[Room #1]

[dramatispersonae]

You find yourselves in a large, square Japanese-style room. It was likely lovely once, but time and neglect have taken their toll. The screens are crooked and the tatami of the floor has come unwoven in places. The scent of incense hangs in the air, but it does little to mask the pervasive odor of decay. Flickering candles of different heights ring the outskirts of the room, causing your shadows (they are your shadows, certainly?) to dance.

A curtain covers something bulky against one wall. Silk cushions in your team's color have been placed on the floor in front of the curtain, around a makeshift table that looks like it began life as a box of drawers. It's a flat surface, anyway.

The Masked Lady's voice seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, echoing in your ears and down your spine.

"Central to any scary story are two things: an injustice, and a monster created by that injustice, wouldn't you agree? Otherwise it wouldn't be scary. So, children, tell me about your monster, and how she came to be."

Comments

Re: DISCUSSION

[adropintheocean]

No, they look like girls. So does the Persona . . .

[perhaps spending a lot of my formative Aather time with you and YOUR mask has sort of skewed my viewpoints on these things, Clear]

Re: DISCUSSION

[hushabyte]

[ FUNNY HOW THAT WORKED ]

They seem very pretty. And even if they didn't, would they not still be girls? Do monsters exist at all?

Re: DISCUSSION

[adropintheocean]

[shrugs...]

'Monsters' is very subjective...

Re: DISCUSSION

[hushabyte]

It's confusing when you aren't sure yourself! Some men used that definition on me, but I know it isn't true now.

[ bluntly ]

Re: DISCUSSION

[adropintheocean]

[makes a little face]

Perhaps we should address that, then.

Re: DISCUSSION

[hushabyte]

Is it okay if the story turns out less scary?

Re: DISCUSSION

[adropintheocean]

. . . mm. I don't want to write a horror story just for the sake of a horror story. I'm more used to writing about true things.

Re: DISCUSSION

[hushabyte]

Not that I'm going to be scared this time! At all!!

[ a thing nobody asked ]

Sometimes, true things are more terrifying than any ghosts. But happy endings exist there, too, don't they?

Re: DISCUSSION

[adropintheocean]

[shrugs]

Yes...well, even if they don't, sometimes one can create the potential to move beyond a bad one.

Re: DISCUSSION

[hushabyte]

To live in the present and keep moving forward?

Re: DISCUSSION

[adropintheocean]

Mm.

Re: DISCUSSION

[hushabyte]

It's a very good lesson.