Park

Floyd

"Hmmmm?" Mareena hums. She hops closer to the retreated Freya, and proceeds to circle around her like a shark. "True, a slighted goddess is a truly dangerous thing. But the oracles served the god of light. And..." She glances at Freya's legs, then jabs her in the exposed midriff. "The Great Mareena seems to recall the goddess in question being on the modest side."

"Ah!"

"Besides, was the earlier gift of prophecy not already a worthy offering? Or would you have preferred THE GREAT MAREENA not catch you" - Mareena scoops Freya up - "after you knocked yourself off, hm?"

"That's..."

"Oh, it would have been fine," Mareena assures her, swinging around. "With your key, you would have survived a fall from that height. But it would have hurt. So you don't have to thank Mareena. Bu-u-u-ut, what do you think Floyd? Should the grey-eyed goddess be dropped next time?"

Floyd

"Aw, not even one splat?" Mareena asks. "Or maybe a splash?"

"Don't even think about it," Freya says.

"But you're even dressed for it!"

Freya blinks. "Wait, how do you even know about that?" She struggles in Mareena's grip for a moment.

Mareena laughs. "No worry, no worries. The Great Mareena is not spying on you. Your sister mentioned it."

"O-oh." Freya calms down. "Wait, why did she-"

"Because she is a frequent customer!" Mareena laughs again. "Hm. It is not safe to go back to the others. We can only wait. But, they will be fine. Fionn should be awake again."

"So, what? We just sit here and wait?" Freya asks.

Sam

"Hm? Competitive games mostly. Fighting games. Shooters. Stuff like that. Why?"


Leia, Nora

You come out of the Otherworld into the forest, stumbling out in a small clear patch near a large rock.  You can hear a creek bubbling not far away.  Leia knows this play, and thinks she could probably get here herself.  Nora, on the other hand, has no idea where she is.

Natsumi takes a few steps towards the rock as she inactivates her key.  She flops down on the rock and stretches out.  "Ha...  Well.  That could've gone worse.  Much worse!  Right?"  She nods to herself.  "Fionn should be better now..."

Sam

"I was just asking because it's nice to meet a fellow gamer,".

"I like to play games to,". "Mostly RPGs, action, adventure type games,". "Well there is this one fighting game I like to play,". "It's really the only one I am any decent at,".

"It's about these warriors who fighting over a cursed sword,". "Some want to destroy it,". "Some want the power for its self,". "It's called (Dating Sim version of Soul Caliber) that's really the only fighting game I play,". "I wouldn't say I am competitive though,".

Sam

"Oh, yeah.  That game.  I've played it a few times.


Leia, Nora

"Oh, right!" Natsumi hops up at what Nora says and takes out her phone.  "I'll message them."

She taps at her phone for a bit, then looks up.  "Watch... the portal?  Um, yeah...  I guess we should probably watch it for a few minutes in case something followed us.  But we do have to sleep, and there's other portals, we can't really sit and watch them all all day every day.  Right?"


Floyd

Leia's phone buzzes.  "Oh...  OK, enough playing around, put me down."

"Fi-i-i-i-ine."  Mareena sets her down gently.

"The others are out!  And Natsumi says Fionn snapped out of it."

Leia, Nora

"But then whoever gets dropped off last has to go home alone," Natsumi says.  "We can at least go to the bus together!  Um...  Or L-Person can stay at my house!"


Floyd

Floyd who had been staring out at the night sky breaths a sigh of relief "That's good we did it and we didn't even need divine intervention....hey Mareena you knew Leia and Natsumi would be out tonight didn't you?"

"Oh, most definitely! Turtledove was not surprised in the least, no!"

Floyd smiles and nods "For someone who likes to seem like you're just messing with everyone you sure do keep a good eye on things.....now....what is this about splashing and Raine?"

"Hmmmm, Raine mentioned her sister enjoys throwing people into the river nearby." Mareena crosses her arms. "Isn't that right, Freya?"

"Uh... Not as a rule, but it's happened a few times for various reasons?"

"What is it with this town and tossing people into water?"

"It's tradition!" Mareena says with her brightest smile.

"Tradition? What kind of tradition is that!?"

"Oh, not the happiest. People used to do it for not-the-best reasons, but then that stopped. And a few years later it became an annual festival-tradition."

"Huh." Freya stares in disbelief. "I've lived here my whole life, and I have no idea what you mean."

"Ask your father, then! The festival stopped being celebrated... hm... 20, 30 years ago, was it?"

"Interesting keeping town culture alive and well without even knowing about it, how about that? I doubt they used mall fountains back in the day though"

"Would you believe it's how they inaugurated the mall 50 years ago?"


"Would I believe that hmmmmm...." Floyd stares into Marrena's eyes a moment before nodding "Sure, I mean even if you're messing with me there's no harm in it"

Mareena raises her arms in a shrug. "Who-o-o-o-o knows."

Freya stares. "Y... You know."

Floyd yawns "But, how can we know for sure what she knows besides asking. Which door did the others leave from?"

"The one by the big rock. Hmmmm, if you're not interested in my teasing or helping me toss Freya..."

"He is not."

Floyd scratches the back of his head nervously "Yeeeeeeah as much as I'd love to participate in the antics I think I've put her through enough for one night"

"...then did you not find what I said curious? Hmmmm, hmmmmmmmm?"

"If the mall is tied to the Soul Labyrinth but it hasn't been around for but a few decades... What does that mean?"

"That they built it on an old native american burial ground?"

"Oh, spooky idea! But no."

"I don't know what malls have to do with souls in the first place.... Are you saying then that where the doors open can change?"

"Soul aether is about connections between people! And where do more total strangers interact regularly than at the mall? And... maybe! I dunno what it means. I wasn't around back then. Maybe it was tied to somewhere else soul-y. Or maybe soul aether didn't even exist?"

"Bars, The Internet, Venues but, the rest seems like a question for ummm.... Sappho right? I don't know if new Aether starts existing but, I also don't know anything about Aether so"

"Yes, Sappho. I wonder if she even knows who that is or what she's famous for or just heard the name..."


Leia, Nora, Floyd

"Who is this 'Sappho' anyway?" Freya is asking just as the others arrive.

"Oh, Mareena could tell you, but it would be more fun to let you look it up yourself.  Hello, everyone.  Are you OK?  Did you get to talk to the nice tree?"