WEEK TWO: EXECUTION

[saturations]

EXECUTION: MARIE AMABUKI

Sunday morning starts peacefully enough, until around noon, when alarms start going off on your phones. The dreadful noise is accompanied by a reminder of the execution taking place in the Central Node. You can snooze the alarms at first, but they begin to get a little more insistent. If you're being stubborn, you can probably hold out until exactly 1 PM, when an archway opens right in front of you and pulls you in.

Today the Central Node is eerily quiet and empty. There are a few blankets laid out on the grass for those of you who wish to sit instead of standing the whole time. No refreshments have been provided, but the Residents are already there waiting for you.

As the last person enters the node, an enormous archway suddenly opens. This archway once again leads to an area which is pitch black inside, with white and grey dust falling softly like snow. The chilly air feels even colder than before, and you instinctively know you must not approach it. If you try to push through anyway, something is blocking your way. Smaller tears to the same space open in the air, at the very least. You can see what's happening, even if you can't follow.

Because - once the archway is open, Marie alone will begin to walk through as though drawn. All you can do now is watch and wait.

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[daggering]

[ ...

when the first, recognizable figure appears, vax tenses, and as it continues, he mutters, softly: ]

...Of course.

[ his eyes flick to percy, briefly, and then back to the archway. ]

[decisions]

[ percy doesn't notice, his jaw just works as he watches. the realization paints itself over his gaze in the tick of his eyebrows higher. ]

Marie...

[daggering]

[ the snowdrop comment floats by.

vax's left hand comes up, presses gently over the one on his armor. ]

's not just that. [ his voice is soft - maybe not talking to anyone, not to percy, but to marie, even if she can't hear.

he glances away, again, back to percy, watching, remembering, and shifts just a little, so they're shoulder to shoulder. ] 's just hope, too.

[ in my last moments, i'd... ]

[meteion]

[ at the mention of 'hope', Meteion looks this way, a distant sort of look in her eyes.

only for a moment though, before looking away. ]

[daggering]

[ in the nebulous space of execution i decided she's close enough, so he reaches out to gently brush his fingers over meteion's feathers. :c ]

[meteion]

[ wow, space bending... no verbal response comes from her, however she does tilt her head so that wing nearest brushes against those fingers. ]

[daggering]

[ i will always bend time and space for bird daughter :( ]

[vedrskogul]

[ Not unlike Meteion, Vax also gets a brief look from here. ]

[daggering]

[ just a quick glance back! seen ]

[decisions]

[ percy takes his eyes off of the execution for one brief moment, and as they're shoulder to shoulder, he leans quietly, just for a moment, before turning his attention back.

hope. ]

[daggering]

[ and as marie starts to scream - as she collapses in on herself, as she begs itsuki to come back,

(i'm scared, i'm scaared - as one by one, the people around her walk away - the wail of a terrified child, of a girl who just wanted her last moments to be hopeful )

vax'ildan grabs percy's hand, and squeezes. ]

[decisions]

[ the moment that marie screams is the moment he feels it like an arrow to the chest. he tries to take a step forward, but of course his feet don't move, and he's left with his mouth slightly parted like he could say something, anything.

and can't.

vax squeezes his hand and he twitches before finally squeezing back, his fingers trembling as he presses closer. ]

[impurities]

[ they aren't able to move, as they watch everything fall apart. as she cries out, cries, frightened. as everything comes to this continuous beeping.

but chang geng looks percy's way, here, and something pinches in the even expression he's mostly held since this started. ]

[decisions]

[ he'll turn to look at him for a moment, as if maybe it will help to stifle the sound of her words, the pain in them.

but it doesn't. they're all here to witness it. he meets chang geng's eyes in that brief handful of seconds, silent understanding before he slowly turns back to keep watching, to wait. ]

[impurities]

[ no. no, looking away doesn't do anything. doesn't make it easier, either, to look back at it and see the end of this deeply cruel, deeply personal execution. even with the understanding in that moment... they shouldn't be seeing this. marie shouldn't -

the archway closes. they're free to move.

chang geng doesn't. just stands and looks at the space that once held marie. ]

[daggering]

[ the shaking isn't surprising - neither is percy trying to move. vax wants to, too, wants to find a way to break through all of this and smash through that archway, grab marie and bring her to safety.

... by now, he knows how futile that is. but percy's right here, and against the tremor in his hand, the familiar space he knows is there, vax keeps that tight hold, fingers lacing through his in sureness, steadiness. if this is all he can do, then he'll do it. he's angry, but right now, it doesn't matter.

when the world narrows to a hospital bed, vax exhales harshly, shaky, slow, and doesn't let go. ]

[ktiseos]

[they certainly find it in the strangest of places.

he glances sidelong at both of them, there, before turning his attention back.]

[daggering]

[ sometimes, that's all you can really do.

standing steady for percy, he does briefly brush his left hand here, when the world narrows down to a hospital, too. ]