week 4, tuesday w/ veronica

[alchemenace]

[ so once everyone else has gotten to veronica and she's trying to get back, there's varian! casually leaning against something in her path and surprisingly sneaky for such a clumsy child ]

Sooo, I take it Evan's objective fulfilling quest did not go great?

Comments

[alchemenace]

[ anyway wow let's read the journal and it ... gets ... worse and worse and worse. varian frowns too, though his is more distressed ]

This is... Is this really her journal? It's... [ depressing. ]

cursed

[asswipe]

... It's one hell of a mental breakdown, Jesus.

[She doesn't know what she was expecting, but this wasn't it. She covers her mouth with her hand, trying to make out as much of the text as she can even with all the rips and tears and smudges.]

Do you think it has anything to do with what Beauty did to her?

[alchemenace]

I don't know. Beauty and the Beast both only came from the latest iteration of this war. But Dragon and Tiger have been at it for a long time and... [ he brushes a hand over "come too far now" as they get to it ] And I don't think either of them have been happy with it for a long time.

[ it's not pity in his voice, more contemplation ]

[asswipe]

So something happened to make her meltdown before Beauty took a dagger to her heart. Got it. That's—

[Hm. Yikes?]

... That's actually really depressing. They really are bound to the rules of this shitty place as much as we are, aren't they?

[alchemenace]

That's what they told me. [ hmm ] Even if we get out of here, this, this whole thing, it'll still happen again. It's a cycle. ... I'd go crazy if I was stuck in it too.

[asswipe]

I figured as much, but...

[Yikes, yikes, yikes.]

What... What if there's a way to get them out of this cycle? Break it, replace them, or— I don't know. Why is this cycle happening at all?

[alchemenace]

It's got to be that someone is, is "writing" them into it. I don't know why, or how we could even begin to stop them. We also have to be realistic, V. Getting ourselves out of this has to be our first priority. If it was easy for Tiger and Dragon to get out of the cycle, they'd have done it already.

[asswipe]

... I know. You're right. It's just— I wish there was something we could do for them, you know? Even if we only get as far as trying, I feel bad knowing that they're getting screwed over just as much as we are.

[alchemenace]

... No, I agree. I'm not saying we shouldn't try, just... At this point, I don't even know where we'd start.

[asswipe]

Well... I have two coins now. Maybe we could try asking the wishing well for ideas, clues, something?

[alchemenace]

If we're asking the wishing well for anything, I kinda feel like we should start asking about the killers we missed the last few weeks. As a start.

[ it's mostly sarcastic. ]

[asswipe]

... Um, about that.

[She's. Cringing for a second here.]

I know who killed Fitzgerald.

[alchemenace]

[ and varian himself is freezing in place suddenly, eyes wide as he stares at veronica ]

You... you do?

[asswipe]

Akechi told me.

[BECAUSE. OF COURSE HE DID.]

He talked to 2B after the trial, and... she confessed to killing Fitzgerald, even if she apparently didn't know who killed Monika. [...] So, uh. That's one less killer to worry about?

[alchemenace]

[ akechi is... the worst.

he heaves out a breath at that reveal, turning away and running a hand through his bangs ]

Oh. [ that's a bit blank and he shakes his head ] Oh, wow. Okay. That. That makes sense. [ ... ] So, was she one of the Blotters?