THE SECOND TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE SECOND TRIAL


[Soon enough, once the final clues have been uncovered, the telltale DING echoes through the Mall. The elevator in the food court has opened once more, and it will not close until all of the remaining Titled have gotten in it. And, as before, a thought comes to them, the realization that they needed to get on the roof, and get to the bottom of this.

Soon enough, everyone is back on the roof, and they will find that their platform arrangement has changed to reflect those who had died since last week. The podiums of Dio, Torri, and Yuuri are each all lowered and covered with white cloths. Otherwise, everyone else's platforms also have food and drinks, just like last week.

It's probably still not much comfort, especially with what everyone knows must happen. They must look at the evidence they have gathered, and once more, they will have to figure out the truth, putting their lives on the line to do so. Hopefully, their luck will hold.

So, get ready.

The trial for the murders of Torri Feiji, The Bliss, and Yuuri Katsuki, The Future, has begun.]

Comments

[scienceofmagic]

[ Croix Meridies doesn't believe in miracles.

She remembers a time when she was young, when her eyes still had the light of dreams still in them and the stars could grant wishes. Things were simpler then. Everything had its place. Everything made sense. People stayed in the roles they were handed and people like her were heroes by birth while people like Chariot were tagalongs who supported them. Miracles were brought about, the balance once skewed would be restored, everything would go back to normal. Witches did their magic, people with no magic depended on witches, everything ran in cycles.

But miracles don't happen.

A boy isn't saved just because his friends chase after him, and instead dies in agony while his blood splatters everywhere for those who are only helpless to see as they can only watch. People like Croix aren't heroes. They can only watch as this grim reminder plants her firmly in reality. She thinks, for a moment, rather numbly, that Kurama and Akira are fools. They were never going to change anything. This was always going to happen. So why even bother? She'd learned long ago that fighting fate, chasing miracles, doesn't get you anywhere or anything but misery.

Croix turns and leaves, her emotionless expression not once falling.

She won't be going to the afterparty. ]

[lifecoach]

[LC somehow seems unsurprised by this.]

Oh, hey! That's fine, just like, don't track any blood k? I don't want to worry them any more...

[But she will wait to deliver them to buffcat's strong arms then?? Incredible.]

[beguiledcard]

[ A growl of frustration slips out, but... fades into something softer. ]

You think... I don't know that!?

[ He releases a quiet laugh -- it's bordering on bitter. But he isn't moving his head off of Karma's shoulder. ]

Love... really is blind...

[beguiledcard]

[ He attempts to smile... but it only falters.

It's with that, he's sliding everything into his pockets...

Then he's kiiind of roughly snatching Goro into a kiss. It might be... a tad bit desperate, and there might be more angry tears trying to escape, but...

... fuck it.

No chance for regrets... even if--

--no...

... he isn't going to let himself think that way. ]

[beguiledcard]

[ He's tightly closing his eyes...

The absolute worst part?

He knows what Goro's capable of, and yet he'd learned it all... after--...

... but no. He's not going to believe it. ]

[beguiledcard]

................

[ ... This isn't funny. ]

[foolishjustice]

[The only reason he hadn't already kissed Akira was his own anxiety in the wake of his confession. He folds the switchblade again so he can safely wrap his arms around his boyfriend one last time. The kiss he returns is passionate, with an edge of his own desperation. If this is going to be their last kiss, he's going to make sure it carries the full weight of his feelings behind it.]

[theirmagic]

Lyonne! Lyonne! Lyonne!

[ It doesn't matter how many times she repeats the words. The Shiny Rod isn't in her hands and it never will be again. She doesn't even have her wand. All she can do is watch as the cat-like creatures tear Akechi apart. She can't heal him. She can't fix this. But she wants, so badly, to do nothing but that. Her hands grip the podium as much as she can do such a thing, tears roll down her face, and she keeps screaming the sixth word, over and over and over.

Her voice goes hoarse.

Goro Akechi is dead. One of the people that mattered to her is dead again and she couldn't do anything to save him. She's a useless waste of a space and a useless terrible person and god, how is she ever going to face Atsuko after all of this?

When the door finally opens, Ursula stumbles through it. She... she needs to be alone, for a bit. Since Kurama and Akira are okay, at least she can go break down in some amount of safety. ]

[theirmagic]

[ She falls silent, staring at the floor. ]

[steelmagnolias]

[ Also meanwhile, back in the tubes, Ren forms an idea.

He's going to take out his phone and set the date to 9/9/17 at 1:45 AM.

Anything of note if he takes a picture? ]

[strangerpeople]

[Yes.

Everyone is dead inside the cylinder. Save for two individuals who stand on the outside, utterly unharmed.

One is a normal human, a blank expression of numbness and shock on her face at what she is looking at. Her dark brown hair is tossled by wind.

The second is a very tall blue woman, with tears in her eyes, a smile on her face, and a glowing pink light hovering over her cupped hands.

None of these people are familiar to Ren (though upon further comparison, one of the deceased is the robed man from the photo prize last week.)

He can guess what happened.]

[steelmagnolias]

[ well, shit.

He's going to stare at it for a moment, but in the face of this riot, there's a lot of other shit going on. ]