WEEK FIVE: EXECUTION

[saturations]

EXECUTION: TRIAL BY COMBAT

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, Roxana and Clarte alone will begin to walk through as though drawn. All you can do now is watch and wait.

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Comments

[slashay]

[Don't worry about it, he just looks back and offers a very thin and brief smile that almost immediately gets kicked off his face as soon as Clarte starts talking. Hopefully this won't be horrible but it absolutely will be!]

[petalbursts]

[ the flower...cute.

she watches roxana and clarte walk in, gasping. ]

Did they get their sight back...?

[chevaliered]

[ oh it's gonna be terrible peanut. crow just bumps their shoulders together briefly -- haha imagine if it was his semi-injured one and roxana and clarte had to murder each other to the sound of crow going "OH FUCK SHIT OW" in the audience. anyway.

-- before looking back at the (admittedly very beautiful and stylish) execution going on in front of them. ]

[slashay]

["AT WHAT HE THINKS IS CLARTE WITH EYES" I hate it here hello. They really are both serving such looks though so Clarte better have eyes, damn.

Anyway he just gives Itsuki's hand a lil squeeze in return, watching their interaction unfold.]

[pura]

[group execution to punish clarte for their crimes tbh

nogiku watches them, still tense even as they address roxana.]

[decisions]

[ percy is watching as clarte speaks, and smiles just a bit ]

I believe so. Perhaps some of it at least.

[theampirequeen]

No, they just texted me before they were going in and I was like "stop you're blind".

[ no more texting only healing, she said, while jan was being evil ]

[pura]

[She nods, clenching and unclenching her hands like she's desperate for something to do.]

Yes, and hopefully so do they.

[Clarte your fucking SIGHT.]

[slashay]

[THEY SPENT TOO MANY HOURS IN EACH OTHER'S COMPANY AND NOW THEY NEED A BREAK.

But mood. Depressing already but oh so stylish... He'll be a great crutch for this stupid potato in the meantime, letting him lean as much as he wants as they wait to see who will return this time.]

[experimint]

Oh...

[ a long pause ]

At least they seem to be able to see...? They are pointing their really cool gun in the right direction.

[daggering]

[ world cold and hard bird wings soft and warm.

i just wanted a better life for you. the feathers rustle a little. ]

[disingenuous]

[ It's scenic for an area that's about to be death match, but they're both always at contrast and and at odds despite their surroundings, aren't they? Always some kind of danger to their loved ones, by their choices or their actions. Their reasons to fight, their reasons to live, their reasons for dying.

Much like how you wished for a better life for me, I'd hoped for one for you. That there could be a way for you to live that isn't you killing whoever ends up against you, as I know you'll try tomorrow. ]

Miracles were never something I could have. I will make people grieve you, or you will make yourself grieve. [ ... ] I am glad I met you.

[ They are one person for whom she means this genuinely. She told someone else this last night. She could not promise she will still be here, but she could say she is glad. For someone who has felt very little real contentment in her 19 years of life, for how much the Prism was so much of an extension of her life at home, at least... she could meet people, circles, that weren't like the squares and triangles of her family.

It does not stop her from turning the gun at herself once their idyllic surroundings have formed. She shoots twice and then holds out a hand for the butterflies to swarm around her. ]

[slashay]

[STOP HELP IM IN TEARS imagine someone getting killed because they get distracted by panic! in the peanut gallery, that would be so funny.

But yeah at least they will get to go out glam even if this is going to be THE WORST.]

[theampirequeen]

[ pats her head ]

I'm sorry you can't have the cool gun.

[brotograph]

[ Crutchuu. He gives him a nod, too. He'll just vibe nearby between him and Hot Pants. ]

[chevaliered]

[ he doesn’t have enough hands and limbs tbh but crow is probably nearby. vibing. moodily. hello potato sword. ]

[experimint]

I'm going to make my own and it's going to be way cooler.

[chevaliered]

[ “at least our emotional suffering will be beautiful” - crow and the peanut; chroma, 2k22 ]

[pura]

[...

She looks his way, not saying anything.]

[nightchild]

[THEY BETTER BC DAMB THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE,

Kashuu's hand will get a kneejerk squeeze when Roxana turns the gun on herself -- it's an instinctive reaction and also earned (VAX) -- but his grip loosens when he watches as the butterflies blink into existence around her,

it's never easy to see this, no matter if it's the fourth time, but his heart hurts a little to hear their words -- clarte's and roxana's,]

[daggering]

[ hey ]

[theampirequeen]

You've made stuff that's already pretty dang similar to it anyway.

[nightchild]

[YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID???]

[experimint]

Yes, but I want this one.

[ oh, the infamous butterflies are here now. ]

[georeject]

[at the beauty of their surroundings, something sorrowful flickers across their face. idly, they think of this past week. of the simple, peaceful memories like building a snowman together with roxana in the mountain.

they don't know what happened between roxana and garou. the truth of that night is one roxana has chosen to keep locked away, at least from them. still, all they can do is hold onto the few memories they have, and still look upon them fondly.]

I'm glad I met you too.

[and even now, they mean sincerely. their existence is both a curse and a blessing, but they cannot be the latter for roxana here and now.

garou would be angry if he knew they were up here, they imagine. he, who made it clear that he did not want clarte to volunteer, who hated their "self-sacrificial bullshit". but he's gone, and this is between them and roxana. still, they think of how easily garou said he could agree to be an executioner, only to so quickly sing a different tune when clarte personally asked it of him—

"i don't want to kill you."

... in the end, perhaps this makes clarte far crueler than even the "monster".

both roxana and they left their humanity in the abyss a long time ago. nevertheless, though clarte might steel their heart, they will not kill it. their grief is not a distraction, but the core of their being. they don't hide their pain as they fire their gun twice at themself as well; the red of their hair turns green, and four more wings sprout from their back.

...

they don't want to be the one to make the first move, but they know those butterflies aren't a good sign. with a spin, they flick their arm and send a blast of crystal magic roxana's way.]