[ the touch is registered -- mejojo's tail stiffens, and he nearly flinches before allowing his posture to falter for a fleeting moment. it's an interlude, a temporary display of vulnerability.

we're both alive, he says. mejojo's eyes widen somewhat helplessly -- it wasn't a dream. he couldn't have gone mad. this is reality, an absolute truth. there is no other possibility, not one he'll willingly accept.

so his teeth come together, gnashing hard. ]



No. It...it was real. I was taken to another kingdom...and they had me play a part in their game. I won...I won, Auger...

[ the volume of his voice fades into nothingness. ]

They had your violin. The Queen of that land told me...that she'd taken you as well. Was she lying? Have you been here all this time?