subdivided | WEEK ZERO TRIAL

Week Zero: Trial
31 in Competition

It may be difficult to sleep with the light shining so brightly throughout the night, but the participants can rest easy knowing they will not be plagued by unwanted, disturbing dreams. Early the next day, a bell chimes and all will feel compelled to enter the main meeting hall.

The hall looks mostly the same as it always has, the two thrones for Lune and Sol at the head of the room and scrolls hanging from the walls. The metal box sits on a table near the front, along with a glass box perfectly centered before the benches in the room. Now that the trial is in session, Tsurumaru's coffin is open, and his body will be available for examination.

Lune and Sol are seated in their thrones, patiently waiting for the last participant to settle. Before Lune gets a chance to speak, Sol draws everyone's attention.

"Yesterday…something really bad happened. The instability of the core has manifested into something bigger than we thought, and it's hidden among us. Today, it'll be your job to find it, and determine what to do with it."

They gesture to the open space between them and the participants then.

"Lune and I will help you as much as we can. But the final decision is yours and yours alone."

With that said, they settle back in their seat.

"Oh. And you have nine hours…let's get going."

Incidentally, anyone who did not dance with their partner during Wednesday's party will soon find that they are now sharing a new article of clothing. Congratulations.

✩★✩

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first trial!

We'll go over a few notes briefly as we will be playing this trial a bit differently than other games.

As noted, there was no investigation period on Friday. However, today participants will have the chance to investigate areas in the game setting as they see fit! This can be done by providing the name of the location you want to visit to the host header comment. To help with the ease of the trial and for IC mechanics, only one location may be visited at a time. In addition, these locations can be manipulated and adjusted upon request to test theories and solve puzzles, so please feel free to ask if you're searching for clues! Your host will also be accompanying you on these visits.

Most importantly, before the trial is over, please place your character's vote over on the voting page. Voting will close at 9pm EST/6pm PST, and will serve as our activity check for the week, so please be sure you get your vote in before it ends unless you have contacted us previously.

If you have any questions at any time, please let do us know by pinging us on Discord! Dana and Ty will be in the chat and available for all questions. Thank you, and have fun!

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[ it's a good thing all the other gems are also fucking weirdos so they're not fazed by hisoka being weird that much ]

Then let's check it with everyone. It's possible it won't match what someone is wearing now, since so many of you changed clothes, and you can get more clothes out of the boutique, but maybe we can get an idea of what it came from and who might wear it. The horse is innocent, at least...

[ because he's NAKED!! indecent. ]

Horses wear saddles.

Not this horse! I stomp on saddles. They're tools of oppression!

[you know what

horse rights are REAL]

[HELL YEAH THEY'RE REAL]

It never wears anything.

[ they don't know what a saddle is either, god help me cinnabar doesn't know what anything fucking is ]

... Except today, it has a shirt on... but I think that's because of the one with blue hair.

[bless you for proclaiming his innocence, rock friend]

...

[ they look like they're going to ask something, but they don't. It would be embarrassing to ask why he's never wearing clothes... ]

[nope sorry swift wind is getting all up in their face]

I saw that look! What'd you wanna say?

[ HRGGK ]

-- Don't get so close to me, you big idiot! You'll get poisoned!

[ scuttling backwards. they should have stayed in the corner but they were curious about the clown's story!! ]

No, I won't! I'm not afraid of poison.

[trots forward]

Come on, you wanted to say something! Say it!

Get back! You'll die! Stop trying to act tough...!

[ they hold their arms up like a shield in front of their face as they're backed up against a wall; the globules of mercury that always collect in the air around them bristle with stress. ]

[swift wind shoves his face into one of the globules of mercury

and then talks]

I'm fine. Chill out a little!

No--!!

[ they raise their voice louder than they probably have in public since the day they first arrived and freaked out - they wait for the sound of flesh burning and for the steam and acrid smell, and for the horse's shouts of anguish, helpless, as ever, to do anything to reverse the hurt they've caused...

except nothing happens. Swift Wind will find he has a small black smudge on his fur where he touched the blob, but that's it. ]

W... Wait...

[swift wind's gonna have to wash that off later, but it's fine

anyway, he waits, and waits, and absolutely nothing happens, so he grins a little in that horsey way of his and trots around cinnabar in a circle]

See? Told you I'm not scared of poison.

H-how are you...

[ their body absolutely rigid, they follow him with their eyes as best as they can. What does this mean?! Maybe the horse is like Shess, and from an entire world of poison...? No, that seems too coincidental. ]

How are you okay? You should be dead... It doesn't hurt?

Nope! That stuff's a little globby, but I feel fine.

[swift wind spreads his wings and flaps them a little, to demonstrate that he's got full use of his limbs and wings without any pain.]

It's okay, you know? You can get close to the rest of us. You aren't gonna hurt us.

But, my poison...

[ it's still here, isn't it?! They can see it there, undulating just beyond their field of view, and it's starting to well up in their eyes, too, like silver tears. ]

I-I don't understand...

[ they're overwhelmed. but... this is good, they think, but they don't know how to deal with it all at once. ]

Oof. Oh, boy. Come here, buddy.

[he gets all up in their face again, but it's a lot gentler this time]

Put both arms around my neck. It's called a hug. You'll feel better.

I don't want to hug you! Stupid...! Don't pity me!

[ sorry swifty. They press their hands into their face, hiding it with their black gloves. ]

S-something this convenient wouldn't happen. There's no such things as miracles like this. And if there were, they wouldn't happen to me. I can't believe in it...

[presses his face into the back of their hands, then]

First of all, my name is Swift Wind, not Stupid. Second, am I or am I not standing right here in front of you after touching your poison or whatever? And I'm just fine! So, uh, a miracle is happening. Believe it.

[ they suck in a terrified breath when they feel him touching them, even through the fabric of their gloves, and their whole body freezes up, a chill shooting through their back even with no spine to speak of. Their hands are hard as rock, for obvious reasons, but, as Swift Wind says, he's just fine touching them - no poisoning, no corrosion. ]

Stop it... How can I believe it's over just like that...? Did I have to lose everything else first...? I...

[ the mercury around them wobbles, some of it dripping from the air onto the floor. ]

Hooooo, boy. Okay, breathe.

[swift wind takes it back he no longer wants to be a therapy pony]

We're not gonna be stuck here forever, you know? We're gonna find our way back home. So, like, all those people back home? They're waiting for us. You didn't lose everything forever. It's gonna be okay.

[ do they even want to go home? They'd already lost almost everything there, too - everything was falling apart, and they didn't know if it would ever get better. But they need to go home. Bort and the others said they needed Cinnabar. So they need to go back, and...

They feel like they don't deserve this, being freed from their poison, for nothing, for free. ]

I... What do I do...?

[ and they're forcing this stranger to listen to their pathetic wallowing, now, too. ]

Take a couple of breaths, for one.

[do rocks need to breath? the horse doesn't know. but it's calming, supposedly, so he's going to urge them to do it.]

I get it, this is probably all very new and weird for you. You went your whole life trying to avoid people 'cause you didn't want to hurt them, and now all of a sudden you don't have to. But just 'cause it's weird doesn't mean it has to be bad.

Edited 2019-06-08 22:48 (UTC)

(no subject)

globs - 2019-06-08 22:53 (UTC) - Expand

hashtaghelping - 2019-06-08 22:55 (UTC) - Expand