FINAL TRIAL

[foundationmods]

TRIAL

After a very, very long six weeks, it has finally come. The last time everyone will need to trudge up those stairs and meet in the master suite. It's do or die time, and hopefully everyone knows what needs to be done by now.

As soon as the guests walk into the room, they will be able to smell the food that the chef has provided: duck l'orange, served up on a nice platter. Eat up everyone!

There are a few unexpected guests this time. A large group of the rats is here, and they show up in a swarm as they carry Gabe into the room, much like how they had carted him off to the Child Daycare last night. Once he is deposited in the room, Gabe will also stand up and remain there, crossing his arm and looking a bit standoffish.

They're not the only unexpected faces around here, though...

VICTIMS: ICHIGO KUROSAKI and THE RESORT THE HOTEL

10 11 GUESTS REMAIN

Comments

[whirlingmace]

We'll get you out as soon as we can.

[ She'll give a look to the others for a moment. Sorry but she's DETERMINED to make sure he gets out ]

Is there anything that can help? Reading or chilling out?

[stepsinshadows]

My medicine, but that's not here.

Look, it's fine. I can control it. It just takes some effort.

[Going by the way that the shadows, while indeed calmer, are still lingering? That might not be the truth.]

[whirlingmace]

[ :< ]

Okay.

[ She sees that. Maybe she can see if they can speed it along. ]

I'll keep people away, okay?

[stepsinshadows]

It's for everyone's safety.

[He's not opposed to hugs, really. Even if he probably doesn't deserve them.]

[whirlingmace]

[ He can hug Moglin her Moogle Stuffed Animal ]

[swordhandled]

Your powers... how linked to you are they?

[stepsinshadows]

Intrinsically. You can't separate us.

[swordhandled]

[ Well, there goes that idea ]

[latebluemer]

... The Resort is back, isn't it? Can't they just retrieve the medicine while we're at it?

[Hi, have her aggressively hovering again. She's watching those shadows with a sharp eye, she doesn't like this??]

[foundationmods]

[The Lady shakes her head.]

[latebluemer]

Oh. Too much for you, still?

[This is a genuine question rather than aggressive, for the record. All the aggressiveness is directed at Crawling Shadow Problems.]

[foundationmods]

No.

We won't give the medicine to him until a judgement has been passed.

[latebluemer]

Okay. It's good to know you're able to, though. We might need that once we're done here, if you're sure you can get it.

[stepsinshadows]

It's a pretty complicated mixture anyway. I don't even know everything that goes into it, so without Moira here to show how it's made the Hotel might not even be able to replicate it.

[latebluemer]

The Lady says that they'll wait for the judgment, but the Hotel can do a lot of things it's not supposed to, can't it?

[Well, it's still mystery medicine in the end, but.]

[stepsinshadows]

Supposedly. But everything it did was based on what we knew. If nobody here knows how to make the medicine, how can it make more?

[whirlingmace]

You had the medicine here, right? Was there a bottle?

[13thpromise]

[ ...

Gonna just be side-eying that. ]

Are you sure about that?

[stepsinshadows]

I've been living like this for years, I'm pretty sure.

[You get the feeling that this is the right line of conversation though, so keep it up! Gabe can't be stubborn forever.]

[13thpromise]

[ ... Luckily he has some experience with stubborn people, and he's giving him a look. ]

But, being here in the Resort made things different, didn't it?

[stepsinshadows]

Just in that I haven't seen my doctor in a while. It's fine. She won't always be around anyway, so I should get used to handling things on my own.

[whirlingmace]

[ Staring for a moment or two. ]

But you aren't alone. You came in with a partner, and then you had another one when we all got here, right? We also all worked together to get this far.

[stepsinshadows]

That's different. That was for Foundation work, not my own personal problems.

[13thpromise]

[ Sure... ]

But when Cinque hugged you, weren't the shadows doing that because you were having a hard time controlling it?

[ Just a guess but that's what it looked to him. ]

If something like that happened now, there's a chance of that happening again but worse, isn't there? So how are you sure you can really handle it all on your own?

[stepsinshadows]

...

[He has to actually stop and consider his words there, because ultimately Roxas isn't wrong.]

If I'm by myself then nobody's at risk anyway. Sometimes controlling something means removing yourself from situations you know set off your conditions. It already got people killed, I'd rather not repeat that experience.