BETRAYAL AT THE HOUSE ON THE GAME TOWER - END

[idolpro]

Who: Traitors and Survivors, Exael
Where: The Game Tower, and leaving it
When: Day 25, morning-- it appears that game lasted the bulk of day 24 into the night.

[ Abruptly, the nightmare ends.

You, in the rooms you kept restarting in, awoke. Before you can even panic, before even despair, the elevator doors were open in front of you to take you downstairs again. It could be a trap, sure, but your head is quiet— those fucking ghosts are gone. You also appear to be wet like someone dumped, perhaps, a bucket of holy water on you while you were asleep. All your wounds are gone, and you have been left bereft of any physical damage from your ordeal.

Unless you choose to take some with you. Nothing prevents you from taking any of your spoils downstairs with you, if you wish it, though all revolvers will have no ammo.

On the screens as you descend back to the lobby, Exael is clapping on screen, broadcast showing her in the mansion's entrance hall. "And so close the gates to this forbidden garden, and so closes this chapter of our story! Just as—" her hologram flickers as she doesn't seem to notice, chattering still to the cameras, "so too will—" fzzt, fzzt. Static, flickering, and then back into focus, "So give them all a hand! Everyone, you've done well! You stand before us still, ready to present us all with more marvels after having survived such grisly wonders with—" "—in the balance!"

As she speaks, she doesn't notice a figure approaching behind her. He's in a slick suit with both hands in his pockets, and you've seen him before— his portrait is in the foyer. His shoes are utterly silent as he walks across the marble floor, till he's right at her back.

"Audience and actors alike, we've been blessed with—" Her hologram doesn't flicker this time, but she stops speaking. Her eyebrows furrow as she tries to figure out what's amiss, and only belatedly begins to slowly look over her shoulder.

"Exael," he says with a friendly hand on her solidifying hologram shoulder, the effect spreading beneath his touch, "We need to have a chat about your requisitions paperwork."

She tilts her head, eyes wide with a finger tapping against her cheek as she thinks, "I didn't do any!"

"Yes," he agrees, smiling with all his teeth. "I know."

The broadcast cuts. The doors open to let you leave. ]

Comments

Re: For everybody else

[maxxximumeffort]

[it's hard to tell what kind of state D is in since he hides all his features on the regular. but he sees her state and inwardly gutclenches.]

Aaahhh, shhhit. You were in there too, huh?

Re: For everybody else

[dragonheartedgirl]

For over a hundred years.

[ and hhhhonestly like. Even though she spent like. A very long part of her imprisonment in the mirrors forcingn herself to recite the names of the people she knew, and their faces, as well a sto recall every single event that had happened since she first woke up here, it


Man her memory is like super jacked with. Case in point, she has no idea who she's talking to right now. ]

Were you as well, sir?

Re: For everybody else

[maxxximumeffort]

[shock crawls up his spine.]

No no no no. No. No, Princess, listen to me. You gotta wake up. It was a dream, okay? It felt like it was real, but your head's playing tricks, it, it does that sometimes, that's why brains suck so much. But you gotta focus for me. It's Double Down, remember? Wire's wizard boyfriend?

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ There is


An incredibly long and probably, for him, an uncomfortable pause as she considers this and racks her brain, trying to remember the specific details. But eventually, ]

Yes, that's right. Nathan did have a paramour on AlcheME. That was--is--you?


[ She's. She seems to be awake? But honestly who can tell what was real and what was fake anymore. That dress and all the blood on it sure isn't changing into one of her usual uniforms. ]

[maxxximumeffort]

[he claps both his hands on both her cheeks a bit sharply??]

Wake. Up.

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ I mean honestly even pain is a welcome sensation at this point because it's FEELING. ]

But I am awake. .... aren't I? I'm awake, right?

[ SHE IS. Holy shit she has this terrible feeling of dread. Is this actually just a dream, is she dreaming again, what if. What if it is a dream. ALARM BELLS. ALARM BELLS AND OOOOH LORD. ]

I don't want to go back. If this is just a dream, then I... I don't want to wake up. Don't make me go back into the mirror....!

[ SOMEONE HELP ]

[maxxximumeffort]

[D IS STAYING RIGHT HERE WITH HER, and his gut twists but he keeps pushing, trying for any expulsion, any catharsis]

You won't go back! You're not going back. This right here, this is real! Come on, you can scream, you can throw up, you can even say fuck! As loud as you possibly can!

[dragonheartedgirl]

Welp. WELP guess this is how she says it for the first time? D's a good influence.

F--Fuck. Fuck! Fuck!

[ She's sobbing openly, uncontrollably, and sagging onto her knees. It does, however, feel strangely--cathartic--to say that word, like she's released some valve she didn't even know had pressure building up behind it. Not that she can manage to say it anymore--she's crying so hard at this point that she can't say a thing anymore. ]

[maxxximumeffort]

[he gathers her up in a tight, protective hug, giving her some stability.]

Ah, shit. You're a natural, Princess. Really organic. Just rips the guts right outta me.

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ She is.... unfortunately very good at crying. Sometimes it feels like the only thing she's any good at. Being held is welcome, though, and she latches onto his body like a lifeline in the midst of a stormy sea. ]

[maxxximumeffort]

[as unhinged and hyper as D can get sometimes, he just holds her now, soothing and squeezing sometimes. He is even quiet as he picks her up off her feet to make some progress on getting the hell out of here.]

That's it. There you go. I know, I know. They hurt you so bad. Those sentient pantywaists, who the fuck do they think they are.

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ It's true. It's true; they hurt her... so badly. And they didn't even let her process it? They left her locked up in a mirror for a hundred years to suit their--fans--and... and it's not just they did to her, it's what they did to everyone, it's what they made her do to others, things she can't ever begin to make penance or reparation for, things that even though she'll try, they'll all still have to carry around like grave markers in their hearts.

Honestly, she



cries until she just plain doesn't have any tears left, and her sobbing has left her chest aching and her breathing shaky. But at least... she's stopped. She shifts, apparently making to move away. ]

... Thank you.

[maxxximumeffort]

[When she shifts he goes ahead and puts her back down, carefully.]

Easy. Here, I got some illegally requisitioned water. Might wanna dump it on your face.

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ Illegally requisitioned water? What is he talking about? Now that he mentions it, though, she is.... no, tired doesn't even begin to cover this bone-weary exhaustion. Her body is fine, honestly, it's like she didn't spend any time in the mirror at all, but mentally she's been through hell.

She looks up at him blankly. ]

Can I drink it instead?

[ She--is suddenly thirsty, almost unbearably so. Between mentally feeling as though she hasn't had anything to drink in a century, and dehydrating herself--she doesn't just want water, she needs it. ]

[maxxximumeffort]

Course you can.

[here plz drink water. plz]

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ She's going to guzzle that water down, like--every bit of it. It tastes and feels so good on her tongue and going down her throat, cool and wet all the way--honestly if she wasn't out of tears she'd probably cry again.

It's only when she's finished off the--glass? bottle?--that she'll stop and speak again. ]

Thank you. I feel a little bit better now.

[ Which is. True? She already feels a little less drained; she looks a little more with it, too: at least her cheeks are no longer deathly pale. ]

[maxxximumeffort]

IT's okay. C'mon, let's get home. Just take it slow, Peach.

[dragonheartedgirl]

"Peach?"

[maxxximumeffort]

The princess of the mushroom kingdom! The most wonderful kingdom.

[dragonheartedgirl]

I forgot what an odd place the future is. There's a kingdom of mushrooms now?

[maxxximumeffort]

Don't worry about it. It's an affectionate nickname. Means I like ya.

/2

[dragonheartedgirl]

Oh!

[dragonheartedgirl]

.... "Peach." All right.

[ das kinda cute ]

[maxxximumeffort]

Heeey. There you go. See, there's smiling in post-murderdeath madness. Just one step at a time.

[dragonheartedgirl]

Yes, I suppose that's true.

[ having it pointed out, though--she just feels a deep pang of guilt. does she even have the right to smile about things anymore? ]