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

[moodwrecker]

[She actually wandered off and was useless elsewhere, but the shouting gets her attention and she runs back just in time to see Ai attacking Kainé.]

What the- are the Shadows copying us now, too?!

[Charging for Ai to hit her with a Giant Slice (15). Fortunately, since she saw Ai in the room earlier, she's assuming this is just a figment of the Palace.]

[kandata]

[Kaine missed, but dodging that made Ai unable to avoid Aubrey's attack. Ai is struck, falling to the floor. Desperate and also feeling all is fair in a fight, she gathers dust and dirt to throw at their faces!

Ai misses so miserably she gets dirt on her own face. She's defenseless! Next attacks from them three are a guaranteed hit!]

[moonshaded]

[Having joined Ai in the Nikiya before, Kainé is at least passingly familiar with her actions and demeanor. Now that the initial shock (haha) has worn off, it’s starting to feel a little clearer.]

Something’s up! Is this a Shadow? But why would it look like one of us and not some twisted memory bullshit?

[Maybe they ran out of dreams to desecrate. Usually, an enemy falling to the ground like that would have her kicking until it didn’t get up again, but since she’s still crispy, she uses her freebie on a Psio for the magic damage.]

[moodwrecker]

When we looked in the window, it was a vision of Ai in a music shop. It must be a memory from here.

[Giant slice worked before - let's just do that again!]

[kandata]

[Kainé uses Psio, Ai clutching her head, and Aubrey's attack does the trick. Poor Ai, getting battered so much!

That's too much for Ai. With a puff of smoke, Ai loses its cohesion, and turns into one Onmoraki. It looks pretty pissed off!]

[moonshaded]

It was from here, huh? Guess that means this has all been pretty meaningful to her.

[How rude of the Shadow to be imitating it! She would be pissed off, too, if she looked as bad as that ugly MFer.

But seeing that ugly form and hearing Aubrey’s story removes any limitations on an all-out offensive.

At least, it should, but switching back to a physical attack (3) makes Kainé’s swing miss wildly. Maybe she should stick to the psychic stuff?]

[moodwrecker]

...I guess so.

[Fortunately, Aubrey has a better time in the aiming department - she'll try hitting it with a Bufula (15) for medium Ice damage!]

[prozaic]

[You know what? He still feels like he got run over by a herd of mountain goats. But he's always been able to work through that sort of physical issue because it's always expected of him.

He summons Orpheus, and casts Danse Macabre (16), little origami birds made of ice bombarding the Onmoraki. Ill-advised, but instinct makes him reach for the magic rather than a weapon in a fight even when his brain hasn't engaged yet.]

[kandata]

[This Onmoraki is not getting forgiven at all. Not only it battered Shalem with instruments, it also would have killed Kainé and Aubrey with electricity if it could have gotten the chance!

Seeing them three about to attack, though, is enough to make the cowardly demon decide to flee, fluttering its little featherless wings away. Kainé's missed attack makes it squawk, vulnerable to Aubrey's ice damage and Shalem's special Danse Macabre!

This thing gets obliterated! From above, three rags flutter down. They're rags because let's face it, a t-shirt divided into three pieces can't be called a t-shirt anymore. Monokuma is the only thing that didn't get torn apart, though, instead each piece has his grinning visage nice and intact on it, to the point it's covering most of the fabric of each piece. Enjoy!]

1/2

[moonshaded]

[SHE DIDN’T EVEN GET A WHOLE T-SHIRT?!?!]

2/2 boy i am struggling to spell on mobile

[moonshaded]

[Kainé wads the scrap of fabric up into a ball and stuffs it… somewhere, don’t worry about it.

She looks at Shalem, who still doesn’t look very with it. And she can’t say she blames him; Kainé is anything but a healer.]

You hit the floor like a bag of rocks. How’re you feeling? [Hopefully his musical adventures gave him something to show for it, too.]

[prozaic]

I'm not bloody, which I'll take as a good sign. [But he's not happy about getting hurt like that. He wants to break something, a little bit.]

Thank you. {For the assist, he means.]

[moonshaded]

... Yeah, don't mention it.

If your brains were totally scrambled, we'd know by now. [Still, he could have a concussion or something like that, but he's a big boy who can probably look after that part himself.]

You find anything that might've pissed the Shadow off? That bear'll have us beating the shit out of each other if we make a wrong move.

[prozaic]

[Brains, scrambled? Perhaps. But that's not something you can really notice or tell, can you? Or even if someone is suffering from certain other problems. Unfortunately Shalem's issues are sometimes a bit too subtle to be detected, even by himself-- because these are simply parts of his personality, and not some outside force.]

I found a memory... and this. [He pulls out a black band.]

Some cultures wear this on their arm to signify mourning.

Or perhaps it didn't appreciate music.

[moonshaded]

[Kainé glances down at the ruined remains of the guitar that Shadow Ai dropped on the floor. Yeah.......]

Maybe it didn't like you messing with its grief. Or maybe it was just bait put there by that jackass. [So far, it seems the bear's running the show. Still no sign of Kirumi... just a bunch of death.

She jerks her head toward the other side of the entrance hall.] I'm gonna go see who's gone down that way. The sooner we get out of this crap, the better. I wouldn't trust anyone who didn't come in with us if I were you.

[prozaic]

You believe that bear or that girl was Kirumi's Shadow? No... I don't believe that.

[He thinks it's a red herring. A figment of the girl's imagination that's keeping them occupied, or attempting to expel them by any means necessary.]

[moodwrecker]

There can be normal Shadows around, too. I don't think that was Kirumi's Shadow.

[prozaic]

That's exactly what I mean. [Except not, not entirely. Have they ever seen another Shadow before this? No.

He suspects these are all just filler.]

[moonshaded]

Not like that. But it's different from the rest. [From what she's seen and what she's heard, getting attacked by a decoy that looks like one of the other Chosen is a whole different level of messing with them. There's little she likes less.

But the mourning, she thinks, might truly belong to Kirumi.]

... Still, a Shadow's just a Shadow.

[prozaic]

Clearly fueled by her memories. [But, then, what's the reason for the person attacking him being so... lifeless?

Is the construct incapable of that sort of nuance?]