15 October 2022
While I was thinking about Elsenaia and what she might be looking for specifically, I realized rather than random searching, she’d probably prioritize the POV character’s opinion of elves, and what information he had about them. So I’ve edited one portion, then continued on.
Editing a portion of 10 October 2022:
…undercut the dignity she tried to project, but my recent memories of our encounter with her and her people surfaced soon enough. She picked apart my impressions of each of them; in particular, she seemed pleased, but bashful, when she saw I initially thought of her as “beautiful”, though that quickly turned to indignation once I’d written her off as a spoiled brat.
From there, she began to look at my opinion of elves in general, and she pulled up everything from “The Lord of the Rings” movies to D&D. That left me free to turn my attention back to the dioramas, and I found…
Continuing the main storyline:
…”So what do you know of that could cause this?”
She just shook her head. I sighed and said, “Well, feel free to keep poking around my head until you’re satisfied.”
Still unsatisfied, she turned back to her search. She seemed quite preoccupied, so I was able to slip out of the mirror room back into the hall. It seems the mirrors had come down to seal off that one painting and whatever memories it brought up.
The idea that I wasn’t supposed to be here kept nagging at me, so I started looking for memories about magic. Who knows? Maybe I could learn some magic of my own from watching her. I doubted it, but that would be cool.
I popped into a few of her practice sessions, but nothing specific, especially not about mind-reading or memory manipulation. I did notice, however, that none of the memories showed Elsenaia when she was a kid. At first, I assumed that was because magic training started at an older age, but then I caught a glimpse of a child Elsenaia smiling happily at her tutor, and I began to wonder.
Before I could investigate more closely, however, those same mirror walls came down around the memory and pulled it back into the depths of her mind.
I peeked back in my head, but Elsenaia didn’t have any particular reaction; I couldn’t be sure if she’d just accepted my presence, or if repressing those memories came so naturally to her she no longer even noticed.
As I continued my search, I found a pair of old wooden doors that led into a grand library. I stood in the doorway for several seconds, just gawking. “Well, color me impressed.”
A chill wind blew down the hallway, and Elsenaia appeared behind me. “What are you doing?”
I shrugged. “Looking for information on magic. I wanted to see if there was anything in your head about why I’m here, and not over there.”
For a long time, Elsenaia just stared at me. “Fine.”