelves, and manages to jump back to avoid being smacked around (14). Of course, Sayaka isn't as lucky, so Fray's quick to move to her side and offer her a hand. He can lift the shelf if she's trapped under it...]

Are you alright?

[You know what, here's a Diarama just in case.]

[Oh golly, I got a 14, so no advance notice for Fray! It's not a guaranteed hit, it just means Mafuyu didn't screw up the element of surprise.

She can see Fray moving, and immediately blasts a physical attack in Fray's direction, moving with strength? Giant Slice! Since when is Mafuyu a physical attacker?! There she comes, axe high, to slam the edge of it onto Fray's armor. She intends to see how resistant the armor is! But still, with such a strong physical attack, even through the armor that'll hurt if it strikes true!]

Edited 2024-10-01 22:29 (UTC)

[Since he's busy trying to help Sayaka up, that does hit, and boy does it smart!! Thanks, Mafuyu!! Though this definitely doesn't seem like Brainwash or some other status ailment... Still, Fray's reluctant to actually try to hit her since the last time he (accidentally) did that was like a day ago in her palace and boy it sucked!!

So instead he'll try for an Energy Shower to see if that will cure whatever she's dealing with. Obviously it won't, but like. An Attempt Was Made.]

Fray!

[YEAH NO FUCK THIS SHIT, SWORD: OUT, SHE'S RUSHING RIGHT AT MAFUYU--]

You stay away from him!!

[granted, the giant slice (2) misses, but it's the thought that counts right......]

[Indeed, Energy Shower does nothing on this Mafuyu. If anything, the shower seems to confuse her, because she didn't expect that move. The Giant Slice attacking and missing startles her, too]

Wha...at?

[She's caught offguard, but not so much she can't attack, albeit a bit disoriented while she tries to figure out what was all that. Whatever Shadow is disguised as Mafuyu isn't terribly smart.

Oh! She has grabbed a bottle of lye! Throwing it at Fray, trying to get the noxious liquid to enter his helmet once the bottle shatters against it. Mafuyu misses entirely, missing so badly it almost hits Sayaka instead. Almost. Sailed an inch above her]

Edited 2024-10-01 23:37 (UTC)

[Okay, well between Sayaka's retaliation and the poor girl's confusion, it seems pretty clear that this is not Mafuyu, just something that looks like her. Fray can roll with that! He can also dodge the bottle of lye, wtf. Thankfully it doesn't hit Sayaka either...

Anyway, he retaliates with Thunderous Rage, aiming to take this shadow out quickly (11).]

[Oh, Sayaka positively sees red when Mafuyu tries to throw poison at Fray. She attempts to follow up Fray's attack with another Giant Slice (9)...

And misses, but hey, it's at least better than the 2...??? She's learning!]

Edited 2024-10-01 23:51 (UTC)

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