WEEK 6

[grimgrinningghosts]

[Another week has come and gone, and three more people are dead. Nearly half of the guests are dead in a little over a month. The ghosts are still not reacting, and with Demyx's execution one has to wonder if the ghosts are even here anymore.

In the very least one more floor has been opened up: the trophy room, a shooting gallery, and a bathing room.

... Maybe keep Kiara out of the trophy room.

14 guests remain.]

[ SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY ]

{OOC: Don't forget to fill out your Week 5 Activity Check!}

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[defyingfrigidity]

[Normally that would be a really mocking question, but just the way the voice laughs...]

Okay then... is there a particular name I should call you?

[worldofcolor]

[There's a pause...he thinks.]

Well, some people have taken to calling me Man.

[defyingfrigidity]

... Man? That's... a little vague, isn't it? And not very personable...

[And also a bit rude? If someone had simply referred to her as "woman", Elsa knows she'd be a bit offended at that.]

[worldofcolor]

It's sort of an...in-joke.

[He chuckles.]

I don't mind it.

[defyingfrigidity]

I see...

[She doesn't look entirely convinced, but if he says it doesn't bother him... well. She can't call him anything else right now, can she?]

Man, can I... ask you why I'm here?

[worldofcolor]

I want to help you all.

[He speaks, and a key on the piano gets gently pressed a few times as he does.]

I needed to speak to some of you. I just need to figure out...what I can do here first.

[defyingfrigidity]

Help... [Something inside of her clenches. She should feel angry that he's picking now of all times to try and help, when so many of them are dead, but she can't even drum up any sort of anger now.] You're a little late. Several of the people trapped in the mansion have died already.

[She says that with a sort of blankness in her voice. Week by week, she's just growing numb to it all.]

But some of the others... they haven't given up hope on escaping. Not yet.

[worldofcolor]

I know.

[...he pauses.]

...They're not really gone, you know.

[His voice takes on a tone of comfort.]

Not entirely, I mean. They may no longer be there with you, but so long as you remember them and honor their memories, they will always be a part of the story.

Your story.

And the story never really ends, does it? Not until happily every after, anyways.

[defyingfrigidity]

[It says a lot about Elsa that, for all the apathy and the bitterness that have been piling up as the weeks go on... she doesn't scoff at any of that. She's lost all hope, yeah, and she doesn't really believe any of that, not anymore... but it's still a nice thought. A wistful, unreachable dream.]

I can't speak for the others, but... I don't think happily ever after is something I'll be able to reach now. Without Anna, my sister... the person I loved most in the world... [Her voice cracks at that, arms pressing against her stomach as she curls into herself.] Without her here, I-I can't be happy anymore...

[She'd been able to bear it when her parents died, because however far apart they'd grown, she knew Anna was still there. But now, without Anna... there's nothing left to stop her from crumbling.]

[worldofcolor]

...What if I told you that there's a way we could get them back.

[He ponders the situation, carefully choosing his words as he speaks.]

It'd be...difficult. But I know where they are.

I know who has them.

[defyingfrigidity]

[For a moment, Elsa goes very still. She... she had to be hearing things, right? There was no way... the other ghosts in the mansion didn't seem to know where their departed companions had gone, so how could he know...?

But... he was being so kind to her. He's given her no reason to distrust him, so maybe...

So she raises her head. She can't see him, but she looks up anyway, a spark that isn't quite hope but something close to it in her eyes.]

Who?

[worldofcolor]

[From seemingly nowhere, a sketchbook materializes next to her. A pencil appears as well, and both are levitated into the air by seemingly nothing.

The pencil meets the sketchbook, and he goes to work as Elsa thinks. It takes a small amount of time, but eventually, he turns it back around to show her what he has drawn.]

Do you know who this is?

[defyingfrigidity]

[She's pretty much unfazed by the hovering sketchbook, being so used to her own magic and all the weird things happening at the mansion. But when he shows her the page, when she gets a good look at the face drawn on it...

... Well. Her mind draws a blank. But damn if there's not something really ominous about this guy.]

No. Who is he?

[worldofcolor]

This is Hades. Ruler of the Underworld.

[His voice is a little ominous, mind you, but it's more in the way that he's speaking about someone dangerous.]

...Now, if there's one God you don't want to get steamed up, it's Hades. Despite being the ruler of the Underworld, he finds the spirits down there...dull and uncouth. He's as mean as he is ruthless, and is a notorious schemer.

And that's the gospel truth.

[defyingfrigidity]

[Hades? Is this the same one that Demyx had been talking about? She can see why he didn't want to deal with that god, with a look like that...]

So the god of the underworld has our friends... [Geez, that makes their situation look like nothing in comparison, doesn't it?] But... something can be done about this, right? There were stories about heroes from ancient times sneaking in and out of the underworld. If they can do it... then our friends can be saved, right?

[worldofcolor]

It's difficult, yes, but...we could make it work.

[It's fine, Hades is probably friendly.]

But you folks need to get out of here first.

[defyingfrigidity]

... Do you know how we can accomplish that?

[worldofcolor]

...Not off the top of my head, but I'm an ideas man.

[The pencil gets raised up a little, as though it were being pressed against an unseen chin.]

If you guys don't stop whoever is running this, though, I don't imagine they'd take kindly to you folks just up-and-leavin' em. Unfortunately, I don't know who that is.

[defyingfrigidity]

[Hmmm...]

We found... journal pieces. By a man named Beau Blood, and how he was abducted by a pirate by the name of Randall, captain of a ship called the S.S. Gore. Do those names ring any bells?

[worldofcolor]

...No, I can't say I've heard of any of those names.

[A little disappointed, but nevertheless.]

Those might be important, though.

[defyingfrigidity]

I see...

[Well... she didn't really think it would be that easy. But it was worth a try, right?]

Is there any sort of assistance you could give us? I know it's a bit much, to ask you to help us with this as well as rescuing our friends, but... I think some of the others are growing desperate in their attempts to figure out what's going on.

[Star.]