Devil's Deal IC 7: The Color of Garmine

[Hazuki]

"Nothing." Wotcher answers, her gaze resting lazily on the ceiling. "In my head. For a long time. Just finding things, to investigate."

[Raunchel]

"So, if I understand this correctly, you do not remember anything for a far longer time, you just remember that you are investigating things, such as we did yesterday?"

[Hazuki]

Wotcher nods.

[Raunchel]

"I truly hope that we can retrieve your memories, because there must be a reason why you no longer have them.", the elf says, before turning back to Ruffles: "Do you think that you can help her?"

[Hazuki]

Ruffles bobs her head in confirmation. "Because I am Ruffles, I can look into her headspace and find where things aren't. She will see, if I go in, but so can other people, and it will help me find her memories."

[PersonMan]

"Probably," Dilaa says, and shrugs. "I've never put much thought into it, is part of what I'm saying - maybe some day, if I have the time to think on it, I may find myself missing something, but for now I don't," she explains.

[Hazuki]

"And that's it?" Brigadier asks, with an amused tone. "Just 'maybe later'?""

[Archmage1]

Tulip, distracted from her examination of Ruffles's nifty collection by Ruffles words, darts back over to the conversation.
"We can? Ok! We'll help!"

[Raunchel]

"We will do anything we can do help.", Shaisane adds in.

[PersonMan]

"Ehm, well," Dilaa begins, bringing up an arm and rubbing her neck self-consciously. "I guess so. Are you thinking of trying to convert me?" She asks, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

[Hazuki]

"Find a place to lay down of one of Ruffles' - that is me - chairs and relax." Ruffles instructs the Petal and the elf, as she briefly lays her hands over Wotcher's eyes and leaves them closed when she lifts it. The pair find that the fainting couches are really rather soothing to lie in, and the incense only helps them settle into the chairs like a warm embrace. They only have to close their eyes for a few moments before the comfortable weight of their bodies turns into nothingness, followed by a faint tug of familiar gravity beneath them.

Their eyes open instinctively, and they find themselves on a rough and slightly curved surface. It stretches out before them against a canvas of black, far into the distance, until it connects with a curious circular wall that quite resembles a spiral. Beside them is Wotcher, looking as lifeless as she did in the waking world, who also stands on the narrow path.

~

"Nah." Brigadier smiles back. "I just wish you were that straightforward about getting naked."

[Archmage1]

Tulip lies on the top of one of the chairs, and soon closes her eyes, only to open them up again, moments later, in a different place.
"We're here! Now we can help Wotcher!"
She then jumps back into the air, and looks around.
"There's a spiral thing there! Let's go and look at it! It's different!"
She seems quite excited.

[PersonMan]

"Well, that's different," Dilaa says, averting her gaze for a moment. "It's, well. It doesn't make for good conversation, I think, unless it's...brief."

[Hazuki]

Wotcher stares at Tulip as the Petal excitedly hovers in the air, but doesn't move towards the spiral by herself.

~

"I never said we had to talk about it." Brigadier winks at the warrior.

[Archmage1]

Tulip, starting to head towards the exciting spiral, looks back as she realizes no one is following her.
"Come on, sillies! It'll be really fun!"

[PersonMan]

Dilaa smiles. "If that's the case...are you staying nearby?" She asks, stepping back slightly to let Brigadier lead the way.

[Hazuki]

Wotcher trudges unsteadily along the rounded path, following Tulip towards the spiral.

~

Brigadier's smile grew three times that day. "Well, how about we go out into the forest a bit, set up camp," She hefts the strap of her pack. "And, y'know, not-talk?"

[PersonMan]

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Dilaa says, eyebrows rising briefly. "Lead the way."

[Archmage1]

As they move along, Tulip continues to seem quite excited, but she notes Wotcher's lack of enthusiasm.
"Don't you want to know what it is, what's inside?"

[Hazuki]

Wotcher rolls her shoulders in a sort of shrug-y way.

~

Brigadier continues to lead Dilaa out of the city, until they make their way to a cozy little clearing between some of Garmine's large black trees and a hefty helping of berry-ridden bushes. She proves quite adept at establishing a camp under pressure, as she erects a tent and a perfectly safe campfire within ten minutes before inviting the warrior to join her in the Tent of Many Things.

Being a fellow warrior, Brigadier conveniently wakes up at about the same time as Dilaa, to pale sunlight and the skittering of nearby animals. Unlike the chirpy (And mildly inappropriate) woman Dilaa has been dealing with thus far, Brigadier seems to be all business in the morning, as she checks the campsite, her weapons, cleans herself, and settles in beside the disassembled tent for prayers.

[Archmage1]

Tulip seems both saddened and confused by Wotcher's lack of excitement, and she flies over to her, hovering in front of her eyes.
"Don't you want to remember?"
Tulip's voice is soft, and she's clearly worried.

[Hazuki]

Wotcher just slumps over a little more, her eyes falling away from Tulip.

[Archmage1]

Wotcher's action makes her feel even sadder, and much more worried.
"But... if you don't want to remember, maybe we could help you make new memories? We could go exploring!"

[Raunchel]

Shaisane looks around in the unfamiliar place. The sensation of going there alone was something truly different, was that what falling asleep was like? It was strange, and she should have paid more attention to the process. But now, now she is in an alien place, where they might be able to find Wotcher's memories, presumably at that strange spiral. "Come, Wotcher, let us investigate what has happened here. What sort of crime has been committed in this place to steal your memories."

[Hazuki]

Under the combined pressure of Tulip's worrying and Shaisane's eagerness, Wotcher treads along the curved path until they reach the strange spiral wall that waits for them. As soon as they reach it, there's a faint sound like something slicing through the air, as the spiral starts to unfurl before them, shrinking as it does so, until it's revealed as a human-sized scroll covered in regular writing. Three more paths become apparent leading away from it; yellow, red, and blue. But their destinations can't be made out through the darkness.

[Raunchel]

Shaisane takes the scroll, curious about what it might have to say.

[Archmage1]

As Wotcher doesn't start to cheer up, Tulip decides to start singing, hoping that might help her feel better.

After arriving at the spiral wall thing, she looks around excitedly, darting to the entrance of all three colors, before she settles in at the entrance to the blue one.
"Let's go this way!"

[Hazuki]

Shaisane finds it difficult to pick up the scroll, perhaps because it's the same size as her. She has more luck with reading its contents, now that it's unfurled. The script itself is Celestial, written as though scribed by somebody not properly trained as a scribe. It seems to contain a record of Wotcher's most recent experiences, getting older the further down she reads. All of the most recent ones consist of one word: "Empty.".

[Raunchel]

Shaisane reads everything, before she whispers: "All it says is empty. I think that it means that there was something in those compartments, but it was taken away. Stolen by someone or something."

She then looks at Tulip: "I do not know which path to take, so that one seems fine to me."

[Archmage1]

Tulip looks really sad at Shaisane's words.
"Maybe... maybe it means that her fun is going away, that she isn't having fun at all anymore? Maybe finding her memories will help her, and then she can have fun again!"
With that, the saddened petal darts up the blue path, looking around excitedly.