Session 33

Elfinmon 20th

Eden stands before one of the mirrors as the image ripples into something familiar. A beautiful day, the one where his brother was married. Eden's brother had pulled him aside and asked why Eden was apparently lying about being sick. Eden tries to explain himself, that he had wanted to keep people's attention off him, but his brother berates him for seemingly fishing for sympathy. He throws Eden's gift back into his hands and tells him to leave, which he does without arguement. With the magic gone, Eden seems unphafased and asks if Della and Vasi saw memories as well. With that confirmed he beckons for Faust to come up to the mirrors next. They do so, horribly reluctantly.

In Faust's memory, he sees an arena, a show he was once in. His opponant, flamoyant and red, attacks him suddenly during the opening of the match. Though it's a blood sport there's something malicious and intense about his opponants attacks that takes them off guard. Over the course of the fight they realize the sense of comradere they had with their opponant is very much one-sided. What Faust took for show is dead serious from the other man. The memory ends in an injury that feels real, real enough for Della to rush over and offer aid when Faust doubles over.

With all of them having confronted something of their past, the latch on the door across the room releases, and they find they're free to descend further into the church.

In the next chamber they see a basin in the middle of the room, filled with ashes, the corpse of a cat, and a small pouch. Unsure what to expect, they tentatively remove the pouch and find it has a full set of playing cards as well as two jokers. The face cards all show dogs, while the suit cards show cats. On the back of a card, they find a written message:

No immediate course of action jumps out to the group so they light the fire once more and try throwing one of the face cards into the fire. This summons an angry spirit of a cat that begins attacking them. While the rest of the party fights off the specter, Eden attempts to throw one of the jokers in, but it has the same effect. Only when the angry spirits have been banished back below the earth does Vasilena suggest burning the suit of heart, from nine to one. This succeeds and to their surprise, resurrects the cat. The cat hacks up a key to unlock the door leading further down. Before they go, Vasi opts to try to speak to the cat and see what she can glean from it. The cat, known within this dark commune as Socks, tells her how he goes through this cycle of death and rebirth often enough, as well as implying he is no ordinary feline.