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:

whatpossessedyou

[Rowan stands still and looks around herself for a moment, then walks over to the reference desk and rings the service bell.]

From:

reading_rainstorm

A lively sweet voice calls from behind the card catalogue.

“Just a moment please!”

There is a sound of papers being rustled and a drawer closing before a figure rounds the corner of the card catalog drawers.

It is a woman carved entirely from wood wearing a brightly colored paisley dress. She shares a striking resemblance to Stephanie. Her brows are thinner and her lips rest in an easy smile. Rowan would recognize her as Harmony, Stephanie's mother. She moves strangely, like she is at a lower framerate than a living person, like she is being animated by stop motion.

“Welcome to the Archives of High Priestess Spiros. How can I aid you today?”

From:

whatpossessedyou

Oh! Thank you. I... I'm not sure, exactly. Is this... Stephanie's place?

From:

reading_rainstorm

"That it is dear! As close as you are to her you might consider it your own as well. I even have a library card set aside for you."

She slides across a Tarot card of The Star, but the art is different. The woman depicted pouring water into a river has Rowan's straight black hair, and scars across her torso. The reflection of the river shows her shadow form. At the center of the starry night is a black hole, the stars flowing out from it's void.

"That'll let you into the True Heart if you can find its side entrance. You'll know it when you see it."

From:

whatpossessedyou

Thank you.

[she takes it and presses it to her heart]

Is... is there anything else I should look for? Anything I can do for Stephanie?

From:

reading_rainstorm

"Well...there are the cards for the Hall of Fate. They look like your library card, but more plain. Like this one."

She pulls a card from a drawer and passes it to Rowan. It's The Tower. Holding it makes you uneasy.

"If you can find more of those, it would be a great help. We've got five more missing."

From:

whatpossessedyou

[she takes it with a little shudder]

Is... there anything I can do while I'm here to help—alleviate her curse, do you think?

From:

reading_rainstorm

She looks over her shoulder and peers around the cases behind Rowan, speaking in a low voice.

"Find the card Death. It has an important memory. Beware, the sphinx has been seen roaming the halls from time to time."

From:

whatpossessedyou

[lowering her voice as well]

I... I see. I'll—do you have any suggestion as to where I should start...?

From:

reading_rainstorm

She frowns and puts her hand to her chin, thinking. She looks so much like Stephanie.

"It's really a toss up...Though Ava is in the Diorama Hall today, so perhaps stay away from there if you can, you may not appreciate her...attitude."

From:

whatpossessedyou

Thank you...

[a breath, and then, daring]

—m-mother.

From:

reading_rainstorm

Her eyes go wide and a smile widens across her face that her hand can't hide. She exits her post behind the counter and hugs Rowan.

"Yes. Of course. I...I cannot give her blessings, really. I'm only...a memory of her. I would like to think I would have approved though."

From:

whatpossessedyou

[hugs back!!]

Oh... thank you. Thank you, dear.

From:

reading_rainstorm

She squeezes Rowan and strokes her hair.

"Take your time, Rowan. I'm sure that Stephanie would like you to see as much as possible."

From:

whatpossessedyou

I don't want to do anything that might harm her...

From:

reading_rainstorm

"You needn't worry. She trusts you with this place. I don't expect you will start setting shelves alight. As long as you follow the memories, maybe make them happier where you can, you can do no harm."

From:

whatpossessedyou

I see. Well... I'll do my best, then.

[she gives Harmony another little squeeze and lets go to head for the Remembering Rooms]

From:

reading_rainstorm

The hall of Remembered Rooms is well lit and has more of the bookcases like the main hall, but between the cases are doors that do not match with the rest of the decor of this place. There is a simple rectangular door with a cheery blue coat of paint on it, the door to the Sun House shrine room, a rotting, decrepit door that could easily be broken apart, and a plain metal door painted white with a small slit window in it. There are seams in the walls around the doors like they can be swapped out. A nervous looking man with Stephanie's eyebrows and slight overbite shelves some books. He pretends not to see Rowan and goes about his business.

From:

whatpossessedyou

...hello...?

From:

reading_rainstorm

He sighs and puts the book down.

"Hello, Miss Barrow. How can I help you today?"

From:

whatpossessedyou

I'm looking for—cards. Do you know where I might find some?

From:

reading_rainstorm

"Ah. I've um...I've been having trouble looking myself. Most likely they got in the rooms and dioramas somehow. Us librarians can't actually go in those."

From:

whatpossessedyou

I see. Well... I'll see what I can find, then.

[she's heading into the Sun House shrine room door first]

From:

reading_rainstorm

It's the Sun House shrine room! Almost exactly as you know it.

Someone is tucked comfortably into the four mattress high bed, loom, spinning wheel are all exactly where they ought to be. There's something else here as well though, one of the bookshelves from the reading room is along the wall and there's a chair from the reading room as well. Sitting in the chair is...Stephanie? No, a wooden Stephanie sits reading a book, unlike the other wooden people you've seen so far this one isn't self animated though, she seems to be puppeted by a figure made of pitch black smoke with eyes and large black pupils. The figure and the puppet look up at you at the same time. She speaks with a soft, whispery voice.

“Oh, hello. I wasn't expecting- me?”