CHAPTER SEVEN ; TRIAL

[themodsgrimm]

The Story Continues... CHAPTER 7 - WEEK 711 Narrators Remain ; Wakey wakey, naughty murder children. It's a lovely Saturday, after all. Breakfast is served piping hot at its usual time and all of the evidence has been removed from the scenes of yesterday. No matter how you choose to spent your morning though, the clock will begin to chime the moment both hands reach the large, ornate twelve. Before your eyes materializes a door...but not just any door. Unlike the door leading to the festival, this door sits primly and properly right in front of the foyer. Whether you exit the castle on your own or you feel a friendly, invisible push, you begin to walk under an arc of wisterias. Behind you, the clock continues to chime with every step you take. By the time the time the clock strikes twelve, you've entered a beautiful garden. In front of you is a long table, 19 seats on each side. Around the garden are several glass cases containing evidence collected yesterday. As noon intensifies on the sun-shaped clock, you'll find Dragon at the head of the table, a glass-covered rose near her right hand. Tick tock, Narrators. You have nine hours to deliberate. The garden is strangely silent and there are no snacks today...it seems as though you'll be left to your own devices. Welcome to your trial post! Please see here for the OOC summary of events from yesterday's investigation. In addition, please be sure to vote! Please see the voting page on how to vote, as we will have two special things to vote for. Voting will close at 9pm EST/6pm PST or sooner if the game ICly elects so. If you have any questions, please ask on our Discord server or ping us on plurk. Please direct pings for the NPC to Dana (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

Comments

[londonstar]

[ waver’s expression looks serious as he begins to rummage through the clothes of the dead to take something, anything that looks useful.

when he rummages through the pockets of a corpse, he finds the pieces of something that looks like a key. ]

No child, but... this place is littered with corpses. We may find him somewhere else. However, I did find some pieces of a key—hopefully the one we need.

[function]

[ man it would be so useful if toob still had her sound-detecting program, huh. even without that technology, though, it should be clear to everyone that the sound of heavy footsteps approaching their location are becoming audible and getting louder. ]

I'm not expecting this place to go that easy on us. [ whether that's to sandalphon or waver is up for debate. she rifles through a couple more bodies before straightening up and regarding her companions. her eyes linger on monika for a bit, then sweep over in waver's direction. ]

You can run, right?

[unromanceable]

[ Monika just gives 2B a quick and decisive nod, knowing why her partner is looking at her. She'll be fine.

As Waver announces he's found the pieces of a key, Monika withdraws her hand from a pile of bones (!) with a key piece of her own. ]

I got something...! I don't think we'll find much else here - let's go! There's more places we can search!

[melancoffeea]

[A once-over of their immediate surroundings yields no body of a child. They do, however, have pieces of the key. Sandalphon climbs onto his feet and looks over at Waver. Once they get going, he won't tarry.]

The footsteps are coming from that direction. We'll head this way.

[There's a room behind them that will probably empty into others. It's that or run headfirst into the hunter in the hall ahead.]

[londonstar]

[ if this was in any other, calmer, situation, waver would probably lie in order to save whatever is left of his pride.

here, though? absolutely not. ]

I don’t think I’d be able to make it to the door. Sorry.

[function]

[ well, monika's nod confirms their plan of action.

without any further hesitation, 2b heaves waver over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and starts running in the direction sandalphon indicates. ]

Go!

[unromanceable]

[ With a startled glance over her shoulder at the sound of the rapidly approaching footsteps, Monika will dart out of the room after her partner. ]

Left! Hug the left wall!

[ to whatever room that will lead them to next... ]

[melancoffeea]

[Sandalphon lags just behind the group to kick the doors shut as they pass through the rooms, his gaze sweeping each and every chamber for bodies of interest until they come upon the fated room. Before them, the door is sealed shut; behind, the receded sound of pursuing footsteps begin to echo louder.]

The key—do you still have the pieces?

[londonstar]

Yes, I do!

[ as embarrassing as it is to be carried like a sack of potatoes, it's not like he's too bothered right now by it. while 2b has been running, he's been fixing the pieces back together.

there's just one part left missing, and he turns to monika for that. ]

Miss Monika, the piece you found.

[function]

[ she's still carrying waver as she brings him over to monika in order to facilitate the key repair. while they're putting it back together, though, she looks back down the hallway they'd come down and narrows her eyes. she lets waver slide off gently, much unlike the way she'd unceremoniously yote him a few trials ago. ]

Keep working on that and finding the boy. I'll buy us time if we need it.

[unromanceable]

Of course!

[ She'll press the last piece of the key into Waver's hand, frightened and relieved at once. Her breath catches when 2B says I'll buy us time-- ]

Sandalphon! Can you help me while Lord El Melloi works on the key?

[ yeah she calls him that,

anyway hey there's stone coffins in this room? ask her if she cares as she starts prying the lid off one of these. over her dead ghostly body will 2B get hurt ]

[melancoffeea]

[In a flash, Sandalphon is by Monika's side to uncover a stone coffin of his own, then another. The rapid footsteps thunder in their ears when he reaches in to lift a corpse out of its coffin.]

It's a boy.

[londonstar]

[ waver's just going to leave all of them to their corpse searching and boy birthing.

luckily it doesn't take long for him to finish piecing the key back together. it doesn't look perfect, but damn that thing better work. he puts the key to the keyhole of the door they need to open and--

it opens! it sure looks dark as hell in there, but better than this. ]

Door's open, now let's go!

[function]

[ 2b's preparing herself to leap at their assailant when she hears waver's cry. looks like she'll have to wait before her self-sacrificial nature gets the better of her. she gets a fleeting glimpse of the heavy wooden stake in the hunter's hand before turning on her heel and running, sweeping waver back onto her shoulder as she passes without even breaking stride. ]

Take the body with us, we'll figure out what to do with it as we go!

[ —is what she yells to sandalphon and monika in the moment she rushes past them. god. this is so very uncute. ]

Whatever we're getting out of this better be worth it...

[unromanceable]

[ Gritting her teeth, Monika wraps her arms around the corpse's legs and helps Sandalphon haul the body out. Running with this gross dead boy is going to be a great time!!

But, thankfully, this being a mausoleum, it's lit by spooky braziers on the wall. And when they reach an intersection in the path, there's a two-armed brazier just begging to have a dead boy rigged on it. ]

There! Sandalphon, right there!

[melancoffeea]

[And rigged, he shall be. Following Monika's train of thought, Sandalphon helps her haul the body to the brazier. He'll do most of the heavy lifting for this part. In the meantime, while they're stationary, he gives a curt reminder.]

This should do. We still need a valuable for bartering.

[londonstar]

[ welll, waver's not going to really complain now that he's tossed over 2b's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. ]

Check if any of them have some sort of valuable jewelry. Necklaces, earrings, whatever it is that's intact. Things such as animal pelts can work, too.

[function]

[ if this were any other situation, 2b might comment on how macabre the boy's body looks, propped up against the brazier.

but they're currently running for their lives (afterlives?) and uno totally-not-dead boy may be their saving grace, so she doesn't. ]

We have to have something between the four of us.

[ she focuses on pocketing shiny things from the corpses she loots, holding waver in such a way that he can, too. (she realizes she could put him down, but she's just going to send up grabbing him again when the hunter catches up to them, so she doesn't bother.) ]

We probably have another minute, max.

[unromanceable]

[ Monika will do the same, but her shaking hands finally betray her. She'll drop a trinket or two, squeaking, and snatch them up from the floor. All at once she's shaking like a leaf, but she manages to keep moving regardless of her fear. ]

We have to go, we have to go...!

[ the hallways seem to be leading in just one direction now... could they be nearing the exit? ]

[melancoffeea]

[Whereas the others find shiny valuables and trinkets, Sandalphon comes upon an animal pelt that's in much better shape compared to the corpse from which he retrieves it. He positions himself at the back of the group, in case anyone should fall behind.]

That body won't delay the hunter for much longer. Let's go.

[londonstar]

[ do you know how fucking difficult it is for waver to not complain when 2b's moving around with him over his shoulder like that?

either way, they're running now and as they reach the exit, the back of a man becomes more visible.

waver taps 2b's arm to get her attention. when he speaks, it's in a hushed tone to not alert the man keeping watch. ]

Let me down. I'll barter with the man.

[function]

Don't blow it.

[ with that, she easily acquiesces and sets waver on the ground, then gives him the assortment of things she found (nothing too big—a couple of pearl earrings and a gold wristwatch). it's not like she wants to talk with the guy anyway—she's too busy immediately attending to monika, pulling her former partner into a hug to try and calm her down. ]

[unromanceable]

[ god yeah she'll hand what she has to Waver, though her eyes slide to Sandalphon and his pelt...

and then 2B is hugging her and monika will just casually start to cry from fear and press into her because holy shit this is terrifying

but she'll be ready to move whenever they need to go! which will probably be soon... ]

[melancoffeea]

[And there goes the pelt. At least they've a variety of items with which to barter.

Sandalphon glances over his shoulder. There are no signs of the hunter yet. That's not bound to last, so Waver had better hurry.]

[londonstar]

[ ok he's taking everything and, with a confident gait, he'll walk up to the hunter, who turns around, crossbow raised.

waver stops. ]

Don't shoot. None of us are here to attack you.

[ the hunter looks at the goods on waver's hands, and then back at him. he doesn't lower the bow. "then what is it that you want?" ]

We wish to leave this place safely. Due to reasons unknown to us, we've found ourselves here while your friend chases us like a raging bull. However, you seem more reasonable. [ he glances at the hands on the crossbow, and then back at the hunter. ] You have a wife, no? Possibly a family? It must be difficult to take care of them. Your face says it all.

[ waver motions at the assortment of goods in his hands, tilting his head. ]

We'll trade these goods, which you can later sell for food or clothing or whatever you like, for our safety. That means you let us leave freely and neither you or your idiot partner hunt us.

[ the hunter is silent for a while, before nodding. "on one condition" ]

What is it?

[ "you give me your coat along with all of that other shit."

waver stops, and raises an eyebrow but in the end, he hands all of the things to the man, including his coat. the hunter smiles. "now run along, i'll pretend i never saw any of ya'll."

waver stays, but he glances at the rest of the group. he is now in just a suit. ]

Let's go. I'm sick of this.