Act I - 33. Cards on the Tab[L]e
Rickshaw
Officially a Boss Mob
- Location
- The Land of Boots and Ten Gallon Hats
Day 4
Morning
You shift your gaze toward your hands. They're shaking, you observe. They're shaking, just because of a few words. Your eyes shut and you exhale a shaky breath. Am I really this afraid?
Something brushes the edge of your hearing, beneath the quiet din of the room. It is small, barely noticeable to the ear, but it calms you. An unfamiliar tune, accompanied by a familiar calm. You breathe again, deeper, steadier.
In.
Out.
There, better.
"Anna-"
"I'm thinking." You cut her off, eyes remain shut. One hand still shakes. The one Lo-Ru's holding. Thin, calloused fingers that tremble against your skin.
"You won't do it," you whisper with dawning realization. "You can't do it."
Her grip slackens, surprised at your accusation.
Normally, she would have no problem twisting the truth to her whim to ruin you. Yet, this approach makes no sense. Her casual greeting, her immediate demand for help, the sloppy argument, it was unlike her. It was too sudden, too poorly cobbled together. It only made sense if you were too pressured to think for more than a second.
Your eyes slide open, smokey irises to meet wide emeralds. "Of c-course I c-can," she argues, roughly torn and chewed nails digging into your wrist.
"You can't do it," you ignore her, still working through the revelation. "You can't touch me, this time. You won't… Why won't you?"
She shifts, eyes fixating on her plate. "Look, I-I really need your h-help with this s-so…" she shakes her head. "Forg-get it. Threat rescinded. Anna, I-I'll owe you big time if you c-can help, so j-just promise me-"
"Lo-Ru," you stop her, relief filling you with confidence and pushing you onward. "I'm not promising anything until you tell me what, exactly, your favor entails."
She searches your face with tired, desperate eyes. Whatever she finds, it inspires nothing more than a furrowed brow and heavy sigh. "N-not here." Her fingers slide off you and motion towards the door as she stands. Your wrist aches as you follow, slipping between heavy wooden tables as you exit the grand space.
You spare a glance towards Yad-Caph's table as you leave. She stares directly at you, eyes unfocused but pointed. Even from this distance, you see the worry carved into her expression. The Sister beside her doesn't even register the girl's shifted attention, still pulling egg from her hair.
Are you okay? Her milky eyes ask.
You keep walking, trailing steps behind Lo-Ru as you exit the dining hall.
"Why Dalet?" you lean on a glass case, eyeing the strange artifacts within. Their conical, glossy forms remind you of shells made of pure gemstone, glittering with an iridescent hue. Even through the barrier, you can feel the magic radiating off of them.
Lo-Ru rests against a bookshelf full of tomes across the display. The odd characters scrawled across their spines are that same alphabet from before, in the Purification Crystal and the Labyrinth. Old Tongue.
"It's the library I used to work in, with Pris and D-Deborah." She speaks slowly, taking time to carefully form each word that passes her lips. "It's usually empty because of the magic radiation: it makes people who aren't used to it feel sick."
"Ah," you step away from the magic conchs.
Lo-Ru rolls her eyes as she continues. "We should be safe to talk here, as long as we speak softly."
You wait for her to continue, glancing at the magic items locked up in various exhibits throughout the room. As the silence stretches on, you note a particularly interesting piece on the far wall. Is that…? No, it can't be.
"Uh, right, so," you articulate, "what was that favor you needed?"
The ravenette weaves her hair between bandaged fingers in the corner of your eye. "Y-yeah, about that." She takes a deep breath. "I need you to bring me into the Labyrinth."
Your head whips towards her. "I'm sorry, what?"
"The Labyrinth. You. Take me. There's something in there I need to see."
"Forgetting for the moment why you think I'd be of any help at all down there, you're telling me that you willingly want to head into the restricted extra-dimensional maze?"
"You went down there already, right? After the Incident?"
"Well, yeah, but… wait, how would you even know that-"
"You don't think the Incident is the only rumor going around? Anna, you disappeared for hours and came back via the city bridge. No matter what people may have guessed, the only sensible explanation for that kind of travel is getting lost in the Labyrinth."
"Yeah, 'lost' being the keyword. You think I have any idea how to navigate that shit?"
"But you have some familiarity with it, more than can be said for anyone else here in the Synagogue."
"Lo-Ru, I know we haven't really gotten along for the past nine years, but believe me when I say it's in your best interest to consider that you've got to be a certifiable lunatic if you think that'll be of any help down there. It's all twists and turns and folds and shit and the layout can change just depending on which way you face, not to mention how time just doesn't work the same down there. Why don't you ask someone who actually knows something, like Father or your brother for he-"
"NO!" She snaps, "I… ugh! I'm not doing this for fun, you know? Something's going on and I'm trying to get to the bottom of it. The Fathers, I can't go to them at all for this. They can't know we're doing anything. Especially my brother. This has to be between just you and me."
That forces a pause. "Lo-Ru," you say, carefully, "what the hell are you dragging me into?"
The ravenette flicks her fingers down, tossing her hair out to one side. It fans out, soft strands of ebony reaching out before gently falling behind her to reveal a thick tome in her hands. Across its cover scrawls the Old Tongue, a familiar pattern engraved into its face:
כִּשׁוּף לֵב טָהוֹר
"I wanted to know why," she says, setting the book onto the glass case. "Why the Tainted could hide so well. Why ten years ago they were supposedly obvious, yet now anyone who didn't know the truth would mistake you for a normal human."
You bristle at that. "And, what, you found a book that pointed to the Labyrinth and said 'here be answers?'"
"You know, I already miss when I was the bitch and you didn't ask questions," jade orbs glare at you.
You shrug, a smug warmth suffusing you as she grumbles.
"Anyways," she continues, "what I found in that search was this history book. It was pure luck I came across it. Old Tongue works aren't supposed to be in the main library, but it somehow wound up in my stack. Look, here," she sifts through the pages, landing barely a quarter way through its text. "It describes this group of people called the Tame'. These, 'taw-may,' literally 'the Defiled,' are something like the precursors to the Tainted. But the important thing," she points to a random line on the parchment, "is this bit here.
"'After the Demon Throne's defeat did the first sightings of the Defiled occur. Seen mostly among bandits, they were grotesque creatures, partly-Man, partly-Demon. They attacked the scholars who studied the Throne and who would later found Temple City. Some Defiled were also discovered among raid survivors, changing after a few days in the City, then only a camp-town. Strangely, this phenomena seemed isolated to Zak, and remains that way up to the time of this writing.'" Viridian orbs shift towards you, searching your face.
"Okay," you start, "since when can you read Old Tongue? I thought only the top of the Order could learn that stuff."
"Two words: family politics," she swipes her hand through the air, brushing off your question as if that explained it, "And I'm just barely conversational, but that's not important. Did you catch the odd part in there?"
You think over what she said. "Well, I've definitely never heard of any Demon Throne before."
"And yet, this text implies it was some sort of big deal, that Taints didn't even exist until it was destroyed. Plus," Lo-Ru pokes a word a few times, "it goes further to state Temple City started as a research station dedicated to studying it."
Your brow furrows tight. "Hold up, wasn't the City built as a sanctuary to study Spiritual Magic? With a major focus on figuring out the Taint?"
"Not according to this," the ravenette closes the tome with a light thud. "The settlers apparently were unaware of the Taint's existence until they'd already formed a community large enough to attract raiders. How they got the Taint is a mystery, but even so, this contradicts a so much of what the Order has taught us."
"Are you trying to tell me that there's some sort of conspiracy going on?"
"I'm saying that this book makes everything highly suspect." She pulls the book back, placing it in an empty spot on the shelf behind her.
You stand there for a moment, mulling over it all. The City, the Taint, the Order, is none of what you've been taught true? It's just one book, and it's entirely possible Lo-Ru mistranslated it. But even then, you've known there's more to the mark on your chest than what you've been told. Maybe this little hint, this Throne, could point you in the right direction?
"How does any of this relate to the Labyrinth?" You break the silence with a question, trying to tie the disparate pieces together. "What makes you think you'll figure out anything more by going down that foxhole?"
The woman sighs. Her shoulders droop for a moment, tired. "I think," she starts, still facing the shelf, "maybe, just maybe, that if that Throne still exists somewhere, it'd have to be kept somewhere incredibly secret and ridiculously safe. And the only reasonable place I can think of that matches that criteria is the eldritch network right beneath our feet." She turns, face schooled flat. "I can't trust anyone high in the Synagogue with this, if I'm right then they're probably perpetuating the masquerade anyways. The other Maidens wouldn't believe me, or more likely would refuse to delve into a restricted area and rat me out. You're the only one to jump into the deep and come back. Like it or not if I want to find the truth, you're all I've got."
You turn away. "How do I know this isn't just an excuse for you to get some sort of revenge on me? That you won't do something while we're down there?"
"Oh, trust me, the thought has crossed my mind," She chuckles nervously as she says it. "But it's not worth it. I'd probably get lost down there without you, a-and I already promised D-den I'd keep my hands off you." She swallows, shaky. "T-trust me, you'll be fine."
Your eyes don't meet hers, finding themselves drawn instead towards the far wall. Lo-Ru had said something to that effect during the Incident, hadn't she? You would have thought she was just saying whatever she thought would save her skin. Maybe it had more of an effect than you realized.
Maybe she was afraid he'd finish the job if she broke her word.
Shuffling feet draws your attention to the ravenette, who moves towards one of the artifacts. It's the one that caught your eye before, a simple turquoise gem hooked to a golden chain. Colors swirl in its center, twisting lazily about. Its display is isolated from the others, sat out of immediate attention against the furthest wall from the entrance.
"Do you remember, ten years ago?" the other woman asks, staring at the necklace.
There's only one memory she could be referring too. "Of course I do, how could I forget?"
"Incident Number One," she says, almost wistfully. "You know I'd never gotten in trouble for anything before that?"
"I find that incredibly unbelievable. You've been on Naomi's bad side for almost as long as I have."
"It's true," she traces a finger against the glass. "I was little-miss-perfect up until I came here. Never talked back, never argued, never got in fights or disobeyed anyone. Then some silly little girl with blue hair came along, and drew some personality out of me." She snickers. "Father said you corrupted me, but Loammi said he liked me better with a little rebellious spirit."
You chuckle. "Bet he changed his mind after he found out what we were up to."
"He couldn't decide whether to be proud or furious." A laugh escapes the ravenette's lips. A rich, genuine laugh, not the cackling sound you're used to hearing. "To think, such a pretty little trinket was such a terrifying artifact."
You walk up beside her, gazing at the elegant, deadly jewelry. "It didn't feel very dangerous at all. It just felt… warm, I guess." The details came easy, despite how long it'd been. You still recall that comfortable weight against your chest and the gentle glow that seemed to radiate into your body. How the colors seemed to dance when you wore it, all those years ago. Would it still dance, if you wore it now?
"I hate to admit it, but it looked beautiful on you," you look at the other Maiden with surprise. "It was almost like it was made just for you. Or that you were born to wear it." She shrugs. "Maybe it's just the way Angelic artifacts are." She catches you staring. "What?"
You look back at the artifact, still a little stunned. "I just didn't expect you of all people to compliment me, is all."
"I said the necklace was beautiful, not you. Don't go twisting my words on me."
"Bitch."
"Stain."
You both huff your annoyance. Even so, you can't help the creeping tug of your lips upward. It's been a long time since you've been able to just talk to someone like this. You miss it, a little. Even if it is with a bitch like Lo-Ru.
"We had some crazy adventures back then," you note.
She nods. "We sure did." A silence falls between you after that, not awkward or comfortable, simply there.
"It's been a long time since then," she begins, speaking slow and deliberate. "Nine years and some change. We've both grown. We've both changed. I'm not going to ask for things to go back to the way they were. I'm not going to ask you to forgive me for all the shit I did, nor just forget it so we can work together. Any excuse I give in that vein is probably too selfish to accept anyways."
She sighs, going from a young adult to almost twice her age in an instant. You can see the bags under her eyes from the sleepless nights, the faint stains of tears that she tried to rub away before anybody saw, even that slight shake from earlier remains. In your professional opinion, she looks like shit.
"All I ask is that you help me with this one thing," she continues, voice devoid of the earlier nostalgia. "You help me find the Demon Throne inside the Labyrinth, and you'll never have to see me again. I'll investigate the rest on my own, and you won't have to deal with me anymore. No more abuse, no more predation, no more talks or favors from nowhere, nothing. You help me with this, and we're done. For good, if you want."
She closes her eyes, taking in another deep breath. "So, Anna, what'll it be. You in? Or out?"
[] Ask More Questions / Alter Deal (Please write-in)
[] "I'm In."
[] "I'm out."
EDIT: Welcome Newbies! Glad you could join us. There's popcorn on the table as well as a complimentary bucket of flame retardant, courtesy of the Anna Disaster Prevention Committee. This is a precautionary measure; crashing, burning, flaming, weeping, gnashing, shipping, raging, and arguing are not expected but may yet occur anyways. Please enjoy the show.
Morning
You shift your gaze toward your hands. They're shaking, you observe. They're shaking, just because of a few words. Your eyes shut and you exhale a shaky breath. Am I really this afraid?
Something brushes the edge of your hearing, beneath the quiet din of the room. It is small, barely noticeable to the ear, but it calms you. An unfamiliar tune, accompanied by a familiar calm. You breathe again, deeper, steadier.
In.
Out.
There, better.
"Anna-"
"I'm thinking." You cut her off, eyes remain shut. One hand still shakes. The one Lo-Ru's holding. Thin, calloused fingers that tremble against your skin.
"You won't do it," you whisper with dawning realization. "You can't do it."
Her grip slackens, surprised at your accusation.
Normally, she would have no problem twisting the truth to her whim to ruin you. Yet, this approach makes no sense. Her casual greeting, her immediate demand for help, the sloppy argument, it was unlike her. It was too sudden, too poorly cobbled together. It only made sense if you were too pressured to think for more than a second.
Your eyes slide open, smokey irises to meet wide emeralds. "Of c-course I c-can," she argues, roughly torn and chewed nails digging into your wrist.
"You can't do it," you ignore her, still working through the revelation. "You can't touch me, this time. You won't… Why won't you?"
She shifts, eyes fixating on her plate. "Look, I-I really need your h-help with this s-so…" she shakes her head. "Forg-get it. Threat rescinded. Anna, I-I'll owe you big time if you c-can help, so j-just promise me-"
"Lo-Ru," you stop her, relief filling you with confidence and pushing you onward. "I'm not promising anything until you tell me what, exactly, your favor entails."
She searches your face with tired, desperate eyes. Whatever she finds, it inspires nothing more than a furrowed brow and heavy sigh. "N-not here." Her fingers slide off you and motion towards the door as she stands. Your wrist aches as you follow, slipping between heavy wooden tables as you exit the grand space.
You spare a glance towards Yad-Caph's table as you leave. She stares directly at you, eyes unfocused but pointed. Even from this distance, you see the worry carved into her expression. The Sister beside her doesn't even register the girl's shifted attention, still pulling egg from her hair.
Are you okay? Her milky eyes ask.
You keep walking, trailing steps behind Lo-Ru as you exit the dining hall.
-:-:-;-:-:-
"Why Dalet?" you lean on a glass case, eyeing the strange artifacts within. Their conical, glossy forms remind you of shells made of pure gemstone, glittering with an iridescent hue. Even through the barrier, you can feel the magic radiating off of them.
Lo-Ru rests against a bookshelf full of tomes across the display. The odd characters scrawled across their spines are that same alphabet from before, in the Purification Crystal and the Labyrinth. Old Tongue.
"It's the library I used to work in, with Pris and D-Deborah." She speaks slowly, taking time to carefully form each word that passes her lips. "It's usually empty because of the magic radiation: it makes people who aren't used to it feel sick."
"Ah," you step away from the magic conchs.
Lo-Ru rolls her eyes as she continues. "We should be safe to talk here, as long as we speak softly."
You wait for her to continue, glancing at the magic items locked up in various exhibits throughout the room. As the silence stretches on, you note a particularly interesting piece on the far wall. Is that…? No, it can't be.
"Uh, right, so," you articulate, "what was that favor you needed?"
The ravenette weaves her hair between bandaged fingers in the corner of your eye. "Y-yeah, about that." She takes a deep breath. "I need you to bring me into the Labyrinth."
Your head whips towards her. "I'm sorry, what?"
"The Labyrinth. You. Take me. There's something in there I need to see."
"Forgetting for the moment why you think I'd be of any help at all down there, you're telling me that you willingly want to head into the restricted extra-dimensional maze?"
"You went down there already, right? After the Incident?"
"Well, yeah, but… wait, how would you even know that-"
"You don't think the Incident is the only rumor going around? Anna, you disappeared for hours and came back via the city bridge. No matter what people may have guessed, the only sensible explanation for that kind of travel is getting lost in the Labyrinth."
"Yeah, 'lost' being the keyword. You think I have any idea how to navigate that shit?"
"But you have some familiarity with it, more than can be said for anyone else here in the Synagogue."
"Lo-Ru, I know we haven't really gotten along for the past nine years, but believe me when I say it's in your best interest to consider that you've got to be a certifiable lunatic if you think that'll be of any help down there. It's all twists and turns and folds and shit and the layout can change just depending on which way you face, not to mention how time just doesn't work the same down there. Why don't you ask someone who actually knows something, like Father or your brother for he-"
"NO!" She snaps, "I… ugh! I'm not doing this for fun, you know? Something's going on and I'm trying to get to the bottom of it. The Fathers, I can't go to them at all for this. They can't know we're doing anything. Especially my brother. This has to be between just you and me."
That forces a pause. "Lo-Ru," you say, carefully, "what the hell are you dragging me into?"
The ravenette flicks her fingers down, tossing her hair out to one side. It fans out, soft strands of ebony reaching out before gently falling behind her to reveal a thick tome in her hands. Across its cover scrawls the Old Tongue, a familiar pattern engraved into its face:
כִּשׁוּף לֵב טָהוֹר
"I wanted to know why," she says, setting the book onto the glass case. "Why the Tainted could hide so well. Why ten years ago they were supposedly obvious, yet now anyone who didn't know the truth would mistake you for a normal human."
You bristle at that. "And, what, you found a book that pointed to the Labyrinth and said 'here be answers?'"
"You know, I already miss when I was the bitch and you didn't ask questions," jade orbs glare at you.
You shrug, a smug warmth suffusing you as she grumbles.
"Anyways," she continues, "what I found in that search was this history book. It was pure luck I came across it. Old Tongue works aren't supposed to be in the main library, but it somehow wound up in my stack. Look, here," she sifts through the pages, landing barely a quarter way through its text. "It describes this group of people called the Tame'. These, 'taw-may,' literally 'the Defiled,' are something like the precursors to the Tainted. But the important thing," she points to a random line on the parchment, "is this bit here.
"'After the Demon Throne's defeat did the first sightings of the Defiled occur. Seen mostly among bandits, they were grotesque creatures, partly-Man, partly-Demon. They attacked the scholars who studied the Throne and who would later found Temple City. Some Defiled were also discovered among raid survivors, changing after a few days in the City, then only a camp-town. Strangely, this phenomena seemed isolated to Zak, and remains that way up to the time of this writing.'" Viridian orbs shift towards you, searching your face.
"Okay," you start, "since when can you read Old Tongue? I thought only the top of the Order could learn that stuff."
"Two words: family politics," she swipes her hand through the air, brushing off your question as if that explained it, "And I'm just barely conversational, but that's not important. Did you catch the odd part in there?"
You think over what she said. "Well, I've definitely never heard of any Demon Throne before."
"And yet, this text implies it was some sort of big deal, that Taints didn't even exist until it was destroyed. Plus," Lo-Ru pokes a word a few times, "it goes further to state Temple City started as a research station dedicated to studying it."
Your brow furrows tight. "Hold up, wasn't the City built as a sanctuary to study Spiritual Magic? With a major focus on figuring out the Taint?"
"Not according to this," the ravenette closes the tome with a light thud. "The settlers apparently were unaware of the Taint's existence until they'd already formed a community large enough to attract raiders. How they got the Taint is a mystery, but even so, this contradicts a so much of what the Order has taught us."
"Are you trying to tell me that there's some sort of conspiracy going on?"
"I'm saying that this book makes everything highly suspect." She pulls the book back, placing it in an empty spot on the shelf behind her.
You stand there for a moment, mulling over it all. The City, the Taint, the Order, is none of what you've been taught true? It's just one book, and it's entirely possible Lo-Ru mistranslated it. But even then, you've known there's more to the mark on your chest than what you've been told. Maybe this little hint, this Throne, could point you in the right direction?
"How does any of this relate to the Labyrinth?" You break the silence with a question, trying to tie the disparate pieces together. "What makes you think you'll figure out anything more by going down that foxhole?"
The woman sighs. Her shoulders droop for a moment, tired. "I think," she starts, still facing the shelf, "maybe, just maybe, that if that Throne still exists somewhere, it'd have to be kept somewhere incredibly secret and ridiculously safe. And the only reasonable place I can think of that matches that criteria is the eldritch network right beneath our feet." She turns, face schooled flat. "I can't trust anyone high in the Synagogue with this, if I'm right then they're probably perpetuating the masquerade anyways. The other Maidens wouldn't believe me, or more likely would refuse to delve into a restricted area and rat me out. You're the only one to jump into the deep and come back. Like it or not if I want to find the truth, you're all I've got."
You turn away. "How do I know this isn't just an excuse for you to get some sort of revenge on me? That you won't do something while we're down there?"
"Oh, trust me, the thought has crossed my mind," She chuckles nervously as she says it. "But it's not worth it. I'd probably get lost down there without you, a-and I already promised D-den I'd keep my hands off you." She swallows, shaky. "T-trust me, you'll be fine."
Your eyes don't meet hers, finding themselves drawn instead towards the far wall. Lo-Ru had said something to that effect during the Incident, hadn't she? You would have thought she was just saying whatever she thought would save her skin. Maybe it had more of an effect than you realized.
Maybe she was afraid he'd finish the job if she broke her word.
Shuffling feet draws your attention to the ravenette, who moves towards one of the artifacts. It's the one that caught your eye before, a simple turquoise gem hooked to a golden chain. Colors swirl in its center, twisting lazily about. Its display is isolated from the others, sat out of immediate attention against the furthest wall from the entrance.
"Do you remember, ten years ago?" the other woman asks, staring at the necklace.
There's only one memory she could be referring too. "Of course I do, how could I forget?"
"Incident Number One," she says, almost wistfully. "You know I'd never gotten in trouble for anything before that?"
"I find that incredibly unbelievable. You've been on Naomi's bad side for almost as long as I have."
"It's true," she traces a finger against the glass. "I was little-miss-perfect up until I came here. Never talked back, never argued, never got in fights or disobeyed anyone. Then some silly little girl with blue hair came along, and drew some personality out of me." She snickers. "Father said you corrupted me, but Loammi said he liked me better with a little rebellious spirit."
You chuckle. "Bet he changed his mind after he found out what we were up to."
"He couldn't decide whether to be proud or furious." A laugh escapes the ravenette's lips. A rich, genuine laugh, not the cackling sound you're used to hearing. "To think, such a pretty little trinket was such a terrifying artifact."
You walk up beside her, gazing at the elegant, deadly jewelry. "It didn't feel very dangerous at all. It just felt… warm, I guess." The details came easy, despite how long it'd been. You still recall that comfortable weight against your chest and the gentle glow that seemed to radiate into your body. How the colors seemed to dance when you wore it, all those years ago. Would it still dance, if you wore it now?
"I hate to admit it, but it looked beautiful on you," you look at the other Maiden with surprise. "It was almost like it was made just for you. Or that you were born to wear it." She shrugs. "Maybe it's just the way Angelic artifacts are." She catches you staring. "What?"
You look back at the artifact, still a little stunned. "I just didn't expect you of all people to compliment me, is all."
"I said the necklace was beautiful, not you. Don't go twisting my words on me."
"Bitch."
"Stain."
You both huff your annoyance. Even so, you can't help the creeping tug of your lips upward. It's been a long time since you've been able to just talk to someone like this. You miss it, a little. Even if it is with a bitch like Lo-Ru.
"We had some crazy adventures back then," you note.
She nods. "We sure did." A silence falls between you after that, not awkward or comfortable, simply there.
"It's been a long time since then," she begins, speaking slow and deliberate. "Nine years and some change. We've both grown. We've both changed. I'm not going to ask for things to go back to the way they were. I'm not going to ask you to forgive me for all the shit I did, nor just forget it so we can work together. Any excuse I give in that vein is probably too selfish to accept anyways."
She sighs, going from a young adult to almost twice her age in an instant. You can see the bags under her eyes from the sleepless nights, the faint stains of tears that she tried to rub away before anybody saw, even that slight shake from earlier remains. In your professional opinion, she looks like shit.
"All I ask is that you help me with this one thing," she continues, voice devoid of the earlier nostalgia. "You help me find the Demon Throne inside the Labyrinth, and you'll never have to see me again. I'll investigate the rest on my own, and you won't have to deal with me anymore. No more abuse, no more predation, no more talks or favors from nowhere, nothing. You help me with this, and we're done. For good, if you want."
She closes her eyes, taking in another deep breath. "So, Anna, what'll it be. You in? Or out?"
-:-:-;-:-:-
[] Ask More Questions / Alter Deal (Please write-in)
[] "I'm In."
[] "I'm out."
EDIT: Welcome Newbies! Glad you could join us. There's popcorn on the table as well as a complimentary bucket of flame retardant, courtesy of the Anna Disaster Prevention Committee. This is a precautionary measure; crashing, burning, flaming, weeping, gnashing, shipping, raging, and arguing are not expected but may yet occur anyways. Please enjoy the show.
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