I always put myself in destructive situations [W5, Friday]

[hydrokinetics]

[It took time. Everything took time as it always did. It took time for them to all calm down, it took time to heal physical wounds, it took time to properly remove the evidence of obscene crimes...but in the evening they were able to gather in one place away from everyone else. It hadn't been easy coordinating everything, but it was necessary.

And so here they were. All seven of them.]

...I don't really know where to start. [His voice is tight, but determined.] But we need everybody on the same page. Who wants to go first?

Comments

[thatsthespirit]

[annnd after some stuff about roles, the letters, the incident at the stocks with Yuna, etc come out, Milla finally decides to stand up]

I've been sitting on this information for a few weeks now at the advice of the Sheriff. But since I'm not feeling particularly charitable towards him right now, I think I should share it. But I'd like to ask everyone to make sure it doesn't leave this room. Xion is the only other individual who knows.

[DRAMATIC PAUSE]

I know where the dead people are being held. It's the train. The one with the shadows, at the station.

I advise against trying to break the windows to let them out, though.

[insincerely]

... Well, what Papika said about there being more shadows makes sense now.

[thatsthespirit]

[a solemn nod]

That's right. They're a lot closer to us than we think.

But getting them out of there isn't as easy as opening the door.

[hydrokinetics]

...it was you. [His eyes widen a bit.] Xion told me, but she made me promise not to say and wouldn't tell me who told her. Now I get why.

[thatsthespirit]

[XION. . .]

And I made her promise not to tell anyone.

[she almost. laughs]

But yes, it was me. I told the Sheriff she and I intended to break the train windows to see what's inside. He advised against it due to the train being where the dead are housed.

Letting them loose while they're still in limbo is risky. Those who have a strong attachment to life may come back to life, but those with a strong attachment to death-- like Higekiri-- will only drift further to death. It isn't a risk to be taken lightly.

[hydrokinetics]

Is that why you guys went after the gunsmith instead? How does that even work? [WHY IS WHOLE ASS SO STUPID.]

[thatsthespirit]

It is.

The Sheriff explained it as in. . . hn. How alive we are exists in a scale. One side is death, one is life. Because we're currently in this town and not back home, where we'd be completely alive, just by being here we exist 50% closer to death than usual. The people that die drift even closer to death, and can only exist in a small containment unit even tinier than this town.

That's the train.

The train anchors them to this town, and if that anchor is broken, that's when the drifting occurs.

[impulsiveness]

How does that logic work on people who are dead even back home? This place is bullshit.

[His head hurts, and it's not because of the gash on his forehead.]

[thatsthespirit]

[is there something you're not telling the class Jason Todd??]

I didn't ask him that, but I can the next time I speak with him.

[impulsiveness]

[It's... not really a secret. He implied it to Percy during That One Meeting, at least.]

You do that.

[thatsthespirit]

[giving him a slight look, but hey, at least she's not asking?]

[hydrokinetics]

[...well!]

I think I get it. It's a focal point. You lose the focal, you'll dissolve and your humanity and mortality will disappear, especially when your mortality status has changed. It actually makes sense to me. [Why.]

[thatsthespirit]

[gestures at him]

Yes, that'd make sense. You seem quite knowledgeable about the subject.

[hydrokinetics]

[An embarrassed smile.]

Where I'm from, there's a river in the Underworld. It's called the Styx. [This comment is much funnier to me given who I'm tagging.] Anybody who bathes in it will be gifted invincibility, mostly. You'll be stronger, faster, and more powerful. But there's a curse with it. It's called the Achilles' curse. When you bathe in the river, you pick one spot to leave vulnerable as your Achilles Heel. It's the spot that keeps you grounded to the real world and your mortal life after you bathe in the river.

...and if you lose focus on that point and what ties you to that point while you're in the river, your soul burns out and gets washed away. That's what the train is like. The Achilles Heel.

[robitussin]

...Well, shit. That's horrifying.

[that's it that's all she's got]

[thatsthespirit]

[Y E P]

I don't know what we can do with this information, but if one of our goals is to bring back those who have died, I think it's important to have.

[robitussin]

Yeah, no. It's good to know. I mean, it was pretty obvious by this point that they aren't gone, but...

[thatsthespirit]

There's something grounding about the fact that we know they are there, correct?

[elemancy]

[he just makes a face, because wtf at this place, honestly.]

[thatsthespirit]

[YEAH BASICALLY!!]