[IC] Mindscape continuations

[zettai]

[Super late continuations or new threads for Lambda's mindscape can go here]

Comments

[zettai]

"Bernkastel-san!! So, .....you were the Master of this game after all...!!"

"......Lion. How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not the Game Master?"

"Then are you saying it's Clair?! That's impossible!"

"Yep. Of course it's impossible. After all, Clair is dead. ......We were just conducting her funeral. Did you forget that......?"

"Then just who is standing there......?"

"A corpse. She's not a mannequin. So, of course, she still has her insides. ......She's hiding it under a beautiful exterior, but she's actually packed full of guts."

[Bernkastel raises her right hand, and as a light falls on it, a black, shining scythe appears there.]

"Wh, ......what are you planning to do......?"

".....When they're alive, you can enjoy watching them struggle. When they're dead, you can enjoy tearing out their guts. Tales are things you get to enjoy twice. ......That's what it means to be a witch of theatergoing."

[She presses the blade against Clair's stomach and slowly slides it across, slicing open her dress.]

"Ange. Can you hear me?"

"........I hear you... You tear me to bits, make me read! What's next?! Are you showing me this worst possible tale to hurt me even more?! Is this fun for you?! Yeah, I'll bet it is. I'm just happy with all this too...! You think......that I'd give up after that?! You think...I'll sit around crying any longer because of that disgusting game of yours?!!"

[But Bernkastel takes great pleasure in revealing that this is no game, but merely the truth. Ange demands confirmation in red, and Bernkastel has no problem meeting this demand--although she is drowned out by Ange's screams before she can finish.]

"*giggle*giggle*giggle*, ahhahahahahahahahahaha...!! Stupid kid. If only you hadn't made me say that, I could've shut it up inside the cat box. But you did tell me to, right? I knew you would, of course. And I so wanted to see you scream like that. ......What a lovely expression, one that'll keep me laughing for about a hundred years. ......*giggle*giggle*, *Giggle*giggle*giggle*giggle*!!! Go back to being scrap meat. Ahhahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"

[Ange denies it, screaming, and her body begins to fall apart piece by piece, until she becomes nothing but a pile of guts and scraps.]

[moextispicy]

[disturbed enough that Lambda could probably despite her hiding it.]

[zettai]

"Ahhahahahahahahahahahahah, aaahhahahahahaaaaahhaahaha!! Is the truth really such a precious thing? How absurd, how foolish!! Why can't humans control their own truth? They stupidly search for the truth like that's all that matters, and when they finally find it and can't stand it, they turn themselves into scrap meat!!! Hey, are you watching? Clair? .........You wanted to hide this truth too, didn't you? For fun, you wrote several cat box tales, and planned to seal them in message bottles like the end of a mystery novel you loved. Then, you threw them into the sea. To save those who would suffer if they knew the truth...!! You sealed everything in a cat box, and Eva provided the lock. *giggle*giggle*!! And I've sliced that box open for you...!! Ahhahahahahahahahahahaha, all that effort you spent to hide it has gone to waste!! I've exposed all of the truth you hid with your death!!"

[Without taking her eyes from the scene, Lambda distantly asks:] Are you glad you stayed?

[moextispicy]

[watching as well, still disturbed.]

Yes.

[zettai]

"Is that......what you've been after?! You did all this just to insult Clair's death?!! And then...you showed it to Ange to make her suffer...! You really were......an evil witch after all!!"

"I've been a witch the whole time. A traveler whose only goal is to escape boredom. ......Care for it and love it while its alive, then eat the guts when it's dead. That's how witches live!"

"I cannot forgive you for what you have done...!! You've hurt Ange and humiliated Clair, ......the person I would become in another world...!! I won't forgive you...!!"

"Lion. You are what Clair longs to be. Even after death, she longs for it. From the moment Clair was thrown from the cliff, her fate was already sealed. I'm sure it gave her a bit of salvation to know that another 'her' lives in happiness in another world."

"......That's right. I'm her salvation...! So, I must live to the fullest...live life for the both of us...!"

"Lion. Let me show you just a bit more of this tale of the truth."

"I'm not interested!"

"Don't worry, it'll be very interesting. ......After the duel between Eva and Kyrie, the guesthouse is wrapped in silence. Let me invite you to the parlor at that point in time."

[Bernkastel takes Lion to the parlor, and points to the corner of the room. However, it seems there's really nothing there at all. But when she claims to "move to the next Fragment over"... Lion's corpse can be seen slumped against the wall. Bernkastel takes great pleasure in revealing that even Lion's world meets the same dead end.]

"With a 2,578,916 out of 2,578,917 probability, you live in the world as Clair, are toyed with by an inescapable fate, and reach a tragic end. And with a 1 out of 2,578,917 probability, you live as Ushiromiya Lion...and are killed by Kyrie tonight. .....In other words, your fate...no, the fate the two of you share, .....traps you in an inescapable dead end, a hell of fate, with a 2,578,917 out of 2,578,917 probability. To put it another way, it's a certain fate, with absolutely no chance for a miracle! *giggle*, eheheheheh!! Sucks for you, Clair. No, Beatrice. Beatrice. Trapped in that inescapable, certain, locked-away pair of days, you became a witch who could give birth to endless possibilities within that two-day cat box. ......In exchange, it was absolutely certain that you would not be saved or rewarded. However, you had a dream. ......You dreamed of Ushiromiya Lion. ......You consoled yourself with the thought of a miracle world, where you could have lived in happiness and would never have become Clair! .........I had to work hard to find Lion. As Beato dreamed, Lion's existence is a true miracle. And, at the end of your funeral, I wanted to show you. ......To show you that, even with that miracle, you couldn't have escaped this tragedy!!""

[Lambda still does not taking her eyes off the stage, and doesn't seem to show much change in expression.] Seen enough yet?

[moextispicy]

...

She really hasn't ever left it, has she?

[zettai]

It's not an easy cage to escape from.

[moextispicy]

Does Beatrice ever escape her cat box?

[zettai]

Didn't you hear Bern just say that's impossible?

[moextispicy]

True. Is this how the story ends, then?

[zettai]

Not quite. But I don't think the rest would be that important to you.

[moextispicy]

Why not?

[zettai]

Just how invested are you in this story?

[moextispicy]

More invested than I was.

[zettai]

[shrugs] The final game is a bit more like an extra chapter. It probably wouldn't be that interesting to an outsider.

[moextispicy]

Is that a no?

[zettai]

... It's not a "no," but...

[moextispicy]

But?

[zettai]

[if you're observing closely and interpret it that way, you might think she seems the slightest bit bashful]

You'll get bored.

[moextispicy]

[...this is not exactly discouragement]

I won't, nipa~

[zettai]

You won't find out anything new about Bern.

[moextispicy]

Bernkastel isn't the only person I'm capable of being interested in. Why wouldn't I be interested in the end of an interesting story?

[zettai]

If you want to know how it ends so badly, I can just tell you.

[moextispicy]

[look of moe] Is there something wrong with me watching it?

[zettai]

If you're being that insistent about it, probably.