Conversation Space IV.

[powersthatbe]

The small room is painted a dark beige, with stained wood paneling on the lower half, and lush burgundy carpeting. The ceiling, however, is cracked and bowed, sagging alarmingly, occasionally shedding chips of plaster. Wrought-iron lamp-posts in the corners suspend pale, wan globes of light, and between them along the walls run rows of painted sunflowers, all turned towards the center of the room as if listening attentively. A jutting spire of granite rises from the floor on a diagonal, its flattened top sporting a cracked wineglass from which the wine (a white) slowly spatters teardrops across the plinth. And there is no chair, but a therapist’s couch, blue with gold trim, and ornate scrollwork on the legs, beside which the fluted horn of a phonograph player pipes music into the room, quiet enough to just be background ambience.

Comments

[iseethe]

"To make it easier to work together. Well, all our little secret clubs have those. But there are other benefits more or less exclusive to our individual groups."

[capital_asset]

Easier to work together, but also harder to break away, he'd wager. Not that there's anywhere to go at this point. ("Did you not know? Choice, meaning, fealty, time - everything is an illusion.") "Such as...?"

[iseethe]

"Ways to help you lie--that is only for me and mine," they say, off-handedly, taking a great interest in the suspended globes again. "Concealing information--that is shared with the chosen of Little Miss I Have Many Names." They glance up at him, to see if he reacts to that one. Then, looking back away, "And Mortimer's chosen will also be able to, hm, reset their identities on Jaunt, if he chooses to bestow that favor. If I choose to bestow it."

The mask smiles widely as it looks back to him once more. "Would you make a 'choice' of how my favor is bestowed to you, Raidou?"

[capital_asset]

He notices the glance, but he's also not sure who exactly they're referring to - although the 'Miss' narrows it down somewhat. "I thought choice was an illusion."

[iseethe]

"It is," they say, distantly, "but at times we need our illusions. If you don't want to choose, I shall choose for you."

[capital_asset]

This feels like a test - one Raidou is reasonably certain he's about to fail. "What does it mean that you share them?" he asks instead. "Can they only be done in tandem with another, or is it a case of overlap?"

[iseethe]

"Our aspects are not always sharply delineated," they say. "There are sometimes commonalities."

[capital_asset]

"I see..." And with that, he thinks he knows who 'Little Miss I Have Many Names' is now.

If nothing else, the 'favor' the two Arcana share might give him one thing in common with his remaining Bondmates, assuming they're given the same one. But is that really what he wants? Would it truly be a favor, or would it simply be a mockery, something to further demonstrate how much he doesn't fit with them? He doubts Moon would give him a straight answer, and he'd rather not show any more vulnerability here than he already has in any case.

Besides, it's not as if he'd ever get a chance to use it, or any other favor Moon chooses to bestow on him. How can he, when he's never himself?

[iseethe]

"I think, then," they say, the lips of their mask curving in a smile, "I shall give you a conundrum."

[capital_asset]

"How many meanings does that statement have?" He assumes at least one has to do with the 'favor' Moon has chosen for him.

[iseethe]

"Two, at minimum."

[capital_asset]

Raidou wonders how much effort it takes for her to make any statements with fewer than two meanings. "And the conundrums in question are...?"

[iseethe]

"Already granted."

[capital_asset]

"Ah." Raidou wonders why he's even bothering.

(For the others, a small voice in the back of his head whispers. So that they can benefit from any information you manage to get even if you can't.)

"And how many purposes do the Marks have? They do more than confer 'benefits,' don't they?"

[iseethe]

"They do," they replies. "After all, they are a link between you and I."

[capital_asset]

"What else do they do?" And how much control do they give you over us? is the unvoiced question.

[iseethe]

The mouth of their mask curves up. "They mark you as mine."

[capital_asset]

"Efficiently put." If not particularly clear.

If he wanted clarity, he probably should have contrived to get himself marked by someone entirely different. Never mind that he hadn't been expecting to be marked at all at the time. "What benefits do you get from them, aside from proof of our... allegiance?" He's not expecting an answer to that, not really, but he supposes another try wouldn't hurt.

In the meantime, he shifts tack. There's something else he's been wondering for a while now. "Why Tarot?"

[iseethe]

"Why Tarot?" they repeat, bemused.

[capital_asset]

"Why did you take on Tarot archetypes?" he elaborates. "With so many different worlds with different archetypes and symbols, why Tarot?"

[iseethe]

They laugh out loud. "Do you really think Tarot came first?" they ask scornfully.

[capital_asset]

Well, that's... illuminating. In a way. Certainly, their reaction is telling. "The reverse does make more sense," he concedes. It also raises a great many more questions, and he's not sure he'll have time to ask them all or if they're even the right ones. "How long have you existed?"

[iseethe]

They look away. "Ask the puppy."

[capital_asset]

"We're not on speaking terms."

[iseethe]

"Well, then you'll never know. I have better things to do than be the Arcana's timekeeper."