sevenvirtues | (no subject)

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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.

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I suppose I wasn't to be told about this.

[ it makes sense to her why she wouldn't be informed while they were alive, but after she died.. well, she's not exactly mad, and it seems like they weren't entirely successful (that's what happens when the teens are involved, morrigan wagers), but morrigan being morrigan, she hated being in the dark about things. ]

Shouting as if we were petulant children will certainly not bring us back to life, so instead, let us focus on what we must do now.

Sorry about that.

[HE UNDERSTANDS THE FRUSTRATION, MORRIGAN, since he only kinda-sorta knew what was going on and definitely not to the extent of what was actually happening. He'd still wanted to tell Morrigan something was up but then a demon told him to cut that shit out and trust Break, SO. He did, like the loser he is.]

But I agree... I'm not sure anything they've been working toward will actually come to fruition now.

You knew then, too, Gilbert? It only makes sense. Break has been your companion for some time.

[ it really does all make sense, so she's not even offended, she just feels like the weakest shady link here. or at least the one the most in the dark. but she knows how demons are.. they're assholes. like, always. there is not a non-asshole demon. ]

Unless a few particularly pesky flies die, I don't believe that it will.

[ namely, katerina. ]

I knew that Break was working on something shortly after I died, but I didn't even know that multiple people were involved until last week. He kept things as quiet as possible so Katerina wouldn't overhear... I didn't even know what he was doing, to be honest. He just said to trust him.

[SO GILBERT DID... Though he does seem genuinely apologetic, since team shady's gotta stick together and they just kind of became Team Secrets And Also Gilbert Being Confused And Someone Help Morrigan.]

If there's a way to find her and get that talisman off, we could just take care of that problem ourselves. She must be around here somewhere... She wouldn't leave Miata in the basement without some sort of guard, right?

Hm, yes, 'tis a possibility, though I doubt a mere bumrush with pitchforks and torches will solve everything. I have to wonder if Katerina is capable of manifesting here — the sins certainly are, as they've ever so elegantly graced us with their presence numerous times, but Katerina surely has few reasons to be here.

[ after all, what could she possibly want from all the people she'd already killed.. ]

We may yet be able to contact the living a final time, a last ditch effort for cooperation between us and them. Perhaps then we will be able to seize the talisman.

Katerina is just a normal human girl, if what Break's said is right. I don't think "manifesting" is something she can do at all.

[She probably really is just straight-up hiding somewhere in town, unless she's got mad magic...]

But that might be a good plan. [...] If they don't kill each other first, I guess.

A girl who's made a communion with demons.. but I have seen similar situations.

[ all morrigan can think about is that time that shitty kid nearly destroyed an entire village because he had been possessed by a demon. it was ugly. ]

Hm. Yes. Killing one another does seem as if it will be a pressing issue. [ a huff. ] Buddy shan't hesitate to kill again if it means she will survive. 'Tis difficult to blame her when everything thus far has been one grand lie.

Even like that, people can be taken down.

[IT'S LITERALLY HIS JOB he's so ready for this...]

As long as she doesn't go too far, it should be fine, at least. [That's a little too loose of a concern for a situation like this?!] But it looks like they're explaining everything anyway, so it depends on whether or not what they say is trusted.

[ oh, ah. he did honestly want to tell morrigan, he did. he just never was sure how to do it.

plus, he really only wanted to talk to her again when he was sure he could bring her back. he wanted to be so sure, first.

so, he deflates a little, running a hand over his hair and looking away from her. ]

Not... while you were alive, no. I argued with Miata about that too. Why couldn't you help? You know magic, you're excellent at it. [ he... assumes... ] But she said her magic was different. I don't know, just more bullshit.

[ but right. yes. ]

I... don't really know what now. Everyone who knew what was going on is dead now except for... maybe Roxy and Inaba? But I don't trust them to do anything right. Not Inaba, but maybe Roxy. I don't know what's going to happen from here.

If you've a talent for magic, you should be able to harness any spell's power — it is only a weak mind and one's preconceived notions of magic outside of one's school that limits you.

[ all mages have their own talents, individual things they were good at, but they could be taught. she could have helped somehow. ]

I find it hard to imagine either of them overcoming this Katerina's magic, so no. My confidence is exceptionally low. [ a sigh. ] This farce grows more ridiculous as each sun sets.

See, that's what I thought. Then the way your murder went down and the whole time, I knew Buddy would come back anyway? I knew retirement didn't mean anything? But I couldn't say it because of Miata.

[ he bites his lip and sighs, shoulders slumping. ]

If you ever wanted to know why I was so angry, that's why. Then they still killed Lucy later on because "she's the one who did it"? It didn't make any sense to me. You could've helped us, if you'd been alive, and no one thought about that.

[ ugh blurgh blugh he hates everything ]

Part of me just wants to give up, see how it plays out. Can't do anything anymore now that I'm dead, right? A-ahaha... ha...

Well— I..

[ she thought rhys was just being an overemotional sap at the time, but, well.. the fact that rhys was vouching for her usefulness really struck a chord. she didn't want buddy to die regardless, but now, knowing that everything meant nothing in the end.. ]

Thank.. you, Rhys. 'Tis a shame it did not work out as you had envisioned, but we mustn't lay down our swords quite yet — there exists a hole in Katerina's darning sock somewhere. We need only to find an exploit.

[ see, and here rhys thought it was obvious the whole time. he's team shady for a reason! he thought about it, strategically. he wasn't just being a sap (though there was definitely some sap there). so, he doesn't really notice morrigan's falter and instead just nods. ]

It's no problem. You didn't know the whole story, after all.

[ but right, an exploit. ]

It's probably her book. I have no idea how to get it now and honestly, I don't want to be the guy who gets it. I've done enough, you know? I just want someone else to uh, play the hero now. Not that I'm really a "hero" or anything, I guess, but...

[ Morrigan at least gets an apologetic smile from Break, and he even bows his head to her lightly as if to accompany that smile. ]

...It may not be worth much, but I would have included you if I could have.

[ It's not that Break didn't trust Morrigan. Actually, it's the opposite, since he would have been happier to tell him what he knew, albeit in the frustrating, vague ways he was limited to. The problem is actually simpler than that. ]

But the only reason that they know is because they wouldn't leave me alone. [ god... ] I only expected to include Gilbert, but I didn't think other dead would be lingering around me.

'Tis nothing, however unfruitful your endeavors may end, 'twas a sensitive undertaking to bear.

[ and really, it's not like she could help too much from the graveyard. so it's whatever, fam. ]

Typically, I am not prone to hypotheticals, but my wandering deceased mind has to ponder how differently this may have ended if the group of moles was slightly shifted. Would there be so many here? Perhaps we would have foiled Katerina's conspiracy much earlier.

[ The hypothetical definitely gets Break to laugh, and he shrugs, but also nods in agreement. It seems to be contradictory, but that shrug is largely because there are so many unknowns with how to actually do so. For actual determination and desire... Well. ]

It's definitely not the group I would have picked, I would say. We had our own little group going rather well for a while, didn't we?

[ And then SOMEONE had to mash betray and go die. Rude! But no, he absolutely doesn't bring that up, and that's as much as he'll allude to it, since he doesn't actually feel that way at all. ]

It's no easy task to try and spread information when it's possible that your enemy is quite literally listening to every word, but I can at least imagine a better efficiency.

Yes, indeed.. 'tis only my fault for the resolution of our collective.

[ the whole dying thing and all.. but buddy would have murdered someone regardless of her, and she couldn't have left her to her own devices. she had to help, and this is where she ended up because of it. it was foolish, but it was what it was. ]

I have no doubt that Miata has nothing but time to ponder her missteps while she remains in the basement. Hopefully the hostages have more welcome ears to her plights than us.

Well, probably. They haven't had to deal with this mess themselves.

[ And Miata is definitely sympathetic. He objectively knew that when he joined the moles and simply didn't trust her, but by now, it's more dislike than distrust. He sighs and crosses his arms, then bows his head to Morrigan lightly. ]

Though there is something I would like to ask you about in particular now that I know a bit more about what's going on here. You use magic, I heard? So what do you think about all of the ritual?

I had suspected from the first week that some manner of ritual was taking place — the first clue was the enchantments placed on the pendants, a spell unfamiliar even to myself. The magic therein would only be possible with a demon's influence; whether it be through blood magic, or the presence of a demon, I could not be sure — but I suspect this Katerina has stumbled into something of which she is not prepared for, a manner of magic which has breadth far wider than the expanse of her arcane capabilities.

[ she sighs, flicking her wrists dismissively. it seems like she doesn't have a lot of confidence in things working out for katerina. ]

In essence, my suspicion is that Katerina is much greener of a mage than she may let on. 'Tis possible she excavated some lost art for some reason — whatever war it is that ravaged this town, I imagine. Either way, soon her own hubris that envelops her, swallows her whole — if the demons do not beat her to it. 'Tis why I suggest killing the girl as the best course of action. There is no saving her, not now.

[ Break listens seriously as Morrigan explains (since, as promised, he's no longer distracted by her attire), and once she gets to her ultimate point, he nods in agreement, though it's quickly followed with a wry laugh and smile. ]

I would advocate that course of action, though my reasoning is admittedly much more petty.

[ He's definitely the sort of person to bear very murderous grudges, but that's no surprise. In fact, that's why Gilbert has been doing an excellent job thus far to make sure Break doesn't even see Sadie, probably... ]

My own experience in magic is fairly limited to binding circles and practical things like that, so I admittedly don't know much, but I would be inclined to agree. Even if things work quite differently here, I would also guess that it's rather universal that creatures like demons can't be trusted, no matter what name they go by.

[ He shrugs, then crosses his arms. ]

Clover managed to tell Rhys and I some things about what's happening here, but admittedly it's limited. It seems that Lucifer may have plans of her own, and that isn't a surprise, but it does worry me.

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