WEEK 6

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 6



[Fifteen X-Passes. You've finally done it. You can now go free. However, the price has been steep. Too steep.




True, you can leave. Anyone can, now. But simply leaving may be a bad idea. After all, who knows what else Zero has up its sleeve? Who knows what's outside of the HMHS Gigantic? How will they survive? How will they eat? And those are the easy questions that need to be answered. After all, the mystery of Zero, the mystery of Zack, the mystery of who is the cause of all of this and why-those things are also seemingly impossible to answer without some preparation. There's also the new area that's opened up that may yet yield more for the survivors to mull over.


Rushing is surely a bad idea. It's time to prepare. Take the time to get ready for whatever is outside. Stock up on supplies. Write what needs to be written. Say what needs to be said. Get ready for the possibility that whatever is out there, whatever the answers are-they will not be easy, and they will not be quick.


More than that, but-where are all these cuts coming from on your body? Hm. Maybe you keep bumping into things or scratching too hard. Did everyone save Roland get super clumsy or something all of a sudden?


Well. Maybe the answers to all that are just around the corner. So. Let's get ready. The end is near.


There are 8 9 strangers currently on this ship.



Wait. Nine?]

Comments

[somuchshipping]

[...Again, no response.]

[pegasinister]

[Okay yeah, getting help.]

[godspiousjasper]

...So when I first suspected that he didn't have blood... I was right. That could also explain one very notable thing!

[ His eyes brightened and he grinned. ]

He's the only soul stuck here on the ship while all the others happened to be sent to Tartarus, likely due to that his death was directly caused BY the tree and not by human hands.

[exequte]

[Hubert returns with help!

And oh, gosh, well if the last time Akane saw him wasn't when Hermes was retreating after snapping at her. So she is worried already.]

Hermes? Are you there?

[voidseeing]

The tree absorbed his essence-- I could tell that much. So that definitely explains why he's still stuck here on the ship.

... which means the same is probably true for Aoi as well.

[exequte]

And gave you more time to flirt, right?

[She looks down. Her hands are in fists.]

You knew what was going to happen, Alastor.

I didn't.

They're my brothers.

[somuchshipping]

[Akane may have heard the skittering, heavy footfalls of the shipping beep boop all throughout the ship occasionally on Sunday, so this change in behavior must have occurred on Monday.]

[But Akane gets no response.]

[superstylishsquid]

I know. I...wish I could have warned everyone what was going to happen. You deserved the chance to make the most of that time, too.

I just. Couldn't think of a way to do that without risking us overlooking something that might be important.

[exequte]

[She may have, but she sure didn't see him, and who knows in this place, honestly.]

Hermes, are you okay?

Are you mad at me?

[godspiousjasper]

That's entirely possible, which means we need to try and stop the tree from directly causing more deaths here.

[ Which means in the end, getting to the bottom of the game and find a way to get everyone out of Tartarus. ]

[somuchshipping]

[It takes a while, but eventually, through the door...]

...no... just... go away...

[exequte]

But... but I upset you.

It's my fault, right?

[godspiousjasper]

Oh? How bad is the one you know, exactly?

[ Considering the bits he's heard about other deities from Alastor's home? He has a pretty good idea but wanting to still hear about it anyway. ]

[strangerpeople]

[He pauses.

Then gestures at the letter. He points to the third sentence.]

[somuchshipping]

[The response comes much quicker.]

N- no...! It's... it's mine... it's always my fault.

[exequte]

[A pause, and then, quietly.]

You promised, remember? So... so if it's not me....

Won't you talk to me? You said you would. Hermes.... I'm sorry.

[exequte]

Huh?

[She looks at the letter again.]

Attack the roots, you mean? But... but how? The roots... they're all below us, right?

[somuchshipping]

What, so I can kill you, too?

...

Go away. I shouldn't have any friends...

[exequte]

Huh? What's that supposed to mean?

I don't understand.

[superstylishsquid]

That's another name for Mundus. The same Mundus who tried to eradicate humanity so no one else could cultivate the Qliphoth and use its power to challenge him.

[somuchshipping]

[A long pause.]

...maybe it's better if you don't.

...

just go away...

[yesorwoof]

[Looks side to side. Does not sigh. Refocuses.]

What was it like? Did you go into the light?

[exequte]

But....

I want to. You....

Do you remember after... after I e-executed D-Daddy? And you came and found me, and tried to make me eat s'mores, and talked to me....

Why can't I help you now?

[somuchshipping]

[A long pause.]

...because everything I do just ends badly for me.

go away...

[exequte]

No.

I won't.

I'm going to stay right here.