END OF CHAPTER 3 ; EXECUTION

[themodsgrimm]

The Story Continues... END OF CHAPTER 3 - WEEK 329 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. Yamatonokami Yasusada appears, flanked on either side by suits of armor, escorting him to his punishment. His expression is one that may be difficult for anyone who isn't a sword spirit to read, but he seems to have accepted his fate. 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 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 3! 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

[discardia]

[ There's a lot to take in. From Souji killing Yasusada - and she thinks, vaguely, horrified, this is probably the last thing the rest of them wanted for him - to Rapunzel hanging and 2B being struck down by lightning and Stephanie's scream as her leg is completely severed--

Normally, she can focus on one thing at a time. But today?

Cardia is absolutely frozen in horror where she stands, drawing in increasingly shallow breaths as her vision fills with tears. She needs to check on Souji and Ion, she needs to run to Stephanie even though she can tell faintly by the voices that she's being tended to, she needs to move.

But she can't. Instead, she very helpfully seems to be on the verge of hyperventilating. ]

[fragileprophet]

[Hi Cardia the two of you have barely talked but Ion can't just leave anyone alone who looks like they're about to collapse from fear and stress. So he grabs one of her hands, squeezing it gently between his own.]

Take a deep breath.

[discardia]

[ Ion is a good bean.

And Cardia will acknowledge this at some point, but she barely hears him, only kind of registers that he's squeezing her hand-- which is really what prompts her to take a startled breath. ]

I--

[ wow when did he get there ]

[fragileprophet]

[Maybe he was always here all along, the little ion bean. He takes a deep breath, too. It's partially for his own benefit, but maybe it'll kickstart her system into mimicking the action.]

Just listen to the sound of my voice--don't force yourself to focus on too much at once.

[discardia]

[ That does seem to do the trick. She feels lightheaded now, vision still very much blurry, but her breathing automatically shifts to accompany his and the hand he's clasping slowly stops shaking. ]

[fragileprophet]

Good..you're doing great.

[He wishes he had more he could say. He wishes he could tell her everything is going to be fine. Even he isn't so optimistic. So he just holds onto her hand.]

I'll be right here as long as you need.

[discardia]

I'm--

[ what is she even doing? ]

I'm... sorry...

[fragileprophet]

No, it's alright.

[He looks at her, his expression pained, but gives her a smile nonetheless.]

It hurts...I know.

[concasse]

-- Cardia-chan!

[Well Sanji is gonna place both of his hands on her shoulders, giving her a gentle shake to orient her if he can. His voice is firm but thick with concern]

C'mon, you gotta breathe deep.

[discardia]

[ Breathing deep is hard right now??

Though that shake is enough to snap Cardia out of whatever horrified haze she's in, enough to gasp and cough and try to clutch at his hands with the most helpless, panicked look. ]

[concasse]

... Hey.

[Welcome back.]

... C'mon, sit down for a second. Everyone is already being taken care of.

[discardia]

[ "Everyone"... everyone? Souji? Stephanie? Did he mean more people?

Cardia stares at him uncertainly, still very much a mess and dizzy, but-- ]

I... I have to--

[ She has to do something. Doesn't she? ]

[concasse]

[For a moment he looks torn, wanting to beg her to rest, but knowing sometimes moving is the only thing to keep the grief at bay.

... Eventually he compromises]

Souji's probably gonna need help, but before you go over there, you need to calm down. Otherwise he's gonna be worried about you.

[He'll give her a task to help her focus.]

[discardia]

[ Right. She-- she'd promised. She'd needed to be there for him, and even as Cardia blinks back more tears, she slowly nods and obediently takes a deeper breath.

Sanji's right. This... is all she can do right now. ]

[disclosures]

[It's a lot. Just like every Sunday there's a lot to accept. A lot to have to take in. She feels sick, watching all of this, but she can't move away. She has to watch it.

But she's not frozen the same way her partner is. There's the odd sensation of being entirely detached from the proceedings happening around her.

One hand moves to take Cardia's wrist.

It's so stupid to want to ask if she's okay. So she won't.

Rebecca will be here. Trying to be somebody to lean on, however out of her depth she actually is.]

[discardia]

[ Her fingers twitch slightly, though it takes an additional few seconds to turn her head, to confirm.

It's her partner. It's-- ]

R-Rebecca...

[disclosures]

[She's fighting her nature and her natural instinct to pull away from things that don't involve her here.]

I'm right here.

[The words are strange and foreign on her tongue, but she forces them out anyway. This is what a good person would do. And Cardia already thinks that about her, no matter how wrong she might be.]

Whatever you need, okay?

[discardia]

... Thank you.

[ This is fine. This is more than enough. ]

[disclosures]

[A brief wave of confusion washes over her. Thank you? She didn't do anything this trial. She didn't help anybody. She's not suited to it.

If you say so, Cardia.]

You're welcome.

[However long Cardia needs to stay out here, Rebecca will too.]

LATE BUT HERE,,

[alttitude]

[It's true - a lot is happening. Jae-ha flits between everyone that he wants to take care of. Souji is the first person he goes to, but after witnessing what happened to everyone else that he cares about, and who has people fussing over them and who doesn't - he ends up going back to Cardia.

Even if maybe he shouldn't, but he does.

He goes in front of her, as if to take her attention off of everything else happening and immediately reaches for her hands - ]

Cardia. Breathe, just breathe. With me, just follow me -

[As he tries to demonstrate that calm for her, even if at the moment he understands entirely why it feels out of reach.]

[discardia]

[ It's hard to breathe. She almost doesn't want to, lightheaded enough to think that maybe it's better this way, with everything dulling around her, no more screaming, no more panicked shouts or sobs or Rapunzel's body gently swaying from the noose.

She doesn't want to.

But Cardia's body, instinctively, betrays her and she takes a deeper breath. And wheezes, hands automatically clutching at his. ]

[alttitude]

[When her hands clutch onto his, it anchors him in place, even if he's not sure if this is the best idea he's ever had. Regardless he doesn't intend on leaving her side until she asks now.]

Right - just breathe. Eyes on me.

[Everything else is awful right now. She doesn't need to see that if she can't handle it.]

Do you want me to take you away from here?

[discardia]

...

[ All she can really do is nod. She wants to help, she wants to support them-- but at the moment, she can't do that, and she's very well-aware of it. ]

[alttitude]

[Then that's a good enough reason for Jae-ha. He watches her nod and then moves to carefully scoop her right up into his arms, using the power of his dragon's leg to jump and take them away from the immediate situation. He probably aims to bring them further outside, far away enough that she won't be able to see everything.

Even as he lands on the ground and moves to set her back on her feet, his arms will be carefully around her to steady her.]

You can open your eyes here, Cardia. We're away from it.

[discardia]

[ She does stagger a little, still lightheaded from hyperventilating, but...

It's as he says. It's quieter here, and Cardia's breathing slows, evens out, even as her eyes remain focused on the ground.

This is... shameful, isn't it? ]