cryovision | Pavo Heart Game: Sunday Session

Pavo Heart Game: Sunday Session

When you enter the light, you find yourself hovering weightless in a void, as if caught in a moment of falling inertia. In the distance, you hear a voice that seems to shift and twist, familiar and yet unfamiliar.

"You shouldn't be here. But since you already are, let's make a wager. If you can uncover the truth, you'll find me. If you can't, you may be hopelessly lost... What a shame that would be."

You begin falling, and your vision blacks out--

[OOC NOTE: your goals are "reveal the truth" to "find the true heart". All images in toplevels are for general inspo, please make sure you read the flavourtext cause things are not exactly as they are in the images.]

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[With Elemental Sight, the room, of course, changes. The air is stagnant and heavy, hard to breathe, and rather than snacks the table and desk are piled with seemingly endless stacks of paperwork. The barbatos statue is on its side, with one wing broken off.

And yet, it's still a cozy and lived in room. There are still flowers, and nothing terribly horrible, just... heavy. It makes you tired to breathe. But the breeze through the window is fresh and carries the scent of flowers and little dustmotes of anemo energy that flutter playfully through the room.

Jean does not become a monster. She's just... absent, now. Where she stood is merely empty space.]

[ sets the statue upright and if he's able to fix it he will, otherwise he's going to set about reading whatever paperwork is scattered all over the desk. ]

[If you want to fix the statue, you might need some glue, but you do set it upright.

The papers are largely busywork. Reports of routine patrols, inventories of supplies, requests from the townspeople to look for lost pets or escort someone to a nearby location. They're boring, but there are so many of them. It would take days to process it all.

While you're looking though, you might notice the corner of an envelope sticking out of a desk drawer.]

[ he'll keep that in mind. perhaps some ice could help... lol. ]

[ and, man, a lot of this reminds him of the debt collecting he does sometimes. it's boring and monotonous and not nearly as interesting as he'd like it to be. ] -! [ but he does catch sight of the envelope, so he'll snatch it up and open it. ]

[You pull out the envelope, and a few smaller ones come with it and fall to the floor.

Inside, there are lists. Lists of local criminals and ne'er-do-wells, their personal profiles, their preferred smuggling routes and points of attack on the roads. There are even some merchants, both local ones and foreign ones that do local business. Some people and places are crossed out in red ink, and others are circled. There are notes in the margins along the lines of "this should keep things interesting" or "easy to pressure" or "needs more coaxing".]

...hm. [ is he surprised, ..? no, not really. pavo and noctua didn't seem to operate under the exact same umbrella as the rest of the knights, positions here and there notwithstanding. ]

[ can he open the drawer these fell out of? and if so is there anything of interest in it? ]

[He can in fact! It's mostly similar envelopes with similar content. Though there are a few trinkets at the very bottom:

- A pin in the shape of the favonius crest.
- A blue ribbon.
- A small bottle of glue.

[ he's going to take all of the stuff-! since he's sure it'll come in handy at some point. UNTIL THEN he'll immediately set to fixing the statue of barbatos with the small bottle of glue. ]

[ as soon as he's finished he'll just head out of the office, since it doesn't seem like there's much else to investigate... at least on the elemental sight end of things. ]

[ so how's about that stone framed door? ]

[You go to pick up the pin. The moment it's in your hand, though, you're hit by a vivid hallucination -- it's slightly faded with time, with fuzzy details, but you are witnessing a memory.

It's the swearing-in ceremony for all trainees who passed the knights exam this year. It's reverent but cheerful, as ceremonies in Mondstadt tend to be.

You don't understand what's so fun about entering the military.

Is everyone here spoiled by peace, or is it simply that you're too twisted to enjoy the accomplishment? You know it won't last. Sooner or later, this day will be flung back in everyone's faces. And anyway, you could easily have passed the exam two years ago if you really tried. You only held off so long to make sure everyone knows D̵̩̠̿ͅͅȉ̵͖͖̐̚̚l̷̞̚ú̸͇̿͘ͅc̵͇͖̰̞͗̀͌͠͝ is stronger than you. You don't want to be seen as special. That's too much attention. You're content to live in his shadow until destiny finds you.

Still, it's best to pretend you understand. When your name is called, you step forward with a bounce in your step and a wink to your proud partner-in-crime, and recite oaths you have little intention of keeping. Even if you stayed-- even if things were simple, and you could truly come to rest in this peaceful lie, you wouldn't keep them.

Though it's confusing and a little annoying, when you take your standard-issue sword and hold it, the smooth leather in your hands feels soothing. When they place the pin at your collar, it feels like a chain has just been clasped around your neck, and yet the weight is a comfort.

Yeah, you don't get it at all. But you feel it. And so you won't keep your oaths -- because to protect this baffling place, so long as you can, you'll wield your hidden self however you must.]

[ ...clenches the pin in hand. bits and pieces of what he sees his close to home... and he's got to laugh at that. as much as he'd like to discard the for making him suffer through that he'll keep it. ]

[ he's a bit hesitant to touch the blue ribbon, because this place has done nothing but fuck with his head, but bring it on. ]

[It is in fact another memory.

You're small, sitting on the edge of an impossibly plush couch in an impossibly beautiful parlor in an impossibly big house. You've been here for months now, but you still can't seem to settle in. Everyone in Mondstadt is so... nice. You have a hard time believing there's really a place so laid back. You have a hard time taking in the sight of the sky, the sound of rain, the warmth of a freely-given hug from someone who doesn't even know the real you -- or care.

It's raining now, actually. The couch is in front of a crackling fire, but outside you hear the booming of thunder, and it makes you shiver.

A warm hand touches yours, and you turn, startled to meet the bright crimson eyes of your still-new "brother".

(Ha. As if you could ever really belong to this loving, happy family.)

"If you're scared of the storm, don't be! The anemo god would never let anything bad happen to us. Father says that when it storms--" The other boy, just slightly bigger than you and much more exuberant, cuts off at the creak of the door.

"I said what?" asks the tall, bearded redhead you recognize as your temporary "Father" as he comes in, soaked from the rain.

Your companion is instantly excited by his arrival, and leaves you to go tell this "Father" all about all the mundane, pointless things you did today. You weren't productive at all, so you don't know what there is to be proud of, but "Father" seems delighted at every word. He pats D̵͉̍͑̀ï̵̢͈̹͝ľ̶̤͇͎́̏̕͝ü̸̩͈̳͙͝͝č̴̱̍̅ on the head, and you bitterly think that no father will ever show you that kind of affection again.

But then the man approaches you, and while you stay still, internally you flinch. Every time he comes home, you're a little afraid he'll tell you he's figured you out.

But he never does. And he doesn't tonight. Instead he kneels to get down to your level, producing a shiny blue ribbon from his pocket. You recognise it. You'd stared at it a bit last time you were in town, but that didn't mean you really wanted it--

"This is for you, K̷̢̢̩̲̟̔ả̶̉̽͜e̴͓̍̈́́y̴͚͉̯͙̰͛͑̅ā̶̱̙̤. I noticed you seemed interested, so I thought I'd pick it up on the way back. Although, I really wish you felt like you could ask... Whatever you need, we'll provide it. You're family, now. You'll always belong here."

"Father" smiles at you, as he gently ties the ribbon into your hair, and suddenly it strikes you that his smile for you is truly warm. And then he pats you on the head, the same as your "brother", and for the first time you feel this impossibly wonderful house sinking into your mind as "home".

You wish you never had to leave.

...But if you go for the glue after all that, it is just plain glue.]

...hah, real cute. [ family has always meant a lot to him, so it's nice getting a chance to see something like this. he's glad that noctua and his family managed to melt some of the ice around pavo's heart, and maybe he feels a bit bad for how he tried to 'help' with their issues, but... who said he's good at helping? no one. no one said he's good at helping because he's NOT good at helping. ]

[ returns the envelopes, pin, and ribbon to the desk... meanwhile he'll use the glue on the statue. ]

[ if there's nothing else to be done here he's heading to the next door. ]

[When you fix the statue, the breeze from the window gets more anemo motes! It's very distinctly anemo-infused now instead of just sparkling with a little bit of it.

And then you leave, with the room not much changed and nothing trying to kill you!]

[ FOR ONCE. ]

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Pavo Heart Game: Sunday Session

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