THE SECOND EXECUTION

[disregartist]

THE SECOND EXECUTION


[As the time nears its end, the audience begins to chant the numbers as the seconds tick by. Their shouting and screaming reaches a fever pitch, until the countdown gets to zero. They cheer wildly as the chime sounds, as if they were watching a soccer game.

Lilac, for her part, simply sighs as a face is flashed onto the big screens and the cuff. On the big screens, the numbers 10-2 also flash on the screen.]

[She waits until everyone has quieted down before she speaks again.]

Everyone, do be quiet. And prepare to the execution. Please put on protective sunglasses, and do not look directly at the light if you do not have any. Of course, if you do, we do not take responsibility for what will happen to you.

[She looks at Zack.]

Now. Unless you can calm down, I shall put your glasses on for you.

Comments

FINAL WORDS

[disregartist]

[If you have something to say, best get it in before the audience goes batshit again.]

[telecosmetic]

[She just looks...tired, now. But also a little relieved, to see that score up there.]

I...I have notes. Under the bed in room 8. Some of them...are for my friends and family back home, or in those cells. And some of them are for you guys...someone might have to read Zack's for him, though.

cw fingore

[biddentodance]

[He is ignoring the potion Caleb left on his podium, just letting his mangled hand bleed.]

E....liza.... I'm sorry....

[telecosmetic]

You...you have nothing to apologize for. Also...you should drink that potion. Your hand doesn't look good...

[eternaldivide]

[ Mithos is quiet for a while. He's been able to hold himself together for both the investigation and the trial and now he's ... tired.

But he's still trying to hold it together because there are others who clearly aren't and they ought to get the attention. Not him. However, after a moment he does walk over to Eliza. ]

Is it ... possible to ask for one more?

[ He means a hug, but he's not sure if Eliza gets what he means and will be fine if she doesn't. But thought ... he'd ask, anyways. They're comforting and Eliza has given him a few so ... ]

[telecosmetic]

[She blinks, looking confused for a moment...then realizes what he means.]

Oh...of course. [She reaches out to pull him into another tight hug, tears dripping gently down her cheeks to stain his shoulder this time.]

[unwittingking]

I can do it.

[He might be the only one Zach can stand, at this point.

He sighs, and looks Eliza in the eyes.]

I'm sorry that this had to happen to you.

[telecosmetic]

...it's fine. It'd be worse for me, to see Zack die in my place.

[zackthekiller]

. . .

[This sinner can't think of what to say, but those are tears welling up in his bitter eyes.]

[katzenpfote]

... I am... sorry, for what it is worth. You did what you thought you had to.

[higanbana]

[Ris, still shaken, just sighs and tries to steady herself, looking one last time at Eliza.

This is not the end. She won't let it be.

With that, she puts on her sunglasses and closes her eyes. After Beatrice, she knows better than to watch again.]

[zackthekiller]

[Zack just glances at the Conductor before turning to address the audience like it was his own last words.]

I hope all you assholes go to Hell.

[So, yeah. He's still highly emotional. At least he'll let the conductor put the glasses on his face.]

[telecosmetic]

Zack...I'm sorry. I love you, you know that right?

[disregartist]

[Nodding, the Conductor gently puts the glasses on.

It's not much a comfort, and she knows this. But, it's something, hopefully.]

[charmingheroine]

[The rush of victory is gone, now. Charlotte can't even look Eliza in the face.]

I wanted to be wrong. It didn't completely add up for any of you, but...

[dragonmouth]

I...know we haven't had much in the way of conversation here. But.

If we can find an end to this madness, we can certainly avenge this injustice on top of everything else.

[ Yeah if there's ever a chance they get to kill the Conductor she's all for it ]

[technicolourdifficulties]

[...Nah, he's spent. He's just going to put on what passes for sunglasses for him and sit over here in silence.

He's too old for this shit.]

EXECUTION: To Join the Choir Invisible

[disregartist]

[Once everyone has gotten their goodbyes in, the Conductor folds her hands together for a moment with a sigh, before bringing it to the chair, where she takes out her phone and presses on it. Even she seems to not be looking forward to what's next, for some reason.

The retractable part of the dome slides away; everyone save Zack will feel a jolt as Eliza is dragged to the center of the room. She says nothing as the telltale roar of the Eventide's engines begins to rumble through the room. Audience members begin to cover their ears and duck. Eliza, meanwhile simply looks at Zack with what she clearly hopes is a reassuring smile through her tears.]

ACTIVATING TELESCOPIC LENS ARRAY

TELESCOPIC POWER 52000%

TARGET: ACQUIRED

[The sick green light begins to plunge down onto Eliza, who lets out a cry as she shuts her eyes and writhes. She's clearly trying to fight, clearly trying not to look. But a flea cannot stop an ocean wave, and soon enough, Eliza's eyes slowly open. They glow green as they slowly look up at the light.]

Beautiful...

[Her eyes widen and she lets out a sob of rapture, even as her tears turn to glass along with the rest of her body.]

ZACK!! ZACK!! LOOK! LOOK AT THIS SEQUENCE!! OH, ISN'T IT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING!? THE SUN!! I LOVE IT!! I LOVE IT!!

[Nor is she the only one screaming glory to the terrible light. Audience members who didn't heed the warning begin to shove their way to the center of the podiums as well, to revel in the light, to praise the glory and perfection of the sickly beams. A few even manage to drag unwitting bystanders, who scream and beg not to be brought along. Most manage to break free and run away before they are affected. Many, however, do not, and they jostle to where Eliza is, singing and screaming and petrifying.]

[They begin to chant UN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN TH, and soon, Eliza is joining their raucous praises.]

LOOK! ZACK!! LOOK!! THE SUN!! THE SUN!! THE SUN THE SUN TH-

[Then, she is silent. Everyone in the circle is. They are, for a moment, like crystalline statues, frozen in time. It is fascinating to see their faces, mouths wide, eyes wide, their expressions filled with a type of rapt horror.

It's a very brief moment that they stay that way.]

ACTIVATING WRATH OF HEAVEN

[The BOOM comes from above, and just like before, the giant lilac ball shatters Eliza and all the unfortunate audience members around her. Unlike last time, however, not everything shatters-the amount of audience members who came with her took the brunt of the hit. There is an intact piece of the crystalized Eliza that is sent flying out from the gigantic pile of crystalized geodes and goes into the audience, where it smashes into the face of one very unlucky man, before it falls into their lap, then out of their lap, and finally rolls back near the podiums.

It is her head. One could still see the frozen capillaries of red, and the faint brown of her eyes.

The reaction of the audience is immediate. Many faint; some laugh. But most. Most cheer.

They continue to cheer, even as the jolts stop, the doors open, and the strangers are very quickly escorted out to the trains. Their vacation here-such as it was-is over.]

[unwittingking]

[He thought he could at least be more prepared for it. The murderer, and only the murderer, would get dragged into the path of the laser, turn to glass, then get shattered into a million pieces. That's what happened last time. Why should it be any different?

But it's worse.

So much worse.

The audience members run for the laser...excited. Like they want that fate as well. And Eliza...she acts just like Beatrice. Screaming about the sun like she was blessed by dying from it's light. He thought that was just her having her final breakdown, but no. The laser...it forces them through that.

And then the explosion happens, and all that's left of those that were turned to glass are scattered about.

Even then, he notices the head. The one thing that apparently survived it all. He stares at it-at her-for maybe more than a minute.

Then, he jumps off his podium and goes to Ris and Mithos again. They...they need the comfort, and he knows it.]

[higanbana]

[Ris... is actually okay this time, although she visibly flinches at the sound of the explosion if anyone's watching. You know, more than she was already grimacing at Eliza's demented, elated cries of joy.

She just... elected not to watch this one. It helped, at least a little. The true weight of it will settle on her later. She does stare in horror at the glass wreckage for a moment, but then... well.

If she's alarmed, it's because her attention is actually elsewhere.]

Minato... where is...?

[So, sorry, King, she's not going to be very responsive to you, instead just snatching an untouched vial off Minato's podium and frantically searching for a mop of blue hair.]

[zackthekiller]

[He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to look away. Not that he would really need to with the sunglasses on, but he can't bear to watch...

He can't-

... Is she calling him?

No, hell no. It's just like the last one... More people are coming, he can hear them. Calling to the sun. Praising the sun.

He can't look. No matter how much he wants to somehow break loose, rush out into the crowd and grab her before it was too late... He had to look away until they all stopped screaming.

Then, with a bang, it was over.

He regains his mobility and the first thing he notices is the crystal head of his sister rolling back to them.]

... [He starts to walk away, but before he leaves he tries to grab the severed head and carry it home with him.]

[strangerpeople]

[Thankfully, no one stops him.

The head is his to take.]

[otherworldlyking]

[ That certainly happened.

...Honestly, the most surprising thing about it is the audience cheering. Not the people who can't follow simple instructions because McBurn kind of expected that.

He's not particularly affected by it, it's just something that catches his attention as they're escorted away.

Well, at least it's over. For now. ]

[katzenpfote]

[Caleb watches the execution through his glasses, just as before. Even if some of their number turn away, he cannot - and part of him is fascinated by the magic.]

[However, the audience makes it so much worse. Those stupid enough not to follow directions are destroyed, and it makes even him flinch when they all turn to glass and are shattered.]

[The cheers, however, make something in him snap. He throws a fireball - a quite large one - at the stands. The spectators scatter and flee, and he picks up his cat.]

Shame on you all. Coming to watch something like this - this is a private matter!

[He allows himself to be escorted out, still cradling his bleeding fingers.]

CONTENT WARNING AND I AM ENTIRELY SERIOUS, MORESO EVEN THAN USUAL: genocide apologetics

[charmingheroine]

[It has been three weeks. Charlotte has wept more in that span of time than she had in several years before it. Curiously, her face is dry now. Her eyes do not burn behind the glasses. She does not look away.

She does not pity the members of the audience dragged into Eliza's fate. There is nothing to pity. These are people who make sport out of murder and execution, all because they believe they are the only real people. A fleeting thought passes her by, of the woman she'd helped - but she does not look away, and it is gone as soon as it came.

These people are worse than vampires, she thinks, amazed that she is not trembling. Vampires place a sick sort of value on human life. Sick, grotesque, but it is still there. These creatures do not even do that. They don't hunt for food, they kill for sport. They have given up their humanity. They chant, they laugh, they freeze, they shatter - Eliza, who she should have gotten to know better, who loved her family, who did not deserve this situation, shatters too - and she does not look away.

They are monsters. They are not people, this teeming crowd. They are monsters, creatures that have willingly handed over their humanity to a perversion of England's decades-dead doddering pigeonlike queen. There is something the women of her family line are good at, and have been for centuries: killing monsters. True, her inborn talent is either locked away or gone, but she does have something new. With this, their force barriers cannot hold her or keep her contained. Without her birthright it will just take longer if she has to do it all herself, that's all.

A monster's face shatters (she does not look away), and Eliza's head rolls away from the impact site back towards all of them. How kind of her to start things off. Even in death, she is helpful. An inspiration.

This world is full of monsters. Charlotte has been told she is talented her entire life, and those talents have all been aimed at one set of tasks: the one the women of her family are good at, killing monsters. She meant what she snarled at the Warden. This so-called empire will fall. It must. Creatures like this, already gifted with the power to rip through into other worlds, cannot be allowed to run loose. They must be exterminated. They have discarded their humanity - discarded the sparks of kindness and reason that makes even King and RGB human enough to be people to her, not monsters - and they have chosen, in doing that, their fate.]

You're all dead.

[It isn't clear who she's addressing, or what of several potential meanings she intends to convey with those words, as they're hurried to the Eventide. But she says it. Her eyes are still dry. She might even be smiling. She has remembered her purpose.

These monsters will all die.]