[WEEK 5, WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, POST-LETTERS: Lief]

[spinatalltale]

Lief! ♪

[someone is calling his name in a sing-song voice. APPARENTLY MAGILOU IS LOOKING FOR HIM, WHEREVER HE MAY BE]

We've got mail!

Comments

[reidentify]

[He pauses. It's not a surprise to him, having already known that Bellamy was working with the Wickie, but... ah.]

... Perhaps you should warn Lucina that she ought to be more discreet.

1/2

[spinatalltale]

[UH]

[spinatalltale]

[. . . huh]

How did you guess?

[reidentify]

You have said it yourself, have you not? Most would not trust you with information on this island. Therefore, it is someone close to you. Close to Bellamy as well, for he also knows.

Meanwhile, they are not well acquainted with me, for they do not trust me.

... There are only one or two people who fit that description, and I doubt it would be Akira.

[spinatalltale]

[. . . smart. but she's honestly come to expect no less of him.]

Mmm. You're pretty sharp, Lief.

[. . .]

I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone. I intended to keep that promise, honestly! But. . . well.

If no one knows who she is, then how can they make sure not to vote for her at the trial this weekend?

[reidentify]

Understood. I will not tell anyone—though I do not really have anyone to tell to begin with.

[Sorry, Vriska, Hiro. Though, to be honest, Lief doesn't know if he ever really meant to tell them anything sensitive unless they truly made the first gesture. He used up his leap of faith on Magilou.]

If Bellamy comes to me to keep me informed of the Wickie's plans, I assume I should continue to play the fool.

[spinatalltale]

. . .

Hey, Lief?

[. . .]

[words. words are. . . hard]

Thank you.

[reidentify]

... For what?

[spinatalltale]

[just. smiles at him, reaching out to touch the back of his hand gently]

I suppose I had forgotten what trusting someone feels like.

[reidentify]

[He blinks, surprised, before he smiles back.]

... Thank you. I know it is not easy.

[...]

Vriska told me that the Wickie knows all the ways to end the game. Is that true, do you know?

[spinatalltale]

Yes.

[she links her hands behind her back, rocking to the side as she does so]

As you know now. . . the Sirens were deceived. There is no volcano spirit, and allowing them to keep killing will end the game in an undesirable way.

According to Lucina, removing the Sirens will end the game in "the way we all want."

[and yes, she clarified that "the way we all want" was in the best interests of everyone on the island]

[reidentify]

[...

It's not surprising, though an uncomfortable feeling settles in his pit. Vriska has asked for his trust, and though he doesn't know if she really means it, he doesn't like to think of what must be done in the future.]

So, we truly must catch them all? Or...

[spinatalltale]

[if Mags were a better person, she'd feel that guilt, too. Vriska had, after all, also asked for her trust]

[and now look where she is]

Not just catch them.

Kill them.

[reidentify]

[He nods.]

... So I assumed by "removing" them.

[spinatalltale]

Yeah.

[. . .]

And that's why I need people like you to know. So you don't execute her, before she can finish what must be done.

[reidentify]

[Honestly, Lief wonders if he could've brought himself to execute Lucina, knowing Magilou would die with her. On some days, it feels as though Magilou is all that grounds him now, with her being the one person who doesn't hide things from him—well, until now.]

... What exactly must she do?

[spinatalltale]

[she came clean!! look at her paying that trust back in droves]

Be an independent killer on Thursday night. [she says simply] Beyond that, I don't know anything else. Including which remaining Siren she intends to go after this week.

[reidentify]

... So was she the other one last week? [...] If you are saying that, I assume you—or at least she knows who the remaining Sirens are.

[spinatalltale]

What? No! She wasn't. As far as I know, she hasn't killed anyone yet. Raven, Battler and Serph were all taken out by methods other than the Wickie, you know?

[. . .]

But she does know who all of the Sirens are now.

And I do, too.

[reidentify]

... Well, you said independent killer, and we still have one at large, so I wondered. But very well, I will trust that.

[He pauses.]

Who is the last one, if you are allowed to tell me?

[spinatalltale]

Yeah, I don't know who that is. But it wasn't Lucina.

[of that she is certain]

. . . Fie.

[reidentify]

[... Ah.]

I would like to say I am surprised, but... truly, I am not.

[spinatalltale]

In hindsight, neither am I. Though her lazy exterior was a pretty good facade for a while there.

[reidentify]

We are all liars here.

[spinatalltale]

[. . . heh]

You got me there.

Are you going to let that fact put out your fire at the eleventh hour?