strangerpeople: (Default)
The Fifteen Strangers Mods ([personal profile] strangerpeople) wrote in [community profile] 15strangers2019-05-22 09:23 pm

FINAL INVESTIGATION

FINAL INVESTIGATION


[The morning of the last day-the day of the deadline promised by the Elder Steward--there is a loud CRACK that echoes through the Mansion. It comes above, over, and around them.

Indeed, it seems to originate from outside.

Those who go outside will find themselves staring at a sky that is cracking everywhere. The cracks Osomatsu had seen before had somehow spread over the days unchecked. Now, the cracks become larger and larger, until finally, the sky itself breaks.

Glass-like pieces fall downwards as it shatters, dissipating lone before they hit the ground into sparkles. A cool breeze suddenly blows through the garden, while the sun suddenly appears for the first time, shining high in the sky. A...slightly creeping-looking, laughing sun, but that doesn't seem to be an illusion, unfortunately. Also it doesn't look ready to swoop down to attack them, which might be a small comfort.

The hole in the wall that had been made earlier is still there, large enough to crawl through. And when they do, the Strangers will find themselves in a more open grassy field, with a beach to the south.

The nice weather and grass, however, is not all that is there. It's clear there are other places in this complex to explore.]





[Before anyone can react, there is the sudden telltale ticking that begins in their heads, and their investigation scrolls appear. It's clear that the Stewards have started a countdown for them to get to the Temple, which sits beyond their immediate area, within a forest of trees that the grass transforms into. But, perhaps, the Strangers can use this to their advantage. Now, they know they have a time limit to search these places for more information about just why they are there.

Perhaps, now, they might have a chance to find something useful.

There are six strangers left. Best get to work.]
yonosoymaria: (it's my fault.)

[personal profile] yonosoymaria 2019-05-24 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
They did worse to her than that, didn't they....

[That Arthur has to live through what he sees has not been something abstract for Eric since what Franciscus had seen came out into the open. It was worse, after. Now it's just wrenching, like a hook in his chest being twisted around, seeking to pull forth his wriggling red soul.

It isn't mechanical, the way he rubs Arthur's back. It's methodical. He's trying to give some point of reference to the here-and-now to both of them, something that isn't torture that apparently didn't even leave a skeleton behind. Gentle pressure and the heavy fabric of a sturdy coat are hopefully equally removed from it.

He doesn't care about being splashed with spit and bile. He'd ended up in the same state just thinking what Jun's last moments must have been like, nothing close to actually experiencing it - they've counted on Arthur to die again and again and again. Even Elizabeth Bartley's magnificent war didn't kill men more than one time apiece.
]
incendiarize: (And if it kills me tonight)

[personal profile] incendiarize 2019-05-24 10:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Mm... [He nods. The rubbing helps. Roots him back in the present. Past-present, he sees the tree burning, towering past the horizon. It's not there. That was ten years ago.

It probably isn't comforting that Arthur's head continues to loll forward and back. His shaking won't stop, either. The deaths he's gone through have gotten worse and worse.

Akko - a hit on the head, not even the killing blow. She was unconscious before she was strangled.

Franciscus - a single stab straight to the heart. He bled out quickly and his suffering wasn't long.

Jun - stabbed, and then crushed, dying far more slowly. Arthur saw this vision three times.

Pigtails - far worse than he could have imagined. Slow and tormented. Every second of it, every excruciating sensation, burned into his mind and memory.]

Mm....ash... Mashed... [He struggles to find words. He'll have to report this, he knows. Even if he doesn't manage to put it in the scrolls, he has to be able to tell them....

A picture is worth a thousand words, but there's no way. He won't show that one to anyone. Never, ever, ever. He'll review it himself if he absolutely has to, but...he couldn't inflict that on any of the others. They don't deserve that. No one deserves that.]

.....potatoes.
joinhands: (Doe)

[personal profile] joinhands 2019-05-25 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
Arthur~ Speaking of food~

[Krone crests a hill. In one hand she's holding two large sandwiches. The jar of two souls is under her other arm.]

I got you a sand-wich... This one is no strings attached... But you might not to eat first... There's something you might want to look at... It won't be pret-ty...!

[Finally close enough to almost touch, Krone looks down at the tableau and peers into Eric's troubled face, the protective position he's taken.]

...That bad?
yonosoymaria: (pained)

[personal profile] yonosoymaria 2019-05-25 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
Krone, he just described torture that did not leave a body.

[The cello is not snapping a string again, but it's being played roughly, with fingers far up the neck - Eric's voice is soft and low instead of being high and strident, but the speed and cadence of his speech betray his feelings. He hates whoever did that, but he doesn't know who it is. He feels trapped, helpless, and he hates not being able to do anything to help anyone, it's enough to make him want to weep....

He reaches up, trying to still the way Arthur's head is rocking. He's moving like that, he's still shaking - is he having a fit? He spoke, he can't be, but - ]

It's either that or the vision he... experienced has put him into some sort of state of seizure.
incendiarize: (We're in the fight of our lives)

[personal profile] incendiarize 2019-05-25 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
[Food.

Food grabs his attention fairly quickly. And Eric can still his head. Reeling still, still feeling - or imagining he's feeling - his own skin--

No

Focus.]

He- he was there. The one that killed Emma.

[Food. Starved though he is, right now the thought of eating turns his stomach. But not as much as what Krone brings with the food. His eyes snap to and lock on the jar.]

Th-That.... It's hers. The angel soul. Why do you have it...?
joinhands: (Win)

[personal profile] joinhands 2019-05-25 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
[Krone wants to weep at the cello music. She really does. Torture, that's bad. But then there's a single strike against the cymbal of her face's surface, as she struggles to repress a triumphant smirk at not leave a body.

Arthur is remembering a young witch's death, though, and this also isn't even what Krone actually expected, so she's very serious and attentive, not interrupting for a second.]


...they and that thing were working together so closely? Giriko had these in his house... [She jerks her head back. You know. Yonder. And yet there is a tightness in her fingers, a hardness in her eyes. Almost like she refuses to hear any shit talked about Giriko just yet?]
incendiarize: (We're in the fight of our lives)

[personal profile] incendiarize 2019-05-25 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
I don't-- I don't--

[He forces a swallow, and another shuddering breath. Come on. Pull it together.]

They.....they boiled and skinned her alive...

[So now they know. Exactly what Arthur just went through. The worst of it, anyway...]

There was.....another too, spiders, but they- she-- later, details later, I can't right now... There's gotta....be more to find, right? Find it....please....

[He has no idea what the weird headache machine thingy is but he bets it's important, and gets the feeling they're not done yet. He's useless right now, though, he'll be lucky if he's functioning halfway decently by....whatever comes next.]
joinhands: (Quake)

[personal profile] joinhands 2019-05-25 03:17 am (UTC)(link)
Of course, later...

[She puts down the plate of sandwiches - mouths at Eric that the other one is for him - and??? Okay here we go to the headache machine???]
joinhands: (Win)

[personal profile] joinhands 2019-05-25 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
[HANG ON SHE CAN FINALLY USE HER POWER FOR ITS INTENDED PURPOSE

GATHER THE SCRAPS, PUT THEM IN HER REPAIR SLOT, AND THEN THEY'RE BACK TOGETHER!

WASSIT SAY]
joinhands: (Cheer)

[personal profile] joinhands 2019-05-25 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh my god what a cute couple. Are they literally 13]
yonosoymaria: (Default)

[personal profile] yonosoymaria 2019-05-25 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
[Having noted the sandwiches and acknowledged Krone's gesture, Eric unwraps himself from Arthur enough to lean and drag the plate closer.]

I know it's probably the last thing in the world you want to do and I understand why, but we don't know what's to come and you'll need your strength. Please eat something? I can't feed you like a bird.

[Surprisingly reasonable words from a man who keeps seeing dark hair where there is plainly blond if he turns his head away. At least he isn't seeing glasses, too. Though that might be better, honestly....]
incendiarize: (And if it kills me tonight)

[personal profile] incendiarize 2019-05-25 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
Skinned alive... And her partner's on the wheel...

[He's struggling not to get caught in it again. The first was so tame. Despite the death, despite the spiders. By comparison it was nothing.

Food. Sandwiches.... It's strange, to be both starving and repulsed at the sand time.]

I don't....think I can... [He wants to but god, could he even keep it down? He can smell the Hollows again, and the stench of burning human flesh.]
yonosoymaria: (i'm pretty sure i'm dying)

[personal profile] yonosoymaria 2019-05-25 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
All right. We can wait a bit, but I do want you to try just a bite of the bread. It may help.

[If he focuses on acting like "a father" he won't so desperately miss his own. If he focuses on making sure Arthur is stable he will be himself. Those who carry the spear support those who are bound by the whip, this is how it has been for a century....]
incendiarize: (And if it kills me tonight)

[personal profile] incendiarize 2019-05-25 06:55 am (UTC)(link)
[He leans against Eric, exhausted. How many more times will he have to use this power? He'll do it, to help everyone, but... Well. Maybe his next death will be his own. Maybe the Stewards will kill him the moment he sets foot in the temple.

He won't condemn Eric, too. Won't tell them who the crocodile was.]

....It's not really burning, right...? I haven't....seen the mansion, or anything, not since Emma... Right now, it looks just like Gotham...
yonosoymaria: (Default)

[personal profile] yonosoymaria 2019-05-25 04:36 pm (UTC)(link)
No. It's... it's sunny. We're near the seaside, too, if you listen for it you might be able to hear the ocean through everything else.

[And on a clear day you can see where Castle Proserpina appeared, because this is Whitby, isn't it, above the bay? Miss Lucy sat here with Aunt Mina, here in the graveyard. But it can't be there, they were just - and Krone is walking level where there's a steep hillside, there in that town by the sea in England. Here is somewhere else. He is not eleven years old -

He lets Arthur lean, gently stroking his hair. The Egyptians had a good god or two,among the too-human throng, didn't they? That was a different sort of crocodile, but he was a protector, that one wasn't he? It counts. It has to, or... he doesn't know what.
]

It's too nice a day for a horrible place like this, but I wish you could see it.
incendiarize: (And if it kills me tonight)

[personal profile] incendiarize 2019-05-25 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
The sea, huh... Etria's not that far from the sea. If the town's still there, maybe we'll go, if I get back. [The Library isn't terribly far from the water, but not quite close enough for casual day trips. He closes his eyes to shut out the flames. Just focus on this conversation for now. It's too light for the situation, but...]

It was too dangerous to go swimming in the Azure Rainforest. Bet the water was nice, though.
yonosoymaria: (Default)

[personal profile] yonosoymaria 2019-05-25 06:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Was it a river, there? The name makes it sound like a beautiful place.

[There is no better time for light conversation than when one is confronted by hell. It is a last-ditch effort, a falling-back-through-No-Man's-Land effort, but it's something that isn't despair.]

Ah, but you're lucky to be near the sea. My hometown is landlocked... there's a beautiful river, a beautiful series of canyons north of there, but it isn't the same.
incendiarize: (We're in the fight of our lives)

[personal profile] incendiarize 2019-05-25 07:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Nah, it was part of the Labyrinth.... Yggdrasil has a huge labyrinth under it, all through the roots. It's like...thirty forests, all stacked on top of one another, and the ground on top. There's six sections that're all really different. There's the Emerald Grove, which is a pretty normal forest, but more vibrant and lush...then under that's the Primitive Jungle. Everything's wilder there. It's like going waaaaay back in time, before even the Old World. Under that is the Azure Rainforest....everything's blue, there, mostly, it's like being on a different planet. And it's full of water. It starts with just pools of it, then some streams, but on lower floors it's huge lakes, with giant pink flowers floating on the surface...

I guess all the water stops there, though, 'cause the next stratum is the Sandy Barrens. It's a desert. Everything's dry and the trees twist all funny. And under that, there's ruins from the Old World. Ricky said it was a huge metropolis called Tokyo, a thousand years ago. There were buildings bigger than anything I've ever seen, so old they'd crystallized, and everything was covered in plants...

...Under that is the Claret Hollows, though. Those're....like nothing else, anywhere else. I kept seein' them instead of the mansionhouse. They were humid and warm. The walls and floor were soft, squishy...warm and wet sorta moving? They were- they were made of flesh. And there were rocks, white and bony, and the doors were like heart valves, and the smell...

[He shakes his head. Don't get lost in it. That quickly stops being light conversation. Back tot he conversation....]

Etria's not my home, though. The Midgard Library makes a point of raising orphans, and Simon and me went there after we left what was left of Gotham. It's farther fromt he sea than Etria is.
yonosoymaria: (Default)

[personal profile] yonosoymaria 2019-05-26 06:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[Midgard... Yggdrasil... Tokyo? And that last as part of "the Old World", said like it got capitalized in writing... Eric realizes he's been silent a bit too long, and almost startles himself when he speaks.]

I ought to have remembered Gotham, you did mention it before. I'm sorry. And I wish it had been some place other than those hideous Hollows, that which this place pulled from your mind. The Azure Rainforest sounds almost like a pleasant dream - but you'd said it was dangerous there, too. Monsters?

incendiarize: (We're in the fight of our lives)

[personal profile] incendiarize 2019-05-26 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. The whole Labyrinth is full of them - all of them super vicious and dangerous, but especially the FOEs...

Most people who go in don't come out. And until we came along, nobody'd made it to the Azure Rainforest in ages and ages. And we're definitely the first ever to set foot in the Claret Hollows.