FINAL WEEK

[strangerpeople]

FINAL WEEK

[There are no new floors that open today.

No food, if you didn't bring any with you. No way to figure out how much more anyone can take of this. There's just no way to know. Half of your number are gone. Half of your number either betrayed, or were betrayed. It is overwhelming and terrible-and who knows what more is to come.

You can feel the shift in the air. The fear, the strain, the tension, between everyone who is left. What can anyone do? Is there any way out of this? Is everyone truly condemned, after all? Who will betray whom?

What will happen next?


There are seven strangers left in this place.]

((OOC NOTE: This post is your last chance to have your characters explore the Mansion and all of its corners for possible clues. After the Final Investigation is open on Thursday, the Mansion will still be accessible, but the Strangers will be unable to uncover any new clues-or alter their Nightmare levels-in Investigations or Encounters.

You have been warned.))

Comments

[yonosoymaria]

[The Pan is -

The boy is -

"Damn it, you know his name's Arthur. Get over there, you wouldn't've been able to take bein' alone...."

That painfully familiar voice is not accompanied by a body, thank God for small mercies. Eric groans, trying to fit together what feels like at least three different selves into a semblance of composure, of control - his balance is all wrong, even with the room closer to normal.

Is his shadow still animate? It's his shadow, and it might be able to reach the boy - to reach Arthur before he can get his legs to cooperate. It's his shadow, so he thinks he can get it to try and be a comforting support, rather than attack....

Miracle of miracles, it does cooperate, beating him to Arthur's - and Emma's, God, no, why did this - side by a fair bit. It's now a cartoonish parody of his silhouette, but that doesn't matter to it or to Eric; it settles down beside where Arthur kneels, and an arm of solid darkness gently settles around his shoulders.]

You tried your best.

[incendiarize]

[How long has it been now? He doesn't know. His eyes are burning. Tears are streaming down his face.... When was the last time he cried...?

There's an arm (not quite an arm?) around him, and Eric is speaking. He sounds so far away. Tried his best... Yeah, he did. But trying his best doesn't do a lot of good, does it? And it doesn't mean a lot when things still end badly.

He swallows, thick and heavy.]

I messed up again...

[yonosoymaria]

[Eric looks over his shoulder, silently begging Osomatsu to come out from the place he stands and help him.

With someone in distress to focus on, it's a bit easier to make himself move. He was far away, comparatively speaking. (He couldn't do this for Jun.) He kneels so he almost overlaps the shadow, and sets his hand on Arthur's shoulder, an offer of support should he want it. (He didn't have the chance, then, but like him, Jun had been... like him, bitter and angry and stubborn.)]

I don't know if... no, it doesn't help, to say "she knew you tried", but... she must have known. She didn't die afraid, not with such a look on her face.

[If he looks too long, the features blur. If he looks too long she starts to look like Miss Lucy laid out with her cross already stolen. He cannot find it in himself to weep - the walls are doing that, in something he can't describe, something that vanishes when he tries to see it straight on. Better they do it, then. He has to be as his father was, once, a long time ago.]

[relieable]

[he sits up a bit, still on his knees when Eric looks at him. after a moment, Osomatsu swallows thickly and crawls into the room. it's tight, but he manages, coming over to comfort Arthur as well.

now that he's closer, he can see Emma's face, see how she looks so serene. he thought she'd been spared for a reason at the trial, but here she is. here they all are. he reaches out to put his hand on Arthur's other shoulder, but he doesn't know what to say yet. Arthur's blaming himself again, so he must say something]

...It's not your fault, Arthur. What happened to her... [he only caught the tail-end of the struggle] What's happening to all of us isn't your fault.

[incendiarize]

[It's debatable just how aware of his surroundings he is. Osomatsu's touch and words bring him back to earth. Since when...]

Osomatsu....? When did you....?

[...]

I was just....telling her yesterday... I'm not-- I don't know if I've been doing enough...

[relieable]

[he's been here for a while. not a long while, but a little while. he still has no idea what happened]

Truthfully, I dunno if I've been doin' enough either. I think... it's hard t'know what to do in... this type of situation.

[another glance towards Emma... ah, she really is... he steels himself, holding back tears, but he's shaking a bit]