psychedelica | wednesday

wednesday

[ after finding his mirror displaced, Hikage's been on the lookout for any other items he might have spontaneously misplaced and not realized. Which is really the only reason he has to go into the puppet theater. Does anyone even go in here unless they have to?!

Probably not. So maybe he's enlisted Belph's help in looking for things, if he has no other reason to be here. Hikage's about to leave when he finally notices his own puppet, strung high up towards the ceiling, and with something strange reflecting right stuck to its face. ]

... Do you see that?

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[the puppet theatre sucks, but at least nothing's on fire this time?? hopefully.]

Depends on what you mean by "that", but yeah, probably.

Up there.

[ pointing!! to the creepy hikage doll currently hanging far above them from the ceiling. There's definitely something shiny on it. ]

That's not usually there.

... Nope, guess not. [a beat.] So, uh, what about it?

... What do you mean, what about it? It probably belongs to one of us, whatever it is. Anyway, I don't like having things stuck in that puppet.

[ this explains why his eye has been hurting... ]

Let's get it down.

It's your puppet, man.

[he's lazy!! ... but if hikage needs assistance, he'll help.]

... You're just as useless as you were back then.

[ on the first day they met, he was like this, too... but fine. Hikage starts climbing up to the catwalk so that he can get a better look at the puppet. It's still way too far away for him to reach, even from up here, but he can see more clearly what's poking his eyeball - a shard of glass. More specifically, a shard of glass from a kaleidoscope. He recognizes it immediately. ]

... What's that doing here? [ a beat. ] Cover your ears. I'm going to shoot the rope.

... Shooting the rope seems a little drastic?

[ he gives Belph a tired look from up on the beams, calling down to him. ]

Do you have a better idea?

[he holds up his hands.]

Nah, you do as you do

Then don't complain.

[ here it goes. Hikage takes out his pistol, holding it before him with two hands - and, just as promised, fires it off at the rope. The gunshot is deafeningly loud, as gunshots usually are; fortunately, it seems like he's actually a crack shot with that gun. The bullet embeds itself somewhere in the castle wall, and the rope splits neatly in two, sending the Hikage puppet plummeting down to earth. It lands with a loud thud next to Belph. Hikage, on the other hand, is left wincing from the hard impact. ]

... I hate these things.

[ whatever was stuck in the puppet's eye seems to have fallen out, though, resting on the ground near the head. It's a shard of glass, a few inches long, and shining in every color of the rainbow. ]

[oops, maybe he should've caught the puppet. in his defence, he was covering his ears?]

At least it wasn't on fire?

[he crouches down to peer at the glass.]

[ that gets a short laugh out of him, at least. Shaking off the pain (although, he notes with annoyance, his eye still hurts), he clambers back down to the ground floor of the theater, hurrying over to where Belph is. ]

I thought so... It's a fragment.

[ while Belph peers, Hikage bends down to pick it up without hesitation - and, naturally, the moment his fingers curl around it, the world around them vanishes.

In its place is a new room - much smaller, with wooden walls and fine furniture. It's an old building, and it's illuminated by the sun shining through the windows rather than any electric lights. Their viewpoint is fairly low to the ground; before their eyes is a little girl's bedroom, adorned with pastel blankets and teddy bears and elegant decorations, and littered with books in various states of reading. In the center of it sits a girl who can't be much older than 6 or 7 with bobbed blonde hair and a pale complexion, book in hand, staring at them with a mixture of wariness and curiosity.

From today onward, think of him as your big brother.

There's a man standing next to them, much taller and older; they feel his hand slap against their back to make them stand up straighter. They don't like him. They don't trust him. But the girl's eyes are innocent. ]

... This again...

[ Hikage's thoughts will be vaguely audible to Belph, but the viewpoint stays where it is. ]

[well, this is unexpected.

belph's mind blanks for a moment, trying to wrap his head around what's happening. it's hard to tell for a moment, whether hikage's thoughts are of the past (his past?) or present.]

Uh... what?

[ The girl looks scared for a moment, looking up at them. The man standing at their side puts a hand on their other shoulder and tells her to say hello. He smells like cigar smoke.

Big brother... hello.

Her voice is timid, but bright. Their shoulders stiffen in surprise, and there's a sensation of seeing something unexpected, something warm and new. But then, they smile, a little awkwardly. Hikage's voice is what comes out - younger, but recognizable.

"Nice to meet you." ]

-- It's a memory. Just ignore it.

[ that's the real Hikage's voice now, sounding somewhat restrained as the memory dissipates; he's not super thrilled about sharing his memories, even with Belph, and he presses against the edge of -- wherever they are.

However, another memory soon begins taking shape... ]

[... his half-sister, then. belph remembers. we loved each other.

even if it's a simple memory, it's invasive; all the more so considering what kind of person hikage is. he closes his eyes.]

...

[and then, at the sound of a voice, he opens them again, startled.

"not so fast."

it's a male voice. the room is white, futuristic, and enclosed, with no windows—looking almost like a cell. there stands a girl, looking stricken. the view turns around—at the entrance is a man, with long blond hair. again, he speaks.

"I knew this would happen. I have been keeping an eye on you for this reason. you are being way too defiant, my dear belph."

belph's voice, now—uncharacteristically angry. "it was you who broke the promise in the first place, and you expect me to listen?"

"I have told you not to have any expectations. this is a world where you have to carve things with your own hands to get what you want. albec has failed me. I will not let that happen again. if you are not listening, then I will force you until you will."

for a moment, belph is quiet. then— "I remember that a long time ago you told me that my old man died because of radiation poisoning. how could he have died if we already had the vaccine?"

"..."

"I could guess even if you don't tell me, because I've experienced the same feeling just as he had ten years ago."

shock strikes the man's face. "belph, you...!"

in contrast, belph's tone is neutral. quiet, but steady. "if you don't want anything to happen to me—then let go of elcia. that's my only wish."

"... like father, like son." the man's eyes narrow, before closing. "is this fate? ... very well. I will let her off. but you have to remain here."

"I didn't intend to leave in the first place. there's no place for me to run, anyway."

in the present, belph watches, his expression unreadable.]

[ Hikage's revealed much of himself to Belph; on the other hand, Belph's told Hikage almost nothing about himself, and so, he has no idea what could be going on here. He doesn't recognize the room, the people, or the subject being discussed.

The guess he can make isn't good. Was Belph part of some experiment? His father, too?

For the moment, he keeps his mouth shut, waiting for the dream to continue or for the bubble to burst. ]

[the attention turns from the man to the girl who's been watching this exchange.

"elcia... you're free to go," belph says. "this is probably the last time we'll ever see each other. but I'm sure you can handle anything without me."

a voice, desperate. "you're not going to tell me everything even 'til the very end, are you?"

"I've told you everything. it's up to you to believe me."

"you know what? I've never believed you. not even once."

for a moment, belph is quiet. when he replies, there's fondness in his voice.

"that's my elcia."

and with that, the memory fades, and the bubble bursts. belph pauses, and then, as if that wasn't just a massive invasion of privacy—]

Well, that was fun.

[ it sure was. Hikage is glad he's the one who breaks the silence, because he's not entirely sure what to say about it all. He's standing there with the rainbow shard in one hand and realizing that it probably wasn't even worth the trouble, in retrospect; the desire to get it back was so hard-wired into him that he simply didn't think about it. ]

... Did you see her again?

[ might as well ask. ]

[...]

That would go against the point of what I was trying to accomplish, so no.

[ it's obvious just from looking at Hikage that he has a hundred questions he'd like to ask. In the old days, it would be simple to get the answers he wanted; here, though, he's the same as any other lost soul, despite the way his eye aches and burns. ]

Me neither.

[ but that's all he says; he doesn't pry. With a dismissive shake of his head, he tucks the kaleidoscope fragment into his pocket. ]

... Forget it. This was a waste of our efforts.

Well, at least you got something out of it, right?

[whatever the hell that is.]

It's not worth anything by itself.

[ and there are a lot of pieces... ]

We'll see if I can do anything with it.

What's it for, anyway?

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