FINAL TRIAL

[foundationmods]

...Finally, it was time to begin.

The unlit pyre rose before them, tall and massive.
The smell of smoke wafted around them, as the Witch stood before them - flanked by all her demons and her servants.
The Pieces she had taken.🗈

There was no audience, no trial.

It was just them...and the Witch.

The Witch who stood before the pyre, as if accepting her fate.


In this, this final hour... Music could be heard by both the pieces and those that looked on from another plane.

Their forms were changed again, for the final time - to those of the trial.

A trial that could easily turn into an execution...or a redemption.

But it still had to happen.
If something heals improperly, you must cause pain and reopen the wounds to make it heal correctly.
But.
There was always the risk of infection...

....Would this end....in a happy ending...?

...Nothing was certain.

Nothing, except the knowledge in their own hearts and minds.

Comments

TRIAL SIX - THIS TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE

[foundationmods]

[byanyother_name]

[And all at once, Shass' lighthearted, playful demeanor changes. Fierce protectiveness darkens his red eyes as he stares at them in challenge. First things first, he repeats the witch's tale.]

I will not allow harm to come to my Lady so long as I remain.

[aleph_armed]

[Now then... The first strike, let's see if there are any red truths that fire back here. Gebura swings a giant sword covered in eyes at Shass.]

Erhard decided to kill Emi with manchineel apple poisoning. That night, he baked an apple cake as well as a lemon tart, both of which were poisoned with machineel apples. Once these were completed, he hid outside the window to watch and wait for his victim to arrive. Emi, having been woken up due to being a target, came to the kitchen to face her killer on her own. There, she found the cake and tart, throwing the tart into the garbage. However, she mistook the tart for one of the ones she and Ann baked earlier on, and ate it, getting poisoned. At this point, Erhard entered the room and, taking a kitchen knife, finished her off by stabbing her in the neck with his left hand, with Emi managing to punch him in the face while he was doing so.

Kurama, responding to having seen Emi get killed by Erhard, found Erhard sitting on his knees on the kitchen, and killed him with Erhard's own murder weapon, then using it to carve a message into the table: "First do no harm", a message meant to implicate Erhard as Emi's killer. He then planted the knife into Erhard's right hand.

[byanyother_name]

Erhard didn't bake the apple cake, and Emi never even saw it!

[Shass smiles at her as a red sword of his own appears in his left hand. He parries her blue and sharply ripostes.]

[aleph_armed]

[Gebura just smiles as the attack comes through once again, a viscous reddish black fluid .]

...Thank you. There's only one other person that could have made the cake.

The cake was made by Kurama. The cake was intended to be a second murder weapon, but went unused as Kurama killed Erhard with a knife instead.

[byanyother_name]

[That part of the blue lands solidly, and Shass gives a barely audible gasp before firming his stance, glaring back at Gebura. The sword in his hand flickers but steadies as he makes the last strike to crack her greater narrative.]

Erhard didn't use his left hand.

[aleph_armed]

Ah, I see. He stabbed her from behind, then. Emi only saw him after she was stabbed and he was pulling the knife out of her neck.

[byanyother_name]

Oh dear, wrong again! Erhard did not stab Emi from behind.

[Shass lashes out at her viciously with his sword, a cruel smile curving his lips.]

Is that all a weaponsmistress can think of?

[aleph_armed]

...Ah, you're right. I ignored the grip, didn't I?

He used an icepick grip to attack her.

[byanyother_name]

[Ow. Shass lets out a hiss of fury as the blue bites into him.]

[respring]

[ Sakura's take the form of white, sparkly arrows. Glitter fight glitter fight. ]

Kurama-san lured Clear-san to the rec room. He shot him at midnight, to the sound of the bells, so no one heard the gunshots over it. However, Clear-san was a robot, so this didn't kill him. He cut off Clear-san's mask to check the "injury." Instead, Kurama-san set up a second trap in the music room with C4, knowing Clear-san would want to look for a new mask. When Clear-san picked up the second mask, Kurama-san detonated the C4 with a remote and killed him.

Clear-san and Kino-san died at about the same time, so Kurama-san was able to see Kino-san being injured through her vision. He was distracted by this, and that's why he was injured--he wasn't able to get away from the shrapnel of the explosion in time.

[byanyother_name]

Clear's mask wasn't cut off to check anything, and the new mask was not the bait to draw him in.

[Shass' sword deflects and shatters several of Sakura's arrows, though a few still strike him.]

[respring]

T-Then, Kurama-san used the original mask as bait! He took it from Clear-san in the rec room after shooting him.

[ Both she and I are now questioning if there ever was a second one.............. ]

[byanyother_name]

Neither mask is what drew Clear into the music room!

[Despite the strength in his voice, Shass is clearly flagging as he deflects the arrow back towards Sakura. His eyes dart to Nirrti and he steadies himself, smirking.]

It was a nice try, blossom.

[aleph_armed]

...But the only other thing in there besides the bomb would be those... Otamatone things, wasn't it? Wait, I guess Kurama should also have been in the room, since he got injured by the explosion in there...?

[respring]

[ after some conferring-- ]

Don't call me that.

Kurama-san himself was the bait! Clear-san went the music room, partially to go look for him!

[lutea]

[Nirrti steps in front of the demon, but it's too late - the blue dodges around her and strikes the demon, who hisses in pain.]

[respring]

Okay, let me try this again--

Kurama-san lured Clear-san to the rec room. He shot him at midnight, to the sound of the bells, so no one heard the gunshots over it. However, Clear-san was a robot, so this didn't kill him. Clear-san's mask was damaged. So Kurama-san set up a second trap in the music room with C4. Clear-san went to look for Kurama-san and a new mask to replace his, and found him in the music room. Kurama-san was already there, so he detonated the C4 when Clear-san picked up the mask, killing him.

[lutea]

[And again, she tries to defend - but it's useless, and that blue strikes through, impaling the demon.

...She is silent, but trembling.]

[aleph_armed]

Now then, let's finish him off.

Erhard decided to kill Emi with manchineel apple poisoning. That night, he baked a lemon tart which was poisoned with machineel apples. Once it was completed, he hid outside the window to watch and wait for his victim to arrive. Emi, having been woken up due to being a target, came to the kitchen to face her killer on her own. There, she found the lemon tart, and having mistaken it for one of the ones she and Ann baked earlier on, ate it, getting poisoned. At this point, Erhard entered the room and, taking a kitchen knife, finished her off by stabbing her in the neck with a reversed grip, with Emi managing to punch him in the face while he was doing so.

Kurama, responding to having seen Emi get killed by Erhard, found Erhard sitting on his knees on the kitchen, and killed him with Erhard's own murder weapon, then using it to carve a message into the table: "First do no harm", a message meant to implicate Erhard as Emi's killer. He then placed the knife into Erhard's right hand.

Kurama had originally intended to kill Erhard with a manchineel apple cake, but due to the killing Erhard with the knife, that plan was abandoned and the cake was thrown away.

[lutea]

Stop-

[But she can't stop it, and the blue sent beyond her towards her demon is...fatal.

They're won this case - but it's clear this is all taking a toll on her.]

[goldenmaniac]

Nirrti, stop this- if we keep taking out your demons it's just going to keep hurting you-!

[respring]

...I'm sorry, Nirrti-san. But we have to get to the bottom of this.

[keydomhearts]

[ He'll reach for her now. ]

Nirrti. I'm sorry we had to take them away...but you aren't alone.

[oceanicbutterfly]