trustfell | It keeps happening

It keeps happening

[After that horror show of an execution, Mordecai is still restless from the investigation and trial. He has too much pent-up energy, and plenty of others are sure to be upset, too. Ashley was loved by nearly all of them, the trial was mentally draining, and that execution was crueler than it should have been.

Two hours after everyone has returned to their rooms, they'll find a note slipped under their doors.]

We can't go on with empty stomachs. There's food in the kitchen, and the dining room is always open if you need someone to talk to.

Please keep anything outside of eating and civilized conversation away from the dining hall. That room is meant to be a peaceful place for those of us that need it.

-Mordecai Benmont Jiminy

[Today, there's cream of tomato soup warming up on the stove with a set of bowls besides it. It's a more mindless dish to prepare than mashed potatoes, as much as Mordecai wants to vent his frustrations on the potatoes.

He decides to follow Cabanela's tradition and lights one more candle, and after some consideration, lights a sixth. Let those who cared about either girl pay their respects.]

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[It's sad that this is one of the most normal conversations he's had in the weeks since they arrived here...]

Her name's Lynne.

Lynne... That's a beautiful name.

[...though maybe that's because he named a chicken "Evelyn" um.]

Is she related to you?

[He's interested in hearing more about her because yeah, this is the most normal conversation he's had in awhile and it doesn't involve executions or Reaver or murder and he is totally here for this.]

No, not at all, actually.

[It's.... complicated.]

Ten years ago, she was involved in a big case. After that, Jowd and I kept an eye on her, to make sure nothing happened.

A big case?

[From what he's gathered, cops are basically investigators, though less stupid than the ones Logan has heard of in Albion. He can only imagine how this went down.]

What happened?

[There's a pause, long enough for Cabanela to take a deep breath.]

Major national secrets were released. There were a number of people working on the project, but one man in particular caught the eye of people investigating the case-- his name was Yomiel, and he was a programmer.

I was assigned to interrogate him-- I was brand new on the force, and I was preetty damn headstrong back then. Prone to getting over my head.

[Logan tips his head as Cabanela speaks.]

I assume this ended up with you in over your head. What happened?

I puuuushed him too hard, I made him think he had no hope, that we were going to find him guilty.

And I was caaareless; somehow, I left my gun behind.

He used it to escape into the park, where a little girl was playing in the leaves.

[He assumes Logan can tell where this is headed.]

He... He threatened her?

[Obviously she's not dead, but... that's horrifying and Logan's expression actually sort of reflects that.]

He took her hostage.

It was the act of a desperate man, one who thought he had no options left.

Jowd cornered him in the park-- he did everything he could to get the man to stop. But before he could stop Yomiel from harming Lynne, or before Yomiel could harm Lynne, a meteorite shot down into the park from the sky.

a fragment hit Yomiel, killing him instantly.

A... meteorite?

[Of all things to happen...

Then again he probably shouldn't question it given how literally everything in Albion is.]

So... he died, she was saved, and you... do you blame yourself for that?

If I hadn't pushed him so hard, that man would still be alive today.

...I see.

[Logan is quiet for a moment, staring intently at the floor.]

I understand that feeling. I... have had to make many difficult decisions for Albion's safety. Many of them have resulted in people suffering or dying.

[Once that's out there he seems to realize how that sounds and Logan sits up a bit.]

Ah, I didn't mean to... I'm not trying to say that what I went through was worse than what you experienced. I... am terrible at this, honestly.

[Selfish, self-centered...]

Hmm.

[He's not offended or anything. He feels a little too defeated to feel anything like that.]

Don't worry about it, it's... noot like anything can be done of this situation. It was a long time ago.

Five years after that, that's when Alma was murdered-- I've told you about that already. And then the night I was kidnapped and brought here would have been the ten-year anniversary.

Something straaange was going on back home, I just never got the chance to learn what.

[Ten year anniversary...]

...I'm so sorry, Cabanela.

[Logan's never been very good at expressing sympathy, but boy is he trying. He runs a hand back through his hair and tugs on the ends for a moment before settling his hand on his knee again.]

While I understand portions of your situation, I cannot say I completely understand what you have gone through. Everything that happened with that man, everything that happened to your friend... I'm sorry.

[And yet Cabanela never seemed to screwed up over the incentive this week that he'd think about moving on it. He could have prevented Yomiel from dying with that...]

It's fine, really.

I've... accepted there's nothing I can do. I want Jowd to be happy with what I've done, so I'll do whatever I can here. For you, and everyone else.

[To be honest, that had been because he didn't believe that the Conductor could do such a thing. There's no such thing as waving a magic wand and changing the past.]

What.... did you come here to talk about?

I understand. That... That's very important and I hope you can do that for him.

[At least you were able to believe that! He wasn't.]

...They called her a monster. Asuka. While I do not agree with what she did and I'm furious with her for killing Ashley... she's not a monster.

[Logan looks extremely troubled by this and he slouches forward, resting his elbows on his knees and lacing his hands in front of him.]

[His hands shake, just faintly.]

She wasn't a monster. They're fools, all of them.

Have they forgotten what we've been doing? We've been killing, too. Reaver, Undyne, now Asuka... they're dead because the group chose to kill them.

Yes. They are. We chose our lives over theirs. That... That is not something we can ever forget. We may not have killed them ourselves, but it was our actions that led to their deaths.

[His hands are shaking again despite the fact that his voice is steady.]

I... I asked Reaver to confess. How could I have done that? How could I ask him to do that, to give up his life? I wanted to be angry at him, I wanted him to deny it, to make it easier on me. What... What is wrong with me...?

[He flinches once that's out there and Logan shakes his head.]

I'm... sorry, I...

Don't-- don't apologize.

[God, what's wrong with him? What's happened to him?

....They're both so messed up.]

We've made... terrible sacrifices in the name of survival.

[And that... that gets Logan to laugh. The sound is short and bitter and humorless.]

Terrible sacrifices in the name of survival... Yes.

Four years ago I journeyed across the sea to Aurora. I hoped to find civilization there, and I did. But before that, I found a monster - a real monster, a horrifying entity of darkness.

It called itself the Crawler, and it forced me to kill all of my men. Well over a hundred lives... and I took them all because I could do nothing.

That is what is going to destroy Albion. It took control of my mind once and I have no doubt it will try again when it invades.

[muffled decretum playing in the background tbh]

Je--- Jesus Christ.

[He knew there was something Logan had been hiding from them, something about Albion that he hadn't mentioned, but he'd never thought it would be something like that.]

No... no wonder you're afraid of darkness.

Edited (what did you do with that word, firefox) 2015-11-22 05:45 (UTC)

Darkness and shadows, yes. The Crawler had beings it referred to as its children that were shadow creatures. They were simple enough to defeat on their own. Had I been more cautious, perhaps those soldiers would still be alive. Perhaps...

[And for a brief moment Logan moves to touch the chestplate. He catches himself and sets his hand back on his knee.]

I couldn't tell anyone. Who would believe something like that? No one in Albion. They would have assumed I killed the soldiers on my own and had gone mad. I thought... I thought perhaps I had.

Reaver had been to Aurora. He recognized what had happened, though he had not seen the Crawler. He came to the castle and forced me to talk about what had happened to me and I... broke.

He was not kind, but he was exactly what I needed.

[And then something about that hits him deep in his core. Cabanela goes white as a sheet.]

"Shadow creatures."

You..... you don't think that....?

[Oh god, the shadow creatures that have been present in every trial so far.]

I don't know. I can't tell, I... it's been four years since I've seen them and I...

[He's shaking badly and Logan's gone just as pale.]

It could be, but...

[But they don't move like that, do they? They don't act like that and...]

The Conductor isn't the Crawler. It wouldn't do something like this. It... It messes with minds, it doesn't talk, it... It speaks in your head. It plays on your biggest weaknesses and fears.

We... we haven't had anything like that happen to us, have we?

But what did the Conductor tell Ashley... he said that whatever brought us here could be considered a "god".

What... whatever we're dealing with. Maybe the Conductor is human, but what if we've had it all wrong from the beginning. Even if this isn't the work of the Crawler, maybe we're up against...

[A god.]

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