The Theatre

[quillpleasant]

Not a Date

Vampires are presumably also fans of blood. Maybe werewolves too. But those creatures certainly aren't relevant in Darko's life, at least.

"Yeah, I think so," reports Darko, flipping through a couple more books. "Looks like this is the only one with illustrations, and a lot of them are about the Chrysalis somehow. Like someone was studying her." How anyone could study the Wizards is a little beyond him- they don't make enough sense to get any real data.

Putting the book aside for now, Darko reads the note, squinting in concentration. "Hmm... I'm going to guess that this is some sort of hint as to how to find the heart. It would make good narrative sense." Really, that class has taught him more than all his other curriculars combined. "So maybe it is stone?"

He mulls it over for a moment. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of like, hidden message or code here too. The Wizards seem to really like stuff like that."

Darko taps his chin thoughtfully, then glances down at the dragon. "Or maybe it's just a red herring, and we need to keep looking. What do you think, Bismuth?" She is the delve expert after all.

[Rebonack]

[Not a Date]

There are definitely no werewolves OR big black dogs in Darko's life, that's for sure.

"What if she was studying herself?" Bismuth muses as she eases the globe shut and gives it a twirl. You can't just be standing next to a globe without spinning it. "Would that be strange? What if they Wizards are just as clueless about themselves as we are of them?"

That would be mysterious!

But maybe not the case.

Maybe.

"And crystal bones, too. But those might have turned to dust?" Bismuth wonders. They might be taking it too litterally, too. "We should probably be on the lookout for mirrors, though. And this might mean that the big hearty pumping sound down the bloody hallway is a fakeout. There are fakeouts all the time in delves, they're known as False Goals."

You don't want to get duped by a false goal!

They usually involve traps!

"I'm going to check out the bottles and then we can see what else we can find along the path," Bismuth says as she approaches the trolley full of bottles. She'll carefully pick one up and sniff at the contents. This is definitely one of those times when having a really sensitive nose is helpful.

[quillpleasant]

Not a Date

"That would be really weird," agrees Darko, "But I guess it would explain why they're so reluctant to talk about themselves if they don't know what they are." Still, that explanation doesn't quite sit right with him. Although the Chrysalis could be an oddity even among the Wizards- in some ways, she already is.

And it sounds like the Delve experience is coming in handy. "Well the Theatre seems to like False Goals too. It often shows things that aren't really there, or are trying to distract you from what is," Darko says, glancing back down the hallway they came from. It's too dark to see if anything's changed. "But I'll definitely keep an eye out for mirrors."

The bottles mostly seem to be wine judging by their labels, although there's some oddly shaped bottles that appear to be various specialty liquors like brandy and rum. At least, that's what they look like. The smell is a different matter. Upon picking one up, Bismuth will discover that the contents have a smell of vanilla so strong that its detectable even without opening the bottle. It's almost acrid, and definitely unpleasant.

There's also a fine layer of dust over these, more so than the rest of the room. However, a cursory search will reveal that one in particular, what looks like a large red wine bottle, is entirely free of dust, as if it was placed there much more recently. The smell, however, is identical.

While Bismuth examines those, Darko is poking at the crystalline fireplace. "Hey, it looks like there's something inside this crystal?" he says, leaning in close, "But it's too distorted by the crystal to make out. Some kind of dark shape." He wishes, not for the first time, that he had gone to the trouble of lugging his bag around with him.

[Rebonack]

[Not a Date]

"The Wizards are already really weird so that would fit, right?" Bismuth reasons as she picks up the bottle that looks most like a recent addition to the kart. Oof. Are they all full of vanilla extract? That would explain the smell.

"False Goals are always tricky! Usually if something seems too easy or too obvious, it means you're getting duped! If it seems too good to be true, it probably IS too good to be true," Bismuth says, dispensing some handy Delving advise as she walks over to the fireplace with the bottle held in one of her 'hands'.

"In this one here?" Bismuth says, eyeing the crystal in question. She can't really see well enough to make out what Darko is talking about. "Hey, stand back. I have a hunch I want to test."

Then?

She'll pull the cork out of the bottle and pour the contents all over the mysterious crystal with a dark object in it!

This might just result in a crystal being doused with smelly fluid.

OR!

Something dramatic might happen!

There's only one way to find out.

[quillpleasant]

Not a Date

"I feel like that's true in real life too, not just in delves," remarks Darko. Either way, that's some true wisdom that Bismuth is speaking.

The fireplace contains a collection of several large crystals all grouped in a cluster, giving the approximate shape of a fire. The shape that Darko's seen seems to reside amongst them. As Bismuth approaches with bottle in hand, he steps smartly out of the way. Whatever that stuff is, Darko would prefer not to be splashed.

Of course, the crystal has no such defense. As the bottle's contents cascade over it, the vanilla smell reaches new, hitherto unforeseen levels of intensity. The substance has a very similar consistency to blood, but it's a pale lavender color not too different from the Chrysalis. And the effect of it hitting the crystal is immediate.

There's a loud hissing sound and a cloud of steam is released, billowing out into the room. Luckily, there doesn't seem to be any ill effects from breathing it in, save for the scent. Darko covers his mouth with a sleeve just to be safe.

As the mist dissipates, it's clear that the liquid has almost completely melted the crystals in the fireplace. What's left is a small handheld mirror, its frame ornate but tarnished silver. There's a pattern of leaves across the handle.

"...Well, that's something at least," says Darko, waving away the last bit of clinging steam, "I never would have thought of doing that, great work Bismuth!"

[Rebonack]

[Not a Date]

Life is kind of like that, isn't it?

While the smoke begins billowing everywhere Bismuth folds her hood down, doing her best to perform the equivalent of covering her nose. Close enough, right? The smell is still REALLY overwhelming and unpleasant and just yuck!

But.

BUT!

It was worth it!

Because it turned out her hunch was right!

"This place is a little bit like a Delve so I thought it would be a good idea to use dungeon puzzle logic," Bismuth says as she reaches out to pick up the mirror and examine it. "We were going to keep a look out for any mirrors and it looks like we found one already!"

Is it the mirror they're looking for?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

"Sometimes you just need to try and see how the curios you find interact with each other. You might be surprised!"

This little adventure is turning out to be a pretty nice safe-ish test run for a real Delve.

[quillpleasant]

Not a Date

Luckily, with the cloud dissolving, most of the smell seems to have gone with it, only a faint aroma still lingering. Or maybe it's still fairly strong, but just seems manageable in comparison.

"Well, this hasn't been that bad so far," says Darko, retrieving the mirror from the fireplace, "So if Delves are like this, then I think I'd have a lot of fun with them." Sure, they're probably more dangerous. But it can't be that bad.

Right?

"Hm, now that we have this, what do we do with it?" he wonders, lifting it up to reflect both of them. There doesn't appear to be anything strange or unnatural about the mirror. So far at least.

"Maybe we need to reflect light with it, or something? Or check for differences in the mirror world?" Everyone knows about the mirror world.

[Rebonack]

[Not a Date]

"Usually delves have more monsters and traps," Bismuth points out as she does her best to focus on her reflection in the mirror. Her view of herself is a little hazy, even with her vision focused. It's like seeing the world in Impressionist Painting Vision. "This has definitely been more safe than usual! Which isn't bad. Starting with safe is a good idea!"

Definitely a good idea.

But!

Now they need to figure out what to do next.

"Sometimes a piece of the puzzle has to be used somewhere else. But let's try a few things in here, first! Like this note!" Bismuth says as she holds the note up to the mirror. "You've going to have to read it. I can't really make out the letters in the mirror."

She had to read it by taste. Which definitely took some getting use to. Sadly that doesn't work with screens and mirrors.

But maybe the letters will reveal a different message in the mirror?

"If this doesn't do anything we should check the globe next. There was something strange going on with the dancer's shadow."

[[brackets lover]]

[Dog]

The trick to finding the Theatre worked out well for Jon, who ran about in fit of zoomies until he happened upon the entrance to the Theatre. Of course, this is his intended destination. The Wizards' Guild had heard whispers of these other "Wizards" and decided to officially look into it, sending their best dog on the case.

Dressed in his robes and carrying his staff in his mouth, he comes to a halt in front of the doors, rapidly pawing at them and whining.

[quillpleasant]

Not a Date

Darko winces at the mention that things have been quite safe so far. Bismuth is right, of course. But the Theatre listens, and it's not a wise idea to jinx things.

But he won't mention that, since he doesn't want her to feel bad.

"Good thinking," Darko says, craning his neck around to look at the reflected lines. "It looks like, uh..."

Well it looks like a bunch of backwards gibberish. It doesn't help that some of the lines are already oddly misspelled. Yeah, he can't make heads nor tails of this.

"If there's anything there, I can't figure it out," he admits. "It's a good guess though!"

Then he heads over to the globe. Definitely something up with this thing.

"You weren't kidding, that's definitely a weird shadow. Hm... maybe doing something with the light source?" Now that the fireplace has been put out, the only illumination comes from Bismuth's chemical lamp. It's a little eerie.

---

Dog

The Theatre, as ramshackle and decrepit as ever, stands impassively on the street corner. It's not in the habit of paying attention to animals, and there has certainly been stray dogs in the area before.

But the building's uncaring attitude is not shared by all the inhabitants. After a few moments, the door swings open, revealing a well lit foyer filled with light. Glittering movie posters, a glowing arcade games, and a thick clean carpet are visible within, and the scent of hot popcorn fills the air.

The door has been opened by a thin tentacle covered in fine, light brown fuzz. This appendage drops off the door and begins to retract into the room beyond. Whatever this is, it's very long, as it seems to wind through the lobby with no body in sight.

[Rebonack]

[Not a Date]

It's okay.

If Bismuth learned that she may have summoned danger by invoking it she would just say that's great since it would be a chance for Darko to practice!

Juiblex in general is the sort of person (people?) to find the silver lining in everything. They've hopelessly positive and quite incorrigible about it.

"Well! You never know if your idea is good or not unless you try! Unless it's a really objectively terrible idea, don't try those."

Like feeding your fingers to strange plants.

"The shadow is pretty strange. It was stranger before it broke. I couldn't tell if it was just a trick of the light or not," she muses. "Let me try one more thing then we'll find another room to ransack."

Then?

Her chest swells a bit as her insides begin glowing brightly right before she spits a small blob of brightfrost at the wall nearby! Suddenly the room is quite a bit more illuminated than before!

"Okay, try looking at the town in the globe through the mirror now!"

[[brackets lover]]

[Dog]

Jon nods his head slowly as the tentacle retracts, making a bark sound muffled by his staff. He strides in, immediately being drawn to the smell of popcorn.

However, as astute as he is, he knows to treat smells with a bit of skepticism. Thus, he attempts to tune out these savory smells as he proceeds after the appendage, keeping his wits about for anything unusual or conspicuously usual.

[quillpleasant]

Not a Date

"The trouble is knowing which ideas are terrible before you try them, instead of after," says Darko with a grin. That's what always gets him.

He nods, stepping back to watch as Bismuth spits out the light. It's a very helpful thing ability to have!

One that in this circumstance has a very dramatic effect.

With brighter light comes darker shadows, as other protagonists have observed. In this case, the shadow cast by the dancing silhouette gets significantly deeper, swiftly becoming pitch black. And as it gets darker, it gets bigger. Far too big to be cast by such a tiny figure.

Within moments, a wolf is crouching on the globe. Or at least, the silhouette of one. It's so utterly black that it looks two dimensional, absorbing all the light that touches it like a wolf-shaped hole. But it's clearly a physical presence, as it snarls, and its weight causes the globe to topple to the floor.

Darko dodges back with a yelp, only narrowly avoiding the snapping wolf jaws. He grabs a heavy book to throw at it just as the shadow beast turns towards Bismuth, darting forward to bite at her legs.

---

Dog

Jon's sensitive nose will be able to pick up on the fact that everything here just smells a little off. It's a good approximation of reality, but just a little to the left. To make a visual comparison, it's as if a familiar room has had all its colors shifted a few hexes over.

But aside from that slight uncanniness, this seems like a lively and well maintained movie theatre. The tentacle leads him past the ticket booth, and over to the concession stand, where there is in fact a popcorn machine running, as well as a whole lot of other snacks behind a glass case. Winding up and over the counter, the tendril wraps around a popcorn bucket and scoops it into the machine, filling it up and then reaching down to offer it to Jon.

The dog might be distracted, however, by the fact that something is happening down one of the hallways that leads off from the lobby. The bright lights are beginning to flicker and go dim, and a dark shadow can be seen at the end, walking towards the front. In front of it, the Theatre seems to decay, shining wood panels and multicolored carpeting fading into dusty, worm eaten old age.

[[brackets lover]]

[Dog]

Jon attempts to eat the popcorn, the staff in his mouth being in the way. Thus, he tosses it into the air and howls, conjuring a mage hand to hold the staff for him as he munches the popcorn. This is not the safest thing for him to eat, but alas, now is not the time to worry about consequences! As sweeping changes occur in the Theatre, Jon quickly notices, dashing after the dark shadow. "Arf arf! (Hiiii!)"

[Rebonack]

[Not a Date]

The main difference between someone accustomed to danger and someone who isn't is how they react to surprises. A novice is likely to get eaten while deliberation is going on.

But a seasoned veteran?

They react.

Bismuth gives her wings a powerful beat as the creature begins turning towards her, throwing herself back dramatically! And as she does she pulls out a vial in two parts, gives it a twist and a shake, and hurls it towards the beast's open jaws all in a smooth, practiced motion.

The vial will burst moments later in a mass of VERY hot, VERY sticky foam that rapidly expands in volume while filling the air with an acrid stench.

Getting the foam in the mouth would be very bad for the wolf, especially when it cures into a solid mass over the span of the next several seconds.

"Do we have something to cover the light with?" Bismuth calls out.

[quillpleasant]

Not a Date

The wolf snarls as it snaps at the air where Bismuth was just a moment ago. It crouches, but in the moment before it leaps her vial smashes over its face. The horrible scent of burning hair fills the room, and the creature gives vent to an unnervingly human scream, clawing at the stuff in an attempt to get rid of it- but it's already hardening over its face, weighing it down and gumming up those vicious teeth.

Then Darko lunges forward and smacks it with a book. He's not a strong kid, but it's a heavy book, and the wolf goes reeling.

But just as quickly its recovering. Although its fangs are out of commission, its body roils, becoming less of a wolf and more of an amorphous mass of darkness. Fore paws become vicious lycanthropic claws which scythe back and forth through the air as it stumbles blindly towards Bismuth.

"Good thinking!" calls out Darko, dropping and rolling to the side to evade the monster's swipes. He pats his pockets, trying to see if there's anything that could be useful. Aha! A bottle of ink. Uncorking it, he tosses the dark liquid towards the wall, seeing if that's sufficient to deaden Bismuth's brightfrost.

---

Jon will find the popcorn to taste much like most popcorn- tasteless styrofoam with fake butter flavor. The Theatre doesn't have to work very hard to copy something that already tastes artificial. The tendril 'watches' him from behind the counter, seemingly pleased.

Then he goes tearing off down the hallway. By the time he makes it to the figure, the surroundings have changed, the bright cheery Theatre becoming old and rundown, covered in mildew and dust. The bright electric lights are flickering oil lamps, and the carpet has crumbled into maroon gravel underfoot.

But there's at least something new- up close, the shadow is revealed to be a blonde boy in baggy clothing, with a black bag over one shoulder.

Darko glances up, and his eyes widen. A dog? The Theatre has never had a dog in it before- only insects, rats, the occasional bird. Well he's not complaining, Darko loves dogs! Dropping his bag, he crouches, holding out his hands for Jon to sniff.

"Hi boy! Wow, how'd you get in here? Oh man, I love your outfit!"

[Rebonack]

[Not a Date]

Direct hit!

Now that the monster is getting scalded by the hot chemicals all it can do is-

Make a human sounding scream?

So this isn't just ANY shadow wolf it's a shadow WEREWOLF!

"Ooh, I haven't ever fought a shadow werewolf before," Bismuth comments as the beast stumbles toward her. She's quite a bit more peppy about this than she probably should be. Just as the monster lunges she flattens out and slithers forward, deftly winding under the beast and reassembling her skeleton over yonder.

Since she's a Juibi she inherited the polymorphous nature of that half of Juiblex. Very handy when you need to squirm out of reach.

Pulling out her poking stick, she extends the tool and tries giving the beast a nice solid shove.

As for the ink, the glow crust reacts with something in it and begins to fizz as it rapidly loses its luminosity.

[quillpleasant]

Not a Date

Being able to completely flatten yourself is certainly a useful skill. For both evading shadow lycanthropes and fitting under doorways.

The beast, blinded by the hot foam, doesn't seem to notice where Bismuth has gone, continuing to claw madly at the place she just left. But when it's shoved by the stick it whirls, its own amorphous body rendering it quite stable. It reaches out, trying to grab the poker and yank Bismuth off balance.

But then the ink-frost combination begins to decrease the light levels in the room- and as it does, the shadow beast seems to fade, its form becoming more diffuse at the edges. But it's not entirely gone because of Bismuth's chemical lantern.

"Hey ugly!" There's a harsh cracking sound as Darko uses another heavy book to smash the town in the globe, the fragile stone buildings fragmenting under the heavy binding. The wolf spasms, then whirls around. Despite being weakened, those claws are still sharp as it lunges for the boy.

[[brackets lover]]

[Dog]

Jon, decidedly not all suspicious of Darko, immediately and aggressively sniffs his hand for a second. He shirks back in surprise, but quickly resumes his investigation, rapidly licking Darko's palm.

He looks up to Darko and barks, "Woof! (Family!)"

[Rebonack]

[Not a Date]

Being polymorphous can be very useful! For example, you don't have to be as picky about your shoe size. And of course you can deftly slither under aggressive monsters.

Bismuth's poking stick gets yanked out of her grip but thanks to the fact that she has FOUR legs rather than two she just stumbles a little. But then comes the book bash, proving once again that knowledge is power. Seeing the destruction of the globe seems to help as does the dousing of the lights Bismuth does two things.

First?

She sticks her chemlite in her pack.

Second?

She rolls up in a big ball and hurls herself toward the wolf!

[quillpleasant]

Not a Date

As the chemlite disappears, the room is cast into almost complete darkness. And therefor, what happens next is hard to perceive- but it's something like this.

Darko lets out a pained yelp. Then Bismuth bowls headlong into what can only be the wolf. It feels cold and dry and smooth, like a leather couch. The force of her charge sends them both crashing to the ground, and there's a sound like a giant balloon wheezing. Then there's silence except for Darko's frightened breaths.

At this point, a faint light appears, revealing the scene once more. Darko's arm has been slashed by the wolf's claws, and although it's bleeding, it doesn't appear to be serious. And as for the perpetrator, it's completely vanished, dispersed into shadows by the lack of light and Bismuth's attack.

"We did it! Are you okay?" Darko glances down at his arm and gets a little pale. He doesn't like blood.

But the question remains- where is the light coming from now?

Well, in the struggle, Darko dropped the mirror. And now that there's no other source of light, it appears to be glowing with slowly increasing intensity.

---

Dog

Darko grins as Jon licks his hand, reaching out to scratch the dog behind his ears. "Aw, you're a sweet doggy, yes you are! I wonder where you came from?"

Unfortunately, despite his magic, Darko has no real ability to talk to animals. But from the dog's clothes, and his rather intelligent mannerisms, it's clear that this is no ordinary dog.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" he wonders, tilting his head thoughtfully. "Let's see... can you do one bark for no, two for yes?" A quick glance around to confirm that no one else is here to make fun of him for talking to a dog.

[Rebonack]

[Not a Date]

It isn't hard to perceive for Bismuth! One of the upsides to having an incredibly sensitive sense of smell is that she can actually locate the direction and distance of various objects around herself from scent alone. Being able to 'see' with your nose-analog is definitely a helpful trick!

"Yeah I'm alright, but it looks like you got hurt," Bismuth says as she reaches into her pack. "But don't worry! I would be a pretty terrible alchemist if it didn't know how to make healing potions."

She's going to mostly ignore the glowing mirror for now. Seeing to the injuries of team members is DEFINITELY more immediately important. She pulls out of round-bottomed, stoppered bottle full of faintly luminous, fizzy, cherry red liquid. "This is going to sting," she warns before pulling the stopper with a hiss of compressed gas and pours a little bit over Darko's cuts.

It definitely stings.

And fizzes.

In fact, it'll cause a pretty sizable heap of bubbly pinkish foam all over Darko's arm.

"Don't touch it," Bismuth warns. "Once it stops stinging let me know and we'll get it washed off."

[[brackets lover]]

[Dog]

Jon tilts his head confusedly at Darko, a moment of hesitation before he again barks, "Woof woof! (What's two?)"

[quillpleasant]

Not a Date

Well the only other thing Bismuth might have perceived is the wolf just poofing into nothingness. Clearly, it needed both light and dark to survive- an extremophile it was not.

Darko is being very brave about his injury. He watches with interest as she pulls out the bottle, which turns rapidly to alarm. "Thanks, healing would be nice... wait, how bad is the stinghhhhh. Ahh." He winces and screws his eyes shut as the fizzy red foam fills up his wound, going even paler, if that's possible.

Very brave indeed.

But after a few moments, the stinging begins to subside, and he opens his eyes, relaxing a little. "Ow. I've never had a healing potion before... does it totally fix it? Or will there be scarring?" Because, well. Scars are kind of badass. "I think it's okay to wash off now, the pain is going down."

---

Dog

Darko's eyes light up. Two barks! That means this dog really is smart!

"Wow, you barked twice! I've never talked to a dog before! Well, to one who can talk back. Okay, let's see..." He thinks for a minute. There's a lot of questions he could ask, like 'do dogs remember their dreams' or 'do you actually like kibble.' The latter because, well, Darko's tried it and he thinks it sucks.

But for now, there are more important things. "Okay... do you have something to show me? One for no, two for yes," he repeats encouragingly.

[Rebonack]

[Not a Date]

Pink!

Fizzy pink foam.

That's a very important bit of information.

Or at least it starts off a deeper red before lightening to lighter and lighter pink. That means it's working. Probably.

"About that bad," Bismuth not so helpfully informs Darko. "There are lots of different kinds of alchemical healing potions. I've got some you drink, too, but those are better for scuffs and bruises and exhaustion. The topical ones are for cuts and ESPECIALLY bites since they kill any germs in the cut."

She stoppers the half-empty bottle and stows it away again before taking out ANOTHER bottle full of clear water. She pours it over the foam and washes it off, revealing pink scarring where the claws got Darko.

"Divine healing is the only sort that doesn't leave scarring since it just magics you back to how you were before. Alchemical healing is just helping your body do what it normally does, but faster!" Bismuth adds. "And since that's done we should check out the mirror! It's glowing all of a sudden."

Very mysterious!

Bismuth will lean down and peer at it.

"I still really can't see what's going on with mirrors," she says after a few seconds of looking at it intently.

[[brackets lover]]

[Dog]

Jon again tilts his head, thinking on what's being said. Since Darko reacted positively, that means Jon's answer was a positive answer! Thus, Jon cheerfully barks twice again, wagging his tail excitedly.

[quillpleasant]

Not a Date

What is pink if not a shade of red?

"Huh, you know I never considered that wound disinfecting would be important in magical healing? But it makes sense," muses Darko, rubbing at the fresh scars. "Thanks- I've never gotten hurt like that before."

It's actually a little concerning that the Theatre seems willing to hurt him now. Did something change, or has he just been lucky all this time?

Either way, he's not displeased to have scars. It's kind of badass. Hopefully it doesn't make Asami too worried when they notice.

Following Bismuth's lead, Darko kneels down to look at the mirror. "Oh... that's weird. It's not reflecting anything, it's showing an image. Of a glowing space with a heart in it. Hey, that's what we need!"

And although Bismuth can't really see reflections, she can probably tell that this isn't a reflection, or a screen. It's an extradimensional space! Like a bag of holding, except it's a mirror.

The insides seem to glow like a small tunnel of LEDs, and sitting on the floor just a few feet in is what looks like a human heart, drained of blood and almost pure white in color. The organ is translucent at the edges, making it blend into the white light, but it's certainly not invisible.

Darko immediately sticks his arm into the mirror and grabs at it, but he doesn't quite have the reach. "Ugh, I can't get it. You can though, right?" Well, at least he didn't spring any traps.

---

Dog

Darko whoops, standing up excitedly. "Alright, we got a quest! Lead the way boy, I'm ready when you are." After all, if a magic dog tells you to go somewhere, you go. There's literally no other option.

He looks expectantly at Jon- who may or may not know where to go. Lenny is a drifter, and doesn't exactly have a home base, although he's known to frequent Trog's. Might be a good place to get a scent.

Then something taps Darko's shoulder. The long fuzzy tentacle has reached all the way from behind the counter, and it wags back and forth in the air in a warning gesture. Darko waves it off.

"What? No, shh. I trust the magic dog, why don't you?" He bends down to peer at Jon's collar. "You got a name, boy?"

[[brackets lover]]

[Dog]

Seeing the tentacle make a sudden movement, Jon vigilantly micro-advances, lifting a front paw before relenting as he notices Darko talking to it peacefully.

Jon's shooting star-shaped collar, of course, read "Jon Terekhov". He patiently sat and allowed Darko to get a good look at it.

Being a dog, Jon operates on entirely different logic. Thus, he will take Darko to Seaside because that's where Jon met Lenny.

[Rebonack]

[Not a Date]

Pink is a shade of magenta.

You know, the color between red and purple? The eighth color? The color of magic?

Anywho!

"It's important in magical healing that actually works through healing instead of restoring someone to an ideal state. I think that's usually how divine healing works. It just makes you whole again! Whole you usually doesn't have a bunch of germs stuck in your wounds," Bismuth reasons as she reaches a tentacle into the mirror to try to grab the heart.

Is this going to work?

Hopefully!

"Glad to help! An important part of a delve is having your delve-buddy's back! No one can be good at everything so we have to fill in the gaps for our buddies," Bismuth says as she fishes around for the heart. Thankfully her limbs are long AND stretchy. They should be able to do the job.

[quillpleasant]

Not a Date

Depends on the kind of pink, and whether the basis is light or paint. But the definition of colors is too esoteric a subject even for the Theatre.

"I guess I don't know much about divine healing. Or divine magic in general- I've never been one for religion." Darko shrugs. It's not something he has strong feelings about, he just hasn't thought much about it at all.

As Bismuth reaches in... nothing happens. Which is probably a good thing! But she is able to reach the heart with no issue. It's heavy, about six pounds, and with a cool smooth texture like plastic.

When she hauls it out, it's easy to see that this is bigger than a human heart- more comparable to that of a cow or other large mammal. It's a milky off-white, and inert- just a big rubbery lump of tissue.

"Cool," says Darko, poking at it. "So I think it's safe to say this is what we were looking for, yeah? I mean, the chances of there being multiple hearts down here seems... low." But never zero!

Then the mirror shuts off, the glowing portal disappearing as it become a mere handheld reflection device once again, leaving them in complete darkness. Darko jumps, then laughs it off.

"Ha, we might need your chemlite again. No rush."

And when the light is brought out again- they can probably head back! Mission accomplished, easy victory! Right?

---

Dog

"Jon Terekhov? Cool! I'll call you Mister Terekhov," says Darko cheerfully upon reading the color. The formality tickles him when applied to a dog.

As Jon heads for the door of the now decrepit Theatre, the tentacle reaches for Darko, then pulls back, unwilling to actually stop him. It waves as the boy follows the dog out of the front door.

And rather than the street where he entered from, since it's Jon's intent to go to the sea, then that's exactly where the door will lead.