final investigation

[arsholes]

[It's been almost a week since Orthrus' lucky escape. Almost a week, of all calls to Heisenberg going (metaphorically) to voicemail. Almost a week, to rest and recover from the harrowing losses of the previous Friday.

It's been almost a week. And the storms are getting worse.

You know the locked door on the first floor? The one that goes into the center of the tower, right across from the great entry hall doors?

Today, there's a heavy iron key sticking out of the lock. With a familiar crest on the head.

The key is sticky with wet yellow paint, and wetter blood.]

Comments

[ninehundredlives]

.....you trust him. He hung me up on those spikes for god knows how long, and -

[And she let it happen so they'd live, and now they're choosing him. The man who did all of this, to her and to them, and doubtless to others who are dead and gone now. Like none of it mattered at all.

Susan's surprised to find angry tears pricking at her eyes. She digs her fingers hard into the blood-soaked fabric of her cardigan and looks away.]

Fine. Do what you want. But I'm coming with you.

[Maybe she won't be able to do anything when they blindly stumble into whatever trap's been laid. Probably not. But at least there ought to be someone trying to keep an eye out for it. Anyway, what's she going to do, stay down here?]

[thealchemist]

[Heisenberg doesn't say anything to try and defend himself. He'll take the assessment as fair.]

[reresurrected]

If you would like some healing...

[He trails off. Would it even work? He doesn't know, but he figures it's the very least he can offer.]

[ninehundredlives]

[Incredibly dryly:]

I'm fine. No harm done, right?

[Granted, she's kind of freezing, what with all the cooling blood plastering her clothes to her skin, but she doesn't suppose there's clean clothes here in what appears to be their best friend Heisenberg's second, larger murder pit, and anyway she's sure as hell not going to ask.]

[reresurrected]

... if you're certain.

[He doesn't sound like he is, though, not when he can't remember any of these things that supposedly happened, that he was supposedly there for... and when it's clear that the fact he and the others can't remember is hurting her more than she really wants to let on.]

[ghostsguysgyuudon]

I have bandages -- wait, they might've gotten ruined, let me check...

[Mei runs over to the ruins of the supply bundle and retrieves two pill bottles (one of which sounds like it actually just contains sand), the books from the investigation upstairs, and a few onigiri. She sighs.]

No, this is it. Everything else got scattered and... mostly covered in Foego.

[reresurrected]

It's still something, at least. We should be sure to hang onto all of these for the time being, just in case.

[How useful will they be? Well, he's got his doubts, but you never know!]

[ghostsguysgyuudon]

Right! At least the books had a lot of good information.

[ninehundredlives]

[She shrugs sharply, avoiding eye contact.]

I just need a shower.

[It is definitely hurting her - the whole time, back in that place, she'd thought there at least might be a friendly face or two when she was finally able to get out. And now there's less than nothing. It's a knot in her chest, but she's almost angry at herself for expecting anything else.]

[reresurrected]

I'm sorry, Susan-san.

[It feels empty and he knows it, yet at the same time he doesn't know what else he can say-- what the him she knew might have said instead. This must be how the nexuses feel, he thinks, and for a brief moment his own anger at someone who isn't even here surges.

He's tired. He's so tired.]

[ninehundredlives]

...it isn't your fault.

[It's not. Even putting their trust in this actual literal murderer - well, it feels like a betrayal, but they don't even know her to begin with.

She sounds so, so tired.]

cw: impalement

[twibeast]

…While trust is not the word I would use right now, for what it’s worth I will say I don’t think he’s the one who hung you up down here for all this time.

……We found him in a similar state to how we found you. Impaled and being harvested for blood. Had we been a little too late he might have been moved down here with you.

[ His core starts to release the heat it had absorbed. ]

Regardless we should try and find a way out as quickly as possible.

[ninehundredlives]

Oh, how sad.

[Sorry, did you want her to feel sorry for him? That he got a small taste of his own medicine - and didn't even die, because he got rescued?

But Susan can read a room. She won't push it any further.]

Well, don't look at me. I was dead when they put me in here. How did you get in?

[twibeast]

We were… about to run off to help the others when the ground suddenly… gave way under us.

[ a pause ]

A-And I wasn’t at this size then s-so that wasn’t the reason it did…!

[ninehundredlives]

...well, there's got to be a normal way down. Especially if they're carting bodies down here. You'd probably want to be able to bring a gurney.

[She doesn't love turning her back on Heisenberg, but...well, what does it matter at this point? She'll have a bit of a look around anyway. If she was here, maybe there's something nearby? Easiest to set up the spikes and corpses near the door.]

[twibeast]

[ He’s going to shrink back down now and transform back into his human form because he also wants to take a look around and he’s not feeling great about giving Heisenberg a ride right now so dude can just. Sit on the ground for a while or something.

Once he’s changed he’s going to try summoning up a little ball of light so they have a second light source to look around with. Easier to do when you’re not in dog mode. ]