GRAVEYARD ✨

[probe]

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.

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Comments

[notaccurate]

...

[...]

Er...how about we start from the beginning to get a bit more context. I remember the memory I saw, was that you or 'the curse'?

[commedia]

...Yes, I remember you saw that. What you saw was...myself. And also...a version of myself, I suppose. And before I could understand what was going on, they...took over my body. Used me for their own wicked deeds.

[They wipe their eyes with the back of a hand.]

H-How could I be so fragile?

[notaccurate]

So, they were both you? Douman and that other person, the one you were battling magic with?

[Suddenly he remembers the words from that memory. 'One will become the other's Servant.']

Is that when you were taken over?

[commedia]

...

[Just nods, dimly.]

I couldn't even battle. They broke my mind in an instant.

[notaccurate]

They preyed on your weaknesses, didn't they?

[commedia]

Yes. "If things remain as they are, you'll never once surpass Seimei." I couldn't stand it. I just...lost every sense of my sanity.

[notaccurate]

It's understandable. And it's not your fault. They preyed on you at a vulnerable moment, that's not on you.

[commedia]

...If I wasn't so weak-!

[Just starting to cry a little again THEY DON'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT]

[notaccurate]

Douman.

[Luca is going to reach out for Douman's hand, to try and get their attention. Will they let him?]

[commedia]

...

[They jerk their hand back, but...then let it rest, if Luca wants to try to grab it again.]

I'm sorry.

[notaccurate]

[He does, though he is gentle when he takes it.]

It's not your fault. A curse designed to exploit someone's weaknesses will be able to do just that. And having weaknesses means you are human.

It's not your fault the curse took advantage of you.

[commedia]

And if the curse is myself, what then? I'm fated to become a monster.

[They squeeze his hand, though.]

My flaws will lead to the demise of many. It's a given.

[notaccurate]

But if you know what could happen, can't you change it?

[commedia]

Yes. By getting rid of myself for good.

[notaccurate]

I was going to suggest getting an exorcist to stay near you until the curse showed up.

[commedia]

...

Oh, you misunderstand. I call it curse, but...its more that I was possessed by who I will become.

[notaccurate]

[Oh. That makes a lightbulb go off in his head.]

They said they were a heroic spirit, and that they became one when they died. Is it that when you die, you will become them?

[commedia]

Ah, well, its more...I believe that spirit is based on the deeds I have yet to do. My...evil, terrible deeds. If I destroy myself before I go down that path, then it is possible that the spirit will no longer have something to be based off of.

[notaccurate]

If they are based on deeds you have yet to do, why not use this as motivation to do very good deeds?

[commedia]

I've already done terrible deeds, Luca. And I cannot trust myself that I will resist the temptation to continue.

[notaccurate]

Well...what if you had an accountability buddy?

[commedia]

A...what?

[notaccurate]

People are bad at watching over themselves, so they team up with a friend. You would watch over them and make sure they don't give in to their temptations, and they would watch you and make sure you don't give into your temptations.

Ideally your individual temptations would be vastly different, so you can't enable each other into bad behavior.

[commedia]

...

But that would require you staying side by side all the time. And it sounds like...a handler, almost.

[notaccurate]

That is why a spouse is often the one who takes up that duty, yes.