Third Trial

[yourghosthost]

[Today, the Ghost Host seems eerily quiet as you descend the stretching room, not even doing his usual speech. The Usual 25 tombstones are there, but with three new epitaphs for Tadashi, Wander, and Sylvia.

Noticeably, Wander and Sylvia’s are identical, except the names are reversed for Sylvia’s tombstone.

Here lies Tadashi Hamada
Tried to save his brother with a wire
But got trapped and burned in a fire

Here lies Wander and Sylvia
Best friends and heroes from the stars
Were never able to recover from their scars

There’s no turning back now, is there? Be wary. Trust no one.]

You know what you have to do.

Comments

[capulion]

[Kiara slinks in, low to the ground and drooping everywhere. She looks like a camel with a broken back.

She looks up at Ghost Host, thinking hard, and her ear flicks. He's off of it, too, and that has to mean something.]

Wander was right. You don't like this at all either, do you?

[terribibble]

[Fiddleford looks and feels like shit. He spent the entirety of the investigation in his room with his hands clamped over his mouth trying not to have a complete breakdown and now here he is, forcing himself to stand here like he's not about to break under the weight of everything. His tombstone is even more or less across from Sylvia's so he can't look ahead, only straight down. His hands grip the sides of the stone very, tightly. He has to keep himself upright. He can't break down out here. It won't help. It won't help, it won't help, it won't help.]

We have to... where do we start?

[sixfingeredstan]

[Ford is unusually quiet today; his heart is very heavy as he looks around at their dwindling numbers. It's beginning to seem inevitable that people will die, and he hates looking around and wondering: which one of us is the traitor? Something he'd been so hesitant to believe, but now...

His palm smacks flat atop his own tombstone, something else that's been weighing heavy on his mind. The thought of it always seems to be in his periphery. When he speaks, it's slowly and with gravity.]

It is very disturbing to me that we're out here for a third time.

[wannagetsmote]

[This much gets Maui's attention. He tilted his head in her direction, listening quietly he waited for the Host's response. It wasn't an incorrect assumption -- the host had seemed more than a little off.

But he'd wait -- let someone a little more gentle do the talking]

[yourghosthost]

I enjoyed Wander's company.

Your task is to find the culprit regardless.

[capulion]

[She lifts her head to look at him properly, ears pulled back. It's more defensive than aggressive, though.]

I think you want to help us. You want the culprit caught too.

[And he knows more about this stupid mansion and the stupid ghosts in it than any of the rest of them.]

[pardonmylanguage]

[Tip looks tired, too.] Why were there so many knives? [She caught a glimpse of Julia's knife-bundle, at least.]

[wannagetsmote]

[Maui was slow to arrive, having been a bit distracted telling stories to someone in the hopes that he would be alright. Really, a punch to the face normally wasn't fatal, but he'd seen such a wound, at just the right angle, could be dangerous.

But eventually he arrived, oar in hand and eerily quiet for once. It's been a bad morning.]

[yourghosthost]

I am not to interfere unless your lives are at risk.

[capulion]

No kidding.

[And that's just the beginning of what's disturbing her.]

[strangerslikeme]

Disturbing.

[capulion]

Our lives are at risk! Look how many of us have died! What is that even supposed to mean!

Whoever planned all this is definitely not playing by the rules. Why should you?

[sixfingeredstan]

[Ford finds himself keeping one eye on Fiddleford at all times, or trying to. He's worried; he knows how hard this is on him, and he's privately afraid of what'll happen to Fiddleford if this keeps happening. What will happen to his already fragile state of mind.]

I found a few things. In the men's restroom.

[As long as they can just act normal, they can get through this.]

[terribibble]

[He... did not see the knife bundle. He may have heard rumors about some stab wounds but he got about as far as 'Sylvia and Wander are dead' before he just noped out completely so this is news to him.

Appropriately, it is not news it looks like he was happy to hear.]

So many? How many were there?

[nobodyperfect]

They took most of the knives from the kitchen. I dunno why they needed so many.

[arpeggiositar]

I dunno how useful this'll be, but looks like the killer went from the study to the conservatory, left the mansion, did...something out there, returned to the conservatory and left through the weird magic mirror.

[Demyx shrugs]

So...maybe we can start there? What happened outside?

[capulion]

I... [It's hard to get it out, and she swallows a few times.]

I think the way their... they were when they died is important.

[Staring at the ground, digging a paw into the dirt.]

Sylvia had been crying. Wander was clinging to her... and he... crawled over to her across the room as... he was bleeding.

[yourghosthost]

The point is that I am not allowed to aid you.

We'll save this conversation for later. There is work to be done.

[capulion]

Do we know it was Wander and Sylvia who took them all?

[pardonmylanguage]

And she wasn't hugging him back...does that mean she was already dead then?

[capulion]

[She doesn't like you much, dude, but she knows you're helping take care of Lefou, and that makes you an ally. She holds herself entirely non-confrontational.]

How is he doing?

[terribibble]

[He's kind of worried about that too, but he was doing good this week. He was doing better. He has to cling to the idea that he won't backslide too much.]

Like... like what?

[capulion]

It's possible. She had two wounds. Between the both of them...

[ilovepuppies]

Liar.

[The only way she can get through this is reminding herself that all the ghosts are monsters.]

[capulion]

[She mumbles grumpy cat sounds and eases herself the rest of the way to the ground.

She thinks they need you.]

Fine.