driftfleet | 'cause it's better than nothing

[ Calibration Rooms ]
( for N-Z characters )

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ROOMS BY CHARACTER

N - P

Otono-Tachibana Makie

Q - S

Sandalio "Biffy" de Rabiffano

T - V

W - Z

(last updated: 1/25/19)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You are a very good player, and I'm not just saying that to flatter you. Do you find peace in the music or do you just play to provide it to others?

I was also told to follow the music in order to leave this place and somehow ended up here. You wouldn't happen to know the way out?

[She inclines her head in thanks at the compliment and gives the rest of what he has to say some thought. Or appears to, at least.]

Both, I think. I enjoy playing for myself. And I know others appreciate my songs, so I play for them also.

As for leaving... it's difficult. This place is forever changing. It wasn't so cold last time. I suppose I've changed. [Yeah, that made a whole pile of sense. She hesitates.] I suppose... look for a door that stands out.

Thank you, I'll try that and see where it gets me.

[He goes to leave and stops and bows to her]

Maybe you can play for me when we meet on the Fleet

[And then he'll head out, looking for a door that stands out to him]

[She bows back as he leaves.

...problem is, the doors inside look pretty much all the same; paper shouji doors, meticulously repaired, but none of them stand out. Perhaps outside?]

[Tim will eventually wander out again and head back down the street, keeping out the way but looking for something that stands out in this mindscape]

[So how about a door that seems to be standing on the middle of a small bridge? That's definitely out of place.

There's a couple talking on the bridge right in front of it. One of them is Makie. Looks like, in order to leave, Tim's going to have to brave one last memory.]

[Tim walks up to the couple to watch how this last one plays out]

[Their conversation becomes clearer as he steps into the memory, a beautiful late spring night under a full moon--

"--understand you fought him the other day." The man is delicate-featured; he honestly doesn't look much older than Tim, though his bearing and his eyes suggest he merely looks young. His arms are crossed in faint disapproval.

Makie glances at her feet, remembering her awkward defeat at Manji's hands. "Yes. He was strong. Very...manly."

There's a long pause, and she can feel his skepticism before he even says anything.

"I have trouble believing this. Sure, in the last two months, he's killed, what... eight of my men? And two of them were good enough that they were even a threat to me. But even so..." He turns to lean against the bridge rail, regarding her with raised eyebrows. "You should have found him child's play."

Makie turns to lean on the rail herself, though looking out over the water as he continues softly. "There's only one other person in the world... only one other swordfighter alive who can who can defeat Anotsu Kagehisa. And you are that one."

Of course, she thinks. She's the one that taught him to begin with. The only man who treats her with awe and not derision, all the way from when they were kids. She'd rather not have either, but...

The rest of the memory plays out (until the end of the chapter); Makie's desperation, Anotsu's confession, the crying that follows... and the the selfsame men that Tim saw in the teahouse make their arrival. Clearly, this memory takes place the same night.

She doesn't want to wield the sword. Yet she does; she loves the feel of fighting, the adrenalin; she hates the death that follows. It's a paradox that has plagued her all her life. These men take the decision out of her hands-- they're here because they've been paid to take her back to the brothel, and they intend to "sample the goods" first, and she makes a choice.

Edo is not kind to its women. Being a whore instead of a killer is one thing. Being hurt is something she'll no longer stand for. Her choice is made.

It's all downhill from here.

...once the memory fades-- Makie, corpses and all-- the door is still there. Tim is free to leave.]

[Tim can't find it in himself to speak, he stares straight ahead refusing to look or acknowledge any more of what he's just seen, what still lies all around him. He walks forward, wincing as his foot touches some unknown body part but keeps going until he makes it to the door and walks through.]

'cause it's better than nothing

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cw: talk of prostitution and rape, graphic violence

Re: cw: talk of prostitution and rape, graphic violence