The future's in doubt, you're on your own [Week 6, Friday]

[hydrokinetics]

[Silence fills the room. They've lost one of their own and their biggest chance to end the game. It's no surprise no one's in a good mood, but they all know they have to be here.

So...who will speak first?]

Comments

[impulsiveness]

[Haha, does anyone want to speak up first? Probably not. Not with both Shinnosuke and Xion dead, shot down by someone they're most definitely going to fail to catch tomorrow. And with Natalie being found in the most suspicious position imaginable... well. They don't have the majority vote now, he thinks.

Exhausted as they all are, though, Jason writes something down and presents it to everyone else.]

I got a letter from Hannibal. What about you guys?

[... Not Dr. Lecter. That implies respect. Fuck him.]

[elemancy]

...Yeah, I got one too.

[wow. it sure feels even quieter and more terrible now that he doesn't have to read jason's letters out loud anymore.

this sucks, what the fuck.]

[impulsiveness]

[It does. Jason really wishes he had his tongue back now, because then he wouldn't have to be keenly aware of the fact Shinnosuke is super duper dead. Hah.]

I guess this is his parting gift. One last screw you to all of us.
Do you have yours?

[elemancy]

[they're both noticing this all too keenly right now, and noct is really trying his best to bite back how much it's bothering him.

there's a shinnosuke-shaped hole in this room now, and they know it.]

Yeah, I have it.

[he'll pull the still neatly folded letter from his pocket. he's got no problems with reading it aloud, either.]

[thatsthespirit]

[she lifts up a piece of paper with fancy writing on it]

I did as well. I brought it to share.

[impulsiveness]

[He nods at her, looking at the paper with interest.]

What does it say?

[thatsthespirit]

[she unfolds it and reads it aloud, although she feels a slight pang at the knowledge that she no longer has to. damn it, Shinnosuke. . .]

"Milla,

Admittedly, I wouldn't consider the ideal situation to get to know someone a bit better to be when they are my patient because of injury. Yet through that and through interactions after, I can say with certainty that your strength and your earnest nature are both your asset and your flaw. I think you know this well with each breath you take. That path to recovery will be an admittedly slow one, though as I say each time, you're quite lucky to have not been hurt more seriously. If anything had ruptured, you would have died.

Which, considering what I've been wondering about you, that may have suited me better. It would have been a terribly boring way to go, though, and I don't think it would have counted, besides. So I will instead be grateful for your strength in the literal sense rather than the metaphorical.

I wish you luck in the remaining time. I'm not sure if it will be needed, necessarily, but I don't think that things will be easy. Unless you're the one to have killed me, I suppose, but if so, then you will not be alive much longer.

Best of luck,
Hannibal Lecter

P.S. The answer would have been "No" regardless, if my guess is correct. If you don't know what this is referring to, then you don't need to worry at all."

[robitussin]

[Quietly, staring straight at the ground.]

Yes.

[impulsiveness]

[... Natalie. As if he wasn't concerned enough already, now all of this is happening. He'll try placing a hand on her arm, trying to be comforting — but he still taps out for her:

Will you show it?]

[robitussin]

[She pauses for a long moment.]

...Why?

[hydrokinetics]

[He's curled up in his own space, staring blankly in front of him and only partially listening to the others. However, he can see what Jason's written and he nods slowly.]

Pretty sure he wrote to all of us at this point. He knew he was dying this week.

[impulsiveness]

If he was warned we were onto him, he must have assumed at least ONE of us would come after him.

[... He wasn't wrong. But. God.]

[thatsthespirit]

[everyone is Very Tired. . . including Milla, although one might never guess it from the way she keeps working]

[she brought all of her letters to this meeting again, along with a brand new one from Hannibal. she also has a flower language reference book in her lap with the page opened to "nasturtiums" -- conquest, victory in battle. she seems focused. intent on trying to figure out what the heck these letters are trying to say]

[she's quiet for a long moment, before she lifts her head and speaks]

. . . with the Deputy dead, we may need to rethink our strategies a bit. We still have the ability to revive one dead person, correct? Do we still want to use that as insurance for Damian?

[a pause]

And considering the scene of Dr. Lecter's death. . . we may also want to focus on protecting Natalie tomorrow.

[robitussin]

[Quietly:]

I know how it looks, but I didn't do it.

[thatsthespirit]

I know.

[she says firmly, without an ounce of doubt in her words]

. . . I see he was caught in the bear trap we set out.

[thatsthespirit]

[after the discussions have died down, Milla returns to her letters and her flower language book. she flips trough it idly, expression a bit distracted, until she reaches the page for black roses. her eyes scan the words-- death-- and for a moment she just. lifts her hands to her temple]

[then she glances at Higekiri's letter. then back to Sara's. a sigh escapes her lips]

. . . at our last meeting, Shinnosuke brought up the fact that one of Higekiri's letters asked him to come visit.

[taps Sara's letter]

Sara also mentioned black roses, which are symbolic for death, in her letter to me. We know they both are in the train at the station. The train that is sealed off, but running, as though it's getting ready to leave.

[just. scrunches her face together THIS IS HARD]

What are they trying to tell us? It can't be a coincidence that both of them are referring to the train in different ways.

[impulsiveness]

Hannibal's letters to you and Noctis mentioned TIME. Think it might have anything to do with what you mentioned? The train's running like it's getting ready to leave.

[thatsthespirit]

It has been since our second week here. Since Tiara and Ao were killed.

[her frown deepens]

But where is it going?

[elemancy]

[and before i forget to mention this.]

Hey. How much do you guys trust Barnham?

[it's kind of out of the blue to ask that specific thing—but it's probably pretty clear from noct's casual form of address that he does—quite a bit.]

I think we might need someone who isn't... in as deep as we are for another angle here.

[hydrokinetics]

[Without hesitation:] I trust Mr. Barnham a lot. You think that's an answer here?

[elemancy]

Not sure, but I think we're going in circles and missing something that's probably right in front of us.

[impulsiveness]

He's a decent guy. But we also thought the same about Hannibal, didn't we?

[elemancy]

Could've said the same about any of us, though.

[look at all of them, really. shinnosuke was one of them and he'd been questionable plenty of times, after all.]

I know I'm biased. I trust him, and I believe in him. That's... why I'm asking you guys.

[thatsthespirit]

[also without hesitation]

Without question.

I think he'd be an asset as an ally.

[elemancy]

That's what I think.

[and also:]

...He knows about my role, and still wants to help. [though!] I didn't tell him who any of you were, though. Just in case.

[just in case it backfired, he was willing to take the fall and whatever it meant on his own—noct refuses to throw the rest of them under the bus or say anything without their consenting to it.]