Yet you intrigue me nevertheless. Ancient tomes and records on a star I have never been to, tucked away in the depths and unable to be safely archived...
You're not going to stop until you stick your nose into something dangerous.
[It's not really a question; Cantarella says it with a little more edge than that. It might even be a warning, implicitly lurking like a shadow beneath the shoreline that will catch a ship off guard.]
What is it that they say about curiosity? [She is, in the end, going to have to touch on the cat ears.]
[Maybe it's just that Sage is completely unhesitating in this. She doesn't flinch at all, even when Cantarella has already dangled perhaps a little more than should be safe of the Fisalia's dark and myriad secrets. Cantarella looks at her again, like she's trying to read something that never stirs.]
And yet you would need a guide if you wanted to plunge into the depths, no matter what is driving your curiosity. But you should never follow a stranger to such places.
[Though the way Cantarella says it, mulling and flat, already establishes that she doesn't feel that way and isn't about to spend the time singing and dancing her way through pretending they are. There's a hollow shadow at the back of her mind that wonders if the uncanny familiarity of the world around them has forced them closer than they should be, or if she has simply opened a door.]
[ Ah, that's right. She adopted the moniker of "Sage" and had left it at that. She really did grow too used to using an alternate name back on the First that it's left her with terrible habits. ]
[Of course, as she has when being introduced to any of the researchers once they meet again in person, Cantarella gives her a polite curtsey.]
That's better. Might as well conduct things in the proper order. Cantarella Fisalia, Matriarch of Porto-Veno Castle... and your future guide within its walls, should you ever choose to visit.
I have a great deal to look forward to once we leave this place behind us.
[Never mind all that lays between them and that escape and all that lays between her and a peaceful life. Cantarella knows that doubt will make her easier to pry and tries to neither epress nor feel it.]
Now... what can I learn about you that I could get from a toy doll?
[Presumably this will be all small talk so enrichment can be pursued elsewhere, but...it is a nice segue.]
And not strangers, I'd guess, since Thancred seemed interested in your whereabouts.
[And had gotten soundly piled on for it, on occasion. He'd handled it very well, considering he'd also said he knew nothing of what was going on here. Those are nosier questions to be asked in more detail later. For now...]
[Cantarella chuckles, too. The poor thing had been irritable as anything, from his reptilian features, and she'd worried for the worst, knowing what little she did about the infections.]
And surely they are interesting stories, judging by your unique collection of personalities.
[She pauses, hands cupping together.] ...It must have been difficult to keep them in the dark. I'm the keeper of many secrets, but it's second nature to me now...and at times it is still lonely.
...It was. I have a distaste for subterfuge and secrecy, to the point I once set off on my own when one of our own would not relay me with direct answers.
[ cough cough the exarch cough cough ]
To employ those tactics was difficult and against my very nature, though I did so with good reason.
i was gonna say something evil about exarch but i have censored myself from all evil cat comments
[And here is Cantarella in front of her, someone who inherited a sea of secrets to uphold and maintain for the sake of the world and others. Yet she isn't embarrassed by it, even when she knows that Sage might have formed an opinion of her based on that alone.
But, more importantly, Sage had been alone while still surrounded by people she trusted and loved, which could have only left her feeling adrift in what were already perilous waters. There was too much danger not to have someone.]
But now you have that freedom, don't you? I can only guess, since you've chosen to show yourself to me, that we've passed your vetting? I do hope it puts your mind at ease.
i can say something heinous about him in your stead
[ She laughs at that first statement. There was a reason she chose the best looking one, after all. She simply couldn't handle having a terribly ugly vessel.
But... hm.
She thinks. ]
I could not give you the precise time. We parted upon my decision to try our chances here.
[Cantarella's weight shifts. She needs a moment to think fo her other conversations with the other puppets and with Sage's friends. Time feels so uncertain when it comes down to discussing this.]
If that's the case, then they should have known what was happening and why you were obscuring yourself this entire time.
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[ Liiiike..... she's very into the idea. ]
I daresay I should like to uncover their secrets.
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[It's not really a question; Cantarella says it with a little more edge than that. It might even be a warning, implicitly lurking like a shadow beneath the shoreline that will catch a ship off guard.]
What is it that they say about curiosity? [She is, in the end, going to have to touch on the cat ears.]
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Oh, a similar thing they say about nine lives, I presume.
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And yet you would need a guide if you wanted to plunge into the depths, no matter what is driving your curiosity. But you should never follow a stranger to such places.
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Is this your way of offering to guide me?
[ After all, they aren't strangers. ]
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[Though the way Cantarella says it, mulling and flat, already establishes that she doesn't feel that way and isn't about to spend the time singing and dancing her way through pretending they are. There's a hollow shadow at the back of her mind that wonders if the uncanny familiarity of the world around them has forced them closer than they should be, or if she has simply opened a door.]
But I haven't had the pleasure of introductions.
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Y'shtola Rhul.
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That's better. Might as well conduct things in the proper order. Cantarella Fisalia, Matriarch of Porto-Veno Castle... and your future guide within its walls, should you ever choose to visit.
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I daresay you know well that I will, Matriarch.
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[Never mind all that lays between them and that escape and all that lays between her and a peaceful life. Cantarella knows that doubt will make her easier to pry and tries to neither epress nor feel it.]
Now... what can I learn about you that I could get from a toy doll?
[Presumably this will be all small talk so enrichment can be pursued elsewhere, but...it is a nice segue.]
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There is a lot that lies ahead, but at least conversations like this can be a reminder that there's something that lies beyond the obstacles. ]
What is it you wish to know? I have much I could tell you, after all.
[ But she'll go ahead and offer something... ]
Thancred, Urianger, and I all hail from the same star.
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And not strangers, I'd guess, since Thancred seemed interested in your whereabouts.
[And had gotten soundly piled on for it, on occasion. He'd handled it very well, considering he'd also said he knew nothing of what was going on here. Those are nosier questions to be asked in more detail later. For now...]
What star is that?
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Etheirys. We three have a storied history of working under the same organizations for years.
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And surely they are interesting stories, judging by your unique collection of personalities.
[She pauses, hands cupping together.] ...It must have been difficult to keep them in the dark. I'm the keeper of many secrets, but it's second nature to me now...and at times it is still lonely.
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[ cough cough the exarch cough cough ]
To employ those tactics was difficult and against my very nature, though I did so with good reason.
i was gonna say something evil about exarch but i have censored myself from all evil cat comments
But, more importantly, Sage had been alone while still surrounded by people she trusted and loved, which could have only left her feeling adrift in what were already perilous waters. There was too much danger not to have someone.]
But now you have that freedom, don't you? I can only guess, since you've chosen to show yourself to me, that we've passed your vetting? I do hope it puts your mind at ease.
i can say something heinous about him in your stead
[ As that's how she is. She'll do as she pleases and according to her whims, but Cantarella has probably realized that.
Even if it hurts, she'll do what she must. ]
yeah rake that cat over the goals
[She really cannot say the same for the other puppets... Foxglove shall never live his down.]
When were you separated from them? [The friends she's been forced to keep in the dark, Cantarella means.]
he's ..............
But... hm.
She thinks. ]
I could not give you the precise time. We parted upon my decision to try our chances here.
you can't bring yourself to do it
If that's the case, then they should have known what was happening and why you were obscuring yourself this entire time.
I fear what I will say
Yet they did not. I have all but confirmed for myself that they hail from a time before me. Not long, but long enough for it to matter.