week 2, friday

[vigilantics]

[ sometime after natsuo's body was found, stephanie will make her way varian's room. she is really hoping he is in here because if she came all this way for nothing that'll be very unfortunate. ]

Hey. Varian?

Comments

[alchemenace]

[ varian has to stifle a fucking yawn. someone died and he should definitely be more awake to handle the "holy shit, natsuo" feeling. he is not so honestly he's just. tired confused. are they SURE akechi isn't the one who died??? ]

Hey, Stephie. Did you need something?

[vigilantics]

I just wanted to see how you're doing.

[ ... ]

You, uh. Sleeping much?

[alchemenace]

[ awkward laughter ]

Who, me? Absolutely. Never better. I am sleeping soooo good. [ he attempts to lean against the doorframe to seem more casual and misses, crumpling to the floor. ] ... Well. Sleeping so well. [ he's just going to stay there against the thing now. yes. this is believable. ]

[ ... wait. ]

... Unless you're not sleeping either because of horrible nightmare visions.

[vigilantics]

[ what the hell did she just witness. ]

I am also not sleeping either because of horrible nightmare visions.

[ all of that was completely unnecessary. ]

[alchemenace]

[ please... let him die ]

Oh. Good. So we can fully assume that's a side-effect of the woods.

[ because they didn't have enough of those ]

[vigilantics]

Yup. It's just... so great.

[ listen, it has been a ride to have nightmares about natsuo dying and then finding his actual body. ]

You should try to get some rest before tomorrow though. It's going to be another long day.

[alchemenace]

... Yeah. I wasn't dreaming that, right? It's really Natsuo?

[ akechi is? right there? ]

[vigilantics]

It's Natsuo. I found the body.

[ she is.... so tired. ]

[alchemenace]

O-oh. Wow. I'm sorry.

[ that. yknow. sucks. then he frowns and looks at steph's leg ]

Do you want to come sit down for a bit? Fane doesn't sleep, so... it's just me and Rudiger.

[ there is an odd chirping from under the bed as an apple core flies out. Varian ignores it. ]

[vigilantics]

[ ... hm. raccoon.

still, she will accept the offer and come in, mostly because she doesn't want to start walking right away. ]

Thanks.

[alchemenace]

[ the raccoon paw stretches out to grab the core as he realizes he would also eat that thanks. varian guides steph so they can both fuckin sit on the bed and maybe pass out at some point lbr ]

... It's weird. Of all the people here, why Natsuo?

[vigilantics]

I don't know.

[ as much as steph hates to admit it, everyone most likely thought that it would be akechi. he was the obvious choice for someone to go after if they were forced to kill-- someone who everyone already knows murdered while here. ]

He was the last person I expected.

[alchemenace]

Yeah. And... did you ever find out how he got healed?

[ because varian was still avoiding him which is now. awkward. great now he feels guilty over a corpse he didn't even do. damn. ]

[vigilantics]

No. I mean, there's the possibility that he got healed by a potion? Like the one you had, but...

[ that would require them finding out all the people who managed to make those and ask them. ]

[alchemenace]

I don't know. There weren't that many ingredients in the lab to begin with, and there's only so many people here who can make those.

[ varian wasn't even one of those until fane taught him, because healing potions is magic shut the fuck up ]

[vigilantics]

Nothing is ever simple.

[ if it was then they would have gotten out of here already. ]

Can I ask you something?

[alchemenace]

Yeah, of course. What is it?

[vigilantics]

You and Veronica found something, right? Fane and I did, and Natsuo and Shirasu did too.

[alchemenace]

[ there's a long pause and honestly if it was anyone but steph he wouldn't admit it, but. well. team reckless. so. ]

... Yeah. We did. Those guys got that doll Natsuo had, right? What did you and Fane have? I know I heard something break when we piled up on top of one another, but.

[ did they seriously break it ]

[vigilantics]

A mirror.

[ steph refuses to mention that it was already broken because she fucking threw it. ]

I think it might be able to change someone's title? Or objective. One of the two. Uh, if it... still works...

[alchemenace]

... Probably title. Um. Here.

[ varian takes out from his NUMEROUS POCKETS a scroll. are you excited francia. it has a broken wax seal, and it reads:

to you who chose to take a leap of faith;
Each and every Narrator has their own special title.
Some Narrators have a second special role in addition to this title.
No two Narrators may share the same title but may share the same role.
Roles may not be changed or traded, but the same cannot be said for titles. ]

[vigilantics]

[ the first line is something they all already know, but the more she reads the more her eyebrows furrow together. ]

Special roles?

[alchemenace]

I tried asking the Crafters about it, but obviously they would not tell me. [ stupid npcs. ] It's-- Veronica and I think it has to do with the "sides" in this war. At first, I thought it might be roles meant to... to kill, but after last week, it's obvious people are picked randomly for that.

[ because the killers said so. yea ]

[vigilantics]

I was talking to Nico a week ago and he brought up that there might be titles that weren't listed since it's not like they outright said the ones on the list are everything.

... although I guess if they aren't officially called titles then that makes more sense.

[alchemenace]

Right. So, some people here have two "abilities"... one of which they're keeping even more secret than normal. That's why Veronica and I decided not to tell anyone we knew. Since...

[ since people die for stupider reasons ]

I think whoever killed Dave might have had a role like this.