sixth loop

[cancrymods]

SUPERBIA

On midnight of the seventh 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 sixth time experiencing the events of the Superbia loop. Some of the school's long hidden secrets are starting to come to light... but is it enough to bring them close to breaking the loop once and for all? Only time will tell. Use this log to investigate during this seven day 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

[emberserker]

Not 1,000 years ago, we didn't. [But then Medic asks some more questions, and:] To prove who was the most worthy, I presume. in truth, for some reason, no winner has ever become the Princeps Mage. So they say that whoever wins must also be loved by Magiaconatus, favoured by the gods. However that works.

Mother -- no, my entire family thought Ernesta must be the one. They decided she was some great talent and wanted to adopt her. To replace me.

[mementomoritz]

So... it didn't work, for a thousand years, and people kept trying the same thing that didn't work last time? [She blinks, looking confused.] Didn't anyone ever try anything else?

[If at first you don't succeed, test a different hypothesis.]

Replace you? Well that's... [She spends a brief second trying to think of a polite way to say this, and then gives up.] ...really stupid.

You can't replace a person with another person. Even with cloning! People are all unique- that's kind of the point of people.

Besides, shouldn't they have wanted to enter as many members of their family into this contest as possible? They could have doubled their chances of winning!

[emberserker]

It doesn't work that way, there's only one heir at a time. We both ended up in the competition, but that's because I confronted Ernesta about the whole thing and she ran away. I don't remember it all, but I don't think I saw her for years until GRANBELM began.

Mother wanted me to give up and do something else with my life. I doubt I would have. I wanted to show her, Ernesta, Magiaconatus itself that I was worth it.

[mementomoritz]

Worth what?

[emberserker]

The power, the attention, I don't know, being what I was supposed to be!

[She sweeps a hand out and, in doing so, knocks off a half-drying piece of Sword. Muttering curses in German, she starts to replace the paper-mâché.]

[mementomoritz]

What you were supposed to be...

[Medic reaches down and carefully picks up the piece of damaged paper mache off the floor, putting it back down on the table.]

Weren't you supposed to be her daughter? If she didn't pay attention to you then...

[There's barely even parents in her memories. They're distant figures, amiable but never close, waving her off with a smile and a nod because the adults are talking, sweetie. Maybe that's just how parents are.]

[But...]

[Even in her earliest memories, there was always Charity. Her da-jie, the person who meant "safe" and "warm" and "loved". There's a dim understanding that most people aren't brought up by their older sisters if they have parents around to do the job, but that doesn't really feel important.]

[The part where Wolfsbane didn't have that... that part feels like it matters a lot more. Her expression firms.]

I think she fucked up. If someone wasn't good enough, I don't think it was you.

[emberserker]

[She's about to... it's hard to say. Maybe talk about how her mother was always attentive and caring to Clare, supporting her dreams in gymnastics. How she kept encouraging Wolfsbane to find something else, saying she was good at cooking and sewing and schoolwork and should do what she was born to do. But she can't, because the words rot before they can leave her, and the thoughts turn to practising spells all night and not getting more than Ernesta this, give up that.]

...She lost the last GRANBELM. So she thought we needed someone stronger. I thought I was that.

[...]

Well, it isn't as if it matters now. We're here, dealing with all this nonsense.

[mementomoritz]

Well, you're definitely strong.

[So there, stupid magic contest nonsense. Adjust your standards accordingly.]

There's definitely a lot of it to deal with! [Yeah, it's pretty much wall to wall nonsense at this point.]

[emberserker]

I can't believe he's still ignoring me when I tried to be civil. I really shouldn't bother. [She picks up the piece Medic retrieved and starts carefully attaching it back onto Paper Sword with more paper-mâché.] What of you, are you doing well now?

[mementomoritz]

I'm not sure he likes anyone... I think maybe Sword just isn't much of a people person.

[Which is fine, people can be solitary. She just wishes it involved less arguing.]

I'm pretty good! ...It'll be nice not to be on a Layer where people keep trying to make me go to class, though- I think you learn a lot more doing independent study. [The biology teacher here wouldn't even let her combine multiple dissected frogs into Frog Voltron, the coward.]

[emberserker]

Chiron certainly seemed to be having fun teaching nothing of any use. I wonder if any of the Spectres absorbed any of it. What have you been studying here, then?