R1 DEADLAND

[lockdownmods]

[it’s strange, for the people who were already dead, the shift in scenery is sudden and complete. For those who have just arrived? It’s like you’re back where you left?

How strange.

But if you ever need her, you can always reach out to the guardian of this place.]

LOCATIONS
Note: locations lag a week behind the living counterparts

Comments

[12d3]

[It'd probably be easier to just explain this was the afterlife, Yoosung. Because that just gets him to tilt his head to the side even more.]

No one... bothers us?

[??? is this a cult thing this sounds like a cult thing]

What'dyou mean? I don't.. understand.

[starswink]

[IT'S NOT A CULT THING.......as far as he knows. But he can see the squint and tell easily enough that he's losing him with this.]

S-Sorry, I just meant stuff like the bribes and the hallucinations, and whatever. There's no one here except us for the most part, so no one tells us what to do...

[And really, he thought that seeing Yoosung would be enough that he'd realize what 'us' meant, but... he guesses he's just going to have to come out and say it.]

And by 'us' I mean the people who died in the school. Henry and Viral are here too.

[12d3]

[There we go, that's what he needed. That's the kick in the pants that'll--- oh

oh



he looks Horrified]

S-so.. so all that killing-- getting slapped by Miss Gales, O-Osomatsu stepping on my leg it-- it wasn't a dream?

[oh no]

[starswink]

[The slowly dawning horror is almost infectious. Yoosung weathers it, since not everyone can have as chill of a reaction to death as Henry, but when 2D finally starts talking, his eyes get wider. Oh no... looks like he found the culprit... one who's in denial, but who people were apparently immensely angry with. This is actually a little scary. He doesn't know what to expect from a culprit who thought it was all a dream. Yoosung just kind of stammers something out.]

Um... I-I mean I didn't see it, but unless you actually got punished for sleeping in a hall, I don't think it was a dream....

[Could that ever happen? Sleeping in a hall and dreaming about killing, being slapped and beaten? Maybe, but it would be a pretty big coincidence.

The guy looks so scared though. And to make someone as level-headed as Rebecca strike him, what the hell did he do?]

... Tell me what happened. Please.

[12d3]

[2-D looks at Yoosung for a good thirty seconds. Thirty silent seconds where he looks at him as if he was scared, or wasn't sure if he could actually trust him with this information. He wasn't there, he didn't need to know, right? It'd be better if he didn't know.. right?


....no, probably not. He'd find out from Maya at the very least if it really wasn't a dream.]

I-I.. they took away my hearing. And at first I thought it was gonna be okay, because Beethoven composed great music while he couldn't hear, yeah? So I thought... that I could do that, too.

[He starts it off slowly, moving to sit with his knees up in front of him to wrap his arms around.]

But then I remembered I couldn't read sheet music, and I got scared. I got scared 'cos.. 'c-cos my bandmembers needed me to sing and play the piano, and.. a-and I thought that one of them had died. I.. I-I really cared for her, like a younger sister 'cos she was just ten years old and I felt sad that I couldn't sing her favourite songs for her anymore, and I felt.. l-lost and useless. And.. a-and the only thing we could do was kill someone to make all of that go away-- o-or that's what people kept saying.

[There's a small pause, and he lets out a shaky breath.]

S-so I.. I-I-I thought if I.. killed someone it'd be over with. A-and Maya was the first person I ran into and I... I...

[He stops there, burying his face into his knees as he recalls the horrid thing he did.]

[starswink]

[This is of course highly upsetting to listen to. First of all, the fact that the administration is really fucking around with things like this to entice people to murder is disgusting. When it came to heroism, just what the hell are they trying to say... which is not even getting into how cruel it is to attack someone's ability to do their art. He never met V's mother, but that she'd been a prodigious violinist before she lost her hearing was something that Rika brought up once as an example in one of her heart moving stories. If this had truly continued, it was a pain that would only get worse. He knows this, and as he kneels down to keep his eyes on the person he's listening to, he does feel bad for him.

So Yoosung's gaze softens. A frown forms on his face, and it deepens the more the retelling goes on. Even after all that's happened, there is no grief to him that surmounts the one from a loved one's death. It's a wound that still bleeds as though fresh, even after years go by. He gets feeling useless. His college years including Fayflower, they were all spent like that. But... would he ever kill to stop feeling useless? It's terrifying that such a thing could be made a possibility. And, Yoosung realizes, it's not that he's always felt that way, is it? He just lost his ability to reach out to that ghost, and he couldn't cope. A little girl... just a little child... was there anything more pure than a child? No, he thinks... and suddenly it's like an ice wind blew into his soul. 2D killed a person over this. But it's so fucked. His brows furrow and his mouth hangs open for a second. He finds his voice.]

Did... did she love songs, or you?

[It's incredulous. She was a little girl. Wouldn't a little girl be happy to see her brother no matter what? Even if she's dead... if you go as far to assume that she's watching, then surely, surely he didn't have to be scared about that. Yoosung's the one that's scared now. Everything he's wanted since Rika died... to find some way to make her happy and proud of him, if he already found a way through some talent, would this have been him? Is this what being "useful" leads to? It tastes of bitter poison. He suddenly wants to spit on him. He refrains, but his hand does go over his mouth when he says the name of his victim. Yoosung repeats it.]

Maya...

[Maya Fey? There hasn't been some other Maya showing up, like another robot, has there? Someone could honestly bring themselves to raise a hand against Maya Fey? No rhyme or reason to the choice of victim... it's heartless. If he simply wasn't thinking about it at all, then it's brainless. Inhuman. Yoosung can no longer see the fear on 2D's face. His mind is white with anger. He gulps it down, lowering his hand as balls at his side. Not to punch him. Just to dig his nails into his palm.]

You're.... horrible.

[But he wouldn't have done that if they hadn't taken his hearing. He takes a step back, shaking his head, completely confused if he should hate or pity him.]

I'm sorry. Sorry... god, it's so awful that any of this happened.

[12d3]

[Honestly, after everything that happened -- everyone's reactions to his confession, the fact that he even stabbed someone as sweet as Maya in the first place it just.. he wouldn't have been upset if Yoosung had reacted in a similar way, either. He'd probably prefer it to having pity, he doesn't exactly deserve it for what he'd done even if he didn't do it out of malicious intent. Or, well... he didn't do it for sport or just 'cause he felt like it. But he shouldn't have done it at all, and it's something he understood immediately.

And it angers him himself that he stooped so low in the first place, so hearing Yoosung apologize just gets him to shake his head.]

Don't. You.. I-I don't want to be apologized to. I was the one who took such a bright, and kind person's life away in the first place and-- a-and it was over nothing. I'm such an idiot. A s-stupid bloody nonce.

[He lifts his face then, wiping his eyes with his arm.]

The.. the worst is that when I woke up again I-I got memories back, I think. And.. and she wasn't even dead. I thought she was for five soddin' years b-but she wasn't. I killed Maya over nothin' and I'll never be able to make it up to her-- o-or anyone else.

[starswink]

... All right. [He'll stop apologizing. Yoosung is really too nice - he wanted to apologize, just in case he thought about it later when he wasn't so emotional and decided this was really all Todd's fault. But pity isn't the same thing as forgiveness, and at least right now, he's pretty sure that it never will be for him. He's "satisfied" if 2D hates himself right now. At least, he's pretty sure that means he won't try to hurt his friends or any of them again. In that case, he can probably leave him alone and go find Maya. But what he confesses there stops him from just taking off.

Wasn't even dead, huh. Well, isn't that nice... he could have not done anything and then maybe one day he would have had a happy reunion with his sister. Like the one Yoosung's been praying to have with Rika, dead or alive. Then again, things are probably never going to be that simple any more. Not with all of the bullshit Fayflower pulls on them.]

They did that on purpose to manipulate you. These memories... I'm sure all of them were taken because they thought we would be more tempted to kill without them. [Well, except Henry's memories of Sumia. He still thinks Oswald was just scared that shitless of what would happen if he knew. Of course, "all of them" and "we" implies Yoosung got his own memories back, but he's staying tight lipped about that for now.]

We don't know what they'll consider enough to count as a success. If the impairments weren't enough, they probably would have given you back your memories of your sister just in time to make her a hostage.

[Is this supposed to make him feel better, like dying still protected her on some level? Eh, not really. He's just feeling the cynicism of that reveal crush him, and letting off steam in turn. He's quickly become more pissed at the administration than 2D.]

... In the guild hall, we have a wanted poster of that bastard Todd. I'll let you throw things at it sometime.

[This is not an invitation to join but hating Oswald is a service for all.]

[12d3]

[2-D listens to Yoosung's explanation, wiping his eyes a bit more with the back of his hand as he sniffles a little bit as well. He didn't really think of it as anyone's fault but his, to be honest. Though.. he was pretty mad at Han for calling them heroes then making them go through such nasty things just to "prove who had the strength not to kill". Not that he knows Han was actually on their side. But the more he listens the more he realizes... yeah. Of course he was the one who decided, above everything else, to go after Maya in the end. He could give any reason he wanted and it wouldn't change that fact but honestly if his memories hadn't been tampered with, and his hearing hadn't been taken away, he wouldn't have even touched a knife. He could have survived-- Maya could have survived. He's not.. he's a Buddhist, he said it before. He, under normal circumstance, would never take someone's life or even dream of it. And it... stung. He trusted the administration, and tried to believe everything would be okay but it truly wasn't, was it?

His life has been absolutely ruined.]

...guild hall?

[He takes the change of subject for now, though. Not wanting to make himself feel more awful than he already was. He's already dead so wallowing in self pity for the rest of eternity is.. a bit much. It's a bit much.]

[starswink]

[2D's not the only one whose life is in ruins. Yoosung's usual approach to stifling the chasm of sorrow is to swing to the other side and act happy. But it's hard to do that when this news is out there, and the person who he really wants to throttle in revenge isn't here. 2D is still at fault, but isn't worth it. It's given Yoosung an affect that's uncharacteristically listless and numb.

But, right, he knew he'd have to explain that. He just kind of shrugs weakly as he explains.]

The room that says "Phantom Guild" on the plaque. It used to be the faculty office, but we took it over. Right now it's mostly Yuuki and I hanging out there, so ... that'd be where you'd find me for poster-throwing.

[Yep.]

[12d3]

[That gets a small smile from 2-D, the offer of him able to stop by and throw darts. He doesn't understand the concept or purpose of a guild, but it's impressive that he's managed to start one up in the first place.]

Thanks... I might stop by.