FINAL TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

FINAL TRIAL

[Soon after the final clue it found, the large set of double doors at the end of the hall finally open.

And beyond is what Nyaf-ya calls the Room of Reckoning. And this room is...]





[...rather impressive. Large, for certain. Maybe a bit too large for the space it would have to occupy beneath the mall, or to have light streaming from the windows, all things considered. But given everything else that the surviving strangers have encountered, this might not be the strangest thing with this situation overall.

There is a wooden throne at the top of the staircase, and at the bottom of the staircase are four large, comfortable-looking sitting pillows - one green, one orchid, one gold, and one pink. The red pillars surrounding the staircase are also decorated with markings that definitely don't look like they fit the aesthetic of the room.

There are also two low hot pot induction cooker tables in the great hall area before the staircase. One table has six spots, all with sitting pillows, each with a name written onto a paper placed carefully on a plate. When everyone sits at their place, they will find that the stove in the center is already heated and ready to go, and every imaginable ingredient for a proper barbecue and hot pot meal is available to them for cooking. A pitcher of their favorite drink is also next to each respective cup.

And, once everyone finds their place, their phone pings with a message.]

Once you've figured everything out, the Boss....wants to talk to you. She doesn't want to fight. Not this time. Please, take your time, but please be careful, ok? The rules of the Game are still in effect.

We're rooting for you. I know you'll find a way!

[So it's time, then. The objectives are simple in this trial.

It's time to finally answer the questions the Titled have about why they are here - and face the Masterminds behind the Game.

Good luck, Titled.]

Comments

[scienceofmagic]

No. I'm trying to solve the actual problem of the source running rampant while these training courses happen. If the problem is they don't have resources to actually find the source, then I may have an actual solution that isn't just putting up an infinite amount of Composers and hoping that the problem solves itself eventually.

[thegreenhornet]

Yeah, if you're trying to get rid of a mafia, you don't get rid of all the minions eternally, you aim for the top. That way you get rid of the whole thing at all.

[It's that simple, even though it's not like the person who caused all this is a magical solution to this many-worlds-involved problem]

If after dealing with the source the Noise stuff are still trying to destroy the worlds, then we deal with them. I know there's danger right now, but I want to take the risk.

[bendwiththewind]

And if he were to kill you where you stand?

What then?

[beguiledcard]

Hmm... I don't know about the big guy...

[ b-big guy... ]

I know, personally... since I have to die anyway... I'd rather it be alongside people who are like family.

[ It's all said quietly, but not with any less resolve. ]

With all of us fighting for something we all feel is worth the fight.

[bendwiththewind]

All I am hearing from you is possibilities, not solutions that will work. Do you how powerful this man is, Chance? If he is able to pull himself from the brink of oblivion and bring creatures that are not native anywhere else, he is not someone you can simply ask to stop.

Imagine if you go to face him as you are now: you will not be ready. You will be nothing more than a mess on the concrete to him. Are you truly willing to risk it?

[scienceofmagic]

I don't see upper management doing anything but hoping he'll just stop while slapping band-aids wherever possible and telling everyone it's fine, from where I'm standing.

[ She won't blink. Won't wince. ]

Say we became Composers like intended. What's stopping him from showing up while we fix things and making them worse? Or worse than that: destroying us completely on our own turf? I'm not hearing a solution from the ones in charge, just a band-aid.

[bendwiththewind]

And you think I can do anything? I only have control over this Mall and this Game. The only matter I can control is weither you are capable of doing the task ahead.

And right now, I am not seeing it with you lot constantly switching your words. Is your conviction THAT wavering?

[theirmagic]

So just because we want to make an informed decision... and have changed our minds after acquiring new information, you think we don't have conviction?

I'd argue we have more than you. We're all willing to go fight the problem, to end what's causing everyone trouble. Even if that results in our deaths. What are YOU doing? Sitting here making people into Composers to fight it for you, or hoping they'll take care of it momentarily?

[bendwiththewind]

And you gladfully going to your deaths and he still comes. As he steps over your corpses and lets the Noise take everything you hold dear and for what?

Do you think I have not seen it during my life? Seen soldiers go off to battle having that same conviction only to be cut down with a single strike. To underestimate the enemy too quickly and now dead and rotting in the ground. Is that what you want for yourselves? Or are you proving me right when I said that you all have the blood of lemmings in your veins?

[theirmagic]

Lemmings don't stop to actually consider their options. Lemmings would already have attacked you. Lemmings would hate you pointlessly for all this death. If I were just a blind follower, I would never have carved my own path in life, trying to make the lives of others better. And even though I failed... I keep trying.

Do you know why?

Because to give in to negativity and despair would only be giving that entity you're dealing with MORE power. And if I can change even one small thing... the effort will have been worth it.

Aside from which, you said it yourself. We're different. All of you seem to have reacted to us finding what we've done unexpected. Maybe we actually could defeat him.

[bendwiththewind]

If you believe in that conviction so much, you know what I ask.

You must vote. Abstinence is not an option.

[theirmagic]

Fine, then.

[ She'll cross her arms. ]

... But when I have to kick your face in with these heels, guess who brought that on herself. I want it on the record that I really didn't want to have to do that.

[beguiledcard]

Just like people can change, situations and ideas can change... Part of trying to find a solution, is trying to open up your mind to other possibilities.

[comesaround]

Agreed. I've learnt that first hand that keeping an open mind is better than keeping yourself closed off and accusing others of lacking a proper conviction.

[ He's got your back, Akira. ]

LWA Spoilerssssss also this is a mess but Croix is Mad and Wants To Fite

[scienceofmagic]

Being flexible and changing with new information presented isn't lacking conviction, it's having the conviction to do it right instead of stubbornly moving along one path.

[ She won't waver. She refuses to bend because someone is starting her down. ]

Too much is at stake. This is bigger than any of us, and if it's one thing I've learned it's that we have to consider our options, learn from the past, and keep pushing through. Even if the odds seem impossible... They may not be. Two girls can fight the hatred of a world and destroy it.

[ She won't waver at all. She's done bending and letting things happen. ]

But if you want my conviction? Then I will fight with every fiber of my being, until I have nothing left to give, if it means actually solving this problem instead of going home and waiting for someone else to maybe do something. There are seven smiling faces I refuse to see extinguished, who fought for our world already and who deserve the best I can give them. If that means I expend myself while actually solving the issue at hand, then I'll do it!

[ She's going to clutch a blank pin, closing her eyes. ]

Coco told us that the blank pins were special, right? Helping someone else grow... And if your thoughts are in sync, you can visualize what's there... That probably applies to more than just a pin. And I'm choosing to visualize a bright future for everyone. Because that's what teachers do.

[ Two girls stand at the edge of the world on a legendary broom, with a legendary wand in their hands as the world pours their faith and belief into them. The two girls make a hopeful prayer for the future together.

"Please, Grand Triskellion, if you can truly change the world, then I wish to live in a world where we can all laugh as one! Believing in yourself... Is everyone's magic!"

They recite the words--aim for your ideal place. A magical bow forms in their hands, and they weaponize the faith of the world, firing an arrow of pure belief and hope into the jaws of hatred itself.

And despite all odds, they succeed against the impossible. ]

I have faith in us to find the way to pull through and claim that bright future.

[beguiledcard]

[ holy shit ]

... Heh.

[ And... then, all he can do is smile. He's proud to have you as a friend and ally, Mimosa... ]

[theirmagic]

As always... you're better with your words than I can ever be.

[ She smiles. It's clear who she agrees with, when she leaves her spot to go link hands with her, clutching her own blank pin in her bad arm's hand. ]