Week Three - Task #12. - “Things It Yearns to Remember”

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

Entirely bewildered by the turn of events, you’re trying to wrap your brain around everything that’s just happened.

If the peril of Ghastputin’s arrival wasn’t enough, fearing for the safety of yourself and Mitri, the polar bears, and the future of their homeland’s inhabitants has your adrenaline spiked.

Not to mention the completely foreign feeling of transforming into a polar bear, that somehow also feels oddly familiar as years of information and experiences overflow inside of you.

In all the aftermath, you learn more of how the evil sorcerer had placed powerful concealment magic on you to live your life appearing as human in order to hide you away from the lands of Bearis until after he was able to return and take over.

Where once your past seemed so distant and empty, you’ve found yourself dropped into a world that welcomes you home, filled with many who call you family.

The Dowager Empress turns to Mitri, saying that he’ll of course be compensated for bringing you to them.

“You’re more than deserving of the reward,” she says, eyes welling up with tears.

“Reward?!” You’re indignant, glaring at Mitri, whose face blanches. This is the first you’re hearing of a reward, and it puts a bad taste in your mouth.

“I can explain!” Mitri promises, then offers what in your opinion is a somewhat feeble excuse for how secretive he’s been, but one you’re happy to accept.

As it turns out, Mitri had known you as a young cub when he used to help out at the palace in his youth because his parents worked there. He’d even tried to help you escape before Ghastputin stole you away.

“That’s how I had your family locket,” he smiles sheepishly, following up by saying, “Of course, I didn’t realize who you were until now, but it belonged to you before it got ripped off all those years ago in that tragic raid.”

How fateful to have found each other again, your heart beats with gratitude.

“I’m sorry I hadn’t revealed my true intentions,” he continues. “When I witnessed how comfortable the polar bears were with you in the field that day, I had this compulsion that you’d be able to help them find the heir. They said that any useful information or assistance of any kind would be enough for payment. Ashamed to say I’d already lost faith you were even still alive, old friend.”

Mitri insists that he only intended to take the reward to escape the lands of Bearis before Ghastputin took over, and that he had no plans of leaving you behind, even before your true identity was discovered.

“Please forgive me,” he says, waving away a couple attendants who try to present him with a reward of substantial coins. “My only hope was for you to be found and for everyone to be safe, but that started to seem so impossible.”

“Don’t worry,” you wink in his direction. “Just show me around the palace and we’ll call it square! Lord knows I could use a hand getting reacquainted around here.”

“Certainly,” Mitri grins, offering a hand to guide you onward. “I’d be happy to oblige!”

Task:
Share a piece of a Creative Writing using 100 words or more to describe any of the rooms within the obsidian palace that Mitri tours you through. Are there any strange or unusual areas you discover? What whimsical character(s) or fantastical creatures might be found there? Does anything scary or exciting happen? There are no right or wrong depictions, just have fun with it!

Alternatively you may post a Memory using 125 words or more to share about a time you lost or found something meaningful to you.

This task is worth 15 beans/sapphires, with an additional 15 bonus beans/sapphires for completing all Week Three tasks by end of activity. Deadline is 11:59pm (HOL time) on Thursday November 21st.

[River Fenwick]

The memory of losing my great-grandmother's ring will forever be in my mind. It was a ring passed down the generations, landing with my mother. I was about nine years old when she gave it to me, and I remember taking it to school. I'm sure I was showing it to my friends and making a big deal about it. When the school day finally ended, and I was on the bus heading home, I realized I hadn't seen the ring in a while. I checked my pockets, where I had carelessly kept it previously. I checked my backpack as thoroughly as I could on the bus, to no avail. When I got off the bus, I had to inform my mother of my misplacement. We searched my person and belongings again and found the ring in a small pocket in my backpack. I never took that ring outside of my house ever again, and luckily still have it to this day.

[Evie Figg]

Losing things in general is a very wide spectrum. you can lose your car keys, all the way up to the inevitable loss we all are aware of. My loss was somewhere in between. Although it was something other people considered trivial or unimportant, it truly was great loss for me. I was playing in my Animal Crossing New Leaf town, and I decided to hack the game a bit, to retrieve some items. Unknowingly when I did that, it caused one of my villagers, Pecan, to move out of the town, during the process. I was devastated. She was my favourite villager at that point. Getting her back as a villager was not something easily achievable, and the chance of her ever returning to my town naturally in the game, was next to zero. Now, I still continued to play the game, and didn't let it ruin my experience with it, and eventually, I got a new town, and was able to add Pecan to it! I was so happy to have her back! I know many people wouldn say a pixelated animal from a game isn't considered a loss, however, at that time, it truly devastated me because Pecan was one of my favourite characters, and was so perfect for my town.

[Artemisia Thorne]

When I was about 14, my step-great-grandmother passed away. Belongings were left for each of us grandchildren, and I got one of her rings. It was a beautiful gold Celtic knot, stunning and rather expensive. I took great care of it, until I was 16 and about to leave for university when suddenly it just disappeared. I was sure I hadn’t put it on that morning, but I retraced my steps back into town anyway (1 hour walk each way) and then filed a missing item report with the police. I spent that week tearing my room apart looking for this ring. It was one of the only things I had left of my great-grandmother, who had never treated me any differently for not being her blood, and I was devastated to think that I would never see it again. By the end of the week I still hadn’t found it and I had to leave for university, so I resigned myself to the fact that I had somehow lost it. It wasn’t until about 2 months later that I got a call from my mother saying “Guess what we’ve just found…”. It had been found in a corner of the garage. To this day none of us has any idea how it ended up there, but I have since taken to storing it in a locked section of my jewellery box and only wearing it for special occasions.

[Viviana Kingston]

I think one of my most disappointing losses was a book. When I was younger, I used to buy books with my own money and cash prizes we used to get in primary school during our awards ceremonies so my books were my prized possessions merely because I got them on my own merit. And there was this one specific book I waited ages to get and when the price had gone down, I bought it. I had read it maybe two times and I stored it in my cupboard on the bottom shelf, making sure to package it so it wouldn't get damaged. So one night, I wanted to do a third reading and unpackaged all of my books looking for it - it wasn’t there. I knew I hadn’t touched it since my last read so it was sad for me. And when I was moving and boxing up my belongings, the whole house was emptied and I still couldn’t find it. It’s a sad memory because it was the first and only book so far that I’ve lost like that and I have no clue where it went to till this day.

[Lex Green]

When I was younger (like, a few weeks after I was born), I was gifted a small teddy - it was like a small square blanket with a head attached in the middle. It was designed to look like a dog, so I named it 'Woof Woof' (I was very creative, clearly.) When I got older, I stored the teddy in a box in my room, so I always knew where it was. I mostly forgot about it, until a few years ago when we moved house. We were only moving a few streets away, to be closer to some of our grandparents who were starting to need help. When we were packing everything up, I found this toy again, and we were able to bring him with us - now, I think he must be in the storage boxes in my room somewhere.

[Dibyarup James Potter]

I have a special Pierre Cardin pen that my mother gave me on my 12th birthday. It was a beautiful black ballpoint pen with a golden clip. She said it was a gift to encourage me to write more stories, which I loved to do. I treasured that pen and used it every day for two years until one day I lost it at school, or so I thought. I was so devastated that I cried for hours. So, I searched everywhere for it, but I couldn't find it. I thought I would never see it again. I did not tell my mother about it, since it might break her heart.

But then, something amazing happened. A few days before my 15th birthday, I was rearranging the furniture and other things in my room, when I noticed a black pen under a pile of dictionaries. It was my favourite pen! I must have left it at home that day and after coming home while searching for it, I may have pushed it further into the corner with several stacks of dictionaries and encyclopedias, which hid it from my view. I couldn't believe my luck!

Without any second thoughts, I immediately picked it up and felt a surge of excitement and happiness, and I may have even shed a few tears. It still worked perfectly, as if it had been waiting for me all this time. I kissed it and thanked the universe for this wonderful surprise. It was the best birthday present ever!

[Scarlet Robloutain]

Mitri ushered me into the Obsidian Palace's Celestial Library first. Shimmering walls were adorned with constellations whispering forgotten tales.

A quirky creature, part owl, part scribe, flitted between towering bookshelves, recording dreams on old parchment.

Next he brought me to the Luminescent Labyrinth, where glowing butterflies danced in beautiful patterns, revealing forgotten memories to those who dared to follow.

A mischievous gnome with a twinkle in his eye appeared, offering riddles about the secrets of the palace.

At last we arrived in the Whispering Gallery. It was echoeing with the laughter of enchanted mirrors, reflecting the many sides of one's inner self.

[Adeline Morior]

I had a special ring that I got from my mother called a wishbone ring. I love this ring and well, one day I lost it. Why is it always rings we lose? I was driving the entire day to customers and wearing this ring. I had just parked my car outside my home gate when I realised the ring was missing. I searched the entire car, my bags, I even got out of the car to search my pockets and the car floor. I was emotional and panicking. For some weird desperate reason, I remembered some lady sharing her superstitious notion that if you walk around something three times, what you seek will appear. I thought “why not”. I got out of my car and started walking around it.

One… “where could I possibly have lost the ring. It can be anywhere by now.”
Two… “People are starting to stare at me… Mind your own business lady!”
Three… “This is ridiculous. It is lost and I need to just accept it.”

After the third round, I opened my car door in order to get in it. Low and behold the ring was laying on the driver's side floor, right in view… I was never more confused and relieved at the same time.