Dreampost continues

[oi_theoi]

[Continuations/new threads for the Dream post go here]

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[hyanaimne]

[. . .

her expression levels, and reaching out, chooses the pink stone]

[overclocking]

[Abruptly the divine menacing stops, and the torchlight flickers into darkness. Several very long moments pass with little indication of what's happened.

Eventually the light flickers back, only several of the gems have gone dark, as if their inhabitants had never been there at all.

The remainder examine their own pedestals, faces grim.]

[hyanaimne]

[. . .]

[overclocking]

[Five gems remain.

Surely it's easier, the second time.]

[hyanaimne]

[. . .

peers into the gems, to see how the others are fairing]

[overclocking]

[One group is in heated debate-- someone yells, another lashes out, a third intervenes; one seems to be having a somewhat more calm, perhaps calculated, conversation; one seems to have already made a decisions, the occupants not quite looking at one another; one seems to be in the process of selecting; the last is gathered around the scroll, perhaps trying to find some manner of loophole]

[hyanaimne]

[she selects the second gem, with the group making the most calculated decision]

[overclocking]

[Just as before, the torchlight flickers into darkness for several long, excruciating minutes. But nothing happens to you.

At length, the light returns. Two gems remain.]

[hyanaimne]

[she almost - almost chooses at random this time, but decides to look instead, first]

[overclocking]

[If you look closely, the strange faces begin to look familiar; until you realize that Ptou stands in one, talking animatedly to someone near him, face oddly serious-- and Chrono in the other, jaw set, eyes closed, not making a decision one way or another]

[hyanaimne]

[wait, but -

but -

She turns away from them and yells up to the ceiling]

What manner of trickery is this?! They were not there before!

[overclocking]

[The walls thrum with energy again]

Your decision, Blank.

[hyanaimne]

Take them back out!

[overclocking]

[No amount of yelling seems to move your faceless game master. The electricity crackles dangerously, and you can see the others in the other two gems huddle into the center of their rooms nervously]

[hyanaimne]

[deep, shaky breath, and a glance back at the gems . . .

Her expression hardens a bit as she reaches into her cloak]

. . .

And if I choose another option?

[overclocking]

[Lightning arcs across the ceiling]

There is only one option.

[hyanaimne]

[there's a soft click as she takes out the switchblade she's taken to carrying on her and opens it - she waits a moment or two longer, to make sure that if the others are watching, they see what she's doing - before a grim smile spreads across her lips]

So you think.

[hyanaimne]

[and without hesitation, reaches up to slit her own throat]

[overclocking]

[The others' eyes widen--not just shock, but fear.

You hear the lightning fall before your consciousness slips away, followed by the booming echo of just one word- penalty- as the other two rooms are snuffed out, just like that.

You seem to have been left to ponder your final seconds however you choose.]

[hyanaimne]

[I AM CURSING YOUR VERY EXISTENCE IN MY LAST FEW SECONDS THANK YOU VERY MUCH]

[overclocking]

[On the bright side, the darkness swallows you fairly quickly. Even better, you eventually find yourself once more standing in the arena, the revival apparently bypassed, the figure on the throne as unfazed as ever.

Somewhat more unfortunately, you have a front row seat to the dozens upon dozens of revivals from nothing]

[hyanaimne]

[. . . what, but I—how—

. . . she watches, horrified, as bodies are pieced together, and parts are regrown from nothing, before she has to turn away, a hand to her mouth]

[overclocking]

[The voice booms around you again, as unimpressed as ever]

You know the rules, Blank. You do this willingly.

[hyanaimne]

[her shoulders hunch, shaking, and she whirls, hand dropping from her mouth to shout something—

But you can't hear it over the sound of reviving blanks on the ground. ..

And from one moment to the next, the screams of pain change, women and children crying out as fire engulfs them, agonized screams of death, rather than life.

The village is burning brightly, lightning up the night sky and forest surrounding it. Loud laughter somehow rings over the cries of death as men ravage the village, lighting fire to anything that has yet to be touched, slaying those brave enough to attempt to stop them.

A complete and utterly merciless massacre]

[overclocking]

[It's certainly a disorienting thing, shifting from a passive dreamer to an active one. Even worse when the shift brings full cognition with it.

What do you do with that, really, but stare in horror]