foolishmortals | An Early Mardi Gras

[That was certainly...an ordeal, alright. These trials just kept getting worse and worse as time went on. Within the span of twenty-four hours, six more people died. Four of them had been friends. And Lekmet, he--he thought--

Never mind that. Everyone else was probably hurting just as bad as he was. Last week, Kim had told Louis that he shouldn't be alone while he was sad--that sympathy probably extended to everyone else. He had to do something to help. The dead deserved a decent send off.

Well, except maybe Negaduck. But that's different.

After the trial, Louis seems to have disappeared back into his room. After a few hours, though, a messy, handwritten note is shoved under everyone's door.]

(EARLY) MARDI GRAS PARTY
-JAZZ
-DRINKS AND FOOD
-FUN AND FRIENDS
[He neglected to put the location down on the invite, but one can follow the sound of Louis's trumpet into the dining room. The place has been draped with colorful, half-finished banners--gold, purple, and green. Further down the table, a few bottles of alcohol and fruit juice have been neatly lined up next to a stack of paper cups. There's also a pasta bar set up, with individual bowls of spaghetti, pasta sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Hardly Mardi Gras food, but it's the only thing Louis knows how to make. At least there's also a plate of beignets.

Standing at the back of the room is Louis, playing trumpet like his life depends on it. His repertoire for tonight? The songs he's heard while watching humans parade through New Orleans on Mardi Gras. Songs about being carefree, about forgetting your worries, about enjoying life while it lasts.

Louis doesn't seem particularly interested in talking right now. He's not going to let people mope tonight. They deserved a good fucking party after everything, dammit, and they were going to get one.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Soos...thinks he's getting better at understanding Lekmet, so let's see what he thinks of that response.]

Dude, you couldn't have known that could've killed everyone. Last I checked, not voting right would only get the voter killed. They never said anything about anyone else.

[How'd he do?]

[Soos is absolutely correct and perfect, and there's a fleeting look of gratefulness that crosses the goat's face.]

Y-Ye-aah.

[There was an attempt to say, 'I guess so,' but it'll probably suffice.]

I...I just wanna know...why did you nearly sacrifice yourself just to get rid of him? You're an awesome dude...no one wants to see you die.

[Plus, if you waited longer, they could've done it without nearly dying.]

[Time to bust out some loose papers to write on.]

I wasn't thinking at all. Those pink elephants, and whatever's out there, they never stopped.

[Mainly the ones from outside, at least. The elephants' influence was a slight bit better than Outside.]

[...oh mierda]

Y-you mean your still seeing things and stuff? Like, weird hallucination-y type stuff?

[Please tell him that's a lie otherwise how are they ever supposed to get away from this god damn mansion?!]

Y-Yeah! I think I stayed the longest out there. Kim also saw a lot of...something before those elephants showed up.

Unlike those pink creatures, they never really went away.

[Hahaha oh boy, this makes his rash decisions even more messed up.]

[Well, isn't this such a wonderful thing to know.]

Okay, then...the rest of us will try to help you stay sane! We can make sure you don't do anything else that's dangerous! We'll just...we just all need to stay calm.

[Please don't die cool goat man!]

[honestly it's pure determination and a miracle he's still up and walking alive.]

It'll be fine- I don't think I'm that strong to hurt anyone. My healing powers are doing their best to fight it off.

[How much of that is true he's not sure, but- he doesn't want Soos to worry too much...!]

That-

[Isn't what he's worried about. He's worried about Lekmet doing something stupid again that would get himself killed, for sure this time.

But...he doesn't want Lekmet worrying about something like that.]

I-I know, but I just want everyone here to be safe. We've...we've lost a lot of people...I don't wanna lose any more.

It seems hopeless now, but- It'll definitely be alright in the end. The Hades guy plays fair, and is keeping them safe, somewhere.

[Everything happens so much. It's a lot to take in.]

There's still a chance I can regain more of my magic and help bring them back.

True...plus, it really sounds like we'll be able to get them back, once we're out of here, and if that guy...Rod, I think, was telling the truth.

...wait, you can bring the dead back to life too?

[He thought it was just healing injuries but there's more?!]

I used to be able to, until I woke up here. Only found out it stopped working when I tried to bring back Noby.

[Nervous fidgeting. He's internally debating if he should tell him about that ability using up his life force.]

Ideally, I'd need the bodies to be in one piece.

[Whelp that was more disturbing]

[...and Soos thought finding Noby's body was bad for him...]

Yeah, that...kinda makes sense. This whole set up wouldn't really work if someone could just bring back the dead.

[And now Soos gets to possibly realize why all the executions they have seen have pretty much destroyed all the bodies.]

That's...that's understandable, yeah. Might be why all the executions have been the way they are, in case you get your powers back.

[Despite how unlikely it may be.]

They've hidden the bodies as well- Not that anyone else would want to mess more with it.

[A violent shudder. Jane's was the worst.]

Which makes me wonder how exactly do the others plan on restoring them, if my way won't work.

Yeah, at least they're not just leaving the bodies where they were.

[There would be several rooms no one would want to go in anymore.]

I...am not really sure. I don't know much about how spirits and ghost junk works, but...at least a couple of those people are people I'd trust with my life, and there's at least one person that died that I want out of there no matter what. So...I trust them.

I admit, I'm not too sure either. Magic and spirits work differently depending on the dimension.

[Gently gives Soos a reassuring pat]

Well, there you go. Maybe we don't even need their bodies to bring them back here. Maybe we just need to believe it'll work...or something.

[He's still somewhat worried about how it'll all work, but it's probably fine. He's sure everything will ~~not~~ be okay in the end.]

Yeah-- wait! The scissors!

[He answered his own earlier question.]

Of course! If they're in one piece out there, we could bust them out using dimensional scissors!

Dimensional scissors? What are-

[OH SHOOT WAIT DIDN'T HE SEE SOMETHING LIKE THAT BEFORE]

Wait, like those scissors you drew in the first week? Can they...can they cut through dimensions or something?

[He's not sure how it's possible but he isn't questioning it.]

Those are the ones!

I had them on me before I got here, surely they're bound to show up in that machine--!
They basically cut open reality like paper, opening a portal to whichever dimension you want to go.

If not mistaken, Marco had them at some point as well.

[Holy crow! That sounds like it could be super helpful!]

Then, we just need to try and get it from the slot machine, and we might actually be home free, right?

[He's excited now so please don't kill his hopes!]

Yep! Knowing are luck, maybe someone around here got one already, but doesn't know what it does.

Knowing this manor, it probably won't work now, but once we're out of here, it's our ticket home. Anywhere else but here.

[He's hyped!!!!]

An Early Mardi Gras

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