Temporary

RPGC #18: Adventure Calls - Prompt and Entries

Nomen - 3369 Words

My name is. Or my name isn’t. A jumbled mess of other across a blue and cracked screen, like spider webs. It didn't say much. Just my name. Though it didn’t say that either. I can’t read what it says; I can’t pronounce it either. They didn’t teach me how to read weird symbols and corruption. Corruption. Files and text that can’t be observed, or opened. My name cannot be opened. Do I not have a name? They call me many things. Nothing sounded like a name, as much as I tried to listen to them. What is a name? A symbol, of status, of power, of representation. It is belonging. I don’t belong anywhere.

I try and write, but it is hard. The way the pen moves doesn’t make sense with the letters I need to write. My name I need to write. How can I write my name when the pen doesn’t move? Try and move and try and move. This is a book, a book I found in a house, a house without walls or ceilings, and without chairs or tables or computer screens to display ruined, corrupted corruption or names. The corrupted corruption of corrupted names on corrupted screens corrupting names. The pen moves but when it moves paper corrupts. Ink corrupts. Black and fluid, then dry and corrupt. I corrupt.

My name isn’t something you say. You write it down. It is letters and numbers. One and two and three and five. Four? I saw that symbol in reports, the squigly with the dot. When they ask questions. Can it corrupt devices? Does it react to water? Sound? Lots of reports, about me. My name. I want to find my name. I took the reports. Know the reports. Will help me find my name. I need a name. How do you talk to people without a name? They need your name. Names go first in sentence. Sentences? Go first in sentences.

So I am doing what the reports do. In the book. The book I use. Took. Found. Am. The book I am. Or were. With the pen. Writing the words. Then when I find my name I can put my name on the reports like the reports with my name. Because my name isn’t my name I can’t use my name on the reports for the reports on my name because the name isn’t my name. And I can name it, with my name. I have more books, but the other books have names. And more reports.

The glow went away before. There is a report that says the glow in the blue is called “Sun”. Sun goes when the day goes, so the reports end when Sun goes. This will be the last report of this Sun, then I will start anew next Sun. Cannot see well when Sun is gone. Moon is there but Sun is gone. The glow helps me write the reports about the Sun. So this is report one.

~

The sun brought the glow back and now I can report again. There is lots to report this Sun. I left the house with no ceilings or walls for the Sun and saw dusty. Like sand. Fine particles. Of stuff. Like dust. The landscape is of dust and sand and fine particle. Sun is very glow and hot, so hard to stand in dust because it is hot also. So I took back to the house, but without the ceiling the Sun got me. I had to keep moving then or the Sun would continue to get me. Like the game of Tag. But I can never get the Sun.

When playing I saw more houses, but they had ceilings and walls and doors. Some had chairs. They let me take inside so the Sun couldn’t get me. Many things were inside, like uncorrupted screens and boxes and chairs. Lots of other houses were there too, so I could take and not get got by the Sun. One of the houses had bones in them, but they looked like the nameless so I left them alone.

Another house had a people inside. The people wasn’t happy. It had a big thing and tried to get me like the Sun so I left them like the bones. I was happy to find a people on my second Sun, but now I am not sure. The Sun seems nice although hot, so why can’t people by like the Sun? I thought the people would be more Sun than Sun. One report said about people contact and warmth. Emotion. Warm but not hot, like the sun but not like the sun because warm. They wanted to play tag I think but you can’t use big things for Tag. Those aren’t the scripts Sun and I use. What are you it said and I said I don’t know I don’t have name. Maybe having a name is very important to people?

There was also a water but Sun was leaving again. Harder to report but the water was nice and water. I can get water. I feel water. Odd things floated in the water, but they must have been being watered so I didn’t ask them why they were floating. The water had a colour too, but not the blue like the Sun’s home. A weird red. Like blood. Like blood. Blood from the animals. Nameless animals that bled and didn’t give me my name.

~

Of course! I didn’t put down the name! There is a facility to the West. The report told me that Sun goes to sleep in the sky, and that that is West so I follow Sun. I hope it doesn’t mind. I might finally be able to get Sun back and win Tag. But it will be hard, because Sun is very hot. The report says Sun is so hot, nothing could get near it. It explains why they are so good at Tag.

Today I found a trees. But not just one trees, there were many. Since trees are made of wood I could call this a wood of trees. Like a flock of birds. The wood flocking together like a flock of birds flocking together in Sun’s house called sky. Flocking and flocking and flying like a flock. But I thought the trees were meant to have leaves on them, on the long thin parts. There were no leaves. No grass either. Not anywhere. Without the leaves the wood is like a house. The house I found. The house with no ceiling. The animals in the wood call the wood their home. Maybe that is why they are gone. Because they have no ceiling, and Sun beats them at Tag.

The wood also made me think of the bones. But they wood has a name, and the trees have a name. The bones had no name, so I didn’t explore them, but since the wood has a name it could help me find my name. Or I thought so. I spent the entire Sun in the wood but I didn’t know my name. Even the dust bugs didn’t know my name. There were lots of dust bugs in the dusty wood. Woody dust, dusty wood, the wood of dust without leaves. Was the dust leaves? Was the ceiling a floor? Right-side upside down. Spin spin in the dusty wood.

But Sun has gone to sleep, and it is cold now without anyone to play Tag with. So I end my report.

~

I left the wood before Sun awoke so I could look around more. I found a big place with lots of houses to explore, but there was a big wall around it so I couldn’t get in. I spent so long trying to go around it that when I reached the door Sun had awoken. I tried to knock on the door but someone yelled at me from on top of the wall. What the fuck are you. They said that, but I don’t know what a fuck is. It doesn’t sound like a name, so I must not be a fuck. I wonder if they once knew a fuck and mistook me for them?

The houses were very pretty, though. They didn’t have doors or windows but they had lots of other stuff, like more people and things to eat. Also they had more of those weird things the people from before tried to use on me. I didn’t know what they were, but they seemed scary so I ate them. They didn’t taste good. I don’t think they had names, so it didn’t help me, but I ate them anyway. I ate a lot of them. There were other things that had names, so I ate those. I think if I eat more I might find my name.

So I tried eating one of the reports I had. It was called experiment number zero zero two four one candidate four seven two see explosion test. Even though I ate it I didn’t learn my name. But I looked at it and I know what a explosion is. A? Or an? The reports say both and I don’t know which is right. Maybe both are right. But an explosion is a big thing. Apparently the report was immune to explosions. The report was very lucky, since explosions sound like something really bad. Bad. Not nice. A not nice explosion. I should avoid explosions, they might be mean to me.

Sun was already going down when I left the houses and the wall. The people inside were very kind, but didn’t help me learn my name. I tried very hard but nothing helped, so I left. Sun is getting tired a lot quicker than they used to I think. They go to sleep much sooner than before so I wonder if maybe they are sick. Sick with tired so they get more sick. Maybe I keep Sun up too much and make them do too much during Sun. We should play less Tag. Sun might get more sleep that way.

~

Today is very dusty. I keep going West where the sun sleeps but there is always more dust, just more dust. I can’t tell if this is supposed to be the case or not. It’s like the dust just keeps on going and never stops, and never will stop, because it can’t; it is just a far reaching expanse of nothing. It might not even have a name. If that is true then we are the same - we don’t belong.

The dust actually makes me feel more at home. I know homes are houses and houses usually have ceilings and walls, unless you are the dusty wood, but still, I feel I share something in common with the dust. There is just nothing. Nothing at all. I learnt today that I don’t need water to keep going. Even though it is very hot and the sun insists of playing Tag all the time, I don’t need to drink to keep going. That means I can keep searching for my name without fear!

That said, I do have to eat. That I am aware of. I haven’t been able to eat much today, though, since there is very little edible in the dust. I am very hungry. Perhaps I should have saved some of the food from before for today, but the small bugs are enough at least for a little while. When I finally get out of the dust I’ll have to find something more substantial to eat. Substantial… substantial like the animals in the cages…

~

There’s something wrong. I can’t write proerpyl properly. My hadn hand isn’t moving the way it should and I can’t write the words very well. I need please help to find something proper to eat soon, I think… My body is starting to feel slow and heavy and my know isn’t fucntoning functioning. I am making so many mistakes this Sun… What is hapening happening to me?

~

I didn’t report for a whole Sun! I can’t believe I didn’t do something so important! I think I finally made it out of the dust, but now I don’t know where I am. There are lots of hills, and also lots of houses for me to look at it. Most have ceilings and walls but not all of them do, which is sad, because that means they aren’t houses. Or are they? The dusty wood was a house, and it had no ceiling or walls… maybe you don’t need them to be a house?

But I looked around them anyway! I also found lots of things to eat, lots of animals to eat. I think it’s okay to eat the animals, because that’s what they said. They said it was okay to eat them, and the animals told me to eat them as well so it’s okay. I cleaned everything up too so that the houses didn’t get dirty.

There was a lot of stuff for me to look at here. Lots of chairs and tables and uncorrupted screens. But there was a lot of corrupted stuff too, like corrupted water and corrupted plants and corrupted and nameless bones. Lots of bones. I made it a rule not to play Tag with the bones, but Sun doesn’t listen to that rule. He plays with them anyway, which is rude but they don’t seem to mind so I won’t interrupt.

How far West I am I don’t know, but I think I’m getting close to my name. I get this feeling sometimes when I’m moving that my name is really close, but I just can’t see it. I hope the place the reports talked about is nearby… I’m getting really tired of moving about all over the place. Playing Tag with Sun is getting boring too, but I would never admit that to him. Everything looks the same wherever I go - more dust, more houses, more peoples. But the peoples never talk to me. Do I need to do something for them to like me? Do I need help me please to be more friendly?

~

You’re not going to believe what I saw today, report! I don’t know what it was but it was so cool! I came over a hill and saw these houses, but when I looked closer all the people that were in the houses were running away. So I thought Why are they running away, and why would they abandon their houses like that. The air felt really strange, all tingly like the lightning they used on me.

I heard someone shout something, too. Silence! They shouted Silence! Maybe it has a name? I wish I could have asked how it got its name, but I never got the chance. While I was watching the houses this really loud boom appeared, and one of the houses just fell down. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing though, because the house fell down, but there was another house in its place when it fell!

But then, when I was about to turn away, there was another boom and that house fell down too! Except it didn’t fall down, it broke. Like, it split open. The air looked like it was tearing, like a piece of cloth, and from within the crack spilled out this huge wave of energy. It was writing and crushing everything it touched, destroying all the houses. Part of me felt a little sad, but another part of me felt like a monster I was really happy because it was so cool.

I don’t know what the Silence is, but I would like to meet it again. By the time the tear had closed all the houses were gone and there was just nothing. Nothing at all. Everything was silent until some people came back. Maybe that’s why it is called that? But I went to talk to the people. They weren’t very helpful, but they gave me some food, which was nice of them.

You killed them.

~

Something strange is going on. I was reading back through my reports, and there were some strange words in them. I know I didn’t write them. Things like You killed them. I haven’t killed anyone. I don’t understand the word: killed. I think somebody has been writing in my report while I’m asleep, but I can’t tell. I haven’t noticed anyone following me so far…

In other news, I think I’m getting very close. I was making my way along a long, winding, asphalt road, covered in cracks and hot from the sun. The walk was long, but I’m making decent progress, much better than anything of the previous days I have journeyed. I just can’t help but wonder what this facility will look like, or where it will be located. A sign on the road said “Ersatz Labs Newton Facility”.

Ersatz Laboratories. Their name is on my reports. Their name is everywhere, I think. I keep seeing it but I don’t know what it means, not really. They’re some kind of omnipresent organisation. Everywhere I look and turn, their hallmarks are there. Their logos are there. On weapons and food and buildings… it’s strange, but I get the feeling they are watching me, even when I am alone, in the middle of nowhere, or in a dusty wood or a desert.

Somehow they are important. They have done things, and they know who I am. They know my name. So I need to find this facility and make them tell me my name. How? Well, I’ll ask nicely. Like you did with everyone else? Everyone else? Everyone I have met thus far has been very nice. They have given me advice and food, so it is only natural that I should be nice back to them. Bullshit.

~

This cannot be right… I am here. This is the lab. The facility. This is where my name should be, and yet… Nothing is here? There is nothing. Nothing at all. Everything is… is gone. Only a sign remains. “Ersatz Laboratories”. Impossible. Impossible. There’s no way! Maybe they heard you were coming and made like Silence. Made Like Silence? What does that mean? Erase all traces you were in a place and get the fuck out of dodge. Get out of dodge…

That’s right… what if that thing had come here!? The Silence?! What if it destroyed everything? What if… what if it destroyed my name..? What do I do then? How do I get my name?! What was the point of this journey? Why don’t you just name yourself? What? Name myself? Yeah, just give yourself a name. How about “Cunt”? I think it suits you well, Cunt. That isn’t a nice thing to say… You shouldn’t insult people like that, you know, especially ones who haven’t done anything to you.

Hah, people? Is that what you think you are, a person? Don’t make me laugh! I am a person! I am a real person, who is friends with all the other people! I just… I just don’t know my name. You don’t need a name to be a person. Exactly! So you can’t say I’m not a You’re not a person, you’re a MONSTER! I am not! You killed everyone!

You’re wrong. You’re wrong you’re wrong you’re wrong you’re wrong! I didn’t kill anyone! Stop saying things like that! I am Nomen and I am a person! Nomem? No...men… Nomen. Is that my name? Nomen… I don’t know… It sounds right, but at the same time wrong. I don’t understand… why isn’t my name here? I was meant to find my name here, so where is it? You found a name here. Nomen, right? Just call yourself that. Nomen… Yes…

I suppose that will do.

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

~ Forbidden Fruit ~

Faith listened to everyone's talks, and their theories and the like, but she had to admit that, deep down, she was sad. Lucy hadn't just brushed aside her idea, she had made an off hand and passive aggressive comment towards her! To Faith, of all people! To one who holds the right to a Throne of Gods! Of course, she could understand where the lack of understanding on the girls part may have come from - a person with the talent Infinite Prodigy might have been used to having things go her way at all times, and complimented from all angles, but this time, Faith would be the one to win what little battle she wished to incur.

"I mean, of course Mercy was infected. It's kinda obvious if you think about it, and also the most logical." she looked around, part tired, part happy, but also part sad, her face betraying something of a sombre tone, "But alas, my fellows, I believe I have made a mistake that hath led us down the wrong road." she drummed her fingers on the table, and the pages of her Tome, "We know that Mercy got the book from Felix now, and that there is a lot of discrepancy with when her bandage was applied. Buuuuuut, I said Litonix couldn't be applied." she frowned, then gave a small smile, "Yeah I was totally wrong about that~!"

Faith stood, silent for a moment, to let people take the idea in, then continued.
"I said you couldn't have used the fast acting poison at the party because you would probably end up getting everyone killed, right? But everybody seems to say the puncture wound Mercy had came after 4pm, so Mundinol can't have been used. If Mercy really did poison herself, the fact of the matter changes - she could totally have given herself Litonix during the concert, or the party, or whenever, really!" her gaze then drifted to Bliss, "Daimyon's right, you bounced on us cause you weren't feeling well. If you went and saw Mercy after 4:30pm the question falls to you: did she have that bandage on? Cause if she didn't... the murder weapon may have been Litonix after all~!"

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

~ Masking the Truth ~

This was far from Faith's first rodeo, but something didn't quite add up. The poison had to be applied between 3pm and 4pm... But from her understanding of the timeline, the chronology of the events during that time, it should have been physically impossible. That was, provided her timeline was even correct, but with all the alibis that had been given, and no one calling anyone else out for lying, there was nothing to say it was wrong.

"If you're all telling the truth, that should make the timeline something like this then, right?

Mercy arrived the pharmacy prior to 3pm
Max entered at 3pm
Ice and Alice entered just after 3pm
Max left shortly after Ice and Alice arrived, before Caora showed up.
Caora entered sometime between 3 and 3:30pm.
Ice left at 3:30pm, presumably with Alice in tow.
Caora left sometime after 3:30pm.
Jezebel and Zachary entered at the same time Caora left.
Braden entered the pharmacy at some time before 4pm, at the same time as Jezebel and Zachary were leaving,
Calvin entered at 4pm, and saw that Braden was still there."

She took a second to think after speaking, and looked around the room, and no one in particular, before settling her eyes upon a certain someone.
"Hey Maxxyyyyyyy~! Y'know how you went to look for Mercy at 3? Did you go straight to the Pharmacy and find her there, or did the two of you run into each other while you were looking?"

"I found her near the pharmacy." Max stated with something on his mind. "But I don't actually know what she was doing prior to that."

"Near?" Faith placed a hand to her chin for a short moment, before pulling out her Tome and flipping it open, "So you mean she wasn't in the Pharmacy when you arrived?"

"As in, right in front of it. Come on Faith, you're dwelling on these trivial details." max folded his arms in annoyance before continuing. "Have you even considered that the dosage of poison could have been altered? Mercy could have been poisoned outside of the 3 to 4 pm range."

"That's impossible." she simply said, reading across a page, making sure to keep the contents of the book hidden from those either side of her, "We already ruled out ingestion as a method of poisoning, aaaaaand Thomas kindly pointed out that the puncture wound could very easily have been where the poison entered her body."

Her gaze then drifted up from the book towards Max, slightly smiling.
"As for why it's impossible, Ice said so himself. He was in the pharmacy with Mercy yet he didn't notice that she was wearing bandages, implying she wasn't between 3 and 3:30. So if we're still going to say an outside party poisoned her, it can only have been Braden, Calvin, Caora, Jez or Zach~!"

"Yes well I don't recall any of them stating that Mercy was wearing a bandage. If that can be cleared up, then I agree with you. But until we know for sure, it's a possibility that Mercy was poisoned after 4 pm."

"Anything else to add?"

Perhaps it was the nerves of the case, or simply the fact that Faith had herself under the impression that she was without a doubt correct, but even despite that point, she kept what small a smile she could observe.
"Anything else to add? Hmmmmmm..." she placed the tip of her index finger to her lip, looked off towards Monokuma, then, almost as quickly as she had zoned out, pointed the finger directly at Max.

"So maybe she was poisoned after 4pm!" she gave him a warm smile, then closed her book, "Of course it's not like when she bandaged herself matters, since there's only really one person who could have poisoned her." her gaze drifted over Thomas, and then Daimyon in turn, and then to Lucy, "Daimyon's so right, the Mask is proooooooobably pretty important. After all, Mercy would have sought to cure herself if she knew she was poisoned."

She couldn't exactly prove the theory, but it made some sense, that much she knew.
"She obviously knew about the cut to have the foresight to bandage it. Looking at the time periods of 3pm and 4pm aren't really gonna help us anymore..." she drummed her fingers lightly against the podium before her, "Since there are only three people who could have poisoned Mercy in that time, after all. Braden, Calvin... and herself." her smile somewhat dissipated, "So what the killer really needed was a time when they could infect Mercy with the Horseman Virus~! Uuuuuunless someone wants to own up to being infected~?"

Max let out a short laugh; Faith's theory was out there, but it somehow made sense, the cop couldn't help but agree with the matchmaker. However, his laugh dissipated in an instant as the implications took root in his mind.

"You're implying that Mercy poisoned herself because she was infected by the horseman virus and it made her open to the suggestion. If you're right...this blackened..." Max trailed off into space for a bit before snapping back. "But that complicates this trial. It would mean that Mercy killed herself."

Faith placed the Tome gently onto the podium, letting her hand rest atop its cover as Max took in her theory. At the same time, with her free hand, she pulled from her skirt her Handbook, and brought up the rules.
"Technically, that would be true. After all, Rule 7 states that 'anyone who kills a fellow patient and becomes "blackened" will be cured...'" in a similar motion, she placed the Handbook on top of the book as well.

"So I suppose that raises a very big question, Doc. If a person infected with the Virus kills someone, who is considered the Blackened? The infected party... or the person who infected them~?"

Danganronpa Alternate: Apologies to Hope

~ Treason ~

It took Lilly a bit to ponder that question. She couldn't quite tell how many people might have known her, and her talent. It wasn't something she went around bragging about, at the very least, and typing out "Lilly Hart Ultimate Hacker" was way too time consuming a process for everyday speech. Sure, she could add it to a list of otherwise necessary terms pre-programmed for ease of use, but it still didn't seem like a particularly useful expenditure of time.

So instead of answering the question, she merely skipped along beside Davis to the Amphitheatre, taking in the cool air and breeze that, despite her aversion, left her feeling more refreshed than she had been in a long time. She would need some time to devise an answer to the question, after all, and what better way to do so than bask in the sunlight of wherever-they-were? That was another question she needed to get around to answering! - where were they all?

Lilly made sure to find herself within somewhat familiar company when choosing a place to sit, seating herself a short distance away from Davis, and the creepy lady... thing. Whoever she was, she couldn't recognise, but something about her was weird, even weirder than the Other One! Whoever the Other One was too. She'd have to find a better way of remembering everyone's names...

It didn't take long for the Amphitheatre to will with a variety of other people, seemingly of similar ages if not the same age as herself and the band of people she had been with since the beginning. Whoever had gathered them there must have gone to a considerable amount of effort to do so. Though Lilly didn't remember signing a consent form for a field trip. Maybe it was a surprise training exercise or something? If they were all Ultimates, it may have been something devised by Hopes Peak!

Or that was something of the vain hope she held, until Monokuma arrived, and Lilly couldn't help but smile to herself. The black and white colour scheme was a tad odd, and the glaring red eye wasn't her first choice for design, but even still! The cuddly toy was cute, and it could move on its own! An autonomous toy like that must have cost a lot, to be even able to replicate human speech and observe such fluid movements...

She continued to stare at it, even as it handed out the PDA's and announced the rules for the supposed "Killing Game", not that that was of any particular note to Lilly. She had other things to think about. Like petting the teddy bear! Her hand raised to propose the idea, until Davis rudely interrupted and she quickly brought her hand back down. Now wasn't the time for discussing rules! Nobody cared! Fluffy!

Beardie's exposition tapered off, and Lilly once again reached down to pull up her auto-translator. This time for sure she would get the fluff she deserved! Her free hand reached upwards to the sky, and her right hand dutifully tapped away at the screen that would bring about her true salvation! She smiled, primarily to herself, lost in energetic and rapturous thoughts, but also to Rosetta, who knew just how skilled Lilly's petting truly was.

Except she wasn't smiling at Rosetta. Instead she was simply staring at her skirt, smiling like weirdo - one even weirder than the blue haired girl. Something was wrong, and off, and terribly different. It was so wrong, the air permeated foul energy. A despicable crime had been committed, and none would escape righteous fury if it meant bringing about justice.

The hand that once tickled the blue of the sky shot down to grip her PDA, bringing up the list of participants in Monokuma's so called "Killing Game". Lilly had no such care for those trifles, nor the people within it. Except one. One boy. A child of evil, born of darkness, rotten to his very core. As quickly as she laid eyes upon his stark features, she desperately looked around the Amphitheatre for him.

And her eyes welled with tears, for her search bore no fruit. Nowhere to be found was her quarry. The boy who had stolen Rosetta! How had she not seen it coming?! How could she have been so stupid as to let him lay a finger on her treasure?! The creature would know the fury of God by the time she was done, that much she could promise. A tear rolled forth from her violet eyes in sadness, and her cheeks and nose grew into something of a pink.

Thus she marked the boy for death.

And the hunt began.

May God have mercy on his soul.

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

~ Trialling ~

As vain a hope as she could muster, Faith had prayed somewhat that she wouldn't have to sit through another trial. She had already spent too much time within them, and they were starting to take their toll. Standing in a circle, surrounded by friends, discussing the murders of friends... it was taking a toll, and that toll was boredom, and she hated it. How routine they were, how it became second nature within the walls of Axis Mundi.

She hadn't personally known Mercy, but that wasn't to say she disliked her, the two simply never spoke much at all. A few words here and there when planning for that night, helping with the different groups to make plans and traps and such. At least Faith recognised just what role Mercy played within their group, as their sole doctor; she didn't trust Thomas.

Yet still she found herself stood, scrolling along her Handbook, taking in the different clues and their descriptions as they found them: the Monokuma File; a book; a mask; a badge. All seemingly random. Though she had already developed some theories in regards to the masks. Not that she wanted to speak up about them, though. It wasn't her way to start discussions when in trial, simply join in with them.

As she did with Felix.
"Hmmmm, I think not." she rested the Handbook down on the pedestal in front of her, "I can't say much for the Concert, buuuuuut I did put you two on the same table. Pluuuuuuus, I totally saw you two dancing~! There's no way somebody got close enough to poison her."

"Conclusion: the slow acting variant of Litonix, Mundinol. Since you make one out of the other, I'm guessing they've got preeeeeeeetty similar effects." then she turned to Max, "Oh and like Maxxy said, I made everything reeeeaaaaaal secure. The only other way to kill Mercy would be through food or drink, and I mean, poisoning the food would probs kill everyone, and I had Bliss and Cyrus watching the food table, soooooooooo... There's no way it was the fast acting poison~! I mean, that's even if either of the poisons in the book were even used."

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

~ Aleecia ~

As Ice left the party, an uncomfortable feeling dropped to the pit of his stomach. He had seen how Allie’s death had affected the Matchmaker and Ice thought he had seen the lasting effects of it. The way Faith’s smile would waver slightly, the way she held herself. After Aleecia had... given up her life for the other girl, Ice had decided that Faith wouldn’t die, she just couldn’t. He wouldn’t let Aleecia’s life be wasted in vain. And so, the Blood Donor had decided to not only seek Faith out for his trusted metallic companion, but also to figure out what the hell their relationship was... and get her to stop calling him gay!

After a bit of reasoning, Ice headed for the second floor and arrived at Faith’s room. Who know what it would look like, considering what her Infinite was. Taking another breath, Ice fidgeted before giving the door a quick and decisive knock.

"Just give me the book, okay? I've got something I want to put in it, for you to remember! Stop struggling and let me do it!"

What music there had been filtering through the walls of the Patient's Quarters died down after a while, on schedule. Together they had developed a fitting series of events - the planning leading to the concert, then the party, ending soon before the Night of Carnage could even muster the chance to spring into action.

They had made sure on several fronts that the Concert and Party would be safe, could be considered, at the time, and perhaps any time, the safest place within the entire Infinite Killing Game. Every inch scoured, every unwanted exit blocked and every table posited with an appropriate combat equipped member, covering every corner of the room. From an outside view, it perhaps could have appeared a paranoid mind had developed the system by which the Concert would be performed under. Full body checks, the quarantine of any and all unwanted and potentially dangerous implements, effectively round the clock surveillance of the food bar by the watchful eyes of Cyrus and Bliss.

Faith wouldn't agree. Faith wasn't one to cut corners when it came to the enjoyment nor the safety of her guests. Faith had spirited herself away to her room. The violin and the piano permeated through cold, matte, tiled walls and wooden cabinets stocked of varying and assorted "components", vibrating liquids in their glassy shells until it grew quiet. It was scheduled to start up again soon after, but still, it punctuated a point on Faith's internal timeline, her room lacking the basics of a clock.

She had remained behind for a short while after the commencing of the Concert simply to observe what Krista had properly planned. Not everything was laid bare to the committee behind it. The poem was seldom shared, and her revelation of secrecy certainly wasn't broadcast prior to their commencement. Faith had never intended to stay in the first place, didn't wish to stick around to watch people galavant and jaunt and dance upon the space. Secrecy strengthened that. Reminded her of her own secrecy.

"There, on the first page. Well... the back of the front cover. I-I dunno what it's called, but it's there! Hmm? What'dya mean why? You take that book with you all the time! I want you to have something to remember me whenever you go off on trips to meet clients, or head to Axis Mundi, kay~?"

The music began again. It began again, vibrating the glasses much the same as it had before. Her room was so close the the event, she almost regretted isolating herself there. The distance between them and her felt so miniscule, what purpose she had sought in solitude evaporated in violin renditions of cheerful melodies. It marked an hour. Or just less.

Through music she could here footsteps, the proximity between her bed and the door voiding the encompassing beauty of strings. One. Two. Three. Three steps of footsteps, exiting their carefully planned event. That certain paranoid mind made thoughts visible. It had checked for weapons and blocked exits. It hadn't thought of insider squabbles. Had people fought, forcing retreats from guests? Did they not find the event to their pleasing? She couldn't check, but she could imagine.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Faith looked towards the door. Trained it in her sight. Her knuckles tightened white clutching against the Tome, and with it pressed into her chest, she stood from the bed she found herself laying upon, slinking across tiled hospital floors to open the door upon her caller. Why had another person left the Party? What possible reason could they have had to venture from the festivities? So she opened the door.

"O-oh, Ice... hello." disheveled might not have appeared far from the truth, despite the lack of obvious mismanagement in her clothing nor countenance. It felt more, though, as something eminently… Faith, that once may have beaconed from her smile, a champion to eccentric ways, was distinctly lacking. ”Can I help you?”

Ice knew he was taking too much time and that he would take a lot longer. He needed to go after Alice for both his and her sake, but... This was the perfect opportunity for him to have a chance to talk to Faith in private, away from prying eyes. But when the door opened and Faith came out, Ice couldn’t help but again want to make an excuse and leave again. His own insecurities were pressing down on his chest, trying to avoid the situation and reality, but Ice had never been able to let things lie either.

A sigh slipped out of throat and he rubbed the back of his head as he contemplated how to go about this, really, Ice had no clue. He glanced at Faith’s disheveled look again and awkwardly mumbled, “May I come in? I wish to go over some... Sensitive topics.”

Hopefully this wouldn’t end as badly as table three had, Ice hadn’t jinxed it, had he?

She tilted her head, gazing at and past and through Ice as she did so. Her eyes trailed along the corridor, towards the entrance to the Resort. They lingered there for some time.
"Yeah... sure." her body turned in one motion, retreating back into the den she had so created away from prying eyes.

The door remained open as she did so, allowing Ice's entry. Faith didn't take any notice of him as she sat back down on the bed, Tome kept tight between two sets of knuckles and her knees, just below her skirt. The room wasn't as tidy as at first glance. Books were strewn haphazardly across the floor; few drawers lay open and tipped out, adding to the clutter; broken vials steeped in fluid bordered the curtain heralding the "bathroom".

"What did you wanna talk about?"

Considering Ice didn’t feel comfortable being here in the first place, he didn’t take a seat on the bed next to her. The Blood Donor took a few steps into the room before closing the door behind him, hoping that everything would go well long enough at the party for this to be over and done with. Ice spied another chair, but it shined with broken glass and that couldn’t have been sanitary. So the Blood Donor chose to just stand there, his right arm gripping onto the left. He scanned the room around him, his grip tightening ever so slightly as he took in the messy room. If he got a chance, the man would definitely give this room a good cleaning, if just for safety’s sake.

“You know how everyone here seems to have a secret, right? Krista just revealed hers... and I’m not exactly an example of an upstanding citizen.” He was already starting to regret not sitting down, but at least Faith was, this wasn’t exactly the conversation one should be having without taking a seat. Also, she looked a little like she would keel over without being grounded. “Actually scratch that, I don’t want to start with this. Well um... you see uh, Allie and I were...” He sighed again, rubbing his temples.

“I wanted to talk to you about... her.”

A sordid topic. Perhaps Faith might have been willing under different circumstances, but talking along such lines, as of the present, weren’t within her best interest. A grave look crossed her face, darkening her eyes as she looked down towards her Tome, regarding it as opposed to Ice’s conversation.

”I heard…” her voice finally cut through what silence could be found within the room: in breaks between songs; when they drowned the upbeat music out to focus on serious issues, ”I heard about you. You had a relation with the previous blackened, and you were the pivotal piece to solving the case."

Her gaze drifted from the Tome, finally releasing it from what seemed a cruelly cold and observant gaze, marked in indifference and apathy. That same gaze locked into Ice's eyes. Measuring him. Considering him.
"So why aren't you at the party, hmm~?" instead of a colder answer, her voice came out lighter and chipper, the staple of her speech - a sing-song attitude in structure, with a giggle soon after, "You're a fighter, y'know. I thought putting you and Alice as the guardians of the primary exit would make for some great security~" she flicked her gaze towards the door, beyond the door, past the hallway to the party through the walls. And returned with something of a pout, "But you had to leeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaveeee! No fair! Is Alice at least still there~?"

Well, she definitely didn’t like that. It wasn’t like this was the best time for the talk either... It hadn’t been long since Aleecia’s... passing. But this was the best opportunity they had to be alone and by god he had to get it out at some point. Again, Ice wanted to leave and let it lie, but he was pretty sure he’d getting an angry ghost on his arse if he did. This wasn’t for him... this was for her.

Ice’s expression went from sympathetic to emotionless, because by god, if that was how Faith was going to play it, he’d need to be the bad cop. If he had to beat from sense into her, he just might, that was what he would do to get Aleecia’s wish across. “Don’t give me that lovey dovey shtick right now Faith, this is serious. She had something she needed to pass on and I thought, and by god I don’t know why I thought that, you could help me with that. She wouldn’t have done that for you if she didn’t think you were worth saving and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t see some of that too.”

What was he even saying? The Blood Donor had never been good at getting what he wanted to say across, he was an action person. What kind of action could even bring someone to understand this.

What had she expected? Smiles formed quickly and disappeared quicker, her's being no exception. What little radiance she mustered evaporated as she gaze switched from away from her guest. A small bag of power on the cabinet to his right. Maybe if she didn't listen she wouldn't have to deal with him and his attitude. Wouldn't have to deal with his sadness. His glaring and searing sadness.

"Hmmmmm~? What does it mean, what does it mean~?"

Expressions were developed for people to convey meanings obscured in riddles. A common place vernacular choice, indecipherable to the outside eye. Only a few people understood that certain expression. The one Faith bore in times of stress and duress and God knew what else; what tumultuous concepts tore at the sky like Leviathans behind the veil. That distinct vernacular. "Ferridium Iodide" written in felt tip across the material of a bag. A blank, apathetic expression, steeped in inhuman, indescribable nothing. Pure and simple absence.

"For Eternity Passes in the Blink of an Eye~"

"Ooooooh, that's so pretty~!

"But isn't it a little sad? What if someone with the Exodus were to blink? - saw all of existence cross their vision? Wouldn't that be sad?"

She guessed so. Maybe. Maybe the Exodus could blink through suffering like a tear. Let it drip down their cheek, to tarnish their shirt or dry on a cold, tiled floor. Like raindrops, and she couldn't help but cry. One tear, then another. Drip drip. The subtle incarnation of all nature's disdain.
"Aeternitas transit in ictu oculi." the tiny tremor of a lip punctuated sadness and beauty, "...she shouldn't have saved me..."

“Wait- Ah crap... Faith...” He stifled a sigh that wanted to slip out. He didn’t want it to sound like he was upset with her, because the sigh was just a reflex to the burning self-loathing the Blood Donor was feeling for himself. As he watched the progression from fake smiles to despair, the cold in his heart throttled his veins and arteries, it wouldn’t surprise him if he had internal bleeding. The grief in the room rebounded on him and left him out of breath as Faith’s first tear fell.

Coming closer, he gently sat down on the bed next to her and hesitantly brought a hand to smooth her hair down, before pulling her closer so that Faith’s head was on his shoulder. “Hey, just because you might not be able to see it, doesn’t mean you aren’t worth it. You’ve got oodles of awesome sauce glued to your back, but it’s in your blind spot, so it’s hard to tell.” He gave a small, embarrassed laugh, “And now I sound like a pansy, but I mean it.”

Things didn't feel right. She couldn't comprehend them properly, compute them in a way that made logical and reasonable sense. Progression from points A and B translated to lost causes, drifting aimlessly across voids and inconsequential spaces, unmarked territories of "unknown". Nocent whispers and rampaging struggles, explaining away the insane with remarkable ease - endless expanses, breached by a lack of understanding.

"For Eternity Passes in the Blink of an Eye..." boundless recollections cramped the voids, multiplying out, around, inside the breaches as cancers, "She really liked the phrase... She would say it was 'Sad and beautiful at the same time'." still sadness pervaded, "I don't get it... why... why save me..? I don't deserve it..."

He wasn’t getting through to her, that was obvious. And while he may have been known as a hardass, Ice wasn’t going to keep trying when she was like this. So instead, he just slipped his fingers through her hair, trying to reassure her with actions since his words hadn’t been able to get through to her. It wasn’t like this problem would go away with this little amount of comforting, but hopefully she could at least know he was there and with her.

“I made a promise, maybe not with words, but just as important. I’m going to protect you, because that’s what she wanted and it’s what I want to do. People may say it’s the right thing to do, but I don’t care about that, I’m just being selfish.” The Blood Donor had told himself he wouldn’t care about anyone else after what he had been through, but everyone at Axis Mundi were worming their way into his heart and melting him inside. “So I’ll be here when you need someone and here when you get sick of me.”

An unfocused beam of light. Faith wasn't one for staring off into space, one for zoning out, but at times it came as natural as breathing, to distance oneself from everything, in the safest refuge she could find.
"I promised them both that I would protect them and I failed. I promised them... I promised her... and I failed... I failed... I promised and I failed..." her voice grew a distant quiet, drifting softly into the tiniest, recursive whisper, over and over, a melancholic chant.

But she knew. Faith knew. Faith knew. She couldn't do this, couldn't waste time, hers or his. More important issues were at hand. She stop talking, formulated a sentence, tried to join words in her head that should have gone together but didn't seem to fit properly.
"You should get back to the party, y'know?" they were slow, a disjointed attempt, more like an experiment of pronunciation that any true statement, "People will wonder where you got to." the next experiment came a light giggle, "They might start rumours~"

Faith couldn't keep sitting down. She didn't want to. Clouds raged and storms thundered, but the rain was cool. And blood spilt, but at least the view was pretty. She stood from the bed, lightly shrugging Ice off to push away, twirling on the spot to face him.
"What was it you wanted to tell me, anyway, hmm~? You said Allie had something to pass on- is it really okay for me to know~?" the right intention, but the playful, childish giggle felt wrong.

He wanted to pull her closer when she started mumbling, but before he could she pushed him away. Now, Ice knew he had to be careful, more so than he had been before. Faith was the person that was supposed to lift people’s spirits and could change the atmosphere immediately, plus she was a mean fighter. While her normal banter was a bit annoying, at the very least it sounded more like the everyday Faith. Ice let his hand fall to his lap as he watched her get up.

“It comes with a bit of a backstory. It wasn’t something she wanted out of the open, but it really helped her to tell me anyway and I need help after we get out. She’s... She was a godmother, you know? It didn’t matter that she had a disability, her brother thought she would be the perfect parent if anything went wrong... But this also has to do with how she went blind in the first place.

“Her parents were the scum of the earth, I couldn’t tell you if they were better or worse than mine. After finding out her talent, they used her as their super luck charm, basically winning everything as long as it was a 1-in-6 chance. When she won anything big, they’d buy her presents like candy or toys, but if nothing came through they would either starve her or berate her. The only one that stayed with her was her big brother, but he was forced to move out of the house once he turned eighteen. When she got a bit older, she started saying she wouldn’t go to anything, but then the starving went on to beating.” His hand clenched as he spat out the last words, his face dark.

“One day her parents decided to go out to a horse race and brought her older brother with them. It was some big shindig or something and they were already talking about going on vacation after they got the big bucks. Seeing her brother gave her the strength she needed to make a difference. Instead of saying no, she chose the wrong horse on purpose. Allie’s parents put everything on that one win and lost it bad, not even having the right amount of money on hand. Her father got so angry that he threw her and bam her head cracked against the wall. When she woke up, she was in the hospital and her parents were gone. Her brother stayed with her and the Infinity Initiative saved her life, but just barely. Something went wrong or other and she ended up going blind because of it.

“Faith, her brother was the only one there for her, but he went and had a kid. He and his family are still out there thinking god knows what and... I’m not sure I can break it to them what happened.”

Faith took in the story quietly, standing afront the bed, watching as Ice recounted the story of Aleecia's life. Her face was hard to read, bearing no smile nor emotional mark to speak of. Instead she just listened. Maybe she thought her usual attitude was inappropriate for the situation, or she understood the gravity of what was being regaled to her. Whatever it was, it made telling the story easier.

As the tale wound down, she opened the Tome, skipping pages, until abruptly stopping, tracing the words or lines with a finger. She nodded.
"I can't believe people like that can exist in the world... I have to remember to give Allie a hug next time I see her!" she smiled, pulled a pen from her jacket, and noted something down, "As for you, your wish is my command~! We'll get out of here for sure, then we'll definitely find her family! I swear it upon my Astral Bond!"

A sigh of relief slipped out from Ice’s lips, he had been really worried he’d have to face this plight alone. Of course, we was still worried about how Faith was acting, but Ice felt like if he brushed that topic again, some scary caw-caw would go down. Instead, he gave a small nod and moved to another subject. “So, besides that, I heard you were the gal to talk to... I wanted to take my weapon back.”

Faith tilted her head to, eyeing Ice somewhat curiously with his brisk and abrupt change in conversation.
”Your weapon, hmm? You mean the little chain thing~? I might know where it is~!” she chirruped, smiling down at him, before flipping open a few pages of her book, ”Buuuuuut, I am of the strict order not to relinquish any weapons until party end! For the safety of the guests, after all; I’m sure you understand~”

“I know that it’s for the good of others, but I didn’t agree to this, I was pretty much forced to go to that blasted party and I’m not even going to be there anymore. Without my left hand working I need some kind of edge and I’m not leaving this room without it, capiche?” Time for plan intimidation and no budging. Ice stood up and gave her an intense stare down, not looking ready to be defeated on any front.

”Awwwwww~” Faith giggled, retrieving a blue felt tip pen from the lining of her outfit, before scribbling down a few what seemed to be words, but could easily have been nonsense squiggles, ”He thinks he’s intimidating~! It’s cute that the sub plays the tough guy, it really is, buuuuuut~” she turned, and from a cabinet behind her, slightly protruding from the shelves, pulled out his chain - spinning it in her hand with odd dexterity, as though she had used something similar to it in the past, ”I’ve got all the power in the world~! I mean, I am a prodigal Magus, after all~”

Before long it seemed she had gotten bored of playing with the chain, and let it coil up in her hand and drop to her side.
”So lets make a deal, kay? You promise to answer questions about Calvin and Alice after the party, and I’ll give you your little chain. Sound like a good trade? Yeah it does~!”

This assault on his masculinity at first made him almost a little scared, before diverging into anger. Sub? him? “First of all, we need to talk about this ‘gay’ thing, because it really is too much. And why would I be the bottom anyway?! And I am a tough guy!” He moved in front of the door and tried to keep his composure, his feet planted, but he couldn’t help fidgeting with nervous energy, he really wasn’t good with dealing with this side of Faith. “And fine... I’ll say what I can.” He held his hand out for his trusty sidekick.

”Trade deal accepted!” she chirped, sliding the chain from her hand before tossing it somewhat haphazardly across the room towards him. ”Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Matthews~!” then she walked up next to him, opened the door, and stepped out into the hallway, ”And anyway, we don’t need to talk about it, y’know? I get you’re uncomfortable - just come find me whenever, tough guy~” in a second she turned and took of somewhat running towards the party venue, waving behind herself as she went, ”Laters~!”

His hand instinctively shot out and caught the chain with a fair amount of dexterity as he watched her leave. He gave an exasperated sigh after sticking his head out the doorway and watching her run for the venue, violin playing loud and clear from the brightly lit area. Shaking his head, he closed her door before checking if it was locked. That Ruella was a piece of work.

~ Hopes End ~

Some time had passed, since Ice and Faith’s meeting, as within that time, though Faith wished she didn’t have to think about it, she held some minor regrets in returning to the festivities, as opposed to remaining in her room. She sat in the desolate remains of Table 3, watching as others danced their evenings away, and Krista played her violin like the last night of her life, and everyone enjoyed themselves, and the world turned slowly, and nothing could hurt anyone, in their sanctuary, their safe haven, wrought in hope.

Her goal from the start had been to create an utterly safe space, a place in which nothing bad could happen. She hadn’t quite met that goal, the empty table at which she sat was testament enough to that, but her primary goal had, at least for the moment, been met: no one was dead. Every measure had been taken to ensure a murder couldn’t happen. That wasn’t to say it was completely secure. She didn’t want to admit it, but there did remain the possibility. There were things she couldn’t account for, there were places she couldn’t blockade, or guard, few and far between, yes, but still, they existed.

And to think, the unthinkable could happen, before her eyes. Her curiosity peaked at Monokuma’s unwelcome arrival. His fascination and obsession with despair had left Faith the impression he would be more than deterred from coming to a party who’s soul directive was hope. And then she blinked, and the world started turning again. Mercy was dying, choking up blood and gripping at her throat. Perhaps she was too calm for the situation. Faith hadn’t thought it would be necessary, but she had scoured the entire area, and come across it. In the first second after reacting, she stood from the table, running her way off to the side, just behind Table 4 where, outside of sight, somewhat hidden, she tore a medkit from within the wall.

Yet too late. She got there too late. Again. The medkit fell from her hands, and she dropped to her knees behind Felix and Max, taking in Mercy’s body. Number ten…
”Yes, Thomas…” his cruel, cold, and off handed approach to addressing the situation left a bad taste in her mouth, but it wasn’t the time for infighting, ”There’s going to be another trial… of course there is… another…” she let out an unsteady breath, looking up from Mercy towards Monokuma, ”Well, Monokuma? Our doctor has pronounced the patient dead. Give us the Monokuma File…”

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

1400 cunts fuck ya'll

Danganronpa Alternate: Apologies to Hope

~ Soaring ~

Lilly couldn't be quite sure what had transpired in those few minutes, but for what it was worth, she wasn't exactly best comfortable with it. So many people appeared, it was hard to keep track of who was who. There was... the Beardie one, the Small One, the Weird One, and the Other One. Did they have names? Probably. But she'd need a bit more than single introductions to memorise them.

What she could surmise, though, was that people had come and gone, and in what seemed like an instant Lilly had, once again, been left to sit on the grass alone. She looked around again to check where people were, and caught her fellows making their way off in another direction - Beardie in the lead, with Shortie and Weirdo in tow. She clutched her rabbit tight. This was no time to be sitting around! There were places to explore, after all!

As quickly as she could, Lilly lifted herself from the ground, brushing down her skirt from dirt as soon as she was at full height. Since they left her, maybe she wasn't welcome in their convoy... Naaaah, there was no way! She'd only known them for a couple of minutes, no way did they dislike her already. Or maybe they did? No, that was the wrong attitude! The Walls would always say, people deserve second chances. Unless they did really bad stuff.

Her legs carried her forward quickly, skipping up along besides Neola and Kara, before surpassing them. She wasn't the athletic type, but skipping was fun. She kept skipping and skipping, eventually meeting pace with Davis, and then even skipping ahead of him too! Truly, skipping was the pinnacle of human based transportation. No silly cars or trains or buses or planes!

Planes? Planes were fun, a lot more so than any of the other kinds of transportation. Lilly round herself breaking into a small run, arms outstretched like a small child pretending to be an aeroplane. Despite the announcement, the situation, the strangers, she appeared to be having plenty of fun - lips turned upwards in a smile as she ran back the way she came, coming to a stop in front of Davis.

From behind her back she pulled out her phone like device, holding it in front of her chest as to get maximum volume.
_{"How do you know me?"} A small pout formed on Lilly's face as the volume came out quiet, muffled by the open space. Her fingers found the small buttons on the side, and she tapped the screen once again.
"How do you know me?" it repeated, as looked up to the man, still smiling.

@BrokenPromise

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

~ Project Happiness ~

After his little talk with Daimyon, Felix was on his way to the next victim, Faith. At first glance it may seem like an odd choice, what with her being new and all; but her infinite title was more than enough to convince Felix that she was just the gal they were missing. And so the free-runner cheerily surveyed the corridors, searching for the newest addition to the crew.

Whether through tiredness, sadness, pain, or any combination of effects, Faith found herself back there. A room of components and a hospital bed. A room of light with no walls. The battle had been hard fought. They had put everything on the line to emerge as victors. In a sense the Nights of Carnage were much like trials themselves - but with less formality. Just doing whatever you can to make sure you and your friends don't make it out dead.

I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry. I failed I'm sorry.

Whether through tiredness, sadness, pain, or any combination of effects, Faith found herself back there. A hallway of despair and death. A tiled room of searing light bearing no hope. She had fought hard to stay asleep, eventually allowing fatigue to take over as unconsciousness, but despite that she woke early - earlier than she would have liked, even before the morning announcement. Some days she was one to stay in bed a laze about. Today wasn't one of those days.

I failed I'm sorry.

Was she right? She scanned the hallway of the Hospital Facility, past the northern wall of the POD room and towards the door of the Morgue. Just doing the same thing over and over. The same shit over and over. The same person over and over. Dying and dying and dying and dying and dying and... "I failed I'm sorry..."

“Hey Faith?” The voice of Felix appeared from behind Faith. As soon as he spotted her, his happy demeanor abruptly switched to nervousness. Why was she just standing there, looking like she’s seeing ghosts. He had to admit that hadn’t really properly talked to Faith before, but this was the first time seeing her like this.

“Are you…-” Felix wanted to reach a hand out to her, but the eeriness stopped him dead in his track. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to recruit Faith, with her looking like that...but then again; she looked like she could really use it. “I need your help with something; something secret.”

A sound behind her drew her attention, away from the hallways, and the light. She tilted her head, and her body along with it, to look at the person addressing her. In her hands, clutched tightly against her chest, was a book - the words "Solomon's Forbidden Tome of Lust" seemingly engraved into the front, in bright, cursive, golden letters. From the words sprouted a tree, spiralling up and out of the leather front, spattered with similarly designed birds and fruits.

The moment she locked eyes with the person, she quickly turned away, raising a hand to her face to wipe away the tears that had been forming but had yet to fall. Despite her seemingly shell shocked state, she quickly spun back around, smiling through a somewhat reddened face.
"O-oh, hi, I-I, uh... didn't hear you coming."

She looked around the hallway, towards the Resort and Patients Quarters of the floor. How long had she been stood there? What was everyone else doing? How many had walked past and seen her like this, but not spoken up out of who knew how many reasons. Despite the question rattling within the tumultuous sea that was her brain, she opened the book, and scanned the page she found herself on.
"Now let's see here, you are... you are... ah, Felix! Infinite Free-runner, huh~?" she flipped the book closed, and approached him, "What's this secret you need my help with, now~?

“Let’s get back to that in a second, alright?” The sudden change in Faith’s mood was jarring. Whatever reason she had to force that smile, it wasn’t healthy for her nor anyone around her. But now there was a burning question in Felix’s mind; what caused her to be like this? perhaps it was simply empathy, or maybe there was a lingering doubt pestering his mind about what truly happened yesterday.

“Why are you smiling? you were in pain just now. Acting brave around me is kinda pointless-” Felix chuckled, before taking a step towards Faith. “I mean, I already saw you.”

Faith merely tilted her head to the side and giggled at the comment. Quickly, she skipped up to face him, placing both her hands and her back behind her back.
"Are you feeling okay? I don't know how long you've been here, but in those with residual Mana capacities the Anti-Magic Field Davis established can have some quite dizzying effects - like hallucinations and delusions, for example~!" she giggled once more, moving her hands in front of her to open and look at the book, "I haven't the capabilities to alleviate the symptoms, so perhaps you'd like to see one of the... Nurses..." her voice trailed off as she spoke, "O-or perhaps we can talk about this spectacular plan you had in mind~! Diverting your brain processes may be the best way to combat the negative side effects, no~?"

“Right, the plan.” Felix acknowledgingly smiled. “So……..” Felix started explaining his plan to Faith, somewhere along the way, forgetting Faith’s initial state. “....And since you’re the infinite Matchmaker...well you get the point.”

Faith listened intently, watching closely as he described the supposed event that would take place. It was true, she could think of many a scenario for the idea in which her talent would come in handy.
”Is that so~? Oooooooh, I can already picture it! This is gonna be so much fun~!” she giggled, then started her way down the corridor, half skipping as she did so, ”All the pretty things we can make, all the people we can ship… Come along, Felix, we have work to do~!” she called out behind her.

The boy stood there for a few seconds after Faith’s call, seemingly in thought, before finally getting in motion. “Hold on a sec! I wanted to drop it but...I can’t shake this feeling that...why were you standing there next to the morgue?”

Faith stopped dead. Instead of skipping away merrily, Felix in tow, to bring about a new age of happiness for the Infinite Killing Game, her legs stopped moving, frozen to the spot. Her head tilted slightly, enough to place Felix in her periphery.
"I... Sh-she..." her voice seemed shaky, but quickly she steeled herself, "I-it doesn't matter..! We vanquished the terrible foe that was Nariko, and gained safe passage to the Third Floor, is all! Oh, oh, I saw on the map that it has an Arts and Crafts store~! Wanna come with me later and pick out some stuff~?" she smiled back, ”In any case, let us go! Plenty of things to busy ourselves with until the time comes, no~?” and with that, she continued along her way.

Felix sighed; Faith wasn’t going to tell him what he wanted to know, but perhaps living in ignorance just a little longer wasn’t a bad thing.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming!”

RPGC #17: Singing in the Rain - Prompt and Entries

Abate

Abate

Sometimes it’s hard not to wonder. Back in Astrya, things were a lot more simple. I always had the mind of a businessman, or so my family had said. You’ll grow up to be rich, successful, everything you ever wanted. Money? Happiness? Keep your head down, stay out of trouble, play things smart… it’ll all be yours, I’m sure. Perhaps they were just optimistic, or maybe they actually could tell the future. Parents have that way about them, I always found; you might not think they understand, but give it time, and you’ll find out that they sure as hell do. They know things better than you ever will.
I suppose in that vein they were right. I found myself within an explosion of wealth. And when I say explosion, I don’t say it lightly - I mean an explosion. Everything I could have ever wanted, you should have seen it. Or maybe you did. Astrya was one of those countries where if you understand what you needed to do, fortune wasn’t that far away. The Luxurious Capital they call it, famed for its vast exports of spice and silk and fruit and… you get the picture. It bled money. They were right after all - I figured out what to do, worked my way into a meagre fortune, bartered my way to a plot of land, and from there… well, in my prime they called me ”The Spice King.” Pretentious, yeah, but that was me. Married my way into a Noble family, and… fuck, it was the life. Everything you could ever want… if only my parents knew just how true it was.
It was the sheltered life. I never thought I’d be able to wield a gun, or shoot straight, or work up the courage to kill. Not that the conscription system cares. See, I ran myself up some debts… got a loan from the government, and couldn’t pay it back. That’s what they do. If you can’t pay, you get drafted into the military for God knows how long. Either you die, or you keep going until you’ve completed whatever arbitrary goal they set based on whatever you owe. Desertion is grounds for execution. It was a shock, going from the feel of wine glasses and a fine ass in your hand to a metal rifle, from polished wood floors to churned and scorched mud, drenched in the stink of human life.
On the other side of the battlefield is Iathen. We used to be allies, but an assassination and coup later… and here we stand, shooting each other to fuck. I’m bedecked in a standard issue military garb - metal helmet, brown clothes and boots. I don’t know anyone here. Making friends was never my strong suit. Even if I wanted to do something else, I have no other notable skills. Apparently I’m a decent shot, who knew. I grip the rifle tightly, already caked in mud and filth, my hands coming to resemble a similar state. The air is acrid with smoke, sweat, and blood. And it’s already the seventh day. I dunno where they store the corpses, but wherever it is, I swear, I can still smell it from here.
I take the initiative and push up the field, rounding a blackened hill riddled with bullet holes and artillery shots. Whether or not I’m acclimated to the sound of explosions nearby is up for debate, but it still stands that I barely notice them any more; just dull thuds in my eardrums as I run through the mud and filth, keeping low as I approach my comrades. Not even two hundred feet in front of us is a line of soldiers, peeking, taking shots periodically, keeping our men at bay. Approaching our line, I hear a shot ring out - one of our guys. I skid up next to him, sliding through the grime, and take a blind shot to force anyone in front of us to duck down.
I don’t even get a chance to say anything. There’s another shot, and I feel his blood spatter against my face, his limp body collapsing backwards into the muck, eyes still open, even in death. If you had asked me, two years ago, “How would you react if you saw someone die?”, I couldn’t have answered you. I wouldn’t know what to say - simply hope I never have to see someone die. I can answer you now, though: I wouldn’t bat an eye. Maybe the tiniest glimpse of sympathy would grace my thoughts, but at this point, I’ve seen too many fall prey to a hail of gunfire. It isn’t worth wasting emotion on anymore. I hate myself for saying it, but even that won't change my mind - I know what I’m saying is true.
One of our men shouts to me, drawing my attention from the coin sized hole burrowed into the soldiers cranium. He nods to me. I nod back. Wordless communication… I’ve grown somewhat accustomed to it now. Five of us in total sit crouched behind a makeshift fortification of dug of mud and sand bags, a kind of forward base as it were. A catch a glimpse of one of the enemies through a hole in the cover, and with my “friends” stand and fight; line the shot up through the iron sights; feel the power as the butt digs into the shoulder; idly recognise the fear in my enemy's eyes moments before a bullet rips through his garb and sends him sprawling backwards into whatever trench or crater he was using as cover. I think that’s my fourth kill now.
Two of our guys fall against the mud in death, and the three of us drop down to avoid any retaliation, though I assume we killed them all. I barely think. At least, I try not to. My eyes meet one of my surviving comrades. There’s fear in them. Looking at them, I see it grow like a cancer, multiply in a dilation of his pupil, as a object lands behind our fortification.
“Grenade!” I hear him shout over my natural filter, keeping out the sounds of explosions. We barely have time to react, scrambling to our feet to jump away. I leap just too late, flinging myself head first into a crater to my right as the explosives goes off. The shrapnel embeds itself in my body.
Maybe seconds pass. I can’t tell. The adrenaline only lasts for so long, dilates the pain for so long. It’s soon replaced by a searing pain, and awful heat. My legs and my back flare with pain, leaking blood despite his palm pressed tightly against it. Every soldier was given basic medical training, but the idea barely even registers in my head, instead replaced with agony and fear. This is it. I’m a dead man. My corpse might not even be recovered, I’ll just be left here to rot, or burnt, or God knows what. I had a feeling I might die at some point. Conscripts didn’t come back unless they were lucky. Either you died, or you never repaid your debt. Come to think of it, either way, you keep going until you die.
“Hang on there, soldier.” a thick, heavy accent permeates my senses, tearing through my fear for just a brief second. I can’t place the voice, nor the accent, but the next second all the fear that had for the shortest of times evaporated return twice fold. This wasn’t luck - this was probably a soldier of Iathen, here to finish me off before they continue their push up our ranks. My vision blurs, but when it returns, I’m greeted by a dark skinned male, crouched over me, rummaging through a pack of supplies. Instinctively I attempt to crawl away, but the pain in my back flares up immensely, leaving me to lie aimlessly, struggling for breath against oncoming death. Despite the summer day, it feels… cold.
From his bag the man turns, drawing with him some tape.
“Keep still, don’t struggle.” he rips off a strip, wraps it around my leg, before approaching me. Only there do I see the medics band around his arm.
“Hah… medic, huh?”
“That’s right, gotta have someone to get you back alive.” I can’t help but laugh. I still can’t place his accent, but with it I can barely take what he says seriously; gallows humour, maybe, but I welcome it, “It looks bad, but trust me - Imma’ get you back safe, okay?”
“Your accent…” ignoring what he says, I can’t help but ask, “...where are you from?” to that, he laughs too.
“Where d’ya think? Vestal - only place get this stupid fuckin’ voice.” I look at him quizzically, as he turns back to his pack.
“Why… why are you here?” Vestal - a war torn state. Their government felt to a religious extremist group, and ever since it’s been the forefront of gruesome conflicts. Some would argue the new government is better than the dictatorship before it, but such arguments debates aren’t common place.
“Tryin’a get my family out of the shithole, that’s what. You get permanent citizenship for military service, including your family.”
“You’re a conscript..? Like me?” I say as he turns back, carrying a small syringe, smiling.
“All the more reason to get you back alive then, eh?” I can’t help but smile back, “This is Morphine, I’m gonna get you back to base - alive.” I nod, “So tell me, Mr. Conscript… what’d you do?”
I hesitate to say anything, as he slides the syringe into my arm. But that smile, and his laugh… I can’t help but find myself in company. If I’m gonna survive, I might as well have a friend.
“Debt… got a loan, couldn’t repay… already been two years…”
“A loan from the government? Musta’ been a noble or something, right?” I nod, slowly, as the drug begins to kick in.
“I fucked it up pretty badly…” I feel his arms on me as he hoists me up, and we start walking.
“So… got anyone waiting for you back at home?”
“Yeah… my wife… and son… Her dad wanted to kick me out of the family, called me a useless cunt despite all I gave them… she refused to let me go… the fuck disowned her…” I catch what looked to be a frown on his face, though I can barely see it. Yet the closer it looks, the more it seems to be a smile.
“Then you have even more reason to get back alive, right? See your wife, your son? No way can I let you die here in that case, eh?” I chuckled, a numb and semi conscious laugh.
“...and you’ve gotta get your family… no dying for you, either.”
“Heh. Yeah, you said it. What’s your name, mate? Wouldn’t mind a friend here?” a friend… wouldn’t that be nice.
“Adam… Cooke…”
“I’m A’dre. ‘S good to meet you, Adam.”
And before I knew it, I was unconscious.