ic inbox.

[lucentia]

HELLO

"Greetings."

GOODBYE

TEXT | VIDEO | VOICE | ACTION

Comments

[lucentia]

Forcing myself was the only way I ever got better before. I'm used to it.

[vacuous]

[ "You and Reirin-san get along well for a couple of reasons, huh...?" ]

Still... if you push it too far, you might get sicker too. Just be careful of that.

[lucentia]

I've no desire to make anyone worry needlessly. I'll be careful.

[vacuous]

Promise?

[lucentia]

Ah?

[vacuous]

Promise you'll be careful?

[lucentia]

[the stricken look of someone who doesn't want to make a promise that he might break but also knows that he might break it...]

[vacuous]

...At least to try?

[lucentia]

I always try.

[it's just that he is trying from the perspective of someone with no self-preservation or self-worth so the bar is on the ground.]

[vacuous]

[ Okay, jaracter ]

I'd hope you are!

[lucentia]

[STOP what if i dropped the memory right now, when you say tokinaga's off the ice does that mean he's near it]

[vacuous]

[ You talk about this memory like you've spent the last 6 tags cocking a grenade launcher with it I'm scared

He can be like on the snowy grass/dirt next to the ice sure ]

[lucentia]

[STOP IT'S NOT THAT BAD LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS it was just very funny between their convos about not getting used to death + why would you just trust people and now after asking lucien to take care of himself........

but waho a scene plays out on the ice:

in which lucien doesn't drop dead early in a route for once (cw: survivor guilt-esque suicidal thoughts)

At the Carnival, out of the Sacrificia, the Membrum suspects—Lucien, Conrad, Anastasia, Crius Castlerock, and Maya Kirkland—the last one is voted for and cast to the flames for the murder committed the previous night. Everyone is teleported back to where they were when the night began, with Lucien back in his quarters. His hands go up to the chains around his neck, marking his status as a Sacrificium and confirming that the Carnivals will continue as the Membrum remains.

The grief and guilt on his face are clear, over sentencing an innocent woman to death. He looks as though he's about to throw up as he stumbles to his bed.

-

It is that same night as he hears voices and footsteps approaching—someone has slipped into his chambers. Lucien throws a knife at the man, who dodges.

It's Crius Castlerock, one of his fellow Sacrificia. Lucien accuses him of being the Membrum come to kill him, which Castlerock denies. Then, Tyril Lister, the inquisitor and Facilitator who oversees the Carnival by the witch's will, appears as well.

"We are here to protect you from Miss Red," Lister says.

"Even now, you suspect her!?"

"... And you still choose to believe in her innocence?" Castlerock replies.

"Of course I do!"

Castlerock clearly isn't happy to hear that, as he continues. He explains how the Membrum's victory condition is to remain the last Sacrificia standing, which means that the easiest way to win would be to just kill all the other Sacrificia during the night. As a result, he fears that Lucien may be Anastasia's target, and though he doesn't know how well he and Lister can fend off the witch-induced sleep, he asks for Lucien's permission to guard him tonight.

Conflict strikes Lucien's face for a moment, before he adamantly refuses. He accuses Castlerock of being the one to behave suspiciously, possibly at the witch's behest, and insists that Anastasia's pain and grief at the trial was genuine and that she would never come to kill him.

"I'll agree with that, at least," says Lister. "From Miss Red's perspective, she gains nothing from killing the idiotic prince that so foolishly believes in her still."

A pause, and then: "If she'd kill anyone, Cas... it'd be you."

Castlerock smiles, seeming unbothered. "Yeah, I figured."

Meanwhile, Lucien stares, apparently horrified at how flippantly the two speak of this matter, of people's lives.

-

Morning comes, and the first thing Lucien does is check on Castlerock's status. Despite their argument the night before, Lucien is genuinely relieved to hear that he's still alive and safe—though it then turns to shock when he receives news of Conrad's death instead.

He thinks of how Lister had asked about his brother's whereabouts last night, and he begins to wonder: did Lister ask so that he could protect Conrad, or to kill him?

(... Ahh, but I do dislike doubting people.

But thanks to my brother's death, we now only need to suffer the trial a maximum of two more times, as opposed to three.

—Thanks to his death...? I'm a monster for thinking so positively about the loss of a human life.

But... if one more person dies...

Ah...! What am I even considering?)

-

At the next trial, Lucien dominates, proving himself every bit the image of a prince and orator. He and Anastasia join forces to indict Castlerock as the Membrum.

Yet, when it becomes clear that they've succeeded, and Castlerock accepts his impending death—Lucien does not look triumphant, but the opposite, with his mask of steady strength cracking. And when Castlerock falls to the flames, he watches in devastation.

-

As the Carnival fades, Lucien is once again returned to his chambers. His hand goes up to the chains that remain around his neck.

...

In the dead of the night, he heads to the church, where he offers up a prayer to the Goddess for Castlerock's soul. Despite everything, he doesn't seem shocked.

(Maybe there never really was a Membrum. Maybe everyone person standing on trial is a human, and we're all dancing to the witch's lies.

That must be it! We've all fallen for the witch's deceit! And if that's true...!

... Or even if it isn't true...

I should have been the one to die.)

...

well, lucien was already looking a bit pale, but now he's even more so.]

[vacuous]

[ Makoto Free and Felix FE3H...

He's seen this song and dance a few too many times. He should be able to close his eyes and ignore it, be polite for the sake of those whose memories he's prying into, but it happens in a strange flash, like he'd seen it all for himself, and whatever plays under the depths of the ice is just a recap of it all.

Either way, there's no avoiding it, nor hiding what he'd just seen.

Ah... ]

...Lucien-kun. Need an extra scarf?

[ Your paleness... ]

[lucentia]

[hilariously crius and sylvain share a va so it really is discount blue lions in this house

...]

I'm all right. I apologize that you had to witness that.

[vacuous]

I don't know that you should be the one saying sorry. Feels like it should be me.

...I tried to close my eyes, but it's like they really just smash it into your head...

[ Unavoidable memshares always. ]

[lucentia]

You did nothing wrong, so you have nothing to apologize for. And I understand—they are difficult to avoid.

[vacuous]

[ He goes quiet, though it's evident he's very much mulling over something he wants to say or ask and is just debating whether it'd be appropriate... ]

[lucentia]

... If you have something to say, feel free. I won't take offence.

[vacuous]

It's not something to say, more than...

...How many times have you guys gone through that thing?

[lucentia]

[i just realized that with the part i cut out from the memory it makes less sense what it has to do with greed/charity so for any mods who might look in here please know it made more sense originally

anyway, he thinks.]

The Carnival, specifically? The witch didn't appear in our first lives, so... [mentally counts] One where Orla was the Membrum, then Sammy, then Lady Anastasia...

Depending on if we count the case with myself [given he, you know. drowned himself before killing anyone], then Lady Anastasia has lived through three timelines where the witch held Carnivals.

[vacuous]

[ Less than he feared, but more than ideal. ]

And... they all continue like that, until... How long is each "Carnival"?

[ The way that leaves such a bitter taste in his mouth. Carnival. ]

[lucentia]

In terms of number of rounds, or how long any individual trial goes on for?

[vacuous]

...Both?

[lucentia]

Each trial is one hour. [the witch really said SPEEDRUN.] We know the witch is making his move when the skies change, though the Carnivals only start once his chosen Membrum actually kills someone.

[more :thonk:]

Lady Orla—my cousin—was the Membrum in one life. The way Lady Anastasia spoke of it, it sounds as though she was caught after her first murder, though that's incongruent with the memory I've seen here...

Sammy, however, was definitely caught in the first Carnival—Lady Anastasia spoke in detail of his fate at trial, as the only time the witch intervened and took a life directly.

[a little frown at that, but.]

... And then, in the life where Lady Anastasia was the Membrum—well, you have seen what happened then, and how many rounds that took.

[he supposes that they didn't see how it ended, only that it was down to lucien and anastasia as the last two sacrificia, but lucien has his suspicions.]

From my understanding, at least, the witch doesn't typically appoint another Membrum once the first is dealt with.