END OF CHAPTER 2 ; EXECUTION

[themodsgrimm]

The Story Continues... END OF CHAPTER 2 - WEEK 232 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. Sandalphon appears, flanked on either side by suits of armor, escorting him to his punishment. His expression is one of grim acceptance, and he takes each step toward the door without faltering. A moment later, the Dragon appears on the foyer's staircase. Her hand trails down the banister as she descends, and she takes her place at the head of the group, standing in front of what appears to be a wall. "Come," she says. "The execution awaits." You blink, and then it's there — a door leading to the outside. The Dragon steps through it. You have no choice but to follow. Welcome to your third execution post! Please see here for the results of yesterday's voting. In addition, make sure you fill out your CR Chart for Chapter 2! If you have any questions, please ask on our Discord server or ping us on plurk. Please direct pings for the NPC to Dana (Discord DMs preferred, then decals), 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

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(frozen comment) EXECUTION

[themodsgrimm]

sandalphon ; to be continued

This time, when the group steps through the doors, they do not appear out at the castle's entryway - rather, they find themselves standing in a clearing in the heart of the woods. They are urged to step aside by the suits of armor that guard Sandalphon and usher him forward, and as he walks past, he is engulfed by swaths of glimmering white light. When it fades, he is transformed.

Gone is his usual garb - in its place is the elegant attire of a prince, complete with a gold-embroidered doublet and a crown perched on his head. Or - perhaps perched is not quite the wright word. It's wedged very tightly on his head, digging into his scalp to the point that droplets of crimson liquid (ink, though it looks very much like blood) tracks down his face.

At the center of the clearing is a glass coffin. The group is made to fan out around it in a semicircle, watching as he approaches it; when he comes to the coffin's side, he stares down into the glass.

The face of Lucifer stares back up at him, though none but him can see it clearly.

One of the suits of armor shifts the top of the coffin open so that he can lean down, lips poised to brush against the lips of the figure in the coffin. But before they can touch, he flickers out of view, and the lid of the coffin slams shut. The Narrators watching will see Sandalphon's hands beat against the glass from the inside, frantic, desperate. It does not open, and the suits of armor standing guard step away.

But it isn't over yet. The Narrators hear the sound of seven sets of approaching footsteps, and a whistled rendition of a mourning song. From deep within the woods, a line of dwarfs appear, holding pickaxes. They each have a wild, bloothirsty glint in their eyes, and their beards are matted with blood and gore. They surround the glass coffin which Sandalphon struggles to escape from, and they raise their pickaxes in unison.

Somehow, the weapons pass right through the glass without shattering it. There is a cry from inside and a spray of crimson ink against the glass as the dwarfs swing mercilessly, again and again and again. The points of their pickaxes come away stained with ink, fabric, and flesh. They do not stop. Not for at least ten more swings after the figure in the coffin goes silent, not until crimson ink begins to seep out of the corners of the coffin, staining the glass.

Finally - when the glass has been coated so thoroughly with ink that it is impossible to see who is inside - they stop. Their axes come to rest on their shoulders, and they march back into the woods single file, whistling a much more jaunty tune than before.

Silence falls over the group, and you can't help but wonder:

The story of Sandalphon has come to an end ... or has it?

LOOSE ENDS

[themodsgrimm]

[ Following the execution of Sandalphon, everyone will be led to the grand foyer. The ornate clock opens beneath the face, revealing a compartment in which a large glass container is unveiled to the eyes of everyone present. Two spouts lead from the interiors of the clock into the glass container. From one side comes a stream of purple ink and from the other, twice as much crimson ink. Once the stream of purple ink stops, there is a pause - and then a stream of gold ink comes from the same spout, in the same amount as the purple. When all three colors mix into the container, it appears to be black. The Dragon watches the ceremony with the ceremony with reverence and sadness alike.

Ion will find himself overcome with a sudden burning sensation. Many phantom feelings pass him all at the same time: his feet undergo a sensation like they're being ignited with flame, his heart is going to be pulled out of his chests, and there is the faintest feeling as though a blade is cutting across their necks - the roulette wheel spins for how his death is going to be carried out as partnerless until—

It stops.

He feels perfectly fine, like everything is slotting back into place. In front of him, the ground cracks open - a hand, caked in dirt, emerges from the earth, and as Natsuo fights his way back to the surface, a flicker of red string is seen connecting the two of them before it is gone - almost a trick of the light.

The Dragon, having surveyed over everything hums a soft note, for once sounding.... pleased. ]

... they came through for you. [ She turns back to the rest of the Narrators and announces. ] Natsuo has returned from the grave, and your partnerless have been spared.

[ There is a pause - if the Narrators were expecting to receive tokens for the Wishing Well, they'll be disappointed; no such thing happens. Instead, she speaks to dismiss them. ]

You may take your leave.

[ The Dragon will remain for questions. ]

AFTERMATH

[themodsgrimm]

[For your reactions and subsequent threading for Sunday.]

[londonstar]

[ waver doesn't stay long after thee execution. he had his heart in his throat, waiting to see what would happen to ion and natsuo and--

everything turned out fine.

waver nods, and walks away. ]

[fragileprophet]

[This is all so much, and Ion isn't really sure what emotion to focus on first. Grief, guilt, horror at Sandalphon's execution, fear for what may be his own, relief when it never comes, desperation when Natsuo rises upward. It's, like, right in front of his feet, so that kind of takes priority, and he'll fall to his feet to help his friend...his new partner.

After that, it's hard to say. He's a little bit shell-shocked.]

[holybind]

[ Wordlessly, Zelos comes over and smacks Ion on the back— hard. Wake up buddy! ]

Hopefully you won't have to turn to the bottle again any time soon.

[fragileprophet]

[Ion stumbles out of his shock--

And also just stumbles in general, tripping and falling onto his front.]

Thank you, Zelos.

[DON'T THANK HIM, ION.]

[holybind]

Aw, jeez.

[ Zelos bends down and just fuckin lifts him up so he's standing on his feet again. ]

You're alive so look alive!

[fragileprophet]

I am!

[He's just bad at it, okay! He wobbles on his feet but leans into his staff--he'll be fine. This is fine.]

I'm...incredibly grateful.

[There's so much that he could say. How can he be happy? But how can he not be relieved?]

[holybind]

Grateful? All that happened was that you got what you deserved. You don't owe this castle or anyone else any gratitude.

[ he knows that comment will fall on deaf ears but he says it anyway ]

[randori]

[ I... guess there's a hand digging out of the ground?? idk my first instinct would be to stomp on it and scream but ymmv
god this whole post is exhausting already, please help Natsuo out, maybe ]

[fragileprophet]

[GOOD MORNING NATSUO Ion immediately grabs onto him to help. He's not so strong so, like, others should probably also help, but. He's here. For you.]

[randori]

[ GOOD MORNING Ion is an infinitely nicer person than I am, and the disembodied hand jerks in surprise at being touched at first, trying to swat at whatever's in the way, the other hand clawing its way up now too.

who buried him in the woods, this is terrible ]

[vigilantics]

[ ... she'll just hobble over. and start digging at the dirt with her crutch.





yeah. ]

[randori]

[ What if she stabs him in the eye with that? Why are his friends all injured????? what are you guys doing ]

[vigilantics]

[ if she takes out his eye then he can join her and varian's pirate club. they have a peg leg, hook hand, and all they need is an eyepatch :/

BUT SHE'LL JUST. DIG. ]

[randori]

[ Once upon a time, he almost had to disguise himself with an eyepatch in canon, the pirate club could have worked.

Steph clears up some breathing space around his head, hopefully stopping when she actually hits his head and shoulders, but having air again is much appreciated, the loosened dirt much easier to scramble his way though.

The sunlight is too bright and his head kind of hurts getting prodded with the crutch but. Hi. ]

[vigilantics]

[ yeah, as soon as he finishes crawling the rest of the way out, steph is literally throwing her crutches to fall to the ground and hug him.

this is probably a terrible, painful idea that she is going to regret in about ten seconds, but natsuo is far more important. ]

You're back! It's...

[randori]

[ It's! a heartfelt reunion for about two seconds before Natsuo extracts himself from Steph's arms and growls under his breath. ]

Who's the bastard that tried to bury me alive, huh?! I'll destroy him.

[vigilantics]

Natsuo for the love of god stop trying to fight everyone.

[ she looks stern for??? also two seconds

and then she just starts laughing because holy shit, he never changes. ]

[randori]

[ The laughter catches him off guard, because he was 1000% serious about throwing down, and there's more tension than relief in him when he stares at her, turning his head to see where they are and what's going on. ]

...Time. What time is it? Is it almost nine?

[vigilantics]

[ oh. oh he doesn't even know.

that makes her freeze, and she readjusts herself so that she isn't actually leaning on her bad leg anymore. ]

Natsuo, it's Sunday.

[randori]

[ —it feels as if his heart skipped a beat, and then stopped. Everything stops, and it's just white noise that crowds his ears and fills his head for a moment before he scrambles to turn and search blindly at whoever's around them. ]

It can't— But I—- Who died? Summer, who did I let die?

[vigilantics]

You.

[ it comes out as a whisper, but then she shakes her head. when she talks again it's with a firmer tone. ]

Sandalphon and Francis targeted you because you were partnerless. Sandalphon's title ability let him bring you back to life after. He got executed.

[randori]

No!

[ He takes a step- left? right? he doesn't know where Ssandalphon is, nor where to go, so he ends up just stomping his foot in place. ]

I'm not dead and he can't be dead! Sandalphon and I were learning how to cook together! He can't die!

[ denial ]

[vigilantics]

Natsuo. I'm sorry.

[ she doesn't really know what to say other than that. ]

[randori]

The dead don't come back. I'm not. HE'S not. He can't be! I didn't die, so he doesn't have to die! That's not how it works!

[ You get executed for being guilty of a murder. He's not dead. It wasn't murder. ]

[vigilantics]

It was his title, Natsuo. He could only do it once-- he was Snow White's Prince.

[ she wonders if she should have waited before telling him, but he was going to figure it out immediately anyway when it became clear that sandals wasn't here. ]

[fragileprophet]

Natsuo--it's me, it's okay!

[He holds on tighter, pulling. Welcome to unlife, buddy.]

[randori]

[ Is it okay if he can't battle his way out of the ground? Two days of being dead kind of saps all one's strength, even for somebody like Natsuo.

But once he gets his head out of the ground, the rest of the way is a little easier, spitting dirt out of his mouth and swatting at the worms trying to burrow under his collar. Being underground is gross. ]

[fragileprophet]

[He'll use his own clothes to help wipe off Natsuo's face--like, that's gotta be so uncomfortable.]

We'll all have you out in no time, just bear with us!

[randori]

[ It's gross and wet and everything smells like dirt. With everybody's combined efforts that is 99% Pascal because he's the only uninjured party here for whatever reason, Natsuo is finally free of the ground, pulling himself out and flopping over onto his back so he can croak up at the sky. ]

What the fuck.

[fragileprophet]

[This is incredibly relatable content. Ion, of course, is unable to say fuck for legal reasons, so he just falls forward and hugs Natsuo fiercely around his stomach.]

You're alive.

[randori]

...Of course I'm alive.

[ This is an overreaction, isn't it? He holds his hands up like he's debating whether he's supposed to be hugging back, or maybe he shouldn't smear dirt all over the rest of Ion's clothes. ]

Whoever did this- they should make sure someone's dead before they bury them, that's common sense. Are they stupid?

[hairbrain]

[ injured rapunzel is joining the weenie crew to pull natsuo out of the dirt.... normally she could handle it on her own but since she got fucked up it's harder and she has to rely on celadion's help, alas. ]

N... Natsuo! Thank goodness!

[ pascal is also helping. [

[randori]

[ There are hands grabbing his hands with no upward force, so this is like. The opposite of helping because he can't use them to pull himself up before. He'll have a minute or two before he suffocates from the dirt and Sandalphon's sacrifice would all be in vain, so.

Get more help. ]

[unromanceable]

[ HONESTLY

NO THANKS?????????

BYE

(she'll find him ... later??? probably????? she can't handle this zombie nonsense holy shit farewell) ]

[doublecrows]

[okay well it's good to know Sandalphon's gift worked, TIME TO FLEE I GUESS, BY FELICIA???]

[aka having A Single Feel over Natsuo dying has left Akechi jumpy as hell and he can't deal with this right now, so. you know. bye]