Laios's Heart Game

[myhungryass]

It's dark, and you are not quite conscious. You have the sense that you are climbing; that you have been climbing for a long time. You can feel the burn in your thighs, the ache in your calves. You're a little too hot, and what you're wearing is a little too heavy. You have the sense of taking a last weary, heaving step onto a plateau.



You find yourself in a dark, blank place, dominated by a huge, dead monster, building sized, as big as a tower. Each of its enormous heads that you can see laid out before you is easily the size of a ballroom. There is blood on its lips and nostrils, blood crusted around its empty eye-sockets, but there is a feeling of hollowness about it. On second thought, you're not quite sure if it's a corpse or a moult.

There is no sign of the stairs you vaguely remember climbing. You are standing on the surface of some opaque black liquid. It feels almost completely solid under your feet, springy, but your footsteps leave ripples spreading out in rings... all around you is a velvety, impenetrable darkness. The only thing you can see is the vast, lifeless beast in front of you, illuminated as if by spotlights, though no actual light-source can be found.

Its orifices are mostly clogged with blood, but somehow, as you stare at it, one vaulted nostril on the wolf's head begins to seem like an archway... the lolling tongue hanging out of the rhinoceros's head like an entry ramp... the exposed, hollow eye-socket on the eagle's head like a portal...

Of course, if you're not quite ready to step inside a monster, you could keep walking around its body and see what you find.

Comments

[myhungryass]

This version of her seems lucid and helpful, as long as she'a asked direct, to-the-point questions. She explains things in a straightforward way and will clarify as needed—a methodical teacher. She's also quick to criticize Laios if given the chance. She seems very aware of his flaws and weaknesses, and a bit exasperated with any points of failure.

If Marcille takes exception with this portrayal of herself to her doppleganger's face, she will get to hear exactly what Laios thinks of her in plain language: "You're one of his most important people in any world, but right now, he can't stop worrying about how you don't trust him. He felt so happy when he saw your dream, and you told him you're glad to be friends, and he understands that you need hard evidence to believe anything bad about the Winged Lion, after he helped you so much. But he can't stop thinking about how that evidence might make you feel, and whether or not he was right to try to warn you."

She'll also explain her role a little more specifically. "I'm not you. I'm not even exactly the way Laios sees you, as a person. But you're one of the smartest people he knows. When there's someone here to see it, yours is the face he puts on the part of himself that needs to methodically analyze rules and facts. The part that thinks critically and can actually be self-aware. The part that worries, the part that stops to question if he's doing the right thing or not."

She'll probably send Marcille on to pick up a couple untaken memories, if she's interested in that, or tell her that there's a fourth head out back of the big monster... "That's where he's loneliest."

[misenplaits]

She probably does take a slight bit of exception, because she feels like she doesn't actually complain about Laios that much. She'll be mollified a little to know that this isn't actually meant to be her but his personification of the part of him that thinks critically. She likes the idea that she's his critical thinking.

She'll definitely want to get him his untaken memories, though she'll be worried since one of them is the winged lion. And of course she'll go and visit the fourth head, taking the Moon House shortcut... and be very Concerned that she now knows Far Too Much about Demon Owl Cloacas.

She will fuss a lot over Scruffy Laios and make him let her give him a hair cut because really!!!

[myhungryass]

She can probably even find shears, soap and a waterskin in the wagon, if she expects to! He's so dirty Marcille. He has fleas. He's also horribly emaciated. It's a bad scene.

He looks significantly better after she cleans him up.

[misenplaits]

He is getting SO MUCH SCOLDING for letting himself get in this state. Really, Laios! Also he needs to eat more. He is far too skinny. He needs pasta!!!

[myhungryass]

The atmosphere is lightening up as she fusses over him... by this point, he has presumably recognized her. He laughs sheepishly about his appearance and about the pasta and tells her not to worry. Things get better after this. Soon he'll go visit Falin, and she'll go to the dungeon with him, and he'll get to meet Marcille—!

This is all in the past, after all. He's grateful to her for reminding him.

(If she goes scrounging around the caravan, she can probably find him some food, too, even if it's not pasta.)

[misenplaits]

She will. Get fed, idiot.

[myhungryass]

He looks absurdly touched when she hands him his portion, and when he takes the first bite, he actually just. Starts crying.

[misenplaits]

Laios... what is she going to do with you?

[myhungryass]

"It's... it's good. It tastes really good." He wipes his tears hastily. "Thank you, Marcille."

[misenplaits]

She hugs him, because he's clean now.

"I'm going to find the present you and return your memories, okay? And if you do have proof about the winged lion I'll listen."

She heard what Sun House sounds like.

[myhungryass]

He hugs her back! Polite about it, but seeming genuinely pleased and comforted.

And he nods, grateful. "I feel bad for stressing you out about that... I just didn't want to hide it from you. Hopefully we'll both properly remember whatever really happened soon. Maybe returning those memories will even help with that."

[misenplaits]

"I hope so."

She heads back inside and tries to see if Laios is in Hen House and finds out about him having someone who's like a papa here. And then she asks the other Marcille where real Laios is hiding.

[myhungryass]

The other Marcille will indicate that, knowing Laios, he's probably in the stomach. And only one of those heads had a mouth entrance...

To the rhino?

[misenplaits]

To the rhino. Siiiiiiigh.

[myhungryass]

The tongue is a little spongy underfoot, but it makes a surprisingly good ramp. As she steps between the monster's teeth, the smell of blood gets heavier and stronger... but also more appetizing.

Her stomach growls. Her mouth floods with saliva. It smells good in here. As she walks into the red cavern of its mouth, she'll only grow hungrier.

Strangely, it's better lit in here than it was outside. The walls of the mouth are vivid pink and red, the clear pathway down the esophagus easy to see.

As soon as she steps up to it, there's an enormous gulp, all around her, and she's swallowed. There's nothing she can do. One moment she's pushing carefully forward, and the next she's sliding helplessly, rushing along, squeezed down by that powerful contraction of muscle, slick fluid making it impossible to find purchase.

As she's dragged along, a memory washes over her.

She lands with a thump in a dark, cavernous space, on a flagstone floor. Before her are three large archways. Between her and the archways sits a familiar figure.

It's Kabru...? He is almost cross-legged, one knee up with the foot planted on the floor. There's a slightly dangerous light in his blue eyes. Also, there's a big ol' hickey on his neck and he is not wearing a shirt.

[misenplaits]

MARCILLE GOES BEET RED AND TELLS HIM TO PUT ON A SHIRT.

[myhungryass]

If she wants him to put on a shirt, one will materialize for her—he'll pull it out from behind his back and put it on, laughing.

[misenplaits]

GOOD. She doesn't care if he's dating Laios and this is Laios' dream. He still should be decent when other people are around!!! What if Mordi was in this dream?

[myhungryass]

He really does not seem worried about this, but he'll do what she wants in the moment.

[misenplaits]

THANK YOU.

After he puts on a shirt and gets decent, she'll ask where Laios is and after being informed what the gates are, she'll head directly into the middle. And yes, touch the delicious candy-like gem.

"... I should have known you'd look like this," she says exasperatedly when she sees that Laios is all weird and chimera.

[myhungryass]

He blushes. "It's just a dream, probably."

[misenplaits]

"Well, yes," she says. "You still look normal when we're awake. Anyway, I found your memories for you." And she sets the book and the winged lion plushy down.

[myhungryass]

"Oh, that's great! Thanks, Marcille. I'll take them right away, if you don't mind."

[misenplaits]

She finds somewhere comfortable to sit down, since she doesn't trust his weird dream to only show him the memory.

"You should sit down too," she says.

[myhungryass]

He nods in agreement, settling down beside her. The grass is soft and the roots of the tree make hollows almost like lounge-chairs in it.

"Sorry if you end up seeing something weird."