Week 1

[bathymetric]

Good morning, New Rapture. A new day is dawning.

There may not be much light to differentiate the days here, but the lights of the part of the city you're in change enough by the clock that you can almost believe there's a sun somewhere. It looks like Mayor Fontaine has no intention of going back on his deal, and for the time being? You're all stuck here. But there's plenty to do, and... maybe not plenty to see, but there's enough. There's something, at any rate.

Especially if you're willing to look beyond the surface.

And if you spend enough time around others, you might find something neat!

No matter what, it's time to start getting to know your fellow captives. You might be here a while.




MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
FRIDAY | SATURDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to the first week of Unknown Seas Round 3! We're very excited to have you. Please make sure to mark any investigation toplevels accordingly, and you can reach either Mayor Fontaine or Eleanor for conversations! ]

Comments

[honeyedtea]

She's...

[ Where does she even start when it comes to Aria? A hundred different words queue themselves up on her tongue but nothing seems quite sufficient. And even if she did know what to say – she has a feeling, somehow, that if she dared to speak an unkind word then Aria would know, somehow. She'd make her sorry.

She decides on something gentler. Safer. ]

Well, you see... my father married her mother and brought them both into House Roscent. Before that, they were commoners and... I think, perhaps, she might have resented me or been unable to trust me in some way. I did my best to reach out as a sister, but... I was never able to make it through to her. Maybe if I'd known just what to say or do, we could have gotten along better but nothing ever seemed to work.

[sastruga]

Ah. So she was a bit of a surprise sister, then. I wonder why she closed herself off to you like that...

[Not that she can speculate. She only knows Mielle, not her sister, after all. But Mielle seems easy to get along with, doesn't she?

...But family is different. She does know that much.

Mafuyu smiles, trying her best to make sure she looks sympathetic, lest Mielle think she was pitying her instead. It's nothing like that, after all.]

I suppose, blood or not... family can be difficult, mm?

[honeyedtea]

I wish I knew myself. I worry sometimes... that perhaps I wasn't a good enough sister, or that she resented her place in our house. It must have been quite difficult for a girl of her standing to adjust to the pressures of living in a noble house.

[ Surely it would be a dream come true to be lifted up from a commoner's place and put into the life of a noble daughter. Aria certainly seemed to take to the whole thing like a duck to water eventually... maybe by necessity more than anything else. ]

She was certainly difficult but... she was still my older sister. Perhaps it was my responsibility to help her adjust...

[sastruga]

Isn't it usually the older sister who bears more responsibilities?

...I'm an only child, though, so I suppose I don't know enough to speak about it. [Eldest daughter by default.] I'm sure you did the best you could have, though.

[honeyedtea]

... Perhaps. Regardless... it's much too late to regret it now. No amount of wishing I could go back and change things will affect how they turned out. The best I can do for her now is... leave her be, I think.

[ After all – even in a situation like this, Mielle's fairly certain she's the last person in this or any world that Aria would ever want to see again. ]

She can find her own happiness. And I can find mine.

[sastruga]

[Find her own happiness...]

...Mm. I think that's exactly the right attitude to have.

That's all anyone can do, right? To find what makes them happy and pursue it.

[honeyedtea]

Mm. That's right. To me... I think focusing on finding your happiness is the most important thing you can do. You have to pursue it for yourself, because no one else will give it to you.

[ Not that any of it ever worked out for her. But the attempt, the effort - that was all still important in its own way. ]

[sastruga]

...I know this is a bad place for it, but... I hope that... somehow, you can still find it here. Or once we do something about the Mayor and all leave together.

[honeyedtea]

... Yes. I hope the same goes for you too, Mafuyu. Finding happiness in a place like this is difficult... but that makes it all the more precious when you do find it.

the same smile....

[sastruga]

The best of luck to both of us, then!