investigation wrap...?

[cancrymods]

Well that all sure... uh, happened!

Despite the initial hostility, you've gotten a lot of important information to chew over: Esme, the one who holds Authority over Invidia has made it very clear that she opposes the Executors and their intended goal of repairing the Cogs of Renewal at the bottom of Purgatory. And thanks to that, and Esme's degree of control over Invidia, the gang are stuck here until they can find a way to bypass Esme and continue descending the layers of Purgatory.

Surely, everyone will be on the same page about how to handle that!

Either way, with discussions with Esme wrapped up and the Executors on their way, now's a good time to put your heads together and see if you can't work out where to proceed from here.

Or you know, just kick back and relax in Invidia for a bit. You've had a tough weekend!

Comments

[seasharp]

I'm going to make an Esme dummy to beat up.

[JUST NORMAL GIRL STUFF]

It will motivate me to get stronger.

[phantasmagorial]

[ this is so much to unpack she doesn't even know where to fucking START ]

... Okay... I'm not going to stop you [ or rather, she knows better than assume she could if she tried ] but you absolutely can't let Mona see it, under any circumstances.

[seasharp]

That's no problem. It's not like I really want to show her, anyway. Or Veil, either.

[phantasmagorial]

... Right.

[ Rei just stares at her for a quiet moment, trying to work out the most tactful way to word the question she wants to ask. Then she realizes there kind of isn't a tactful way to ask and just goes for straightforward. ]

Are you mad at them?

[seasharp]

...I don't really know.

[And she sighs, deflating a little.]

I was pretty mad when they were in front of me. But they're still part of the group, so it feels like I shouldn't be? But I don't really know how to feel.

Mona seemed about ready to just drop all of us for that girl.

[phantasmagorial]

[ Rei doesn't answer right away. She holds her tongue because she really, really, really doesn't want to fight with Ariel. She doesn't want to say something that sounds like she's saying the other girl is wrong.

But she knows that she has to say something. ]

Um...

[ Her voice is hesitant, and she half-wonders if she should even be trying at all. But she has to.

She's their leader, isn't she? ]

I... understand why you're angry. I really do. She did a horrible thing and– and it's not like even before she did, we had all that much reason to like her. It's just...

I understand what Mona means, too. It's not really the same, but I remember when I first realized you were all here with me and you were awake... I knew that I couldn't leave you behind. I just couldn't. Even if none of you became Executors with me, I still felt... responsible for you, I think? I felt like I had to do something to protect all of you and keep you safe, because there was nobody else who could do it for you.

I think, maybe... Mona might have felt the same way about Esme. If there's no one else who can do it... then doesn't it have to be us?

[seasharp]

[Rei putting it into words helps a little. Somehow, when Mona kept going on, it just made her feel angry. Veil almost more exasperated. It felt like they were just being willfully ignorant of the situation.

Maybe that isn't quite it. Does that... make it better or worse?

Is it a good thing, reaching out to someone bad because it feels like you should? Ariel doesn't know. To her, it doesn't feel like it. But Rei did take that chance with them... That's right...

...]

You're right. It's not really the same.

You heard her talking, right? She doesn't want it. She's already decided what she wants.

And... none of us... none of us acted like she did, when me met you, right? [If they did, there would be a lot of flipping out, let's be real.] Mona was saying, how she was alone. But you were alone, and you'd never do anything like that either.

[Why do things have to be this complicated? Why can't they just fight and get it over with?]

I know Mona and Veil mean well. But I just can't understand accepting someone like that. Especially not if it would mean splitting off from everyone else.

[...Is she the problem? Maybe the fact that she can't understand this means she really is just an idiot.]

[phantasmagorial]

I know. I know it's really frustrating. And it...

[ She doesn't want to say it, because saying it sounds cruel, it sounds dismissive of Mona's feelings and Rei truly doesn't mean it that way. But she can't just keep biting her tongue. ]

It almost felt... a little bit... like she was taking her side against ours. Right?

[ And then she hurries on, as if to soften whatever blow those words might land with. ]

And I don't think she was...! I really don't think that's how either of them meant it. But it's how things ended up feeling.

[seasharp]

[Yeah. That, right there, is the mood, isn't it?]

...If she did have to pick one or the other... who do you think she'd go with?

[phantasmagorial]

...

I wouldn't really be able to guess. And um... I don't think it'd be fair for me to say.

We wouldn't know until she actually did it.

[seasharp]

Mhm. Exactly.

We don't really know.

[It could go either way. But with the others, she feels much safer making an assumption about what they'd do.]

[phantasmagorial]

[ ... okay, now Ariel looks so sad and Rei feels like she should say something to fix it.

An agonizing moment passes, before she can come up with anything. ]

Um– Ariel... even if somebody decided to stay behind, you'd always have the rest of us with you. You know that, right?