In the morning, the town comes back to life. Birds crow overhead, a snake nearby hisses, a lingering coyote dips behind a shop before disappearing into the wild. It's a frightening contrast to the stillness of yesterday but it doesn't mean it's over yet. After all, today is the trial.
The Sheriff stands on the porch of the Town Hall and brings his hand up to his mouth to let out a whistle. He'll thumb back to the Hall behind him and very clearly state --
"Trial time, folks. Get in here and figure out who did it."
And then he'll turn to leave before pausing and adding on,
"Bring a snack or somethin' too.
The Town Hall is set up more like a court house, a Judge's bench at the front but instead of at center, it's off to the side as if more for observation than participation. There's a table at the front of the room already holding a small box and a pad of papers and pen, for voting apparently. A side room containing only a metal gurney is next and today it's obvious why there's a gurney there at all with the corpse, resting right on top of it. Aside from that, there are rows for everyone to take a seat and it's only after everyone is inside and settled, that the doors close and the Sheriff speaks.
"Well, have at it. You've got till nine."
And then, he points to a clock on the wall that reads 12:00. Good luck.
Welcome to the trial post! Characters are free to discuss everything related to the trial here. They won't be let out of the room until 9PM when voting ends. Every character must vote and the voting post can be found here.
If there are any questions, please shoot a message to this journal or to ![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico) robowest. |
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sheriffexe) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
robowest2017-01-21 12:00 pm
no subject
so the least he can do is this much, for both their sakes.]
...Hey. [#articulate
or maybe it's just that he doesn't know what to say. goodbyes of this nature are not something he's ever been given an opportunity to have.]
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Still, she brightens a little to see him, even if she's not thrilled for him to see her like this. And, weakly:]
Good day, Sir Noctis... I suppose in the end, we were less successful than I thought.
[...in getting her out of this cell]
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[she's in better spirits than he would have imagined... which isn't exactly saying much. but he knows as well as she does that they really don't have any way to escape this. they're trapped.
all of them are trapped in an unwinnable situation.]
How're you holding up? [impending doom aside, but with having to cope with knowing what's to come while being unable to do anything about it?
(because he feels pretty shitty aver it.)]
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Though that does seem to dampen her spirits a little.]
I...
[...]
I must confess that... I have been trying not to think on it. If I pretend as though it is like I've only just arrived--when Miss Ao was in the cell beside me and we did not know...
It is almost easier.
[...]
I suppose that is simply another way of running away, however. You must think I am very cowardly.
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[he doesn't think that at all, honestly. though his frown definitely deepens in realizing that he's definitely harshing what positivity she has left. so he offers tiara a bit of a weak smile, a little more encourage once he can muster it up.]
You're doing better than I would. Than most of us, probably. It's... probably better to hold onto the good than anything else for now.
[holding onto the memories of a better time—that's normal. it hurts, but it's normal. and if it's going to get her through this dark hour, he's not going to discourage her.]
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(Because if she thinks of what she's leaving behind...Cui, and her companions, and her dream... it hurts.
It hurts so much she thinks she can't breathe.)]
Sir Noctis...may I ask you something? Before... [... well, before the attempted murder.] ...That is, Miss Ao told me some of her home, and it sounded like a beautiful place.
What is it... you are looking to return to?
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is a question he didn't expect.
tiara's the first person actually ask so bluntly what it is he needs to return to. some may have gotten the impression he needed to return, but—never in detail. not who he was or what he stands for.]
My country... Lucis. [he figures maybe now, when things are quiet, when this isn't going to be advertised to everyone... maybe he can say it.] Guess you wouldn't know it by looking at me, but I'm only a coronation away from becoming king.
[it's a weight he still hasn't completely figured out how to bear.] There's something I have to get back... for my people. For our world.
[it's something only he can do, and there are people to avenge along the way. but that's what he wants and needs to get back to, more than anything. it's a heavy weight for him, and he still refuses to the consider what this place may cost him as a result.]
no subject
It's definitely important. Her eyes widen, and she presses her hand to her chest.]
Oh my...
[That's definitely a lot to have on one person's shoulders in a murdergame like this.]
You...must have so much on your mind. I...am afraid I do not know what to say to that, truthfully. But I believe--that you shall make it home, to your people.
[Someone's gotta, right? Maybe that's why she's here dying today--her own goals are so much more selfish, so much less noble. So surely someone with more noble goals... they must make it home, right?]
That will be what I shall wish for. [It's too late for her, so... the least she can do is hope and pray for the people who have been kind to her.]
no subject
and she was going to die for it.
other people—other people are going to keep dying for it too. and of course, he doesn't want to die. especially not here, where there's no honor in it.
but still, noct appreciates what tiara says. there's sincerity in it, isn't there? they both know she won't live to see a better day, but she's encouraging that he continue on fighting, so he can return to what he's meant to do.]
Thanks, Tiara. [sincerely.] I'll keep going. Try to find a way to end this game before too many others have to go through this too.
[her death can't be in vain, so he has to keep going. like every other life lost surrounding him, he's going to take it and try and to find a way forward.
(even if it's not without struggle and strife.)] So I can get home, and they can too.
[he's definitely, if nothing else, the sort of prince who does care about helping the people around him, whether they're his countrymen or not. so long as they aren't actively his enemies, of course.]
no subject
It's... a lot. And she's honestly not that selfless. She wants to live. She doesn't know what she would do, to live, but at this point she feels like she would do just about anything to not have to face this. She's terrified of what's going to happen--
But.
It's still too late for her.]
... Sir Noctis, I hope... that that is the case. More than anything, I hope that you, and so many of the others here, will make it home.
Perhaps that...will be enough.
[It won't, not for her--because she's selfish.
But maybe she can pretend.]
no subject
[this is. hard. a lot harder than noctis expected, considering they'd only spoken a few times. maybe in some ways, he's just a bleeding heart—or maybe it's too hard to bear seeing someone who wants to live being forced into death.
all for a stupid, bullshit game that nobody wants to play.]
I'm not going to give up. You don't have to worry about that. [he may wind up done with people's shit, but that'll just strengthen his resolve, if anything.]
We'll fight this. Somehow...
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"Somehow"...shall have to be enough for me, I'm afraid.
[She smiles, weakly.]
I'll put my faith...in your "somehow".
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[he wishes he knew what that somehow was. it's... a work in progress, for sure.]
Figuring that out comes next. So... just know that. [he's going to keep trying.]
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[She shakes her head, simply.]
Truly... I feel better for it, strange as it may seem. Perhaps it is the strength of your conviction.
But I do truly trust in your "somehow".
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[maybe it does strengthen his own conviction a bit; a necessity that he's been struggling with since not long after leaving insomnia. and maybe this is just the final straw in a very long and trying sequence of events to ensure he steps up to the plate.
for his people, but for the people stuck in this stupid place too.]
As long as there's a solution, I won't stop. [unless he dies, but does he really need to say that? probably not.]
no subject
[She's scared, still. She wants to live. More than anything--she wants to live, and see the next day dawn.
But she won't.
So in the end...she has to hold onto this. Noctis' conviction, and Yuna's kindness, and Papika's joy.
The things that have made this entire horrible experience worth it.]
no subject
and noctis knows that telling her to rest is probably fruitless. even if he could probably sleep through his own execution, he knows most can't. she's scared, she wants to live and has to die.
it's too difficult for someone like him to say something like that.
instead, maybe to try and bottle his conviction as well as show it to her:]
I'll stay to the end. [of her execution, but he's not going to say that out loud. he's going to use this whole experience to try and find a way forward so the rest of them don't have to suffer the way she is.]
no subject
He's made his choice--and she's already said she admires his conviction.
So gently, she presses her hand to her chest, and nods.]
...Then... I shall hold you to that as well.
[She's tried to be poised, and serene and graceful, as a lady should be--
But she's realizing that honestly? Now that their time together is coming to a close, it's hard for her to be that.]
S-Sir Noctis, one last thing...!
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but of course, it's not like he's going to ignore it, either. he pauses, brows knitting for a moment before one arches curiously.]
...What is it? [one last thing. what could one last thing be?]
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She can't keep it to herself, not knowing what tomorrow will bring.]
Please...remember me fondly, Sir Noctis.
[That's her true last request.]
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[the smile he offers is small, but kind and sincere. forgetting someone who met an untimely end because of some outsider's sick desires...
he would never.
he's lost enough to that in his his life already, and just like those people won't be forgotten.
tiara will be counted among them.]
Just count on that too.
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[She smiles, a little relieved.]
Thank you, Sir Noctis. For everything.
[That's it, isn't it? That's all she can say--there's nothing more.
This is...the end for her.]
no subject
even if it's incredibly bittersweet.
but there's really not much left to say, so with a bit of an awkward nod, he'll draw in a breath and move to take his leave.
(this has sucked the whole way through, but he takes at least a little solace in knowing he could say goodbye and talk to her before it was over. at least this time, he's got some closure.)]