trusthell | WEEK 6.

WEEK 6.

WEEK 6
With the deaths of Viktor Nikiforov, Varric Tethras, and Killia, you're down to half of your original number. There's only fifteen of you left.

How much longer before your number drops again?

Saturday is given to regrouping and rest; on Sunday morning the clock chimes as it always has, but at least there are no bodies to find today. It seems you're safe for now. The night before wasn't necessarily a peaceful one, however; you'll probably feel a bit groggy when you wake up, and it seems you've regained something that you didn't realize you'd lost...

Of course, that doesn't mean that you've gained nothing else among the many, many losses you've faced; it seems that another floor has been made available to you for surviving another week.

Congratulations and well done, even if you might not necessarily appreciate the reward.

APPRENTICES REMAINING: 15

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[OOC: Welcome to week six 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 Wordsmith, you can do so through letters or the switchboard!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[LET'S GO CLEANING UP IN THE KITCHEN Hanyuu's, it seems, trying to figure out just...what to do with the mochi she's made, putting it in the fridge to save will make it hard and bad but if she leaves it out will Kageshirou take it???

...Does Kageshirou like mochi????

Should she look into this?????

So yes, there's a very puzzled Hanyuu staring at a plate of chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla mochi (she has definitely made too much) trying to decide what to do with it, when Elda arrives. Her approach doesn't startle Hanyuu, but she does glance for a moment to make sure...okay, there's no one else there this time, that's good at least!]

Aah, Elda, good evening. [A lot more relaxed now that she's had time to decompress.] What is it?

[ Does she want to say this right in the kitchen? ... Maybe?

... No, she might as well. ]

I need to hear the truth of something right from your lips. [ and so, before she loses her nerve...

No, she want to make sure she's got the full attention. This is... honestly, after that letter, she suspects their relationship is changed. But what she says next might ruin it. But it's also something that she needs, completely. ]

Edited 2017-03-01 09:53 (UTC)

[That's. Ominous. Yes, Elda definitely has her full attention, though Hanyuu looks a little apprehensive about whatever question she is to answer, and that much is obvious.]

Aah... What, do you want to know...?

[ She wants to avoid her gaze, but she won't. She will keep hard eye contact with her, and she will keep her voice even. She will ask this to Hanyuu with a strong voice.

Even if her heart is weak, and she knows it ]

Would you forgive me if I were to win Wordsmith's game this week, and ensure salvation both for me and for you?

[ IE: If she took advantage of the motive to ensure that Hanyuu survived in addition to her. And she... killed someone. This week.

And frankly, se doesn't know which way that answer will fall, and she's also not certain which way that she wants it to. ]

Edited 2017-03-01 23:12 (UTC)

[Of all the things to come out of her mouth, Hanyuu did not expect this. Her eyes go wide, and her breathing just stops. One of her arms rises, almost to her chest, as if to grip at her heart, but it falls short, just suspended there, as she stares-]

How...

[...]

How can...you ask me that?

[Those words are soaked in pain.]

[ She knows it's... too much?

... No, it's not too much. It's honest, it's an honest consideration that she's having, a dark consideration that she knows she can't hold onto alone. She had talked about it with Silver earlier, largely by accident because the boy had called her out on it.

And now...

She doesn't know which answer she dreads more.

But she holds her hard gaze, even if she's trembling just a bit - namely, that one of her hands is a shaking fist at her side ]

[...She's not joking. She's serious. She's...not taking it back, she expects an answer.

Hanyuu stares at Elda, aghast.]

After everything...that's happened... How can you ask me that?! [She swallows-] After all you've seen, how could you not know-?!

[ The answer's simple, really. And when she came here, she had promised herself she wouldn't give it away, she would have Hanyuu - Hanyuu had to know, right? Hanyuu...

She had to be-

She had- to know-

That promise they made early on feels so long ago. She wonders if Hanyuu considers it as null as Elda does not. Elda's fist vibrates a little more as she endures this. And ultimately, when that endurance fails. She's too raw tonight, after that letter. After that confrontation with Silver. ]

... Because I wanted to hope. [ She swallows too ] ... That you would not.

[ So this would be...

easier for her. To say she couldn't do it. ]

Edited 2017-03-02 06:54 (UTC)

Of course I wouldn't...!

[She chokes on that. It's not as easy as that, really, not after everything she's seen. Her hands curl to fists and she takes a deep breath.] I would forgive...if you tried to send me to my death. If you sent me off, I- if your sins were something you recognized...and understood.

[...But-]

I might even...in this case, but-

I would never...ever...be able to look at you...the same. [Ah-] As a god, I could... I could maybe find the strength, but as myself, I- I could never... [But-] And I could never live with myself!

[She's wrapped in so much sadness, and so much anger. It seeps out as this, as her stomping her foot to articulate this. Her footsteps, they always are so loud.]

[ You know. ... You know, that's actually so reassuring to her, to have rejection. That she pulls apart those two parts of herself. That god, Hanyuu, that god for humanity might forgive her. But that Hanyuu, the demon, the woman, the one Elda-- her friend, her friend could not.

Elda might have averted her gaze, looking down at nothing in particular, but he almost would have smiled if not for how dark this moment was. ]

To me... Whatever sin is involved there, if I could see you safely to Hinamizawa and me to my manor, any of that's worth it. [ She was damned to begin with, if the church was to be believed ] But I could not endure your scorn - so I am glad to hear that is the case.

.... I'm sorry, Hanyuu. But I'm terrified.

["I would rather die," she almost says.

She'd rather die, than get out that way, leaving all of them behind and shouldering that sin. That, however, won't help right now. She crosses the distance between them, swiftly, and takes hold of Elda's wrists.]

So am I! I've been scared every moment we've been in here, but- but right now-- I believe! I've learned, that's the most powerful thing I can do, that anyone can do- and if there's even the smallest chance that belief can find us a future outside these walls, then I'm going to keep doing it... So please...! Please, don't give in, or give up! You believe too!

[ Believe. Always scared. .... Hah. She just keeps adding to Hanyuu's burdens, over and over and over. She looks down at the hands taking her own wrists like this, and she smiles. Hanyuu's so warm. ]

I've always believed that I was going to get out of this, one way or another. [ That isn't what this moment calls for, is it? ]

Hanyuu. That first promise we made, I want to refute that.

Edited 2017-03-02 09:27 (UTC)

[She almost jerks away.

That promise.

That in the end, if Elda killed someone, Hanyuu would be the one to take her down. She would go down fighting, to save every last person here she could. That if Elda killed them all, Hanyuu would be the last she went after.

That horrible, twisted promise.]

What...do you mean by that...?

[It frightens her. The way Elda's talking.]

Simply...

[ Hanyuu had read that letter tonight, and her response had been .... not terribly artful. Really, this response isn't terribly artful. But the fact of the matter is, Elda Marker is now certain, ]

... That I could not kill you. No, I would not. And so it can't apply.

[ In a way, she's sorry. In another way, she's weak on two different accounts. In another way... ]

[Her fears are, thankfully, unfounded. Tension flows out of Hanyuu, and she takes a shuddering breath.

She hopes it means as well...that this week, she really won't act. She hopes- no, she believes it does.]

I am...beyond relieved to...to hear you say that.

[ But what does that mean now, for her? Does that mean she has ascribed a value to Hanyuu beyond that of returning to her family? Does that mean she now he faith in an alternative victory? ... No, surely not, not 100%. Elda Marker couldn't rule out the option that she would need to "win" atop all their corpses.

... But.

But she knows that for certain.

And she's left here, hanging her head a little. ]

... May I touch you, Hanyuu?

[...See. She's always said yes, and she doesn't really want to say no, but after- what happened today, at the meeting-

Hanyuu is a bit hesitant.]

I... Yes, but... [...] Please, aah...m-my horns, I...please, not them.

Why not?

[ But all the same, wanting to touch her friend, Elda glides the last few steps over. She takes Hanyuu's hands in her own, holding them. She squeezes.

This isn't petulant so much as...

Confused? Wanting to understand? Something between those. ]

[She doesn't...want to explain this...]

I- b-because they... We're...anyone could walk in, and...I...

[A shiver runs up her arms.]

...they're not... A- au... They're- I don't...want them to be touched.

['I don't want to be called a monster ever again!']

[ She doesn't understand. How could she? She might want to know more in future, why she could possibly reject such a beautiful, unique part of herself. But at the same time... She'll at least accept a direct command. Hell, maybe they have a lot more feeling in them than she figured. Elda hums a little, and she nods, solemnly. ]

... Then I won't.

[ However, she is going to pull Hanyuu's hands up, so that she might kiss her fingertips. She brings them up towards her face before she asks again, though she doesn't actually take action.

She remembers those claw marks on her podium at the last trial. ]

Is this okay?

Edited 2017-03-02 22:15 (UTC)

[There's some hesitation before Hanyuu nods. She doesn't quite follow Elda's line of thought. ...She doesn't follow her line of thought on a lot of things, but...these last few days have been more than a little difficult.]

[ It's true, and it's not - okay no, Elda's actually been a straight up cause of a lot of the difficulty. But the woman kisses Hanyuu's fingertips, pressing both hands together so that she might do so, before pulling back her head and standing there, holding Hanyuu's hands in her own.

And she knows she hardly deserves to do so, but she's selfish.

Elda smiles. ]

[Hanyuu slowly closes her eyes and...

Well, she thinks.

She's never...had an experience like this. It reminds her, honestly...of someone she really doesn't...]

You like me- you love me- because I'm not human?

[...it slips out. She doesn't mean for it to, but it does.]

[ . . . What? The moment breaks a little, and Elda's cheeks color some. She doesn't let go of her hands. But. That's... ]

I love you because you're you. [ If anything, she's offended Hanyuu would suggest that. ] I... love that you aren't human though.

[ Elda probably sounds more annoyed than she should to be questioned on this ]

Edited 2017-03-03 06:54 (UTC)

Why?

[...She feels that answer should be obvious, but-]

Why...would you tell me something like that? [This is really happening now, huh.]

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