WEEK 5.

[trustfellows]

WEEK 5 Tabitha Smith, Sigrun Eide, and Solf J Kimblee are all dead. Regardless of what you think of the trial or the events leading up to it, there's no denying that you can feel the dent in your numbers now. After all, ten people are gone now. It may be hard, but all you can do is keep going. Saturday is given to regrouping and sleep; come Sunday morning, the clock chimes the hour at seven o'clock and there are no dead bodies to be found, so it can be assumed that all of you are safe for the time being. That said, you'll be feeling a little groggy when you wake up; it seems you've regained something that you didn't realize you'd lost... What with Jericho's excitement at the last trial, it's evident now more than ever that the new floor that's opened up to you is a gift, a reward for a job well-done. Because while surviving is something that you'll continue to try to do of your own merit...well. Let's say that he's so, so very proud of you. PARTICIPANTS REMAINING: 25 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING: 24 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING: 23

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
[OOC: Welcome to week five of Trustfell! Feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend. Don't forget to save those threads for coins and the activity check!

If you'd like to get in contact with the Coordinators, you can do so through private meetings with Alena!]

Comments

[matchbreaker]

[ Of all things... she laughs.

And with that soft laugh, she doesn't take the sketchbook. She instead intends to grab Sayaka's wrist and yank her into the room. Surprise? ]

[destage]

--Oh!

[INTO THE ROOM SHE GOES THEN, THIS IS MOST CERTAINLY HAPPENING--she's actually got two sketchbooks in hand, from the looks of it, but she's dropped the blank one out into the hallway.

...But congrats, Elda, you have obtained one (1) twig into the dark room?]

[matchbreaker]

[ It's pitch black in the room for a long moment, though Elda can see perfectly. She reaches around a little, shifting the grip from her wrist to holding Sayaka's hand as she closes the door behind her. But then she reaches out and fiddles with the light. It's still dark in here, a blanket over the light but with the light increasing:

Numerous sketches are tapped to the wall now with duct tape. Dozens and dozens of them, featuring every member of Elda's family, Cecilia, Karin's boyfriend (Kenta), Sayaka, Blue, Fern, Rin, Adelina, Susan, Kimblee, numerous other Participants. She seems to have ripped every page from the notepad she'd worked in, and some she had worked on another sketchbook before now.

But there's other things to note about the room. Most notably, the bed appears to have been damaged - numerous claw marks on the legs of it and the mattress having been tossed into the far wall. She's got shit from her trunk strewn all over the ground. And the people-pire paintings from the other day are leaning up against the wall. ]

[destage]

[Oh...oh, woah.

It takes a couple of seconds for Sayaka to look around the room--the pictures, of all of these people, ones she recognizes, the ones she doesn't--everyone in here, that's...

...That's to say nothing of the devastation in this room, jesus christ.]

...You've...begun working on that in your own way, then.

[matchbreaker]

Yeah.

[ Mmm. She bares her fangs, her eyes shining now in the limited light of the room. The thing is... She's not sure what else to do. She opens and closes her fingers, not sure if she should make a face or not. ]

I have. I'm not sure what'll need to happen.

[destage]

...Do you think the pictures alone will help you remember?

[She almost wants to ask what order Elda thinks she'll lose them in. Sayaka's wondering that for herself, honestly, and it's...causing her tone to run fearful.]

[matchbreaker]

[ Honestly? She ... takes a seat on the chair by the desk. And she bites her lip before she looks down at her hands and, ]

No. If it's half as efficient as I can be, not a chance.

[destage]

[Sayaka...looks at the sketchbook in her arm, right in this moment. Checks her sleeve a bit, and...she pulls out two red stones, fiddling with them in her hands.]

...It's terrifying to think about, isn't it. That they're willing to do that.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . ]

It won't come to that, I'm sure. But yes, it is.

[destage]

[Sayaka...shakes, a bit. Clutches the sketchbook closer.]

If someone...if someone does something, but they do it wrong again, that'll just...that'll...

[Fuck.]

[matchbreaker]

What do you mean, wrong?

[destage]

To the point that it makes--it makes what happened with Tabby-san happen again. They only need it to happen once, then they can start taking away our memories, right?

[Sayaka's shaking hardcore.]

I...I don't want to lose my memory of you...or her...

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . Elda inhales she inhales deep, and then she reaches out, stepping forward to pat the top of the head of the girl. She ruffles the crown of her head. ]

It's unbecoming of a girl your age to be wishing death on people. That's something people expect of me.

[destage]

--I!

[Sayaka blanches significantly at that--she didn't even realize the implications of that, and she...bows. Just bows.]

...I'm sorry. I...I don't want anyone to die here, but...I...

[...god, has anything changed about her, if she's hoping people die so she doesn't have to forget someone precious? That's...terrible.]

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.

[matchbreaker]

You don't need to apologize to me, of all people. [ Mmm. ] The fact is, there's a fair chance you'll end up needing to drop me into the pit, the way my mind's racing right now. That's a lot worse than a passive wish.

[ she continues to brush the crown of the girl's head. ]

[destage]

[...Sayaka's blood runs cold.]

No. No, you can't make me do that to you!

[Whatever she means by that, she doesn't clarify, but Sayaka looks at Elda with a sense of horror.]

I'm not--I can't--don't do something rash, Elda!

[matchbreaker]

You most certainly will, if it comes to that.

[ She digs her nails in a little. ]

Like I said, you're going to survive this. [ a beat. ] That doesn't matter who or what is trampled over to get there, Sayaka.

[ But... ]

Not that I'm intending to go out, either. I'm not that impulsive.

[destage]

Haven't I trampled over enough people in my life?!

[Sorry, Elda, she's wrestling her hand out of your grip here.]

Don't--don't ever do something like that, not unless you're intending to kill me to get there! Don't you dare leave me alone!

[matchbreaker]

[ what? She's taken back by that and she narrows her eyes, shifting them into a defensive predatory mode. She...

... What the hell is the girl saying. (she never could - no, she could?) and- ]

I'm not going to kill you, what're you on about?!

[destage]

[Sayaka shakes a bit, but--]

Then...then I don't want you to harm anyone else. I'd never...never, ever forgive you if you left me alone.

[matchbreaker]

[ she's asking her to forsake her agency in this. She's telling her not to take action to protect the precious memories of her family, if need be. The woman's eyes narrow and she can feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing a little bit straighter. ]

Do you think you've the power to make that demand, girl?

[destage]

If--If I don't, then you don't have the power to make me vote for you. It's as simple as that. I understand that you want to get back to your family, first and foremost...

[Sayaka's never been one to really have a fire, but she's...she's finally just starting to shake her head.]

But...I'm sorry, you can't make me vote you into the pit. [Or at all.]

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . Huh. A doll wouldn't be able to show spine like that. She stands there, looking up at the girl with predatory eyes and fangs exposed, looking positively livid. But the mood, for once, isn't in he favor. Elda Marker is 5' and 88 pounds or so and while she normally looms larger than life... it's obvious that right now she's cornered.

Her heart is going to be crushed in a vice.

She ... ]

I better not be seeing you on the other end of things either, if you're talking back to me like that.

[destage]

...I've already sworn that I wouldn't. I've...already done bad enough, and I've seen the results of what happens to those people.

[Sayaka shakes--she has five inches and almost twenty pounds on Elda, and here she is shaking like a goddamn leaf. Elda could try to kill her again--she nearly did, weeks ago. But...

Sayaka nods and bows her head.]

I swear that I won't succumb. You...you have my word, Elda.

[matchbreaker]

[ She summed it up way back on that first day, didn't she? Everyone wants to fall in love. There are things - people, memories, a life free some loneliness and a place where she can outlive everyone - which matter more than anyone else here. More than all the human bats, more than those gods, more than Aligula and... yes, it has to be more than Sayaka and Rin and Adelina and Susan and the others.

It's been a month, a month isn't worth the same as blood, and the ties she has to that blood.

... But similarly, a granddaughter's happiness isn't worth a species.

She's gotten far, far too old. ]

You've got people you're making promises like that to, other than me? [ It's said with some mild surprise, but . . . ] Good. Like I said, you're making it out alive from here.