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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[ 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.