AFTER TRIAL

[relieable]

[so... that was another fun-filled trial. when Osomatsu finally is free from his coffin and he leaves the ossuary in a hurry. he's... well, he's not happy, but he feels better that Emma and Ambrosine were spared. he wonders if it's even worth having a meeting right now, but it might be a good idea to collect their heads.

everyone's in bad shape right now.

he doesn't have enough paper to write everyone notes, so he'll just go around the mansion and search for the other guests]

I'm holding a meeting in the parlor. If you have food, you wanna share?

[you don't have to share your food, though, he explains. you can just bring yourself! after that, he'll go down to wait. he doesn't have any of his own food to share, but he has the healing beer, which he does bring with him]

Comments

[whiterosefoes]

[Harriet is just bringing herself, and this makes it occur to her that she hasn't eaten anything since she polished off the last of her ackee fruit from last week. Damn, she's hungry.

Well, with her madness levels, maybe that should be HANGRY.]

Ugh... I'm so sick of all of this!

We at least learned something from that, right? That ... that the steward is the saw ... what's the weakness of a saw?

[relieable]

[Osomatsu's so used to meetings where snacks are provided. it's a shame they don't have that luxury here]

I'm... not sure? Water? Metal?

[whiterosefoes]

Hm. Hopefully that's true, at least some of our weapon forms are made of metal.

[Harriet is not one of them. Why did she have to be a stupid eraser?]

[relieable]

[water would only work if the saw was electric, probably. so that was out. but metal... Osomatsu wondered about it, rubbing his chin]

Are you thinking we should try to fight him?

[whiterosefoes]

I've only wanted to since the day I got here. What choice do we really have? If we don't, I'm sure they'll try to kill us eventually... and if you ask me, there's got to be more to why they suddenly let Millstein and Ambrosine off the hook.

[relieable]

[MMMMM]

I think you're right about that, at least. It was really weird for them to be so... generous.

[whiterosefoes]

It looked like that person wielding... Giriko [Might as well use his name, they learned it] was hurt.

[relieable]

[Giriko... that was it]

I couldn't see him that well. I didn't notice.

[whiterosefoes]

The coffins do make it hard to see everything. But Beldine got em' in the eye.

[relieable]

Ah, so that's why he was so mad. That Giriko really... let him have it.

[necroyalty]

[ Ambrosine doesn't have any food to share other than a liver sausage and cream cheese sandwich that she eyes somewhat suspiciously, and focuses her attention a small bowl filled with flowers, which is inexplicably burning. She chants something under her breath for almost an hour, during which anyone who watches can see the smoke rise up, then trail in front of the bowl and begin to take shape.

Eventually, it materializes into a particularly small and adorable Holland lop-ear with a shimmering white, proportionately tiny unicorn horn on its noggin. ]

Welcome back, Gumdrop.

[ She has four spells left. ]

[whiterosefoes]

Aww, there's a sight for sore eyes...

[literally. they just witnessed brutal carnage. these eyes needed cleansing.]

[necroyalty]

My most dedicated familiar.

[ FIND FAMILIAR IS A GOOD SPELL ]

[whiterosefoes]

[yes it is! yes it is! well, it literally reminds Harriet of a duel monster but there's little difference where magic is concerned. By "most dedicated" she's equating it to having experience and a high rank.]

A familiar, eh? Does he do things for you?

[relieable]

[i mean, he'll eat half of that sandwich if no one else is going to...]

Whoa! [he looks on at the creature in awe] What is that?

[necroyalty]

Gumdrop the almiraj.

[ She softly pets the floof. Do you see this smile on her face? ]

He can take other forms if I desire it, as well, but this happens to be my favorite.

[relieable]

[oh! that is a nice smile. he doesn't think he's seen Ambrosine look so happy]

Oh, yeah? That's amazing! Good name, too.

[incendiarize]

[He's here at the meeting! Hi!]

So.... I guess we learned some important stuff? Like about the shackles.

[relieable]

[hi! the beer is not for you!]

Yeah, that's true! Honestly, I'm not really surprised. These guys have thought of everything.

[incendiarize]

[He is old enough to drink!!!!]

Yeah... But now we know. Maybe we can come up with a way around it.

[...]

...uh, I'm sorry.

[relieable]

[Osomatsu looks surprised by the apology. hm?]

...Sorry?

[incendiarize]

...I...voted at random. I'm sorry.

[He didn't know what to do.]

[relieable]

[voted... at random. yikes. Osomatsu lets out a breath through his lips, making a pbbbb sound. he knows what that means, and now Arthur is feeling guilty. Osomatsu would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed. but Arthur's a kid, and they were down to the wire there.

...no pun intended]

...It's okay. That trial was pretty crazy.

[incendiarize]

[He's so glad he was apparently the only one who did this. He would've felt so much worse if his vote had put Osomatsu on the chopping block.]

If I'd had any idea who.... I couldn't vote for myself, like I did last time.

[relieable]

[DOUBLE YIKES]

You voted for yourself?

[incendiarize]

[He nods.] Yeah. Because I wasn't sure if Eric or Zelda did it.

[relieable]

[okay. while Osomatsu can kind of understand that, he's more than a little frustrated. when Arthur voted for himself, it was like he was giving up and taking himself out of the pool! and voting at random could have very well put Osomatsu, himself, in danger.

he tries to be calm about this, but there is an obvious twitch in his cheek]

You know that by voting like that, innocent people got hurt, right?

[incendiarize]

I know that... [Thus why he's been beating himself up. He feels less bad about voting for himself. He doesn't know that one vote would've changed what happened. But this last trial... He messed up big time.]

[relieable]

[okay, he needs to calm down. he sighs, resting a hand on his hip. not everyone's been put into this situation before, like he is. Osomatsu has experience, he supposes... which is weird, because he's never had experience in anything before.

but Arthur hasn't]

Next time, if there is a next time, just try a little harder. I will, too. 'cause I made mistakes. We all did. It's just... so important to not give up when your back's against the wall.

[here, he gets down on one knee so they're eye level]

You're really strong, Arthur. And you're still here. Didn't you say miss Emma helped you believe in hope, or something?

[incendiarize]

We were out of time... I didn't know what to do. Ever since I left the Library, it's been one big, life-shattering moral question after another. And most of 'em have gone bad. It's getting old... I dunno what's right or wrong anymore.

Except making sure there isn't a next time. [He isn't sure how to do that, but there has to be a way. This can't go on forever.] She did. That second motive was really tempting, you know? I don't know if Simon's okay or not...and this last one hit close to home, too.

But... I am still here.

[relieable]

[his annoyance seems to fade away as Arthur explains himself. Osomatsu can't stay mad at him, even after knowing he voted for him. he doesn't think Arthur did it maliciously]

Right. And that means we can do something about this. I'm not sure what... but it's not over yet.