the prism (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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chroma2022-04-03 11:23 am
saturations) wrote in chroma2022-04-03 11:23 am
Entry tags:
WEEK SIX: EXECUTION
EXECUTION: CLARTE
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, Clarte alone will begin to walk through as though drawn. All you can do now is watch and wait.
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The winged guard is struck down, and Nogiku nearly doubles over with a violent cough.]
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Nogiku accepts the handkerchief with a quiet thank you, her hands shaking as she brings it up to her mouth just in time for another violent coughing fit. The petals are tucked away quickly.]
They would hate this... If they were fully in control of themselves, they would hate this to the very core of their being.
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He'll just nod, though, and then cough into his own handkerchief because this is so hateful! Wow. This is so hateful.]
...Yeah. That's the point of these stupid things.
[He hates the way this place picks at them, at their weaknesses and fears, cutting them open and exposing them.]
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[They really are about to watch Clarte kill all their dead friends one by one, huh?]
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...Yeah. I am, too.
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I—
[She starts to say, but then there is the sensation of chains on her wrists, holding her down. For once, Nogiku looks absolutely terrified.
And then her expression tightens, tears springing to her eyes.]
They wanted us to save the other refracted. But they deserved to be saved, too!
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The feeling of being shackled is a surprise to him, but not something he can't handle - so he's just focusing on Nogiku, even though he has! No idea how to help!! He doesn't know what to say or do to make any of this easier, as Clarte walks toward that final, lone figure. What can he say that would even matter?]
--They did. [Quietly, as he coughs up a few petals.] They did. I know... It's not fair.
[None of this is.]
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... For their sake, and that of their friends, it would have been less cruel if they had chosen combat.
[Because, at least, then their trauma wouldn't have been put on display for all to watch. At least, then they would be forced to kill phantoms of people they clearly loved? But Clarte made their choice, so...
She really did hate their self-sacrificial nature.]
No matter what it takes, or what it costs us, we have to restore the dead and find our way out of the Prism.
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[A little flicker of anger because LISTEN. He loves Clarte, but he also hates their self-sacrificial nature. Sometimes... you are selfish in your selflessness. And he thinks Clarte was perfectly aware of that.
He's quiet for a little while over the rest of that, though, coughing into his handkerchief, watching Clarte beg.]
--Yeah. I know - and we will.
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Well.
Clarte is ordered to kill themselves, and just like that, Nogiku freezes and falls silent entirely.]
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Kashuu will give her a look of obvious concern, but at the same time, he doesn't want to look away from Clarte's final moments - so his attention is mostly there, his jaw held at a terse and stubborn angle.
He really does hate this place.]
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She keeps the handkerchief pressed to her mouth now, coughing, feeling an intense hatred for someone named Jan... Who could it be?]
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Nogiku watches, flinching when they turn the sword on themselves — blinking away the tears when she starts to cry.
Except...?
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