thefoundation | WEEK 5 TRIAL...?

TRIAL

Even though there's no guilty party left alive, The Lady ushers you all upstairs anyway. She looks...odd, her eyes glazed over in an odd manner, her motions a bit sharper than normal.

There's still the box, but for some reason it feels...ominous...?

And though she says nothing, music begins to play in the room...

VICTIM:
M̧̛̥͉̳̪͔͕̼͎̻͕͟Ì̤̝̩͇̝͖̠̬́͟͞͝ͅŅ̛̛͖̺͇́͜A̵̢̡̗̙͇̝̥̹͇̲̖̣̰̖͡T̶̵̸̗̼̼͍̘̞̠̀ͅǪ̸̸̨̞͇̪͚͇ ̨̼̪̖̯̻͙̤̬͉̟̭̙̟̗͡A̻̣̭̻̫͎͈̥͎̗̻͘͡R̢͇͚̻̦͟͝I̡҉̷̯̼̤̹̜̙̟̜̹̝̺̣͈̩̘̭͠S͏̶̜̬͔͈̭͉̯̪͙͓̪̻̖͉̩̕͜͟ͅͅA̡̢̻̥̠̭̯̻͇͖T̴̨̛͎̟͕̜̗̗̰̯̥̺̯̹͜O̧̧̭̥̺̱̺̠̞͜,̠̯͔̥̖̣͖̼̪͍̕͡͝ ͏͓̬͇̱͖̰̞̠̺͟R̵̡̛͍̰̯͔͖͚̣̼̼̲̻͡E҉̴̶̡͖͚͈͈̯̺̠̖̼Á͈̣̜̥̗͍̫̖̱̰̘͓̲̺̀̕͜͡N̴̸̵̨̰̭̖̰̯͖̩̺͇̟̱ ̧̖̱̣͖̲̙̲̖̟̩̭̩̬̝̟͚Ş̸҉̳̺͙͓̱̲̙̜͈̠̦̞͓͘͜C̴̵͙̫̰̫͕͓̲̬͔̯͝H̛͍̖ͅW̵̟̘̣̬͇̟̳̙̟͡A͙̗̩̟̣̥̪̮̯̮̜͙̮͎̗̳͎͚̹͘͞R̡̧̖̦̀̀ͅZ̹̺̙͕̰͘E͡҉̨̠͓̦͈̻̼̱͍́͝R̵̞͉͖̟̮͚̮̼͍̬͔̭̥͓̹̙̖̮̮͜

?̶̧͔̝̱́?̵̪̮̖ ̶̡̧͖̳͚G̖̬̳͜U̟͎͈̦̖̹̕E̗͈͚͎S̸͕̩T̷̲͖̬́S̩̝̻̲͟ͅ ͍̪̻R̯̟̩̲̻͍͡E̢̺̻͓M̫̦̲̲̼͡A̴̛҉̮̺̪̼̜̹̯Ị͘N͏͚͓̗͔̼̞̘.̙̥̮̳̩͘

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Makoto. . .

[how much longer do they have to sit back and watch? sit back and do nothing, while more and more people die?]

[she pauses, and maybe that's the first time there's been real emotion in her eyes in ages.

Fear.]

N-No, I promised I wouldn't let you. I can't let you.

[it's the fear that gives him pause. the many promises he's made not just to her, but to others-- Minato, Ichigo, Yoshi, Shirou. . .]

[she's holding his hand, and he gives hers a very tight squeeze]

Makoto, I don't know how much longer I can just. . . watch.

...

If we go down, we don't go down playing their game.

[tilts his head up at her a bit, interested]

. . . what do you suggest?

Anything besides volunteering.

(no subject)

purrtagonist - 2018-12-29 20:31 (UTC) - Expand

justfists - 2018-12-29 20:33 (UTC) - Expand

purrtagonist - 2018-12-29 20:38 (UTC) - Expand

justfists - 2018-12-29 20:39 (UTC) - Expand

purrtagonist - 2018-12-29 20:42 (UTC) - Expand

justfists - 2018-12-29 21:00 (UTC) - Expand

If you even start to volunteer, I'm doing whatever it takes to knock you out.

[ JUST. FYI...? ]

[VANITAS]

. . .

[sets his jaw tightly, but says nothing]

[Here's a ghostly hand on his shoulder.

Please don't die, Akira.]

[NO PROMISES]

...You promised.

[ No volunteering. ]

. . . I promised.

[no volunteering]

[but this is killing him]

—Akira, you can't.

I can.

[he says that firmly]

I just-- I promised people I wouldn't.

[but that seems so unfair now]

Yeah, because we need you, okay?!

purrtagonist - 2018-12-29 20:32 (UTC) - Expand

wrongtiming - 2018-12-29 20:34 (UTC) - Expand

purrtagonist - 2018-12-29 20:40 (UTC) - Expand

wrongtiming - 2018-12-29 20:42 (UTC) - Expand

purrtagonist - 2018-12-29 20:44 (UTC) - Expand

rosebridled - 2018-12-29 20:46 (UTC) - Expand

[She doesn't say anything this time, but she'll meet his eye and it's almost... sympathetic? There's a tension all through her -- she's holding herself back just as hard, in some way, her face white and set.]

[. . . you feel him, Aoi. the sharp tug of guilt yanking at his heart. he exhales sharply and nods at her, a nod of understanding and equal sympathy]

latebluemer - 2018-12-29 20:33 (UTC) - Expand

purrtagonist - 2018-12-29 20:37 (UTC) - Expand

[There's just a very, very tired forehead pressed against Akira's back, between his shoulderblades.

That's all.]

[. . . . .]

Yoshi. . .?

resortghosts - 2018-12-29 20:32 (UTC) - Expand

purrtagonist - 2018-12-29 20:33 (UTC) - Expand

resortghosts - 2018-12-29 20:34 (UTC) - Expand

purrtagonist - 2018-12-29 20:41 (UTC) - Expand

[ that's... extremely relatable. there's a firm frown on his face and he's very glad for his mask right now ]

... None of us want to watch this. [ honestly, he wants to volunteer too ]