sheriffexe | [ GRAVEYARD ]

Entry tags:

ic: graveyard

[ GRAVEYARD ]

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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[ Xion will find her.

Xion watches the trial, and didn't even know how to cope with the horror she felt, and now, after everything, will find her.

It's in one of the hallways, because honestly, Xion goes looking. She wonders if Natalie will turn up after Will confessed at the trial, and it scares and worries her that she doesn't find Natalie right away.

Then again, she too stayed in her room to cry after she woke up.

So she doesn't give up. She tries again, and again, until eventually, Natalie is there.

Natalie might freeze, but Xion won't. Instead she goes to her without a word and tugs her best friend into her arms, trying not to cry. ]

[She sees the younger girl coming, and some overwhelming and fierce emotion swells up in her chest. Rage at whoever did this to her. Sorrow that both of them are there. Bitterness that it came to this. If it were literally anyone else, she would hesitate or back away, issue some form of protest when they were still a sizable distance apart from her.

But this is Xion, and she finds that she can't move.

Letting herself be pulled in, she pauses for a long moment to breath in and out. This is convenient, in a way, because it takes her that long to think of anything to say. When she does speak, it comes with heat, an anger drawn out from deep within her.]

Who did this to you?

[She will see them pay.]

Natalie...

[ She almost wants to laugh. Of course that's the first thing she'd ask. Instead of replying, Xion just buries her face in Natalie's shoulder and hugs her tighter, not sure if she wants to laugh or cry or throw up or what. ]

I ... the way I died was -- I didn't suffer. I'm okay. [ ... ] I just ...

If I could kill the two of them, { she murmurs, low, charged with threat, and she doesn't have to clarify who she means, probably, ] I'd really ... have to try, not to take that chance.

It... That isn't what matters.

[It's important, and she knows that. The thought of Xion being killed is nauseating, infuriating, but the blow is lessened with the knowledge that she didn't suffer. Her insides still feel lit with coals, burning hot and bright, but she can put that aside to focus on the girl in front of her.

Reaching forward, she smooths down her hair, slow and comforting.]

It doesn't matter. They're going to be here, too.

... isn't it?

[ At this point in the game, the person who killed her would have been someone that, up until that point, they all trusted. No matter what the revelation of the name would be horrible and painful, and Xion isn't sure she wants to address it right now and make Natalie feel worse than she must already. ]

I know. [ The set of her shoulders is ... stiff. ] Natalie, please ... try and stay away from them. [ even though hannibal already found her hAHA GOD!! ] I've never felt so angry at anyone, not ever, but it isn't worth it. We'll get out of here and we'll never have to see them again.

Okay.

[and then she got mad at hannibal two seconds later but whatever

Regardless, she doesn't want to talk about them. Thinking about what happened to her is the last thing that she wants. She imagines that must be the same for Xion, too, so she lets the subject go.

However, that leaves an expanse before her. Where do they go from here? What does she say?]

...I'm sorry.

[ She immediately shakes her head. ]

That's what I should be saying.

[ However improbable it is, she laughs, though it's a somewhat wretched sound. ]

I didn't want to die, you know. I wanted to live, and stay with you guys, and end this game. But knowing what I know now...

[ A long, slow sigh. ]

Shinnosuke and I have been talking about using what merit we have to try and help the others next week. They're going to need all the help they can get.

No, you shouldn't.

[She runs her hand through the younger girl's hair again, but this time she pulls back so she can look Xion in the face.]

I know you did. I know you must have tried to survive.

[She doesn't doubt that anymore.]

...What's your plan?

[ ...

For whatever reason, that surprises her. After watching the trial and everyone's theories about how she died - how likely she would have been to sacrifice herself for a friend, or worse, simply accept being killed - she...

It feels very weird to be gratified that at least one person believed she wanted to live.

She'll end up breaking away from Natalie so she can look at her properly, though she stays close enough to leave her hands on Natalie's arms. ]

... all the letters everyone sent through always got censored. I'm not sure trying that will be useful. I was thinking of ... trying to send some kind of item. Annabeth did that for Percy, once.

Right, I remember he showed us. All the blue food, right?

[She chews on her lip.]

What were you thinking of?

[ Kinda ... looks away for a moment, scrunching up her expression a little. ]

... do you think the Sheriff would agree to a box of knives?

[ well ]

[Assuming this is after she talks to Shinnosuke—]

...Why?

I'm hoping they'll figure out what something like that could mean.

[ She doesn't sound too happy about it, but. ]

Like, why would I send them a box full of weapons they could kill each other with? Anyone who knows me knows that ... I wouldn't want my friends to hurt each other. Not ... unless there was some other reason. That's what I'm hoping.

[She wants to rail against that, say there must be another way, but... Shinnosuke would have told her if there were any other option. It still makes her sick to her stomach, imagining that happening to Percy, imagining it happen to Jason.

They deserve the chance to go home, though. If that's what she has to do to be strong for them, then...]

...I'll ask the Sheriff about it, too.

... okay.

[ She knows it's desperate, but... it was the only real idea she had. ]

For now ... do you maybe just want to ... hang out for a while?

[ And maybe just. Chill out, and try not to think about how they died and who killed them and everything else about how much this game sucks. ]

Yeah.

[She says, her voice... strangely calm. Now that there's nothing left to fight for, it's almost easier, even if she feels awful thinking it.

Hal's words come to mind. Whatever happens this week will happen. Then you can rest. This isn't how she pictures it, and she feels empty. Hollowed out. Still, there's a strange sort of peace in that.]

I'd like that, I think.

[ With a tug on her arm, Xion will pull Natalie towards the lounge.

The whole way there, she doesn't let go. She never once breaks contact. ]

You know, I still don't really know where I want to go after this. [ Glancing back at Natalie over her shoulder, with the faintest, the faintest, of smiles. ] What do you think?

[Somehow, her lips quirk into a half smile of her own. She lets Xion drag her along, because she never wants to leave her side after everything that's happened over the past few days. Her next words only serve to support that idea.]

I asked Percy if we could go back with him to his world. He said yes. You ever heard of New York City?

[ Honestly, Xion feels the same way. She'll be pretty much glued to Natalie and Shinnosuke as long as they're all here. But perhaps Natalie most of all. Xion's been forced to leave her friends before. But she's never felt quite so bad about it, ended up feeling quite so much horror and nausea over what happened in her absence. ]

Percy? [ ... that doesn't surprise her. Her smile warms as they make it into the lounge, and Xion steers them over to a couch so they can both plop down onto it. Xion will honestly just curl up right next to her, either leaning on her or actually resting her head on Natalie's shoulder depending on how they end up. ] ... hehe. No, I haven't. Tell me about it?

Well, I've never been there before.

[She says, pulling her legs up onto the couch and shifting until they both find a comfortable position.]

He says it's really nice, though. Really big, lots of people. Lots to do.

[ Xion pulls just one knee to her chest, then pauses, remembering -- before she pulls both legs to her chest and curls her arms around them, leaning on Natalie and kind of tilting her head back to look at her. ]

... It's kind of intimidating. [ A laugh. ] Thinking about big cities with lots of people. Shinnosuke told me about places like that. I, um ... I never spent time around that many people before I got here. Actually, when we all first arrived in town, that was ... the most people I'd ever been around.

[ She's actually beyond nervous at the prospect - what if she gets overwhelmed? what if they meet more people like... well - but she tries to put a brave face on it. ]

But ... I really want to go. Especially if all of us are together, I think it'll be great.

I've never been to one that big, but... We can all figure it out together, all four of us. It'll be pretty great.

[Her, Percy, Jason and Xion. She has to believe that option isn't lost to them, even if the reality of getting them here is unimaginable.]

Can I tell you a secret?

... all four of us.

[ A murmur. She knows who Natalie means without it needing to be clarified, because ... in a way, of course it's the four of them. Who else could it be? But, at the same time, it ... gives her a hollow kind of pang. Something bittersweet. Nothing she'll name.

It's for many reasons. Both for the ones not included in that number, and for the life - the death - that she's leaving behind. The best friends she'll never see again.

With a deep breath she tries to clear some of that away. ]

Of course you can. You can tell me anything, Natalie.

[ She means that. Completely. ]

[She shifts slightly, looking up at the ceiling of the train. Regardless, she notices the way Xion shifts as well, and she reaches out for her hand. It's protective and comforting, and she pauses for a few moments before speaking.]

What I told you before about not liking him... I might have been lying a little.

[She figures Xion will know what she means.]

[ Xion takes that reaching hand without hesitation, intertwining their fingers. When she'd arrived here, physical touch had been so foreign, so unusual, especially to comfort. No one had ever really ... hugged her, or held her hand, or anything like that at all. The Organization was not a touchy feely kind of place. Hugs, hands on her shoulders and her hair and between her shoulder blades, all of that had been so .... strange. Six weeks later, it all feels ... like this is the way it should have always been.

An immediate smile spreads across her face at what Natalie says, though she ducks her head, so it might not be visible at first. But then she nudges the other girl with her shoulder, and grins up with her. ]

I kinda thought so.

[ natalie that's cute ]

I hope he likes you too. [ A beat, and: ] He better. [ huff puff

she'll fight anyone who doesn't love her best friend, okay. ]

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