WEEK 5 TRIAL...?

[foundationmods]

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.̙̥̮̳̩͘

Comments

[purrtagonist]

[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.

[justfists]

...

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

[purrtagonist]

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

. . . what do you suggest?

[justfists]

Anything besides volunteering.

[enter_the_darkness]

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

[ JUST. FYI...? ]

[purrtagonist]

[VANITAS]

. . .

[sets his jaw tightly, but says nothing]

[resortghosts]

[Here's a ghostly hand on his shoulder.

Please don't die, Akira.]

[purrtagonist]

[NO PROMISES]

[13thpromise]

...You promised.

[ No volunteering. ]

[purrtagonist]

. . . I promised.

[no volunteering]

[but this is killing him]

[wrongtiming]

—Akira, you can't.

[purrtagonist]

I can.

[he says that firmly]

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

[but that seems so unfair now]

[wrongtiming]

Yeah, because we need you, okay?!

[latebluemer]

[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.]

[purrtagonist]

[. . . 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]

[She closes her eyes at that. Promises are really the worst things, and she didn't make them lightly but now they feel heavier than her entire life.]

[resortghosts]

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

That's all.]

[purrtagonist]

[. . . . .]

Yoshi. . .?

[resortghosts]

[Just a very, very quiet shake of a head against his back.]

[maskarang]

[ 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 ]

[purrtagonist]

[IT'S SO HARD TO BE HELD BACK BY THE PROMISES YOU'VE MADE TO PEOPLE. . .]

. . .

[just nods at Gerome, unable to say anything else]

[rosebridled]

[ she doesn't even care that much honestly, she's just sick of useless sacrifices and THEY TALKED ABOUT THIS ]

[purrtagonist]

[THEY DID. . .! HE ISN'T SAYING ANYTHING]

[but he looks like he wants to]

[whirlingmace]

[ She will give him a smile, but not say anything. She means it... she will support what Akira decides, even if it makes her sad. ]

[purrtagonist]

[thanks Cinque :(]

[for now he's staying quiet]