spinatalltale | [WEEK 2, THURSDAY EVENING: Laphicet]

[WEEK 2, THURSDAY EVENING: Laphicet]

[the trial last weekend irritated her. feeling like she was being toyed with, similar to how Melchior had toyed with her with his own illusions, had brought out some older, bitter feelings that she had done her best to repress. the march of time helped quell that irritation, but now?]

[now she was livid]

[it's getting late, and Magilou knows instinctively that she should return to the hut. but she sure as hell isn't about to return to Lucina while she has the specter of her old master hanging over her shoulder-- You truly are, even now, my greatest failure.]

Ugh.

[she's on the outskirts of the jungle, a makeshift torch in hand, as those words roll over her ears and make her grimace in disgust. instinctively, she whirls around, swinging her torch in front of her, sending a small tongue of flame flying through the air before it lands on the ground and ignites a small patch of jungle foliage]

[she watches it burn, eyes empty, but the whispers remain]

You really are the most full of yourself, aren't you, Master?

[why is she talking to herself? help, Laphicet]

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[He's not supposed to be out now. Probably no one should be out now, but he promised Jacopo that he'd stay with him on Thursday and well... it's night now which is probably the most important time to stick close. Up ahead he sees the light of a torch which he follows, only to find Magilou making herself the number one enemy of Smokey the Bear.]

Magilou...?

Magilou, Amenoch's not- Melchior's not here.

[Smokey can GET FUCKED]

[she whirls around again when she hears Laphicet's voice, bristling instinctively. the small fire at her feet is starting to get larger, but she at least reaches out to stomp it out with her foot before it gets too big]

[there's a pause. she regards Laphicet carefully, with a sharp expression, as though she's trying to figure something out]

No-- I know he isn't. [she hadn't lost her mind that much] But it seems his ghost has decided to be a little thorn in my side. . .

I don't think that's the case either. His spirit became part of Amenoch. Whatever you're seeing has nothing to do with him or his artes.

[She probably knows that too, but you know. Just to be safe.]

Is that why you're out right now or...?

["just to be safe" is a good strategy. she knows what he says is the truth, but his words help ground her. help give her something to hold onto]

[her mouth curls into a smile. the whispers tickle her ears from behind, and although her shoulders remain tense, she finds it a bit easier to ignore them now]

You could say that. Didn't really wanna return back to Lucina at the hut until I managed to break through this illusion.

Um... I don't know how to say this, but.

[He lets out a deep breath.]

I don't know if you can. The way to break through an illusion is to recognize it, right? And you already did. We also don't even know if this is illusion artes or... something else.

Just because it isn't an arte doesn't mean it isn't an illusion, kiddo.

[. . . or maybe she should be using the term "hallucination." but that implies that she's losing her mind, and she likes to think that she's managed to hold onto it very well, tyvm]

[she lifts a hand, waves her torch over her shoulder, like she's trying to shoo someone away. probably illusory Melchior, lbr]

Think it's the Chiefs giving us a hard time? That seems to be the most likely thing.

That's not what I mean. I mean... it's not the type of illusion we might know how to deal with.

[Simply put, it's not the kind that will go away when they want it to.]

It has to be. I imagine it's to encourage someone to kill. Or just because they like seeing people suffer. Or both. Um, not the Chiefs, I mean, but whoever's actually in charge.

[it's true. acknowledging the whispering words of Melchior as a false reality hadn't made them go away. no matter how much she wish they would]

We must be a pretty boring group if they're going through these sorts of lengths for entertainment.

[presuming it's for entertainment at all]

Hey. . . do you think our next killer will use these illusions as an excuse for their killing?

[it's a genuine question, as flippant as she's trying to be right now]

Maybe they just haven't been paying attention to your shows?

[Clearly that's the problem here.]

I don't know... I wouldn't really think of it as an excuse, I guess. It wouldn't be right, but they would've still been manipulated into doing it. You could see a person as a fish and believe you were hunting. Or you could see your worst enemy. Or you could see someone trying to kill you instead.

Ugh, right?! They'd never be bored if they actually watched a genuine Magilou's Menagerie performance!!

[Magilou don't you remember what happened last time you and Laphicet tried a comedy routine]

[she sobers quickly after that]

Even if someone does kill as a result of a mistake born of these illusions, that leaves the rest of us in quite the conundrum.

Do we condemn them for their actions and execute them? Or do we exonerate them and execute a potential innocent in their place?

We could still execute their partner, right? Unless they kill them both... In that case, I don't know.

Uho, Laphicet! How cruel. . .!

[but it's totally the most logical thing, so she doesn't exactly blame him for making that suggestion]

Well, that's... that's the least cruel thing we could do. Although I'm sure some people would want to execute the killer anyways...

[he's right. for as cruel as it is, it follows "reason," doesn't it?]

[. . .]

[maybe that's why the thought irritates her. but it's tough to say what she'd do for sure until the situation presents itself]

It wouldn't be justice to them if they couldn't. For whatever can be considered justice on this island.

I guess that's true... If it was someone I cared about, I'd definitely want revenge.

[Which feels... funny to say aloud, but he takes after Velvet a little bit.]

[hey, she gets it!! that was always the part of Velvet she admired the most-- sometimes she's a little jealous she couldn't feel that way, too]

[there's another whisper-- is your heart still that broken? you should have known there was no way you could have rebuilt it from the ground up again]

[she sneers, shuts her eyes, hand flexing at her hip]

I don't think you're the only one who feels that way, kiddo.

I know, it's-

[He stops mid-sentence, looking past Magilou for a second. A flash of golden eyes and dark hair barely visible at this time of night. Shaking his head slightly, he regains his focus.]

It's a large source of malevolence for many people. But I hope it won't come to anything like that...

[she notices the way his gaze moves past her for a second. she's sharp enough that even the smallest of movements like that one don't escape her]

Oh, I'm sure it will. This sort of atmosphere breeds that kind of emotion.

[. . .]

And I suppose everyone here is lucky enough to not have to deal with the daemonblight side effects when they feel it.

That's actually interesting, though. Daemonblight, malevolence... I don't think any of that exists here. Not in the way we know it. And yet everyone still has their free will.

[Aside from the murder and hallucinations, it's an ideal situation when it comes to malevolence.]

Of course, I don't know what would happen if a daemon or a dragon was actually here... I mean, a dragon besides me.

For a definition of "free will."

[as much agency as one can get in a place like this, anyway]

If someone here did turn into a daemon or a dragon, I think we'd all have a biiiig problem on our hands. You and I don't have our artes, after all.

I don't have my silver flame either... But I guess I was sorta thinking what would happen if someone like Rokurou was here. Even I can't turn him back into a human, so I wonder if that would be true here too.

Yeah. Probably.

[she inclines her head slightly]

Why are you thinking about that at a time like this?

Um... you won't tell anyone, right?

[Admittedly, it's something he's been thinking about a lot, not just now.]

I'm curious about the extent of the incentives. About what exactly's possible for the people who brought us here. If they could create something like this, if they could bring me here, I imagine they could also create a world without daemonblight.

[. . . oh]

[she's interested. definitely interested. and Laphicet definitely knows her well enough by now to know that she wouldn't tell a soul-- that his secrets are probably the only secrets on the island she'd keep]

A world without daemonblight. . . a world where humans are allowed to feel freely, without being punished for their emotions by a body of beings that think they're so much better than everyone else. . .

[YEAH MAGILOU TELL LAPHICET HOW YOU REALLY FEEL ABOUT THE HEAVENLY STEPPES]

Is that kind of world worth it to you?

[worth killing in this place. taking a life. not that either of them are strangers to killing, but. . .]

Edited 2017-08-19 03:36 (UTC)

... I don't know.

[The issue is when and how their world would change. Because a world like that might be ideal, but...]

But if it was a world where daemonblight never existed in the first place... A world where Velvet could be happy. I'd do anything.

Edited 2017-08-19 03:50 (UTC)

[that's the only thing that keeps her from bringing up potential parallels to Artorius, honestly. the fact that Laphicet's desires came from a deeply personal place. a deeply selfish place]

[just like everyone else's. after all, none of them had fought for the sake of the world, had they? they had fought for themselves and their own goals and ideals]

[it's why she likes him so much]

You just need to make sure that whatever you do doesn't get you killed, kiddo. [not that Magilou would ever vote to execute Laphicet-- guilty or not] Velvet wouldn't want that.

[He's a selfish wicked little boy and he knows it!!]

I know, but... I actually don't know how she'd feel about a world where I never existed like this. I don't think she'd let me do something like that, but Velvet gave up everything without asking any of us how we'd feel without her there. So... I also don't care.

[SHE LIKES IT!! HE'S A GOOD SELFISH WICKED LITTLE BOY!!]

[she can't help but laugh, one hand pressed against her head]

She really has rubbed off on you, huh? You're so alike.

[she's smiling]

Huh? You really think so...?

[He feels his cheeks grow hot because that's honestly the nicest thing Magilou's ever said to him.]

Thank you, Magilou...

Edited 2017-08-20 01:08 (UTC)

[it's a pretty big compliment, actually. and he knows why]

. . . if you do decide to go through with it, don't keep me in the dark. If you don't have to, I mean.

I won't necessarily offer to help-- [she doesn't really want to kill anyone while she's here, to be frank] -- but I did offer you my protection.

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[WEEK 2, THURSDAY EVENING: Laphicet]

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