WEEK 7.

[trustwellness]

WEEK 7 Oerba Dia Vanille, Phi, and Gangrel have joined the deceased, dropping your number even further. This is the second week that the death toll has risen by three, just by way of murder alone. With well over half of your number deceased, how much longer can this go on? 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... As before, it seems that door at the bottom of the stairwell has been unlocked, allowing you to descend even further into the depths of the university; perhaps the new floor holds something promising for you. Or perhaps you'll "christen" this one with another murder. Given the current pattern, that probably wouldn't be a surprise. APPRENTICES REMAINING: 12

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 Wordsmith, you can do so through letters or the switchboard!]

Comments

[oyashiromama]

[There's no wariness in Hanyuu's voice. Rather, she just sounds tired. Not as tired as she has when at her worst, but still tired.]

When something goes wrong...people tend to hide away by themselves. I know...I still have that problem. I didn't... I just didn't want anyone...want you to pull away.]

[matchbreaker]

[ ... Pull away?

Elda...

Actually tightens her grip on Hanyuu, resting her head against the woman's shoulder ]

Hanyuu, I may take brazen action, and I may rage and stomp. But I will never let you go.

[ If anything, she would have to worry about Elda holding her too close, like now. ]

[oyashiromama]

...

[Hanyuu lets out an almost relieved sigh.]

I... I'm sorry. I'm just so used to...for years, I, and Rika, we were all each other had, and...we cope the same way. We retreat into ourselves, to keep from being hurt. I- I'll try not to, anymore, I just...

[She feared. She panicked. For a few days, she was just happy. Without something hanging over her, without uncertainty. She didn't want to fall back to that place. She doesn't, still.]

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . ]

Our titles, Hanyuu. Perhaps that is their meaning.

[ It might seem a little left field, but she whispers this right into the woman's ear, sort of nuzzling her cheek against the other's. ]

[oyashiromama]

[Glances. A very...confused one.]

I... I'm afraid I don't follow...

[matchbreaker]

You, for how wonderful, how caring, how exceptional you are curl up into yourself when times are tough. Your thoughts plague you, and that is a prison you cannot so easily escape. You're cynical.

I... for all of my many faults and many sins, cannot hesitate and cannot stop. Ever have I done what I feel is best, and that is often heedless of the consequences. That means when times are tough, I must be so difficult. But it also means that I am indomitable.

... It's a balance of sorts, isn't it?

[ It's a bit of a stretch on both ends, but. ]

[oyashiromama]

[...Oh. She- oh, Hanyuu hadn't thought of it like...]

I always thought mine fit but...because I'd never be able to see the bright side ever. I started to wonder if it still did, but now... Yes, I think...that lines up, very well.

[A stretch it may be, but Hanyuu is fine with that.]

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda's smile becomes less pronounced and then...

... Well she nips a little at Hanyuu's ear, oops. She backs off just as quickly though, and asks, ]

Would you share any of those thoughts with me?

[ She tries hard to make it sound like a more flippant question, like she won't be offended if Hanyuu doesn't. ... The truth is, of course, she will, but that's small potatoes as compared to the motive they've been given earlier today. ]

[oyashiromama]

[The tiniest yelp. It's mostly from surprise, the nip- it's not bad-]

I... They aren't pleasant to dwell on... ...The first time I spoke with the Wordsmith, actually, I... He called me by it and I was so taken aback, he asked if I thought it didn't fit, but...it was the opposite.

I... Before Rika... When I woke up here... I had barely any hope of speaking with anyone. It was...like I had a fog around me. A fog I put myself into, because...I was too afraid of believing. [...] The more I became that, during those hundred years of Endless June, the more...it hurt Rika. The more she hoped and felt let down, the more it hurt me. We both...loved each other, more than anything, but we could do nothing to help, only hurt. So I tried to stop hurting.

I tried to stop anything...by assuming nothing would work out...just waiting, for a random throw of the dice to save us. I told Rika the same. You can't get let down, your heart can't die if you don't expect the good. I thought...it was the best thing to do. The only...thing to do.

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda is silent. She allows Hanyuu to talk - she... actually she didn't even mean her thoughts about this, but the ones that saw her locking the door earlier. But she'll listen to whatever Hanyuu has to say, holding her from behind. Nuzzling her closer. She braces her. And...

Well, she clearly is being kind ]

[oyashiromama]

I thought...I could make myself stop caring, and it would be better.

[She leans into the touch. Don't worry, Elda, she'll get there, very fast.]

I thought... [...] ...I never want to go back to that again. So, I... I-I needed... I needed some time alone...so I wouldn't drag anyone into that, with me. Because if I started, I didn't...know if I'd be able to stop.

[She and Rika were a feedback loop, so to speak. On and on, again and again, trapped...]

[matchbreaker]

[ Honestly, she's not sure she understands this completely, but then to understand Hanyuu has always been a thing. Sometimes it's intuitive, where long off life experience allows her (what she assumes is) perfect insight. Other times differing perspectives make it a little confusing.

So Hanyuu... Thought she might drag someone into her little loop? Was that the worry? Elda almost says she doesn't see how that could be possible but- no, no. It clearly is.

Should she say something? Not sure if the timing, she decides to wait and see if Hanyuu has more to say ]

[oyashiromama]

[She seems mostly done, but-

But-]

I- I... I had to- I asked the Wordsmith, about it. The incentive. ...I'm afraid what people might do. I don't...want to lose, anymore. And it seems like nothing we do...will stop us from losing.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . ]

What did you ask him, Hanyuu?

[oyashiromama]

You'll be angry with me.

[matchbreaker]

[ Honestly: ]

I'm certain I will.

cw: suicide discussion

[oyashiromama]

I asked him...if an Apprentice's death by their own hand would count towards breaking Rule Seven.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . She knew it, she knew it, she knew it. Elda's body suddenly feels cold, and she tightens her grip around her lover. It's not so much caring now as it is possessive. As it is- ]

Hanyuu, no.

[ Hanyuu was right, she is angry, and she tries to present that as such. But what comes out isn't anger, not really - what projects is fear. ]

[oyashiromama]

[Fear's worse than anger. She knows that fear. It makes her look away and shut her eyes tightly.]

I wouldn't be me if I didn't ask, Elda. I had to.

[...But she didn't bring it up at the meeting.]

[matchbreaker]

[ She knows, of course she knows that- ! But all the same, Elda Marker: ]

You will not leave me alone, Hanyuu! I refuse to allow that, not for anything or anyone!

[ Elda's grip on her tightens, pulling her in towards her despite her shouting. The woman's eyes go wide, and though Hanyuu can't see it, she must know they have shifted to that more cat-like state ]

[oyashiromama]

[It's like... It's like her yelling at Rika. 'You promised we would stay together!' She promised. She...

...Elda Marker may be selfish, but Hanyuu Furude has been just as selfish, before. So she recognizes that desperation, and she doesn't fight it.]

I- I kn-know. I know, it was- awful of me to ask. I can't- I've been, all day, I've been thinking but, I-

I-

[...]

I knew, at the meeting, the moment I saw you, I- I couldn't do it.

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda... Elda actually sob, deflating a little as she collapses into Hanyuu. She'd been prepared to fight, to make some promise of her own or to make some threat. Anything to justify herself, to convince Hanyuu of her stupid duties and how she-

Elda doesn't form that, she just cries. Cries and, ]

I-- knew you would ask. [ Inhale, exhale ] I jammed letters in for him all day. That bastard- taunted me.

[oyashiromama]

[Hanyuu feels her blood go cold, and she can only just get her numb hands to reach up, and wrap around Elda's clinging arms.]

He what? [...Oh that's- a bit of danger in her voice, isn't it?] What did he tell you?

[matchbreaker]

[ The words on the page - because of course she wrote a letter earlier today - are repeated, just as they appeared. they are burned into her very soul ]

"How interesting that I should be approached with another asking the same question regarding suicide. That seems to be a popular idea this week." [ . . . ] "while I am not obligated to disclose what others tell me in confidence, perhaps that paranoia is well-founded."

1/2

[oyashiromama]

[Hanyuu...

Hanyuu sees red.]

How dare he... How dare-- after all I've- after--

[She grits her teeth and tries, so hard, to swallow down this anger. How much she's talked to him... How much she's tried to- how she even thanked him--]