TRIAL II

[lesmodsalouette]

Trial

At least this time you were given ample time to wreck your sleep schedule before the clocks gong at midnight (no apologies for such little sleep in the first place withstanding). The carnival looks just as you remember it, with the banquet and drinks refreshed. The spread is the same as before with two new additions: a platter of cute cupcakes that might remind you of someone, along with baozi of all types.

Like before, mind the pit in the middle and settle in to vote out the guilty party for the death of Siobhan "Shiv" Roy. With the benefit of experience, maybe this will be a little bit easier? With the mood weather lifted, there won't be any floods at trial at least.

(( OOC: Welcome to your first trial! You'll have 7 hours (until 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT) to vote one (1) person guilty of murder. As this is scapegoat style, a correct vote is not necessary. Please remember to vote unless otherwise discussed with the mods, as that is our AC for this game ))

Locations Profiles Investigation Voting Main Nav

Comments

[coldseep]

( He chews slowly on his torta di cocco, saying nothing to Cain's unfortunate public assessment of him.

After a few moments: )

So I did get killed, in the end.

( He succeeded in that, he guesses. )

[perfectpower]

[Quietly.]

Yeah, it was kind of a shock to see you here alive and well.

[He. He did not realize it was the same Hwylryn until execution.]

[coldseep]

Did Mithra eat my stone?

( He smiles, but whether or not that's how he feels is opaque. )

If he did, he must be thousand times stronger than Oz now, right? Unless he died eating it?

( He might be too overwhelming for just one wizard to take in all of... why did i write it like that )

[perfectpower]

Nah, don't think so. Oz is still the strongest around, and Mithra is the same as ever. I think he still has it though.

[coldseep]

( Hwylryn seems?? a little offended, as a Northerner, but he also understands.

He forced Mithra into it. And it really might be too much for someone to take in. But... )

... That makes me feel a little bit lonely. When you guys get back, can you try to eat me?

[uiscebeatha]

[ ... ]

I appreciate the sentiment. You're too powerful for me—I'd probably turn to stone myself.

[ But the tension in his expression evaporates, replaced by a softer smile, an expression perhaps only a very small number of people here have seen (but now everyone has seen it). ]

But I know someone who'd take them in my place. I'd give them to him, if you don't mind.

[perfectpower]

I'll see to it that someone tries. Maybe I can bully Mithra into it.

[Brad bullying a Northern wizard into anything is a funny thought.]

[antemeridian]

[ that wording... it's not the same, but even so.

... well, it doesn't matter anymore, does it. not after. ]

[coldseep]

( he smiles a little, almost playfully - you can almost hear him go "guess we have something sorta in common, huh?" )

[cleansheets]

[ What a way to find out about that... ]

cw suicidal ideation / suicide reference allusion

[coldseep]

( Hwylryn smiles at Angelo, but Angelo gets a melancholic tone in Hwy's eyes that he had seen before when they were discussing - by some definition - their confessions, when they both discussed it was too difficult to go on, after what they'd lost.

Hwylryn got what he wished for. )

cw suicidal ideation

[cleansheets]

[ Angelo can place that look immediately, because he can mirror that feeling perfectly. He'd wondered about it from the tone of Hwy's voice already, but ah...

It's not in his habit to be sad for others, and sad would not be the way to describe how he feels for Hwy right now to begin with, but it's...

Well, it is affecting him, and not much about other people does. Maybe he should talk to the dragon later.

(What thoughts and feelings to have, when Hwylryn is bodily laying in cake....) ]

[siffriend]

... Guess we're part of a pretty exclusive club, even if I've died more times than you.

[ Putting that out there. Timelooper and all. It

isn't meant to necessarily cheer Hwylryn up, purposefully, but,

Siffrin doesn't really like everyone staring.

(You all know.

But you don't want people to look at you differently either. You wouldn't, if... they knew everything. What you've done, what you'd do. It wasn't a good feeling then.) ]

[coldseep]

( Hwylryn seems like he'd already resigned to the judgment before Cain even began speaking - so he doesn't expect Siffrin to chime in like that, and...

He does feel happy. He feels a little bit apart of something, for the first time. )

... Hopefully for better reasons. ( A smile, but very slight. ) I don't get to try again when I die... but is that how it works for you?

cw implied........... suicide...........

[siffriend]

[ ("Hopefully for better reasons."

Well.

You'd consider them good reasons, as long as your family members ended up safe. It doesn't matter what happens to you.)

Siffrin smiles a little more, but it's... not genuine; their eye closes, to hide whatever might be beneath, and it's definitely something that's more of "if i smile then no one will worry/be bothered/ask questions" kind of thing that's clearly worked in the past. ]

... Yeah. It's one of the things that I learned. What causes the reset. If I die, or if I'm frozen in time... then I'm thrown back. I don't know why. But it's been pretty useful, when I don't want to finish the whole routine.

[allrounder]

[ he doesn't say anything, but he is listening ]

[antemeridian]

[ ...

another difference, then. ]

cw suicide implications

[coldseep]

( Hwylryn laughs lightly, though this is not a laughing matter. )

Were you working hard for the people you loved?

( He tilts his head ever so slightly, the way he would in dragon form. It is as much question as it is presumption. )

... That's a cruel tax for that power. Mmm... I was willing when I went, too, but it's still scary.

( It was scary, wasn't it, he means; I'm sorry. )

[siffriend]

... It's only if I want to end it early. Otherwise, it just resets...

[ (... When it's the end, and all is saved. When you're all going to go your separates ways.

They deserve that.

Mira, who wants to travel more and see the world. She's changed so much since you met her, but not in the way that the Change Belief would want her to. And that's okay! That's more than okay -- no one should change if they don't want to. So... you'd like to continue traveling with her, seeing how she becomes more comfortable with herself, without someone forcing her hand...

Isa, to become a fashion designer. It's a Change... From figurative sword to sewing, but you know it's something he'd like a lot. Just like he'd like to be seen as a little smarter, less of a meathead, even if it's taking a small step back to how he was before. You'd like to wear the clothes he crafts for you, and see him smile when you're wearing something he made...

Odile, returning to her homeland of Ka Bue. She came to Vaugarde for a reason, and you know that reason now: you're alike in a lot of ways, from your lack of homeland to not knowing who you truly are, and you'd like to go with her to see someplace new. You want to continue talking to her, to understand her, the way she seems to understand you...

Bonnie, back home to their sister. They had to leave her when that part of the country froze, and you still remember how despondent they'd been after. How little they'd eaten, how quiet in comparison to how they are now... You know why Bonnie was distant to you now, so it's okay. You still want to see them be happy, and you'd like to make sure they get home...

... And you. What will you do?

...)

After the thoughtful pause, far too long, Siffrin finally finishes sentence: ]

At the end. I haven't figured out the perfect loop yet, I guess. Still missing something.

[baebladie]

[ ... ]

[remainsilent]

[uiscebeatha]

...Yeah.

[ He knows he told him in the beginning, but whether or not he remembers after all the commotion in the past couple of weeks is different. He doesn't mind.

Cain doesn't look in his direction, because he can't see him, so his gaze remains at rest. ]

I wasn't there for it. ...Sorry.

[coldseep]

( Hwylryn had written that off - Cain wasn't there, so he thought Cain just assumed. But it makes sense now - how he'd phrased it, the different clothes...

Hwylryn isn't familiar with time shenanigans, but it's clear they're becoming increasingly relevant. )

You don't have anything to apologize for. You wanted me dead, right? You still do, but you're willing to give me leeway because I'm "declawed."

( He smiles, though. It's not an accusation so much as it is a statement of fact. )

Because we were enemies. It's natural that you can't let go of that.

[uiscebeatha]

Yeah.

[ a casual そうだね、a vague acknowledgement of what Hwylryn says. They are facts. Hwylryn did put so many of his allies and friends in danger.

But Cain isn't so stubborn to insist they are mortal enemies. Nor is he naive enough to believe that they can immediately put all this behind them and be all sunshine and rainbows. He sits somewhere in the middle, a faithful hound sitting at alert in the doorway, watching for any moment of hostility.

He shifts. He'd put his hand on his sword if he had it, but he doesn't. ]

There are people here I care for and want to protect. So long as you don't harm them— [ He pauses, suppressing the urge to glance out over the crowd and pick those people out. ] Then we won't have a problem.

Who knows— [ A wry sort of look tugs at his lips. ] We could even be friends.

[coldseep]

... So why would you say you'd "protect" me, when you still view me as a foremost threat? When your friendship and affection is purely conditional?

( He thought this was an interesting paradox when Cain said he'd protect him before, but he's only commenting on it now. )

Cain. You've accused me of some number of things. But, please understand... I did everything I could not to harm you and yours. I told you that, but you left that out of your story.

And... The one who has taken someone from me is you and yours. You left that out too. Right?

( His eyes wet, despite himself. Composure, composure - but the grief is too recent. It's hard to keep the tears from flowing. )

All of you drove Balthazar into that corner. I will never see him again. I will never find someone like him again. Balthazar is dead, and he would not be if not because of all of you. If not because I valued you all as Akira's friends, and faltered to protect him the way I should've.

Aren't I the one who should view you and Bradley as a threat? You, who would kill me if I would only give you an excuse?

You, who has already taken away someone I love?

Come on. Let's be fair.