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?

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[vogelfrei]

[ There she is - the girl who once was Kirumi Tojo.

McGillis can't begrudge her the tears. It's hard to imagine a level of ego destruction as great as what she just experienced. She'd been so torn up about her country, her duties... All of it illusions, given to her in an act of cruel mockery to what her original wishes might have been.

Though he himself is still feeling worse for wear thanks to the burns suffered, McGillis approaches 'Kirumi' with some determination. They need to get out of her, and she shouldn't have to make that walk on her own.

Unless she resists, McGillis is going to scoop the girl up into his arms in a princess carry. It's gentle in a way that some might not have expected from him. Suddenly, it's as if he's soothing a child. ]

Let's get you home. Everything else can come after.

[kandata]

[She doesn't resist the carry! It's comforting, in a way]

...I should feel like a weight got taken off my shoulders, yet I feel as if I have an even heavier one now.

[No more country to worry about now! But now she has to rebuild herself from nothing. That's so daunting!]

[vogelfrei]

[ Good, then she's getting carried literally all the way home until she's safely deposited in her room. ]

It's a burden and a privilege - most of us never get to cast off our past and start anew. But I cannot say I envy you either.

[kandata]

...you are not wrong. It is not like I have any other choice but to start over -- but now I have changed my mind about ever going back.

Any world that would tolerate what that bear and the people behind him do is not a world I want to be a part of.

[True, other worlds out there can be pretty horrible too, but in her opinion, any place that's above the incredibly low bar of 'doesn't have murdergames as televised entertainment' is a place she'd be fine with.

Perhaps it'll be easier to deal with this if it's not in her world. She's supposed to be dead over there, anyway! So might as well stay away forever]

[vogelfrei]

[ Yeah, that's... a reasonable decision. There's probably some amount of standard of living to have in that world, simply because the process of joining the reality show is apparently voluntary but that doesn't mean former-Kirumi should settle for going back there. ]

Looks like both of us are in the market for a new life, then. I look forward to browsing options with you.

[ They might decide on something different in the end, but hey. He meant it when he said he wanted 'Kirumi' as his ally. He still means it now. ]

[kandata]

I hate to think it's thanks to that bear and his cohorts, but I have talent. More than most would know what to do with it.

...perhaps...being a new person won't be as difficult as it would be for others. And just so you know:

I am in your debt. If at any point I can help you with your own journey, I will. As thanks.

[Not as a maid but as someone who really is very grateful]

[vogelfrei]

[ As thanks, huh... That seems like steps in the right direction. ]

I will hold you to that - after you've had ample time to rest.