healingbonds (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
healingbonds) wrote2022-11-22 12:54 pm
healingbonds) wrote2022-11-22 12:54 pm
Entry tags:
Prelude to the Festival and Desire | Chapter 8
Chapter 7 << | index | >> Chapter 9
Homeless witch: ....Finally done with cleaning.... I’m so tired; I’ve been working nonstop since morning. ....But it’s my fault for being so disorganized......
....A piano..... I haven’t sung since the day I arrived at the salon.....
Back when I slept on the streets, I was all alone, but I got to sing whenever I wanted. That was fun.....
.....What am I saying? I need to work harder..... I need to earn my keep...... I need to give.
Because I’m a witch. Otherwise, I’d be worthless.......
✦✧☾✧✦
Antonio: .....And there goes my sixtieth birthday..... What a splendid day it was. I wonder if tomorrow will be just as splendid....
More — I need more. I want to live my life like a fever. Dice, cards, roulette..... Only wealth can make me feel alive.
I’ve been invincible ever since I met his ghost in this casino room.... And even when I lose, I recover my riches in no time.
O great genius, you who have graced this casino room. Do keep me entertained with your love of the gamble — of numbers and chance!
I cannot enjoy life otherwise! I want to feel the ecstasy of life before I die! More! I need more....!
(Room goes dark)
Akira: .....Looks like no one’s here......
Chloe: Yeah.... I wonder what Lord Antonio was doing here all alone?
Shylock: ....This is.....
Rustica: What did you find, Shylock?
Shylock: The casino table was wet. But the moment I took a second look, it went completely dry. It’s as if something is hiding.
Rustica: I sense a fairy’s presence. The fear gorta hasn’t managed to fully conceal itself.
That might be why it’s possessing the unfortunate to act in its stead.
Akira: (A wet table and the presence of a fairy..... Wait, then is that why the homeless witch looked like she had been soaked in the rain....?)
That’s when a roulette begins to spin out of nowhere.
With a quiet clink, clink, clink.... We turn to the roulette table.
A furtive laugh reaches our ears.
Chloe: Wh-what’s going on....?
Shylock: Is the fear gorta playing tricks on us....? No, this is.... This is his..... ........!
A powerful gust saunters through the room.
It sweeps up the stack of cards that was resting on the table and scatters it all around the salon.
The king, the queen, the ace of hearts, dancing to and fro at the whims of the current.
Whisked into a whirlwind that envelops a human shadow.
The shadow offers its hand.
And the cards obediently settle into a single, neat deck in its palm.
Akira: ....You’re.....!?
???: Good evening, Sir Sage. Welcome to the midnight casino.
The mysterious wind disappears as a gentleman’s voice rings through the room.
The moonlight peering through the tall windows illuminates the mysterious shadow’s identity.
A brilliant and erudite gaze that sees through to your mind.....
A bold and arrogant smile befitting a gentleman.....
And cat-like eyes, identical to Murr’s.......
Akira: (Murr....? No! He’s a materialization of Murr’s soul shard....!)
(Right, Mister Antonio said he saw Murr’s ghost.... So he was talking about a soul shard!)
Murr’s shard stands before me, hat in hand, as he offers a gracious bow.
Murr: I am the Western wizard Murr. It’s an honor to meet you, Sir Sage.
And you, Shylock. And the other Western wizards too.
He flashes a cheeky grin. I’m overwhelmed by the exquisite air that surrounds him.
Chapter 7 << | index | >> Chapter 9
Homeless witch: ....Finally done with cleaning.... I’m so tired; I’ve been working nonstop since morning. ....But it’s my fault for being so disorganized......
....A piano..... I haven’t sung since the day I arrived at the salon.....
Back when I slept on the streets, I was all alone, but I got to sing whenever I wanted. That was fun.....
.....What am I saying? I need to work harder..... I need to earn my keep...... I need to give.
Because I’m a witch. Otherwise, I’d be worthless.......
✦✧☾✧✦
Antonio: .....And there goes my sixtieth birthday..... What a splendid day it was. I wonder if tomorrow will be just as splendid....
More — I need more. I want to live my life like a fever. Dice, cards, roulette..... Only wealth can make me feel alive.
I’ve been invincible ever since I met his ghost in this casino room.... And even when I lose, I recover my riches in no time.
O great genius, you who have graced this casino room. Do keep me entertained with your love of the gamble — of numbers and chance!
I cannot enjoy life otherwise! I want to feel the ecstasy of life before I die! More! I need more....!
(Room goes dark)
Akira: .....Looks like no one’s here......
Chloe: Yeah.... I wonder what Lord Antonio was doing here all alone?
Shylock: ....This is.....
Rustica: What did you find, Shylock?
Shylock: The casino table was wet. But the moment I took a second look, it went completely dry. It’s as if something is hiding.
Rustica: I sense a fairy’s presence. The fear gorta hasn’t managed to fully conceal itself.
That might be why it’s possessing the unfortunate to act in its stead.
Akira: (A wet table and the presence of a fairy..... Wait, then is that why the homeless witch looked like she had been soaked in the rain....?)
That’s when a roulette begins to spin out of nowhere.
With a quiet clink, clink, clink.... We turn to the roulette table.
A furtive laugh reaches our ears.
Chloe: Wh-what’s going on....?
Shylock: Is the fear gorta playing tricks on us....? No, this is.... This is his..... ........!
A powerful gust saunters through the room.
It sweeps up the stack of cards that was resting on the table and scatters it all around the salon.
The king, the queen, the ace of hearts, dancing to and fro at the whims of the current.
Whisked into a whirlwind that envelops a human shadow.
The shadow offers its hand.
And the cards obediently settle into a single, neat deck in its palm.
Akira: ....You’re.....!?
???: Good evening, Sir Sage. Welcome to the midnight casino.
The mysterious wind disappears as a gentleman’s voice rings through the room.
The moonlight peering through the tall windows illuminates the mysterious shadow’s identity.
A brilliant and erudite gaze that sees through to your mind.....
A bold and arrogant smile befitting a gentleman.....
And cat-like eyes, identical to Murr’s.......
Akira: (Murr....? No! He’s a materialization of Murr’s soul shard....!)
(Right, Mister Antonio said he saw Murr’s ghost.... So he was talking about a soul shard!)
Murr’s shard stands before me, hat in hand, as he offers a gracious bow.
Murr: I am the Western wizard Murr. It’s an honor to meet you, Sir Sage.
And you, Shylock. And the other Western wizards too.
He flashes a cheeky grin. I’m overwhelmed by the exquisite air that surrounds him.
Chapter 7 << | index | >> Chapter 9