sevenvirtues | (no subject)

You awaken to blackness. Frightening, although familiar--this is the same terrible thing you narrowly avoided during your first trip into Lebensbaum. The pain of your death is still real, echoes of the wounds you suffered appearing on your skin. Inspecting your surroundings will tell you that you've woken up inside of the cooled, empty bonfire pit....and the town as it was is nowhere to be seen.

The sky is a whirlwind of blank, dark void. What previously acted as roadblocks on either side of the town seems to have moved upward, blocking out most of the sun's light. The street is barren, filled with piles of broken concrete, shattered glass, and smoking craters where many of the buildings used to be. Old bloodstains dot the pavement, mixing in with overturned cars and crumbling brick walls. Lebensbaum is a dead town, in more ways than one.

Except for the hotel. It stands, as dusty and abandoned as it ever was, but no worse for the wear. Scorch marks can be seen on the ground around it in a clear border, as though it had a barrier protecting it from whatever destroyed the village. If you venture inside, everything is in its place, as though the outside wasn't completely obliterated.

The living can be seen walking around, going about their daily lives, and if you concentrate, you can even see the buildings as they once were--in working order, clean, and in one piece.

As of Monday on Week 10, however, there is a door, seemingly pasted into the middle of the street. As the days tick by, the doors will increase in number, one for each victim.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Lithuania aches all over, though especially in her chest. She can ignore that, though, in favor of sitting up. Which, well, is a bit of a mistake, and she winces, but she keeps going anyway, until she's on her feet and taking in her surroundings.]

Ah. ...Poland is going to be upset.

[ Sadie manages to look mildly happy but doesn't get too close in case Lithuania is, for some crazy reason, upset with her. ]

Hey. She'll be okay.

[Lithuania is keeping her face remarkably devoid of emotion, even for her. Still, she can't help but look troubled when she sees Sadie. Lithuania never really did completely work through her feelings about that.]

Yes, she will. ...Hello, Charlotte. [Is she still going by Charlotte? Well, if she's not, she'll say something.]

It looked bad. [ Her death. Or at least her body. ] What happened?

I had to fight Lucifer. [She feels carefully at her bruises and wounds, eventually touching her chest uncertainly. She can feel the scar through the fabric of her shirt. Maybe that's fitting.] I've had worse injuries, it's fine.

[True, but not the entire story. Worse injuries, certainly, but she's never actually died before.]

[ She doesn't really know what nations go through but it's hard to believe she's gone through worse than Lucifer. ]

Did you get any swipes in?

A few. [There's a part of her that's viciously satisfied with that even if, ultimately, she's unsatisfied at losing and still trying to process what being dead even means for her.] Not as many as I would have liked, of course.

Nice. [ Momthuania is still badass, Sadie is pleased. ]

Being dead isn't so bad, y'know. You can, like, haunt Poland a bunch.

How does that work, exactly? You have limited energy here, yes? [In her few ghost interactions she hadn't really had the time to interrogate them on little details like that.]

Lady Lithuania, I-- [ It's so strange to see her here, but Alisha moves forward anyway, to steady her if she needs it.

Hi. ]

[Lithuania tries to force herself to be steady, but she's still wobbling more than she's pretending she is. Lithuania is just kind of stubborn. If she pretends she's fine, surely that means she is.] Alisha. It's nice to see you again, except for the circumstances.

Long time no see. Guess it's too much to hope for that you took one of those bastards down with you, huh?

[Prussia's not too far away, seated and idly kicking her feet.]

[Ah. Prussia. Lithuania's face looks about as one would expect upon seeing Prussia, which is to say even more humorless than usual.] There isn't much I could do about someone who can teleport and summon swords, though I certainly managed a few strikes of my own.

( That sure is Lithuania and he runs over, reaching out to help her get back on her feet properly? He's not very big but he can still be supportive. )

Miss Lituania.

Urashima. [Lithuania's composure remains steady for a moment longer before she cracks and pulls him into a kind of wobbly hug.] Are you alright?

( He doesn't mind the hug at all but of course, Lithuania knows how he responds to physical affection. He reaches out, arms around her, and hugs in return. )

Mhmm. I'm okay. What about you? What happened...?

I got in a fight with Lucifer. [And got her heart ripped out, too, but Urashima doesn't need to hear that if there's any chance he didn't see it.]

The one that stopped Mr. Break...?

( Hmm. )

Was it a good one?

( A good fight, that is. Did you get a hit in??? )

It would have been better if she hadn't teleported. [Cheating!] But I got some hits in.

Good. ( He's proud of you Lithuania. His priorities are right and he'll hug her again real quick-- one good squeeze-- and step back. ) I'm sorry to see you again but... I'm a little glad, too.

( Sorry. )