holyspirits | W5 CYOA - Zhongli, Akihiko, Laurence, Ali Zoph

[ his blood runs cold. ]

Iris. Iris Black? The one from the engineering club?

But why? What do you mean "it's his time?"

Iris Black, yeah. I'm not sure about his club affiliation, but he's from Millennium.

I mean what I said. If life is a debt, someone's got to collect. Everyone dies sometime.

Aren't you dead, yourself?

When did he even get here? I thought he was still at school.

[ iris what the hell are you doing. is that lily making you draw money for this wtf wtf

but also ?! ]

...How did you know that?

Hm? Like I said. He got here a few days ago.

I know because it's my job to know these things. I wouldn't have this job for you if I weren't pretty in-tune with this kind of thing, right?

Someone will have to do it either way, it's just a matter of whether it's you... or me.

[ he hates this. he's supposed to be saving iris, not... killing him. ]

Okay. Can... Can we find Zhongli first? Then we can, um. Work on this.

[ ... ]

Where would we even find Iris?

Need someone else to do it for you? Well, as long as it gets done. We'd just put the points on his card instead.

Around now, Iris is probably in his stateroom. Room 205.

That's not what I said!

[ it might be what he meant but rude!!! now he's upset AND mad. ]

The deck upstairs, right? How do we let you know if it is done?

[ sighs and glances back over the casino, feeling a little dizzy again. ]

...And how do we get back to the card tables, again?

Edited 2025-03-19 17:08 (UTC)

That's right. Right upstairs.

Just come back to the casino when it's done. I always guide our new guests. You'll find me.

And once you have your points, you can play any game you want.

[ That's not what he meant. ]

[ okay that is a little disconcerting. he is going to try not to think about that. this is a friend of zhongli's surely it's fine? ]

Right, but I meant - Zhongli was still back there. I don't know how to get back?

Oh, that? He's not there anymore.

But I'll guide you to the exit.

[ Silly guests. Always getting lost and separated from their friends. ]

Wait, what?

[ he will follow her but what?? ]

What do you mean he's not there anymore? Where'd he go?

[ She leads him out to the casino exit, which once again feels so disorienting and loud and mazelike. Which is also weird because talking should be a free action yet this conversation only advances one speech bubble forward. Weird!

She stops right at the exit. Past here, you can see the elevators you initially came down on, and hear the muffled sounds of all the live entertainment rooms. ]

I wonder.

Alright. Get that done and report back. Don't forget about me, now.

[ MISS DIRECTOR MA'AM WHAT DOES THIS MEAN HELP HELP HELP

well. shit. now that he's here what the fuck's he supposed to do. find iris, he guesses, but also,

after skittering out of the way to stand by a wall, laurence yanks out his phone to desperately try and find zhongli's contact and call him ring ring peepaw ]

[ it's ringing.......... ]

[ PEEPAW PICK UP THE PHONE ]

[ Good talk! Now that it's over, what is Laurence doing?

He was told to stay put, but they are still looking for The Idol. His new job might help with that! But it's not the only option. ]

[ well. what is a guy to do while trying desperately not to think about killing some guy who doesn't remember you and isn't even your friend anymore anyway.

he's gonna crowd watch for a bit, i guess? see if he can spot anyone by the idol's description, if there's anything drawing a crowd of other guests, or if there's extra security. this idol is a big deal, right? surely they will have some kind of entourage. ]

[ Just a bunch of high school girls! No Idol casually strolling the halls... But you are pretty close to those entertainment rooms, so you hear people coming and going from them, and they're usually talking about what to do next or what other shows they might want to watch.

It's pretty jumbled up but you do catch that there might be a big show at the live theater on this deck in the evening. There's also apparently going to be some live entertainment at the outdoor theater up on the top deck later, which is rare. Wow! Such shows. Many options.

Though you do wonder what 'evening' means. You saw Iris this morning, but he's been here for days? How long have you been here? There were no windows in the casino. You walked for a really long time... ]

[ huh. he is confused about how time works here, but this is probably normal, right? even if iris was out there when they left... ahhh his head hurts.

but he does go ahead and text the other pair. what are they even doing. maybe they can look into things on their end while he keeps looking for any trace of this person or zhongli. coinflip said akihiko hope you're checking your messages ]

there's a show in the theater here later
have you guys heard anything about it? maybe the idol's in it?

[ Laurence sends that text!

Just chillin........

JK HE GETS AN ANSWER ]

Didn't hear about it. We know the Idol came to one of the restaurants up here today, so I doubt they'll be back to this part soon.

Zoph and I are looking for the security room.

Edited 2025-03-19 18:52 (UTC)

[ what if he stays by the elevators but wanders over to the side closer to the theater, anything of note to see from here? any big groups or people lingering and looking sus... ]

okay be careful
Zhongli and I got separated but he's coming back I think
We'll have to take a detour before we can do much in the casino
Chrono and Lucas are both here, too? so keep an eye out

[ No one looks sus... it's just so many cute high school girls...

also, a text: ]

How did they react to seeing you?

[ well good then he continues to be useless. is there any sign of the setup for this show tonight?? ]

he said Lucas was "assimilated"
Chrono recognized me but didn't want to leave the game
Zhongli said he set off some alarm and disappeared

[ The entertainment changes up so fast that they don't seem to have a lot of signage to advertise. Instead it's mostly pamphlets, but whatever works!

He manages to grab one and sees that it only lists the show that will happen on this deck. And they're all basically like... The Newlyweds games... Some comedy shows... Nothing that really seems like it would fit the Idol... Probably?

But they don't say anything about the outdoor movie theater on the top deck. ]

[ okay he will tack on another message for akihiko in that case: ]

there's a movie theater up there, right? can you check that for any sign of the idol?
i don't see anything for down here

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