FOR THOSE WE HAVE LOST | FRAY'S PALACE

[bloodweapon]

Welcome to the Vault. Let your judgment begin.
♫

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[destage]

[Home. What an unfamiliar feeling to Sayaka, who's home has never truly been a home. In a way, she wants to sit and relax, but...

Something's wrong and has her on edge, though it's not the same pins and needles of being forced to put on an act--something's genuinely wrong. Of course she'll proceed.]

[cleansewithfire]

[ Hm. This feels a lot like a bad omen. ]

Ms. Maizono?

[destage]

[Sayaka doesn't stop walking entirely, but she'll at least look back to Sunrise when she speaks up, but once she does it's back to walking.]

Sunrise-san--you chose this window too?

[There's a pause.]

Stay close. I'll keep you safe. [...] And...you can just call me Sayaka now, if you want.

[cleansewithfire]

Oh. Sayaka, then. I felt drawn to this window, for some reason.

[ ... ]

I will keep you safe too.

[idealitas]

[ Yi Sang will proceed as well. He has a place he could call close to a home, but that's a stretch perhaps especially here in this underground area, so +1 on the feeling being odd. However, he shall press on with Sayaka, bracing for what comes next. ]

[destage]

Yi Sang-san...

[At the very least they're all safe together, for now.]

Stay close. I'll keep you both safe as best I can.

[bloodweapon]

[As the three of you proceed, you'll find that the path splits off. To your right is a short hallway that leads nowhere, but you cannot see much of what's going on there. To your left is a larger room. Straight ahead is a door leading further in.

That ominous feeling hasn't left at all - if anything, it has intensified.

Which way will you go?]

[destage]

[...Sayaka's going to go toward the larger room, opening the door with one hand and keeping her other hand at the hilt of her sword.

She's not sure what's going on. She can't be sure. But she feels sick, the guilt intensifying horribly in her. This...isn't going to end well, is it...]

[bloodweapon]

[No. It certainly isn't.

The larger room was once a place of happiness - there were once many people milling about, exchanging words, coin, and smiles as they went about their days. The place is trashed now, with furniture scattered and knocked over, with some outright broken.

But more pressing are the bodies.

People you knew, people you worked with, people you liked and trusted, lie scattered around the room. They have been shot or stabbed or bashed, and there is no doubt in your mind that they're dead.

The guilt threatens to consume you. What will you do?]

cw emeto mention

[destage]

[...Oh.

(roll will: 1)

So Sayaka already doesn't have experience with dead bodies. Jordi's caused her to have to go off and lose her lunch, and further rumination on her plan to kill Kuwata has unfortunately proven she is less down for murder than she'd thought. So needless to say, seeing multiple bodies in varying states of death all at once?

Sayaka lets out a hell of a scream in response to the bodies. It's probably only her determination that sees that she doesn't fucking faint but Sayaka's horrified. Frozen with that guilt.

...She may need some help--]

[idealitas]

[ Man why isn't Yi Sang inclined to more distressed profanities, but oh well— This is awful.

He is unfortunately used to seeing bodies, carnage, gore... But it definitely hurts to have that emotion heartwrench pressed upon him. Still, he can turn Sayaka around away from the grim sight, holding her by the shoulders. ]

Sayaka. Breathe.

[ He won't let go until she calms down, but his grip isn't too harsh. ]

[destage]

[The sudden movement manages to startle her--she's thankful both of her arms have gone down and away from her sword now, though they go frozen and rigid as Sayaka is turned away, the guilt of her actions consuming her mind.

...Her actions. Their actions? His actions? The line seems so blurred right now that the firm command brings Sayaka back into reality, taking deep breaths to try and calm and center herself.]

...I'm sorry.

[She's not even sure who she's saying it too, but she follows the order like a good little soldier and brings a hand up to swipe at her eyes a bit, forcing back the crying she wants to do. Just breathe. Don't see the rest of Hope's Peak instead of those people, don't even see those people at all, just breathe--]

T-Thank you. I'm. I'm sorry.

[But thankfully, calm she eventually does.]

Should we...get moving, then? Past this.

[idealitas]

[ Let's say he's used to grabbing people with large weapons on the job and trying not getting hurt in the process, don't worry about it. ]

It's okay.

[ The guilt that tugs at him too, like Sayaka... Here they were too late. If they had arrived sooner, perhaps there would be survivors. If you had done more, things wouldn't have happened like this. Your friends would be happy and still frien—

... Are these his thoughts? Or... Fray's? ]

This is Fray's memory... So we must be feeling what he did. [ Going by the gear, she is close to him. At least, more than he is. ] Can you keep going?

[ There's no point in looking here any more than needed, he feels. ]

[destage]

[They shouldn't have taken so long. They should've been here sooner, they should've stayed. Maybe they could have done something--

Sayaka's not sure about this, but she nods her head, firm though still pale.]

...I can. I need to. But...thank you for checking. This must have been what he felt... [If she can't handle this, can she truly help Fray?] Let's...let's see what's ahead, okay?

[She says it grimly, but she is ready. Let's proceed beyond the bodies.]

[bloodweapon]

[The room itself doesn't have anywhere else to go - you've seen all there is to see here. Would you like to return to the door back at the fork in the path?]

[destage]

[WHOOPS.

Let's double on back then, yes, apologies friend--]

[bloodweapon]

[Back to the door it is! Entering it reveals an office of sorts - you look around for a familiar face, but she doesn't seem to be present. You're so used to seeing her here every time you enter that it's almost odd enough for you to miss the small body on the ground.

Almost.

Noraxia is a Sylph who came along to help. She's crumpled on the ground near the wall, looking for all the world like a bruised vegetable she's already dead, but...

Well, before you can go to her, you're suddenly struck by a memory. It overtakes you suddenly, and gives you all the knowledge you need of what happened here.

Soldiers entered, led by a woman in white armor. Garleans, you recognize them as. They claim they are looking for the Primal-slayer, the Warrior of Light. That's you. They came here looking for you. They killed all these people because they couldn't find you.

When they entered the office, they found your friend, Minfilia. She surrendered, and agreed to accompany them as long as no one else would be hurt. The woman in white fired a warning shot, and Noraxia leaped in the way to try to help... only to be kicked into a wall. Minfilia and several others - more friends of yours - were taken by the Garleans, which explains their absence.

As you shake off the memory, Noraxia silently reaches out one tiny hand to you - she's still alive!]

[destage]

[There's a pause as Sayaka considers this, and the guilty feeling rises up again in her own mind--she never did press too hard about Fray himself, did he? She always assumed he'd be able to talk to her about things as they came up, as they always have, but she never asked too deeply about his memories. About where V'rhas ends and Fray begins, no matter how she's tried to help him find that. About how those memories...

The memory attacks and Sayaka's guilt only increases. V'rhas--Fray, they experienced this. They were the ones being sought after, they were the ones being killed. And their other friends...they...

Sayaka's thankfully back into herself by the time she sees that tiny little Sylph, still alive, and she rushes towards it. She attempts a Dia knowing it's likely fruitless, but...]

What happened? Are the...Garlean's, are they still...?

[She needs to try and make sure this one's okay, but even so...]

[idealitas]

I can check. Please, tend to this one.

[ He's turning back towards outside Minfilia's office for any sign of the Garleans, even if he has a strong hunch they'd be gone.

Go and comfort the... wilted cabbage. ]

[destage]

Understood--thank you, Yi Sang-san. Please be careful and call us if you need help.

[She will gladly comfort the wilted cabbage.]

[bloodweapon]

[It is fruitless, unfortunately. The Dia lands, but it doesn't seem to do anything to ease Noraxia's pain. Her voice wavers as she responds.]

They're... They're gone. They took... they took Minfilia! And the others! Please... please save them...

[Her hand wavers in the air. Then it drops as her head falls back, limp and lifeless.]

[cleansewithfire]

[ Sunrise catches up with Yi Sang and Sayaka, only to find herself going still at the feeling of how this is somehow her fault, if only because this is a little more familiar to her. When her presence or lack thereof means dire consequences for someone else.

It's why she stays quiet and watches Sayaka talk to Noraxia. She knows that the Sylph won't make it, but... ]

[cleansewithfire]

[ Yi Sang is being a responsible adult and helping Sayaka, which is good because Sunrise can focus on doing the work she knows she can handle:

Gathering the bodies. Because even with all this guilt (or rather, because of all this guilt), this is necessary. It's the only way she can give these people some kind of dignity, after having been killed in what should have been a safe place.

...She will try to find some sheets in here, for those same reasons. ]

[bloodweapon]

[She will be able to find sheets, yes! Though it may not be necessary, Sunrise can gather the bodies as she likes. Some are much smaller than others, while some are much larger than your average human. Regardless, there are an assortment of people - including Miqo'te, like Fray. Many of them seem to be combatants, but not all of them are.

Regardless, Sunrise will feel her guilt lessening as she works.]

[cleansewithfire]

[ As far as Sunrise is concerned, this is something necessary. Even in the land of someone's mental landscape (though that's saying as if she recalls at this moment that this is Fray's memory), the dead should be given their due.

Once she has them gathered and lined up, she lays a sheet on each of them. ]

...I am sorry.

[ That they died? That she can't do much more than this for them? She isn't entirely sure.

But once it's done, she'll rejoin Yi Sang and Sayaka. ]