Masa con Papas: Proxy's Memory

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[image description: a pile of photos of various abstracted locations, the most prominent of which is a couple of freshly buried graves with makeshift crosses to mark them. One of them has a locket around it shaped like a heart with two distinctly colored halves.]

Much to your dismay, the promises of a nice breakfast to help fill the three of you in have become a moment of crisis. Platino finally arrives, storming in with a folder filled with piles of photos of locales you know too clearly. The... Mammal? You don't recognize the species of the current body he's using..

He manages to look both excited by his discovery and genuinely fearful at the same time.

Platino: You two need to see this, been doing some sleuthing on the side and uh...

Styx: ...Ah. It continues to complicate.

Manzana: I don't get it, what's all this-

Styx: The angel pocket, haven't it in over a decade.

Platino: Yeah, figured it had to be important.

Styx:.. Where did you get all this? How do you have access to anything?

Platino: One of my mom's insiders, expedition from earlier this year. She's got a knack for getting her hands on all sorts of relics. Lately she's been looking into assembling all sorts that she'd call heirlooms.

Styx: I see.. such as?

Manzana: We got a polearm back at the apartment, one that belonged to one of her old relatives. Zinnia? I mean we talked to them and so did a bunch of the others but...

Styx: Mm.. the angel. That doesn't sound promising for us but continue.

Manzana: Hold up, the... angel? Like or real? I just assumed they were a bit weird and-

Platino: You really gonna question that in this family?

Manzana: No but..

Platino: But what?

Manzana: I guess that'd explain why she just.. doesn't. Mom I mean.

Styx: Elaborate.

Manzana: People. Not just normal anti-social but.. I assumed you guys were all these detached weirdos or something. Never made sense how Geezer ended up so... nice. I guess Charon's like.. I dunno. But outright an angel?

Styx: Heritage hardly defines your sense of humanity, and for the record nobody as far as I know if is directly angel spawn. Zinnia is... just ascended. Suppose if I can become a entity, they could go even further...

The rabbit's ears flopped down.

Manzana: Ah... sorry. I.. I dunno.

Styx: What is it?

Manzana: I don't get why she's just the way she is then like.. she just hates people? Like in a weird way. A lot about her doesn't make sense, you know? She's been through a lot but doesn't care if she hurts other people. She took care of me but you know.. she's never been a good mom like that. Her weird sword demon is nicer to me, her actual kids are nicer to me, I dunno...

Styx: She sensitive?

Manzana: Got no, never seen her cry proper once in her life, if she does it-

Platino: Yeah she's in on that natural born magic shit. Tired of hearing it, personally speaking.

Manzana: Yeah.. all this talk about legacy and power but... why anyone want that if nobody likes them? Like.. I hate to be mean...

Platino: I'll be real we thought about poisoning her a lot as kids but I'm not even sure it'd work. Fiend and all that. Why you ask anyway?

Styx: Nothing, gauging things..

You slide through the photos, one sticks in particular.

A gravesite.

A pain shoots through your chest.

Styx: Great Grandpa...

Manzana:..Huh?

Styx: That's what's started her Spiral, that's her endgame.

Manzana: You're gonna have to clarify a lot dude.

Styx: The angel pocket. Everything in there found its way in based off of a system akin to adding labels for sorting. You familiar with such?

The rabbit's ears pull back.

Manzana: ..Is that really how they work?

Styx: Yes! I assumed with your occupation-

Manzana: No! There's a entire category of research for figuring out how these things work and.. we've never figured out how they think? They abduct-

Styx: Based on similarity, yes. They coincidences they create never have been and their motives are often emotion based but expressed through rather unusual means.

Platino:...Yeah that makes sense. Big people playing with a ant farm.

Styx: And in their eyes we're often about as significant until someone shows teeth. The angel was looking for things such as Fiend, Judgment, Dog, Family, etc. Many got dragged in, displaced through time and space because of such labels. You understand where this is going?

Platino: Lot of you guys got pulled in. Missed our mom though?

Styx: But not her sister, nor her father. They found themselves yanked in at different points.

Platino: ..Ah. She's mentioned her parents are gone, figured they were just old-

Styx: They were both fiendish, statistically speaking at least one of them *should* still be alive assuming their natural lifespan.

Manzana: Right.. don't like that she might be at my funeral like that.

Platino: Nah, we're gonna live forever.

Manzana: Maybe, not exactly the healthiest people...

Platino: We're magic, we'll figure it out.

You give them a extended grin.

Styx: If you choose the path of wild magic I'll gladly welcome you two as my understudies.

Platino:.. Don't smile like that with my friend's face, kinda weird.

Styx: Technically I am your friend-

Platino: Still weird.

Manzana: Yeah gonna have to back him up on that, no offense-

Platino: Speak for yourself, scared you're gonna break his jaw.

Styx: You'll get used to it..

Manzana: Yeah I.. don't think I will?

Styx: Fair enough... back to business.

Manzana: So this is all cause my mom lost her dad?

Styx: Perhaps, I don't exactly know too much about the truth here. Right now my goals are to track down someone on the island who might have a strong lead on all this but... my worst worries are this was all a massive setup. A bait and switch for a scheme more personally motivated than a auction.

Platino: Yeah like... if she just wanted the secret to immortality but she might be the one holding onto this husk in the first place-

Manzana gets up from her seat.

Manzana: I gotta make a call right now.

Platino: You okay?

Manzana: I might have a lead. You two go order something for yourselves.

Platino: You're not gonna eat?

Manzana: You know what I like.

Platino: Guess I do, fill us in though like-

Mazana: Yeah just.. one sec, okay? Gonna ask Needle something.

Platino: Mm..