END OF CHAPTER 1 ; EXECUTION

[themodsgrimm]

The Story Continues... END OF CHAPTER 1 - WEEK 134 Narrators Remain ; It's execution day, naughty murder children. Breakfast is served in the dining hall, all the better to fortify you for what is to come. Wherever you might wander in the castle, you will find yourself drawn to the foyer when the clock strikes not twelve, but ten. In the distance, there is the sound of clanking armor. Ann Takamaki appears, flanked on either side by suits of armor, escorting her to her punishment. She stares straight ahead with each step closer to the group that they take. A moment later, the Tiger appears on the foyer's staircase. Her hand trails down the banister as she sashays down it, and she takes her place at the head of the group, standing in front of what appears to be a wall. "Come along, darlings," she says. "The execution awaits." You blink, and then it's there — a door leading to the outside. The Tiger steps through it. You have no choice but to follow. Welcome to your second execution post! Please see here for the results of yesterday's voting. In addition, make sure you fill out your CR Chart for Chapter 1! If you have any questions, please ask on our Discord server or ping us on plurk. Please direct pings for the NPC to Danielle (Discord DMs preferred, then entrappings), as she will be taking point for today's NPC, and the moderator team will be on deck for all other questions. full navigation. locations taken (statuses) stories (profiles) info & faq wishing well private conversations

Comments

[axilium]

[well, he supposes he can't argue against that.]

... Do you at least want to get off the floor? I can't imagine it's helping you any.

[finethanks]

[He wonders if he can stand after something like that, but he realizes that he absolutely can. He's feeling much healthier than during the cold, but these emotions aren't holding him back enough. Shouldn't he be falling apart? Or is it just his resolve to put on a strong face?

He doesn't know what's normal.

He lifts his head finally, offering a sheepish smile.]

That's right, isn't it? It's just that I was thinking of it, even still... [Her face, there, in the floor, her movements getting drowsier. He shifts, pushing himself up, staring at his wet sleeve.]

Do you suppose I made the right choice, Belph-kun? With the other options of Hansel and Gretel or Jack and the Beanstalk... I wonder, was one more merciful?

[axilium]

... Well, it's not like we know what they would've entailed.

[he makes a bit of a face.]

If I had to guess, Hansel and Gretel probably would've involved burning to death, and Jack and the Beanstalk... maybe pushing one to their death? I guess it depends on you, which you'd consider more merciful.

Ann didn't choose when you gave her the option, regardless. That was her decision.

[finethanks]

In a way, it's crueler to ask a victim to choose her fate.

[That's what he thinks, anyway. How can you pick? How can you put that responsibility back on them? It was all him. He knows this. Even if he had looked to her in panic, it was his decision.]

I couldn't stop myself from moving. [He feels like he'll have to say this many times, just to express his horror at the idea. He was forced, as easily as that.] But at the water itself, it was more like an urge. Though I was still forced, it felt more like I was actively involved, that way.

[axilium]

... Well, we already know this place messes with our heads.

[people never realizing their partners are gone until it's revealed. the urge that compels them all to move when summoned.]

This was... an especially screwed up example of that. If it wasn't you, it would've been someone else.

[finethanks]

That's true, isn't it?

[He feels... glad at that, at least. That he was able to prevent anyone else from doing this, but at the same time, he wishes he hadn't been chosen. What complicated emotions.]

I can't get that image out of my mind. I wish I had closed my eyes, but I couldn't stop staring as I did that to her.

[axilium]

... It'd probably be weirder if you moved on, just like that. If death haunts you, then it means you still have a conscience.

[belph's hardly the expert, but he believes—it's when you feel nothing that you've reached a point where you should worry.]

Don't let this break you.

[finethanks]

An Emperor doesn't break so easily. I may not be someone who's used to physical blood on my hands, but I'm no stranger to war, either.

[Sort of. Anyway,] The world is not a kind place. I knew this already, so...

[So... he should be fine. And yet, he's not sure how to manage to cope with this.]

[axilium]

I honestly have no idea what you mean by the Emperor stuff, but if you say so.

... But even if you know the world sucks, that doesn't always make it easier.

[finethanks]

I suppose the tapestries don't explain much. I'm known as Yumenosaki Academy's Emperor, the top idol who changed the school with his tyrannical rule... Or something like that.

Well, but I've been chased from that throne, so seeing it in writing feels like a jab.

[Even if he wants to still be seen as such. He'll reclaim it, maybe he already has, but...] Nothing is made easier, it's true. But I'm not a child, even if I'd like to be.

[axilium]

... Heh. Now I feel unproductive. I just played pranks at my school.

[then again, he never wanted to be anyone.]

Growing up sucks.