round seven - case wrap up

[mewreview]

blank state round seven



day twenty-three

[After a certain point, late in the afternoon, the cat steps away from where he's been sitting, and meanders back towards the far side of the room, near the screens.]

Setting
Timeline
Cast

Voting is unlocked. Voting will close on May 10th at 10 PM EDT.

Comments

Solve the Case

[mewreview]

All right.

That's enough questions. Someone can try and solve the case. Tell me everything that happened. You can have two tries.

The better that you do, and the faster you do it, the better I can help you.

[You may now write up a summary of the case. You are encouraged to OOCly and ICly collaborate on this to make sure you get everything. The more complete the summary, the more hints you will receive.]

[souredsweet]

Ten years prior to the murder, Starling was brought home and adopted by the vigilante Captain Phoenix, otherwise known as Sherwood Shade. Having the ability to shapeshift, Shade planned to train her in both that and weapons usage from a young age so that she could protect her home and family, with emphasis on her brother Jonathan. Years later, Shade's rival Nero ended up taking Mary captive in order to awaken her dormant powers. While he succeeded, her powers proved to be too much; he was killed and absorbed by them. Mary was stopped by Shade, but Shade was injured in the process and his secret identity was revealed; after that, he became reclusive, locking himself and his family up in their mansion.

A day before Shade was murdered, Mary appeared under the title Nepthys, launching an attack against the city and the mansion and taking Starling hostage all with the intent of luring Shade out and putting him in a position where he could kill her without guilt. Unable to kill herself because of her powers and fearing that they would eventually grow strong enough to kill even humans, she viewed this as her last option... However, Paladin, a close friend of Jonathan, acted first. Starling was released and ran away to the house where she hid under her bed, and Paladin used her powers to stop time, killing Mary by stabbing her heart. This fueled her bitterness toward both herself for being unable to be the sort of hero she wanted to be and toward the world for being the kind of place that forced this to happen.

Once home, Shade turned his fear and anger on Starling and forced her to train nonstop through the night. He was attacking her even when she was exhausted and couldn't use her powers; at that time, Jonathan walked by. He had abilities that he was unaware of which only awakened along with a split personality when he was angry. Seeing Starling beaten brought that personality to the surface. Without seeing the attacker, Starling ran again and Jonathan's second personality used his abilities to kill Shade, mimicking Nero's signature style. Because of that, both Starling and Jonathan's first personality believed the attack to be the work of Nero in the end, and Jonathan swore revenge accordingly.

Theories of Blame

[mewreview]

[The cat licks its paws and waits.]

I'll be taking theories of blame now. You need four different theories for four different people. This isn't just what happened, but it's why that person is to blame. You can have two tries per person to get it right, but I won't tell you whether you completely got it.

The closer you get to the true source of the blame, the more I'll be able to help you find out who that person is.

[You may write up a theory of blame for a character involved in the case. The theories should involve these characters and the fictional case given by the cat, rather than any of the characters who are actually present. Please only make one theory for one character at a time, and put that character's name in the heading of your comment. You are encouraged to OOCly and ICly collaborate.]

Starling's Blame

[fjords]

Starling always felt really useless 'cause she couldn't use her powers. As much as she wanted to make Shade satisfied, she couldn't manage it and would hide from him. She ran away and left Jonathan with Mary, then ran away from "Nero" and let her father be killed 'cause she was too scared to help.

Jonathon's Blame

[whiterosefoes]

[as neutrally as possible]

Jonathon's alter ego was the one who killed Captain Phoenix... if he had controlled himself more, or even just learned about his powers on his own so Starling wouldn't have so much of the burden, then perhaps he wouldn't have come out. Then he could have defended his adopted sister without killing him. And after all that was over, he became so focused with getting revenge on Nero that it completely blinded him from the truth. His father didn't really get any justice at all...

... not that he deserved it, since he was a total prick. But Johnny is still to blame.

Paladin's Blame

[acemedium]

Paladin got so bitter that she lost sight of her ideals and what it meant to be a hero. Instead of trying to help Mary or even Johnny or Mr. Shade - she didn't even give Mary a chance and killed her right away, which made everything worse. She could have helped Mary with her pain. But she didn't, and Starling ran away, and Mr. Shade lost it... and then Johnny lost it, too.

She could have helped Starling with her powers, or even Mr. Shade after the accident, but she didn't! And even though she was best friends with Johnny... she didn't help him or even notice what was going on with him.

Mary's Blame

[bloomnobly]

Mary-san was to blame because she wasn't emotionally strong enough to work through her issues. She could have...[ having to pause a moment to collect herself ] --could have found a way to work around her abilities, to use them as a hero, but she didn't. Instead, she gave up on herself and surrendered to death. If she was stronger, she would have never triggered the chain of events that lead to Shade-san's death.

She wouldn't have attacked Shade-san to egg him on, or taken Starling-chan hostage in the process. Paladin wouldn't have killed her, and proxy Jonathan-kun wouldn't have killed his father for mistreating Starling-chan for her supposed 'uselessness'.

Unlock Cabinets

[mewreview]

[You still have access to the four unlocked safes should you need to review anything.

But if you would like to have a more specific look through anyone's cabinets, you can ask here.]

[whiterosefoes]

[Harriet's walking up with Malik]

We'd both like our keys, thanks.

Jonathon's Blame

[obeytherod]

...I'll work on Jonathon's blame. I don't need any help.

[He's just letting them know, so nobody else tries it.]

[whiterosefoes]

I don't think you should. Blaming your own representative in this situation... it's counterproductive.

Starling's Blame

[fjords]

So her blame's 'cause she felt so useless since she couldn't use her powers. And she kept runnin' away--even when "Nero" was facin' her dad, she ran away. That it?

[acemedium]

It's more than just that. If she had been able to help him from the beginning.... If she'd been able to do something... things wouldn't have turned out like that. She couldn't use her powers, she couldn't fight, she couldn't even help him when he was really scared himself.... She didn't do anything, not even when he came at her like that. It's not like she helped Johnny, either.

Maybe she could have prevented the whole thing.

Case Summary

[souredsweet]

I can present the case... Please let me know if I miss anything. We should cover Starling's adoption and early training, the loss of her powers, Nero's kidnapping of Mary and his attempt to awaken her powers and subsequent death... Shade stepping in to stop that, being injured and taking to a reclusive life which he inflicted on his family. Mary had her ability-induced depression, which drove her to seeking out Shade in an attempt to get him to kill her. Paladin ended up having to do the job, which added to her bitterness. Starling was held captive and couldn't do anything more than run...

There was also the fact that she lost access to her powers, and Jonathan, who had powers along with a split personality. The split personality and powers were triggered by rage, which is how he ended up murdering Shade - because he had walked in on Starling being beaten by him.

[acemedium]

Johnny and Paladin were close, too... And both Mr. Shade and Johnny ended up thinking it was Nero because of how... it turned out.

Paladin's guilt

[acemedium]

I'm thinking about Paladin.... She wasn't really involved with Mr. Shade, except for being friends with Johnny. Her guilt.... she killed Mary when she could have found another way to save her. If she'd helped Mary with her powers instead, then maybe Mr. Shade wouldn't have flew off the handle like that.... Maybe she could have helped Mr. Shade and Johnny and Starling, too. It seems like they were all shut in together.

Is there anything else?

[obeytherod]

[Look he's alive and being productive--]

If Paladin hadn't let herself get so bitter, then maybe she wouldn't have seen Mary as hopeless to talk down. Mary could have been saved otherwise. She couldn't even follow her own ideals.

Mary's blame

[bloomnobly]

Mary... [ she seems to almost be in physical pain, with the way her face is contorted and she keeps her hands close to her chest ] ...she did not have the emotional strength to move through her issues. To save herself.

[ it's clearly paining her to say this, but honestly, it's better than hearing it from someone else. she almost feels that wave of anger she had during the mock trial, when so many of them felt Vincent was to blame for his own death, but--no one's said anything. Yet. So she'll take that task up herself. ]

Had she not desired death so strongly, the chain of events wouldn't have set in motion. She wouldn't have attacked Shade-san, or taken Starling-chan hostage. Paladin wouldn't have killed her, and by proxy Jonathan-kun wouldn't have killed his father.

[obeytherod]

And if she had been able to save herself in the first place, Shade would have never forced his family into hiding.

Identities

[whiterosefoes]

You know, I think all of the people in this case already know who they are. I believe the only missing piece is Paladin... and that cabinet belongs to me. It's a shame that I lost the red rose cards upon coming here, or maybe my time magic could have been useful. As it is, we don't really have an unlimited amount of time.

We're all agreed on everyone's identities, right? Do you guys want to just get it over with and grab our keys? I'm not really sure where blame theories are going to get us, and I have a hint from Johnathon's blame if anyone really needs one.... it's better to have as much time to devote to saving the possessed as we possibly can. Don't you think?

[courthouserock]

That sounds like a good plan to me. We can always use our hints to try to get other information out of Herr Kitty...like what's happening with the windows.

Harriet's Cabinet: The Duel at Rennes

[whiterosefoes]

[It is the 1480s. Harriet sheathes her sword after fighting her way across a battlefield near Rennes, France. She's searching for a duelist - and it isn't long before she finds him, as he's clearly waiting for her - the arena of their duel has already been set up, as evidenced by the magical forest towering in front of the town where it shouldn't be. Golden wheels spin in the sky, an eye at their center. As soon as she spots the armored man, she's pulling out her deck of cards.

"Transmute unto me, O Deck Leader," she calls out, the old-fashioned way of talking sounding unnatural coming from her. Winged armor begins to materialize over her clothes as she bonds with her signature card, Airknight Parshath. She's irritated, though - the intelligence she'd gathered on his deck meant she'd had to make severe modifications to her own. It was, frankly, a pain in the ass. Now wielding a new sword thanks to the transformation, she swings it to point dramatically at the armored man.

"My name is Harriet Vaughn. I've come for your Red Rose Card!"

"So you're the one they call the Rose Duelist..." The other duelist sneers. Dark plants begin to creep up his red armor as he transmutes his own Deck Leader. "I am Jack Cade, a Bretagne Card Warrior. There was a time when some knew me as Mortimer..."

"Ha... As if I would care about that? I'm not even from your time period. Your reputation's nothing to me," Harriet banters with a smirk on her face, although she watches him carefully.

"Oh? Well, you really should pay more attention, Harriet Vaughn. You stand on Celt soil where Card Dueling has been passed on for generations!" Harriet can already feel her eyes rolling as she feels a lecture coming on. Instead, he just cracks a wry smile and continues speaking. "In particular, my family have mastered the art of the Dark Duel."

'Dark Duel' ... The way he said it, he clearly thinks it's something that should intimidate her. But it's the first that Harriet's ever heard of it, so she just looks at him blankly. His shoulders shake with amusement to her reaction. A chill creeps up her spine... though after all this time, it's not an unfamiliar one. It comes as she reads the other duelist - in particular, his intent to kill. Many of the Lancastrians have tried, but this time is different, wrong. The sky goes dark as shadows swirl all around them. Even as fear clutches her heart, she keeps a deadpan on her face, asking what the hell this is supposed to be. He tells her it's her first step onto the threshold of Hell. And he glares, a glare that she also knows well. It's the condemnation of a traitor. He intends to make her pay.

"Well... shall we begin?"

Steeling her courage, Harriet draws her cards and meets his eye. "Duelist, En Garde!"

The duelists enter the forest from opposite sides. A blue light shines around Harriet as she plays a card - it floats in the air from there, flying off into the woods as though it had a life of its own. It doesn't, of course. Harriet is controlling every move on her side of the field. In turn, Jack does the same. For what was supposed to be a card game, the movement involved makes it a bit similar to a chess game. Jack explains to her that in this shadow duel, they'll feel the damage the monsters do to each other, and direct damage will cause real injuries to them. It could even be fatal.

The forest contains several patches of what appears to be a poisonous cloud. Harriet is struggling to get around them - her strongest monsters can't enter them, or they'll be destroyed. She's left with only weak monsters to rely on. And her deck was already weakened to begin with, because of the conditions of capturing his Rose Card. Jack's monsters are weak too, but he's using them expertly - a monster sneak attacks her directly, causing her to shriek out in pain, and then disappears into the forest. Meanwhile, most of her cards have effects that power up her other monsters automatically, so she's having to be very careful with where she sends them. Her monsters do battle with his, and each one that is killed sends stinging pain through their commanding duelist. But it feels like no matter how many she destroys, the difference in damage doesn't matter - since she can only use weak monsters, she can only whittle him down slowly. Jack's deck leader, Dark Plant, has an effect that regains health for him constantly. And meanwhile, he keeps infiltrating her defenses to attack her directly. She can still stand for now, but the attacks are vicious. Her body is screaming, and she's terrified. She could seriously die.

Because her deck is based around strengthening itself, she has several monsters trapped on the sidelines, who have reached massive amounts of power. If she could just drive the Duelist towards them... she'd win. But this is a Dark Duel... victory for her could mean death for him.

She draws a card. Mountain... it changes the field of battle. The crush virus would be gone, replaced with the ideal terrain for her Fairy monsters. It would give them freedom of movement, and make them even stronger. It's exactly what she needs to turn this duel around.

Harriet laughs. It's a bit unhinged. This is what she needs to do - she has to save herself and get home. She never wanted it to be like this. If it weren't for these damned Lancastrians, she would be at home playing this game for fun, just an ordinary duelist. But they put her in a war. She hated them for that. In the end, this is just another consequence.

She plays the damn card. Forest and virus swirl away equally as great snowy peaks burst up from the ground in their place. She destroys a monster in her way - there's now a clear path between her strongest monster and Jack. He knows it.

"No! No way!!!"

Harriet smirks, raising her sword to declare an attack. She expects him to surrender now... but he doesn't. He can't. He tells her that the loser of this duel gets consumed by the darkness. Her face falls. But she doesn't lower her sword. How could she, when it meant she would die instead?

Seeing her resolve, Jack's voice lifts, his eyes full of fire. "I warn you! Your next field of battle will be your last! Be prepared to meet your maker!!!"

But Harriet is no longer afraid. She just feels cold as she orders the attack. A bitter grin cracks her face while her Dark Witch swoops toward him and swings her staff, sending arcs of lightning crackling down upon him. He screams in agony as his life runs out, and then it's like the shadows surrounding them converge upon his corpse, swallowing it until it's completely gone, leaving only the Red Rose Card. The light comes back to the sky, and the forests and mountains disappear into nothingness. The only thing left is Harriet picking up the card with a haunted look on her face, knowing that she will never again be the same.]

[whiterosefoes]

[As the duel plays, Harriet appears to be studying it, occasionally muttering to herself as though she's backseat dueling her past self - seeing if she could have changed her strategy at all. But by the end... it just reminds her of a part of herself that is gone.

Well everyone, you sure did just see Harriet kill a guy over trading cards. She's certainly looking pretty disillusioned with the whole thing though.]

Unlocked: Malik's Memories (cw; child abuse and blood)

[obeytherod]

[When Malik opens his cabinet the room melts away, and another dimmer one made of stone and sand takes its place. There's only candlelight to go by and it'll take everyone's eyes some time to adjust to the lighting. Voices can be heard before the picture clears up. At a small desk sits a much younger Malik, speaking already with that abrasive tone of his. A boy, about nine years older, stands nearby.

"Next week is my tenth birthday. They're gonna perform the ritual on me... Do you know how much it hurts...? They say the pain is so bad you scream for a month...," he grips his head in one hand, tears brimming in his eyes. "Why do I have to go through it? I don't wanna!"

He asks the other boy to take his place for the ritual and he agrees.

There's a change of atmosphere, and they're sitting in a much larger, ceremonial room. Malik is standing shirtless as he faces the wall, his body shaking in fear as his father heats a knife over a small fire. He's carted off, strapped down to a stone slab and given a wooden gag to keep him from biting his own tongue. Then the ritual begins, and several dozen lines are excruciatingly carved into the skin of his back. He begs for his father to stop before dissolving into screams and cries for the entire remainder of the ritual.

That torturous memory fades out before it's finished, and it comes back in to Malik wrapped in bloody bandages and staggering into another room. He uses the wall as support, his face drenched in sweat and tears, his expression twisted in pain and rage with teeth bared in a sharp grimace. His voice is much harsher than it was before. "Rishid... Who... Who do I hate for this? Tell me..."

The scenes twists into a new one. Now they're in a bedroom, and Malik looks a year older as he sits in the bed with the familiar face of his sister beside it. Rishid stands further back.

"I said I'm going, Ishizu!"

She shushes him, "Lower your voice, Malik!"

Doing so, he leans in "Don't worry! Father should be asleep by now...We've been waiting for this day for so long! If I pretend like I'm sleeping, father will never find out I left the tunnels!"

She seems worried still, "But if he finds out...! That means you broke the law of the clan..."

"Don't worry! Rishid will take care of that! Right?" He grins excitedly at Rishid who confirms he'll do just that, and then Malik goes on wistfully.

"Ishizu... I... want to see what it's like out there... I have to go! Please take me!" He looks earnestly at her, childishly holding up a finger, "Just this once!"

It's the next day, and the memory follows Malik and Ishizu on their trek out of the tunnel and into the open air. They walk through a marketplace and Malik is fascinated by everything he sees, from the mystery of how photographs are made to the simple fact so many people could be in one place at once. Ishizu looks paranoid the entire time, reminding him what not to touch and do as they go. At one point they're confronted by a mysterious man who tells them one thing before vanishing:

"Your fate has caught up to you. Soon, blood will spill upon blood, and tragedy will tear your family apart. This is the will of the Pharaoh..."

For the last time, the scene changes. It's not much later that same day, and Ishizu and Malik are running through the tunnels after realizing there had been a rudimentary trap set at the door to tell their father if they ever left. Finally, thhey come to a lite room and Malik cries out.

"R-rishid! Father...!!"

Rishid is hunched over the floor, his back scorched with burns from a hot blade. Malik's father stands over him with two large knives, his expression heartlessly cold as he speaks.

"Malik... Ishizu... You two have broken the law of our clan...," He turns away to reheat the blades. "I will give you your punishment later... But first...you..."

His father goes on, asking about the debt Rishid owed him, about how he couldn't even fulfill his duty as Malik's keeper, and how this was going to cost him his life. The torture continues even though Malik pleads for his father to stop, but he's harshly knocked back against the wall for trying and Ishizu rushes to his side.

"Now take a good look... At the pain you gave him!" The hot blade is pressed again to Rishid's back far longer than before, until he simply collapses lifelessly onto the floor. With Rishid taken care of, his sights turn to his son, "Come here, Malik. Now it's your turn."

Malik is gripping his head, his eyes wide with terror that twists into fury. His sister is nearby, and she says something, but the memory itself seems to be tearing apart as well, twisting and dimming before it suddenly flickers out of existence. It's very clear that the lights didn't go out. It was more like being enveloped in a deep sleep. This darkness lasts for awhile with seemingly no end, but then just like how it left, the world suddenly bursts back to life.

Rishid is awake now, and Malik is on his knees, covered in blood and looking dazed. "Wh... What happened to me..?" As he turns his head to look back over his shoulder, Rishid pleads for him to stop, but it's too late.

Strapped to a pillar hangs his father on his knees, a large section of skin on his back cut out and pooling blood onto the floor. He's clearly dead, and Malik rushes over to him as tears begin to pour out.

"Father..!! Father! Who did this to you?!" He wraps his arms around his father's neck and squeezes them in a hug as he sobs up against his shoulder. Then, for a brief moment as Malik looks up, that same mysterious man from the marketplace appears like a ghost against the pillar.

When the scene fades out for good and the cabinets and people are visible again... A second keyhole appears beneath the first.]

[obeytherod]

[Malik just relived the worst two memories of his life. He doesn't look like he'll be speaking to anybody for awhile as he rests his forehead against the cabinet, angry and bitter and mournful tears running down his cheeks.

It didn't even show him what happened... What was the point?! He relived all of that for nothing!

It was too much to stand, and he slips down to his knees. What was the point...]

Unlock: Maya Fey's Memory

[acemedium]

[When she opens the cabinet, the scene transforms into the familiar a courtroom. Maya's there with a man – the same man who keeps popping in everyone's lawyer memories. He's taken the case of someone important to him – a jerk of a frilled prosecutor who only used to care about getting his guilty verdict. Maya knows he's changed recently, but-- Phoenix wants to save him. So she does too. He prompts her to channel her sister.

Instantly shame washes over her. She wants to, really, she wants more than anything to be useful and help him out, but it's not working. "Sorry. I tried. I really tried, but I couldn't reach." She explains because she hasn't been training, her powers are weak again. The last couple of cases, she'd channeled Mia to help him whenever he'd been in a pinch. But she stopped training after that and now when he needs Mia, Maya can't do it. It's obvious he's disappointed. He was counting on this – on her. "I'm really sorry," There are no waterfalls around so she doesn't know how she can train, but, "I'll try my best!"

"I hope so!" he responds. The trial carries on, and he's holding on by a thread. She doesn't know much about courtrooms or law and her efforts to channel Mia aren't getting through, so the next time he asks her, she has no good news. She slides further into shame and self-blame as he gets more frustrated and put out. She keeps trying, but she can't do the only thing he's ever asked of her since she became his assistant after her sister's murder. Then she's in jail. He asks again, still nothing. He stops after that. That's worse. It's proof that she really did fail him.

Then they're in a records room, with a frillier jerkier man armed with a stun gun. Phoenix is showing something to him – the piece of evidence that will prove he's behind the murder. The man sneers threateningly with the stun gun, advancing on Phoenix but Maya moves instinctively, as fast as she can. She can't let this happen – she has to do something!"N-Nick! Run!" She throws herself at the man, desperately trying to shield Phoenix, buy him time, anything, but the next thing she knows, Phoenix is shaking her awake. The man's gone. All the evidence is, too. He's talking to her, but she barely hears him. "I... I couldn't stop him. I jumped as fast as I could, but one shot from that thing knocked me out cold. I'm useless. I'm no good as a lawyer, or a medium! I can't even call my sister. Not even now, when we need her the most. I wish I hadn't woken up at all."

The scene changes; now it's a desolate, broken down ship, filled to the brim with other people, prisoners. They've been kidnapped again, by a company named COMPASS – they've hijacked a ghost ship and brought them there to heap cruelties on them. There's no escape in sight and Maya trains as hard as she can without a waterfall in the increasingly desperate hopes of contacting Mia to find a way out or find a way to help the others, but it doesn't work. The friends she's made are very strong and clever and capable, but she tries her hardest to help them out.

She's trying as her head swims and her stomach churns through the smell of rotten meat, and she struggles to reach the resistance to help out with their latest plan, but she feels so sick she's stumbling over her own feet and barely managing to walk. A man comes up behind her to grab her by her clothing and haul her back. She struggles, but she's no match for him. He's completely unphased by everything, even the smell of rotting meat and blood. She wishes she could be half as strong as that, but she's only frustrated at her own weakness. He's angry at her, too. She argues and pleads with him to let her go so she can help them but he's not listening. He snaps at her that she'd only be burdening others if she continues to push herself while sick and his harsh words knock the fight out of her. She hangs her head, feeling small and worthless. He's right, of course. She can't fight, she isn't smart or strong enough to make a dent against COMPASS, and worst of all, no matter how hard she trains or tries, she still can't channel Mia. Mia would know what to do. Mia would be able to help her friends, to find a way out, to do anything- but she's just Maya, and just Maya, as she's learned, can't do anything at all. Even now, she'd gotten rescued by Wolfwood for reasons she couldn't fathom. Why hadn't he left her there?

The scene shifts; the darkest bowels of the ship this time, because something drew Maya there. That something, she discovers, is a ghost that can't quite manifest himself, and needs her help. He asks her what she would do to protect the ship and the passengers, what would she be willing to sacrifice? And that question gives her pause, because she knows he's asking her to put her life on the line, and she's scared. She wants to run away and hide in her bed like she's been doing since kidnapping day one. But her friends have been suffering and dying all around her – some even in her arms despite her best efforts. With shame, she recalls how she'd fled and abandoned the one man who'd shown her the most kindness while his life was in danger. Her resolve tightens. This one thing, she can do, even if it means her life. She's being depended on again. She can't fail. She can't.

He's the real captain, she finds out, a prisoner like them. He needs her body because his spirit is fragmented, and he has to fight to take back the ship. When the time is right, she'll channel him and take on the fake captain. She trains harder than ever, while the Project Head prepares to exterminate them all, and finally the time of battle draws near. She's tried to learn to fight since then, but it's no good. She can't take anything on. People are dying again, and she does what she can, but it's barely anything, and she gets tired and hurt and worn out in the meantime. She keeps trying.

Maya thinks she almost feels something reaching for her, but the next thing she knows, she's disoriented and weak and dizzy and her mind is a blank. Worse than that, she quickly realizes she missed her chance – she wasn't able to channel him after all. Like before, like always, she'd failed. She tries, again, and again, and again, but it's no use. She's too weak, she can't manage it, no matter how hard she trained she still couldn't cut it, she let him down, she let them all down, and now-- they were all--

The feelings of uselessness and desperation and fear overwhelm her, and despite herself, she starts to tear up. Her body is exhausted and worn-down and covered in bruises and cuts, and she has no one and nowhere to run to, but she tries anyway. She doesn't think. Her legs are giving out, there's danger everywhere, but she can't take it anymore. She's not strong enough for this, for any of this.]

[acemedium]

[As Maya's greatest hits of sucking at life (and death) play, she has her head in a hand and peeks through it at times, wincing every so often]

[When it's done she'll awkwardly pipe up:]

I, um... I didn't get chased around by flaming swords or anything like that...

Hints

[volcanoes]

[Considering Iceland's feelings in regards to Malik are well-known, he's going to leave the saving thing to the others this time and focus on something else.]

What are we going to ask the cat about this time?

[acemedium]

Um... if the windows aren't really a trick, we need to figure out what's going on.....

Unlocked: The Other Malik's Memories (cw; blood)

[obeytherod]

[This time the memory starts in the middle of the ritual. Malik's muffled screams pierce the air again, and the room seems to grow cold because of it. The same sequence of events follows as before until Ishizu and Malik are rushing back into the tunnels to see Rishid being tortured. Just like before, Malik falls to his knees and grips his head with a furious and twisted look, but this time instead of impenetrable darkness, something else happens. The memory goes on.

Malik's hair seems to stand on end and his expression calms with a cold sort of hatred. His father is taken aback, enough to stop what he's doing, and then suddenly Malik throws his head back and holds out his arms as he explains excitedly.

"Thanks for killing Rishid, father! Khahahaha! Ahh... I feel so much better...!"

His father remains still, the knife burning in his hand, "Malik... What's gotten into you?"

Ignoring his father Malik glances behind him where two items sit on an alter. One a rod, the other a sort of necklace; both are embossed with the Eye of Horus. He reaches for the rod, defiantly declaring, "This is mine from now on!"

"No! I forbid you to touch the Millennium Items!" But despite his objections, his father doesn't even make a move to stop him.

Malik glances over, his voice is filled again with that ice cold hatred, "Shut up." And as he says it he activates the powers of the Rod, the Eye of Horus glowing prominently on his forehead. His father calls him by name again, as a parent would to scold their child, but Malik's too far gone. He huffs as if the older man is nothing but an annoyance and promptly uses the telekinetic-like powers of the Rod to harshly throw him back against the wall.

Ishizu isn't one to idly stand by, appalled by her brother's actions, "Malik! What are you doing?!"

"You stay out of this," he calmly replies, freezing her against the wall much like her father. With Ishizu and Rishid out of his way he begins to approach his father.

"You'll be the first to die... Father...," laughing quietly at first, his father pleads for Malik to stop, and the only response it garners from the boy is a crazed cackle as he unsheathes the blade hidden within the Rod. He goes on to strip him of his shirt and tie him up to a pillar before taking the blade to his father's back. He laughs like a lunatic the entire time he carves skin from muscle, taking a morbid sort of care as he does so he ends with a rectangular sheet of skin, the glyphs being the centerpiece.

As Malik straightens up he's dripping in blood, but looking as pleased as ever. He approaches the still motionless Rishid on the floor. "Rishid... You wanted proof of belonging to the Ishtar family, didn't you? Then here, take this with you to the netherworld... Keh keh," carelessly dropping the sheet of skin onto Rishi'd exposed back, he grins maliciously at that cruel mockery of the Rite of the Tomb Guardians ritual. But just then, Rishid begins to wake.

"He's still alive... No!!" Malik's face contorts with rage, and he lunges at him with the Rod's blade out. "Why won't you stay dead?!"

Rishid may be bleary eyed and exhausted, unflinching as the younger boy dives at him like madman. Breathlessly, he manages two words; "M-master Malik..." Whether it's a coincidence or Rishid's acknowledgement of him, it seems to trigger something within the younger boy. Malik gnashes his teeth and grips his head before crumpling down onto to his knees. The Rod clatters to the floor and his hair falls back into place. His hands fall down to eye level, and he seems to be in a daze.

"Wh... What happened to me..?" As he turns his head to look back over his shoulder, Rishid pleads for him to stop, but it's too late.

Strapped to a pillar hangs his father on his knees, a large section of skin on his back cut out and pooling blood onto the floor. He's clearly dead, and Malik rushes over to him as tears begin to pour out.

"Father..!! Father! Who did this to you?!" He wraps his arms around his father's neck and squeezes them in a hug as he sobs up against his shoulder. Then, for a brief moment as Malik looks up, that same mysterious man from the marketplace appears like a ghost against the pillar.]

[obeytherod]

... [Malik seems to be in a state of shock. He's not crying this time, but that's not any better, either.]

Unlock: Yuyuko Saigyouji's memories (cw for mentions of suicide)

[bloomnobly]

Father, Yukari...may you give me strength. [ Said as her hand trembles violently. It takes her a few seconds of actually calming her hand down before she even manages to open it.

The scene warps to a very large, very old Japanese mansion. A little girl of about 4 or 5 (that appears to be Yuyuko, although her eyes and hair are a muted, very human-toned brown, instead of her usual red and pink) runs around the mansion's gardens, formless white spirits accompanying her. She seems happy to be playing, and a dark-haired man, her father, stands nearby, smiling and commenting to someone unseen.

"Ah, yes...she's quite talented. These phantoms and ghosts listen to her, even though she is only a small human child. No, no, she's not a youkai. I suppose that's the remarkable part."

The scene shifts, and a Yuyuko of about 6 or 7 is sitting and squirming intensely while some sort of attendant arranges her hair. Yuyuko asks her to stop, to stop tugging so hard, because her scalp hurts; she's being too rough. However, the attendant doesn't seem to take care, and dismisses most of her complaints. Yuyuko seems to become more and more frustrated, eventually standing up and trying to leave the room, but not before throwing a tantrum and shouting angrily at the attendant...who promptly drops to the floor, unmoving. Yuyuko warily approaches, shaking her shoulder and calling her name, before it becomes clear that the attendant is dead. She promptly runs out of the room screaming her lungs out, wailing for help. "Father! Father....!"

Over the years, this happens again and again. The first time was dismissed as the attendant having some sort of unforeseen heart problem, but after a pattern of Yuyuko being in the vicinity, it's determined that it's her causing these sudden deaths. Her power to manipulate spirits grew so strong that she was able to rip souls right out of their bodies--and became uncontrollable, with said power manifesting itself at seemingly random increments, or if she's not paying proper attention. She apologizes again and again, crying her eyes out, but the stunned, fearful reactions never change. So there's only one solution.

There's a shift, and Yuyuko is around 13 now, but much less spirited than before. She paces around a room, alone, for days and days and days, and appears to be spending most of her time in isolation.

"Yuyuko-sama....your father is returning home tomorrow. Would you like to see him?" questions a different attendant, one day.

She doesn't bother to face the attendant with her answer. "I don't really see the point."

"But milady, I'm sure he misses you. This kind of isolation is not--"

"Irrelevant," she replies, her hands shaking. "What good will seeing him do me, anyway?"

The scene shifts yet again, to a Yuyuko of about 16. She's outside this time, a large brimmed hat donned to cover most of her face in disguise. She's wandering around a large public garden, and stops at a particularly beautiful cherry blossom tree. A woman eventually appears out of a gap in the atmosphere, startling her.

"My, my...the infamous reclusive daughter of Saigyou Hoshi, out for a stroll. What could be the cause of this?"

Yuyuko curiously lifts her hat up--and she looks absolutely terrible. Bags under her eyes, skin blotchy from crying, eyes glazed over in a haze of complete disinterest...though, that itself fades once she begins to converse with the woman.

The woman, Yukari, slowly becomes Yuyuko's sole friend. It's clear that she's an ungodly powerful youkai, and isn't affected by Yuyuko's power suddenly going off. Their bond is extremely close, but almost a year after their first meeting, Yuyuko receives word that her father has died, underneath a beautiful cherry blossom tree, driving her further into despair.

The tale of Saigyou Hoshi's death soon becomes a popular story, with many others making a journey to see it, slowly giving more power and sentience. Henceforth, the tree is referred to as the 'Saigyou Ayakashi' after the first death under its branches.

Despite having gained a friend, Yuyuko only grows more and more depressed and anxious, until she can no longer stand to be in the company of anyone except Yukari. It's clear she views herself as a monster, and can barely stand the thought of living anymore. Yukari manages to keep her from going off the deep end several times, but eventually that fragile balance is shattered, not long after Yuyuko's 20th birthday.

"Yukari...thank you for being my friend. Your companionship was more than I could have asked for, more than I deserved. But...I believe I must say farewell."

The room flickers in a rapid fashion, the jumble of memories almost squashed together. Yuyuko as a human shutting Yukari out, walking into her garden with a coil of rope in her arms, looking at her garden as a very confused spirit while a group of monks chant something at a tree, appearing before a different woman who compliments her abilities dealing with spirits, walking around in the Netherworld and nervously meeting with an older man who looks stunningly like Youmu (phantom half and all)...

The scene shifts yet again, almost 1000 years after her apparent death. Yuyuko resembles her current self, with her standard pink hair, red eyes, and unnaturally pale skin--and incredibly cheerful attitude. She's rummaging through a library of sorts, mostly bored-looking, until she pulls out a very, very old tome. The pages are delicate and close to crumbling, but she opens it regardless, curious at its lack of a title.

"The Saigyou Ayakashi, huh...?" She scans the pages for a few moments before her face lights up in a devious smile. The text she reads is in clear view:

'The girl who bears witness to death, at the time of the Saigyou Ayakashi's full bloom, shall be bound by mortality.

So that her soul may rest in peace within Hakugyokurou, I will seal the cherry blossoms, and make it the barrier.

My wish... is that she will never again reincarnate, and never again suffer pain.'

"How interesting!" she exclaims, tucking the book her kimono. She calls out, "Youmu! Youuuuumu!"

Once she manages to find said half-phantom, she hands the book to her, explaining her thoughts in rapid excitement. "See, see, there's so many of us who are dead, so this girl could be anyone! And I've always wondered why that tree never blooms, even in spring. ...I want you to assist me in unraveling this mystery!"

Youmu seems hesitant, but curious in her own right, and so goes along with Yuyuko's plan. Briefly, Yuyuko wonders if this is the right choice to make--even Youmu doesn't seem 100% confident. But she quickly squishes that doubt away as her plan gets set in motion.

In short, she has Youmu collect the essence of spring from outer Gensokyo, and bring it back to the Netherworld to give to the Saigyou Ayakashi. As a result, the tree begins to slowly bloom, and Gensokyo becomes stuck in a visage of eternal winter, even well into May. As soon as the Saigyou Ayakashi is almost at full bloom, Yuyuko receives word that there are human intruders in the Netherworld. Youmu manages to hold them off for a short while, but eventually they make their way to Yuyuko herself.

In front of her are a miko, a witch, and a maid, the same culprits from Youmu's own cabinet. The girls make clear that they are not very happy to be stuck in an eternal winter, and wish to retrieve outer Gensokyo's spring back. Yuyuko politely denies them, and states that she needed it to force the Saigyou Ayakashi to bloom and revive someone buried underneath it, which would be only momentarily. 

The miko speaks up. "Reviving people just for fun isn't good. And again, we don't know who will be revived at all."

Yuyuko scowls. "Oh, I can invite humans and youkai to their deaths just for fun."

"Being able to bring death doesn't mean you know anything about bringing life," the miko snaps back. "What if you revive something really nasty?"

It's clear this argument isn't managing to persuade Yuyuko, so the four of them promptly engage in a spellcard duel. It's incredibly flashy and dizzying to watch, but also very pretty. It goes on for a while, and they appear to be evenly matched.

Eventually, though, Yuyuko starts to run out of energy. Too many knives and talismans have hit her, too many flashy stars and lasers exploded within inches of her face, and she looks exhausted. The maid steps forward. In a flash, she proceeds to stop the flow of time around her and land a deciding blow on the frozen Yuyuko.

She appears to disappear for a moment, the three believing they've won the battle. However, the Saigyou Ayakashi glows brightly in full bloom, and Yuyuko's figure rises up once more--with brown hair and eyes. She looks triumphant as she unleashes one last particularly devastating attack, leaving the three girls completely unable to attack her. After a full minute of this, it fades once more, dropping her back to the ground in her original colors. Youmu hurries over to her, clearly beat up herself, as the scene fades for the final time. ]

[bloomnobly]

[ when everything fades, Yuyuko promptly drops to her knees, at a loss for words. She seems vaguely horrified and more than a little shaken up. ]

S-Such a troublesome moving corpse.

On Possessed People

[volcanoes]

...You know. Not that you guys aren't fixing things. But when Austria got totally possessed she got the thing she lost back. So if Malik gets totally possessed and attacks us... [Well...]

[chiblocker]

[ Oh look, Ty Lee finally came out of the Blue Room and is just...lingering near Iceland for the moment. ]

Malik's 2 personalities

[chiblocker]

I have a question. [ After being silent as the grave for who knows how long... ] Even if you manage to save Malik from his rot [ wow could she sound any less convinced they can ] how do we know it'll even matter in terms of the shadow? I mean...this whole thing is about his heart being split, right?

And we're only working on the rot of one side of him.

Won't the shadow still probably have a grip in the other side?

[ #helping ]

[souredsweet]

[everyone helping in this case is not helping much at all...

THAT SAID:] Would it work like that? It seems like they only latch onto one specific guilt of one person... Otherwise, the ones that weren't destroyed should have been able to possess new people, right? I guess it depends how different the two personalities are in this case.

Regarding Guilt...

[obeytherod]

[There's not much time left now, and after what feels like everyone except Harriet and Athena just giving up on him, or making him feel worse... He feels as if he's given up on himself.

Right now he's sitting next to his cabinet, dully eying both the keys in his hand.]

...I guess I should make a decision. I don't want anyone else to decide for me. I'll die before the vote.

[whiterosefoes]

.... [then she has lost. Her movement stalls to a halt.]

Aftermath

[mewreview]

[Once the votes come in, the cat places the sheet of paper back in the box. With a swipe of his claws, the tape on the box seals again, and then, abruptly, the box vanishes.

The cat jumps down from the space where the box was and lets out a satisfied meow.

At the same time, Malik Ishtar lets out an pained sound. Something bursts from his chest, a dark shadow. It's completely intangible, but it's devouring him, turning him into shadow until, eventually, there's nothing left.

The cat watches this tensely, as though ready to pounce. As the shadow vanishes, he looks as though he's about to leap, but then stumbles, and, with a hiss, vanishes back into the web of cardboard boxes.

There are no scratch marks remaining.]

[volcanoes]

[Uhh...] Cat? [Of course, there's no answer. He looks uncertainly at the others.]