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GRAVEYARD ✨
POPULATION: GHOST TOWN
You die - and then you wake up.
For a second, it feels as though you can't breathe, and then your head breaks the surface. You crawl out of a pool of blood and into a large, crystalline room. Moving images play across the crystal walls, and if you watch close enough, you'll realize that you're seeing the land of the living; a familiar space station with familiar faces. You can watch these images for as long as you'd like - there are several very large benches (as in, you have to climb them to sit on them) around the room for you to rest on while you do.
Regardless of how you died, it seems as though you're not quite gone completely. You're in one piece, at least. That's good news. However, your surroundings are not exactly what you remember.
When you exit the first room, a bleak, empty city sprawls out ahead of you.
The city itself is large. The framework of it seems to tower higher and higher than you can see, up into the black opal sky that shivers and curls every so often. A river entirely made of blood runs through the city, winding around buildings and ending at the crystal room. The most noticeable thing about the buildings themselves is the fact that thorny vines made of pure white steel dig into the walls and floor, cracking the foundations.
The residential building is worn down and old. It's two floors, and has a few small studio apartments built for one or two people to live in. The beds are extremely uncomfortable. It has a communal area downstairs, but the TV is broken, and the couches are torn apart. Sometimes, this building feels obscenely hot in temperature, and smells like rotten eggs.
The grocery store is your typical convenience store. There's a large selection of food in this area, but it all tastes the same - like chalk. On top of this, every so often there will be bloodstains on the walls, the floor, and the displays. They change in size and location, each time you enter the store.
The clothing store is thrifty in nature. All the clothes here are uncomfortable and scratchy, and don't fit quite right. While you're here, time feels... weird. Distorted, almost dreamy. As you're picking out clothes and trying them on (no money needed, just take what you want), you swear you can hear a gunshot in the distance.
Enjoy your time in this city, and remember...your story isn't quite over yet.
a
Steven just watched the execution and came right over. It's not very far, this pool of blood.
He just crouches down and looks at him? Like he's a wounded animal. ]
Surprise. Hell's just not that interesting.
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[They glance up at Steven, furrowing their eyebrows, and...]
Ah. Ah, I see, this...t-this is Hell? Of course, that's where I would go...
[...Douman doesn't stutter.]
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If anything, they said it was something more of a limbo.
[ I'm just here to bully Crystal ]
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[Just...furrows their eyebrows like the very mention of that name is something altogether disgusting.]
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[ Steven shrugs!... then holds out a hand.
Come on, get up. You look pathetic like that. ]
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[They don't take his hand, looking away.]
Just leave this wretch. I don't deserve your kindness.
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My thoughts and opinions on you aside, it's sad to see anyone like this.
[ He'll pull Douman up forcibly, if he has to. Obviously he's not tall enough to yank the other into a full standing position if Douman doesn't want to, but he can get them close enough, probably. ]
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[They react the way a grumpy cat would, trying to wriggle out of Steven's hold, but after a moment, they just relent, helplessly just slacking in his grip.]
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Steven will let him go once Douman is on their feet. No more pity sobbing on the ground. He just crosses his arms over his own chest, after that. ]
...What happened?
[ What a vague question! He'll let Douman parse that however they want. ]
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...That demon...I...was killed by that man. Law, wasn't it? And I guess that destroyed them for good, but left me, and...
[THIS EXPLAINS NOTHING]
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..."You".
[ Steven's intuitive and at least catches on the small discrepancy Douman is posing, though naturally, he doesn't get the full story of what's going on here. But Steven is nothing if not painfully observant, and... well. The body posture, the stature, the expressions, the aura. All of it paints an individual that is most certainly not that person Steven had seen on and off for around three weeks. ]
Who's the "demon"?
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[They look down at the ground.]
They called themselves the "Caster of Limbo". Or just Limbo, actually.
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[ Oh.
What's that look... pity?
Imagine looking into a reflection of yourself that's utterly rotten and evil and know it's you. What a terrible way to be. ]
...Limbo, huh. Then I guess, though accidental, my earlier choice of words was really poor.
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[They wipe their eyes with a hand.]
They're gone now. I hope.
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And you remember every interaction you had all the while?
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That sucks, but this Douman seems a lot more timid and less of the Hellish type than the former Douman came across as. They know things they shouldn't, evidently, but maybe he can just start a new slate anyway.
So he holds out a hand. ]
I'm sorry about that, then. I hope it doesn't make anything awkward between us.
Steven. [ He knows you probably know, but for formalities. ]
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[They narrow their eyes, before reaching out to give a light, firm handshake.]
Ashiya Douman. I suppose...it is a pleasure, Steven.
[Even though their opinion of you is.................Concerned.]
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And if asked, he will say he's fine, because that's all he is in the end. Besides, he only let the other Douman into that knowledge due to Despair indulgences (and, inevitably, an innate deep desire to have someone hold his hand in the dark, make him feel like he wasn't going fucking insane), but this Douman... well, he doesn't deserve to put up with all that. ]
Great. I know everything sucks right now, but it looks like our stories aren't over yet.
It's never too late to turn over a new leaf.
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[They shake their head.]
I don't believe that. If there's a Servant based on the evil deeds I will commit...then that means somewhere, my fate is set in stone.
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Even if in another world, there's a you like that out there, you can at least try to live for the better while you're free and still can.
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How long will that last, though? I'm already weak enough if that thing was able to possess me...
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...You just won't know how things are until you find that you've lost them, suddenly. Like being killed out of the blue.
If every human lived in fear of dying, we'd never move forward or be able to live in the present.
[ Why is HE the emotional support? His Despair/Wrath/Lust combo??? ]
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[YEAH GOOD QUESTION]
I know that, but...I already have a good idea of where things will go. It isn't as if I'm a blank slate, Steven. I've already committed some evils in my time.
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You're making me think of myself being the way you are right now, and I hate to see it. Imagining what a younger me would act like if he could see me now and the kind of future I've walked.
[ He tilts his head. You're aware, aren't you? The way he put himself on a downward path. ]
I don't know you or what you're about granted, but maybe in a sense, I'm just telling you what I would've wanted to tell a version of myself who still had room to be free and separate.
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