Week 3.

[trustharder]

WEEK 3 Another week has passed; two more Survivors are gone. Pearl and Caren both had someone to fight for, someone worth killing for; perhaps it's for the best to hope that somehow they've found peace despite not being able to collect on the Kingmaker's incentive. Saturday is given to regrouping and sleep; there aren't any bodies to be found on Sunday morning. That doesn't mean the night passed easily, though - it seems another piece of your personal puzzle may have fallen into place while you slept... Following that spiral staircase up to the second floor will reveal something strange; those stairs definitely lead far higher than you remember, up to a previously inaccessible third floor. Go ahead and explore as much as you like; consider it your reward for a job well done. SURVIVORS REMAINING: 23

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
[OOC: Welcome to week two of Trustfell! Save your threads for coins and the coming week's activity check; don't forget to check in to this week's activity check and submit your memory regains!

The text and calling posts are still active, for the sake of contacting the jerk who's keeping you here, to be used at your leisure!]

Comments

[psychoh]

N-No, it's not...

[he pauses, staring down at the tea. he hasn't actually touched it yet.]

I'm weak, but for things back home. Things I let happen. Things I, I couldn't stop.

[devastation]

[well fuck, Megumi definitely sympathizes with that feeling, given what's happened back home for her...]

... Like I said before, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but... I'm willing to listen, if you think talking about it will help you feel better.

[psychoh]

I don't know if it will, is all. I-I've never talked about this before, before here...

[how does one even go about explaining such things... at the beginning?]

... Father died, when I was little. Violently. After him, Mother... I-I was poor substitute for him. I mean, we were happy! Very happy. She just, uh... never really recovered.

When I got, um, older, she started going a little... mad, I guess. Stopped letting me go anywhere, except on the few errands we needed. Less people came by when they moved the highway, which pleased her, but we still had customers. And some locals. And if they, um, were... [girls...]

Long story short, she's, um... Killed five people. So far. [YEAH THAT'S THE PERFECT WAY TO END THAT STORY]

[devastation]

[.......... well then.]

That's... oh... [For a long moment, Megumi honestly doesn't know what to say to that, hands having gone up to her mouth in shock. What can you even say to hearing something like that?]

I'm... I'm so sorry, Norman-san. [She brings her hands back down, and if it wasn't for the way Norman reacted earlier last time she tried to offer a comforting gesture, she probably would try again here. Still, her hands twitch with the impulse to do so nonetheless.] You shouldn't had to have gone through something so horrible like that...

[psychoh]

God, don't feel sorry for me! [he says this a bit too vehemently, and visibly tries to reign that back in.] I should... I should be able to control her, to stop her. But, I can't. And th-that's why I'm weak. It's all my fault she's dead...

[devastation]

No, it's not. [Now, she actually looks pretty serious about this.] Her death isn't your fault, Norman-san, and I refuse to believe that you should be blamed for not having stopped your mother from doing what she did. [If anything, that's her fault for those people's deaths, but Megumi isn't going to say that. That's not what Norman would want to hear, is it?]

And please, don't misunderstand--I'm not pitying you when I say that I'm sorry. I wish that you had not experienced such a thing, but I also wish the same for your mother. What happened is unfortunate for both of you.

[Megumi's trying so hard here--she cares about you norman, and she doesn't want you hating yourself like this. And from the sound of it, your mother was clearly not well, so maybe hating her would be a waste of effort too. And even if hatred was deserved towards her, it wouldn't change what has already happened anyway.]

I still stand by what I said before: you're not weak, Norman-san. In fact, you're stronger than most, for having endured all of that for as long as you have, as well as being strong enough to talk about it now.

[and she means it, too. she really is proud of you for being confident enough to confide in us rather than keeping all of this to yourself...]

[psychoh]

[he's quiet as she speaks, and when she finishes... he just grins a bit. chuckles a little self-deprecatingly.]

If, if I were even half of what you said... I'd be a much better person than I am.

[devastation]

[Norman... still, Megumi tries to offer a reassuring smile in return.]

I know it might be hard to believe, but please trust me when I say that it's the truth.

[She wouldn't lie to you about something like this, honest!]