[ DEPARTURE ]

[sheriffexe]

DEPARTURE

It's time to go. Most people are on the train by now. Settled into their cabins and among friends and loved ones. There are only three new arrivals left to board and once they do, Hal pulls a conductor's hat out from underneath the bar, tugs it on, and steps around it to the middle of the train. He opens his mouth to talk, voice filling the train. "It's time to go. Stops happen once a day until everyone's departed and I already have your stopped listed. If you'd like to be prioritized, let me know, otherwise we'll go in order of death. Settle in and enjoy the ride. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask, folks." This, of course, means that those who died earliest (Manfred, Higekiri) will depart first while those who died latest (Barnham, Damian, Percy) will depart last. There's a stop for everyone, though those who want to get off together are more than welcome to. Hal pulls a notepad and pen out of his pocket later and people will notice that he goes around the train confirming stops with everyone. Whatever feeling Hal may have had to a character back in town isn't noticeable here -- he is simply a robot assigned with a job. After that, it's all a matter of settling in and enjoying the ride. If that's possible for you, at least.

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Comments

[a_sin_for_him]

[So this is it.]

[It's finally ended. The strange, brutal, exhausting 'game' has been won (to the extent it could be won) and they're freed. It almost seems too simple, too neat and easy. But the last seven weeks seem like some sort of mad fever dream. There's a part of her that can't quite accept everything. That it really is over, that she's been given what she wanted.]

[She'd fought for fifteen years for her humanity. She'd done unspeakable things with little to no regret, sacrificed innocents, started wars, destroyed lives...all for the chance at her humanity. A humanity she'd come to realize her master would never give her. All of that for nothing. And here...here she'd put away her blades and petulantly refused to shed blood, been taken out in a month, and was being gifted more than she'd ever dreamed? It couldn't be true.]

[But here she was, sitting on the train, heading to humanity and a fresh new life where she'd never be a tool again. She'd be human, far from any of the pathetic, tragic trappings of her homunculus life. She's parting from people she calls 'friend', and the only reason she's spared a return to her prior existence is the man who's taken her in. A man she hadn't even manipulated or tried to curry favor with.]

[So despite her paranoid fear of a happy ending being ripped away, Lust finds herself excitedly anticipating this final ride. And even leaves the private cabin she's been sharing with Eliot to say her parting words to those she'd made connections with.]

[There are some among the others she'll sorely miss.]

[tightly]

[ Even if she could speak, there is no way Chane could find words that would ostensibly satisfy the woman she had poisoned, chopped to pieces, scattered in the lake - and that's on her, even if she had enlisted other hands to assist, her ambition and her responsibility - but it hadn't even proved necessary. Lust had accepted her simplistic response, taken it to heart as something that did not exacerbate her fears, moved on.

Well, and good. That's how it ought to be. Wherever Lust goes, she ought to be happy. They all ought to be happy, these varied and colourful people Chane has shared the past two months with. She doesn't have it in her to begrudge any of them.

So, passing Lust by or stopping, catching her gaze...

Ultimately, Chane does the latter. She only pauses for a moment, but her gaze is clear, lacking in any animosity and not bothering with regret. It had been ... just business, and now that business is over.

Two words are mouth in that pause, not written but "said" to the best of her abilities.

Good luck.

There's nothing feigned in it, no sarcasm. She hopes Lust finds the peace and happiness she's looking for.

And then, moment breaking, Chane continues on. ]

[a_sin_for_him]

[Perhaps Lust should have stronger feelings about the woman that killed her. Some sort of anger, bitterness, something. But she doesn't. If she thinks about it, in some ways, Chane did her a favor. Her situation and prospects improved greatly, after she was poisoned.

And besides, Chane had paid her own price for her actions. It was done. All players involved in the sordid drama dead and restored and leaving all of this behind. Lust has her reward, a greater one than she ever expected. Her humanity, a new life of freedom, a good man. The unpleasantness she's suffered at Chane's hands is a perfectly acceptable price to pay for what she's leaving with.

So when her killer catches her gaze and mouths two simple words, words Lust has no trouble understanding, she accepts the well wish as it's intended. She has no reason to assume it's anything but a legitimate sentiment. In response, she nods, offering as much of a smile as she can muster. She doesn't know if the other woman carries any guilt, she doesn't care. It doesn't matter. They'll never see each other again, never even have to think about one another again.

Though Lust doubts she'll ever entirely forget Chane Walken, no matter how long she ends up living.]