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

[15unknowns]

Yeah. I'm gonna try.

Most important thing? Be prepared. You don't fucking know what this thing is capable of, and you don't know the demon or person responsible, especially since whoever it is? Is twice-empowered by the fruit of the Qilphoth as far as any of us know.

Not to mention, the tree at full power and size is. Big. Like city-sized big. Like the top of it can reach fucking space big. I can give you ideas of what kind of monsters you might face while trying to kill the tree, but unless you're ready and willing to fight, they'll make mincemeat out of you. The Devil Arm powers you got are you best protection, so if you don't know how the hell to use them at their most powerful for you, you really need to make sure you can do that before you step outside. Any other weapons you have on you might help a little-and if you found any of my Devil Breakers those'll help.

Also food and drinks and shit, you don't know how long it'll take to destroy this thing.

[exequte]

I thought we couldn't leave if we wanted to destroy it, though. That's what Alastor said, anyway, and he's the only one who would know. Out of us, anyway. Why would you know more than him?

Vague DMC 5 spoilers

[15unknowns]

I mean, I fought the tree once before. And I fought the asshole who was growing it.

[exequte]

Um...

Hasn't Alastor done that too, though? Or known devils who ate a fruit, or something. So... are you saying he was wrong? Or that he lied to us? Because I can't really see why he'd do that, given what we're all dealing with here....

Vague DMC 5 spoilers

[15unknowns]

Nah, I doubt he’s lying. I mean, the guy he’s talking about is Mundus, right? Well, only a Sparda could kick his ass. And seeing I’m somehow the guy’s grandkid?

Probably why we have different opinions and crap.




Also might be why we were targeted, too…

[Awkwardly scratching behind his head.]

[exequte]

.... well.... you can't both be right about what we should do, anyway. And that seems most, um, relevant, at the moment.

[superstylishsquid]

[You know what they say about speaking of the devil? Yeah.]

If Nero thinks different, we should listen to him. He knows this specific tree, after all.

[exequte]

Shouldn't you have said something something about this earlier, then? If you weren't sure about a lot of what you told us, I mean.

And, regardless, what about the people who died? Aren't we at risk of losing them if we leave? I'm not going to trap them here. Not if there's a chance.

[somuchshipping]

[Hermes pits a footclaw on Akane's back.]

Akane. If we manage to beat the tree, we might be able to get our powers back. Alastor and I can rip holes in space to wherever we want to.

[yesorwoof]

We weren't ready to fight to prevent everyone from losing their memories.

[Makima sounds emotionless. For now. Like she's correcting a misquoted line of dialogue from a movie.]

[exequte]

That's only a maybe, remember? Nobody thought that was a risk worth taking two days ago, and what happens if we can't?

[yesorwoof]

Merely two days ago, two more days our comrades languish in hell, it was not guaranteed that our powers were not going to simply return on the other side of that door. We were told we have to stay here to fight and save everyone. That's apparently changed based on the whim of a man who's either forgotten or omitted enormous details, a stranger to most of us.

[Makima and Akane aren't even standing that close together, but the two of them as a front radiate a chill.]

[somuchshipping]

I mean, to get our powers back, we just need strong enough magic, right? We can just try finding the right people for that.

[yesorwoof]

That is what I said. I said we would all open the door together. But I was turned away.

So I impressed the gravity of the situation upon Kira-kun. This wasn't easy.

Do you think I shouldn't have?

[superstylishsquid]

You knew my knowledge was general. Gai seemed confident from his vision that the thing in the theater was connected to the tree's heart.

...Nero, do you know where the path to Tartarus lets out up here?

[15unknowns]

I honestly don’t know. I can’t see beyond the ship or anything like that.



But, um. If it’s any consolation I am pretty sure if anyone else’s ghost was trapped here on the ship with me, I would know. So yeah. Unless they’re playing hide and seek with me for some dumbass reason, they’re not here.

[That part is to Akane.]

[superstylishsquid]

They're in Tartarus, the underworld the ancient Greeks envisioned. The question is if they'll just end up back on the ship when they escape.

That includes Dante and Vergil, by the way. I'm...guessing from appearance that one of them is your father?

[15unknowns]

…I won’t let them be trapped here if that’s the case. No way.





And—yeah. The asshole’s my dad.

[superstylishsquid]

...I don't know Vergil well enough to say if that applies to him as well as it does to Dante, sorry.

But if you're confident you can get them out if we kill the tree, I'll hold you to it. And if we do get our powers back, I'll be sure to come back and study that spell on your body. Not leaving anyone behind, right?

[exequte]

I... um....

Don't take this the wrong way, but....

Aren't you trapped here too? So how are you sure that you'd be able to get them out?

[voidseeing]

Do you remember where you were when you died? Near the thing that looked like it was the heart of the tree.

How did you get there?

[15unknowns]

[There's a pause as Nero stops to think, his brow furrowed.]

I...one moment I was driving to a job. The next? I heard...crying. Then I was in a place with green light, but I...gotta admit I wasn't paying much attention. You know, because the tree was right fucking there.

It was an instant. I figured I was teleported, somehow.

[voidseeing]

So that's what you meant by the van.

[Okay, that explains that much, at least.]

Do you know who that voice was that spoke to you? It was the ship itself, right?

[exequte]

We don't think they're here right now. But, since this is where Charon is....

It seems reasonable to assume that, if they are able to return, it might be to here....

[15unknowns]

Right, no, I get you.

...Considering the old asshole is able to get on and off the ship whenever the hell he wants, he'd probably know what to do. Much as I hate to say that, obviously. Maybe beat it out of him or something.