Stephanie's Heart: The Archive

[reading_rainstorm]

In your dreams you are in a thick and foggy forest. It could be mistaken for the woods around Tributary if you don’t know your plants. You are on a trail leading into a clearing, in the center of which is a simple, concrete structure with a single door. A chaos star has been spray painted on it with a stencil.

You approach the structure. Looking over your shoulder you see a large shape lurking in the fog, obscured by the foliage. Two shining Feline eyes peer at you from the brush. You feel your heart rate spike as you turn the knob and find an old fashioned elevator tucked neatly inside with an accordion grate standing between you and the ornate, gilded interior. It creaks open as the presence behind you steps into the clearing. It is a sphinx, an eight foot tall lioness with the face of a woman and the large brown wings of an eagle on her back . The feminine face and olive skin tone of a Greek woman from antiquity smiles as she readies herself to to pounce, the wings on her back stretching and give a few readying flaps.You back into the elevator and close the gate with shaking hands as the sphinx leaps at the elevator. Her claws twisting and shearing the metal of the grate slowly, but she is too late. The elevator springs to life and you descend.

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A small light above flickers on as it illuminates your view outside the exposed elevator as you sink into the concrete structure. You descend for a few moments before an opening in the concrete gives you the view of an observation deck on a hill, looking down on the sprawling suburbs and campus of a college town. The elevator continues downward. The concrete gives way to old, dusty marble as you continue sinking. You see a vast maze stretch far and away that gets nearer and nearer. This has to be it, right? Your destination? No. You plunge further down, past the walls of the maze and the marble is replaced again by well polished wood. Beautiful stained mahogany rises past you as your descent finally starts to slow. You are greeted by another grate that creaks open for you. Entreating you to enter.

Comments

[reading_rainstorm]

"The sphinx...wants Stephanie's throne."

[peccatore]

I- I'm not sure that answers my question.

[reading_rainstorm]

"It wants this place for itself. It isn't content...to live here. It wants...to rule. It wants to be her."

[peccatore]

And... There's a chance I could contribute to that, if I'm not careful.

[reading_rainstorm]

"It's possible...you seem like a careful man, though."

[peccatore]

... It must seem silly that I'm asking you all this.

[reading_rainstorm]

"These hearts...they can be very stressful. My time in Harriet's was intense.... I do not think it is silly at all."

[peccatore]

Your time? As in Rowan's or Stephanie's...?

[alright now he's just overthinking.]

[reading_rainstorm]

"We were together for it..."

[peccatore]

"Right. Silly me."

[reading_rainstorm]

"What will you do, Marco? You only need one more card."

[peccatore]

Wait, really? I only need three?

[reading_rainstorm]

"Mhm...that will make a full spread."

[peccatore]

Ah. I don't know much about tarot. These are tarot cards, right?

[reading_rainstorm]

"Yes...well. Tarot cards...with memories in them."

[peccatore]

That makes sense. [As much as anything here can, anyway.] ... Are there any cards in this room?

[reading_rainstorm]

"Not that I've seen...Harmony asked me to check it thoroughly... and I haven't found anything."

[peccatore]

Then... It sounds like I'll have to look somewhere else.

Thank you for all the... Spelling things out.

[reading_rainstorm]

"Thank you...for trying to help Stephanie. Good luck in your search."

Where is Marco headed now?

[peccatore]

[Back to the Remembered Rooms and, in turn, examining the two doors he hasn't checked out yet. One certainly looks more ominous than the other, but he honestly isn't sure which one he should be prioritizing based on that.

... He does tentatively knock on the metal door, though.]

[reading_rainstorm]

There's no answer. You can look through the little window. You see inside it is a hospital room with a privacy obscuring your view of whoever is in there.

[peccatore]

[... Hmm.

Okay, what if he tries to open the blue door juuuust a tiny bit...?]

[reading_rainstorm]

A peek into the room of a teenager. You see the corner of a bed with a tapestry and some faerie lights hanging.

[peccatore]

[Well, he can't exactly tell at a glance which of these would be the greatest invasion of privacy, but... odds are this would be the safer room to see, right?

He steps inside.]

[reading_rainstorm]

You are in a finished attic room. It is very warm here. There are fairy lights strung up and a tapestry of the tarot card “The High Priestess” hangs above the mattress on the floor that has it’s sheets neatly made. This whole place would seem incredibly clean and organized if there wasn't a stack of books and papers spread across the desk opposite the bed and a trash can that needed to be emptied two days ago overflowing with energy drink cans right beside it. Along the wall is a window with a bookcase beside it, chock full of books.