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

[emptyself]

It’s a story about a sinner in Hell who was given a chance by the Buddha to escape via a spider’s thread because he saved a spider once.

[ he looks at the thread, and wonders if it will be strong enough to hold him up. ]

If we have to climb up, I’m guessing we’re going to be chased by the dead. [ he gestures at the bones. ] Or if we can’t go up, then I’ll just look ridiculous and fall down.

[vogelfrei]

Crucially, Kandata tries to climb the thread himself but does not allow any other sinners to reach for salvation alongside him. The thread breaks as punishment for Kandata's incurable selfishness.

[ Probably relevant for whatever stupid puzzle they'll have to solve while climbing this. ]

[emptyself]

That’s how it ends!?

[ aoko would murder him if she saw this. ]

[vogelfrei]

Yes. Understandably, Kirumi felt it was an indictment of her character to name her Persona after the protagonist.

[emptyself]

So it could be because of her selfishness in trying to escape this place that she was sent back to Hell.

[moodwrecker]

...Then this time, we have to help each other get out.

[Seems simple enough to her.]

[moonshaded]

You think there's a spider in this situation?

[No judgment from Kainé despite her usual surly tone. Given the theme so far, at least half their party would say the thread to salvation is deserved. It's just that she doesn't know if the palace is built with the same sentiment.]

It kinda sounds like the choice we've got is no choice.

[emptyself]

If there is, I don’t think she knows about it. But the point is this thread is supposed to go all the way to paradise.

[ a beat. ]

Or something like that.

[moonshaded]

[She's just going to give him a look.

It's not that Kainé is doubting that story really exists in his world, but it's just that: a story. Happy endings seem a little more obscure here, as they've just witnessed.]

This shouldn't be a big problem for you, if you want to try it out first. I'll keep an eye on the boneheads.

[idealitas]

[ Ah. He understands now. Combined with McGillis's anecdote, it really is an ironic tale... and perhaps an unfortunate setpiece for the group here. ]

...Should we smash the bones then, as a precaution?

[beautifulknight]

To prevent them from coming after us?

[ Is that why they were given the choice of having blunt weapons... ]

[emptyself]

Well, considering what McGillis said, preferably not. If it holds us, then it’ll be able to hold all of us.

[beautifulknight]

...Yes, I'd rather not.

[ It seems kind of...anyway, he is ready to make the way forward, reaching out for one of the spider's threads. ]

Let us not tarry for too long, then.

[idealitas]

They may be taking the place of those sinners who followed kandata climbing the thread, if it's not just us.

...

[ He has a thought. But they might want to figure out and understand the situation better, especially after that twist. ]

[beautifulknight]

[ Argenti literally knows nothing about this piece of literature in particular, but he is learning today. ]

So something might happen with them? We'll just have to see if that bear dares try to stoop that level of low.

[ He doesn't anticipate it'll be easy either way. ]