The Black Tulips: The Second Task
Who: The Black Tulips When: Thursday, January 31st, 7:41 am (sunrise) Where: Arcadia Park, the gazebo west of the Paragon What: The Second Task
The sun kissed the eastern faces of the taller buildings on Roy and Amor Alleys as the girls made their way to their appointed meeting place, but the gazebo itself was shrouded in near-darkness still by the shadows of those same buildings. Within the latticed posts, a neat stack of identical black boxes tied up with black silk ribbons stood in the center of the gazebo's wooden floor. Each one was addressed to one of the girls present, their names written in gold ink with a firm yet elegant hand.
As soon as all of the girls were inside the gazebo, black fabric seemed to unfurl along every side, sending the space into complete darkness in the time it took for a gasp. After a moment, a narrow, ghostly blue light shone down upon the stack of presents, and a voice began to speak.
"Good morning, ladies," said the voice, as familiar and yet unrecognizable as any of the black-robed women the girls had encountered. The speaker strode into the center of the floor, the light barely outlining her slender frame. "I hope you were all able to decipher our clues and have brought your schedule for today with you." She walked around the stack of presents in the center of the floor, the hem of her cloak sweeping out against them. "Today's task is not that much different in spirit from your first task: you will be learning a great deal about another one of your sisters' lives. However, the method has changed. Whereas before you learned each other's secrets, today you will spend the day walking in another's shoes."
"Quite literally," said another black-robed woman, stepping just into the ghostly light. "We hope you don't mind, but we will be regifting the items we borrowed from you to your partners for this task, just for the day. They have been enchanted to allow the wearer to look like the item's owner--much like Polyjuice, but of a bit more experimental nature."
"Don't worry," said a third woman from the shadows, a trace of humour in her voice. "We've been assured that all of the side effects have been minimized on this round."
"The enchantment will last for the next fifteen hours," continued the second woman. "During that time, you will use the lists that your partner has prepared to carry out the tasks of their day as they would do them themselves."
"We can't stress that enough," said the first woman in a firm tone. "This is not the time to try to influence the course of your partner's life for better or for worse based on your whims. The point of this exercise is to live the life of one of your sisters as she lives it. And from your first task, you should be aware that we have ways of checking that you have behaved appropriately while masked in your sister's skin."
"You will all be questioned on how you performed your task for the day tonight at 10:41 pm, when you will gather to reclaim your possessions and switch back to your own lives," the second woman said. "If any of you are found to have acted wrongly on your sister's behalf, whatever the reason, you will lose your place among us, and suffer consequences far beyond the scope of this society."
"Remember that it's your choice to do this," the first woman said, her voice softening again. "You may ask for your item back and leave now, but remember that you will be giving up your chance to be one of us forever. And you're all so close to succeeding now."
"Besides," the third woman said from the sidelines. "Haven't you always wanted to see what it's like to be someone else for a day?"