reading_rainstorm | Stephanie's Heart: The Archive

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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From:

maskformask

[that'd make sense, given what the sphinx said. Goes to check that room, yeah]

From:

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.

From:

maskformask

Girl, don't drink that many.

[checks the bookcase first, then will check the desk]

From:

reading_rainstorm

The bookshelf is all fantasy, science fiction, horror and mystery novels. Wow, she really likes Steven King.

On the desk you see homework, an essay on the fall of the Roman empire, half finished. There's a to do list for the weekend: Homework, Carving, Sewing, doctor's appointment, date with Ava.

As you rifle around you hear someone coming up the stairs. It's Stephanie stomping upward followed by...a different dad? She's sniffling a little.

"Stephy. Please, I know it's hard."

"Shut up! 'It's hard.' I saw enough of that jackass at the cult I don't want to be part of his fucking trial. They know what he did!"

"Stephanie...you're a key witness."

"Why...why do I have to be the one to do this..."

Her father gives her a hug.

"It's the right thing to do dear. Your testimony will make sure he can't hurt more people."

From:

maskformask

[oh. Grimaces. He... sits on the bed to wait for her? And eavesdrop.

This is familiar. Though he didn't wait for any trial, himself.]

From:

reading_rainstorm

She flops next to you on the bed arms splayed out over the mattress. She stares up at the ceiling as she thinks . A deep frown on her face.

"I want something..."

Her dad laughs.

"For doing this, anything."

"...How about a cloak. Winter's coming."

"A cloak? Not a coat?"

She pops back up.

"Cloaks are cool!"

Her father fades from the memory and teen Stephanie's eyes go over to you.

From:

maskformask

You're right. Cloaks ARE cool.

From:

reading_rainstorm

Teen Steph gives you a big smile before she fades away. A sense of comfort settles over the room.

From:

maskformask

[softly, to the air] You're very brave.

This can't be where you first met the sphinx, then. Was it... right after the breakup...?

From:

reading_rainstorm

There's a shake to the room. It's different slightly. The walls and floor look more like the shop you saw in the diorama. The desk has stayed the same. A vague outline of an older Stephanie hunched over something.

The memory collapses back to the attic room.

From:

maskformask

I'm sorry. I don't understand. Ah—wait. Should I go back to the dioramas? The unfinished ones?

[assuming there's no more room response, he'll head back there]

From:

reading_rainstorm

A box of tarot cards falls from a shelf above the desk. You blink and the desk has been cleared and a velvet cloth lays across it.

From:

maskformask

We've reached the part that I'm bad at...

[takes the cards he's found and lays them out on the cloth?]

From:

reading_rainstorm

The door out shifts into the door to the hall of fate as he lays them down.

What order does he lays them in?

From:

maskformask

Oh, but the problem is I wanted to find the origin of the sphinx first. Well. That's fine.

[the order he found them in? If that doesn't work he'll revisit Hints from rooms though.]

From:

reading_rainstorm

That's Hermit, Tower, Emperor, Lovers, Death, and Strength. The sconces around the hall doors light up with lavender flame. It seems it worked.

From:

maskformask

Phew. This is a strong spread. Okay, Stephanie. I'm going in.

[goes for it]

From:

reading_rainstorm

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. Stone doors depicting the Tarot cards Louis picked up line the wall. At the end of the hall is a final stone door. Emblazoned with the image of The High Priestess.

Different scraps of writing overlap on the floor before you to create the sentence "Death has your answer."

From:

maskformask

Ah. Hm. I feel like I should probably say at this point that death is never the answer just in case this is. A concern. but I also know the tarot card isn't actually death of the body.

Thank you for telling me.

[goes to the Death card door]

From:

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..."

From:

maskformask

[following her, breathless] You're capturing her??

From:

reading_rainstorm

"Trapping her. She has to be stopped."

The sphinx lands rounds the corner, when she sees Stephanie standing still in the circle, she stalks forward but stands outside it.

"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 sphinx's 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. It 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 a 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."

Steph looks to Louis "It's what I could manage under the circumstances"

From:

maskformask

I don't really know what the circumstances were, but by all means don't let me interrupt...!

From:

reading_rainstorm

Steph nods and the memory continues as though you were not there.

"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.