dramatispersonae | Solstice Heart

Solstice Heart

Entering into the heart, you feel a strong sense of resistance pushing you away. It’s easy enough to overcome if you push back, but it soon reverses and you’re pulled into an unfamiliar mansion.

[IRC: #truthless, heart starts at 4pm EST!]

edit: I'm a dumb and forgot to add in the LIBRARY segment: [On the left is another doorway to a staircase leading down.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[whew. . . he continues across the path slowly, purposefully, ignoring the way his anxiety keeps digging into the back of his mind as he goes.]

Shutting people out isn't protecting them. Shutting the things that hurt you away isn't protecting them, either.

But I can't. . . I can't let anything happen to them. They can't see me like this. They don't need to know. . .

[till maneuvering across the path, talking as he does]

What if something happens to you? What if you die before you tell anyone the truth? D'you really want to take your secrets to the grave, and leave the people you care about behind to mourn in the dark?

[He suddenly looks panicked, moving onto his hands and knees. The weights shift with him, the cracks beneath widening. The woman at the piano pauses in her playing.]

Oh dear. I wouldn't mention dying around him if I were you.

[pausing when those cracks widen, letting out a small curse. . . aimed at himself]

. . . right.

Is there any way to free him?

[he sure as hell isn't stepping on that glass and risking them both falling through]

Hm. . . [She returns to playing.] It's hard to say. But the question you should be asking is whether or not you should free him. In which case, the answer is no.

. . . [frowning deeply, and continuing across the concrete pathway. does this lead to the piano player?]

Why not?

[It does, you'll probably reach her shortly.]

I don't think I need to tell you the story of Pandora's Box.

[yaaaaay good. though he won't breathe easily when he makes it, thank you anxiety and fear stat boost]

This doesn't have anything to do with Pandora's Box.

Whatever you say.

[she seems to be ignoring him now, focused on her playing]

. . .

[wait. . . this woman. . . he knows her, doesn't she? from that inner demon game so long ago]

Who are you?

I have more than one name. But I imagine you want to know who I am to him.

[gestures briefly at solstice]

I'm his friend, I'm a murderer, and I'm someone he failed to save.

[yes that is exactly what he was asking]

. . . you're pretty focused on playing that song. What would happen if you stopped?

You're still asking the wrong questions.

[she's not being as helpful this time, alas]

Or are you just unwilling to give the answers?

[tries hopping up onto the piano seat with her, reaching out to still her hands]

. . . I have-- I'm told I have-- a room just like this in my heart, too. I know I can't force change while I'm here. But he's stupid and stubborn and thickheaded, and I want to get through to him on the outside.

[She stops.]

There is a way to change this room without force. But it still won't be pleasant for him.

Ha.

Learning to accept that your efforts to protect people are just hurting them is never pleasant.

[holding onto her hands :I]

Tell me.

[She smiles at him, and places a hand on his head]

You look a lot like him. The little detective.

[She stands up and lifts him with unexpected strength, tossing him out onto the glass with Solstice and Luna.]

[Somehow the glass holds. But it does crack dangerously, growing bigger by the second.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Solstice Heart

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