>>12550
You head back towards room 1, and as you touch the door, the same thing happens, and you wake up in the similar black, lifeless void as before, the room in front of you.
You feel different now, you look at yourself, and given your height, the way your hands look and your stature, you conclude that you’re a fairly well-built middle-aged man. Looking at your clothes, it’s now obvious, that blue suit... You can only be Rudolf.
Once again, you feel the need to get into that room.

I walk toward the door and open it with the handle, and walk inside.

Last edited at 13/08/18(Sun)18:36:16

>>12552
You turn the knob. Fat chance. It’s locked.

I use my roman numeral key to open the door.

>>12554
You find the key numbered III in your pocket. You insert it into the lock, and it does fit, but you don’t have as much luck while turning it. That won’t work.

I try knocking on the door if someone's still inside. If no one responds, I go around to the windows to see if their unlocked or to knock on them for signs of life

>>12556
The knock receives no response. You walk around to get to the other side and inspect the windows. Clearly, they’re locked. From where you’re standing, it’s obvious no one’s inside the room, so it’s no use knocking on the windows at this point.

I search my pocket for anything else besides my single key. I stand in front of the door and wait for someone/the culprit to open the door for me.

Last edited at 13/08/18(Sun)18:56:34

>>12558
You wait a fair amount of time but no one comes opening the door for you.
In your pockets, you find a ring, the same as before.

I attempt to break the windows. I attempt break the door. I try looking for a key placed elsewhere around in the void near the door. I feel the walls for anything... A change in material maybe.

I finally put on the ring if nothing works.

Last edited at 13/08/18(Sun)19:16:25

>>12560
Your attempt the window remains fruitless, as the words «No windows were broken or removed during the whole game » plaster themselves along the walls and windows.

You find no key among the void. You notice nothing while feeling the walls.

You put on the ring, and the same sensation of strength flows through your body. Your vision fades out.


You came to inside of room 1. You see the door is almost fully closed, and the chain lock is set, through the door, you can observe that the void gave its place back to the corridor. You feel that the ring has now disappeared, too.

Not being the master of your own body, you approach the almost closed door, look through the space left by the chain and you feel a deep pain in your chest.
You look down, and see a knife lodged inside your chest, straight to your heart, on the handle of said knife, lies dark, shapeless fingers relied to a similarly dark and shapeless human figure wearing a raincoat, now bloodied with your own fluid of life.
The pain is unbearable, and you feel blood coiling in your throat, not allowing you to speak. The human shadow releases the knife from his hand, then gives you a good kick on the right shoulder, making your whole body spin 45°, crashing left side down, away from the door, and just beside the nearest bed.
You lose consciousness once again.

You wake up, feeling particularly sick from the experience.
You’re still in room 1, and you can see a body on the ground. Your own, or rather, what used to be your own a second ago. A quick look at your clothes confirms that you are back to normal.

Last edited at 13/08/18(Sun)19:26:35

I pull the knife out of Rudolf's lifeless body, since he's not using it at the moment and put it in my inventory.

I walk to the door while examining the room around me.
I attempt to exit the room through the door

Last edited at 13/08/18(Sun)19:50:35

>>12562
You try to pull the knife out, but unfortunately, no matter how much strength you use, it doesn’t even budge in the slightest. Looks like it’s stuck there via some magic alright.

Apart from the obvious existence of a corpse beside you, there are some other notable things in the room.
First, down on the ground, rather far away from the corpse stands an axe, the same you previously used. Second, on Rudolf’s forehead you can notice the existence of a rather slim slim slash, the form corresponding to the axe. Thinking about it, you can’t actually say whether or not you already had it when you were Rudolf. Anyway, whether you did or not, simply from the size of it, you can positively say that the one who did this clearly had no intention of killing, even harming, unless he really fucked up and just missed to hit properly.
The last thing you notice is another boat part, lying on the top of one of the beds, this time, it looks like it’s the top part.

Looking at Rudolf's head... That's definitely a new clue.... It must be...very important of course!... in some way. Although I'm wondering if this was a wound before or after his death.

I touch part of boat and axe, hoping something will happen. I also try to figure out how far the axe was in comparison to everything. Finally, I exit the room.

>>12564
The boat simply disappears into your inventory as soon as you touch it. The axe though, dissolves into butterflies. Looks like it outlasted its purpose.

Doing some very amateurish and ‘home-made’ measurements, you figure that the axe was at least 3m away from the body, and 5m from the door.

You exit the room, and a tearing sound comes from behind. You see that the door’s number has now vanished. You try to open the door once more, you manage, and see that behind it now lies only void, similarly to the kitchen.

I make my way to the dining room. But first I attempt to open the parlor door if anything remotely of interest is there.

Last edited at 13/08/19(Mon)15:15:58

>>12570
You try to open the door to the parlor without success, it’s locked.
That done, you approach the the door to the dining room. As you gaze upon the number five on the door, you assume this is the final one.
A single touch makes you unconscious again, and you wake up lying on the now-familiar darkness of the void. The dining room is here before you, way larger than room 1 was. You notice without surprise that your body has changed again, as you now wear a rather pompous looking purple dress. Now Natsuhi, you should know what you have to do.

I check my pockets or something for roman numeral I key. If it's not that key, I stop. Examining the door thoroughly, I then insert the key into the key hole all the way completely. I attempt to turn the key both ways.

>>12572
As expected, you find the key you were looking for in your pocket. Not noticing anything special about the door except how handsome the wood looks, you insert the key.
It does fit, but as you it turn both ways, you can clearly see that the door won’t open this way.

I examine that lock as I did the handsome door. Not just a normal examination, I mean I get up in that lock and look what's wrong. I put my eye to look in the key hole, and look in between the door for the lock metal mechanism keeping it closed. After, I check if I'm alone in the void. If anyone's there, I ask for their help.

>>12574
The lock seems normal from what your non-locksmith mine can tell. Nothing seems to be obstructing the wall, and you can faintly see the inside of the room from here. The « lock metal mechanism » seems completely ordinary as well.

You see no one around you, but as you start to open your voice to ask for help, you start saying something without willing it, as if it was someone else saying it with your voice.

« What now... I think this lock is broke »

Just as you say that, you hear heavy footsteps tumbling on the shapeless ground, and the door violently breaks off its hinges as a loud thump resonates.
You can now access the dining room.

After looking around the room, I step in and attempt to pick up the door, checking for it's weight. I look at the door frame at the hinges for residue like glue. I then sigh and look at the body probably in the corner, and then scan the room for items.

>>12576
Trying to further examine the door ends up fruitless, as for some reason, you only see the door as blurred and can’t seem to reach it despite it being not two inches away from you.

Rosa’s corpse sits on one of the chair, as it was described before.
The only item you can see is a letter on the table, just in front of Rosa.

Assuming the key is in her pocket, I check her corpse to grab said item. I look at the blood dripping over, if it's somewhat fresh dripping down or dried on her clothing, pretty much to check if blood is gushing fast out of her neck at this very moment. I go to read the letters on the table.

Last edited at 13/08/19(Mon)16:29:59

>>12578
Despite your will, you begin marching towards the letter, in a way that isn’t yours. You pick up what you had assumed to be a letter, but can now see is an enveloppe.
You open it robotically, and find inside a tiny panel on which is written «THESEUS ». It disappears into your inventory.
Your body continues to move itself and leads you toward the exit of the room. Where you can now see that the corridor as reappeared, and once you’re actually out of the room, your body finally reacts to what you order it. However it is too late, as you see the door to the dining room has already closed, and you guess that only void lies behind now.
Your body has now turned back to normal too.

Now that you have visited all the crime scenes, what are you going to do ?

You can hear some faint noise coming from below your feet.

I check my inventory and examine the «THESEUS » panel. Noticing the sounds below me, I head to the side tables from where I originally came from.

>>12581
Your inventory now contains the two boat pieces, the miniature panel, a wielding torch, a hacksaw, a bloodied raincoat, a knife and a handgun.
However, as soon as you get them out, the latter three turn into golden butterflies.
There’s nothing noteworthy about the panel as is. However its size corresponds more or less to the ship’s parts, you figure they have something in common.

You get to the side tables, and your body mechanically draws out the drawer, then through a maneuver you can’t describe, you manage to open the wall again.
You head down the stairs, your body moving on its own, attracted to the sound which gets louder and louder each step.

Last edited at 13/08/19(Mon)18:00:41

>>12582
After another long walk through the stairs, this time heading down, you reach the end of the stairs, and come across a wooden door in front of you. You’re pretty sure this wasn’t here before, and its clean, fairy tale-styled color and appearance constrasts heavily with the gloominess of the stairs, but it makes more inviting if anything.
You now recognize the sound as a music, some orchestra music.
You open the door, and what you see before you quite surprise you. You begin wondering if you have manged to take a wrong turn in the stairs or something.
The room before you is nothing like the old and dusty grey room you appeared in previously. It now looked like a perfect little underground parlor, everything looking fancy and colorful. The stone table has disappeared and in its place, a circular, way smaller table sits. The rest of the room is furnished with expensive-looking wooden furniture, and in the back, you can’t see the safe anymore, as the painting now covers where it was before.
As you get closer, you notice that the painting doesn’t picture Beatrice as it previously did. Now , what you can see is a calm-faced, straight silver-haired lady wearing an impressively frilly dress and a similarly frilly hat. You judge her age around 28years old or so by the smoothness of her face, yet her serene smile makes her look as if she had seen several hundred spring going her way.

As you wonder who she could be, you hear a small cough behind you. Facing back, you lay your eyes upon the very woman in the portrait, sitting down in one of the chairs of the small round table.

Last edited at 13/08/19(Mon)17:53:15

>>12583
You she’s wearing the same clothes as the painting, and bears a similar serene smile. She points to the chair in front of you and speaks with a soft, delicate voice which soothes your mind.

« Won’t you come sit down with me ? » She elegantly puts her hands together on her lap, and her smile seems to beam more radiantly.
« How are you feeling now ? Was your visit of interest ? »

I sit down comfortably, putting leg over leg. I address her directly

"Ah! I'm doing just fine. . . I could say otherwise about my stay in terms of "enjoyableness" with experiencing the same sort of death and murder on a regular basis, although it has been entertaining so far.

And what name may I call you by?"

>>12585
« Oh, just call me... Hm, yes, Virgilia will do fine. »
As elegantly as before, she raises her right hand and snaps her finger. Two teacups and a teaset appear out of thin air.
« Would you care for some tea ? I’ve noticed over the years that my mind is clearer over a cup of tea. And it happens you might be needing such a thing too, in preparation, at the very least. »

As she say that, her smile widens a bit, you feel somewhat wary hearing her words, but you can’t feel any threatening intent in her voice. She seems to be simply teasing you, though for what, you can’t say.

« Entertaining, you said ? Enjoying yourself is never a bad thing, I reckon. However, I wonder if all of it was just for entertainment. It would be terrible to miss the intent and message when there is one, don’t you agree ? »

Behind the woman calling herself Virgilia, you notice a rather average-length table against the the wall. On it you can see a wielding torch and an hacksaw, and you finally notice you have no access to the ones you picked up earlier. You still have the boat parts and the panel though.

I stand up from my chair, not loosing my expression nor are my eyes leaving her face. My hands fly towards the table as I lean over, prepared to discuss things above this realm.

"Sure, tea sounds good. But I'll be perfectly frank with you, rather than bluff on my confidence. I'm trying to put the pieces together as best I can, and the interlude of going through each room was very revealing in terms of what's important and what's not, putting myself in their shoes so to speak. It's just... that..."

I lean back up letting out a sigh as I catch myself rambling on. . .

"But--but... Ah, that's me just being incompetent I guess. I'll ask you directly Virgilia since you seem pretty important around these parts, did you watch how I was doing? Did I find everything I needed to?"

Last edited at 13/08/19(Mon)18:59:19

>>12588
She snaps her finger once more and the tea starts filling the cup in front of you.

« Did you find everything ? » She raises her hands and cups it over her mouth, and a sweet giggle escapes her. « My dear, do you think I would be so careless as let such a thing happen ? You were made to find everything you had to. Don’t fret about that... Now on the other hand, whether you are now able to make something of them, well, you will be on your own there. That is not what I was called here for. »
She lets out a sigh.
« Oh, but stop worrying. There is still one thing more left, and that is why I am here. »
She bows her head curteously, not letting her beaming yet serene smile fade away.
« I think you found some things of interest , didn’t you ? »

She takes her teacup and start sipping in a very ladylike manner.

Last edited at 13/08/19(Mon)19:05:55

I sip the tea as I sit back down, somewhat calming me down from the warm aroma.

"This tea——It's so good. What kind is it?

And yes, I have these broken boat pieces. . . I'm assuming they go together? Or was that the end of their use?"

Last edited at 13/08/19(Mon)19:17:01

>>12591
« Oh, that... It’s a secret, but I can tell you the main ingredient is magic and butterflies, specially brewed to soothe both the mind and the body.
Well, why don’t you take them out ? »

Last edited at 13/08/19(Mon)19:31:11

I take the two boat pieces out along with the panel, and attempt to put them together.

"Like this?"

>>12593
As you take the two pieces out, you notice something queer. The two parts looks like a typical 18th century frigate, or something similar. You’re not an expert in boats, so that’s about all you can say.
However, if you do manage to stick the two pieces together to form one regular-looking ship, the colors of the front and the back are a bit different. The front seems to be made of a different, lighter wood than the back.
When you manage to put the panel in a slot suited for this purpose, the boat jerks off from you, glows a shiny gold and starts floating a meter above the table.

« It seems you noticed something. » Virgilia quietly takes another sip as she examine your face with a curious look on her ever-still smiling face.

I look in awe at the boat, my body frozen.
". . . . . . It's definitely giving me ideas. How the wood is different... and they fit together. . . Theseus's ship."
I smile and look up at Virgilia as I nod.

>>12595
Virgilia lets out another sweet giggle as she hear your words.
« I have a confession to make. This is not Theseus’s ship, after all, such a ship could not have been used by the old founding hero of the great city of Athens. »

The boats starts to lower itself until it is right in front of your face. As you gaze upon the name panel, you see the crudely written name of ‘THESEUS’ fading away, and in its place appears, much more refined, ‘Le doux repos’.

« Sweet Rest in french, it means. This is an old french frigate now currently visitable in some museum in France. The name has an odd legend that explains it.
Apparently, for some reason when the ship was built, the designer and manufacturer was a lazy bum, and quite skilled in the dark arts. He was so lazy in fact, that it was said he slept directly in the sheep while it was being worked on, otherwise he wouldn’t have left his home to get up in time. As such, he ordered that the rooms for the crew all be furnished with the most comfortable beds possible, and he had a weird habit of switching beds every night.
When the boat finally was ready to sail free, the crewmen reported something strange after the first time out in the sea :
Apparently, at night, they entered the sweetest of dreams, and every wish would came true in their sleep. They would always wake up feeling better than they ever had, and some refused to do anything all day but lie in their beds. Words say that it was the enchantment of the manufacturer that caused them to have such sweet rests at night. Now it is only thought to be merely an urban legend propagated by the museum’s owner to gather attention and draw people to come visit.
However, as a witch myself, I can confirm to you that this legend is quite true, but things have changed since its creation, as you can see, the ship has undergone a lot of changes, and repair, due to the battles it participated in, and in fact, the beds now found inside of it are not the ones created by our lazy sorcerer.»

She pauses, takes a sips of tea and carefully examines your face again. 

« Now this is not the end of this story. »

As she says so, she snaps her fingers for the third time and this time, a second boat appears flying. From what you can see, it is almost identical to ‘Le doux repos’ in design, but as it moves you’re not able to make out its name.

« This is a spanish frigate from the same time period, now in a museum on the British coast. What is interesting is that, for some reason, at a date we approximate at around the middle of the 19th century, the boat was refurnished with the same sweet, sweet beds that were previously on ‘Le doux repos’. The actual means and reasons are unknown, but they really do not matter presently.

You see there is something I findly oddly fascinating about this story, our boats of sweet dreams has now lost the reason for which it was called so in the first place.
I ask you : which boat really is ‘Le doux repos’ ? »

"Hmm... I suppose you could argue both ways, could you not?
...
Although personally, I'd like to think Le doux repos would be the newer one with the real beds... something about keeping a name for namesake when it's no longer what it claims to be seems intrinsically wrong. That's just my opinion. "

>>12597
She shines a gleeful smile at your response.

« Yes it is true that if you were to ask who’s the ‘real’ one, both ways can be argued. But now, which one is actually called ‘Le doux repos’ ? The one in France. And this is just the way it is. After all it is the original ship, albeit it has been somewhat refurnished. It battled and sailed under that name, and as such, even without the beds now, its legacy lives through its name.
And even if the meaning of the name itself does not apply anymore, you can’t change it altogether because of that. It is the origin of the name, but it doesn’t mean that it has to stay that way either.
So in the end, what we have is a boat which because of what was in the past, has a legacy, a legend which does not suit its current condition, and another boat, which, unknowingly for the public, accomplish a purpose that no one thought it would do.
These are like people in a way, don’t you agree ? A great quality, a perk, a quirk, a trait of character that makes a person so charming disappears, and despite them looking the absolute same on the outside, they lack what brought you in in the first place. »

Virgilia takes a last sip of tea before constating that her cup is now empty. She raises her finger and both her teacup and the teaset disappear, leaving only yours on the table.

« Well, it looks like we are reaching an end. I have a last place to make you visit. »

A fourth snap of fingers and the underground tearoom disappears and you two appears in what looks like the inside of an old styled-boat, the table and chairs brought along.
On each side you can see rows of comfy looking beds.

« These are the famed beds. If you feel all you want is simply to lie down and have the night of your life, and accomplish your wildest fantasies in your dreams, feel free. 
Otherwise, it will soon be time for you to go back with that man. Do you have any last questions ? »

"I see your point.

Ah, and no thank you. I had enough tea to keep me awake. Dreams can stay dreams, as the Le doux repos can remain the Le doux repos."
I drink down the rest of the tea
"So where is he?"

Last edited at 13/08/19(Mon)21:10:43

>>12599
« So be it. He is waiting for you now. I will send you to him when you are ready. »

Another snap and this time it is your teacup that disappears.

"Thank you for your time, Virgilia. This was very enlightening. At least I think it was. No, it was. Make your tea again sometime, ok?~

I'm ready."

>>12601
« The pleasure is shared. » She simply says, as the scenery fades back to the tearoom.
« A last thing : Think closely about what you saw here, as quite a lot of things have a meaning behind them, even if it might be obvious. Also, don’t be thinking in straight terms, those hints are witch’s hints, never straightforward, always fishy, underhanded and obscure. Because such is the way of us witches.
I wish you the best luck. »

She snaps her finger for the last time, and she fades into golden butterflies. Once she’s gone, an enveloppe appears just in front of you.
The portrait at the back of the room starts shaking and glowing, and soon enough it lifts itself up in the air, revealing a golden door behind it.
Finally, the boats stop flying and fall on the ground. One just disappears into butterflies while the other, which you recognize as ‘Le doux repos’, leaves a golden ring in its wake, that golden ring.
You pick it up and it transforms into a golden key, the same color as the door at the far end of the room.

Last edited at 13/08/19(Mon)21:31:25

I open the envelope to read its contents.

Last edited at 13/08/19(Mon)21:33:02

>>12603
You open the enveloppe, seeing it not one, but two letters. As you come upon the first words you realize you know both of them. The first one is the message that was found in the parlor, the second the last letter found in the basement. You figure there is some reason behind it, but as you turn over the first letter, you find written behind it in an elegant handwriting.
« Don’t think too hard about those. »

"Alright, almost forgot about those letters for the howdunnit, so that's somewhat of a relief."

I take the key, and walk towards the door and enter it into the lock to turn.

>>12605
You approach the golden door, feeling tenser at each step. Once close enough, you take a deep breath and insert the golden key inside the keylock.
The key turns on its own and the door opens the same way. All you see behind is white, blindingly white light.
You step in wearily and the light starts to engulf you. As you leave behind the island and hear the music fading away you think about everything that you saw. You’re sure there were things of importance.
You think of the phrases in red, and remember that strange event at the storehouse
« Someone other than the culprit »
Then you remember the sensation of being someone else , and using the ring to get out.
You refeel the sensation of the pie falling on your head as you think about room 3, and groan slightly, then it was the use the ring to get in, the strange axe-made gash on rudolf’s forehead, the axe somehow there.
Then at last the final room. The torch and the hacksaw on the table... You think of all the objects before that disappeared, leaving only butterflies behind, outlasting a purpose you knew about... Then those two...
You think of your encounter with Virgilia, the tale she told you... And the boat. Yes the boat made out of those things you found in these three rooms. Then the ring again. And the golden key.
The truth. Theseus’s paradox.

The light starts to dim slightly as you end your collection of the events. And you find yourself in a familar room, a man stands in the middle, smiling as he sees you.

>>12607