Let's Play A Murder (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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letsdeadaland2025-07-19 03:48 am
letsplayamod) wrote in letsdeadaland2025-07-19 03:48 am
Your past is always close behind
[The last thing you recall is likely your own death. Whether it was fast or slow, it's over now. And you're... where are you?
One moment, you were among the living. The next - you may be one of the unfortunate ones who actually died. In which case, you've found yourself flowing in the lazy rivers of the river Styx, unfathomably deep underground. Just for a moment, mind you. It's not long before your consciousness is yanked from the waters by some scary monsters, shoved into a healed body, and pushed through a portal.
Or, maybe you were caught red-handed and sentenced to your doom. But, instead of a proper death, you were whisked down into the Veins of Tartarus. And there's really only one place that could lead to.
Welcome to Tartarus.
Here, you are stranded. Lone platforms of unearthly stone float amidst a sea of stars and galaxies. None of it is familiar, some of the constellations are even in shapes of Typhon or a few gods you haven't met. Even stranger, occasionally, you might hear a voice that could be your own. Voicing a fear. A disgust. A regret.
Looks like this is a prison after all. But it's also... calm here. Maybe you can breathe, for now.]
[In Tartarus, the 'dead' have been revived, healed of injuries, and imprisoned. You don't need to eat or drink here. You still have all of your abilities and god powers, as well.]
One moment, you were among the living. The next - you may be one of the unfortunate ones who actually died. In which case, you've found yourself flowing in the lazy rivers of the river Styx, unfathomably deep underground. Just for a moment, mind you. It's not long before your consciousness is yanked from the waters by some scary monsters, shoved into a healed body, and pushed through a portal.
Or, maybe you were caught red-handed and sentenced to your doom. But, instead of a proper death, you were whisked down into the Veins of Tartarus. And there's really only one place that could lead to.
Welcome to Tartarus.
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Here, you are stranded. Lone platforms of unearthly stone float amidst a sea of stars and galaxies. None of it is familiar, some of the constellations are even in shapes of Typhon or a few gods you haven't met. Even stranger, occasionally, you might hear a voice that could be your own. Voicing a fear. A disgust. A regret.
Looks like this is a prison after all. But it's also... calm here. Maybe you can breathe, for now.]
[In Tartarus, the 'dead' have been revived, healed of injuries, and imprisoned. You don't need to eat or drink here. You still have all of your abilities and god powers, as well.]
no subject
Ah, two, she thinks that Mnestia might be coming for her for dying twice, for letting her powers slip through her fingers yet again. The golden butterflies...
The golden butterflies aren't only a symbol of Mnestia. It's this thought that manages to ground Aglaea as she's forced into her own form again, and she follows the trail to the door. She smiles when she sees the way Typhon's image has been defaced, and with little hesitation, pushes open the door.
... It's no bar room, but her new surroundings do get a soft laugh out of Aglaea.]
Well. You certainly seem like you've been busy here, Beatrice.
no subject
Lady Aglaea. [ she manages a vague smile, offering a slight curtsy as she approaches. there's very little of beatrice's bravado here, more... the blurred being who exists in those spaces between beatrice and the other personas. the closest thing to a core "yasuda sayo", perhaps. ] Welcome. I can't say I'm glad to see you've arrived, under these circumstances, but...
no subject
[If she'd woken to see Zvei first, she's honestly not sure how she might have handled that. She'd felt the closest thing to anger in several centuries at seeing all that red staining Mutsumi, felt a burn in her limbs as she moved that she's sure was the same fire that fueled Mydei in everything he did.
Even though she'd failed that first time. She might not have been able to stop herself from charging in again.]
... I'm not sure I want to ruin the mood of this party of yours, but I bear news that might be... unpleasant, to you specifically. And it might be fair to warn you.
no subject
... I have the feeling that I'll need a drink. [ and that i should be sitting down for this. ] Join me? [ and she gestures towards the bar. is she even of legal drinking age where she comes from? uhhh don't worry about it. ]
no subject
You will. And you'll need to sit down.
[Once again, they're on the same frequency. She'll follow Beatrice to the bar and take a seat, letting the witch choose the drink. This is her party, after all.]
I can't be certain of all that's happened, but things were... not as they were in the past weeks.
no subject
I've heard less than you might think. I was a house servant, not a bartender... I lack Quark's knack for getting people to open up. Besides, "dead men tell no tales," and all that.
no subject
[She watches the amber liquid fill the glass, and a shadow passes her face. It's... it's not rage, not a twisting anger, but there's a sharpness to her expression that's probably the closest thing to anger Beatrice or Sayo has seen on Aglaea's face.
Her nails, with the golden polish almost gone now, drum against the wood of the bar.]
This wasn't like the past weeks. No hesitation, no remorse. [... She's not going to beat around the bush. Aglaea's not one to hold back like that, and if everyone who died shows up here... for better or for worse, Beatrice is going to find out eventually.]
I was slain by Zvei, because I saw him attacking Mutsumi and Mortis. I led him away before I could see what happened, but it didn't look promising.
no subject
and her blood runs cold.
sayo's eyes, briefly, go glassy and distant. and then beatrice scowls, taking in a ragged breath and downing her glass in a single draft, before throwing it to the floor. it shatters, then the shards disperse into golden butterflies and vanish. ]
The damn bastard. [ she rests her hands in her lap, gripping tight handfuls of her skirt. ] Cruelty with no delicacy, no elegance, no foresight—! I ought...!
no subject
Your rules. They apply to yourself too, don't they? For your sake, don't break them.
[Not his. She could care less what happens to Zvei. But this place is obviously some kind of comfort the dead have made for themselves in this afterlife, and she doesn't want Beatrice or Sayo to be exempt from that.]
... But if they show up here... I'm sorry. I did my best to protect them.
no subject
They only apply within these walls.
[ a breath, though. in, out. and... beatrice, or sayo, or whoever this is—in this moment she's not sure, she feels unmoored—catches herself leaning slightly into the contact, as butterflies constitute themselves into a new glass. she pours more of the whiskey. ]
... I... we know that you must have. Thank you.
no subject
[Said lightly, like they're having a perfectly normal, calm conversation over drinks. Maybe she'd advise more caution, or a different route to vent her frustrations if it'd been any of the other convicted, but...
Well. She thinks of who else might have been a victim, if they'd been out that late at night, and she can almost taste the acid on her tongue.]
... At least they had each other. They weren't alone.
no subject
how lovely. how wondrous. it takes two people to create a universe.
sayo drains half of the glass in one pull. ]
... Yes. I suppose they weren't.
[ she gazes into the amber liquid, idly swirling the glass once. ]
Honestly... I'm much more worried about what Zvei's presence may do for everyone's peace of mind, should he join us. Theirs, especially, but... [ she glances askance towards aglaea. ]
no subject
So he's here. Quietly tending to any of the others—yes, any of them. Seems he doesn't hold any ill will to the girl that got him killed. A lot of the others are...doing worse than he is, after all. So he's helping out with the Endless Witch's tea party, in lieu of anything else at all to do.
When Aglaea walks in, he nearly drops the teacup he's holding.]
Aglaea? No, that...
no subject
Her smile doesn't falter at all. Aglaea keeps herself too composed for that, for the most part. But there's somewhat of an ease of tension, when Alex speaks up.]
I assure you, I'm truly here, Alex. As real as the rest of you.
no subject
But you shouldn't be!
You shouldn't've died again!
no subject
[Her tone softens at that, just a little.]
But fate hasn't been kind to us, has it?
no subject
What the fuck... What the fuck could be strong enough to kill you?
[ He hadn't been there the last two weeks, but he remembers seeing her in battle. Seeing her restrain Omega without breaking a sweat. Aglaea? Someone could...? Because she wouldn't have hurt anyone.
In his heart, he knows that. ]
no subject
[Flatly. Bluntly. She has no reason to hide that. Not when that bastard would attack one of the most innocent among them.]
I was more focused on stalling for time, and I paid the price for it.
no subject
Alex is taken aback for a few reasons there. The guy was always saying some weird things but...
But there's a more important question. ]
Who...were you stalling for?
no subject
[But Aglaea's lived a long life, and has seen much hardship and bloodshed. Even if a wound isn't immediately fatal, she knows how fast people can bleed out or go into shock. Especially if it's a small, scared teenager.]
... I'm not sure what happened to them. He killed me when our fight took us to the temple.
no subject
Maybe they'll be okay. Maybe— ]
Fuck. Fuck.
Why the hell would he... Jesus, they're just kids.
[ Said as if he isn't one. Not anymore. ]
no subject
[Just that word... even when talking to Typhon, Aglaea's voice never had that much ice in it. Her tone is still calm, but brr.... if she had Cerejeira's brand of weather powers, all of Tartarus might have frozen over just now.]
If it had just been me... [She can't say it's fine, because she'd promised to look after the younger ones. She promised to be there to help free Lebkuchen from the demon chaining her soul. Unlike last time... she'd have more regrets.] But he went after them first. After Typhon told us he'd bring someone back from the dead.
1/2
2/2
no subject
[Seeing Aglaea here isn't entirely unsurprising, since Misane had seen Zvei right when she was dying, but there had been a chance Aglaea had been somewhere else, that she hadn't gotten killed. But no, since she was here, it meant she had been murdered...]
no subject
... It's seeing Misane. Knowing she failed. That's what gives her an unpleasant taste in her mouth. Her last death had been useful, she could be assured, and she knew the journey would continue onward on Phainon's strong shoulders. But this....]
... I'm sorry, Misane. I tried to stall as long as I could, for the three of you.
no subject
[Apparently a way she has of coping is pondering about things that don't matter anymore. Why else would she be thinking about this? Even if she's doing pretty half-heartedly]