dreamsland | day nine

Entry tags:

day nine

day nine

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Her grip stays firm those awkward minutes. She'd messed up by not being able to comfort Kuzuryuu, so being able to offer at least something to this boy here... she couldn't turn it down or make him stop until he was ready. And even then, she almost doesn't want to let him go, even as he starts to sound more composed.]

It's fine.

[Her response is immediate and automatic; if anything, her grip only tightens a touch further.]

...He is. I'm sorry.

[ 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.

...

[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.

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?

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'...

[ 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!

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?

Edited 2014-10-14 02:52 (UTC)

[ 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. ]

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!!

Edited 2014-10-14 03:21 (UTC)

[ 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!

What did you agree on?!

[She does let go, but only for an instant, only long enough to grab his collar in both hands, shaking him roughly. Is he afraid? Good. Her eyes are more suited to a wild, pained animal than anything else.

Some hitman. She can't even keep it together for a proper interrogation, she's just shaking him, fighting back the urge to hurl him into the walls of the tent. She could snap his neck right now. There's enough confirmation that he's part of this group that she should, she really should. She'd chosen to trust him, and this is how he thanked her.]

Did you kill him? Did you hurt him?!

[ In that instant, he moves to clearly run, though naturally, he never makes it that far. Peko grabs onto his collar and shakes him, but Ciel only claws at her hands to try and escape. If she's the wild animal, then he's the trapped one, but he's already wounded and out of his mind.

Someone, save him. Mother, father, anyone. He's going to die here. He'll surely be killed if this continues, because that look in her eyes, it's the same. There's a dagger hoisted above his chest (Ciel's chest), and he screams as he continues to struggle. His heart is thundering in his ears, and his consciousness is wavering by now. Peko isn't going to get any kind of answer from Ciel like this, because right now, he's too frightened to even be able to answer. ]

[She might not get an answer, but it sure as hell isn't going to stop her from trying.

She'd scoffed at Monokuma's idea of despair. How could someone like her, a mere tool, feel something like that? Absurd.

But then she'd left her young master alone, robbed him of sight in one eye, found him murdered the same way she'd murdered her own classmate, and then, to top everything off, let one of his killers gain her trust.

It's that more than anything else that drives another scream from her lips, fingers tightening in his shirt.]

Why didn't you just kill me?!

There was never—

[ He can focus on that, at least, because he's trying to stay concious, because he feels faint. He can barely hear with how his heartbeat sounds, but he's trying. If he passes out, he won't wake up. He has to stay awake, because if he doesn't then... ]

There was never a reason to...

[ He manages to get that much out, but he starts to wheeze from his screaming and the exertion, so it's about all he manages. ]

[That's it. That's the last straw. Her breathing is almost as harsh as his, for a different reason. Never a reason to. Not enough of a threat to kill, not for all her declarations, not for everything she'd tried to do. Not even when she'd explained her logic to Ciel himself, he still didn't think she was good enough to kill.

Ciel is small. He's just under Kuzuryuu's height.

She's in too close to punch him or slap him, but his head is at the perfect height for her to release his collar with one hand and sharply elbow him across his right cheek, purposefully hitting his blind side with a scream.]

[ The hit of course connects, and Ciel lets out a weak, but sharp cry of pain. He's always been a weak child, prone more to gentle activities suited to a gentleman than anything athletic, and he quite preferred that. What he did know was all practical, skills that Sebastian had taught him as necessary, but... There was nothing he could do. There's a loud crack, and though it doesn't break anything, pain sears across Ciel's face.

But he doesn't make a sound after that. He holds his arms up slightly defensively, but not enough to actually stop Peko if she tries again. It's clear this is far from the first time he's been hit, even so severely, so like before, he's silent and yielding to her. ]

[He's not fighting back. Peko's elbow comes back, as if she might hit him again, but pauses, eyes darting over his face, his body language.

Kuzuryuu would fight back. She's certain of that. Kuzuryuu would never let himself be handled this way, never yield. It's disgusting, and right now, she can't bring herself to even question why Ciel might not. Just that he's not worth her time.]

You'll hang.

[It's a cold promise as she lowers her hand, clenching her fist at her side. And she shoves him with the other, intending to knock him to the ground. But he's not worth risking her own life by killing outside the bounds of the game's rules, not when he won't even struggle.]

[ Were the circumstances leading up to this moment different, Peko would have gotten exactly the reaction that she expected from Ciel. He had been playing with fire the whole game by manipulating her, and he had expected to be burnt by it terribly when he was caught. He had anticipated that and thought it fair, but in his prediction of how that would happen, he would be ever the proud nobleman, even in the face of violence, because it wasn't as if he hadn't faced that before. He had been kidnapped and tortured before, since that was just a work hazard for the Earl of Phantomhive.

But he could have never anticipated this.

This is unlike you, he can almost hear a rational part of his brain say, but not enough. He's too caught up in older wounds and memories, and even the sharp pain on his face isn't enough for him to do much more than tremble silently, because doing anything more than that would mean that you end up dead. He doesn't even know how long he had been in the cage to know that was true. But he'd seen many children trapped in that cage with him die, one by one.

So it's easy to shove him back, and Ciel not only falls to the ground, but crumples as he lays there, eye closed tightly and body postured in a way that says he expects more violence. It truly is sad and pitiful, especially compared to the usual proud, intelligent nobleman that Ciel was, but...

His past, more than other people, had a way of haunting him. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

day nine

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject