cancry | new year, new you

It's been some time since the Executors made their way down to the Gula layer and while things have been quiet, that doesn't necessarily mean they haven't been busy. The snow that had been falling steadily for the past week or so has finally eased, even if a thick blanket of the stuff seems to remain in all the Layers you've travelled to. The ever present threat of an Authority has been mitigated somewhat by Gerda being... well, Gerda and though her intentions and the full scope of her motivations are still a mystery, she at least seems to be willing to assist the Executors so long as they do the same for her in turn.

All the errands they've been running have done a lot to help the Undercity – the kitchen is stocked, and the communal areas feel fuller and livelier. Music often rings out from the stage and all in all, things seem fuller and warmer here.

And yet, that quiet hunger continues to nip at you every moment you spend in Gula. Even if it weren't for the Gluttony Layer's effects, though, there would be answers aplenty to be hungering after – the mysterious butterfly accompanying Ariel, the question of Rei's lack of memories... and of course, the mystery girl who seems determined to see you all returned to mindless Specters once again.

Do you still believe you have what it takes to travel to the bottom of Purgatory and restore things to their natural order?

There's only one way to find out for sure.

[ ... And we're back! After our holiday break, the Gula chapter of Can Cry's metaplot is now continuing! Happy New Year, Executors - let's see what you make of it! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We can definitely also talk about it, if you want.

[Whatever way you want to express your emotions is valid. Verbal communication, practical acts, recreational arson... she's down for whatever.]

[Quietly:] I think he was wrong, you know. When he said you hadn't changed.

Otherwise, why would you care enough to be angry about this? People don't get mad about things that don't matter, do they?

...I don't understand any of it. My feelings, what happened then and now. But I remembered.

[She dematerializes the axe and puts her arms to her sides, fists tightening.]

After that debacle in the meeting. I remembered being in the mansion -- mine, not this one -- training in the cellar after I'd had a fight with my mother. Then I heard her. She'd let in Ernesta and some other girl. She still wanted Ernesta back against my wishes. So of course I came up, I couldn't let this happen, and then...

[Wolfsbane twirls around to face Medic, her hair dishevelled and her breath tight.]

They said I was untalented, that I'd spent my entire life under a delusion that I was a prodigy because Ernesta felt sorry for me!

[Medic frowns.] That doesn't make sense.

[For one, Wolfsbane is highly talented at many things.]

How would that even work?

I always thought that your talent from birth and your bloodline made you better. That if you weren't good enough, you should just give up. But I tried to perform a technique that was impossible for one person to perform alone with what little magic was left in the world, and I thought I could do it. That I was special. But she... She secretly helped me, and all that time, she kept thinking I was beneath her!

That makes... even less sense. If no one could do it alone, why would that make you beneath her? Shouldn't that mean you're just as good as anyone?

[As a friend, she's worried for Wolfsbane. As a scientist, she's quietly a little appalled at the idea of someone falsifying results like that.]

Why did she even do that? What was the point?

Maybe it was pity. Maybe it was to laugh at me. I don't know, and right now I don't care. At that point, the only thing I did care about was destroying her.

[She seethes, breathing in and out.]

And now I'm dead, we're all dead, and I don't even know what I care about now!

[Medic reaches out slowly and carefully, taking Wolfsbane's hand in hers.]

Maybe... now we have a chance to find out?

If everything else is gone, maybe that means we can make something new.

[She jerks back almost on instinct, but stops herself. Trembling, ready to snap at any moment, Wolfsbane reaches back and grabs Medic's hand too tightly.]

...Back then, it was like I couldn't care about anything else. I don't know why. It's different now, and part of me hates that, and the rest of me can't understand why. Something was pushing me, wasn't it?

[Medic doesn't flinch at the tight grip. Sometimes you just need to hold on. For as long as that's true, she won't let go.]

I guess there must have been... I don't think you'd go so far without a good reason. [Genuinely giving it due consideration. She doesn't understand why, but she can understand that clearly it was important.] It could be there's something you haven't seen yet, in your memories, that would make it make sense.

Or maybe dying just... changes us. Makes it all seem different, now that we're seeing it from this side.

...Don't tell anybody. All right? It isn't as if they think well of me anyway, but I've got to convince them I'm in control, not prove them right.

...Okay. [She nods solemnly.] I don't really know how to convince them of anything, but I know privacy is important. I won't talk about your personal stuff without your permission.

[She may be practicing medicine illegally, but that's still no excuse for committing HIPAA violations. Her doctor-patient confidentiality is rock-solid.]

[Also, snitches get stiches.]

[Her grip relaxes some, and she nods.]

I might take you up on that offer to kill some Revenants. At least it'll be a good use of time.

new year, new you

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