WEEK 6 - LOBELIA

[foundationmods]

Six weeks.

They had been here for that long, and still...the game was continuing.
Yet, it felt like they were finally about to reach the end of it...
Just a little longer. 🗈

Still, things were just the same as they had been the past few weeks.

The goats and servants were still around, and so too were the witches.
Yet, it felt like this week would be the week they would finally get all the pieces to the puzzle.
But...could they solve it?

Only time would tell.

MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

CALENDAR | LOCATIONS | PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS | NIRRTI PC POST | WATANUKI PC POST

Comments

CHAPTER 6: END

[foundationmods]

[The figure...remains standing, but the music changes, even through the flickering.]

...And now, you have heard my tale.
Oh, you seekers of the truth…

...Though your numbers have dwindled, you still fought to find everything.
You still found me, and listened.
For that, I will always….always be grateful.

Though my time is short, I ask you.
No, I beg you.
This tale...was my own, of a girl killed by those who cared not for her…
A girl who languished here for hundreds of years, unseen by anyone….unheard by anyone.
Please, remember it.
Remember me.

And…

[She reaches out, yearning.]

Please.
Please kill me.
...The Witch that still remains.

She...cannot be permitted to live, and I cannot do anything anymore.
I am...a shard, about to blow out.
No longer can I anchor myself, as the Witch moves forward….

Please.

Do not fall for her sweet words, her tears or sorrow.
Remember her harsh laughter and the ways she ruthlessly destroyed others for her own enjoyment.
For both of us…
End me as quickly, and harsh as you can.

Perhaps then...we can truly be free….

Perhaps….I….

[She begins to fade in front of them, as tears slide down her face.]

...I will not...ask for any other miracle.

I will only….bless all of you, and wish you all the best….

...For you….have listened to my tale...so faithfully.

O seekers of the truth…

[She opens her arms towards them, smiling through her tears.]

...May you be victorious against her….

[And then -

The figure totally vanishes away.

Suddenly, clapping begins - coming from everywhere around them, loud and bouncing around.
It goes on and on, without stopping - going from simple applause to a roaring ovation, as if there were countless people around them, applauding the figure’s life….

The Curtain draws to a close as the lights fade out, but the clapping still remains, until it dies ever so slowly down into silence.

...But for some reason, All of them are still in their seats, sitting in the pitch black theatre...]

[goldenmaniac]

Something's wrong...

It really is like a story... she never really talked to any of us specifically... like a movie that was already pre-written...

[keydomhearts]

Yeah, I don't really like this...

[goldenmaniac]

We should keep open minds. Don't assume we know the truth just yet.

[byanyother_name]

This is only her truth. Not, I think, the objective truth.

[goldenmaniac]

Very possible.

[cryosurgeon]

... it's got to be a trap. If we kill the part of her that's still human, then all that's left will be the Witch. Actually, if we even acknowledge that there's a part of her that isn't human, that's confirming the existence of the Witch, too.

[goldenmaniac]

I hope it's not that nefarious... I think it might be more ego-serving, honestly.

[cryosurgeon]

Everything else here has been nefarious, why not this? She wants us to destroy her last anchor of humanity.

[goldenmaniac]

Hmm... I don't think she means the book. But that we should kill the Witch- but we already know that would doom Watanuki.

Remember, Nirrti wants to be proven right. If this ghost comes from the same person then she should have a similar desire to be 'right'.

If we accept her story, kill the Evil Witch, then we accept she was just a harmless victim. Not at all culpable for her crimes. Do you see what I mean?

[incrediblystressedout]

...Erhard's right, too.

How do we lose the game? By admitting that the Witch did it.

[goldenmaniac]

Yeah. So either extreme will fuck us.

[chaoscontrol]

So we take the middle ground.

[Shadow gestures a bit]

I went over this with Watanuki. He had split his thoughts into "human thoughts" and "witch thoughts". But in the end... humans and witches are the same. She is the same. She wants desperately to be able to put herself into two separate boxes. A pure innocent soul, and an evil witch. But just like the mob that ended her life, she, too, is capable of being both good and evil.

[goldenmaniac]

...

You're right. That's how it is for all humans.

[youkaiwatch]

That's what I've always believed. Nothing is ever purely good or evil, and no one is ever completely blameless. Being alive at all means living in shades of grey. We can't let her keep deluding herself into thinking otherwise.

[keydomhearts]

Maybe both of you are right and maybe it's more? Nirri wants to be disconnected from who she used to be.

So what if this is to make us believe she truly split apart? And by acknowledging it, we're giving the idea power?

[goldenmaniac]

...hadn't thought of that.

[cryosurgeon]

Everything here is rooted in mind games. Psychological trauma. Her past, what she's making us do. Maybe the murders even happen because we expect that we have to commit them, simply because we're told to do it.

[byanyother_name]

I do. And I agree. Her story is littered with questionable choices made while overcome with emotion. Even as she insists she did nothing wrong, that everyone but her was to blame.

She created the Witch with her own refusal of responsibility, is how it seems to me.

[keydomhearts]

Yeah! So I think we have to keep believing that she can be both. That she can remember! She says it during her stories. Remember the misfortune.

[keydomhearts]

Huh? What's going on?

[incrediblystressedout]

[The longer the darkness goes on, the harder Joey grips the flashlight in her pocket.]

I don't like this. Really don't.

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama is going to try to stand up.]

[fullbodied]

[she looks very sad watching this. honestly, she's not sure what to say.]

They're not separate. Not like they think.

[byanyother_name]

No. She isn't.