TIFO's Blog

<h1 class='title'>Dinner with an Arbiter</h1><h2 class='date'>06/03/985</h2> Today could have been a better day, but it could have been much worse. It was as exhausting as yesterday, though, both physically and mentally. Maybe that's because I didn't sleep well last night. I hope it will be better today. Everybody is here; Sander is here and himself, and even Crystal is here. I was too exhausted to do research on Azdo, though... Live, Clark! Today we had to go and visit Sander's place to have a "peaceful" dinner with them. We took a warp train from Q-Corp, using the check the mother gave us. We will thankfully not be stranded in C-Corp, as we took a second-class train and not a first-class one as she planned. Why would you need first class for 10 seconds anyway...? When we arrived, we got immediately received by the chief butler, Roger, and maids calling Sander "mister". That doesn't suit him at all. The road to the mansion was quite unusual; there were little to no houses, loads of space, and forests. It reminds me of TheVillageWithNoName, but with far worse people. Sander's parents' mansion was hidden in a valley. Since his parents were not here yet and all the "superior beings" of this house seem to think that people for the rest of the city have no culture and are stupid, Roger suggested that we should take a look at the exhibition in the dining room in the meantime. It was in an enormous room containing multiple exhibits spread in a circle, with a long dining table at its center. Each exhibit was focused around a specific district. In the R-Corp exhibit, they had a strand of white hair and a knife belonging to the 4th pack captain, Mio, a renowned Rabbit. I also took a look at the Q-Corp exhibit, with a blade and a knife, but they had little value to my eyes. Roger also mentioned that they were looking for items for their L-Corp exhibit, which is missing a Golden Bough, or "part of L-Corp's nervous system," or whatever that means. We are not giving ours, much less to these aristocrats. The last things I took a look at were not exhibits, but the Claw and Arbiter suits in the back of the room. Morbid curiosity, I would say. It was uneasing to see this gear from up close without risking being murdered for once. The Claw uniform was a bit used, probably because the father is retired. We also had a quick peek at Sander's room, which was as pristine as when he left it ten years ago, they said. Unlike the rest of the place, which was filled with art and decoration, this room was mostly bland and white. One more reason to run away as he did. After an eternity, the father finally arrived and offered us some tea. And as nothing is ever simple in this place, the leave had to be from a distortion. The tea was not even good. It was too much and too little at the same time. The mother arrived shortly after, accompanied by Sander's sister, Crystal. Unlike him, she is a good and obedient child, according to the mother. The good puppet she wanted. She wants to be an arbiter, unlike Sander. She is good at school, unlike Sander. She follows, no, followed, what the mothers want, unlike Sander. When she saw her brother for the first time, it looked like she hated and rejected him. Before starting the dinner, the mother offered us special gifts in the form of fairies from F-Corp. She said they were meant to open locks, but that they could also be used to open people. If you try to conceal the truth too much, you will bleed out from the inside and die. What a nice gift... At least, since Alpha didn't come with us, she could use the fourth fairy on herself. I was not expecting that; I have to be honest. She also made the effort to call us "friends" and not servants like she did the first time. She is still an awful person, though. And then the dinner started. The first entrée was an eye of mermaid. Unsurprisingly, Arkal loved it. Sander and his mother were pretty much the only ones talking. Apparently, she spends loads of time searching jobs for Sander, as if he were too stupid to do it himself and too innocent, and she was "begging" for jobs, and it was hard for her. She said she found a job in H-Corp, where Sander could test medicine and put his skills to good use. Except Sander has a job, and he doesn't want another one. This pointless discussion kept going into the 2nd entrée, a rabbit stew for S-Corp. It was pretty good. The mother argued that Sander has privileges and should not have to deal with the like of us, who have seen the horrors of life. Instead, you should abuse them as much as possible to stay in your own little bubble. Protecting others is important, but not if those you protect cannot be how they want to be! Keep an eye on him, but let Sander be who he wants. Seeing that she could not get anything out of him, the mother asked Arkal and me where we were from, hoping that our answers would somehow put some sense into Sander. Arkal said he came from U-Corp and was helping in the backstreets, and I said I came for the nest of R-Corp. As she got nothing from us, she ordered the 1st course to be served, sushis à la Q-Corp with meat from Whales of U-Corp. Just like tea, they tasted both bland and too much. Since we mentioned parts of the exhibition and the L-Corp exhibit, she asked us if we had seen a golden bough before. Arkal tried to lie, but his stupid fairy made him flinch. I mentioned the Limbus Company D section to try to divert the subject, as they are looking for them, and although she seemed doubtful, she didn't question me further. Instead, she went back and attacked Sanders again, saying he is selfish... The second course went by in silence. It was a regenerating elk for the outskirt. They trapped and exploited it for meat. Sander looked both sad and scared. The diner was paused after that dish as the mother went to receive some of Sanders's pretenders. Meanwhile, Roger, Arkal, and I followed Sander to the balcony. Crystal followed as well, but not in a friendly way. She had cold and calculated eyes. Once on the balcony, she confronted her brother about him not taking responsibility for his actions and said that, if this were to keep on going, it would be her responsibility to end him. Sander appeared confused and lost in his mind. He later told us that Crystal was not like this. And then we heard the bells. Roger told us it was eight o'clock, but that was not it. She was most likely hearing Her already. Since Sander appeared to still have his senses after a few minutes and the bells stopped, we went back to the dining room. Crystal disappeared on the way back. We talked a little with the father, who was much more relaxed and caring of Sander without the mother around. All was going well when Sander suddenly had to go to the bathroom. He felt troubled. When I heard the bells again, I didn't think once before rushing after him. If he started talking to the Lady of the Light, he would probably distort, and I couldn't let that happen. Unless he was stopped, like I was. I didn't know what to do when I would reach him, but the door was locked, so I was stuck anyway. He was already talking to Her. I could hear Sander wondering who she was and what she meant by "help," and him being impossible to ignore. And he was agreeing. Trying not to panic, I attempted to convince the nearby maid to either look away or help me break the door. She could not grasp the danger of the situation; meanwhile, bells were ringing and Sanders was agreeing...! Once I mentioned Sander having more than a panic attack and actively distorting, she finally changed her mind. Arkal arrived while we were still hammering the door. He probably heard the bells and wanted to make sure we were alright. As we broke in, the door flew back into us, and we narrowly evaded it. It was too late. The room was full of smoke, and before we could react, two hands appeared from the smoke and grabbed the door frame. Sander's hands, or what he had become. As we backed into the corridor, he came out of the bathroom, and we could see him in his entirety. He now had 6 hands; two of them were dismembered and floating in the air, two were attached to his arms, and the last pair were tied to his back. All of them were linked by a thin string of light to a cloud of smoke floating above him. His body was barely recognizable and covered in patches of pastel colors and smoke. A fog was building on the ground, and Sander was muttering to himself. He distorted. Now we had to bring him back. Somehow. As soon as he saw Roger, he lunged at him. Roger couldn't dodge in time, and the force of the impact embedded him slightly into the floor. I move in the way, hoping that Sander would not attack me. I was also responding to the sentences I could comprehend. "Who am I", "You will see me", "Don't ignore me". I could have been in the same situation had Verso not been there... Sander went around me and grabbed Roger with his hands, strangling him. When I freed him, Sander attacked me instead. I tried to roll away, but I was too slow, and the hit left me barely standing. As the smoke was still building up, we decided to make a run for the outside, preferably not where his parents were, as things would likely get worse. Sadly, this meant going around him. I tried to go first, slowly and calmly, still speaking to Sander, but I couldn't hold myself, afraid of being hit again. Iran away. As I was just out of reach, he managed to hit me in the back, and I collapsed on the floor. Roger and Arkal quickly went through to help me stand, and we ran to the inner garden, with Sander following us and wreaking havoc in the corridors. Finally outside, we steeled ourselves, ready to face him again. As he approached, he seemed more and more uncertain, slower, and talking to himself in an understandable way once again. Was he talking to Her again? It seemed like he was doubting his choice and his actions. He was asking for more time to think. As he kept speaking, smoke built up around him. When it dissipated, Sander collapsed on the grass, back to his own self. I quickly and carefully approached him to make sure he was fine. Arkal joined me, and together we helped the still-confused Sander to get up on his feet. Before going back inside, Roger asked us to keep all of this between us. I guess he cares for him as well. We slowly make our way back to the living room, noting the scale of the destruction as we go by. The walls were ravaged, paintings ripped apart, and statues fallen and broken on the ground. Knowing one of us did this was unsettling. Before going back, Sander wanted to see his face again, and on the way to the bathroom, we stumbled upon Crystal. She was furious towards Sander, but this time he answered back. Both of them unleash what they were feeling and thinking towards each other: Crystal, the pain of enduring their mother for the both of them; and Sander, the frustration of seeing his sister turn into someone she is not. Both of them seemed touched by what the other was saying. When we went back in the main room, Crystal was deeply disturbed and was staying closer to Sander. The mother asked her why she was staying near us inferior people, and for the first time since this morning, she took Sander's side. She replied that she should let Sander be, that she should let her go. Unsurprisingly, she was not satisfied with that answer and showed her the price for displeasing her. Sanders quickly jumped in to defend his sister, trying to shift the blame onto himself. This confused Crystal even more. Before anyone could reply, the father stood up and walked towards his Claw outfit. He spoke with his wife in the room and addressed Sander. He would hold mother as long as possible while we flee as far as possible. This was his first and last order. Hearing this, Arkal and I quickly grabbed Sander and ran towards the exit. Obviously, the mother would not let that happen and dashed in at insane speed to stop us. Just as quickly, the father, now wearing his full equipment, jumps on her to free the path. An Arbiter and a Claw fighting, not a place to be at... We could see glimpses of them as they teleported all around the mansion, going through walls and floors. The whole place was shaking under the impacts. We picked up both the siblings and hurried towards the main entrance, where the cars are parked. On the way to the garage the various pretenders are asking us what is going on inside. Sander almost did a Sander by telling them to just go away and to not care about it. Thankfully, they did not recognize him. We broke into one of the few cars that were not yet crushed by the ongoing fight and fled the place. All five of us. We drove to a low-grade motel in C-Corp's nest to get some rest and to think about what to do next. Should we go to U-Corp with Crystal? We also need to change the Golden Bough of hands. We saw on the television that the whole mansion collapsed. I need to get some rest. At least we are all here; we can all live.<author> - Clark</author> <h1 class='title'>Unwanted visitors</h1><h2 class='date'>05/03/985</h2> So. Well, today was a fucked-up day, so much so that I wanted to write down a diary... Where should I begin? Adzo was captured, and I couldn't do a damn thing! That's fucked up. Okay, calm down and start from the beginning. Today was doomed since we woke up anyway. Right, so this morning we learned that we, apparently, spent the last week contently training with Alpha and Gamma, and that we were so exhausted that we collapsed on the couch and Sander fell asleep while cooking. Meanwhile, we don't remember a single thing, and the four of us -Arkal, Sander, Adzo, and I- somehow shared a dream. According to Alpha, Sanders cooked some dubious mushrooms, and that is why we forgot what we did. I'm not sure if I believe him. To be fair, I do feel stronger, and there were some blood marks and debris on the roof. But that wouldn't be the first time we forgot something with members of the book club around. In our dream, we were in some sort of library. My memories are a bit blurry, but there were definitely bookshelves as tall as I could see all around us and pieces of paper floating around. Most of the shelves were strangely empty. In front of us, there was Alpha, a woman with short light blue hair surrounded by two others; one had long crimson hair in a red outfit, and the other had black hair and a black and golden coat; and a tall person with spinning circles that is apparently Nu, the one who recruited us a few weeks ago. At some point Adzo -why does have to be him- moved forward and Nu materialized a black skull over his face and a black scroll with radiating blue writing. Adzo probably read because Nu returned to normal after a while, and he agreed about something with the woman with blue hair. I couldn't hear them. We were then guided by the black- and red-haired women to an open battlefield on an endless bridge, with piles of books on either side. The fights that followed were odd. We were on one side of the bridge; they were on the other. They lunged towards us to attack, went back to their place, and then we did the same. And each time we were butchered, we turned into pages. This happens hundreds of times. And we couldn't even hit them once, but it felt like we improved a bit. Besides our dream, we also went to Sarah's Armory in the Thumb, since Sanders was still sleeping and so couldn't act like an idiot again. Sarah had a really nice shop, much better than the one near H-Corp I went to last time, and she even polished one of my daggers for free. But then she started rumbling about the exhibition in the Ring area nonstop... I was able to keep my calm, barely. When we wanted to confront Alpha about the fact that we didn't believe his stupid Sander's mushrooms, he wasn't there. How strange. Gamma was here, though, and he didn't seem to know what we were talking about until we mentioned that he was supposedly also training us, and then, of course, he was there! Arkal then asked him to describe the members of the Bookclub and he did. Besides Alpha and Gamma, there is also Epsilon, who has a Möbius strip as a head; Nu, whose description perfectly matched the person with rings as a head for our dream; and Lambda, whom he couldn't describe even if he wanted to. When we told him that we saw Alpha, Nu, and what appeared to be the Red Mist in our dream, he became even more confused but also frustrated at Alpha and Nu for leaving him behind recently. And then, the Axe Gang knocked at the door. Maybe one day none will knock, and we will have a peaceful day. Is it too much to ask? Adzo was hooked by an asshole calling them "Matchstick" and an "Urban Nightmare" and saying they are "her property" and pulled them in, and Adzo did not even react; they were shaking and frozen, and the rest of the gang blocked us. We tried to go through them. Gamma could not even help us as he was bound by radiating blue chains, but Lyss and Greddan appeared to help, and Lyss told us she would show us the power of light and emotions. She asked us what we felt about Adzo, and all I said was that he was a gremlin I could call a friend. Only this! And now I miss him. Why does this happen to everybody close to me? Why do I only realize how much I care about them only when they are missing! Live, Clark! So, after that mess, we followed the leader to the ring and tried to talk her out of kidnapping Azdo. We were too weak to fight, and they had the support of members of the Middle! For a kidnapping? Are you kidding me?! Beatrice, the Greater Sister of the area, was also supporting it! Arkal tried to argue with her, and all he got were broken ribs. I should have help. This is fucked up! In the end we had to carry Arkal back, without Adzo. We directly went to Barry's place to heal Arkal, who had multiple broken ribs after being shown the "paperwork". She was able to repair his ribs quite quickly, but before we left, she asked us what our plans for the future were. Barry also asked us to do a "pinky promise" to see each other after this mess. I hope this includes Adzo... Later, when we returned to the office, there was once again an extremely tall new figure waiting at the door with Lyss and Greddan. Yay. He introduced himself as Vespa Cabro from the LDC, the Yellow Harpoon. We already had a Star of the City in the office, and now we have a color fixer visiting it... He wanted to witness a fight between us and Lyss and Greddan to see if we could carry the golden bow but decided later would be a better time, thankfully. Since Alpha was now back in the office, Gamma, followed by Arkal, wanted to set things straight about that week of training. Both of them were breathing frustratingly, and it seemed to work as Alpha told us that, yes, our dream really happened as we suspected. He was apparently quite stressed about what was going on around us and wanted to train us quickly. They used the Bookclub connections to make us train against the "Patreon Librarians" for the Library, that did not vanish but was transported to the outskirts for some reason... And in another contract we couldn't see, Nu had to make us forget where it was in order for us to be able to train there, for our safety, they said. According to Alpha, Nu is clouded or corrupted at the moment, whatever that means. At least now both Gamma and Alpha are confused and angry at their superior. I tried to do some research on the Axe Gang before going to sleep, but I couldn't find anything other than they were a roaming group. I couldn't search more because Sander forced me to query "Yesterday's Promise" for some reason. This is apparently the reason why Gamma couldn't fight earlier, but I don't understand why he wanted to search this instead of ways to find Adzo. I was able to find an empty journal and pens in the office to write. I should sleep, but I keep going back to earlier today. I thought I was over this after last time. It doesn't hurt nearly as much, but it still does. I have to live, and remember, to be able to free Adzo.<author> - Clark</author>