[ GRAVEYARD ]

[sheriffexe]

GRAVEYARD

So, you're dead. Shame, that. But on the other hand, it's actually kind of nice. When you "wake" in some odd version of it, you'll find yourself lying on a rather plush bed. It's cozy and warm and just soft enough to tempt anyone back into sleep. The room is equally nice, if small, and when you turn and open the curtains to look out the window, you will see... wait, is that the town? It is, actually. The town is laid out quite simply across the window and no matter how many times you may bang or wave through the window, no one seems to notice you. If you're smart enough to give up the venture and leave the small bedroom, you will notice that, of course, you are on the train. The train that, is actually pretty fancy. Moving through it, past the sleeping cabins and through to the main carts, you will find a dining car with fine dishware and meals of all kinds made at a push of a button or a request given to the air. They'll appear, freshly made and ready to eat at the table of your choice with any drink you could want. There truly doesn't seem to be any limits when it comes to the luxury of the meal. There is also a bathhouse car with private bathrooms and saunas to fit up to four. Even one rather large room containing a small pool/hot tub of sorts is available for just about anyone to take a dip. It's kind of outlandish, honestly. Then the lounge car, with its library and plush armchairs and couches. A pool table, a darts board, even a small area dedicated to painting. There's a bar too, fully stocked and ready for anyone who needs a drink. All it would require is a request from the bartender who... looks surprisingly familiar? The Sheriff is there, much cleaner cut than his counterpart outside of the train. He looks up mildly at any arrivals, giving them a nod of greeting before going back to organizing bottles or setting cigars out for a smoke. He doesn't seem to be surprised at all by anyone who appears. Just... ready to serve them, whatever they may wish. It all sort of seems okay for a moment, until you realize you're just here to wait for the game to end. Awkward.

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Comments

[insincerely]

[He stops in his tracks, turning to face Sara (and he's reminded that it's great being able to see again, although he'd really rather be alive).]

I didn't want to see you that soon either, but I guess we can't all get what we want, huh?

[alcobrawlic]

I think that's been pretty much everyone here, anyway.

... But honestly, you're actually where you need to be for once.

[insincerely]

[...]

Explain.

[Because the implications of that don't match up with any of his info on this place—and pleasantries don't matter in the face of info.]

[alcobrawlic]

... Hal told us, apparently to give us 'peace of mind'. [ From the face she makes (which he can now see, yay!!!) Sara's not really all that content from what she's learned. ]

This train? It's the only way home. And the only ones on the train right now are the 'dead'. To get here, you have to die.

Aaaaand so the trick is that no matter what, the only way we can all leave is if everyone gets on the train-- namely, everyone has to die.

[insincerely]

[What the hell.

Shinnosuke's blood freezes over—as does the rest of him, to be honest. It takes him a moment, before weakly:]

... Are you serious? [...] Shit, shit, shit. I didn't know that.

[None of them did. They don't know.

... On the bright side, he's seen Hannibal around, so he's dead and that's one major problem out of the way—and with this piece of info, it might not matter that the Bounty Leader can't kill him (not that they were ever going to, anyway). Given what the Sheriff said he'd do even if the winner didn't choose to revive everyone...

This isn't too bad, maybe. But the others don't know, and shit.]

[alcobrawlic]

According to our good Sheriff, only one person among you knows.

[ ... she actually can't help but wonder if that's why Shinnosuke's here now, but she won't mention that yet. It's a lot, she knows, but Sara keeps talking with a softer voice-- which means yes, she's serious, because usually the tone is bright and chipper. ]

But a few of us tried to pass that along-- I don't know if anyone's picked up on it yet, though.

[insincerely]

[Shinnosuke just groans and buries his face in his hands.]

That's what Higekiri was trying to tell me in his letter. Damn it, I knew something was weird about it.

[One person knows. There's... not a wide pool of suspects, because Shinnosuke can clear a fair amount of them. Hmm.]

Anything else I should know? We can skip over you being the Madame, for the record.

[alcobrawlic]

Ah, well, I mentioned something to someone about this all being for some gods' need for bloodshed, and that might be more widely known now anyway.

[ Is she surprised he knows that about her, no. Not really. Shinnosuke's a smart kid. ]

If our last person standing picks the option where we're all revived, we all get the choice to go wherever we want. It doesn't have to be home. Also I guess you can choose to forget or remember, too.

[insincerely]

[He nods.]

I've known all that for a while now, though it's not public knowledge yet. [A pause, before he laughs.] Then again, depends on what you count as "public", given the dwindling living population.

Anything else?

[alcobrawlic]

I apparently owe Barnham a punch and probably a few more beatdowns before this is all over.

[ Haaaaaa. ]

[insincerely]

... Is he the one who knows? About how we all have to die, I mean.

[Again, there's a... very limited pool of suspects.]

Thar, or you're going to tell me he's one of our serial killers.

[alcobrawlic]

He's the one he who knows. Before this, I'm pretty sure Simon and I were the only ones he's killed, and I... don't really count.

[insincerely]

... Damn it, maybe he was the one who killed me.

[He has no idea, because... blind... though footsteps tell him it wasn't, like, Papika at least.

He has no real hard feelings if that's the case (beyond "screw you, coward" for not even daring to speak up—even if he logically acknowledges that as a pragmatic move), especially since he can guess at the motive, but... he kind of needed to live??]

You think he'd go around killing everyone to end the game?

[alcobrawlic]

... I'm hoping he tells at least someone else, because--

Yeah. Yeah, I do. I think he'd do it if it meant guaranteeing that everyone would get a chance to be revived.

[insincerely]

... You have any idea how many times I've heard this last week about great and trustworthy that guy is? [He laughs bitterly.] So much for that.

I get why he's doing it, and that's great and all, but I'm seriously hoping he talks to Percy or Noctis now. [...] At least with Dr. Lecter dead, they'll be able to redirect their focus.

[At this point, the number of people who would kill him are very few in number. If they focus on his death during the trial, it might not be difficult to out Barnham.

... It just depends on whether or not Percy and Noctis—or the others—are willing to suspect someone they praise so highly.]

[alcobrawlic]

I'm hoping so too. Or at least that Milla got my message, because I know she'd probably at least share it with Noct.

[ ... ]

But Hannibal's our Deputy, then. At least that wasn't entirely a wild guess.

[insincerely]

...

[Awkwardly:]

We couldn't figure out your message. None of us understood flower meanings well enough.

[alcobrawlic]

.....

[ FACE. PALM. ]

Dammit, I was hoping Yuna had rambled to her or left a book there or something!

[insincerely]

Sorry, Teacher. We tried. Unfortunately, it seems like Milla got no such lesson.

What was the code, anyway? Not that I really need to know anymore, but I'm curious now.

[alcobrawlic]

Dark roses were meant to be the darkest-- so black roses, which means death. Different kinds of carnations for variety, or 'more than one', and nastur... whatevers, because those mean victory.

So basically "Everyone dies is a win."

I had to be super vague, though, because he was actively trying to censor any kind of warning.

[insincerely]

... Yeah, you seriously overestimated our understanding of flowers. Good try, though.

[alcobrawlic]

Thanks for that.

[ She's even sighing unhappily. ]

[insincerely]

[He shrugs.]

Well, if there's anything you want to ask me, shoot. Since Dr. Lecter's already dead and out of the way, I can offer up some info—unless you're going to write back to Ash, anyway. We're still working on him.

[alcobrawlic]

... Working on him, how?

[insincerely]

Maybe Noctis will kiss him. Who knows?

[Which is to say:]

We're hoping he's open for negotiations, since he's an asshole but he's a self-interested one. Anyway, he was a little low on our priority list, so we hadn't planned for him too much yet. Dealing with Dr. Lecter was our main concern.