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

[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?

[15unknowns]

Right then the asshole in blue. Honestly, this shit’s all his fault, whoever’s growing the Qilphoth right now.





And you better. Or I will find a way to kick your asses.

[somuchshipping]

Do you know who the Zeros are?

[15unknowns]

……I think I know of two of them. Old asshole who saw me die and…whoever’s controlling the tree. Or whatever. Who knows.

[superstylishsquid]

All of it? Is that why whoever was staying in the captain's quarters had documents from Devil May Cry?

[15unknowns]

Yeah, probably? I mean, after what happened in Red Grave City I’m surprised the Canadians haven’t just declared war on Dante.


Hell, maybe they have and this is their way of doing it.

[snrk]

[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?

[15unknowns]

...I'd figure out something. Somehow. And they're not stuck on the ship like I seem to be, anyways.

[exequte]

... yet.

We're trapped here, though. And supposedly its... forever, if the door is opened then closed.

I don't know how much I believe that, but given how many other strange things have happened here maybe its reasonable...?

[15unknowns]

Like I said, the old asshole that's not Charon is able to leave the ship whenever the hell he wants. If you can figure out how he does it, you might be able to get back into the ship. I've never been able to catch him in the act myself, but still.

[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?

[15unknowns]

...Yeah, I think so. Or whoever was controlling it. It's the only thing that makes sense. And yeah, my van. Probably could fit everyone, but who knows where the hell it is now. If it's not just destroyed.

[voidseeing]

[He nods.]

I heard that same voice in the trial the other day, which makes that the most logical assumption.

But as for your van... if that's true, it might not hurt to try to look for it while we're at it.

[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.

[somuchshipping]

I'm sorry, but I refuse to let anyone harm a fellow psychopomp.

[15unknowns]

Wh-





Oh, no no no, not Charon, the other old asshole. Zero. Delta. Whatever the hell his name is!

[somuchshipping]

Oh. Yeah. Okay.

...DibsOnPunchingHimFirst! Piracy is no good.

[exequte]

[Akane smiles over at him, partially, it seems, in pride at him calmly standing up for his opinions like that.]