WEEK 4 TRIAL

[foundationmods]

It was noon on Saturday.

No matter where they were, no matter what they were doing...the moment the chimes rang out through the hall, they felt a change.

The world...began to expand, as they felt themselves leaving the world they were on, and towards another, much larger world...🗈

...As always, the courtroom was there - along with the audience, watching, waiting for the entertainment before them.

The Witch - Nirrti - was there, sitting in the most important place, watching all of them with a sharp, cruel gaze, though no smile could be seen on her face today.

Watanuki was also there, but he merely lounged in the back behind them, smoking a kiseru pipe in silence.
...It seemed as if he was content to watch - that he had to watch - as part of the rules of the game.

There was no music to be heard, but... perhaps on another plane, in another place, someone else heard music as they gazed upon the proceedings.

Again, their forms had changed - perhaps into something different than last time, but...still a change, no matter how dramatic or inconsequential it was.

...There was a deep silence in the room, one that no one wanted to break. It was the faint tension in the air, like the moments before a race or a competition begins.

Truth was elusive, yet they had to find it.
No matter how painful, or upsetting.
No badly how much they all hurt.

For the sake of the dead...and the sake of them all.

Comments

[excavated]

[ He doesn't move to dodge in the slightest bit, just simply closing his eyes and taking it. It doesn't matter anymore. ]

[anonnomnomnom]

Answer. [Another sword, another strike. Nirrti never did say he couldn't play with his food before the execution.]

[excavated]

I did it for Kimihiro. That's all. I've only ever done things for the people most important to me.

[anonnomnomnom]

Hey, Syaoran. Do you want to know what would have happened if you'd gotten away with it? [Have another sword.]

[excavated]

[ He's unflinching. ] You would have killed me yourself, I'm sure. But you already are. So it's fine.

[anonnomnomnom]

No. [He stops the swords for a split second, because playing with his food means he knows when to stop with the big guns. Instead, a cloud of needles suddenly float into the air around him. If you look closely, every single one of them is made of bone. They look a little like the spikes on him. They're going to start stabbing into Syaoran one by one by one.] I would have made sure that every last remnant of your wish was destroyed. Every single thing you ever loved or wanted. Every person. Watanuki. Takumi. Any Sakura I could find. That's what this form is for. Only then would I kill you. Slowly, for the satisfaction of it.

[excavated]

[ He looks up at Anon now when he says that, a serious look in his eyes. ] Then you honestly would be no better than the Witch. Do you really want to live your life like that? It won't give you any true satisfaction.

[incrediblystressedout]

Anon, stop!

[Joey's surprising herself at the tone of her voice, shouting up at a giant monster like that, but her words carry the rest of her along with them, body squaring up as she glares up at the mass of black fur.]

Torturing Syaoran isn't going to make Natsuno any less dead. So just cut it out!

[anonnomnomnom]

[He laughs, loud and long and so cold that it could make your hair stand on end for the full length of it.] I was always no better than the Witch. I find satisfaction where I can get it, you know? That's what life is all about. [It might seem like he's ignoring Joey, but the needles pause for a split-second. He doesn't bother looking at her, but:] Making Syaoran suffer for what he did is something Natsuno would have wanted. If he had to die, he didn't deserve to die for such a half-baked reason.

[incrediblystressedout]

None of us had to die to begin with! We're only here because people got too caught up in grudges and wishes and...and anger to do the right thing! And you're making it worse!

[anonnomnomnom]

Hahaha... Joey. I don't care about what's right. I don't care about wishes. I only care about what I want to do. That's the way I want to live.

[incrediblystressedout]

I've already helped kill an innocent person on this hell island. I'm not going to stand by and let you torture someone even if he's guilty.

I'm going to say it one more time. Back off until it's time for the sentence, or you are not gonna like what happens next.

[anonnomnomnom]

I want to see what happens next. I've wanted to see it since you jumped in front of those Blue Truths. Show me.

[incrediblystressedout]

[Joey takes a deep breath, and closes her eyes. She raises her arms, bare in her current outfit, like a magician showing she has nothing up her sleeves. A sudden, rhythmic vibration can be felt in the floor.]

It's funny. I called this a hell island just now, but there's one thing about it I really like. Back home, I'm just a powerless little girl who's only good at dancing and healing and running away. I like all of those things, but you can't protect people with them.

[The pounding gets louder, but no less rhythmic.]

Here, though? In this place? We're limited only by our imaginations, right?

[In the air, a swirling 2-dimensional circle of red and neon green appears, almost like the magic circles that crop up when demons are summoned.]

And I've got a lot of Imagination.

[Out of the portal charges a giant deer nearly the size of Anon, charging at him to gore him with his antlers.]

[Expecto Patronum, bitch.]

[anonnomnomnom]

[Anon laughs once, quiet, when the deer appears.] Well done. [He doesn't move -- he lets the deer hit him full force, taking the entire width of its antlers. There's monster pompom blood now mixing with Syaoran's blood on the floor, probably. This has somehow been a very bloody trial even without the execution.]

[cryosurgeon]

[And under his mask, with whatever mouth he might have under there right now....

Erhard grins.]

[incrediblystressedout]

[The deer gives Anon a solid one-two - it's aggressive and mindless, but Joey is focused. She sees him not fighting back, and she doesn't have the will to keep hurting him pointlessly. That is kind of the opposite of the point she's trying to make. She raises a hand, and her summon stops, grunting with animal aggression.]

Drop him.

[anonnomnomnom]

[He lets himself roll a bit before righting himself, bloody and a little tattered -- but it doesn't seem to faze him otherwise.] We're all earning new tricks this trial, aren't we? [It's oddly conversational.]

[incrediblystressedout]

I'm not fighting for fun, even if you are. Do you want me to add lasers to this guy? Because I can do that.

[Sure enough, the deer's eyes start to glow, red and green like the summoning circle.]

[anonnomnomnom]

[He's quiet for a moment.] I'm not fighting for fun, either. Not this time. [There's something true in that, even if he doesn't dwell on it.] They're good lasers, though.

[incrediblystressedout]

Thanks. Are we gonna talk like people, now?

[anonnomnomnom]

I was actually hoping you could show me more deer. [He doesn't seem to want to talk right now. But at least he seems to have calmed down since Syaoran is out of his vicinity.]

[oceanicbutterfly]

[vinea should have saved the popcorn, this is awesome]

[excavated]

Then you haven't truly experienced life, Anon-san. That's just sad, and I pity you.

[anonnomnomnom]

[For a moment, he just looks at Syaoran. There's no expression save for that rictus grin on his face.] You don't have the right to pity anyone. You don't have the right to talk about life. And you don't know anything about me. You're a disgrace to Watanuki, a failure as Nirrti's pawn, and you didn't deserve to even look at Natsuno. Let alone kill him. I'll see you at the execution. [Well, at least they got him to drop his food and walk away.]