week 3, sunday

[ninjay]

[ sometime sunday evening, jay goes and seeks out dipper. he'll take him to some secluded part of the motel to murder him



no it's just a chat. they gotta gossip. ]

I know we just talked a few days ago, but we need to catch up.

Comments

[pinesfortruth]

-- Yeah we do. What happened in the library that got you guys so banged up?

[priorities]

[ninjay]

[ dipper you just witnessed a horrible murder take place, but ok.

jay starts by rolling up his left sleeve. the bite marks are still there, looking very much like human teeth but only smaller, and it also looks slightly infected. you won't BELIEVE how infected it looked beforehand. surrounding the bites are a dozen or so... cuts? well. they're all small, and curved, as well as completely identical to each other. and each and every one of them are stitched up. ]

This is what I got from the library. Remember the rats with human faces? Try not to get bitten by them. Yukina beheaded a gigantic spider, and instead of blood, acid came out of its body and spilled on her. Kaito's shoulder was impaled by what the "sewer goddess" called her pet dog.

[ his voice implies that it was not a fucking dog. ]

[pinesfortruth]

[listen he's trying not to think about that, like, at all

he squints at the bites though]

Those look infected. Are those infected? Dude, if you die from infection after all of that, that'd be horrible, are you taking care of-- [he then notices the stitched up cuts] Aaaaand someone else took care of it. Okay. Okay, good. Never mind.

[BACK TO THE SUBJECT AT HAND]

Yeesh. Let me guess. It was not a dog?

[ninjay]

I'm not even sure how to describe it, really. It could have fairly easily crushed us without even trying.

[ he does not sound too thrilled about retelling this story. the library was a bad time. ]

We didn't really get to explore it much since the woman knocked us out after and we all woke up in Kaito's room.

[pinesfortruth]

That's... weird. And creepy. Sooo... par for the course in this place?

[this is his attempt to cheer jay up. he Tried, ok]

So you guys didn't find anything?

[ninjay]

The library was huge.

[ and then the most... awkward of pauses... ]

And we sort of woke Fluffy almost immediately so we really had no time to look at anything.

[pinesfortruth]

Wait. Was his name seriously Fluffy?

[look he had to ask. and he's not judging he has stepped in traps on his own ... a lot]

[ninjay]

That's what it said on his collar, so yes. Fluffy, the... whatever the hell that was.

[ THE WORST TRIP EVER?? ]

The woman... she said something, before she made us fall asleep, that kind of implied that the library may be open normally now. She said of coming back to it in a week.

[pinesfortruth]

What is this, Willy Rotter and the Shiny Wizardy Rock? [he mumbled that one to himself, but continues in a more normal tone:] That's something, right? At least we'll be able to check out the library starting tomorrow, so it won't be a total waste?

... I would recommend maybe wearing armor next time.

[which he. would've recommended if he'd been part of the party smh]

[ninjay]

I'm not sure if I'll volunteer to do that again any time soon. I can't say that I regret it because there's a chance that some idiot might have attempted to solo it, but...

[ he just... glances at his arm again before covering it up with his sleeve. it's fine. ]

It's not something I want to go through a second time.

[pinesfortruth]

Is there even any locked buildings left to explore?

[he's. genuinely asking. though--]

Speaking of locked places, I checked both the curio shop and the mayor's office this week. It looks like I can see through locked doors.

[ninjay]

I don't know if the other ones are open, actually? I'm not sure if the others' explorations were considered "successes" or not, or whatever this place's definition of a success may be.

[ at the mention of dipper's skill, though, jay perks up. ]

Did you see anything interesting?

[pinesfortruth]

Didn't they mostly explore burned buildings? That might be why they're all locked.

[he shakes his head even as he ruffles through his vest.]

Not really. The curio shop looked like a bunch of religious knick-knacks [hand drawn for ur convenience] and the mayor's office... looked like a mayor's office. [also drawn for ur convenience]

I also tried the electric room to see if there was a secret passage, but that was a bust. Whatever monster got Dave must've been in there a while.

[ninjay]

... The disposal room. Check the disposal room.

[ he looks as if he just thought of something. ]

Mira said that whatever she was reward, it should be in the disposal room. She also said that she collected six of something already. Before this week started, six of us were dead. That... whatever's in that room most likely has something to do with everyone who died the previous weeks.

[pinesfortruth]

[he takes that in and even writes it down to make sure he doesn't forget]

Alright. Will do. I was going to maybe check out the fog too? I've been wanting to look around when we're in Lake Crotin but it's hard to do it in the middle of executions, and that's the only time we can go there.

[ninjay]

Maybe we can try to make it inconspicuous? Or... I think it'll be easier to do it during an execution versus you trying to use it during a, let's say, trial. During an execution, if you stand far enough from everyone else, you can make it seem like maybe you were horrified by watching it happen and brought your hand to your face. I can even be with you, to try to sell it better.

[pinesfortruth]

Yeah... That might work. It's our best shot, anyway. So long as L'Arachel isn't trying to cover me with her cape again.

[he appreciates the adults trying to hide him from the execution but he can hide his own face, thanks]

[ninjay]

If I'm dead by next week then just ask Chie to do it with you instead, I suppose.

[ look it's hard making plans for next week when you don't know if you'll even still be alive then. ]

What do you think about the Mira?

[pinesfortruth]

Yergh.

[he'll go with yergh on that dying possibility. just... yergh.]

Well... Obviously she lied about not working with anyone. And it's kinda worrying that her dying doesn't change anything for her, because I'm not sure if that's ghost specific or what anyone working for "mother" believes or both. I mean, since we're sacrifices in some kind of ritual for "mother" I guess it makes sense they don't care, since they already sold their souls and all. I'm just worried they can do stuff beyond their deaths. I guess.

[ghosts and zombies are a pain to fight, okay]

[ninjay]

Well... [ he pauses, wondering what to say. ]

I know that the people who are dead aren't... well, they're dead, but they're also okay? Probably.

[ hey have you ever heard someone sound certain about something but simultaneously not. because it's happening right now. ]

[pinesfortruth]

... Uh. Huuuuh. Hmm. Hmmmmmmmmrmmm. [dipper is making some weird noises as he considers that] Is that why there's a role that can speak to the dead? 'Cause that stuff usually only happens with ghosts. Real ghosts, not ghost-roles. Hmmm.

[HUUUHhhhh oh my god stop him]

Is this like... until the ritual is completed, they're kind of in limbo? Or like... Schrodinger's deads?? Both dead and alive?

[ninjay]

Maybe. When we woke up after that woman made us fall asleep in the library, we were all in Kaito's room. But what's curious is that, Kaito had writing on his arm that said something along the lines of, "We're okay," in red ink. Yukina said that Dave always used a red pen.

[ that is, obviously, suspicious. ]

We have no idea how the Medium works, but I assume it must have been their doing, maybe? It's hard to tell because it's the only instance I know of someone who's dead presumably communicating with the living.

[pinesfortruth]

Then... it's a long shot, but, maybe if we stop the ritual, we can save even the dead? Or at least the victims.

[the murderers can go fuck themselves]

[ninjay]

Maybe... we can't say for certain at this point, but if the possibility is there, we can't ignore it. If we knew who the Medium was it might be easier to figure things out.

[ although that seems like the kind of role you would want to keep quiet about, so jay can't blame them for keeping silent. ]

[pinesfortruth]

And hopefully we don't find that one out by them dying. [just. putting it out there since last time they talked about a role THAT HAPPENED] We'll have to either find them or luck into them, but so long as they're alive, that's a good start.