day nine

[guestcontrol]

dreamland day nine 10 players remaining. There are no clocks in your dorm room to help you mark the passing of time, but at a certain point, in the early hours of the morning, a cheerful chime tune plays over the loudspeaker. Whether you're awake or asleep, the door to your dorm room is now unlocked. You'll have about a forty five minutes, in which you can get ready or grab some breakfast, before the door that allows you into the park unlocks. By this time, you may or may not have noticed that one of your number is missing. Oh, there's one other thing this morning - your bracelets are no longer working. Fortunately, your rooms have all been left unlocked, as is the entrance to the park. Oh, and you still might not want to go near the fences; the automatic weapons in the guard towers are still a thing. The chimes play again, to announce that the park is open, and the rides and music begin to come back to life as a voice plays over the loudspeaker. "Congratulations to the tippy top ten! You made it!" You will have until 4 PM to explore the park and talk amongst yourselves. Somewhere in the park, you'll find the body of Oz Vessalius. rulebook character statuses private conversations graveyard

Comments

[royalizing]

[ Hearing that scream sends a chill down her spine, but it's also what draws her to the circus tent. When she enters, the first thing she focuses on is the platform... covered in blood with a body on it. It doesn't take too long to figure out whose it is.

Her hands fly to her mouth to cover the horrified cry at the sight of Oz's body. This- this wasn't supposed to happen, not now, not to him, not when they finally seemed like they were getting somewhere with the VIPs. Seeing this, is like seeing the death of her hopes for escaping all this. The faith that she put in Oz, that the VIPs would keep their word... it was all for nothing. The VIPs couldn't win either at this point so why? Was all they wanted to bring down as many of the innocents with them as they could?! ]

No... Why?!

[ Natalia whirls around to stare at Ciel with almost wild, accusing eyes. She's furious and in despair, though holding herself back from strangling him a la Nanami because as she looks at him, she's starting to realize that the source of the scream was Ciel and not Oz, as she'd assumed. ]

[cheats]

[ He takes a seat with a noise of surprise, and he'll take one of the glasses of water obediently, but he doesn't drink from it. Still, he doesn't reject it, at least, but just holds onto it like it's something much more important than it is. At least getting away from the circus tent has helped Ciel to calm down enough to answer her questions at all, but he still can't look at Nanami, so his attention is focused on the cup instead.

Last night... What had happened? He has to concentrate on it more than Ciel would ever have to normally, because when he tries to recall, it's like a fog is in his brain, but he starts, carefully, ]

I was never... I never had any intention of betraying him. I wasn't going to vote for anyone, I went to the clubhouse knowing that—

[ He remembered being soured by the thought as he walked there, because that kind of trust was simply something he didn't understand. ]

Crocs, he said... [ His brow furrows, because he has to really focus to recall it, but his eye widens in realization as it slowly comes to him, piece by piece. His hands start to tremble as he holds the glass again, and his voice is quiet. ]

Today. Today, everyone has to wake up, or everyone left is going to die. Oz had to wake up first... so that everyone else had a chance.

[cheats]

[ It's not fine, and this sympathetic, caring grip, it's not fine either. Ciel pulls away, though he's careful to make sure that Peko still blocks the view, and there's something odd about Ciel's expression. He's smiling, but it's strained, especially with the last few tears still squeezing out of the corner of his eye. ]

God... Why are you sorry?

[ It's a rhetorical question, and knowing where Ciel is coming from, it might seem like it's leading into an apology, but it doesn't come. He shakes his head feebly. ]

Even if he woke up, it wasn't supposed to be like this. I would never do this. But I— [ He breaks off into a laugh, shaking his head again. ] It could have only been me.

[perfectstrike]

...

[Her hands drop away when he pulls back, and she goes still, very still.]

What do you mean?

[Her voice is still low from when she was attempting to speak calmly enough to comfort him, but there's something else in her posture now, a tension that thins her voice and sharpens her gaze.]

Explain.

[cheats]

[ And he does not stop screaming, though his voice getting rougher and hoarser as he continues is at least enough to quiet it. It must seem odd, because this visceral reaction would even be quite a lot for a close family member, and yet here Ciel was despairing over someone he can't have known more than a week. Especially considering Ciel's personality, this was too much for him to expression.

So... It had to be something more.

He stays where he is, shaking from head to toe, and though his hands cover his face, his eye is still wide, focused sharply, yet only on the circle before him. He's seeing something else, and that's clear enough, but what it is could never really be guessed. ]

No, it can't— I am me, and I am...

[ It sounds mad as he lapses into repeating that, over and over again, I am me. Because his thoughts are blending together in a frightening way. He's the boy in the cage, reaching out to the hand of a demon, but he's also the boy on the altar with the knife in his chest, dead and staring. But is that boy here now? Which boy was it? Is it Ciel on the altar, or is it a boy named Oz? He can't tell. He can't tell, and that's the most frightening thing of all—

He's going to... be consumed. Or is he already dead? He really just can't tell. ]

[cheats]

Don't you see? It was me.

[ The expression on his face doesn't match his words at all, because it's almost hopeful, an expression of innocence much more suited to his age. Whatever this scene is, it has him unraveling. ]

This is that day, all over again. It's only me— Only I survived. Ciel isn't here anymore. Just like...

[ Just like who? He trembles as he takes a step back, reaching towards his head. He's trying to remember, but the thoughts are slipping away from him, disappearing like teardrops in the rain. But the person behind her, that can't be Ciel. Ciel has been gone for longer than this stupid game. So then...? ]

Oz isn't here anymore either. I drew it. I'm the only person that could ever draw it. But... why? Why would I do that, when I can just wake them up more simply? I don't understand. I was going to do it, Oz was right, so how? How could this happen?

[cheats]

...Mabel Juice?

[ This sounds like something he should be afraid of, so he repeats it warily. ]

[perfectstrike]

Ciel.

[Her voice is still low, edging toward dangerous as her fists clench at her sides, eyes widening the more he speaks. No. No, no. No, he's delusional. He doesn't know what he's saying. He can't be--]

Did you kill him?

[And she's hoping that he says no, that he's lost in some kind of memory, like he'd seemed to be earlier. Her hand twitches, as if she might grab him, but she instead clenches the fabric of her skirt.]

When you say 'wake up'...

[ineptus]

Why does everyone always say it like that?

[Does that tell you anything?]

Don't worry about it, I'm teasing. Just warm milk with honey for you. No Smile Dip or soda or toy dinosaurs drifting endlessly in the tiny sea of your cup!

[cheats]

[ He knew this would happen, from the very moment he had seen a weakness that he could exploit, because that was the way the Earl of Phantomhive worked. And yet, that knowledge doesn't help him. He doesn't even care, because she could kill him now and that would be fine. But her question...

Did he kill him?

Did he kill Ciel? Or did he kill Oz? Did he kill anyone at all? Weren't they waking up? Or were they dead? He tries to grasp at the thoughts that hold the answers, but his mind can't latch onto any of them. Thinking about that day makes his heart pound in his ears, and he wants to scream out for Sebastian, even though he knows he won't come. But thinking about last night, about a proposal that he had accepted, but... He wasn't going to kill him. He wasn't going to kill Oz. They were going to wake up, and something had to happen first. ]

I can't—

[ He covers his face with his hand, his expression becoming pained as he tries, and he's trying so hard to catch those memories before they go away. ]

It wasn't... It wasn't supposed to be this way. I didn't want to wake him up... [ He remembers that. He's fighting to remember more, but it's so damn hard. ] We agreed. So how could he end up dead? I can't remember!

[perfectstrike]

No!

[Her voice is sharp, and before she can even stop herself, she's grabbing his chin, forcing him to meet her eyes, gripping tightly enough to bruise skin. Her other hand is raised, as if she might slap him, or fend off any attempt he makes to break her grip.]

Did you kill Fuyuhiko?

[Fingernails bite into his skin as her grip tightens, a weird parody of the comfort she'd been offering only a minute or so before. Because when it comes down to it, she doesn't care about Oz. She'd suspected from the moment Oz had refused to reveal the names of the remaining VIPs that it was all a trick, and that he'd be killed. Her mind is racing too quickly to really take into account what Ciel is saying about it not being supposed to happen. And her voice raises so she can hear herself over the roaring in her ears,]

Did you hurt him?

[cheats]

[ The way she grabs his face is familiar, but unfortunately, it's familiar in a way that undoes all of the comfort that Peko had so kindly provided. He trembles, coughs, but he's otherwise still and compliant in her hands.

We can't have you dying on us now. Eat something. They held his face when they fed him, if you could even call that food. They would hit the muscle to pry his mouth open like a dog and shove the funnel so far down his throat that he had no choice but to accept it. To Peko, it won't make much sense, but he opens his mouth slightly, because when you obeyed, they were less likely to jam it so far into your throat that you tasted blood.

It hurts, though. It hurts, and he's scared, and even though it's not really there at all, he's back in the cage with a chain around his ankle. But he's completely silent, because they hated it when you said a word. You'd get hit or worse if you talked back or complained.

Just... Go along with it quietly. That's how you survive. That's all he can think, over and over again, and he's reliving that awful memory, so he doesn't hear a word of what Peko is asking him. ]

[cheats]

I don't even know what most of those are...

[ But he doesn't say so with any of his usual vigor, though he is trying to imagine what kind of concoction this could be. Considering Mabel, he's pretty sure it's not edible, but definitely colorful. ]

[royalizing]

[ The more she watches, the more her anger slowly gives away to a tight anxiety and fear in her chest, though for or of what, she's not entirely sure. Is she afraid that they'll all be dead within two days? Or is she afraid for him, the boy who has caused this and yet is the farthest thing from being triumphant? Perhaps... it's this entirely too familiar scene.

The last time she was faced with a hysterical boy in denial, just after a horrifying catastrophe that led to the deaths of innocents, she'd scorned him and turned her back on him. Wrote him off as someone too self-absorbed and too immature to claim responsibility for the blood on his hands. (But then, it was the actions of someone who never meant for it to happen...)

There's too much emotion and frantic thoughts in her head to think rationally, which makes it a struggle to reign in her temper, but she doesn't yell at him or slap him as is her instinct. ]

Ciel! Get a hold of yourself!

[ Her voice is high and desperate sounding, and not at all befitting a princess, but she has so much more to worry about right now. She takes an involuntary step towards him. ]

[photoshot]

[ ... yeah her note is pre much accurate. ]

[photoshot]

[ well, she'll take the notes to give to their recipients. those that are still alive, that is. ]

[ineptus]

[It is very colorful, but it is also totally edible. She's had plenty of it and she is still walking and talking. Even if some of it contained things like dice and troll dolls...]

You don't? That's so wrong! Well, you're probably not missing much on the Smile Dip front that stuff probably...isn't safe...but still! The rest of it you are really missing out on.

[It's okay. There's enough vigor in her voice for the both of them. That's what they need right now. Something normal. And he's struggling with that, so that means it's up to her...

There may be some cases that she's truly useless, but something like this? She can do this.]

Almost to the kitchen now! Not much further!

[photoshot]

[ l a m e !! ]

[perfectstrike]

Did you kill him?!

[And she's screaming now. She's losing that vaunted composure. Hinata had once said she was cool, like a samurai. She'd never cared about any of that. She'd done without emotion in the interest of protecting Kuzuryuu, preserving his life, serving him to the utmost. And none of it mattered, none of it mattered because Kuzuryuu was gone, and this little brat had played to her sympathies. Made her trust him. All this time she'd been giving comfort to someone who was a member of the same group that killed Kuzuryuu.

And it hurts, because she'd been thinking of him as being like Kuzuryuu. Like if she could motivate this boy, it would be as if she could have made amends for how little she'd truly been able to support Kuzuryuu. But it didn't matter. None of it matters because it hurts and she's angry.]

Answer me!!

[photoshot]

[ L A M E !!... but jfc she never would've expected to be the last touhou standing. ]

[photoshot]

--Yeah, I expected to die first too.

He'd been aware of it? I really wouldn't have expected that. [ ... actually slightly impressed at how well he hid it. and it meant he must've remembered the nightly murders. wow, that's hardcore.

she takes the letter and a few shots of the math, puzzles over the draw a little. she tries to open the bolted windows to air out the smoke, but finally gives up. ]

[cheats]

[ Her high voice cuts through the fog of his madness, and he starts, almost falling over himself as he suddenly seems to realize that Natalia is there at all. He looks like a frightened animal in a cage, and he backs up and away from Natalia like he's afraid of her. ]

I— This isn't...

[ But it's all he starts to say, and he just shakes his head before he looks to the display in the center of the circus tent before retching again, though this time nothing comes up, at least. ]

[photoshot]

[ how sweet. the dress and the sentiment of leaving flowers and fresheners, that is--not the smell. she unties and leaves the flowers on the bed instead, snoops halfheartedly through letters and her own papers, rereading them for a while without processing them at all before leaving. ]

[photoshot]

[ cute draw, bro. she tries to take a pic, but gives up and doesn't without really knowing why. ]

I wonder if it's for good this time.

... You did good work.

[cheats]

[ He trembles more, shaking in her grip, but he tries to pull away by now, because he's terrified. He can hear her words, but they don't fit together in his jumbled mind. His sense is gone, so it's not even that he's not listening, but he can't put together any sort of answer. ]

I— Let go! Let go of me!

[ They'll hurt him. He knows she'll hurt him, but he just has to get away, so he pushes at her feebly, but he's a weak child. ]

I didn't do anything!