FINAL TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

FINAL TRIAL

[The Strangers manage to escape. By the time anyone has realized they have left, the Analemma is already on a course to a new destination, one not intended by their Conductor-who was certainly surprised to find their ride gone, hours later.

Cardia has turned off radar and other equipment that would allow anyone to find the train easily. There is no barrier around this train, so everyone can see the Clockwork Sun as it gets closer and closer.

They aren't going to London, obviously. Cardia manages to explain that, originally, the Throne of Hours was located there, but after Victoria became Twice-Renewed, the Throne was ordered moved closer to the Sun. Now, it is connected to the station called Sunspur-a desolate place, formerly an exhibition hall, where only the Sun's engineers and wayward captains now go. No one dares to cross the bridge that connects the Throne to it, when they are there.

That will change, but not immediately. Even at top speed, it will take several hours for the train to reach its destination. Cardia suggests everyone relax in the Lounge of this new train. Apparently, this one was going to pick up its newest passengers very shortly, and so the bar and kitchens are stocked with food and drink, at least.

There is much to talk about. Much to look through, and much to consider. The past four weeks have been difficult to process, but the evidence from Perdurance has been especially daunting. It only shows just how stark the situation is-and it's up to the Strangers to figure out just what they will do when they do, at last, confront Her Enduring Majesty.
After all.

Whatever happens, a reckoning cannot be postponed. Not indefinitely. And the bill is almost due...]





[It's time! The objectives are simple in this trial: untangle the story of this place and decide what to ultimately do when they finally confront Victoria, the Mastermind of the Little Courtesy! It will not be easy and the truth, as ever, will not be a light one.

Will they triumph? Will they go home? What else might happen? What else could be in store? There's only way to find out!

Have fun, and good luck! And remember-

All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.]

Comments

[otherworldlyking]

...What a pain.

[ Like the biggest pain. Multiuniversal pain. ]

[charmingheroine]

Twenty-three years is more than I thought I'd get.

[She sighs, looking down, and then up at McBurn, and at Ris. Her eyes itch,her voice is rough and her throat hurts. But she is alive, for now.]

Gut instinct isn't enough. We need data, and what we have so far shows a pattern of behavior that... doesn't bode well for us if we trust her.

[eternaldivide]

Do we let her do what she is planning or do we let nothing happen and ultimately die with this universe with the possibility of losing ourselves in the process.

Isn't that what our options come down to? We don't even have to "trust" her, do we? Just ... let her do what she wants.

[ Even if they die anyways a third possibility was there. And honestly just living and dying here doesn't really sound half bad, if it weren't for that blasted sun that could possibly brainwash them. ]

[charmingheroine]

When you put it that way, it's no choice at all, is it? Die and stop existing completely, or stand aside and watch something unpredictable happen.

[eternaldivide]

... Not too hard a choice if the unpredictable outcome is my only possibility out of death so I can continue to hold on to what I still have.

[ Once again noting that Mithos and Ris have been holding hands this entire time. ]

[charmingheroine]

[That they have, and if Charlotte didn't feel like a monster before, she certainly does now.]

Like I said, it's no choice at all, really, when there's only one option.

[biddentodance]

She's ready to take action, instead of wallowing in indecision. What we know so far - things she's done have all been a means to postpone having to decide. Like- ...my situation. Having to choose whether or not to kill him. Except if I had a means of putting off that deadline.

Which means she's about to change her pattern.

[charmingheroine]

Minato, I had power like to hers once. Maybe not the same scale, but... I could stop time, and plenty of other things bent to my will, too. And she's not the only one so powerful that we've met, though the scale is different for Lilac, too.

[She doesn't want to say this. She doesn't want to hurt him. But if she doesn't say it, she knows she'll regret it for however long her life is after this moment.]

When I messed up, I did my best to fix it myself, or make amends. I didn't beg for help from voices in the dark and fear what they might do to me. I didn't devote myself to love to a point where I ripped my own heart out. [Though that was a near thing, really, considering these past weeks.] I can't understand why they did those things, and it makes me wonder if she really will decide, or if she'll just feed us to her shining god once we've all relaxed....

[biddentodance]

[He doesn't understand the why behind a lot of things people in this universe do. It's all so different. Nothing makes any sense. But he does understand feelings.]

...Took responsibility for your actions, and found a solution with your own hands..... Wish things were that easy. Not sure about ripping out hearts, but...

Think about it like this situation, right now. This choice affects everyone and everything, and it's all on us. She's waiting for an answer. We have no way to know the outcome either way - if we'll be okay, or if it'll all be over. Maybe there's other ways out of this, maybe not, but we're low on time and low on options. We can put off choosing and debate all we like, but eventually the decision has to be made.

[It all comes down to this. It all comes down to the Empress's choice. It all comes down to whether or not he kills Ryoji. There is no frying pan, it's all fire, everywhere, like walking on the surface of the sun.]

Charlotte.....what does your heart tell you?

Decision. CW: VERY CHRISTIAN EXISTENTIAL ANGST? THAT ONE BIT OF RUTH, PARAPHRASED WEIRD?

[charmingheroine]

[Her heart?

Her heart?

The poor thing barely exists, now. It's even more of a wreck than she is. Keeps ticking, but even that's not guaranteed for much longer, is it? She doesn't want to force it to decide, but she can't decide on her own. Reason doesn't work here. Logic doesn't exist here. There really is no such thing as "love" in this world, is there, no matter what The Purple Bitch said.]

Do nothing, and die, or agree to trust her, and probably die anyway... she said it'd be "less impossible"....

[Twenty-three years. She'd be forty, then. Not too old, especially not if they went back to Perdurance and its library and its bathhouses... but if she gives up here, what about...

She can't think straight. Even after King's outburst, she can't think straight. To rely solely on emotion, not thought, is something she's never been comfortable with, but it seems to be the only choice. Jonathan gets by like this well enough, maybe it's time she started trying to copy that from him.]

I trust you. And you trust her, so... well, that's everything, isn't it? If the people I trust place their trust in someone, I should do the same, right?

[She can't look at him. This feels like digging her own grave. Her throat hurts, the words taste of copper and ash when she speaks.]

I'll trust who you trust.

[And go where you go, and your Goddess shall take the place of my God, because He sure as hell hasn't bothered to help us any...

The casual blasphemy drives the breath from her lungs even as she thinks it. She's really fallen that far, then? She truly has. But it isn't as though she'll ever be seeing anyone who'd care again....]

CHARLOTTE: TRUST

[strangerpeople]

[biddentodance]

[She's not looking at him, and she's placing her trust in his....it's heavy. Especially when he isn't completely confident. He's made mistakes before - hopefully he won't come to on a cross this time. It's hard to get that man's laughter out of his ears.

Live or die, they'll do it together, right? He - it's hesitant, careful of boundaries, because he isn't sure it's okay - approaches. And wraps his arms around her gently. Minato is steady, and breathes slowly. He isn't certain. But certainty is the opposite of trust, isn't it? And the opposite of faith.

Right now, he wants to shut everything else out. Let her be weak, let her be broken, let her be - he wants to protect Charlotte. He says nothing. But he is here.]

[charmingheroine]

[All she can ask for is... this. He isn't pushing for anything else, he'd just wanted an answer.

Charlotte wraps her arms around Minato, and hides her face against his shoulder, and wonders if she gave the right one. Wonders if she's doing the right thing, giving in to what she wanted to be true instead of standing aside. She wonders, and worries, and - doesn't give voice to any of it.

If she tries hard, she can ignore everything except his arms around her. She wants to do that, right now. She may not know what's about to happen, she may not be able to trust herself or her heart, but there is a young man from the future holding her and asking for nothing else. For a few perfect moments, she can just exist, and that's enough.]

[katzenpfote]

She likes cats, you should trust her.

[Is he joking? Hard to tell.]

[charmingheroine]

If we survive this, I'm starting to think I shouldn't leave you and Jonathan unsupervised in the same place....

[She's definitely taking it as a joke, at least.]

[katzenpfote]

Good, it'll distract you from the dicks Jester draws on your stuff.

[overworker]

She saved me, even though she didn't have any reason to. And if she hadn't done what she did... I probably wouldn't be here now.

Maybe it's not much, but... I think it shows that she's willing to change.

[charmingheroine]

[She doesn't quite meet Towa's eyes, but nods.]

It's a start, at least.

[Her voice feels like... quite frankly, in her current exhausted state, it just hurts, and if pressed she'll insist that is why her voice is so hushed.]

[higanbana]

You're right about that, but we have no data supporting that distrusting her would be helpful to us in any way, either.

I suppose that's the question. What happens, if we say no?

[thricerenewed]

{ I would let you go. To leave, and go back to where you see fit in this universe. To your loved ones. To nowhere. Wherever you wish. You will not be put back into the Little Courtesy.

I know it is not much. It is what can be done. }

[charmingheroine]

"This universe". Tell me, if we do trust you, do you have any hope that we'll be able to go home?

[She has been crying, off and on, for an entire day. At this point she should just expect the waterworks will start with any emotional change at all. She still looks furious, and this time she does try to dry her eyes.]

[thricerenewed]

{ . . .

I cannot promise the impossible right now. But, if I do this right. . .it may not be as impossible as it is now. }

[higanbana]

It rather sounds to me that we're damned either way. "If" you do this right...

[What lovely odds.]

[katzenpfote]

It's better than no odds at all.

[higanbana]

I suppose, even at this, it is better odds than we have ever had in all our lives.

[Still, she's turning her gaze to the other two, although Mithos in particular. At this point, she's just as "meh" as McBurn, so she'll follow you two.]