paradisa | ❀ Episode 17 ❀ [Dictated]

[Voices... too many voices, all around. Rise hasn't sensed anything like this before outside of the TV world, and certainly never in the castle. At first, she thought it was just her abilities... but she's not picking up any signals with Kanzeon.]

Wh-... what the hell?!

[... Oh. Rise hasn't sounded this upset over the journals in... well, ever. It's just too much. Unfamiliar and familiar voices, everywhere she turns. In a way, it's nice... nostalgic. She can remember the new friends she made that have already gone back to their own worlds.

But unfortunately, that's not where it ends for her. There's other voices... of friends from home, especially Chie, Yukiko and Nanako. Echoes of times she doesn't remember at all with them. And that Adachi, too... god, how long was he even here?!

It's all turning the nostalgia sour far too quickly, and she's getting sick of it!]

Stupid castle... this isn't fair!!!

[There's a huff and the sound of an annoyed girl pushing out a chair and walking away. But the journal's still open, and she can't have gone far or left a room. She's just... annoyed, and not sure how to let off steam anymore.]

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Hey. You okay? [The answer is likely 'no.' But... still. It seemed like reaching out was the right thing to do anyway. Especially since Neets is one of the few people who hasn't really been here long enough to be personally bothered by the whispers.]

[By now, Rise's keeping her distance from anywhere in the castle she might hear the whispers more clearly. Even with all the fun and silly stuff that's apparently happened, there's too many bad memories she'd be risking...]

No... it's these stupid walls!

[Then it occurs to her...]

... It's not just me, right? You can hear it too?

No, I can hear it too. I guess I'm just used to weirdness. [A beat] And I haven't really been stuck here long enough to have it as bad as the rest of you.

[Rise just sighs at that. She can't really argue that it's affecting her more since she's been here so long.]

I just... really didn't want to hear some of this again...

[Or in some cases, for the first time. None of it worse than hearing that one time a girlfriend she still misses terribly got murdered...]

I get it. [She'd be more surprised if people weren't upset.] There are no walls in the gardens. Maybe you could just spend a lot of time outside for a while.

Hey, that's actually not a bad idea...

How about you? Wanna come along?

[So what if they haven't actually met yet, she can reasonably guess this girl is close to her own age and probably annoyed with the voices too.]

Sure. Why not? Meet you in the lobby? [All good guesses and all very correct, as it happens.]

Oh! My name's Nita, by the way.

Nice to meet you, Nita-chan! I'm Rise.

[She's going to be stunned when and if she finds out this is Dairine's sister.]

I'm on my way down now. See you there~!

[Isn't she chipper all of a sudden?]

See you then.

[And Nita will be there soon enough, even if she does take the long way to get there this time (sometimes it's nice to walk).

There's nothing particularly extraordinary looking about her; she's just a petite teenage girl with dark hair in jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers, waiting in the castle lobby with her hands in her pockets.]

[They're both petite teenage girls, so they have that in common! Even though Rise's technically a couple years older from time spent in the castle, she probably looks about the same age as Nita.

As she comes down the stairs and into the lobby, that might be the only thing they seem to have in common. Rise could never leave her room after just combing her hair and throwing on something casual, she has a whole routine. Her hair is done up in its usual perky twintails, and she's coordinated a cute top and skirt with white leggings and simple ballet flats. There's just a hint of light makeup, too... nothing heavy, but a little lip gloss and mascara is apparent. All standard daily routine stuff for her, no special effort at all.

She approaches the much more casual-looking girl with a bright, cheerful smile and waves.]

Hi! You're Nita-chan, right?

[She reminds her of Nora and Alex! Maybe she's American, too? Or at least from somewhere Western... Effy was the same type, too. ~~That type being "non-anime"...~~]

[Nita is instantly reminded of Carmilla and wonders with a grin if this Rise has a hair straightener-slash-laser gun too.]

Yep! And you're Rise? It's nice to meet you.

[She doesn't, but she'd probably want one!]

Yep!

[She beams brightly at the other girl. Look at all that perky teen girl energy just radiating off of her!]

C'mon, let's get out of here already! [A beat, and then:] Oh, have you been here long? You must've been around for a little while, right?

[After all, she seems to know her way around...]

Alright!

[And then that question.] Yeah, I've been here for a while. My sister's been here longer, though.

You have a sister here?

[That's surprising! It's rare to find someone who has anyone from home, let alone family. But after glancing over at Nita again, Rise can guess who it might be.]

Ooh, it's Dairine-san, isn't it?

[She's the only girl Rise can think of off the top of her head that's close to Nita's age, and could be considered to have some kind of resemblance. Plus, she's been here a long time!]

Yeah! That obvious, huh? [She answers with a little laugh]

A little! [There's a small laugh of her own in there.] You kinda do look alike...

[Oh no! All is not right for Rise. Sugar must fix this!]

What's not fair?

[Sugar no, she doesn't want you to worry!]

It's okay... it's nothing important.

[She puts on a smile, even though she's talking through the journal. It'll help with the cheerful, upbeat tone she's trying to shift to.]

The castle's a little scarier than usual, huh? I hope you're not getting too freaked out...

Are you sure?

[It sounds important if Rise is yelling at the castle.]

Yeah but Wade said the scary things are gone now, so it's safe! Right?

Definitely sure!

[Just smile and put your perky voice on, Rise. Last thing you want is to worry bitty fairy sis...]

If Wade-san says so, yeah! She wouldn't want anything to happen to us, so she'd tell us if it was dangerous.

[She wasn't their fake mom way back in Stepford for nothing!]

Right! So we can go out for breakfast now!

[Sugar is glad to have access to the kitchen once again. Sure, they could wish up food in their room, but there was something appealing about the surprises that the kitchen offered.]

Sure! Just be careful around the walls.

[But wait, doesn't that make it sound like there's scary things around still? ... Hopefully Sugar won't pick up on that.]

Wait, are you in the kitchen right now?

The walls? But why?

[Sorry Rise, but Sugar isn't that hard of hearing and is naturally curious.]

Ehehe! Maaaybe. [That would be a yes.]

Oh, um... it's just that they've just been really noisy lately.

[Yeah, that... works...]

Anyway, I can be down in a minute if you want some company!

[She doesn't want Sugar getting stuck anywhere dangerous.]

❀ Episode 17 ❀ [Dictated] - backdated to the 13th

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