Conversation Space: The Ultimate

[powersthatbe]

You feel as if you've stepped through a door.

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XI. Justice

[adastraea]

The wood in this room is old and well-polished; the lemon scent of the wax lingers in the air. The walls are white-washed clean. A judge's bench is against one wall, although there is no witness' stand beside it. No gallery, either, or seats for the jury, and there is only one table that faces the bench instead of the usual two you might find in a courtroom. Is this a courtroom? There's a bronze medallion of a scale crossed with a sword on the front of the judges' bench.

On the table facing the bench there's a glass of clear, sweet water and a pitcher to refill it. No matter how much water is drunk, there will always be more in the pitcher.

[cloudpotter]

He's on alert immediately, weight shifting to the balls of his feet and steps becoming very carefully placed. Something has gone Very, Very Wrong, and the cool stillness in the air certainly isn't doing anything to settle his nerves. His breathing automatically slows, becoming utterly silent as he casts his eyes about the room and strains his ears to listen for any sound. As far as he can tell the walls are walls, the table is a table, the liquid (water? Poison? Acid?) is liquid. The only thing not immediately visible is whatever's behind that judge's bench, so naturally that's the first place Yakumo heads; skirting around the table, taking great care to avoid touching anything lest he spring a trap, shoes not making a single sound against the floor. Behind the desk might be an enemy, might be a trap, might be nothing -- but whatever the case, he won't find out by just staying still and waiting.

[adastraea]

Instead, there is a woman behind it: dark-skinned and blindfolded, wrapped in a voluminous cloak.

"I am Justice," she intones, "who by our reckoning is the eleventh Arcana. I have taken the personal name of Astræa, which you may use if you wish. Welcome, Yakumo Katou, called 'Cloud,' to my conversation space. I have provided a chair and beverage for you, if you wish their use."

Before all the newbies show up

[naturaltwohands]

Drizzt's world shifts as he opens his mouth to call out for Justice once more. He had needed to speak to her once more, desperately, to find some matter of stability in his worldview. There are sands shifting beneath him as he thinks more upon the conversations that he had with Matthew and Sabetha. They do not want him to trust the Arcana, but he cannot serve an Arcana if he cannot trust her.

She is all Justice, but she is also his Justice, and she wishes him to fight for the better sort of Justice in the world. In his heart, Drizzt knows he can trust her, but his mind goes in circles and he feels lost. Less lost though, now, and he turns in place to stare at the room around him.

He walks past the table, noting the glass of water, and traces his hand along the medallion, so much like his own tattoo. So much like the symbols of Justice that he's come to respect. It settles his heart somewhat then, that she's answered his call in some way. Drizzt cannot help himself but turn back to try the glass of water, showing her trust in his actions, and the water is indeed exactly as it should be, if not better. It has been a while since he has tasted water so pure.

Guenhwyvar is there, too, but she sits in place and quietly observes Drizzt until she's no longer looking at him, but at someone else.

Re: Before all the newbies show up

[adastraea]

"Drizzt Do'Urden," Justice says from the bench. "Welcome to my personal conversation space. I hope you will find it an improvement over the one I shared with Pendu, Mortimer, and MALBOLGE."

[butthemiracleneverhappen]

Bernkastel greets the room with perfunctory applause.

"Straight from a game of murder to a judge's bench. How very appropriate. Though I find myself curious how you took a Witch into your parlor."

She takes a glass of the offered water, then sits and drinks some. It's sweeter by far than her tastes usually run.

[adastraea]

"Technically, it was my late sibling who did. I only collected you."

There is a woman behind the judge's bench: blindfolded and wrapped in a voluminous cloak. "I am Justice," she intones, "who by our reckoning is the eleventh Arcana. I have taken on the personal name of Astræa, which you may use if you so choose. Welcome, Frederika Bernkastel, to my conversation space."

[insidegalra]

Where--? Thace's first action is to whirl around, one fist clenched, and the other reaching for his blade. Tension radiates from him, and it doesn't fade once he's taken in his surroundings. He hides it better, putting on as calm a mask as he can manage, but actually comfortable and calm he's definitely not.

He takes half a step to be in the center of the room and stands still, senses strained to their limit. The water and the table are summarily ignored, but the medallion currently has some of his attention.

[adastraea]

"I see you are enjoying my emblem," a voice says from just above his head.

It is a woman, blindfolded and wrapped in a voluminous cloak.

[jokerofhearts]

Akira raises his head to take in his new surroundings. The scent is nice, the room is pristine and kept dust free. He stands up, hands in his jean pockets as he looks around. It seems almost like a dream; like when he finds himself in the Velvet Room. Except there are no signs of chains on his wrists or ankles. There's no man with a long nose sitting in the middle of the room, and the twin wardens are missing.

A courtroom.

His eyes narrow and a frown shows up on his face. Maybe its a slight change of cognition. Not quite a Palace, but not in Mementos. His fists clench in his pockets.

[adastraea]

There is a woman standing at the bench, her eyes blindfolded, wrapped in a voluminous cloak. "I am Justice, who by our reckoning is the eleventh Arcana. I have taken on the personal name of Astræa, which you may use if you so choose. Welcome, Akira Kurusu, called Joker, to my conversation space."

[crouching_sin]

Naoya frowns as he walks into the room. There's no one else here. It does look like a courtroom, though maybe not a modern one. He stands in front of the table, looking up at the judge's bench.

"I assume I was brought here for a reason? Not simply to quench my thirst..."

[adastraea]

As it so happens, there is a woman behind the judge's bench: blindfolded and wrapped in a voluminous cloak. "Yes. You were brought here to be my Champion in Syndiporia. I am Justice," she explains, "who by our reckoning is the eleventh Arcana. I have taken on the personal name of Astræa, which you may use if you so choose. Welcome, Naoya, who was once Cain, to my conversation space."

[pretentiouself]

As he walks into the room, Leo loosens the holdings on his mask, letting it fall around his neck. It smells pretty much like he'd imagined it; oddly familiar of his old school. It has the same scent and echo, the feel of a old, well worn in space. You just can't fool the senses into believing in age when it isn't there, even with money.

He keeps his held held high, appearing confident, even if his eyes give away that he's scouting for exit points. You can never be too careful. Making his way over to the glass, he glances at it, but doesn't move to take it. "Who's the water for?" He asks, aloud. Who even leaves a glass and a pitcher lying around like that?

[adastraea]

"You," a voice says from the judge's bench. There is a woman there, blindfolded and wrapped in a voluminous cloak.

"I am Justice," she says by way of introduction. "who by our reckoning is the eleventh Arcana. I have taken on the personal name of Astræa, which you may use if you so choose. Welcome, Leo Allen, called Earendil, to my conversation space."

[cloudpotter]

So he's a little bit surprised when it turns out that talking at his Mark for a few minutes is what it takes to finally get access to Astræa's space again. He'd thought of it as a ridiculous option, but since everything else over the last few Liminals had failed...

Well. In any case. Kinji's consciousness had transferred into Yakumo's body before this last-ditch attempt had begun, just in case it somehow worked. Now that he's familiar with the game and its players, Yakumo's in a better position to understand Justice's input - but he's part of a team, he's part of a sentai, and Kinji will likely have important additions to make. And since they don't know of a way to get both of them to the conversation space otherwise... it seems the logical thing to do.

[adastraea]

Nope. Sorry. You don't have Psychic Bridge and this is an entirely different network because you're in an entirely different liminal space than the normal big one for Travelers.

So when Yakumo makes it to Justice's conversation space, he'll be quite alone. And she'll be waiting for him at the Judge's bench, looking slightly harried.

"Yakumo," she says in acknowledgement. "I might have brought you here sooner if I hadn't been in the middle of something when you called."

Re: XI. Justice

[dragoonrouge]

Q'uila's jumps in surprise as she appears in this empty room. Caution takes over as she assesses the room, ears twitching and eyes scanning the scant furniture present.

Ignoring the seat and table for now, Q'uila skirts round the outside of the room, checking the walls for any hidden doors, making sure to always keep and ear and an eye on the centre of the room where it is most likely for someone to appear.

Re: XI. Justice

[adastraea]

When someone appears, she does so at the Judge's bench. That someone happens to be a blindfolded woman, shrouded in a voluminous cloak.

"Be not afraid," the woman says. "I am Justice, who by our reckoning is the eleventh Arcana. I have taken on the personal name of Astræa, which you may use if you so choose. Welcome, Q'uila Sunrise, to my conversation space."

[crouching_sin]

He'd thought on it, and... well. Why not? Justice might have this information or she might not. And unlike some Travelers, he legitimately wants his Arcana to win. So he'd settled in his room and meditated on his Arcana mark and justice in general.

"I think I have something that might interest you."

Well. That will do for a call, won't it?

[adastraea]

It will do very well. Naoya will find himself in Justice's courtroom once more, with her sitting at the bench.

"Do you, Naoya?"

[carbonatedscientist]

A courtroom? Is he going to be judged for his crimes? Sento doesn't know. He starts investigating the room, eventually going over to the pitcher and the glass. It could be water...but it could also be any number of other things. He's sniffing it to start testing.

[adastraea]

While he's busy with the pitcher and glass, a woman appears at the Judge's bench, surrounded by a voluminous cloak.

"Sit. Drink if you wish. I am Justice, who by our reckoning is the eleventh Arcana. I have taken on the personal name of Astræa, which you may use if you so choose. Welcome, Sento Kiryu, called Build, to my conversation space."

[waitatick]

Lotor, as an exile and as Prince, had seen enough courtrooms and rooms of a similar nature on enough planets to be able to guess that this was one of the same. It bothered him, though...mere ticks ago he'd been in the strange area with the flowers and the poles, and now he was not. It was as if he had been teleported.

Now more sure than ever that this was some plot of Haggar's, his voice came out close to a growl.

"What do you want of me, witch?"

[adastraea]

"I am no witch," says the blindfolded woman in the voluminous cloak who appears suddenly on the judge's bench. "Witchcraft, I think, would be more in my many-named sister's idiom, or perhaps Lune's. I am Justice, who by our reckoning is the eleventh Arcana. I have taken on the personal name of Astræa, which you may use if you so choose. Welcome, Lotor of the Galra, to my conversation space."