third loop

[cancrymods]

SUPERBIA

On midnight of the fourteenth day, it happens again. Time rewinds itself back to the Executors' starting point, putting them right back at the beginning of the loop. This is now their third time experiencing the events of the two-week Superbia loop and while they've made some good progress on the investigation, they still have a ways to go in bringing it to and end and escaping. Use this log to investigate during this two-week time period and drop a comment down to the Investigation Request subheader if you'd like to explore. If you're continuing or building off of a previous loop's investigation results, please link to it in your comment. If you need a refresher on the loop mechanics, check out this post. Good luck, Executors.

Comments

[heir_to_ruin]

[Guess who skulks in at the last minute, looking a touch harried and carrying a few sheets of printed library records?

He's hardly left the library at all last loop and looks like he just..... picked up where he left off straight away this morning.]

So... the loops are getting shorter. Whatever they're running from whether they like it or not they're... uh... going to have to face their mistakes eventually.

[Who said anything about facing mistakes? Are you projecting Ruin?]

[emberserker]

What, so you suppose that's what their motive is? Avoiding whatever mistake led to the masssacre by avoiding the graduation itself and any other gatherings like the school festival?

[heir_to_ruin]

[Oh no. Not Wolfsbane. No no no no

He looks sheepish, almost, struggling for that usual cavalier mask he hides behind. In the end he shrugs and sets the pages down on the table, fanning them out so people can see. Each one has a line with the date and how many books were checked out on that date. The first is short, only 14 lines. A number in red pen scribbled at the top reads 678.

The next page, however, has 30 lines and Ruins, sharp, slanted writing at the top 109

After that the pages start being double-sided and then stapled into sets. Each with a different number.]

I don't know... but something is pushing everyone and everything closer to that date.

[emberserker]

[Her eyes widen for half a second. She shakes her head.]

Perhaps they're running out of power. They can only do so much. Esme and Greta both got their powers from their subjects; Esme was the most envied, Greta was the richest, both needing others they could be above. And with the massacre, on top of anyone who might be stagnating and risk becoming a Revenant... there aren't as many people to be better than, are there?

[alcahest]

[ the context that Ruin's information puts everything else in is — dizzying, in its scope. and it's either the height of self-indulgence, or it speaks to a desperation that makes Mona's heart ache. ]

... Ah. If this Authority's sin is supposed to be pride...

Do you think, maybe it could be that... they're trying to bear everything on their own? Thinking that you can avert a tragedy... is probably arrogance.

[heir_to_ruin]

[Lalalala we're not acknowledging the rage demon today he's got enough #monster issues without her going off on him for looking at someone the wrong way.]

.... Arrogance... or desperation....

[Nope, he doesn't like this at all. Nope nope nope.

Fuck.]

You think maybe... she's trying to take the other girl's place? Like... if she has the President spot maybe... her friend? -The pictures make it seem like they're friends- won't be targeted.

[alcahest]

Mm... It's hard to say when we don't know what happened on that day. But I'm sure the reason she needs to be the student council president is for the Authority's power, so that she can change things.

[ she's silent a moment, and then her voice comes out smaller: ]

... If that's what it is... If she just wants to save someone...

[ Mona won't even fight Revenants. after her struggle with Esme before, it's fairly apparent how her heart must be sinking right now. ]

[heir_to_ruin]

Y-yeah...

[Ruin might just glance over at Lion being all..... exuding aggression and violence. Then he looks back to Mona and shrugs helplessly.

It's pretty awful and he doesn't want that to be the case any more than she does.]

[twibeast]

[ Hmm… ]

…So like… a sort of hubris then?

[ He had not read quite as deeply into the Greek mythology books back in Invidia but he still knows the word and the concept and this is making him feel really ill for some reason. ]

[alcahest]

Yes... Even though it's a noble thing to do, it's still— self-importance. Isn't it? To decide that you alone can defy fate and fix something...

[emberserker]

If nobody else is doing it, why wouldn't you?

[Yeah, being ignored is just making her scowl worse.]

[alcahest]

It isn't wrong to try. But if you keep trying, even when it can't be changed... If you refuse to accept the reality you have to live with...

[emberserker]

Is there anything wrong with that?! If your reality's unfair, if everything you try fails, if everyone around you looks down on you and they say they don't but the people you're supposed to trust only ever tell you to just give up, you'll never be good enough and they shop around to replace you --

[alcahest]

Wolfsbane!

[ it's not anger that Mona cries out with — it's concern. she's made a misstep somewhere, pushed some button that she didn't know Wolfsbane had. immediately, she moves to grasp Wolfsbane's shoulders in a gentle hold, hoping to snap her out of it. ]

That's not it. No one is thinking that way.

[emberserker]

[She wrenches free, but something stops her. Wolfsbane looks at Mona, expression starting to cloud.]

...What do you think is happening, then. With this president of theirs.

[alcahest]

[ ah. a sense of nerves comes over her; it feels like if she says the wrong thing, there'll be a worse outcome than just being wrong. ]

I think... that something terrible happened to the students at that graduation, including the former student council president, and that Miss President — the one we met — is using her Authority to avoid it. I think she's trying again, and again, and again to find a way to change it. And I think... she's so desperate to fix things that she can't accept any other outcome.

... I think that maybe all she wants is to save someone she cares about.

[emberserker]

[Wolfsbane exhales quietly. She frowns and looks the room over.]

Perhaps. But hasn't everyone who's been lost not come back? And the carnage in the gymnasium is still there.

[twibeast]

[ “Replace you—“

There’s something about the way Wolfsbane says that, in combination with his ill feeling earlier, that tugs at his brain. Makes him feel even worse about this than he already did.

He shuts his eyes and tunes out of the conversation for a while as Mona tries to handle it, finding his head beginning to hurt and his face lightly contorting from the discomfort.

Replace…
Replace…
Replace— ]

[schardynfreude]

[...Hey buddy. Do you need a hand? Chiron's just gonna sidle on over beside Achilles. Sit beside him. Shoulder to shoulder. nbd buddy we all been there]

[twibeast]

[ There’s a moment longer where mentally Achilles just isn’t here. He’s somewhere else entirely, hearing a voice that isn’t his that he’s still trying desperately not to remember, in a place he doesn’t fully recall yet nor ever really wants to—

But it’s not long before he finally becomes aware of Chiron’s presence beside him and he snaps out of it, looking at the other with mild surprise for a moment before realizing he was spacing out and attempting to smile.

He’ll be fine! He’s fine. ]

[etincelledefierte]

…are you okay?

[Just going to sit next to him.]

[twibeast]

Mm?

[ He snaps out of it and turns to look at her, (ah right, the new executor) before trying to force a smile. ]

Ah… yes, I’m all right, do not worry about me, Lady Etoile.

[ourtomorrow]

[ Monarch listens to all the resulting conversations, absorbing this information. She might not know? Has he really been suspecting someone who...not who wants to carve a kingdom for herself, like Esme or Greta, but who...who thinks she can carry everything....

Can carry everything on her...own....? ]

We can't let her.

[ He blurts in the middle of a Thoughtful Silence. Because that's his timing. ] Before the person who's turned Authorities against us finds her. Before they use her pain.

We can't let her keep suffering.

[ He'd suspected her. He'd gone in convinced she was no good....He's the one who's no good. ]

[heir_to_ruin]

[Ruin is quiet for a long moment, glances aside at Lion in all his barely contained rage, and then back to Monarch, nodding.... hey he even gives the kid a smile. Weak but it's there.]

Then... I guess she's going to need the best Student Council ever to help her carry that burden, huh?

[It's a start at least. Making sure she knows she's not alone. That people can and will help... It's the best he's got for now.]

[ourtomorrow]

[ The best - wait, the student Executors? Not just say they want to help with the festival to investigate it, but get closer...do for her what the Specters around her can't....

He nods back. (Him, on the Student Council? ...He can wonder why he feels anxious about that later. This is not a typical school!) ] Mmn. Faculty, too.

[ They can all help, in some way. That feels very empowering, to Monarch. ]