#rw!z

Red walks back to her house while she speaks.

“Oh, Z? I dunno. She’s kind of been shut in after Cursed- after Curie came to town.”

Her gaze flicks to scattered remains of a house across from hers. She then looks hesitantly up towards the nearby mountain range.

“She lives up in the mountains now, so I just leave her mail at the post office. Maybe we’ll cross paths later though.”

Red continues into her house, to the study. She grabs the invitations she wrote and comes back to the front door.

The strange looking tongue catches your interest.

It’s crudely severed, and floats in a glass jar with some kind of liquid preserving it.

You check the sign that’s with it.

Red shoots a look to the lost souls, but can’t tell which one of you said that.

“Well, she’s married. So, like, chill. But if you want to know more about her, I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

She adds some redstone dust to the brewing stand then leans against the wall. Wiping her hands on her pants she looks at the rug.

“Like I mentioned, Z’s dead. A ghost, a fox ghost, but a ghost. Kind of like you guys, but she isn’t a lost soul. She’s a lot more present then most dead people. Usually if you come back at all, you’re missing pieces, memories, even what you looked like is gone, you’re just a little ball of blue flame. Not her though.”

She smirks, reminiscing.

“She’s a little unhinged, but in the best way. You can never predict her, not really. I’m pretty sure for the first few weeks I was here, she was asking everyone for dirt. Just an ungodly amount of dirt. Ended up with a few double chest full. She also has a tendency to just appear out of thin air, which is awful because she really likes to pull pranks. Though I guess prank wars are fun.”

The brewing stands yet again finish. Red walks back over and puts the finished bottles in her bag.

“Mhm!”

Red smirks, sizing up the rug while the potions brew.

“Z gave it to me not long after I built this place. I uh… I don’t know if it’s real? It’s a good replica if it isn’t. I have no clue where she got this thing really, but I can’t get rid of it! It’s a gift!”

The communicator dings, with hesitance, Red checks it. She face palms.

“No one likes the lore shack, Z. It was dirt. Because the weather hates us. Everyone is being a menace today. Let’s move on-“

Y’all come out of the woodwork for bloopers, huh.

After a little while Red finds you in the kitchen. She has a new loosely buttoned white shirt, where you can see a glimpse of new bandages underneath. On her way it seems she’s also put back on her jacket, cloak, and gloves.

“Was wondering where you got to.”

She comments, rummaging through the cupboards. She pulls out a shimmering golden apple and bites down. She takes a moment to let it work it’s healing magic, sitting down across from you at the table. You ask your question.

“I guess you aren’t wrong. I do collect rather interesting friends. Z’s as ghosty as it gets. Cursed is…. well dead isn’t correct, but Curie- let’s just say Cursed is gone at the moment. I don’t think Rin or that new stranger are dead either, but who knows.

She stops rambling and looks back to you.

“Wait. Oh, I’m an idiot. I just realized you would have no clue who I’m talking about…”

Red pauses.

“I know I just gave a lot of names, anyone specific you’d like to know my 2 cents on?”

Your choices:

Z

Cursed

Rin

Red’s eyes widen a little.

“The Slab, huh?”

She takes a moment, looking around corners and down the ladders.

“Hey Z?”

She calls, not getting a response, she nods.

“Ok, we’re in the clear. It’s a cult. It’s so unbelievably a cult. Anyone who tells you it isn’t a cult, is part of that cult. If someone asks you to join, say no, and leave.”

Red deadpans, still looking around like Z might pop up any minute. She begrudgingly pulls a book from the shelf titled “Slab Lore”.

“This is a book on it in here, it goes in depth about wars, visions, genocides, that kind of thing. But I’m not 100% sure if it’s real, or if Z wrote it. There’s a chance Z wrote it, honestly.”

She flips through the book quickly, before closing it again.

“I mean, no disrespect to Z. She’s great. Just maybe being dead for however long she’s been has muddled some things. Because she is devoted to a chunk of stone. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Red puts the book back on the shelf and looks to the flickering blue flame.

“Speaking of being dead, is there a reason you’re- actually no. Let’s not delve into that today.”

Red quickly stops her line of questioning, and turns on a dime back to the shelf.

“Books! We’re learning about books! I’ll let you pick one more before I head out!”