The Twenty-Fifth Trial [Mirror] - Winners and Endgame

[hot_mess_express]

Who: Heroes
When:Day 52, night
Where: near the Train

The rain falls harder, and the snake sneers at you as you exit the temples... Lightning strikes and the snake laughs like thunder... But that's all, the mocking laughter rings in your ears as the scenery shifts back to the normal Train area. Those who revive will do so near the Train as the winners and survivors reappear.

Ginger and Licorice double win for both surviving and targeting a Priest! For these teams they get 800 points.

Jasmine wins for surviving! They get 500 points.

Everyone on a winning team is revived and fully healed.

Everyone else... Is revived. And healed. However in whatever death wounds they received they have, instead of scars, white scales for their skin.

Smaller wounds will regenerate in a one to two days and will leave scales instead of scars unless healed otherwise.

All Kami remain hungry and able to shift to their monster form for the next day or so. Only meat will relieve this hunger.

Any Kami that were mad at the end of the game will retain a bit of mental instability for a day, in whatever form you prefer.

Priests, if they normally have powers, will find themselves somewhat weaker for a day.

It is not ICly known that these effects will wear off.

Comments

[marezydoats]

[ Rin wakes up.


She wakes up and she curls into a little ball and starts screaming and screaming and screaming and ]

[daydreamshimmer]

[ISUZU]

[She moves over to her and]

[Stop just a bit away, but in each]

Isuzu. Hey, Isuzu?

[marezydoats]

[ She looks up wildly at Solar. She stops screaming but she's clearly still terrified, trembling like a leaf in the wind. ]

IT'S A BOND OF SOME KIND

[daydreamshimmer]

[Magic don't go off, don't go off, don't go off-]

[She already knows ENOUGH of what happened-]

[But then she's moving and she's going to pull Isuzu into a hug.]

[....at least she's got soft fur?]

Nothing is going to hurt you anymore.

I'll burn anyone who tries, you're safe right now.

[BOND] FOR SURE YES

[marezydoats]

[ Rin leans into it, not precisely hugging back-- she's pretty bad at hugging as a general rule-- but she's clearly accepting it, burying her face in the soft fur. ]

Re: [BOND] FOR SURE YES

[daydreamshimmer]

[Its fine, she's a pony and a Friendship Magic User, she is Very Good At Hugs despite hooves.]

[She's going to hug her tight and close.] You're safe. I'm here. [Just gonna keep whispering that over and over.]

[marezydoats]

[ Bit by bit, it helps. The trembling stops slowly but surely until finally she moves her hands up to return the hug. It's weak and awkward and she's clearly very not used to hugging, but she is returning it.

At long last, there is an embarrassed mumble. ]


...Thank you.

[bluediligence]

[ Faito stays far, far, far away while Isuzu screams, sick to her stomach with guilt and horror. ]

[ Once things are a ... little? more calm? ... she still doesn't approach, instead shakily calling out, ]

M-Miss? Isuzu? I - I have healing magic, if you need ...

[marezydoats]

[ She looks up at Faito and at least she stops screaming but she's still trembling, shaking uncontrollably.

But she shakes her head. ]

It doesn't-- it doesn't hurt anymore.

[bluediligence]

Oh, I ... okay. [ Takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. ] Okay.

[ And bows as low as she possibly can. ]

I'm so sorry.

[marezydoats]

It's not-- it's not....

[ She swallows and takes a few deep breaths before she tries again. ]

I don't blame you for those actions. Rather, the one who went out of his way to force this upon us all....

[bluediligence]

[ It doesn't quite sink in. Doesn't quite make sense — not right now, anyway. ]

That monster … [ Isn't she a monster, though? She could've found another way. Should've. ] But — still … if there's anything I can do to help you or your team, please let me know.

[marezydoats]

I will.

[ Not that she expects to come up with anything, but she won't turn down the offer either. ]

...Your name. What is it?

[yearofthecat]

[He really tries to ignore the screaming girl but...

nope.

Somehow he’s plopping down on the ground next to her but doesn’t say a word. He’s just there and not sure why.

He doesn’t even know this girl. ]

[marezydoats]

[ She notices the movement and looks up at him and--

The shock stops her from screaming. In different circumstances, she might have tried to find out if he remembers anything before she admitted she knows him but she's in too delicate of a state and instead pops out with one thing: ]

Kyou?

[yearofthecat]

[It's weird how the name doesn't sound foreign to his ears. Like a puzzle piece locked into place with the awareness that it fits, for some reason. But more importantly, from the look of shock and recognition--this girl knows him.]

Ah... Is that why I couldn't just walk away when I saw you?

You were in that nightmare too. I didn't know I actually knew anyone here.

[marezydoats]

Then you don't remember either.

[ It's a lonely feeling. ]

We're... distant cousins. Related through the same family line.

[yearofthecat]

No, I don't. Sorry. I don't even remember your name. Hell, I didn't know my own name until you called me by it. So...thank you even if you didn't intend it.

[He may have questions later, but he doesn't think that is really the most important thing right now. ]

It's over...whatever it was. I think we really need to get you some help though. I haven't been here long and don't really know how to get it for you but I'll do whatever I can.

[marezydoats]

It's Isuzu.

[ She says it quietly. She hasn't given anyone the name "Rin," but... he wouldn't have used it ordinarily anyway, so it's fine to continue to keep it to herself. ]

There... is a medical car with healing pods. It'd be a good idea to keep in in mind for the future.

[notafruit]

[ Unlike so many others... Chiharu is fortunate. She wasn't caught up in...whatever all of this was that happened to people. But she can see the horror, shock, pain, and disgust in everyone's eyes. And her heart hurts.

Quietly, she kneels down at her side and very gently rests a hand upon her back. ]

Sohma-san...

[marezydoats]

[ She looks up at Chiharu, her eyes wide and barely focusing on her but the screaming has at least stopped. The trembling however has not, and Rin wraps her arms around herself as she shakes. ]

[notafruit]

[ . . . What happened? But no, it doesn't seem appropriate to ask, and that's not really the main point right now, is it. What happened doesn't change the fact that events have unfolded to a point that this girl before her has been traumatized.

Gentle, her arms wrap around her tentatively to bring her into an embrace. ]

It's over now. It's over...

[marezydoats]

[ Rin wants to be strong, she really does, but it's so much and she needs a few moments to tremble and cry in Chiharu's arms. ]

[notafruit]

I... I have you.

[ It's alright. She doesn't have to be strong. No one can be strong all the time, and while she doesn't know the details... she doesn't understand what everyone, in particular, went through, she knows she's suffering. And right now, the fact that she is in pain is all that matters.

Her grip tightens. ]

You can cry as much as you need.

[marezydoats]

Rin wants to be strong all the time, already thinks of herself as weak. But at this moment, she can't be strong-- she's not strong, and she's going to cry for a long time until the shaking and trembling finally stops.