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.

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[whatpossessedyou]

[she places them in the order that she got them: The Star, The Tower and Death.]

[reading_rainstorm]

The first candle lights with a pitch black flame the other two with lavender flames.

The doors open allowiing you to finally enter. The Hall of Fate looks to be be floored and papered entirely with pages upon pages upon pages of Stephanie's journals. Every inch of the place is covered with her hand writing. There are three stone doors along the walls of the corridor. Each bearing the image of the tarot cards you found, in the order you placed them. At the end of the hall is a final stone door emblazoned with the image of The High Priestess

[whatpossessedyou]

[for a moment, she hesitates, tempted to go back through Sun House into the hidden door... but in the end, she's too curious. she'll peek into the doors in order, if she can, starting with the Star.]

[reading_rainstorm]

You are in Tributary. It is getting late into the afternoon. Stephanie is in her overalls, she wipes some sweat from her brow as she walks the path up to Sun House. She notices you on the path and stops in surprise. This is before the claws, before the changedance, even.

"Rowan? You're-"

She giggles a little as she goes over to you and gives you a hug.

"Always the unconventional one, aren't you?"

[whatpossessedyou]

[hugs back!!]

Did I do something strange...?

[reading_rainstorm]

"The library cards are slightly different than the memory cards. Though still made of memory."

Stephanie breaks the hug and walks with you. It takes less time than it should to reach Sun House. Stephanie opens the door, and Rowan's body is laying unconscious in her bed with her ghost floating above her. It's the day of Rowan's arrival. You hear Stephanie's thought's at that moment.

Shit, is she alright?..oh, no...she's really pretty.

"What the fuck happened here?"

Memory Rowan responds.

"Oh, hello. Really, I'm still not entirely certain. I... arrived earlier?"

[whatpossessedyou]

I thought they might be different, but there were three candles, so...

...you thought I was pretty?

[reading_rainstorm]

"Of course I thought you were pretty."

Stephanie slowly approaches. Warily watching the black cloud as she checks the pulse of the body. She feels a low pulse and sighs in relief.

Whatever the situation, the girl is safe...and the ghost is ominous but doesn't seem malicious. Fascinating to look at too.

"Huh. And you two are connected? I'm Grimoire. I'm pretty new as well, but I can help give you the run down. There was a meeting last night that I took notes at."

Stephanie flips through her journal and finds only ripped pages where her notes should be.

Shit, I gave them to Chilchuck.

"That I will show you later."

Memory Rowan speaks again and Stephanie can't take her eyes away from the ghostly form.

"That's my body. I haven't the faintest idea why I'm not in it. But I'd be very grateful for the, er, run down."

Her body?...Fascinating. I have to know everything about her.

Stephanie looks fondly to you and blows you a kiss, and you are back in the hall of fate.

[whatpossessedyou]

...well... that was flattering.

[she'll go into the Tower room next!]

[reading_rainstorm]

It opens and you find yourself in a darkened tile hallway, at the far end of it you see a stairwell leading upward, the light above, the only seeming bit of warmth in the memory. A young child, about eight, with shaggy brown hair and bright green eyes sits in a chair outside a door labeled “Morgue”

[whatpossessedyou]

Stephanie...

[reading_rainstorm]

The child's head stays down and they speak in a quiet voice.

"Not yet..."

The door to the morgue opens and two men step out. One is the man you saw shelving books he looks distraught. The other a uniformed police officer.

"I'm sorry for your loss sir."

"How am I supposed to...to take care of- (He says something but its static to you. You get the sense it's the child's name as they look up) "

"Dad...what's wrong..."

The man is not able to look the child in his eye he just breaks down sobbing. The door remains open. The officer continues consoling the child's father and the child slips past them into the morgue. You recognize the woman on the viewing table beyond the window. It's Harmony.

You are back in the hall of fate.

[whatpossessedyou]

[she spends a few moments with her hands pressed to her face, then wipes tears from her eyes and proceeds into the Death room]

[reading_rainstorm]

You are in a hallway, complete carved from pristine marble. Looking at the angles and corners this hallway has you can tell intuitively that this is a labyrinth. Stephanie is standing in front of a large fire, reading a book and frowning. She still has her bright green eyes. She sighs and closes the book, tossing it into the fire. She turns and looks surprised to see you. You hear the roar of a lion from deep within the labyrinth. A feminine voice with a thick Greek accent bounces down the halls.

"You will regret that, my little book of spells."

Stephanie locks eyes with you.

"Run."

She bolts ahead of you and you find your legs carrying you just behind. She follows a path marked by spray painted sigils on the walls she periodically hops over and ducks under trip wires that connect to little paper figures taped to the walls and covered with sigils. Eventually you start hearing those traps go off behind you along with pained shouts and roars, then the flapping of wings.

"Shit shit shit shit."

A sphinx, one without Stephanies face swoops toward Stephanie tearing a gash in her shoulder with a claw. It curves around again in the air for another strike but Steph throws a glass object from her pocket onto the ground and the Sphinx is stopped in mid air. The Sphinx struggles to get her claw free of the solidified air and Stephanie rounds the next corner. Following her you see her target at the end of the corridor. Three ritual circles. Stephanie rushes to stand in one and tosses a set of tablets bound with bronze rings into another.

"C'mon...C'mon..."

[whatpossessedyou]

H-here?!

[dashing towards the third circle]

[reading_rainstorm]

Stephanie takes deep gasping breaths and clutches her shoulder to staunch the bleeding a little...that's why right? There's a little trickling in the back of your skull. You know the power contained in blood. She gives you a tired, apologetic look."That'll certainly give you a good view!"

The sphinx lands and rounds the corner, when she sees Stephanie standing still in the circle, she stalks forward but stands outside the circle clearly drawn for her.

"Did you really think you were going to lure me into a ritual with you."

"I already have."

You notice that the magic circle Stephanie is is actually painted on top of an older, carved one, with the sphinx currently standing at the center of another ancient carved circle as well. Stephanie throws another glass item from her cloak, this one you can see is a knife. It shatters at the sphinxes feet but the shards fly outward cutting into the sphinx. A drop of blood lands on the circle lighting it up with sickly green.

Stephanie takes some of her own blood from her gash and spatters it across her own circle. Hers lights with a cool lavender.

"Pact circles. I name my demand first, since you were the 'Initiator' my demand is you return to the the slabs that bound you. I even set it up for you in the de-summoning circle."

"Tch. And if I don't accept this pact or make no demands of you?"

"You'll be stuck to this spot, I'll die before you and then you won't have a way to complete the pact. You'll be stuck in that circle."

Stephanie looks to Rowan, a bit ashamed. "I'm sorry you had to see me this desperate."

[whatpossessedyou]

No— you're incredible!

[reading_rainstorm]

Stephanie smiles bashfully. "Far from my proudest moment, dear. I am glad you are still impressed."

The sphinx speaks with a smile on her face.

"Very clever, little spellbook. I was right thinking you would be a fine apprentice. I'll agree to your demand. And for mine: Take the boon I offered when you summoned me."

Stephanie goes pale.

"Seriously? You mean..."

"With or without me, a sphinx will walk this earth."

The sphinx laughs.

"Fine."

Both the circles flare and then fade, releasing their prisoners. Stephanie steps nervously towards the sphinx. It bows to her and flaps its wings, filling the air with sickly green energy that flows into Stephanie. She closes her eyes like she is getting a terrible headache. When she opens them, she has the yellow feline eyes you know well.

"Farewell, Grimoire. Enjoy my gift."

Stephanie splatters the tablets in the ritual circle with her blood and recites a spell in Ancient Greek. The Sphinx simply watches. When she finishes the spell, the sphinx slowly melts into lavender energy and flows into the tablets. Stephanie goes to pick them up.

[whatpossessedyou]

Some gift.

[reading_rainstorm]

Stephanie takes the tablets from the circle. She wipes the blood on them away with her sleeve.

She slowly makes her way back to you. There is a deep shame on her face. She takes your hand and kisses it.

Stephanie would not make Rowan open the High Priestess door to see her. Instead, you blink and the Stephanie of the past us gone, replaced with Stephanie, The High Priestess.She is adorned with fine red and gold robes, headdress with a Chaos star like a halo behind her head. There is no trace of her usual cat features about her, but she has a golden gorget around her neck that is chained to a headless winged lion that sits at the foot of her throne.

You are standing at the side of her throne in thmain chamber of a temple. A black and white pillar suspend a floral patterned cloth behind the throne.

"Rowan. My love. I'm sorry."

[whatpossessedyou]

No... no, why? Don't be sorry, my darling. What have you done to be sorry for?

[reaching for her hand]

[reading_rainstorm]

"Of all the memories you could have gotten...you got two of the worst ones. I have happy memories out there...but you only got to see me at my lowest."

She lets you take the hand. It is soft and hairless, like when you first met.

[whatpossessedyou]

You can always show me the ones you'd like best for me to see when we're awake and can talk together properly.

[she squeezes her fingers gently]

I think you're incredible.

[reading_rainstorm]

She kisses the top of Rowan's head.

"You're too kind dear. Is there anything you saw you need me to tell you more about, or can I just have you sit in my lap until we wake up?"

[whatpossessedyou]

I think... I understand. We can take about it later, too.

[she will absolutely climb into Stephanie's lap]