antumbrac | WEEK 6

WEEK 6

Five weeks. It's been five weeks, and twenty-seven has now dwindled down to eleven. And while only two passed this week, this trial may have been the most devastating in its own way, as threads of patience frayed and fragments of trust fractured. Nevertheless, if The Lady is to be believed, that may very well have been the final set of sacrifices that she was waiting for, so perhaps the end is in sight.

Of course, the fact that everyone is still stuck in Krakow means that it's not over yet, and who even knows what's happening over in the Twilight?

And so, some more changes are in store for this week, even if it may not be the same ones that you've gotten used to. For one thing, the fog stays put and no new areas of the city are revealed under the light of the lampposts. Secondly, The Lady is nowhere to be found in the city, with her bookstore office vacated and abandoned with nary a trace as to where she went. And third, the clock tower will no longer operate, which-- well. Actually that's not new at all, but it certainly may make it difficult to keep up with the facade of passing days. At least the moon still serves as a reminder of that, gibbous phase waxing into something fuller over the course of the week even if the color looks a bit off.

It may not be a fresh new start, but it's not time to give up yet, is it? After all, you are all Survivors.

[[Welcome to Week 6! Note that there are no new locations this week, but feel free to make top levels at your discretion, and remember to note it in your header if you plan on investigating any locations. As alluded above, The Lady will be unavailable, while Rembrandt will still be around on Monday and Tuesday before disappearing for the rest of the week.]]

navigation

rules

shop

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ When Cumore starts yelling Mikami paradoxically realizes that that's exactly what he'd wished for all along. For Cumore to tell him, selfishly and with one hundred percent clairty, what he wants. What Cumore wants may not be agreeable in the slightest in many cases, but it's always a clear path. Cumore doesn't know uncertainty and that's why Mikami has such a hard time looking away from him despite the whole of their lives not being compatible in the slightest. It's what he's lacking now and what he's finding in another person.

When Cumore is certain, so is Mikami. Not in agreement, no. He could never follow Cumore the way he'd followed Kira, followed Light Yagami. He could never find it in himself to feel devotion for this horrid man. It's just that when Cumore speaks like this, Mikami knows what he wants. It all becomes a matter of clear yes or no choices. Black or white. Good or evil. Yes or no. It's all easy to figure out then.

Sometime during this speech, Mikami stops staring at his hands to look up at Cumore, almost entranced by the detail with which the future is opening itself up. A future of a kind he never saw for himself but that is becoming vivid now.

It's a relief. All of this is such an incredible relief. Mikami realizes dimly that when Cumore had barely reacted to his probing, a part of him had thought Cumore didn't want him. That all of his talk about wasting potential had been a strange unexpected platitude because Cumore didn't even want to use that potential for his own selfish gain. It had hurt a little, strangely. He hadn't thought Cumore capable of such insincerity. That was his one good quality after all.

At the end, there is a few seconds of silence. Mikami feels lightheaded. Breathe. In and out. Regular. Alright. ]

...you should have said so from the start. It doesn't suit you to be quiet about your desires.

[ Yes, he's turning this stick around now, though his voice is quiet. His gaze drops back to anywhere but Cumore as he keeps going. ]

I'm not going to let you get your way all the time. I am not going to abandon my morals and I am going to get in your way. But I know you know that.

Of course I know that.

[Well. That was immediate.]

[ Breathe. In and out and then mostly out because this is a lot of tension draining. ]

Good.

[ And he knows, too, that Cumore will let him down more than once and maybe more than he can swallow, but that's a problem for... any other time than now. ]

I'm coming with you.

Good.

[Okay, just. Let him breathe a bit now that all of that is out there and oh god they've actually decided to do this, haven't they.

...He's just making the executive decision now that we can go pretty much anywhere except Heliord. Heliord is off-limits because he does not want to explain what the fuck is going on with that.]

It's going to be far different than anything you're used to. Don't complain to me if it's all unfamiliar. I can teach you whatever you need to know, either way.

I knew it was going to be a monumental change from the moment I first considered following you.

[ Like half of their conversations have been about Terca Lumireis and how unbelievably weird it is. Mikami knows that he still has no idea what to expect, but he knows enough to assume it won't be unlivable and that's what is important.

He's just going to take off his glasses here so he can massage the base of his nose, because this was... exhausting. Then he looks back up at Cumore because eye contact has stopped feeling entirely impossible. It helps that he can only see him blurrily now. ]

You will not hear me complaining. I am diligent. Give me a few weeks after I learn how to read and I will understand your history and politics well enough. I.... I may have been looking to you for guidance, but I have no intent of being a hindrance that needs to be taken care of.

[...Yeah. Eye contact is getting a little easier.]

I wouldn't ask you to come with me if I thought you would be a hindrance. I know you won't be, and bluntly put I'll be surprised if you aren't attempting magecraft within a week of arriving in Aspio. It seems the sort of thing you would be suited to.

I'd say I have a natural aversion to magic, but considering all I have learned about myself since arriving here, this may not be true.

[ Magic murder notebooks anyone?? ]

We'll see. One way or another, I will make myself useful. To your world and to you as well.

[ As thanks for taking him....... which he should say out loud but isn't. ]

I know you will.

[He laughs a bit then, because shit man what else is he gonna do right now.]

I imagine I'll be in quite a bit of trouble when I return - it's not like me to abandon my post like this, much less for anywhere near this long. So I imagine we'll be seeing Halure and the like sooner rather than later.

[Knight pilgrimages are such an annoyance, as he's concerned. But like he said, maybe this one won't be so bad. Who knows.]

I might inadvertently profit from that trouble then. Getting to travel over your world for an introduction does not sound like a bad approach.

[ He wouldn't go quite as far as to say it sounds nice, but it's maybe somewhere in that general area. He doesn't like travel and unfamiliar things, but his mind tends to shut up when he's around Cumore because Cumore alone is a lot to deal with.

Okay, time to put his glasses back on and pretend to be a composed person. ]

It's foolish to plan too much for something that might not come to pass, but... I enjoy knowing what I am working towards. Even beyond the retribution part.

So do I.

[Anyway.]

I should go see if there are any hints from the dearly departed lying around. Enjoy your work.

[Later, Mikami.]

Good luck.

[ Okay, once Cumore is out of the room he's going to find a chair and sit down for a few moments because wow. Processing time. ]

WEEK 6

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject