Keep the ghosts in fond memory.

[carries_war]

After all the...everything that that trial was, not to mention the horror of that execution - if it can even be called that, something uncomfortable has settled over the Depths. Two people are dead, and while nobody willingly broke the tenuous trust between the Titled to end a life, what actually happened may be worse. Even all the trust and companionship in the world can't protect them from tragic accidents caused by powers they don't understand.

But even so, it's not time to give up and drift apart yet. Yusuke spoke of trust and hope, and one person is determined to keep that alive. A couple hours after the execution, every living Titled (yes, even Eric) will find a note slipped under their door, in what some may consider familiar handwriting:

'Everyone is upset about what happened, but that's just more reason to not leave people alone. Come to the cafeteria, I've made enough food that everyone can have dinner together. You might not feel like eating after watching that, but we shouldn't just go to bed hungry.

- Rubedo'

The exception is McBurn, who just gets a sketch of the first floor of the Depths with the cafeteria circled and a doodle of a cooking pot and various food items in the middle.

When people get there, the entire room smells like vegetable stew courtesy of the communal pot in the kitchen. There's pitchers of water at all the tables, along with bowls of fruit and vegetables from the Conservatex. In one corner is a pile of thick, heavy cloth sheets - blankets for those who just want to huddle up in something warm. It might not be much, but it's there for everyone. That's the important part, right?

Comments

[defriendestration]

OH, THANK YOU! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE STEW. RUBEDO'S PRETTY GOOD AT IT!

[bythewaves]

"He is, isn't he. But what of you?"

[defriendestration]

ME? I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, NATURALLY CAN COOK SPAGHETTI!

....WHICH I WOULD MAKE BUT...THIS PLACE DOESN'T HAVE ANY. OTHERWISE I HAVEN'T TRIED COOKING ANYTHING ELSE YET.

[bythewaves]

"That's not what I meant." Maglor says gently.

"I meant, how are you coping, Papyrus?"

[defriendestration]

......................OH.

UM.

WELL.




........................

I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM.....ABSOLUTELY DOING MY BEST TO HELP THOSE WHO WERE....UPSET AT WHAT THEY SAW IN THAT ROOM...

[bythewaves]

"And yourself?"

[defriendestration]

NYEH...HEH HEH....

I...


...................................


THAT...IS THAT WHAT ITS LIKE WHEN YOU FALL DOWN, OR...DIE? REALLY TERRIBLE?

[bythewaves]

"It was your first death, hm?"

Maglor says gently, and nods, eyes old and tired.

"Yes. That was a crueller one than most, but... yes."

[defriendestration]

.........


IT'S SCARIER THAN I EVER THOUGHT...

[bythewaves]

So, so gently.

"It always is."

[defriendestration]

......YOU KNOW A LOT OF MONSTER SAY THAT HUMANS ARE AWFUL AND SCARY BACK HOME? BECAUSE OF THE WAR. AND BECAUSE A LOT OF MONSTERS FELL DOWN OVER IT. BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT HUMANS ARE THAT SCARY NOW THAT I'VE...SEEN...DEATH.


.........


I MEAN, YOU CAN TALK TO HUMANS AND GIVE THEM FOOD AND GIVE THEM PUZZLES AND STUFF. YOU CAN'T REALLY DO THAT WITH DEADNESS.

[bythewaves]

No. [ Maglor agrees quietly ]

Death, we say, is the One's Gift to Men, for it frees them from the world and it's confines, and where they go we know not. But it is a hard thing, for those of us who cannot follow them. And a death before one's time, taken by another, is a terrible grief indeed.

[defriendestration]

SO...SO DEATH IS LIKE...A TRIP?

[bythewaves]

Maybe. You could call it a release, too, I suppose. We do not know, my folk, what it is like for Men. For us, death of the body means only that the soul will be called to Mandos' Halls.