Week 7.

[trustfellows]

WEEK 7 Orihime Inoue, Estellise Sidos Heurassein, and Kirei Kotomine all died this past week. One of your Coordinators died as well, leaving you with a new face but still no end to this. Several of you are finding yourselves at a crossroads: either keep moving forward, or accept the inevitability of fate. It's your own choice, your own decision; no one's going to make it for you. Over half of you are gone now. 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... Once again, a new floor has been opened to you; unfortunately, either this is a particularly strange reward or Jericho is starting to get downright sarcastic. Perhaps there's something in it for you despite the setup; who knows, though there's really only one way to find out. PARTICIPANTS REMAINING: 16

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
[OOC: Welcome to week seven 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 Hilda!]

Comments

[bloodbiter]

Yes.

[But she doesn't know how to move forward with this, not with Elda seeming so unconcerned on the surface.]

I am sorry, I don't... know what to say.

[matchbreaker]

Whatever you want to say. Or say nothing and eat the apple.

[ She says this directly, exhaling as if to reign in her surprised and lick her finger. The claw taps on her lip ]

[bloodbiter]

[There's another long pause, looking down at the apple, but she sets it down on the bed beside her without taking a bite. Her voice remains muted, without it's usual feeling or conviction.]

I told you before that I am... fairly inexperienced in the skills necessary to protect people, didn't I?

[matchbreaker]

Yes, you once said I overestimated your strength based on your baring.

[ She says this with a somewhat sad smile, kicking her legs. ]

[bloodbiter]

...I was wrong. It's not a matter of experience.

[And some more emotion leaks into her voice as it grows in intensity, like a floodgate starting to burst.]

It's just - who I am. I'm not strong or capable, and I never have been, and convincing myself that I had the ability to protect people was just - foolish and naive!

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . ]

Did you fail in that quest?

[bloodbiter]

[She breathes in, then keeps speaking, rushed.]

It was my fault. I - made such a stupid mistake, so close to succeeding, and I...

[matchbreaker]

[ She stands and gets up closer to Adelina, but as she does, looking up at the girl, ]

You're going to choke on your own words.

[bloodbiter]

[She looks towards her in return, but she shakes her head when she does.]

I don't care. She's dead, she's... It's my fault.

[matchbreaker]

[ Oh.

... Well that's a lot worse than she was expecting, but also somewhat what she did expect. She leans in and she... makes to take the girl's hands in hers. ]

Ah.

[bloodbiter]

[She doesn't pull away, but she doesn't return the grasp. Her eyes shift back to the door.]

I ruined everything, Elda.

[matchbreaker]

[ What does one say in the face of it... she... ]

... I'm sorry. I know that's a heavy cross to bear.

[bloodbiter]

People are going to be looking at me like... I am a hero. Like I am prepared to lead them.

[A bitter, sorrowful laugh.]

How am I supposed to pretend I know how to do that now?

[matchbreaker]

[ Why would they do that? Is there...? There's a few steps she's missing, of course there is. The vampire...

Rubs her thumbs on the back of the girl's hand. ]

... You don't know. Nothing is ever so certain as the right or wrong answer. So much of everything is instinct and experience.

[bloodbiter]

I have mere weeks of experience, and the instinct that I followed led to my sister dying in my arms. I...

[She rubs at her eyes, shaking her head.]

I - I shouldn't. I'm sorry.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . ]

I never understood human kingdoms like that, honestly. They make more sense than the voting nonsense they do these days, but those kingdoms always seemed so silly to put such weight on those so young.

[bloodbiter]

[She shakes her head again.]

Nobody put that weight on me. I put it on myself, because I thought...

[She trails off. She can't even truthfully say it was because she thought she could handle it.]

[matchbreaker]

You were born to it, were you not?

[bloodbiter]

...No. The reason they'll be looking to me isn't just because I am next in line to the throne now. It is because - I found something people have searched for over centuries, something with the power to save thousands of lives.

[She breathes out.]

But I didn't find it in time to save what mattered most.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . Huh. ]

You didn't go seeking that glory though, you just wanted to help your sister.

[bloodbiter]

[She shakes her head.]

I didn't want... this. I didn't even leave because I thought I could help her, initially.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . ]

I don't understand the circumstances, if I'm honest. But I do know that a crown is too much for a grieving girl. And beyond that... I am sorry.

[bloodbiter]

I'm not the one you should be sorry for. I'm... alive.

[And that's more than can be said for many others.]

[matchbreaker]

It's for that reason. The dead can have their mourning, but the living must carry on.

[bloodbiter]

That's not something to be pitied. That is just... a fact.