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

[exequte]

Really?

Nothing good has ever come of you trying? Never?

I don't believe that. Sometimes the bad things just feel louder.

CW: Fortuna Spoilers

[somuchshipping]

Oh yeah, because getting infected by clockwork instead of killing one of my friends is soooooooooo much fucking better.

[exequte]

I mean.

Isn't it, though?

I know that Clockwork is scary, but you're the one who told me that people can adjust to living with it.

I guess your friend managed to, if you didn't know they were one.

[voidseeing]

Alastor offered me the same thing... I may just take both of you up on that.

[As much as he's uncomfortable with the idea of having been forcibly given a power yet again, it looks like he won't be able to avoid using it forever. And if it's going to come in handy for this, then he wants to make sure he has it as mastered as he possibly can.]

Too bad my flute doesn't work, but I'm sure this place did that on purpose.

[somuchshipping]

[A long pause.]

...I didn't want to kill my friend. I wanted to kill Helios. And Athena. And the player's AI character.

But I hit Mors... I attacked Mors. I thought I killed my friend...

...

I don't deserve any... Even moreso with me being a clockwork with fits of aggression I can't control...

[exequte]

You controlled yourself after the trial. Remember? Alastor had grabbed you, but you were the one who snapped yourself out of it, and then you went away to calm down. That's what learning to control yourself looks like.

[superstylishsquid]

I'm sure it has something to do with that...thing in the alchemy lab.

[somuchshipping]

[A long pause.]

...And what if I can't do that again...? Alastor said that the only way to not interfere is to isolate yourself completely...

So just leave already... You're not helping.

[exequte]

I think you can. After all, you did it. That proves you can.

Alastor doesn't know everything.

Mmm... I don't know. It's better to have someone around sometimes, when you're feeling all alone.

[somuchshipping]

[...]

[...]

[There is no response.]

[exequte]

Hermes?

You're already learning control, right? With the fireballs you can summon?

[somuchshipping]

[...]

...What do you mean?

[exequte]

You need control in order to use them right, right?

I know that when I use my power, the ice, I have to be careful to control what I want to do with it....

[somuchshipping]

[You may hear footsteps of Hermes coming closer to the door, but he doesn't open it nor unlock it.]

I don't... think I did... I just... blasted randomly...

...Did I say I needed control?

[At least Hermes now sounds confused instead of grievingly sad.]

[godspiousjasper]

Wonderful! Just let me know when you'd like to do so and i'll help you anytime you'd like.

[ It probably helped that he himself figured his out fully, though granted it was also just in his nature to want to help others no matter what. ]

Your flute? What can it normally do??

[godspiousjasper]

Right. Good idea.

[ Now that the creepy, jarring vision time is over, it's definitely time to get a good look at what's actually in here. Even if he was wanting to linger a moment longer. ]

[superstylishsquid]

Yeah. I got the letter yesterday, he was worried about Hubert.

We've already written back, by the way. Figured we'd save postage and just have Hubert add to what I was already going to send.

[godspiousjasper]

I haven't seen it for myself but... from what you said? I'd rather not if I don't have to.

[ There's a wry smile, tight and tense. ]

I may consider myself fairly strong, but even I have my limits.

[godspiousjasper]

With good reason, given everything that had gone on.

[ He just nodded, his sunny smile back in place once more. ]

Smart idea! It's really nice to be able to communicate with them through Charon like this, and I find I like him much more now than I initially did.

[superstylishsquid]

I still think it would've made most people here sick.

[And thanks to thinking about that again, he's going to take a drink from his glass...the sweet chocolate is a welcome distraction from the disturbing memory.]

[superstylishsquid]

Could still use some perfume, but he really does seem okay, as long as you don't try to steal from him.

Even if he does have some real headaches in that briefcase of his.

[superstylishsquid]

[Well, while he's not holding Roland quite so close anymore, he's still got an arm around him as he takes a look around the reality of the room.]

[pegasinister]

Nothing like that. I felt... aware, for a moment. But I can not say if that was after death or the final moments of my brain after it was disconnected.

Then I was falling out of Kira's closet.

[exequte]

[How could she have, when he was already monopolizing it, time and attention both? He clearly hadn't really cared who else was there. But she just sets her jaw. Getting into it about this right now truly felt pointless. There were more important things to worry about. Like staying alive. Like keeping everyone else alive. Like getting those who had died back again. Like not tearing their group apart so close to the end.]

Never mind.

[exequte]

I thought you did....

[She sounds weaker, somehow, than she had earlier. Of course, she had been out here for a while. And she, herself, was physically weaker than the others here, not just in terms of strength but in terms of health.]