and it takes, and it takes, and it takes

[acherontiastyx]

[It... definitely takes a while for the weekly after-execution note to arrive, but it does --- kind of scrawly and on ripped paper rather than nice stationery.]

EY. YO. WE GOT EFFIGIES IN THE DINING ROOM AND WE'RE GONNA BURN EM.

FOOD TOO. THE USUAL AND HOT COCOA. GOOD FOR THE SOUL. GET SOME. MAYBE TAKE IT BACK TO YOUR ROOM IF YOU HAVE TO. JUST GET SOME.

[Anyway, in the dining room, there's plenty of mugs set out, with a janky looking arrow sign pointing into the kitchen to where you can get your hot cocoa. On the table, there's Vichyssoise, a pot of green tea, and some booze. There's also a cookie tray on the floor away from the table on which to burn the Wordsmith and Kimbley effigies, which are handily placed near the food on the table.

...also if you go in the kitchen without shoes on just. Watch the northern corner. There's no kidneys, but there's a lot of broken plates there for some reason...]

Comments

[iaspis]

[Jasper opens her door, looking a little surprised that there's been so many people knocking at her door tonight.]

...Hello. Do you want to come in?

[matchbreaker]

If you want me to.

[ Dully. ] I've got two things for you, though.

[ Namely, a little black book and this jar of colored... sand? ]

[iaspis]

[She stares at the two things blankly before waving Elda inside.

She takes a seat on the bed.]

...I don't recognize either of those.

[matchbreaker]

I didn't think you would!

[ But she comes in, invited. She nods, taking up - well, she considers sitting on the desk, but instead she just keeps standing. Honestly, that puts them almost eye level. ]

The book first. [ she hands that off. "A simple leather-bound notebook full of someone's...well, notes. The handwriting is incredibly messy and it appears to be in German; it also contains complex diagrams of what look like chemistry notations." ] I'm almost certain this was Kimbley's.

[iaspis]

I.....

[She stares at the book for a long moment. She flips through it for a moment before closing it.]

Thank you.

[It's not much use to her, because she can't read the language and knows little about chemistry, but if it's something of Kimbley's....]

[matchbreaker]

[ She can't honestly say, at this point, she feels a lot of sympathy for Kimbley. Perhaps a little guilt, that her name was on that list only to be crossed off like that. But that man was - apparently - going to kill them all. And what's more, his ad gambit had served to...

... No, that made an excuse for them. Gold made his choice, just as Silver made his.

She bites her lip to hold anything else back, nodding solemnly to Jasper before she picks up the jar and shakes it. "A small bottle of star sand that’s said to bring you happiness just by having it. It’s called sand, but it’s not actually rock. It’s the husks of small undersea creatures." As she does, it rattles a bit, sparkling ]

... As for this, you're a gem, right? These look like gems to me.

[ . . . Even if they aren't. Like. At all. ]

[iaspis]

[She takes the bottle carefully.]

...I've seen this before. I got one out of the machine, too. It's.... a little pretty, isn't it?

[matchbreaker]

Oh you did? Drat, I was hoping I'd've gotten you something new!

[ She sighs, shaking her head ]

... It's quite pretty, though. I wish I could see it in the moonlight.

[iaspis]

...Yes.

Maybe we'll get a chance to see it, to get out of here.

[matchbreaker]

Well, I sure will.

[ DULLY. ]

... So, Jasper. Would you have been okay with winning under Kimbley's plan?

[ The real questions ]

[iaspis]

[............do you really want to know the answer to this, do you really]

It would have already started by the time he informed me.

[But that's just an excuse, and she knows it.]

Yes, I would have. I would assume I'm not alone. After all, Gold and Silver were planning something similar.

[matchbreaker]

[ For Elda Marker? Yes?

And despite how tired she is, her eyes turn predatory, much like they did at the tail end of the trial. ]

No, you wouldn't be. Those brats would've killed us all, and I'd promised Hanyuu weeks ago that when I worked it out, I'd win this game. But I'm not clever enough for something like killing everyone in their sleep.

[iaspis]

In order to win this game, it needs to be two conspirators. Killing everyone as they sleep would be the most efficient way to do it.

Leave one of them alive, and both of them vote for the survivor.

[....]

If the Wordsmith would accept that, that's something else entirely.

[matchbreaker]

Alternatively, you could just kill everyone. Who would even vote at the trial then... right? Or you just fool them completely, and "win" the trial by having them convict someone else. Gold and Silver nearly managed that.

[ Honestly, she still only mostly understands this conspiracy that Kimbley had. ]

[iaspis]

If there's no trial, can you truly be considered a "winner"?

I am still not convinced that this isn't the Wordsmith's way of finding a successor.

[matchbreaker]

... Seriously? Why bother with all that rigamaroll?

[iaspis]

Perhaps we are not the first group.

I tried to ask him if he was working with someone, and he refused to answer. I'm beginning to wonder if he was a previous winner. This seems too organized to be the work of one person, no matter how you look at it.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . What. ]

... Wait, really?! [ Shit that-- that actually makes a lot of sense. ] ... Damnation, that would explain a thing or two.

[ Elda's eyes went back to normal, but she's biting on her nail now ]

[iaspis]

Yes.

Even for Gems, something like this would be impossible for one person.

[matchbreaker]

[ Shit, shit shit... ] If you gave a vampire enough time and bats, they could do this, but I haven't sensed a single bat, you're right!

[ UGH ]

He didn't even know about the memory problems.

[iaspis]

Maybe he was given us.

[matchbreaker]

What, like some big boss assigned him a group of people to kill off?

[iaspis]

Something like that, yes.

[matchbreaker]

But why bother? What's the point of that...?

[ She came here to try and do Jasper a solid she shouldn't be doing this. But now she's crouched and sort of rocking on her heels as she thinks ]

[iaspis]

I don't know.

It's only speculation on my part now. It's not like the Wordsmith would confirm it.