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Prompt 4: The mail is always bad this time of year, but it seems like something's gone a little extra wrong. An old letter arrives shows up with no return address, no name on it; it's impossible to tell who it is from or how it got there, given that it might have arrived in your mailbox, your front door, or maybe it even just showed up inside your house. If you open it, the letter is dated from decades ago and contains some surprising information; it is a letter lost to time and contains some secret. The content of the letter are up to the player; it might contain a confession of love, an admission of guilt, the secret of some crime--no matter what the letter contains, it leaves you with news to reflect on. Do you try to seek out anyone mentioned in the letter? Do you investigate or try to hand the letter over to someone else? Does the content of the letter reflect your life in some way? ...Do you have to worry about someone breaking into your house to leave strangely coded messages?
Nakhett speared the last green beans on her plate with the tip of her fork, lifting the utensil to devour the legumes with as much gusto as she had the entirety of her meal. She'd been rather ravenous when she'd arrived home earlier that evening, only having a small vanilla bean scone earlier while out in the city. It was times like this that she appreciated her passable skills in the kitchen. Pan-seared steak and chestnut mushrooms drizzled in a red wine sauce and accompanied by mashed potatoes and green beans had definitely hit the spot. Savoring the last few chews, she finally swallowed and gathered her kitchenware to haul it to the sink for washing.
As she moved past her entryway, something out of place caught the corner of her eye. Wary after the haunting apparition from a few nights prior, the redhead quickly turned with her fork held at the ready. Nothing wrong with jabbing something in the eye then going for a chokeslam. After all, she fought to win. Turned out it was a letter.
Old, if the yellowed envelope was any indication. Leaning to set her used plate on the island countertop, Nakhett strode over and stooped low to retrieve the strange piece of mail. It was surprisingly heavy. A cursory glance revealed no return address or much of anything really, just a singular name scrawled on across the front in an elegant hand: "Sanura."
To her credit, Nakhett's hand didn't quaver. Instead, her gaze hardened to a steely glint. Sanura was her mother's name. Twice in less than a week she'd been reminded of the loss of the most important person in her life. Someone was playing a sick prank. Taut tendons stood out like cords from her neck in the woman's agitation, but she kept her mind and carefully opened the envelope.
The reason for the heft was now obvious: the letter was written on old-school thick parchment. Without any pretense of consideration, Nakhett unfurled the page and began to read.
I know you think what you're doing is right. That you're protecting her, shielding her from what is to come. Your heart is in the right place, but in the end you'll doom us all for the sake of misplaced martyrdom. The boy will not be enough. I've honored your wishes thus far, but the time quickly approaches in which our family must stand united. You must, no, you will understand. What we do we do for our future, our children's future. I will see you soon at the usual place.
Yours Now and Always,
Hiro
If she hadn't been rattled before, Nakhett certainly was now. A letter addressed to her mother's name, signed by a nickname that could certainly stand for her father's: Hironori. What in the world was going on? Why was she holding this letter, and why hadn't it made it to her mother? More than that, she had no idea what her father was talking about in the letter itself, and it had to be over a decade old by the feel and look of it.
"Unbelievable," Nakhett muttered, running her free hand through her mussed hair and reading through the note one more time. "Unbelievable."
It seemed the more she tried to settle into daily life in Destiny City, the more her past reared up to snare her from the depths. One thing was for sure, it wouldn't lay to rest quietly. No, she'd need to do that bit herself. Nakhett carefully rolled the parchment and stuffed it back into the envelope, setting it on top of her nearby dresser and moving to the kitchen to wash up.
