paradisa | ❀ Episode 10 ❀ [Dictated]

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rise kujikawa

❀ Episode 10 ❀ [Dictated] - Backdated to June 8th

[Well, after a week of being small enough to fit in standard toddler clothing sizes, Rise is finally back to normal again! And the castle didn't even prank her this time! She just woke up returned to normal, as if it never happened.

Well, except it did. She'll have to talk to some people about that...

But right now, she has one thing she wants to address to the castle in general.]

Hey, did anyone here know Sophie-chan?

I think... she's gone. Unless I got her room number wrong, or something.

[But she knows she didn't. She sounds kinda sad, but she doesn't want people to worry. So she tries to perk up a little bit and sound more encouraging.]

At least she's back home with Cheria-san and Asbel-san! She really seemed to miss them a lot...

... Anyway, I just thought everyone should know.

[She rushes to end the announcement and closes her journal for a while. This is the first time she's announced someone going home, unless she counts the time she asked about Yukiko, and she's not really sure how to go about it. It's not like Sophie's dead or anything, she's just gone home. But they might never see her again, too...

Once her head clears a little bit later in the day, she finally opens her journal again and starts a couple of filters.]

[Elizabeth]

Hey, it's Rise!

[Wow, this feels kinda awkward. She didn't think much of it when they were spending time together, but Elizabeth probably won't even recognize her right now. How could she explain...?]

... You know about losses, right?

[There's one way to start the conversation. Every way she can think of to explain how they met starts with "I was on a loss", so she needs to make sure of that first... and hope she doesn't die of nerves and embarrassment before she responds.]

[Utena]

[Unlike with Elizabeth, Rise knows the other girl she met this week has been in the castle for a while, so she just takes the plunge.]

Hey, this is Rise! I dunno if you remember, but we went to the beach together a few days ago!

Um... thing is, I was kinda on a loss? So I just wanted to let you know I'm back to normal now...

[She pauses for a minute before continuing, a bit reluctantly...]

Would you be okay with meeting again? It's okay if you're not free today! But I wanna introduce myself properly this time!

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...Thanks for the update.

[Well that sucks.]

Rise? You... sound a little different.

And yes, I've heard about them. [Is this going where she thinks it's going...?]

[Wait... she knows that voice, doesn't she?

... She can't really place a name or face to it, though. Maybe not.]

Did you know her?

[Rise breathes a sigh of relief.]

Oh, good! I thought you might not believe me...

[Belatedly, she realizes Elizabeth is probably a bit worried at the mention of losses. They can get pretty extreme.

So Rise rushes into an explanation. Of sorts.]

It's just... I look a little different now, and I was worried you wouldn't recognize me!

[And she really had gotten to like Elizabeth a lot. It'd feel all kinds of awkward (for Rise, at least) to have to start over completely...]

[he unfortunately cannot remember the spin of Rise's voice. That data was lost when the fragmented and corrupt hard drive that made up his memory was returned to normal at the end of that little event.]

I did. One of the first people I met here.

[A majority of those people had gone now too. It didn't bother him, he was used to being alone. Or at least that's what he told himself.]

There's a lot that I'll believe. [She's seen some crazy shit, let her tell you.]

I'm not talking to a little girl, am I?

[Rise's heart sank just a teensy bit. She already figured it out... which just makes her feel like she's been lying to someone who was really nice to her when she desperately needed it.]

... Not exactly...

[Oh man, how can she explain this?]

I wasn't really when we met, either! The castle just made me look that way for a while...

[She pauses for a beat, but she's afraid of what Elizabeth will say if she leaves it at that. So she hurriedly continues.]

I mean, it was my birthday... I was supposed to be turning seventeen but I woke up in the library like that, and you were so nice over the journal and I didn't want to spend my birthday alone but...

[She's getting herself so worked up over the simple fact of not telling Elizabeth something she had no idea how to bring up in the first place! But she does have to breathe, so she's going to have to stop for a moment...]

Easy, easy. Do you--do you think I'm upset? I'm not. I do understand that the castle does things to us, and you didn't take advantage of being a child, I don't think.

But...

[Part of her was so sure Elizabeth would think she had been pretending, or at best that the castle made her act like a child as much as she looked like one. Another part of her wanted people to think she was normally more grown up than that.

But she'd been herself the whole time. A bit fragile, and desperate and frustrated at the loss the castle forced on her, but still herself.]

... I guess not.

[She didn't take advantage of being a child because she was too busy being frustrated at certain people treating her like one. She hadn't minded with Elizabeth, though... she hadn't been patronizing or condescending at all. She wished she'd had more grownups like her around when she was really that young...]

...... You're really not upset I didn't tell you?

I could see why you wouldn't. [She doesn't like lies, but this was more of an omission, wasn't it?]

How old are you now?

[Rise's totally starting to blush again. Not that Elizabeth can see it.]

... Seventeen.

[~~For what it's worth, she's not particularly mature for her age...~~]

So... the castle made you younger? How long were you like that?

Yeah, I guess...

[She was totally in denial about it for the longest time, too. Kept thinking of herself as "smaller" rather than "younger".]

It lasted until today, so it was about a week.

[While they're on the subject, though, there's something else she wants to get off her chest.]

Thanks for being so nice to me, by the way... so many people ignore you when you look like a little kid! Even my own friends...

[She trails off there, not wanting to get herself all worked up again. Thanking Elizabeth should be enough without dragging up more crazy feelings.]

Sophie-chan is gone now too...? Jeez. That. That sucks...

I was looking forward to us cooking together some more [A nervous laugh, seeing as they both suck at cooking]

You're welcome. You were nice to me, too.

I haven't met a lot of children. It's good to know I'm not scary or anything.

[Now that she's out of the denial phase, Rise's not about to argue that she wasn't a child at all. But would Elizabeth really have been worried about that...?]

You're not scary at all!

[Being under a filter and talking with someone who's already seen her break down in tears over practically nothing, she actually feels bold enough to admit something she never would have before. Especially to someone she's only known for a week.]

You know... I didn't really have any friends when I was little. Not even grownups. [Certainly no one who cared for her like Elizabeth had seemed to.]

So... it was kinda nice. Making a friend, I mean.

[It strikes her as super ridiculous that it even matters to her, but it's obvious it does. It really does. She can't even keep her voice from trembling a bit...]

[She was joking, really.]

I didn't have any friends at all until recently.

[Don't mind Rise, Elizabeth, she's just still a little panicky and nervous right now. Spending that day together during that loss affected her pretty deeply for reasons she probably doesn't even realize.

Elizabeth's statement kind of shocks her out of it a bit, though.]

Really?!

[Oh man, she can relate. It's only been a year since she met all of her friends back home. Before then, she felt completely alone no matter how many people she met. And she had to play the happy, perky idol on top of all that...

Experimentally, she tries to put on her usual cheerful, encouraging tone again.]

You seem pretty good at making friends now!

[It mostly succeeds. It's obvious she's still shaken up, but she's trying to be brave and fight past it.]

Really. I lived in a tower my whole life. Until recently, anyway...

[Wait, she actually lived in a tower? Like those stories with the princesses?!

She's tempted to ask what kind of world she lived in, but really. What kind of question is that?]

... Were you kidnapped?! How did you get out?!

[Oops, she's being a little more frantic about her concern than she meant to be. Not her fault her emotions are all haywire today!]

[Elizabeth decides to spare her the unpleasant details. She'll keep it vague... for now, anyway. No reason to freak her out more.]

It's a long story. That man I was looking for, Booker DeWitt, helped me escape. And then... I ended up here, after a while.

[It's okay, she can't remember him either. She just knows his voice is vaguely familiar.]

Oh, you were friends?

[This may have already improved her opinion of the strange voice...]

[Rise's voice is horrified when she answers...]

You didn't...?

[Please tell her you didn't subject poor innocent Sophie to your cooking, Chie!!!]

Didn't what?

[Normally Blues wouldn't admit to having friends, but well... It was hard to deny that when there was a tree out in the garden that said otherwise. That friendship pact certainly ruined his whole lone wolf act.]

...Yeah, I guess we were.

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❀ Episode 10 ❀ [Dictated] - Backdated to June 8th

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