grimmoired | END OF CHAPTER 1 ; EXECUTION

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END OF CHAPTER 1 ; EXECUTION

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.

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Shhh, don't harm yourself by attempting to move too much.

[He brings his hand to Natsuo's cheek, resting there in an attempt to keep him calm.]

You can vote for me. It won't break my trust when I know that you're simply avoiding a true decision.

[ His cheek is damp. He'd been crying, though none of it shows in his eyes anymore. ]

I don't want to... [ It comes as a whine, and he knows he's whining, refusing a perfectly good solution and scrambling to find some way it wouldn't work, like Eichi's blessings don't matter when it comes to the guilt Natsuo will feel either way. ]

If I keep voting for you every week, Tiger will catch on. I know she will.

That just means that you'll have to make a real decision, Natsuo-kun. Save my name for a case where you truly can't bring yourself to do that.

[Isn't that fine? He thumbs some of the wetness away, and Eichi's one sleeve is still damp, himself.]

Punishment won't be as light as this next time. It must be that everyone is fond of you, but please don't vote for yourself again.

[ He couldn't vote yesterday because it involved a friend. What if next time it was Eichi and...

...

He needs to get better at this. Find some way so that it doesn't come to murdering and voting and watching people kill and die, right in front of his eyes, like it's some sort of spectacle. ]

I'll keep that in mind. And you too— if you can't vote, or don't know who to vote for, you can use my name! I won't ever kill, so I won't ever be the majority, so it's safe!

[ unless he gets framed like Reyna but. use your best judgement when that time comes. ]

[If he were to do that, and it were announced, Eichi's certain he'd become public enemy #1. But he doesn't bother sharing that he won't do that aloud. He just continues with his forced smile.]

Very well. In any case, I'm sorry that I can't help you from this position... Have the others taken care of you, so far?

[ One day Natsuo will get away with murder because nobody wants to put his name down but himself... ]

I'll be out by the end of the day, so I'll be alright. Rapunzel brought food, and 2B got me the sweater. [ draped over his back and shoulders like a blanket since there's no feasible way of putting it on properly. ] Lots of people stopped by to keep me company, so I felt really well taken care of. But you being here also helps, you know? Seeing your face helps. I'm glad you came by and gave me some time.

It was for my own good as much as yours, you know.

[His voice lowers in volume for that, and his expression falters a bit from that smile he's been forcing this whole time.] As much as I feel as though I need to be, I don't want to be alone right now. I'd rather not be left with these thoughts of my recent actions.

Then stay here. I'm not going anywhere. Until the sun goes down, I'll be yours— and after, if you want.

[ He could stay, or he could go back inside the castle, where Natsuo is sure there'd be people who'd be with him. Their numbers are diminishing, but there are still so many people, warm and comforting for the people who need them. ]

I'll listen to your thoughts, if you want to get them out. Or I can fill your head with new ones to push 'em out.

...Unfortunately, the cold will get to me before too long, but I do want to speak to you a little longer.

Do you hate Akechi-kun now? I'd like to hear an answer to that, first.

[ nts figure out how to make fire before the end of the week ]

I... feel like I don't know him. That makes me sad, but I don't hate him.

...I want to ask you to stay with us, so you're not alone, but I'm not sure if you'd be willing.

[This time, he doesn't ask Akechi's permission.]

Go easy on him, if you can. It seems as though he's had a rough childhood and doesn't understand love. Even last night, he asked me things like "why didn't you leave me?" and didn't believe that I didn't hate him.

It's difficult to understand emotions when you were never shown them as a child. I know that, as well.

[ That's such a strange concept to take in, not being able to understand emotions. Natsuo's always had a wide range of it— smiling like the sun, screaming his frustrations, unrestrained in what he says and does because he was allowed. He never needed to hold anything in. As a child, he received love in the form of tough love- unrecognized, coated in terror- but he never had trouble giving it, or feeling it.

What he feels for Akechi and Eichi, he thinks might be something like that. ]

...I'll stay with you. Both of you. I'll take care of you guys, and I won't leave. I promised that! I won't go back on my word!

...Please don't leave.

[He lowers his head, so even Natsuo can't see his expression, letting out a shaky exhale.]

What I did just now was no better than him, even if I was forced, but I selfishly hope you don't hate me, either. So, please... stay.

I don't know if I could ever hate you.

[ Me, who nearly threw my phone to the ground at the end of Rebellion bc I was so hecking upset: "mmhmm" ]

What I want most is to get to know you guys. To understand why this and that, whether it's forced or intentional.

[GLMFDGLDMGLDMFGL look, he's a good boy trying to understand love now, for the most part!!]

I know Akechi-kun is difficult, but I'd like to get to know you as well, Natsuo-kun. You're a shining light in this dark place. Please, feel free to ask me anything at any time.

Then- What do you mean you weren't shown emotion as a child?

[ Giving him permission to ask anything he wants is sort of dangerous, but it's not that Eichi promised he'd answer any of those questions. ]

Well, to my parents, I was never a "son," I was simply an "heir."

[He finally drops his hands back to his own lap.] I have no siblings, and they were gone most of the time. I didn't care what they thought and enrolled into the idol course, but even that they've turned into an exploit for their business. I now own the entertainment portion of it.

Surrounded by only servants who would let me do whatever I wanted, I thought I was some sort of god. I was always told things like "As you wish, Eichi-sama" and "Anything for you, Eichi-sama" and I could get away with anything, you know? It's difficult for a child to understand his place in the world, that way.

You could do whatever you wanted- that's a good thing, isn't it? When I was a kid, I was always getting bossed around and dragged where I didn't want to go and do things I didn't want to do. [ They were bad memories, but he frowns, because he can only recall them with fondness. ] ...Maybe I liked somebody telling me what to do, a little, 'cause at least then I had somebody pay attention to me.

Do you still hate it now? Me wanting to do anything for you?

It's different now. They would do anything I asked out of obligation. They were servants paid by my parents, only doing their jobs. I grew an inflated ego and believed that in the outside world, I could get anything I wanted, as well.

Instead, I was a nobody who was ignored, aside from when my money or power came into question. "Friends" were just people who were using me, and I could use them in return, a fair exchange. I had no real childhood. My only childhood friend was the boy who would be in charge of my funeral, and we spent a lot of time talking about that.

What you're doing... you're not doing it out of a desire to use me, are you?

—Instead of a funeral, it should be birthday parties! Graduation! Wedding! Happy things!! What is he doing talking to you about stuff like that?!

[ whispers hey Keito what the fuck ]

What I'm doing, I'm doing it 'cause I want to see you happy!

Don't hold it against him. It was just his job, you know? We would have fun and speak about how he thought I should be buried in a pyramid.

[He's able to smile, despite all that just happened... Thank you Natsuo.]

Fufu, it's that... That's a new and rare thing for me. My happiness... I thought I had to reach out and take it on my own, and with a weak body like mine, that also meant crawling over whoever I needed to in order to grasp at it.

If it's happiness, you do what you need to do! If there's something that'll make me happy, I go and do it! If somebody hands it to me, I take it! If you can't reach it on your own, I'll bring it closer!! I won't let it disappear, so you can take your time getting to it!

You're sweet, aren't you? I wonder if I deserve such kindness.

[He doesn't think he does. It's cold here on the ground, the longer he stays, and he shivers a small bit.]

Right now, Natsuo-kun, my happiness is your safety.

[ People keep saying that to him— that it's kindness. But it isn't, it's just how things are, how he is. ]

You deserve it. Everybody deserves it. It's like food and sleep- you need it.

If that's true, I wonder how it is that I made it this far?

[It's only recently that he's had it, after all!]

It's certainly a kindness. [Anyway,] I'm getting quite cold, Natsuo-kun... And I'd like to go think alone for a while, even if it's the last thing that I want. It may be necessary.

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