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:

turntoash

That all seemed pretty on brand. The papers on the desk were first for her to rifle through - maybe she could figure out what Stephanie was working on.

From:

reading_rainstorm

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

From:

turntoash

That gave Metis a timeline for where this fit into the other memories. Anything interesting on the bookshelf? Or in the trash?

From:

reading_rainstorm

The bookshelf is all fantasy, science fiction, horror and mystery novels. Wow, she really likes whoever this Steven King guy is. The trash is all used scratch paper for math homework and energy drink cans. 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 go to his fucking trial."

"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:

turntoash

Ah. There was the memory, right on schedule. Metis sat on the bed, out of the way, to let it play out.

From:

reading_rainstorm

"I want something..."

Her dad laughs.

"For going to that trial, anything for you."

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

"A cloak? Not a coat?"

"Cloaks are cool!"

The memory fades from view, a sense of comfort and happiness settles over the room.

From:

turntoash

Metis smiled. She hadn't been expecting it to end happily. She stood at let herself out of the attic...

...whereupon she was hit with inspiration.

Whatever tarot knowledge had been imparted to her as part of the dream, she had a basic idea of what each of the cards meant. The Death card, contrary to her first thought, actually represented change and new beginnings.

The Death card would be in a memory that represented such. And Metis was trans enough to take a guess as to what that would be.

She opened the Sun House door.

From:

reading_rainstorm

If you are familiar with the interior of Sun House you would immediately recognize this place as its shrine room. 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, another wooden reproduction of 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 eyes with 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 visitors...”

From:

turntoash

"Hey." This had, admittedly, caught Metis by surprise - and her mind fired into gear trying to figure out why this scene was so different from the rest. She slouched towards the bookcase and chair, glancing along the spines of the books. "Sorry to drop in unannounced. Uh... how's it going?"

From:

reading_rainstorm

It's the trick bookcase, you recognize quickly. All the books here are from Sun House, in fact.

"I'm well...You seem troubled... Is something wrong, Metis?"

From:

turntoash

Metis looked past Stephanie at the shadow being behind her. "Not wrong, per se, but my attention is piqued. Is the shadow there something you can see, or am I the only lucky one?"

From:

reading_rainstorm

The Stephanie puppet blinks, and then climbs into bed. The shadow picks up the other body that was in the bed, another puppet. This one with long black hair and pale skin.

"I am the shadow. It's me, Rowan."

From:

turntoash

"Oh, no kidding? It's been a bit, Rowan," Metis said, talking directly to the shadow. "So what's going on here? Why are you..." She waved her hands around vaguely. "Puppeting?"

From:

reading_rainstorm

"Oh, this is just a special place for Stephanie and I. We come here a lot, and Stephanie has said her body is as good as mine."

From:

turntoash

"Huh. Can't say I get it, but I'm glad y'all are having a good time. Gods know the poor girl needs it."

From:

reading_rainstorm

"She's had...a harsh life. She deserves to feel loved, to know how beautiful she is."

From:

turntoash

"I'm right there with you. I'm glad she has someone now who can do that for her."

From:

reading_rainstorm

Did the puppet blush? This place is so weird...

"Thank you...You were looking around earlier. Are you missing something?"

From:

turntoash

Metis chose not to acknowledge the blush. No point in causing more embarrassment.

"As a matter of fact, yeah. You seen a Death tarot card floating around somewhere?"

From:

reading_rainstorm

"O-oh...that one...yes. I think I saw the Sphinx with it. She's been hanging out in the ritual room...the shack. "

From:

turntoash

Of course it would be in the last place she looked. She'd felt so confident about her guess, too.

"I oughta head that way, then. Good to see you, Rowan."

Out of one room, into the next: she put a foot into the final door, hoping to push it open.

From:

reading_rainstorm

The door swings wide, you nearly knock it off it's hinges with how decrepit it is. You are on the inside of a ruined cabin. There are three college age humans around the room. Moss grows on their limbs. Vines twist around their bodies, creeping from inside a stone circle in the center of the room. Behind the circle there's an altar built of discarded furniture. Scrawled pages of yellowing notebook paper are stapled to it all over. There's an open bag that looks to have some implements for a spell prepared.

From:

turntoash

Hoo boy. Where to start with this one? Metis examines the people more closely. Does she know them? Aside from the plant life, does anything stand out about them?