F̀I҉̵N̶ÁL͘ ̵̧̀WE҉̧̀E͞K̷̨

[strangerpeople]

F̀I҉̵N̶ÁL͘ ̵̧̀WE҉̧̀E͞K̷̨

[. . .



















When everyone wakes up as the new week dawns, they will be in for a nasty surprise. After all, IT does not forget-and IT does not forgive.

There were nine strangers in this place-but six of them are suddenly missing from their homes.]

Comments

[mermaidkin]

Of course we knew that's what you meant. [But how to explain that he didn't dare hope he could direct it at all... His smile openly compensates for resentment.] If a meteor fell onto your house, would you think you could pluck the sun out of the sky?

...ah, amazing. I really was as stupid as she thought. To assume there's any limit on what you can do when you try.

[incendiarize]

Again, scientist. Not exactly known for accepting limits. [To a fault. The consequences of reckless science were what destroyed the Old World.] I'd study the meteor.

[Still, there's something about Hiyori's smile...the way he calls himself stupid, the implication that curiosity about the power is unnatural... Realization crosses Arthur's face.]

You were.....scared, of this power. That's it, isn't it?

[mermaidkin]

[He was quite actively analyzing the information he received in the visions he did passively get, is what Hiyori wants to say - but this insight cuts him like a knife.]

...why wouldn't I be? It was the first time I saw someone die. [His knuckles whiten around the corner of the end table.] And back then, I was very naive. I thought that word, that kind of limp body, actually meant something.

[incendiarize]

I can't blame you for that - that'd be the normal reaction to have. [Arthur has never been a normal person. Normal people weren't born in fire and tragedy. Normal people grow out of themselves, day by day, instead of having to start from nothing five years late.

And.....the first time Hiyori saw someone die, huh. That's part of it, too. Arthur saw people die before he was named Arthur.]

...it does mean something. If it didn't, it wouldn't still hurt every time. Even if there's a way to save them, bring them back...we'll all still have the memory of what happened. That's real. And....dying hurts, and never gets any easier.

[mermaidkin]

[Hiyori made it all the way to 18 without this shit, he ought to have bought a cigarette first]

You should. You should blame me. Vita Clotilde-Morris who was never once wrong in either of her lives certainly did. I had the crazy null hypothesis that necromancy didn't exist, and as a result she and her friend were perfectly justified talking about how good it would feel if they could kill me.

[He's as matter of fact as "Batman has this nemesis called the Joker".]

Oh, but her superior and consistent manners would probably call me out for speaking ill of the dead. Is there something you actually want to know? What visions I had? Sorry that I can't wear you.

[incendiarize]

[Arthur doesn't dislike Vita, but.....there's a lot about her that bugs him. He tries to set that aside, most of the time.]

Vita's thoughts are hers, not mine. I don't come from a world where necromancy [so he thinks, but necromancers aren't a thing until eo5, which is sufficiently far removed from eou] is a thing, either, and would've thought it was unlikely at most if it wasn't so much of a thing in the mansion.

[He's just....always known there's a lot more out there than he knows. So it's easier to accept world-shaking ideas, or something.]

I just kinda...wanted to talk to you. I had a vision you were in, recently, and thought 'why not?'

[mermaidkin]

...................it certainly had a role to play there, I won't lie.

[So it seems like he's a bit mollified by this idea that Arthur actually wanted to talk to him in general, though taken off guard in equal measure. His ankles draw back as he faces the boy more keenly.]

I don't see what visions you have, so by all means feel free to share it with me. I must admit I've always been so curious about the one you had that made you so determined to NEVER get taken in.

[incendiarize]

[Eleventh hour necromancy...]

I've had a lot of them here.

You probably remember well enough to not need to watch. [Plus he's....not sure he wants to risk resonating with someone under IT's influence? That seems like it could go badly for him.] I was seeing through Deaddie - uh, Eddie Kim. It was on the plane....you wanted to hear Ikuya's voice one last time.

1/2

[mermaidkin]

Oh, oh, no, I meant share out loud! Share out loud. Hahaha.

2/2

[mermaidkin]

[...oh. This is not a happy memory.]

And I still never did.

[He threads his hands together.]

At least now I'm not worrying about that anymore.

[incendiarize]

[He thought not.]

Do you know if he's okay?

[Arthur knows how it feels, to not be sure if someone important is alright. Even if the punishment has done something to his feelings about it, there's no less anxiety about Etria's fate...]

I got his whole thought process, for the consequence-free kill thing. I probably don't need to say it wasn't pretty.

[mermaidkin]

I have no information at all. [a........... moment later, like he's trying to see something at the edges of his glasses] I think that if he's still alive, he's probably putting up a good fight. As long as he stays away from certain people who drag him down, I don't think he'll be helpless.

But I don't care. So even if someone like Eddie Kim did something like that again... I'd be able to cope.

[incendiarize]

Is that how it is?

[Arthur seems satisfied with that answer. He doubts it's that "Hiyori" doesn't care, so much as "IT's Hiyori" can't care. Because it sounds like Hiyori wants Ikuya to still be fighting, and that....that's a good thing. Arthur won't press it.]

You like swimming right? What do you like about it?