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]

[A long pause.]

...In my game, some people tried to kill me, so I just wanted to defend myself... I killed my friend by mistake and he turned into a monster and nearly killed me, too...

So just... just leave...

[exequte]

That's terrible.

I'm so sorry that you had to go through something like that.

But I'm not leaving.

[somuchshipping]

...

It... it always happens... When I try to keep my friends from being experimented on by the player... When I try to free my friend from unfair punishment... When I want to go explore... When I try to defend myself...

It all just goes wrong...

Always...

[exequte]

Terrible things happen sometimes. They can't always be stopped. Something terrible happened to me, remember? When I was little? Someone locked me in an incinerator.

But....

Hermes, even if terrible things happen... wonderful things can too.

And you can fight to try and keep the terrible things from happening. Even... even if you don't know if it will work. Because sometimes, just fighting them is important too.

[somuchshipping]

Fighting is what CAUSES the terrible things...

[exequte]

Sometimes.

[somuchshipping]

...

Then why does it always happen whenever I try...? Why only me...?

...

I just don't deserve to have control over anything...

[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.

[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.

[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.]

[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.]

[somuchshipping]

[...Hermes... honestly doesn't remember if he said anything about controlling his fireballs. He honestly doesn't. But Hermes DOES notice that Akane sounds... weaker...?

A long moment passes by before Hermes unlocks the door and opens it, looking to make sure Akane is okay.]

[exequte]

H-hi again, Hermes....

[She is flushed slightly, eyes overbright, and she is too warm.]

[somuchshipping]

[Hermes reaches out, but stops and retracts his leg. He fidgets in place for a moment before finally deciding to pick her up and put her on the lowest bed after cleaning the items off from it.]

...

[exequte]

[She shivers weakly and sporatically, but smiles over at him, and that expression is soft and kind as always.]

Thanks for... letting me in here....

[somuchshipping]

[Hermes fidgets in place.]

...

Do you... need anything...?

[Akane's needs come before his own.]