Take Responsibility.

[wordsmithery]

The time allotted for investigation this week is a bit longer than normal - not due to anything done wrong on the part of the Apprentices, but perhaps due to a basic understanding that two corpses are going to be decidedly more difficult to handle than one. However, at the end of the time period you've been given, the elevator is waiting for you, as cold and sterile as always in its journey up to the courtroom; you're down to almost half of your original number, and if anything is going to indicate that this shows no signs of stopping, it's probably this week. The deceased have had three more join their numbers since you were here last - Gold, Varric, and Viktor's portraits have been greyed-out and set atop their spots in the podium circle, the podiums themselves draped in black fabric. As always, the lectern above stands empty. Whether he's with you or not, however, once everyone has found their place in the circle, the Wordsmith's voice can be heard throughout the room. "Welcome back. Two more Apprentices are missing from your number today, and I have little doubt that weighs heavily on your minds. Balanced and Capricious have been lost to you, so that the guilty may have a chance to leave the academy and possibly even gain something otherwise impossible to attain. If you wish for your fallen Apprentices to receive justice in death, then you know what to do: yet again, hold the guilty accountable." Sixteen Apprentices remain. However many leave here at the end of the day has yet to be seen.

Comments

SELECTION.

[wordsmithery]

It seems that once again we have reached a conclusion.

As peculiar as the situation this time may be, I am sure you need not be reminded how to have the guilty be held accountable for the sake of your fallen fellow Apprentices.

[elepe]

[There's no hesitation.]

> Individualistic

[byday]

[...right. he has to do this.]

> Individualistic

[matchbreaker]

[ Like she'd hesitate.

> Individualistic ]

[ravagers]

[ .... okay. this doesn't sit well with her at all but. ugh. ]

I'm... I'm really sorry.

>INDIVIDUALISTIC

[tsugomori]

[ At some point in time, Mikazuki makes his way over to his to make his selection, and he's never wavered in making his vote. Why would he now?

It's the same thing as the "duty". It feels like it doesn't matter if he didn't vote. But he doesn't want to pull everyone down with him. That's selfish. He slams his hand down into the vote, and -- it is done.

He didn't lie. He's not voting for Killia. He's voting for ... ]

>INDIVIDUALISTIC

[ Killidia. ]

[acherontiastyx]

Man. If only we could exorcise Bloodskulls McRipandtear instead of voting for a mostly good dude with some shitty alter ego.

But that wouldn't fulfill your weekly suffering quota, would it, asswipe!

[WITH HIS YELLING AT THE WORDSMITH DONE...]

>Individualistic

...Wait. Son of a... Was that some shitty pun!?

[plentyfriendly]

[Phi will need like another day to process all this. Screw this headache and whatever it rode in on. Oh well.]

> INDIVIDUALISTIC

[introspects]

[ first of all, to killia: ]

Killia-kun, I'm sorry this happened to you. You are kind and courageous for fending that other person off for so long. I wish--I wish I didn't have to do this, but I can't let everyone else here die.

[ and then... ]

Your other half can hear this, can't he? Then...I will say this to him: strength is not always physical, but it also manifests in how we treat others and how we show compassion. Sometimes we do need physical strength to overcome obstacles, but this--being locked up here, picking on someone who was never trained to fight at all...this is where you're sorely mistaken about your ways. Those who are strong, those who prevail are the ones who band together to fight against the bad things in this world.

Viktor-san and Varric-san have done just that. Even if they're not here with us, they stuck together, and now we're here.

That is your biggest mistake, and that is why we're here, defeating you right now--and I hope that Killia-kun can get rid of you, one day.

> INDIVIDUALISTIC

Farewell.

[ravagers]

[ what a moving speech... serah and lightning would be proud, she's sure. she's gonna go over and give hime a hug. ]

[introspects]

[ she's still shaking, face still red with anger, but it all sort of breaks when vanille hugs her.

she misses viktor and varric. her heart aches for them and killia. none of them deserve a fate like this. after repeating her own words in her head, she starts to tear up.

she's just....tired. ]

[ravagers]

[ she just holds orihime that much tighter. they were going to get out of here. vanille was going to... she doesn't know. she would have found a way to visit viktor. make him his own ice rink that never melted even when the sun scorched their skin on the hottest days. she was going to tell varric how much she loved him, how happy she was that he accepted her. she was going to tell him everything.

... it's more important than ever, then, to... ]

We'll get out of here. All of us. Even those who are gone. [ she takes orihime's hands. ]

We will make a miracle happen.

[acherontiastyx]

[holy shit this is like the opposite of cool and tough and the team skull way.

but it's also kind of cool, like the magical girl anime you don't admit you watch

how does he even feel about this]

[introspects]

[ come here guzma

embrace your inner mahou shoujo and transform with her ]

[oyashiromama]

[As asked of her, though she yearns to take it for herself, Hanyuu reaches forward and presses the correct button.]

> INDIVIDUALISTIC

...Killia. [She will address him, red dot in her pupils, as always.]

[deofoled]

Yeah?

[oyashiromama]

[She fixes him with a look, though her gaze is sad and resigned.]

Child of demons. [It hurts, to say that.] Though you...had fallen to a part of yourself, to the darkness inside you, that doesn't define who you are. You are much more than the one...who killed those demons and Netherworlds. You are much more than the one who killed Varric, and Viktor. Let that grant you peace, please...and if not that, then the love others have felt for you.

Do not...think the efforts you've made to fight your past futile. I have watched you...have watched you feel love, and sympathy, and remorse...all things that prove you are not what you used to be. It is my fondest wish...that you could have continued to go forward, and grow, but... Even though I have only known you for a short time...I, as a fellow demon and as a god, am proud of our growth.

[A hand rests on her podium, where the shallow marks she'd made are.]

I forgive you, and I accept your sins as my own. I will carry them with me...and I will carry your memory.

[deofoled]

[ It's nice to hear. It was nice to hear everything everyone said about him while he was Killidia. He wants to believe it, and you know for these minutes...he will.]

Thanks, Hanyuu. I wish I could have been more like you. Other demons, need to be more like you.

[feistytrader]

>INDIVIDUALISTIC

[plegia]

[Gangrel doesn't vote immediately this time. It isn't like he has to think about the vote or anything; Killia made it obvious that they're the same person and he has to vote for the guilty party so he can keep living. That's just how this works. It's worked that way since the first week here and he's never once questioned it or hesitated before now.

Survival comes first. Everything else is secondary. Killia doesn't deserve this, but there's no turning back now.]

>INDIVIDUALISTIC

[foundfate]

Killia, I'm sorry it turned out this way. I...I'll make it up to you, I promise.

>INDIVIDUALISTIC

[firstaid]

[There's a few moments where her finger actually goes over her own title, but...

...this is Killia's final request...]

>INDIVIDUALISTIC

[iaspis]

[Back at her own podium to vote, she looks like she's at a loss.]

I am sorry, but even so... I can't do it.

>MILITANT

Think less of me if you want. I don't mind.