EXECUTION II

[faentasy]

Execution

Even with a day of rest, the events of this Friday won't soon be forgotten. The dawn of Sunday might come with an a sense of dread or finality, but time ever moves forward despite what anyone wants.

The notes on the flute that summon you are different this time, a cheerier melody than last. It's likely a slap in the face all things considered, but the call can be ignored, though if you do choose to follow it you'll feel a sense of relief and easing of tension despite your feelings on the manner of executed. A small gift perhaps, for the upcoming proceedings.

C-ta and SQ are already in their own respective bubbles, with Hamelin's handpicked executioners: Rika with C-ta, and Professor Pericles with SQ. The rest of the mirror room remains unchanged when you arrive, though all the shattered mirrors have been repaired.

The price of a wish demands a sacrifice, however unfair it may be.

Comments

EXECUTION: C-ta & Rika

[faentasy]

EXECUTION: SQ & Professor Pericles, CW; suicide for the entire thread

[faentasy]

SPECTATING

[faentasy]

[eternaljune]

[Rika doesn’t care to find herself in the role of an executioner. Seeing the way Zola had turned it into a brawl, Rika figured she’d just end up getting more hurt than whoever she was supposed to kill. Hopefully SQ made this easier—

But it’s not SQ they’re having her kill, is it? Fate’s dice keeps rolling ones for her.]

...

[Because despite it all, or maybe because of it all…Rika Furude doesn’t want to kill C-ta.]

Why...why do I have to be the one to do this…?

[5_1_1]

[ SQ is here as much as anyone can be "here" after everything that's happened. She's pressed up against one of the sides of the magic barrier, as far away as possible as she can be from the other presence in the bubble. She doesn't talk and she doesn't try to get away, she's just staring off to the side as if she can just avoid all of this if she really, really tries hard enough.

She's never wanted to be invisible until now. ]

...

[mearry]

[ unlike the disaster that was c-ta's meltdown on friday, today he looks... calm. it's an act, of course, and his heart is beating painfully in his chest with the looming anxiety over his approaching death, but he won't give anyone the pleasure (or horror) of watching him despair again.

that is, until he spots rika as his executioner. ]

Rika...

[ this is cruel. too cruel. he hates this so much, he'd like to break every mirror in this godforsaken place.

instead. he stands still. ]

It's okay. Come closer.

[ be the senpai she wanted, he tells himself. ]

[crimson_flamel]

[Edelgard shows up, sitting down and watching blankly. It's a matter of pride and principle that she's here to watch those that they've condemned to die. But now, she knows one of them is innocent, so that makes it a bit worse.

She is offering other people tea, though.]

[incompletely]

[ Tenn is, surprisingly, here. Though he'll only stick around for c-ta's execution; SQ's is too much for him to bear. He will gladly take her up on that offer for tea, though, and he takes a cup from her, holding it between his hands. ]

Thank you.

[ ... ] Rika shouldn't have been chosen for this.

[eternaljune]

...

[Rika gulps down the lump in her throat, her hand shaking as she looks at the small knife in her hand.]

I don’t think they’re going to let me get out of it. Who knows what they’d do if I tried to refuse…?

[She takes a few shaky steps towards him.]

Fate must hate us, huh C-ta? How do we keep getting caught in these twisted games? They keep making us dance for their sick entertainment…

[hellochildren]

[The parrot sits on the ground, his face a mask. Perhaps he's still upset about the failure of the trial. Perhaps he's unbothered, just wanting to get this task over and done with as soon as possible. Perhaps there's a reason he was the one in here, rather than most of the others.

Whatever the truth was, it wouldn't be revealed, so long as that poker face of his stayed up.

A glass with what appears to be water sits next to him. He makes no effort to drink from it.]

Frau SQ...may we chat? Before sings become more grim?

[mearry]

That's why you're not going to refuse.

[ because he can't bear to watch someone else die because of him. that...would be too painful. he'd go crazier than he already is.

for now, he distances himself from his emotions, like a director that's leading a rehearsal. ]

It's okay. Tenn said that I was a monster, so you can treat me as one when you...you know. [ he closes his eyes, trying to ignore the shaking of his shoulders. ] But first. I wanna give you advice. About...about Satoko-chan. [ ... ] Is that okay?

also prolly gnosia spoilers for this thread too

[5_1_1]

Y-you want to talk....? I guess, yeah, I guess.

[ She's still not looking at him or in that general vicinity but she isn't ignoring him. SQ really couldn't ignore anyone to be honest, it's just not who she is. It's not in her, to be that way even if it should have been.

That's a funny echo that's been following her the entire week. She shouldn't be here, she shouldn't have gotten voted for. Should, should, should. ]

[eternaljune]

Right...I won’t drag it out.

[Ah. Right, Satoko. The reason she’d trusted him was because of how kind he’d been when she told him about that. It turned out they both had far more troubling them, but...she can’t help it when she nods.]

Yes...what is it?

[crimson_flamel]

I was going to volunteer. I should have. Nothing about this game is fair.

[She can't explain it but she has a strong protective instinct toward Rika. She wishes she could turn that empathy off, it would all be easier to go through with. She hates this. It should have been her to swing the final blow on the boy who isn't the Death Knight. It would have been easier for everyone.]

[biqe]

[ Phil was more hesitant about showing up this week. He does still think he should probably make a rule of attending all of these just to ensure that he doesn't miss some important detail, but... watching an innocent person's unnecessary death like this — one that he'd played a part in along with everyone else — is more than he thinks he might be able to handle.

...But he also doesn't want SQ to have to potentially look out at an empty room and think that no one cared enough to come and bear that guilt, so... he's there again, but looking much less detached than last week now that he's not distracting himself with questions about the mirrors around them. ]

[mearry]

That's fine. We'll make it boring for them.

[ like a long, boring tv marathon at 2 am. ]

I think I know what she's going through. Just a bit.

[ he had always kind of known, but the unwillingness to accept his own faults had made it difficult to look at it objectively. with his faults all hanging out to dry for the world to see, he no longer has the ability to just turn away. ]

She's afraid that you're leaving her behind. If you've been friends for so long, then she probably sees you as like a part of herself...or something like that. And to lose you...it's something as scary as like being told that you're losing an arm or a leg. She might even see it as a betrayal of...of your relationship with her and all the memories she has with you.

[ the same way that a-ya's friendship with b-ko felt like a betrayal to his and c-ta's routine. it had always been just the two of them--why would he need anyone else? why would he want anyone else but him? ]

I know this because...that's how I felt. I think.

[scythegun]

[Yeager considered skipping this and remaining in his room, but ultimately, he wants to see what happens. Two deaths, two different executioners... And perhaps privately, he feels like he needs to see what happens to SQ. Regardless, he's here, expression set in something blank for once.]

[hellochildren]

[There's that feeling in his chest again. Some sort of tugging. A bit of pain in his heart. It's concerning-can birds get heartburn, or something similar? Something he wasn't entirely sure of, he would have to look it up in the archives afterwards.

There were other things to focus on, now.]

I vill be quite clear. This is a situation zat should not have happened. You should be on the ozer side of this barrier, either vatching a murderer be executed, or enjoying yourself somevhere else in our gilted cage.

But, as you can see, zat is unfortunately not the case here.

[heroicact]

[Ah, here they all are again.

Like the winding of the clock tower that felt like a small success this week, like the ticking of the pocketwatch in his fingers (he shouldn't take it out, he won't take it out), round and round and inevitable.

Jack is quiet, and leans against one of the mirrors; doesn't avert his eyes to a mirror this time, but keeps his gaze on C-ta and Rika; the Professor and SQ will dwell in his hearing, though, like a terrible mockery of a countermelody.]

[purefuries]

[ It feels strange to be on the other side of this, now, especially since one of these deaths shouldn't be happening.

Junko sits and watched, brows furrowed, picking at the bandages on her palm. ]

[heroicact]

[He does drift over for a cup, at the very beginning, though it might end up going cold as things go on. It's the principle of the matter.]

I do not know if it is better that we are here, or not. Truthfully.

[5_1_1]

I know... [ Looking down at her feet now. ]

But I shouldn't be here so I guess this is just like....fate working itself out? [ She would laugh at any other time but. ]

I don't mean like...I shouldn't have been kidnapped. I mean...me, SQ.I shouldn't exist. I'm an accident so. Yeah.

[laytorest]

[She's here, hands folded politely in front of her, head tilted down but eyes, nevertheless, on the unfortunate and their executioners.

She'll watch them both through. She owes that much to them.]

[crimson_flamel]

We sentenced them to death.

The least we can do is watch them die.

[mirrite]

[Likewise, Marcus isn't here because he wants to watch. He absolutely doesn't want to see an innocent person dying for something he perceives to be his fault, yet at the same time that's exactly why he feels a certain responsibility to be here. The very least he can do is come and witness it, as much as he doesn't want to see it.

He stays close by Phil's side, hands clenched into fists so tight the leather of his gloves makes an audible squeaking sound. A part of him registers Phil's distress, certainly, but at the moment, he's not sure he's capable of being comforting, not when he himself feels like a wound coil about to snap.

Instead, he just moves a little closer until his shoulder is brushing up against Phil's, a silent confirmation that he's right here.]