[ALERT ALERT. THIS LOG HAS A TRIGGER WARNING.]
ALAIS here. This log is rather heavy and has some discussions of suicide and murder contained within. Please take care of yourself first if you cannot handle such topics. If you need a version that does not include these triggers, please let me know in the Discord server, and I will summarize. I apologize in advance.
Spider enters the room and sits down pulling the framed photo she took from Sandra’s basement out of her pocket. She looks at it wondering why Sandra had this on the door of all places.
It's a small wooden photoframe, rather basic in quality. Spider notices that the photo can be removed from it pretty easily. The photo itself seems like a polaroid.
Curious Spider tilts her head and removes the photo.
On the back, she notices some rather neat writing in blue pen.
|
Date - April 25, 2013 Dear Luna, A miracle is all I can hope for now. If you ever find this, I'm sorry we couldn't finalize our marriage. I love you, Luna. - Your Wife, Jane |
Underneath the letter, the phrase I wonder who put the enchantment up there. it would've needed to be someone with direct access to the house is written in black ink, and it's not in the same handwriting as the note.
Spider frowns at the phrase, her curiosity piqued by it. She then slips the photo back and goes to place it on the coffee table. Spider then messages Luna’s Mind to ask about it.
[Location Tag - The Hangout Spot - Inside Luna’s Mind]
Luna - still trying to get over last week atm
Viper - What happened last week? I was a little busy with stuff
Luna - So we went on another quest to clear out a basement of rats with a creature of legend leading it, but when we got there, it was in my old house that apparently someone bought and fixed up. In the battle, I apparently lost it. I barely remember anything about the fight itself, just that i felt a rage that i haven't felt in a long time. After that, we found what the rats were after, and it was... stuff from my past that the current homeowner had kept locked away. It was really weird though, it's like a lot of it had writing on it that i never saw before.
And.. apparently there was a remnant of some magic on the skylight we had in the living room. I'm not... entirely sure about what it was.
so right now i can't figure out if this Sandra McCormick lady is just really creepy or is trying to help me? i'm really uncomfortable.
Viper - Ah, that sounds like a lot....did someone go with you? Maybe they know something?
Luna - Spider went with me
Viper - Well did they notice anything happening?
Luna - I was out of my mind Viper. Did you notice anything Spi?
Spider - Well she called you by your number for starts, I took a photo and you had some kind of episode when I gave it to you
And apparently there's some magic on the skylight that triggers an assassination mode
Luna - wh
WHAT
the fuck
...
that explains something then.
Spider - Tell me about it
You were acting really strange in the basement
Luna - I don't remember any of it
I just remember waking up with my chest opened up and me covered in blood
As for before that happened, i remember hearing something in the living room. It was like whispers.
I stayed completely silent trying to hear them, but it was no use.
And then as soon as we hit the basement floor, i--
Spider - You went feral, I had to pry the rat thing off you and then I nicked it's crown to get it to leave
Then we found that cupboard full of your stuff
Luna - the whispers-- theywere familiarto em
me
idonteven know why it attackedme
ive never met sabertail in my life.
Spider - You were slaughtering the other rats at the time so..
Luna - you did want a cat for this quest…
Spider - Yeah I did
Luna - but no i dont remember any of that.
i remember the gushing of blood
i remember the whispers
i remember seeing krystal's body in the room
Spider - What?
Luna - i saw her body
Spider - Well now I feel bad
Luna - its a contradiction to the facts.
i-- i dont know anymore.
i just remember seeing her body and a figure surrounding it, and so i attacked it to protect her
didn't realize i was attacking sabertail's fam
Spider - On the picture I took there was a note on the back, it's in the living room if you want to read it
Luna - no, i mean i saw her body in the basement
in whatever the fuck happened, it's the only thing i remember
Spider - Yeah and the note mentioned something about the moon taking her back in 2013 so maybe it's connected?
Luna -,,,
you say its in the living room?
uh i'll go check, one moment please
------
Luna walks out from the hallway and into the but very uncalmly. "What-- what do you mean the full moon." She picks up the photograph as her eyes turn amethyst purple then reads it over. "Wh-- what the fuck. I--" Krystal looks nervous as hell.
Spider looks over noting the purple eyes and the nervous expression, "so you remember writing this?"
"I-- no, I don't remember writing this. Why would I? I didn't know that was the night I was going to die??? That makes it sound like it was a premeditated murder by her. The picture we took together that morning, yeah we did that, you can see the little timestamped date on the photograph." The photograph was indeed taken on April 25, 2013 according to the date. "But... we- I- This makes no sense."
"No it doesn't, and the bit below makes even less sense." Spider sighs leaning back in their chair.
Krystal is leaning back into the couch looking completely dismayed. "I don't get it. It's like. Whoever wrote this is trying to solve things? Like let's be honest here, I don't even know who killed me."
Spider looks at Krystal for a second, an idea in her head that she doesn't really want to voice.
Krystal looks back, "Spider?"
Spider sighs heavily then licks her lips anxiously, "you said it sounded like whoever wrote it was setting Luna up, ..that's not how I interpreted it."
Krystal tilts her head, "then how are you understanding it? I know what I saw that night."
"Bear in mind I know fuck all other than what I've read from that note and bits that you and Luna have mentioned, so this is probably way off the mark but are you sure you didn't just do it yourself?"
Krystal is quiet for a concerning amount of time before she responds, her voice strained, "How do you reason? Mind you, I am not confirming anything. As far as I'm aware, I was murdered."
Spider shrugs trying feign nonchalance to ease both the tension and her own rising uncomfortableness, "just how it reads to me, bits like 'i want you to remember me for who I am' the fact you had a set time and that it was your final day and that bit about the miracle." She pauses and with a bitter chuckle adds, "Christ knows I've been there."
"You see, I agree with you. All of this from someone who didn't know me, such as the general public or maybe the police, would probably reason my death was an assisted suicide. The problem is, that note, that's not my handwriting. I couldn't have written that. Whoever planned this all out wanted to hide the fact it was a homicide." Krystal reason aloud. "You said it yourself, Spider, you barely know anything aside from what you read from that note and the bits we mentioned."
Spider's eyes flick down to her lap as she thinks it over then looks up with a nod, "you said it weren't your writing?"
"Correct. I don't have fancy cursive like that. Want me to prove it?" Krystal snaps her love's portal bag from the closet and reaches in. It takes her a couple moments and some strained digging into something that seems to reach under the floor to grab a book. "My evidence is my diary. Luna ain't the only diary holder here.” She hands it to Spider. It's a rather plain and well-worn college ruled notebook.
Spider raises an eyebrow and flicks to a random page.
The date is December 15, 2001.
It reads: Today was my first encounter with Sol's new proj. They're so cuteeeeee OMG. I don't get it, but they're happy together. Sol wants me to work with them with Tobe, but idk, what am i gonna do with a buncha bipedal catz?
The handwriting is frankly messy and rather hard to read. It looks like Jane tried to write neatly, but it looks like a ton of squiggles at the worst. Other entries have this same writing, but the grammar and spelling gradually gets better.
Spider takes a moment to read the entry then nods shutting the book, "yeah it's definitely not yours."
She takes the notebook back with a smile and places it back into the Portal Bag, "yeah. This was the diary my therapist asked me to keep when I was younger, but I couldn't get rid of it. Too many good memories and a couple bad ones here or there, but as they said, 'having both good and bad times is healthy' or something like that. That's where I got the whole idea of having Luna keep a diary herself. The Diary of the Archivist Catgirl as I like to call it." Krystal giggles as she blatantly title drops, her tone seeming much more relaxed.
Somewhere unbeknownst to the occupants of the room the credits roll as Spider simply gives a small smile responding with, "so assuming there in't a spell or summat that changes your writing, this note should be pretty useful."
Krystal sighs, her mood slowly returning to its status quo, "I hope so anyway. You'd think I'd have accepted my fate ages ago, but no. I would love some closure on this saga. At least an answer as to why I was targeted. Or even just by whom."
As she slumps into the couch, her eyes return to their usual sapphire blue signalling Luna taking over once more. "I'll show her." Luna smiles gently, "hopefully we can figure this out. The truth has to be out there somewhere."
Spider nods and gets up, as she stretches several pops can be heard, "hopefully, for now Im going to head off give you two some space."
"Thanks. Take care Spi," she says and waves with a slight tired smile
Spider twitches an ear in acknowledgement and walks into the hallway.
----------------------
Krystal - I don't get it. Why would someone write a note like that?
It makes no sense. I wouldn't have known when I was going to die. I didn't know there was an enchantment in the skylight. And on top of that, who the hell even had access to my skylight? It was me and Lunie back then. Our neighbors were the Maxwells. And the only other person who had access was... Toby.
He had access to the house as a whole even if we were separated.
I knew my death was coming. That part was certain; it was between an assassination by FMS or through my mana running out. I was on death's door no matter what, so we designed our plan to get my soul with Lunie's so I could continue to protect her mind.
Tsukuyomi - I do hope you're not expecting me to be behind your death correct?
Krystal - YOU.
Yes, I do fucking believe you were the one who ordered my death.
Tsu - wasn't my idea.
I may have made the final decision, but let's just say I wasn't doing this alone. I had absolutely no intention of ending you. No reason to at that. You weren't worth my time!
I had no choice.
You stated it yoursef, you were on death's door no matter what? Why would I cause my own creation harm? Luna and I may not see eye to eye, and I absolutely deserve any backlash or hate. I should rephrase my previous assertion: it was my fault, but it wasn't my fault alone.
Krystal - Then if you didn't do it, who did?
who the fuck killed me?
Tsu - ...I do not know. I received a direction from the Many Gods Above. As you are aware, I serve them. My Church, cult, whatever you wish to call it, were the servants of the Gods. We did their bidding.
I did it for them. Did it for the betterment of the Magickas.
if you wish to accuse someone, accuse the Gods.
Krystal - How do I do that? We don't even know if they exist! For all I know, you're lying to me right this FUCKING MINUTE.
Tsu - If you do not trust me, I do not blame you. I have not had any access to the Many Gods Above in months. Not since Nova took over. Nova is the new Guardians of the Gods. They serve them directly. They stole my job. They stole my role in the world. They stole my adopted son. Besides, why would I tell you this if I wasn't being factual Jane? I have zero motive to further conceal the truth.
Right, back to what I originally came here for. Luna, are you present?
Luna - You're in my mind so yes. I can't escape even if I wanted to. Is this about that letter?
Tsu - correct. It's a long story, so allow me to begin from the... beginning. Gods damn it.
It all started a week ago. I was relaxing at my home as one does on a Tuesday when I got a knock on the door. Mind you, we're not citizens of Fairview. Not having a birth certificate or a social security card makes getting an ID difficult; adding on, I doubt the government will accept our plea that we come from another world entirely, so a Work Visa is out of the question. They do have the same cash system at least so we can roll with that. Anyway, it was the mail carrier bringing us mail. Understand that our house does not get mail. We're currently off in the middle of the forest somewhere, so how they got our address is beyond me.
Luna - Wait what? Where the hell in the forest are you?
Tsu - About a ten minute walk from you and that Norn lady. Honestly, if you had just tried walking to our house, you'd see it. I'm asking you to stop teleporting everywhere Luna.
Luna - Nah, I like my magic.
Tsu - I do as well, but a walk is good exercise.
Luna - Get on with it please. What's with my processing speed?
Tsu - Right. The letter. Despite the lack of basic envelope features, such as a return address, I could tell it was from Nova Heart - specifically Supernova Arcade. It was basically a well-written and not remotely thinly veiled threat. One targeting you Luna. It requested my presence of mind and body at Nova Tower back in our Home World. I believe I requested an A.L. of the adventure. Is it being processed?
ALAIS - Affirmative. It should be out soon.
Tsu - To make a long story short, it was a red herring. No one at Nova, not even my son Cha-- ugh, Sirius, knew anything about this letter or any threats. Is it possible that Spark/Antares has a plan that he's not telling Alexander? Of course. But if they're anything like my Full Moon Syndicate, then Spark is just like me. We talk. We don't keep things under wraps for long, especially if they're connected to experiments, the Many Gods Above, and you Luna. Call it a soul read, I have a feeling he's very much like I was back then. A cult that isn't even the main focus of his plan, one that exists solely for power. A group of deities calling the shots. In fact, I can confirm that Alexander, gods bless his tired soul, is complaining about him. He's nowhere near as bad as you think Luna.
Luna - You say that and how many times has he tried to kill me?
Tsu - Four.
Luna - Yes four too many mom.
Tsu - Do not call me mom, please. I do not deserve that. My point of the matter is, I do not know what Nova is planning. Alexander does not know either. It is something that is affecting you internally. Perhaps that Sandra McCormick woman is also part of this plan as well.
Luna - ...how.
Tsu - So I did a little bit of digging into the ADMINship of Nova Heart. She is an ADMIN. ADMIN Sagittarius - Admin of Archival Efforts.
Luna - Wait hang on. I thought Polaris was archival efforts.
Tsu - Correct. Polaris is married to Sagittarius. They do the job together.
Luna - ...What the FUCK
So what do I do?
I'm basically stuck here until something fucked happens to my mind?
Tsu - We do not know how to proceed. Going in guns ablaze would just give Nova more reason to strike. We need to play this carefully.
Sol - Indeed. Currently we are what the kids call, "screwed"
Luna - the kids???
Tsu - Don't mind him Luna.
Krystal - So we're at least making progress.
I just. Don't know where we go from here
It's honestly scary as hell.
Tsu - I don't blame you Jane. For what it is worth, I wish I had never signed that order. I cannot take back my crimes in the past, but I can attempt to at least assist with bringing those who ultimately caused this to justice.
Krystal - Ain't it just the Many Gods Above?
Tsu - Yes, but it is also not that easy. Nobody knows who they are. We do not have a picture associated with them. We do not have identity. They are Many for a reason.
Krystal - To conceal their true identity?
Tsu - To hide in the shadows.
Krystal - ... same thing