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

[pegasinister]

... that IS true. Yet you keep showing me kindness. I can not understand it.

[But he lets her lead him regardless, not resisting]

[exequte]

Of course I do.

You're my brother, right?

[She flashes a sunny smile up at him, as if this were just casual conversation, as though it were not the first time she'd put it into words.]

[pegasinister]

[He almost chokes at that. Eyes wide. She can say that so casually. Was it because he was with Aoi? No, he knows Aoi had not reconciliated with her even after Hubert had asked him to.

Now he knows why. He can't blame him- he would have done the same.

So why? She... was just like this. Had these strong affections for him. Him. He loved his family- doted on his siblings and adored his mother. But he knew they would be better with the Vestra line dead. Claude would not hurt them after his death, he knew that with certainty. He had kept them at a distance for this exact reason- so they could never love him too deeply. So they wouldn't miss him wen he was killed by his duty.

All he had was Edelgard. Now that isn't the case.

Something cracks fully in him that started at the trial, and he stops walking, his body trembling]

You...

[exequte]

[She finally turns back towards him, head tilting just slightly to the side, concern coming into her eyes.]

Hubert...?

[pegasinister]

[He puts his hands on her shoulders, like he needs the physical support even though he is so much taller than her.]

Please... I can not...

[Oh. He's actually crying now]

[exequte]

[The concern sharpens into actual worry.]

Hubert!! Are... are your wounds hurting you? Sorry, can you not make it to the infirmary? That's... that's where I was taking you, but if you're in too much pain...

[pegasinister]

No... no it's... I do not deserve your kindness or being brought into your family. I...

[He clinches his teeth]

I lost El.

[Not Edelgard. Not his Lady]

I... I can not get her back. I've tried. I should not be alive. But... I want to be. I want this future you and Aoi keep offering me and I CAN NOT!

[exequte]

[She pauses at that outburst, no longer worried in the same way, but now, perhaps, in another.]

Hubert....

Why don't you think that you deserve to be happy?

I....

I think you do. I wish.... I wish I had some way to show it to you.

[pegasinister]

I have made myself into a monster for her ideals. Out of love. The world we wanted is not a place for such people.

Aoi told me some of what he does. The things the two of you are tangled in. Do not think I am scared of corrupting you. Far from it. I simply... can not bare losing either of you. Not again.

[exequte]

[She blinks at that, a little startled. She knew that Aoi had told him some things, though he'd never told her how much. But, now that he mentioned it....]

Um.

We can....

We can talk about it once we get to the infirmary, okay? Because right now....

I still want to make sure your wounds are treated, anyway. And... and they have painkillers there. Those would make you more comfortable, at least.

[pegasinister]

[He pauses, realizing how close he came to saying Details he Shouldn't.]

Ah... yes, let's.

[exequte]

[Her expression is still worried, though it all seems to be concern for him, as she looks up at him and then nods.]

Okay, come on.