katzepaw | lucretia

...I don't think she would be killing for it unless she did truly believe that was the case. It's possible that it is true, but if we already know that some of us can be influenced into going that far...

I don't know. Maybe she wasn't willing, and had to be-- forced to believe she was truly helping. Byleth confessed, but she wouldn't give her motivation; they might have been blocked to prevent us from realizing something was wrong.

I don't know what to make of it. Caiman - wasn't able to deny it, even though he didn't remember. But.

[Hmm.]

The pattern is wrong. The ones killed by that group so far have been entirely adult men, most of them without deep connections to the killers. If they truly think they must save people, why not save people they love, save the young and vulnerable?

That's part of why I lean toward thinking this isn't-- it's not truly their own motivation. It may not even be their own decision, they could be... forced into killing someone already chosen for them.

But I can't get past - the power they gave Beauregard can do things it couldn't do at home. Force a person to recall lost memories.

It doesn't make sense. But clearly they want to be caught, and they don't want people like Adora dead.

And when they run out of people who are more acceptable to kill, what then. It gets worse than it already has?

It really doesn't make sense. I've thought-- this whole time I've thought that yes, it's horrible, and none of us exactly want to be doing this, but if we focused on the right people and on trying to get the right answers, maybe we could get somewhere. Figure out more about all this. And she died for that, and that was-- designed to hurt so many of us at once.

What are we even doing here? Trying to catch them just so they can stop?

[she's wanted to believe that they could make this worth it, in some way, but- is it just the same thing, all over again?]

I'm not-- I won't give up on this, maybe we'll still figure something out from today, I just. Caleb, what are we doing.

I don't know, I don't know what to do. We are making these decisions on scraps of information. Otome will certainly try to kill again. Is it worth the effort to stop her?

I can't... I don't think that it feels right to answer this with more death. I know that's what happens when we vote, we already contribute to it, but we can't just turn this into an unstoppable fucking cycle of murder, any more than it already is one. We can't do it.

[the anger has not gone away, but it's at a slightly lower simmer, at the moment.]

Whatever we do, I don't want it to be that. Their partner might still be forced to kill, and then we just have another body and one less option that weekend.

I agree with you. But it is harder to tell that to the person next Friday who wakes up to someone precious gone.

... I know. No matter what, someone loses another person who's dear to them, whether it's her or the person she kills.

[the entire situation is, as always, fucked.]

We'll just have to-- there are the new auctions. More options to try to get what information we can, through having someone back who we can speak with or communication with the rest. Maybe through one of them we'll be able to find something that we need, though... information isn't exactly the priority, with one of those. It'll just be helpful if they can provide it.

. . . Ja.

[He frowns a little at the mention of the auctions.]

Obviously we are, uhm, trying to bid for our friend. That should come as little surprise, though perhaps it will be seen as selfish.

I'd be trying to do the same, in your place. I did think about it, but it seemed a little pointless to compete for the same result.

[he's not the only person she might want back, but he's the one she'd pick too. as much as she liked sieg, she thinks he wouldn't want to come back over someone else.]

I bid for Hugo's, instead.

I've talked to a lot of people who have. I suppose whoever has it, it will be a help.

It should be. I suppose there's maybe a little selfishness in going for it, too, but-- there are people I'd just like to talk to myself.

. . . Mm.

If we don't win, and you do, perhaps you can just. . . talk to him a little bit.

If I do and there's nothing keeping me from telling you-- I promise you're the first people I'm coming to.

[as if she wouldn't pass on messages for molly.]

Danke.

[A little swell of gratitude.]

Just let him know he is cared for and we tried for him.

...I will. I'll remember.

[-a brief flicker of discomfort at her own wording, there, after what happened thursday and friday, but. she's fine. it's fine.]

. . . Have you gotten them all back?

-I have. It continued to come and go, up until this morning, but... I haven't lost anything today, so I think it might be over.

. . . Beauregard mentioned the hag, Isharnai. Was that the cause of it?

[the answer is probably obvious before she even says anything, with the swell of discomfort that mention gets. there's guilt with it, regret.]

...I think that it was, after-- what happened with her.

Ah. I'm sorry, I shouldn't pry.

It just-- came from making the wrong decision. That's all.

Well, if these things are drawn from our memories, then it wouldn't surprise me if we had also made the same wrong decision at some point.

[a few moments of silence, there.]

Maybe. Beauregard mentioned her to me, too. It sounded-- similar, at the very least.

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katzepaw - 2021-07-13 13:17 (UTC) - Expand

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ambiography - 2021-07-13 15:26 (UTC) - Expand