??? (Round 3)

[foundationmods]

[Once the trial begins, all of the dead will feel themselves being lifted out of their bodies. For a short while, they are able to watch the proceedings, including their own bodies as they continue to move and act on their own. But eventually the area starts to grow dim, fading into an inky black nothingness.

Then glowing sakura petals will start to trail by. A path in the darkness, perhaps?

If the dead follow the petals to their source, they will eventually find an enormous sakura tree, it's large branches hanging over the area and providing shelter from the darkness outside. Here, under the sakura tree's branches, the dead will feel 'whole' again. It is as if this is where they need to be to be themselves, with no influences from the witch outside. And indeed, the very air feels heavy with magic, a single point of calm in the storm of the void.

And there, at the base of the tree, sits someone familiar.]

Comments

[oceanicbutterfly]

[Karen is...

Well, Karen is Karen. Vinea feels like a memory, albeit an unusually clear one.]

...Watanuki-san?

What sort of place is this...?

[foundfate]

[When he hears his name, Watanuki lifts his head up and gives a small smile. He looks very tired, though, as if he has used up a lot of energy without sleeping for a few days.]

Technically? It's my dreams. It's the only place I could pull all of you at a moment's notice and without access to most of my powers.

[oceanicbutterfly]

[Karen opens her mouth to say something, then closes it and thinks for a moment. Actually, that's entirely consistent with her understanding of how the universe works.]

Nice dream.

[foundfate]

It will get flashier in a few hours, once I regain my powers.

I miss my shop. I think that's where I'm going to stick all of you, once I can. At least then you all will have a roof over your head, though I suppose there won't be much weather in here anyway.

[oceanicbutterfly]

Well, I won't stop you, but this is fine. It reminds me of home, somewhat.

[Being surrounded by sakura petals is, of course, the wild Karen's natural environment.]

[foundfate]

The tree will remain, it's a part of the shop. It will just be expanded on.

[very_good_end]

[Erika, now free to be Erika, will take the moment to sneer at her]

Oh, what's this? Looks like someone now has reason to regret making an enemy.

[smiiiiles]

How did it feel? Were you bothered? Vexed? Terribly inconvenienced by that false 'guilty' conclusion? Please, do speak up. I'm most curious to know your mental state at the time.

[oceanicbutterfly]

I don't want to hear that from someone who thought calling herself a detective would keep her safe.

[So it turns out spending a week as Vinea has done exactly nothing for Karen's capacity for putting up with Erika's bullshit. It has, however, given her a very clear memory of what Erika looks like in a maid uniform.]

[very_good_end]

Keep me safe? ...When did I say that?

[oceanicbutterfly]

You didn't have to say it. Your entire duct tape plan was built on the premise that you, specifically, would be left alive.

1/2

[very_good_end]

...

[she just stares at her with this incredulous face for a moment...]

[very_good_end]

[then she cracks up laughing]

Are you serious?! Oh wow, you couldn't be more wrong if you tried!

[hahahahahahaahahaha]

You still haven't figured it out, have you?!

[oceanicbutterfly]

[..........]

Some of us don't live in your head and can only guess at what happens in there.

[very_good_end]

[it'll be another few minutes before the chuckles finally stop]

Ah, tell you what. I'll give you one last chance... go back to the mystery of my death.

The killer had a stake, and yet I was killed with a knife...

...why?

[oceanicbutterfly]

I don't know. We never even found the stake.

[very_good_end]

Ah, but you knew it must have been used? It was not missing because someone misplaced it.

Here's another clue. The so-called "witch" announced, in red, "Erika was conscious from the moment she went into the bathroom to when she died. She also was not placed physically by any outside force, killer or otherwise."

...How? I'll add that the killer was definitely inside the bathroom. And we definitely did interact.

[oceanicbutterfly]

[Karen's amazed that she can still call "Yuuko" a "so-called" witch after the last week, but fine.]

Listen. If the twenty-two of us working together couldn't figure it out, I'm not going to suddenly get it now.

[very_good_end]

...Pitiful. You were all no more than useless trash, after all that? I mean, really, this is Mysteries 101, here. Someone should have got this!

[sighs]

Oh well. I'll savor the triumph of having crafted a worthwhile mystery. --Though the victory is bittersweet at hearing it was wasted on such a large group of ignorant marmosets.

[oceanicbutterfly]

...how did you craft the mystery?

[She can actually think of a couple of possible answers to that question, she just hates all of them and would prefer to give Erika what little benefit of the doubt she still has.]

[very_good_end]

[she starts giggling manically again]

You still don't get it?! Fine! I guess I have no choice but to spell it out for you...

I cooperated with my killer! I even told her how to keep the blood from getting on her clothes, and where to stab me so I would die the quickest! She used a knife because I asked her to! --Being stabbed with a stake was personally distasteful, after all.

1/2

[oceanicbutterfly]

[..............................

Yep. It was the stupidest possible option.]

You... y...

2/2

[oceanicbutterfly]

[Surprise, Erika, you're getting tackled. Hope you like the ground. Is there actually ground here? Eh, don't worry about it.]

YOU IDIOT!

[very_good_end]

[she just sneers up at her]

Heh. What's the matter Kareeeeen-saaaan? Bitter grapes that you were singled out as the suspect?!

Really, I wish I could say I intended for that... a nice little bit of revenge as I exited the game early. But, that was just collateral damage.

Still, I bet you suffered a lot more than me. That's a victory any way you slice it... or puncture it.

[oceanicbutterfly]

Shut up!

[There's no sign of defensiveness, or anything. Karen is well and truly pissed off.]

Do you have any idea what I went through--what we went through? Do you even care? Have you ever given anyone else a single thought?

1/2

[very_good_end]

... Do I care?

[she giggles a little more, not resisting at all as Karen pins her or does anything else.]

Yes, of course I cared. [said sweetly, demurely]