I'm gonna fight 'em off, a seven nation army couldn't hold me back [W4, Sunday]

[hydrokinetics]

[He and Natalie had spoken about gathering together a small group of people to talk about the game and figure out their next steps. Pool together information, you know? It seemed logical. Natalie was logical in ways that Percy wasn't, just like Annabeth was logical in ways Percy wasn't and Percy was more emotional in ways the girls weren't.

After the events of this week, it's almost emotion that drives him to cancel the idea all together. Without Annabeth, was his part in this game even important? Did it matter to keep trying? Everything felt like it had fallen apart. People were dead. People were hurt. People, murderers were walking free and it was his fault they didn't come to justice.

Natalie had told him to take the night off on Saturday, but too much energy and pent-up anger led to time with Harry and Jason. Noctis and Percy always touched base, and Milla was always the one with the good questions, Natalie's suggestion for this meeting.

It's much later than he'd hoped. It's evening by now and it was an accident that he fell asleep that afternoon after three straight nights of not sleeping. He still looks to be a mess, but there are new bandages on his hands and he doesn't quite smell like booze. He's exhausted, hair ruffled and still sporting dark circles under his eyes, and yet there's what looks like a pizza on the table and a few drinks as he gets the five other people involved in the room.

Harry, Noctis, Natalie, Jason, Milla. Yeah. He trusted all of these people enough. A group of six suited Percy just fine.]

...thanks for showing up, guys. After everything it's...this probably can't wait anymore. Last week, Natalie and I thought it'd make sense to get all of us together and start brainstorming how to get out of this game. [There's a pause and a swallow as he regains control again.] This weekend was really, really bad for all of us. We need to start putting together the pieces of what we already know and see how we can fix everything.

What do we have so far?

Comments

MINES;

[robitussin]

[She's not excited to talk about what happened last week, not at all, but she's had to recite the details to a few people already. She knows it'll be one of the first things someone asks her, too, so it's better to get this out of the way.]

There's a labyrinth under the town. Before I start, I don't want anyone taking this as encouragement to go down there and check it out, because that's a really bad idea. Seriously. [A pointed glance at Milla.] But I guess I'll just... start from the top, and once I'm done you can all ask any questions you might have or whatever.

[Deep breath.]

I guess to start off, it depends if you all want the short version or the more in depth version.

[thatsthespirit]

[hey now don't read her mind god!!]

[but she otherwise stays quiet. she had already gotten parts of the story from Natalie (while. . . the poor girl was high on painkillers, but you know), so she'll let other people ask questions. plus, she has realized that she may have pushed Natalie to talk a little too hard]

[just a little]

[robitussin]

[She looks over at her for a moment.]

I'm gonna guess you at least want the long version, yeah?

[thatsthespirit]

[she looks a bit surprised, but nods]

If you're willing. I know it was difficult for you to talk about the other day.

[hydrokinetics]

[He doesn't like pushing for information, but they are definitely running out of time. Especially with what Tarvek's fate is.]

As someone who's been in the Labyrinth, I'd definitely like the long version if you're willing to talk about it.

[robitussin]

I'm going to have to talk about it at some point. It's really long, though, so... You know.

[She takes a breath. Here goes nothing.]

So. When we fell into the pit in the mines, the bottom of the wall was completely smooth, so I hit it with the pickaxe I had to try and see if I could make a handhold to get high enough to grab onto the rope that had snapped. As soon as I did, um... they started pulling me down. The skeletons, I mean.

When I fell in at first, it was this concrete room with tunnels going out each side. It took a few hours to get from place to place. The first landmark I made it to, the walls had a bunch of windows on them. One of them, um, I was behind it. Not like it was a mirror, like... There was a copy of myself. Looked like me, sounded like me, and just repeated what I was saying. For the most part, at least. When I walked away, she started calling after me to come back.

[A small pause. She should probably be thinking about the implications of all that, but that can wait until she finishes going through all of this.]

So. Walked for a few more hours, it was probably late at night by the time I made it to the next part. There were alcoves built into the sides of the walls with bedrooms and kitchens that had food in them, a few showers and spare clothes laying around. It literally couldn't have seemed more like a trap if it tried, so I left that part pretty fast, too. I grabbed some food in case it got to the point where I had no choice but to eat it, and that was... That'll be important in a second, probably, I'll get to that later.

More walking, a few more hours, you get the idea. Probably past midnight on Wednesday, if I had to guess. There was this hallway that was covered in orange and white fur, kind of patterned like a tiger? Anyways, it started purring, which was my cue to get out of there. Except, it started growling when I turned to leave, which was probably even worse, so I ended up walking through.

[The next few parts are harder to explain, so she gives a pause and looks down at the floor. Time to not make eye contact with anyone ever again.]

It started getting narrower and darker after that. There was this hallway where both sides were covered in spikes. So, I tried to turn back, but the wall behind me had closed somehow. I was really tired and angry, so I threw one of the pieces of food I had at the wall, and it, um, screamed. The piece of food did, so... Yeah. Anyways, when I was done, I kind of... I stopped walking for a while and I started, um, screaming for help, in case there was anyone nearby who could hear me. No dice, but when I moved into the next part, there was this table with a bunch of food and water and a note. It said, not drugged or anything, promise, try to find your way back. It was signed Hal. So... That's a thing.

[Thanks?? Sheriff?? Anyways.]

Next area. I felt like something was watching me for a while, and - I mentioned how there was a copy of myself behind a window earlier. She came back, and she was really not happy with me. I wanted to leave, I kept trying to, but she kept... She was trying to kill me, and she wouldn't leave me alone, she wouldn't get off me, she just kept... [She has to stop for a second, taking another breath and rubbing at her face.] Anyways, I - got away eventually, let's just leave it at that. But she wasn't a robot like the Sheriff or anything, she... She could bleed.

[She runs her remaining hand through her hair. Absolutely do not get into a situation where you have to murder your doppleganger yourself, would not recommend.]

Almost done. The next part was... It was like it was an aquarium, the walls and floor and ceiling were all transparent, and there was water outside it all. There were a lot of animals swimming around in it, but not just normal sea creatures. Did you see the carving the Sheriff was working on this morning, of the dinosaur? Yeah. There was that, and a huge squid, and a huge jellyfish... Really huge. Anyways, the jellyfish was a dick and apparently big enough that it could shock right through the glass, so. Fun.

Then, um. There was this hallway that was just... Lined with mouths. [She pauses, thinking of saying more and explaining what happened there, but... This is harder to talk about than any of the other parts were, somehow.] It was the last place I went before I made onto the path that took me into the clinic, and that's when Xion found me.

[tl;dr that sucked from start to finish]

[elemancy]

[...what the fuck. what the fuck.]

[robitussin]

[BASICALLY

she doesn't really know what to say to the look on his face, though, so she just sort of shrugs]

Yeah, I know.

[elemancy]

Just when you think that this place can't get any more screwed up.

[he sighs, and then adds:] Sorry.

[that she had to deal with it at all.]

[thatsthespirit]

[THAT'S]

[a lot more than she was able to get out of Natalie the other day. and some of the implications (such as doppelganger murder) don't escape her notice]

Natalie. . .

[but man she guesses the Sheriff isn't. . . such a bad guy?? sometimes??]

[robitussin]

It's fine.

[it's not, but.]

There's a lot of it that just doesn't make sense to me, though. Why any of it was down there in the first place, I guess.

[thatsthespirit]

[mmmm. yeah, that's a very good question. why is there a twisting crazy labyrinth underneath the town?]

I plan on asking the Sheriff a little more about it, once I have the chance. It sounds like the labyrinth is. . . nonsensical and eclectic.

[and weird]

[impulsiveness]

[Holy shit.]

... Natalie, I'm sorry.

[Because??? That is???? Fucking horrible?????????????????????????? Holy fucking shit.

Jason takes a deep breath before adding the next part:]

I... don't know if it's related to the copy you saw of yourself, or even the skeletons that pulled you down — but do you guys remember the skeletons in the graveyard? And how Tiara was able to dig up my grave because the ground was already soft? [That. Was a thing.] It's because I stole the teeth from the skeleton in my grave. Thought I could compare the dentures to mine, since dental records are an easy peasy way of identifying corpses.

[A beat.]

They were identical. My teeth. The skeleton's teeth. I couldn't tell the difference.

[hydrokinetics]

[....first of all.]

By the gods. [That's to Natalie's story because holy shit. HOLY SHIT!] Labyrinths are designed to drive you crazy and keep you trapped, but Hal must know his way around if he was able to leave you food. I'm so sorry. [He suddenly understands why she didn't want to tell him.] We'll get back to the purring walls in a sec.

[And then to Jason:] I've been wondering about the skeletons since we found Rin's. If they're identical then..what does that mean for the us who're already here?

[impulsiveness]

... I have a few theories.

[None of them are good.]

Hal said the skeletons in the graveyard were here first, remember? What if... we're just clones? Copies of copies, or copies of our original selves — if those original selves ever existed. This game has been running for a while. We don't know if they pick people from the streets each and every time, or if they have some fucked up warehouse they take us out of just in time for the festival.

[...]

It would explain why some of us have memories of dying. It's easier to cheat death if you were never dead in the first place.

[robitussin]

[a pause]

Is there something specific about the purring walls you're thinking about, or...?

[robitussin]

[Feelings are hard and she's not here for them right now, so she's just going to skip over him saying he's sorry to focus on what he says next.]

I was assuming the other skeletons were from past rounds. He mentioned this isn't the first time this kind of game has happened. The teeth, though, that's... It could be related. I don't know what it might mean, though.

[impulsiveness]

That's my assumption, too. Skeletons from the past round. Players who died here and had their bodies buried, or thrown down a ditch.

[He frowns.]

The skeletons at the mines, they... [--swallowed you up, he means to say. But he doesn't.] Do you think any of this is related to the reason the Sheriff keeps destroying our dead bodies? Cremation. Corpse gravy. It's weird, isn't it?

[sheriffexe]

[ HAHAHA WASN'T IT GREAT THOUGH ]

[impulsiveness]

[ S T O P ]

[hydrokinetics]

[WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS]

[robitussin]

[can i live]

[thatsthespirit]

[OH MY GOD]

[elemancy]

[why are you like this!!!]

[elemancy]

The long version might help more but... don't push yourself too much.

[he'd rather not dredge up too much if it's really that hard for her.]