The Fifth Trial

[hot_mess_express]

Who: ALL
When: Day 11, noon
Where: Outer Space

Come hither, Heroes. Prove thy worth.

[ That familiar silence befalls everything following the call, and just like before the third trial there’s a glittering void, points of light twinkling in the air. As you step into the space it expands, seeming to consume you, the Aurora, and all that exists in general. There’s a feeling of vertigo as this happens, frozen lights swirling all about you and once again it's all accompanied by obnoxious giggling.

This time, however, when the darkness fades, you're...

Back inside of the Aurora? No, this is actually an entirely different train. Outside the windows, you can only see wispy, dancing lights illuminating the surroundings, which you can't quite make out. The doors outside don't open. ]

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Comments

[voreaciously]

[Her voice is very quiet and empty. She could heal this if she wanted, but it actually does not occur to her. She just wants to go to her car and die.

Sleep. That is what she means.]

I do not need it.

[In spite of this ice doing freaky shit, her voice is very quiet, very even, and very flat.]

[purrtagonist]

[hesitates, and although there's fire dancing around the tips of his fingers, he doesn't actually call Cybele forth]

What are you going to do about your injuries?

[voreaciously]

Whatever I choose.

[She tilts her head wryly]

Though choice does not appear to mean anything around here.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . . . you know what. fair]

I wasn't--

[. . .]

I didn't want you to stay behind. But if you had continued to insist that you do, all I would've done is stay with you.

I didn't intend to use physical force.

[but his stubbornness was an indirect cause of her getting shot, annnnd. . . yeah. he recognizes this and definitely feels badly for it]

[voreaciously]

[you know what she whirls to face him, stumbling for a moment before she rights herself again.]

I was fine on my own. I was prepared to do anything to complete the objective. You do not even know me.

[honestly not your fault at all akira she's an idiot]

[purrtagonist]

I don't have to know you to not want you to die!

[he counters, frustration seeping into his words]

Especially not if you believe that's what you were "made" for-- if that's your only purpose!

[voreaciously]

[She sounds...tired. He really is the same.]

My purpose is manifold. If dying is useful, then I will do it.

[she weighs her options, considers telling him something but...no, she cannot burden him with that.]

[purrtagonist]

Dying is never useful.

[he seems intent on this, hands balled into fists, knuckles white]

. . . sometimes, it might-- it might be the only choice. But it's not useful. Lives aren't worth so little that they can be thrown away at the drop of a hat, or bartered in exchange for something else.

[voreaciously]

If it is the only choice, at times, what is the difference?

[purrtagonist]

The difference is the level of acceptance. The difference is not leaping straight into dying without trying something else first.

[voreaciously]

It was the only option, that time. She did not even bother trying to hide it.

[purrtagonist]

It wasn't.

Nobody died in our group, did they?

[he'd like to say "nobody got hurt" but JASMINE]

[voreaciously]

Nobody died and we lost.

[purrtagonist]

[. . .]

[quietly, without judgment]

Why is winning so important to you?

[voreaciously]

I need to leave this place.

[purrtagonist]

[don't we all, he thinks]

And you think winning trials will help you get out faster?

[voreaciously]

I will do whatever it takes to complete the objective. If that means laying own my own life, that is a paltry cost.

[purrtagonist]

You don't even know for certain that laying down your life will get you out of here.

[why is this something he feels so strongly about, when he barely even knows her?]

[voreaciously]

In this case, I absolutely did know. It may not be pleasant, but sometimes, that is simply what it takes.

[purrtagonist]

How?

[he asks, somehow demanding and soft all at once]

How did you know that's what it would take?

[voreaciously]

Because she said as much. It is that simple. Perhaps, in other cases, it may not be as clear, but this one was.

[purrtagonist]

She didn't say that dying would get us out of this place.

Merely that it was to be expected from us. Because of our status as "heroes."

[his hands curl into fists, knuckles white]

And that is stupid.

[voreaciously]

I never said anything about the longer term. Only the shorter. Only for that trial. But I will die in trials as many times as it takes. It does not bother me.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . that makes more sense, but. . . it still doesn't help]

It bothers me. Especially when no one has to die.

[voreaciously]

We literally do. You may not like it, but that does not change the objective of the last trial. Someone had to stay to fight and die. No one in our group did, that is why we lost.

[they're going around in circles]

It is fine for me, please do not concern yourself with it.