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

[kandata]

I just...have no idea what to do now. I do not know what that girl-- [She can't even see her as herself. She doesn't recognize that attitude nor the desires that girl had] --nor understand how she could have wanted any of this!

And now thanks to her I am left here like this...!

[It's frustrating, to be at a loss]

[bloodweapon]

[There's much he could say to that - but not in front of the others. He can't bring himself to talk about it in the open. So instead...]

I am sorry, truly. I don't understand how she could have wanted something like this either. Perhaps we'll never truly understand what she was thinking, but there's little point in fixating on it. I'm afraid you won't find the answers you want here.

[That girl is long gone. She isn't the woman standing here, after all.]

[kandata]

...there will be no answers at all...

[She mumbles that, because really, if there's no answers inside her own head then they really don't exist anywhere. Feels uneasy, to know that's going to be a mystery for the ages]

Tell me, what should the first step be? I do not know where to start over now.

[bloodweapon]

[She's right. It's truly unfortunate, but she is right.

At that question, Fray inclines his head a bit.]

No one can tell you how to walk this path that lies before you now. It is something you will have to learn for yourself.

[Though the words are blunt, his tone isn't harsh. It's not quite gentle either, but it's closer to that than anything harsh. After all, he understands how difficult it can be to start from nothing.]

Think about what it is you want. Start small - what do you want to do right now? You do not have to decide everything all at once. If you liked your life and experiences as Kirumi Tojo, then you can continue to be her. Real or not, those experiences were yours.

But if you would prefer to start from scratch, to become someone else, then ask yourself what sort of person you want to be. Look around you - you will not be alone on this journey. We are here for you, regardless of where it will take you.

[And then, quieter:] I was not always "Fray Myste". I have not experienced the same thing you have been through, but I too understand the struggle of determining who you are.

[kandata]

[She's silent for a minute. She really listened to Fray, and, truthfully, to know others have gone through identity struggles, even if not the same as hers, is very comforting.

Finally, she says:]

...my existence should have ended when I died, having done what was predetermined for me. I was never supposed to be anywhere else.

That means since I found myself in this city I have been unbound. I can do whatever I could want.

[That goddess saved Kirumi, in a way. Gave her a way out of her world]

[bloodweapon]

Yes, that's exactly it.

[It's a lot to process, and a lot to experiment with. It's going to take time for her to truly determine who she wants to be. But this is a good start and Fray nods.]

We will be here with you as you determine what it is you'd like to do.

[kandata]

I owe you for this. You and everyone else. I will find the way to give you all the thanks you deserve.

[She's very grateful, that's for sure! She'd be doing much worse if everyone hadn't been here]