tamamo.

[preceptive]

image later

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[foxweddings]

Is it? I am not particularly well-versed in how humans decorate their rooms nowadays.

[Anyway--]

The locker was mostly useless, as far as I'm aware. It had some uniforms fitting the theme of this ship, a flashlight, some handcuffs...

[SEXY GARBAGE IS WHAT SHE'S SAYING]

I unlocked everything I could with my pin. Most of what I found was illegible due to water damage, but there was a sheet of paper that said:

[Lifting up her finger as she quotes from memory]

Locked it away.
Couldn't trust that they wouldn't make it disappear.
Sorry.

[A slight shrug]

Kanesan-san found a notebook as well. I didn't read anything for myself, so you will have to seek him out for further details. You may tell him I sent you, if it will provide you leverage. [And assuming Kagachi didn't already jump on that immediately.

Anyway, she will pause to see if he has any questions]

[preceptive]

I'll talk to him. [...] What do you think it means?

[foxweddings]

... Possibly one of two things.

This happened at the very end, but in the jail cell, we found a knife and sheathe.

[...]

I had just dislocated my shoulder, so I will be honest -- I was infuriated with the pain and looking for a target. I don't know if the knife was possessed, or my luck was poor, but when I ripped a blanket off to see what secrets it hid underneath, the knife launched into the air and then embedded itself in my arm.

[Taking another long sip of her tea]

The other possibility is whatever spirit we saw in the computer -- well, we only saw its one eye before it gave all three of us a vision.

[Shit got wild]

[preceptive]

... Eyes seem to be a reoccurring motif around here.

What exactly was the vision?

[foxweddings]

I only saw a third of it, though the others told me what they saw.

Kanesan-san's vision was of a woman with long dark hair trying to revitalize a man lying on the ground. He had short hair and a hooded jacket. There was a puddle of water around them, though I'm not certain if the vision meant to imply that the young man had drowned.

Either way, a figure approaches the woman with a knife in their hands. Kanesan-san said the vision stopped for him then, but he felt as if he were stabbed in the back himself.

[That's one]

Grune-san's vision... it is a continuation. The dark-haired man from before is struggling against the figure with a knife -- and it's revealed to be a woman with short, light-colored hair. They fight, until the woman is able to smack his head against the lobby's fountain. Then she pulls him into the water, I assume drowning him.

[That's two]

As for my own vision, it starts with the woman from the first -- the one with the dark hair. She's in the middle of a ritual circle. The other woman with lighter hair reads from a book, and as the circle is blinded by light, the vague form of ... well...

[Her eyes narrow]

I don't know what came out of the circle, but it grabbed the woman's arm and ripped it off.

[preceptive]

... Sounds a little like Polly's demon summoning, but you'd think that would be at the start, before they start killing one another.

[foxweddings]

Yes, that is what I thought as well.

I can only assume there was motivation to start the slaughters early.

[preceptive]

At least that's one thing we avoided here.

Were you able to escape after the visions?

[foxweddings]

Yes.

We got the lights back on and stumbled into the jail cell -- ah, that's when I was stabbed, by the way.

And afterwards, the door unlocked.

[preceptive]

... Sounds like you had a pretty bad time.

[foxweddings]

It is my own doing.

[A stares at her cup]

I am... unused to this form, we shall say. The pain took me off-guard, and I lost my common sense.

[A huff]

Well -- better I than the others. I am accustomed to battle and ill-odds.

[preceptive]

It's not great for anyone to get injured, but I see your point. Glad it's not as bad as it could be, at least.

[foxweddings]

True. I could have lost my entire arm instead of having it pulled out of its socket.

[Said wryly]

That more or less concludes my adventures in that accursed room. If I have a regret, it's that I didn't get to kill anything for causing Grune-san suffering.

[preceptive]

I'm sure she appreciates the thought.

[...]

By the way, have you spoken with Escha yet?

[foxweddings]

[Flatly:]

Do you have a role?

[preceptive]

... I take it that's a yes to my question.

[foxweddings]

Assume what you like.

You know I only trade information for information.

[preceptive]

... I brought it up because I wanted to let you know that I'm the one who voted for you, so that you don't think anyone has it in for you or anything.

If you've spoken to Escha, you should be able to guess why.

[foxweddings]

[... Her ears give a flicker.

Probably in irritation. It's hard to say.]

To think, this is how I would dodge an exorcism...

[She's speaking to herself, really, her stare going through the other]

... Tell me. When you go home -- if you have the chance to return -- what will you do?

[preceptive]

[...]

There's nothing for me to return to, so that's not a question I can answer.

[though he doesn't sound particularly upset. more matter-of-fact.]

[foxweddings]

-- You are dead?

[...]

Or your home is?

[preceptive]

... Little bit of the second, but mostly the first.

[congrats on being the first person he's told this to, tamamo.]

[foxweddings]

[... sipping her tea, silent for a moment]

And yet you still desire to help those of us here, even if it might not benefit you directly?

[preceptive]

Of course.

[said without hesitation.]

Since I'm meant to disappear no matter what, it doesn't matter what happens to me. There's no reason for me not to devote everything I have to the people here.

[foxweddings]

[Hmph.

She smiles.

And it is brief, might as well be a trick of the light, but it almost looks like she is going to cry.

-- But of course not. She's Tamamo. There's a shake of her head, a sigh]

You and Escha-san both... you remind me of why I once loved humans.