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]

Two males, you don't recognize them. The girl...that's Florence! From the shop. Her hair isn't dyed yet though.

[turntoash]

Then that means these three are eventually okay. What about the altar and the paper? What's written there? What were these kids trying to do?

[reading_rainstorm]

The pages on the altar appear to be entreaties for help from a "Lady of Pages" in their studies as well as odes to her in thanks. It seems possible they have ran afoul of this figure somehow.

[turntoash]

Hmm. Certainly seems plausible. Does the backpack hold any further clues?

[reading_rainstorm]

Red and black ink, brushes, two bottles of metal filings, one is silver, the other iron, there's a lighter in there, and six folded documents.

[turntoash]

Metis examined the contents. The lighter was new - certainly a fair deal more advanced than the ones she had vague memories of - and she pocketed it while leafing through the folded documents.

[reading_rainstorm]

Stephanie seems to have written three faux contracts in duplicate. One in latin, one in olde english for each of the students trapped here.

[turntoash]

Well, that ties Stephanie to this more directly. If there was nothing more to the contracts, the last thing to examine seemed to be the stone circle in the center.

[reading_rainstorm]

Looking at it again you realize the stones were not placed in a circle. The shack was built around the stone circle. Incident the circle is pure exposed earth and grass.

[turntoash]

Three competing lines thought went through Metis' head:

1. Step in the circle.
2. Burn the grass.
3. Wait for the memory to catch up to her.

She elected to do 3 while doing 1.

[reading_rainstorm]

Metis steps into the circle and hears a peal of laughter coming from outside the window. A sphinx with Stephanie’s face is watching her.

"Do you know what you're doing in there? It's a very good thing this is just a memory."

[turntoash]

"I'd say what I was doing worked - given I'm looking for you." Metis grinned, the light hitting her in just the right way to leave her face in shadow, save for her piercing golden eyes. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

[reading_rainstorm]

"That is usually my line, so I am intrigued."

[turntoash]

Metis pulled a cigarette from her pocket and lit it with the lighter she'd purloined from the backpack. "Need a smoke? No? Don't mind me, then. Been a long night so far. So what can you tell me about this curse?"

[reading_rainstorm]

"I can tell you Stephanie is a fool to try to resist it. I can tell you that they still haven't a clue what causes me to grow. I can tell you that it isn't a curse."

[turntoash]

Metis exhaled a slow stream of smoke. "Yeah, from your perspective I can see how it wouldn't be a curse. What the hell, I'm open to having my opinion changed. Hit me with your best shot - convince me."

[reading_rainstorm]

"Well consider the fact that Stephanie is only able to use her little sigils and trinkets to do magic. At the height of our power, as me we are able to use regular magic freely. None of this endles carving and drawing and crafting. What's more we are stronger, immortal, and can fly. We are far more equipped to defend what is ours than she is."

[turntoash]

"But what if she just doesn't want to be a sphinx? You're a separate entity from her, I take it? I expect having someone else in my head would be exhausting."

[reading_rainstorm]

"Do I look very separate to you? I bear her face as my own. Better I can say than that other one who likes to muck around in our head."

[turntoash]

"Mm... touchy subject. Okay, okay. Don't keep me in suspense - who's the other one in y'all's head? Sounds like it's getting crowded."

Another drag on her cigarette. The grin did not leave her face.

[reading_rainstorm]

"She is not always around. Always coming and going as she or Stephanie wants. That shadow girl, Rowan."

[turntoash]

"Really? You're worried about Rowan? Rowan's great."

Metis had met Rowan exactly once, but she was not about to say that out loud.

"I dunno, seems to me you might be a little upset about Stephanie having someone who loves her and cares about her."

She flicked some ash from her cigarette, then met the Sphinx's gaze.

"What's the matter? Worried that Stephanie won't listen to you if she's got loved ones to fall back on?"

[reading_rainstorm]

The sphinx growls she beats her wings and suddenly she is in the shack with Metis.

"You think that silly little spirit is a threat to me? I am inevitable. Even now Stephanie will pull on my power, in defense of her. She knows as is now she is not enough to stand up to those who would threaten what they have.

And yet they play nice. Act like the two of them are normal it's sickening. They aught to do away with the farce and embrace the monsters they know themselves to be."

[turntoash]

If Metis was intimidated by the presence in the shack with her, she didn't show it. She just took another drag, that infuriating smile never leaving her face.

"I don't think I ever said you thought Rowan was a threat, but it jumped straight to your lips, didn't it? That's interesting, don't you think? See, I'm thinking that despite all your bluster about how she should embrace you, how much she needs you..."

The light hit Metis just right to make her eyes gleam.

"She doesn't need you at all, does she? There's a way to get rid of you and you don't want her to do it."

[reading_rainstorm]

The sphinx stares at Metis. Sizing her up, then she smiles.

"You are trying to make me mad to get information. That's funny. You're fun. Why don't you start this little ritual we did way back when and I'll let you get on your way. I hope we get to talk topside~"