FIRST EXECUTION

[faentasy]

Execution

Regardless of how you spent the day after trial, time ticks forward. Zola’s fate has been sealed, and all that awaits is the execution of her sentence. Come Sunday morning, the familiar sound of a flute reaches your ears, though this time you're not inclined to obey (although those who resist will have a feeling of dread they just can't shake until the end of the day), unless you're one particular blonde. Today the notes of music bring you inside the palace and into the stairwell leading to the upper floors, bars completely gone as if they were never there to begin with. What awaits at the end of the ascent is a white, completely featureless corridor with a single, plain black door at the end. As soon as it's opened, you find yourself in a completely different space.

All you can see around you is yourself and those came to bear witness you, reflections flooding your peripheral vision. This entire space is one giant mirror, from the floors, to the walls, to the ceilings. In the middle of the room stand Zola, no longer confined with vines or any restraints, and Junko with Hamelin directly in between them.

"Welcome, welcome! Now that our audience is here, let's get started shall we? Today's performance has Junko starring as the heroine and Zola as the villain! Put on a proper show for us, will you ladies?"

With a theatrical bow, Hamelin steps out from between them, a shimmer visible as he does, a large magic barrier shining into place. The stage has been set, and now all that remains is to enjoy the play.

Comments

EXECUTION

[faentasy]

POPCORNING

[faentasy]

[ For all your reactionary and shouting at Hamelin needs. ]

[dezolation]

[Zola knew this could only end in a death. Whether it was hers or someone else's...well, she certainly was going to try it to be someone else's, that's for sure.

She didn't really expect any of this, though. When Junko appears into view, she gets tense, already getting her guard up.

There are no weapons in her hands. In fact, most of her weapons were confiscated. Again. That needed to stop happening]

...I thought I'd be facing Hamelin.

[purefuries]

[ Junko's wearing something less...Junko today, not the floor-length gowns she normally sports, so she's being practical about this, at least. In her right hand is a dagger.

She seems eerily nonchalant about all of this. ]

Your assumption was false. I was chosen to be your executioner.

[dezolation]

...alright. I can work with that.

[She slowly raises her hands to the front, arms flexed, getting into position. That definitely is a dagger. Zola's eyes very obviously flicker at it, in her mind evaluating the possibility of breaking Junko's arm and take the dagger for herself. That'd make things so easier.

The nonchalance...Junko really looks nonchalant. Zola seems quite calm as well, although of course she's pretty alert. This is her life at stake, after all]

Give it a try. Be my guest.

[mearry]

"Proper show". As if this were just some play or something.

[ c-ta doesn't really want to be here, but...he's here anyways. it's not like he feels much for zola. ]

[incompletely]

And he'd rather not get his own hands dirty.

[ Junko doesn't seem like she has too many qualms doing this right now, but. Really. ]

[heroicact]

Ah, I wonder if this is really necessary... All these mirrors... are a little much.

[It's halfway to himself, Jack has his hand up to shield his eyes as though from a too-strong sunbeam, but all the same even with his eyes lowered it's impossible not to see the execution. Perhaps it's just a little better than staring into infinity, all the same.

He falls silent after that somewhat soft and somewhat disjointed pronouncement. It's not the best atmosphere for chatter.]

[purefuries]

[ She looks at the dagger she was given and surveys it for a moment. Good, it'll get the job done. ]

I will end this swiftly. You did not give Samidare Asahina this short mercy, but I will extend it to you nonetheless.

[ from her tone it's difficult to tell if she's mocking Zola or just making a badly-timed comment, but she moves immediately, and she moves fast. Junko attempts to grab her by the shoulder, pull her around, and slit her throat as quickly as possible.

Attempts. ]

[mearry]

It's almost like he wants us to hate him.

[biqe]

[ Phil doesn't have any desire to watch this, and he's not the type to get any satisfaction out of this kind of justice... if it can be called that. But he wants to learn as much about this place and situation as he can so that he can help get them all out of it, and that means he can't very well stay in his room the first time this location and process are being revealed to them.

So, he's here.

The mirrors catch him by surprise, and he ends up paying attention more to the structure of the room and arrangement of the mirror pieces than anything. The way these all reflect off of each other, if they were mirrages and not standard mirrors, then something like the Kaleidoscope... hm.

...Well, maybe that's not what he should be focusing on. ]

[hellochildren]

[Hey Jack! Hope you don't mind a small weight landing on your shoulder shortly after you become silent.]

It does seem raser unneetet, for the current situation.

I hope you don't mind my perching here, Herr Vessalius, but I woult prefer not having to fly during the whole thing.

[Because he is not about to miss this from having to sit on the floor.]

[laytorest]

[Yor is here, expression subdued as she watches, hands folded in front of her.]

[dezolation]

[Once Junko says that Zola's expression curls into anger. Oh, she tried. She was going to kill her swiftly, perhaps even cleanly! But then--one misstep. That was all. Everything was done for because of one misstep! Now at death's door, to know she got herself into this mess makes Zola quite upset.

And now here she is. She can't fail. Launching herself forward, she's grabbed and turned around, dagger moving to her throat. Zola doesn't hesitate to put a hand to the blade, pushing back, while the other moves to her hair, grabbing one of the hairclips on it.

With one swift move it comes off her hair and as soon as it does, a blade shaped like a hook pops from it, trying to stab Junko with it, and pushing towards her with her entire body. As soon as she slips free she takes her other hairclip. Once without a weapon, now with two. To hell with the cautious move of trying to take the dagger, she's going to obliterate this woman!]

I'll live...even if it's only for a while longer. I'll live no matter how much blood I have to spill to achieve it!

[heroicact]

[He startles just a little, as surprise shoulder companions seem to be a theme of the weekend -- but checks himself once he hears the rustle of feathers and the heavily accented words coming from by his ear. Also does his best to keep from turning his head and jostling; evidently he's not used to speaking in this fashion, but it's fine.

It's a good distraction.]

Of course not, please do as you will -- it seems many of Hamelin's settings don't quite take into account how varied his guests may be. And... do let me know if you need me to move about, as well.

[While he himself is less interested in having a VIP seat on the whole thing, he's here to accommodate the more academic of their number, or something.]

I can see that he really does not want us to miss any part of this execution, but still...

[sempiternel]

We're putting on a show for someone.

[ She didn't want to come to see what would surely be a mockery of justice. Yet she couldn't stay away, though the sweet sounds of the flute leading them here made her sad. They had sentenced Zola to this fate, even if there hadn't been much choice in the matter. If this is how the story is supposed to go, it would happen to someone else sooner or later.

(It could be her here one day.)

Still, she can't quite look at the fight going on. So instead, she walks around the the edge of the room, tapping at the mirror walls. ]

Is there someone watching us from the other side, you think?

Re: POPCORNING

[crimson_flamel]

[Edelgard watches, her face blank. It should serve as a cautionary tale at least. Rhea is quite fond of those too.

Perhaps it's just a monster trait.]

I suppose it's a good thing that it wasn't someone... less acquainted with death.

[incompletely]

Oh, I don't doubt that he does.

1/2

[purefuries]

[ The sudden retaliation catches Junko off-guard, and she doesn't move out of the way fast enough to not get scratched pretty hard by the hair clip. The hook catches into the fabric of her sleeve, digging into her upper arm.

Junko's grip on her dagger loosens, for a moment. ]

[hellochildren]

Sank you, but I believe this placement is just fine as is.

[Jack is one of the taller people here, so he's probably one of the better people to choose among them.]

The entire sing is qvite odd, I will admit. I have heard of execution chambers having vone-vay mirrors, but this is clearly nosing similar. Zough, I suppose it shoult not be surprising, considering how theatrical our host is.

[purefuries]

[ Fine. If she wants to make her end messy and ignoble, they can do it this way. She flips the dagger over in her hand and tries to use it to rip the hair clip out of Zola's hand. ]

Then meet your end, undignified and disgraceful.

[ideismo]

[Alexei is...well, he's here, though he seems incredibly blank for someone watching people fight to the death. It's surreal, surely, just as this entire area is; just the same, he's watching with literally no visible reaction whatsoever.]

[amortristis]

[ She's here, but by and large she's quietly watching. Regardless of what Zola did, they put her in there, so it's only fair that they're there for it. ]

[dezolation]

[Undignified. Disgraceful. Oh, for some reason they actually hurt a little, which Zola didn't expect. She knew she was getting into some really ugly stuff when she got drafted into the Storm King conspiracy, and everything they taught her helped turn her into the ruthless woman they needed. Yet to hear herself be called undignified and disgraceful bothers her.

Still, handling two weapons against someone who also knows how to fight is hard, especially now that Zola has left aside any pretense of trying to be careful. The dagger does hit her wrist, even though she manages to turn it to try to block it with her bones. The hairclip in that hand slips to her fingertips, but she takes the chance to aim with the other. Come on!

Time to stab it into Junko's arm, while the other hairclip falls to the floor. This injury, even if it's superficial, should make her lose the dagger, she thinks! That will work! Hopefully]

[libirdian]

[ Nageki is here to look at the area and nothing else, so he'll be pointedly examining the reflections in the mirror. Eventually, he'll stop to think for a moment (all while fighting is going on in the background)...before pecking at the mirror.

This is probably a bad decision. ]