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Post by LadyEvatrice on Feb 17, 2017 3:15:12 GMT
The forgery writer Tobirano Tengoku rarely accepted visitors unless they fell into one of two categories: they were either a fan of his main manga under his real name, or they had properly deduced that he was the writer of the X of the Golden Witch forgery series and wanted to discuss his fragments of truth. The former were generally just a meet and greet kind of deal, as few had ever caught his attention to warrant being a reference for his series, and the latter were so far and few between that he could count them with one hand. Today, however, the number of people who knew that Rohan was the mastermind behind the Golden Witch forgeries had risen, and much to his perhaps amusement or displeasure, he had a meeting with one of those people.
The manga artist picked up his latest work as Tengoku, and reminded himself to go and pick up a bouquet of flowers for his weekly visit he had planned after the meeting. "It's seriously been so long, huh," he said to himself, and descended down the stairs to his front door. After pulling the door open, he greeted his visitor with a "Well, you certainly must be a clever one, to have discovered my identity. Well, come in."
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Post by gillianquigley on Feb 18, 2017 4:12:38 GMT
"Why thank you, Master Rohan," a silky voice entered the manga-ka's room, "it definitely was quite easy to figure out your identity. I was cleaning a certain someone's room that contained some manuscripts for your main manga and the X of the Golden Witch series. The original handwriting was similar enough." The woman in which the voice came from emerged and brought both manuscripts in front of the man. "Pardon my terrible manners, I am Amane. I am merely furniture on this island." Amane bowed and placed some more things on the table. "Are you up for some cards, Master Rohan?"
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Post by LadyEvatrice on Feb 19, 2017 0:40:59 GMT
"Hoh, most people who do deduce my identity as a forgery writer generally go by what my pen name translates, but I'll take that as well," Rohan chuckled. "I should apologize for the various forgeries where I've written your deaths. It's nothing personal, as you would know that I've killed off everyone who's appeared, at least once." He gazed at the cards, trying to get a certain incident related to gambling out of his head.
He frowned for a moment. "I suppose so. I don't take well to cheating, I'll warn you in advance. And regardless who wins, I'd like for you to read my manuscript." He took a seat at the table after getting some gambling chips. "What game are we playing, Amane-san?"
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Post by gillianquigley on Feb 19, 2017 2:51:35 GMT
The furniture let out a small chuckle as well, "It's okay, sir. After all, those forgeries are called forgeries for a reason." Amane ran her pointer finger through one of her long, black, curly, pigtails. "As for these games, I've never been prone to cheaters myself," she smirked as a small flame was cradled in her palm, then snuffed it out as quickly as it appeared.
Her eyes widened at the prize for the game, "Really? I, only a humble servant, to read the work of a great manga-ka as yourself? You are much too kind, Master Rohan," she bowed in reverence before sitting down and shuffling the deck of cards with great skill, "as for the game, only poker. Standard Texas-Hold'em. One more thing, sir, if I were to lose, would you want me to be your personal servant who would do whatever you asked without fail for your stay To fulfill all of your desires?"
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Post by LadyEvatrice on Feb 19, 2017 6:08:21 GMT
To dismiss forgeries as being primarily just false stories... this girl was definitely confident, and that kind of confidence was something to stir up the desire for intellectual stimulation in his mind, particularly the desire to beat her and show how his mind was not be trifled with. As his friend liked to put it, this seemed to be a battle of little gray cells. "You could say that again. I played a game once with someone who cheated and nearly died, even though I had trapped him into finishing the game by stabbing my hand, with the desire to expose that ugly truth of his cheating," he reminisced as he had gotten up again to bring a pot of tea and cups for their game. "Call it petty, but if someone is cheating when I'm putting all my little gray cells into a game, it's quite an insult to someone like me."
Rohan sipped at some tea before adding, "Oh, don't get me wrong. If you win, Amane-san, you not only have the privilege of being the first other than myself to read my next 'X of the Golden Witch' tale, which hasn't been published yet, I'm willing to pay you 90,000 yen for winning." It was mere pocket change to him, but that was a fact that didn't need to be voiced, like the fact the girl's red eyes reminded him of his friend/stalker, or the number of bugs crawling under the surface of a bus seat. "All right, that sounds fair, a standard game of poker. No, I would be content to know if you have any particular memories that would be a good reference for my works. I'm of the mind that mental stimulation is a pleasure in itself, and that capturing a certain sense of realism in art elevates it to a level beyond that of a normal person." A small smirk escaped his lips.
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Post by gillianquigley on Feb 19, 2017 16:52:16 GMT
90,000 yen? Amane smiled, knowing Master Rohan's offer would make her much more important than she actually was. The richest piece of furniture on the island. Perhaps, this money could be used for something, potentially her freedom from being a worthless thrall to this dreaded land! And with the money from the Golden Land- never mind, she would never figure out the epitaph, well, at least by herself anyway On the other hand, she wanted to lose against him. Regardless of the outcome, the game was much more exciting.
"Alright," a similar smirk exited her lips too as she smoothed out her Lolita dress that she had worn for the longest time, "if information is what you want, information is what you will get regardless if I win or not." The furniture cut the deck, feeling the constant roughness from the fifty-two edges against her fingertips. "In fact, Master Rohan, let us talk right now. Where do you want me to start, sir? My past is quite the tragic one, if I say so myself. Perfect for fiction, I mean, Dickens was a fan of the tragic backstory..." She gave the manga artist five cards: three face down while two were face up. A king and a queen... it seemed as if he had a good hand from her end. However, when she flipped her two cards to show, they were the same hand. Surely, this was going to be a good game.
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Post by LadyEvatrice on Feb 22, 2017 19:48:43 GMT
Rohan's thoughts immediately went to the island of Ayashima, now more fascinated with it than ever due to the attention to it from the disaster that occured on it (and though he'd never publicly admit it or even mentally own up to it, his missing friend and what could have become of her was a pressing issue for him). The island was indeed fascinating-a small private island somewhere off the coast of Japan, supposedly inhabited by a witch who claimed to be of Russian descent. Had he not been far too busy with his main manga (as well as the fact that he did have quite an abhorrent admirer who knew not of the concept of personal space or privacy, which was naturally draining), he would have visited the island himself before the disaster to satisfy his curiosity. Now there wasn't much to go on except for any he could gather from the survivors. Oh right, he was in the middle of a game.
"Information to me is worth far more than money. Trust me, I've wasted money on certain things before," he said wistfully, recalling the time he had bought six mountains. "Begin wherever you like-I like to have as much information as possible. The more I can be accurate, the better I can portray my talent." He took a peek under his cards, not betraying any sort of emotion as he gazed upon a Jack and two fives. He'd had plenty of practice with a poker face, since some people believed he was actually a nice person.
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Post by gillianquigley on Feb 23, 2017 4:05:21 GMT
Amane kept a poker face as she bet on the manga writer's hand and placed down a few blue chips, "I shall start where most start: the beginning. It may be hard to believe from such an innocent soul as myself, I was not always furniture on this island. My family name was Ludenberg: a name passed down since the time of the Franks and the Ostrogoths. I was relatively wealthy when I was younger, well, at least when I was younger and living back on the estate. I tended to imagine the estate to be much more crowded than it actually was. Male servants everywhere you'd look massaging my mother's feet and back, the females in the kitchen and scullery or in the unoccupied rooms entertaining guests, but alack, this was merely fantasy. When I was five, mother and father thought it was a good idea to send me on a vacation to a faraway island. I objected at every turn I had, but what did a mere child know that her parents don't?" Shifting them into the pot, she stared at Rohan. "Your go. I'm betting you've got... a straight flush in there."
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Post by LadyEvatrice on Feb 24, 2017 6:04:58 GMT
Rohan rubbed his temples, trying to take this large chunk of information in to see what he could do with it. For now, it seemed like a lot of filler in his mind, and she was only coming up on the relatively interesting parts. He took another sip of his tea, trying to remember a proper response that wouldn't get him punched in the face. He pushed a good number of chips into the pot, still not afraid of losing. While losing meant that he'd lose that satisfaction of winning, he didn't really care who won at this point. He could intentionally try to throw the game so he lost and he wouldn't care. "I'll stay my hand, but up my wager a bit."
He looked over at his manuscripts briefly, hoping that they wouldn't get neglected as they were essentially just ready to be sent to Tobirano Tengoku's editor. "So, is that how you ended up on Ayashima?"
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Post by gillianquigley on Feb 24, 2017 16:06:07 GMT
The furniture nodded as she added some more chips to the pot, "In short yes. They had sent me to Ayashima, as I've told you, telling me that this was a vacation. Although I objected, I was still quite excited. I had never been outside of the estate and my small, uneventful town until then. When we had went off the boat, we were greeted by figures. I couldn't tell if they were men, women, or even human to say the least. Perhaps they had faces; perhaps I am just repressing this. The worst came when I noticed the glint of a ballpoint pen in my father's hand and the phantoms holding a piece of parchment. I hugged my mother's leg, trying to get a closer look at the paper. I had only made out a few words on the pages: my name, "island"... My thoughts were interrupted by a harsh shove given by my mother into the figures as they were handed a large sum of gold... and then they had left me..."
Amane sighed and drummed her fingers, watching the numerous chips clink and shudder at the earthquake on the table. "When I had more time to read, I realized that the thing that they had signed was a contract. Binding me to this island to work as a powerless, submissive servant."
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Post by LadyEvatrice on Feb 25, 2017 2:57:29 GMT
The manga artist yawned, having felt no reason to alter his usual sleeping schedule and only now realizing that he was paying the consequences for only getting a few hours of sleep. "My apologies. A life of writing two different stories takes a toll on one's sleeping patterns," he tried to explain as he yawned yet again. "Especially since I put the finishing touches on my latest Golden Witch story last-well, more accurately, early this morning." He gulped down the tea left in his cup, hoping that whatever caffeine in it would kick in. At least his mind was able to decipher the bit of this story. Young girl taken to island under the premise of a vacation, her parents signed a contract selling her in exchange for money, the girl became furniture and property of the island.
"Go on. I think I'll reveal my hand now," he said as he bit his lip to help fight the urge to sleep. Rohan's thoughts drifted to the thought of his lost friend before wandering back to the game at hand, and he turned his cards over.
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Post by gillianquigley on Feb 25, 2017 3:55:57 GMT
A King, a Queen, a Jack, and two fives. Foiled again. Amane pushed the chips toward him and continued her anecdote.
"Oh yes, the contract," she flipped her cards again showing a straight flush on her end, "hmm, I ended up predicting my own hand there... How queer... Again, the contract, I glared at it long enough until I could memorize parts of it verbatim. The master's repetition didn't help my zeal to memorize and escape. 'To Mister and Missus Charlemagne Ludenberg- my mother's name was Antoinette-, to withhold you from your debt, you agree to allow your first born child to become property on this island. When I saw them head back to the boat, I was absolutely furious with them; I ran back to the dock and even swam a good bit out, but the tide brought be back. I realized at that time I could not leave. The island's magic was too strong. Master had done some terrible things to me afterward."
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Post by LadyEvatrice on Feb 26, 2017 3:40:07 GMT
The manga artist gripped his pen tightly in an attempt to keep his eyes open, waiting for the person seated across the table to deal. "I see.... so you most likely developed an affinity for magic, rather than being born with magic, I presume?" he asked, curious about how others had developed magic. "I've personally had a talent for creation since I was small, but since my ancestor was an artist, I guess I could say I was destined to have some bit of magic." With that, he levitated the teapot to pour himself a cup. "Do you want some tea?"
He rubbed his eyes. "Ah, but continue, I'm curious as to how your life as furniture happened."
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Post by gillianquigley on Feb 27, 2017 2:18:08 GMT
Amane nodded and revealed her hand to her opponent. "Yes, that is true. My magical abilities did not develop until four years after my... gracious invitation to the island. I suppose after all of the things that I have been through with my previous masters, the anger that had developed and my thoughts of wanting to kill them in the most egregious ways possible spawned my powers. On my tenth birthday, one of my masters wanted me to do something. I believe it was just something extremely mundane like do laundry or shine their shoes. When I was taking the clothes or the rag to shine the shoes, I noticed smoke come from the rag. After dropping it, I then saw that there were tiny flames coming from my fingertips." The furniture dealt the new sets of cards.
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Post by LadyEvatrice on Feb 27, 2017 18:20:15 GMT
Now there was something Rohan could use in his works. People loved somebody who seemed ordinary suddenly developing abilities, and he could force himself to learn to draw women-women protagonists were becoming pretty popular, too. "So to say, did you refine your talent for conjuring fire, Amane-san?" His body was tired, but his mind was definitely awake now.
"To think, that someone who seemed like an ordinary child servant could develop magic... I'm sure it must have been quite an interesting revelation to you."
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