#030066

[passio]

It’s Dextera.

I hope everyone has recovered from the town’s most recent mystery. I had intended to make this post earlier, but I think all of us were distracted. It’s confusing, and I’m sorry if it’s hard to read as well.

My brother - Sinistra, #610B0B - and I went into the forest to try to recover the rest of the items I’d found with Guren. We were able to get the pocketwatch, but it’s broken. If anyone knows how to fix it, I would appreciate your instructions.

It does something as it is, though. It’s strange. When I hold it, it feels like nothing exists. It feels like none of us exist. It’s scary. I don’t know how else to describe it. The town feels like an illusion, and all of us even less than that. Those of you that have just arrived still feel “real,” but the people I’ve known for a long time are barely here. I'm barely here.

There are some other people who don’t feel as if they exist at all. We haven’t figured out that criteria yet. I don’t know why or how it’s like this. I’m sorry. I don’t know if the watch works for anyone but my brother and I, but I don’t want anyone else to touch it. I don’t think it’s a good idea. I’m sorry, again, but my brother or I will answer any questions you have.

Comments

[passio]

[ dextera nods. ]

It looks like something from your time. [ pause. no offense? he doesn’t dwell on it, though. ] But that’s all I know.

[ it’s polished and bronze, but otherwise very clearly aged—there used to be something engraved on it, though it’s long since been erased. of course, as dextera mentioned, it isn’t ticking either. ]

[heartsteals]

[ none taken - it just looks like a regular old pocket watch to him, obviously, so he didn't realize it might be something dated. Naturally, he doesn't touch it; he just stares at it, trying to make sense of the remnants of the engraving. ]

Unfortunately, I don't think I can give you any hints about it, even if I'm a fellow antique. It looks perfectly harmless.

[ but it's clearly not. There's something ominous about a broken watch giving visions of death (or perhaps just nonexistence.) Lupin's eyes go back to Dextera's. ]

... I do want to hear the names. I'll not spread them around - but I want to try and understand what this means with you.

[passio]

[ dextera nods again, going over the names in his head before speaking them aloud. ]

There’s me and my big brother. Vriska… Minato. John. Akira.

[ truthfully, he hasn’t been looking for people with the pocketwatch on him. with the exception of sinistra and akira, they’re all blue, because blue is easiest for him to get to. (akira lives with guren. his brother is obvious.) he pauses, rubbing his wrist.

there are theories, of course there are, but none of them seem quite right. ]

[heartsteals]

Akira...?

[ that one, he wasn't expecting - his brow furrows a little. But after a moment, his eyes widen, and he makes a connection. ]

Wait. Vriska is dead. Akira's died, as well, here in town... and so have you, as I recall. [ ... ] ... I can't speak for your brother, nor Minato and John, but I hardly know the latter.

[ but Minato... he suddenly feels a dreadful sinking feeling in his stomach. It's too early to assume anything, but if he tries to connect the dots, remembering past conversations... ]

[passio]

…

[ dextera opens his mouth, then closes it again. it’s true. all of those people are dead or have died—minato included, whether lupin realizes it or not. it’s not dextera’s secret to give away, however, and his shoulders are suddenly a little tense with the realization that he may have revealed something ominous.

if the watch picks up on death, then the fact that it expresses it through steadily chipping away at existence is a scary thought. ]

My brother is dead. But that…

[ he seems uncomfortable now. ]

[heartsteals]

[ Dextera's reaction leads him to believe he's right on the money. His blood's running cold on the inside - not from the matter of the stopwatch, but from the implications this has about Minato. Perhaps he's selfish to concentrate so wholly on one name when there are five others alongside it, but how can he help it? He's been friends with Minato since the day he climbed out of the well; there's no one in this town he trusts more. Always, he's been impressed with Minato's cool; for many months now, he's been worried about it, as well, thinking that there was something off about the way he so readily accepted everything, how he didn't seem concerned for his own health or his own future. What if that was because he had no future waiting for him? And there was the matter of Aigis, too--

it all makes sense. The worries flood Lupin's head, and his expression darkens, a crease forming between his brows. But he forces himself to put them aside. For now. He knows he won't be able to escape this until he confronts Minato about it directly. ]

-- that means we should avoid getting killed. Whatever's keeping us here weakens when we die. Maybe.

[ there's a terseness to his tone that suggests he's distracted, but he does his best to focus. ]

[passio]

[ lupin must know. dextera won’t confirm or deny it, unless he asks directly, but even then it seems like too big a thing to tell even under the greatest duress. minato has been so careful about his secret, dextera knows, and to have someone as passionate as lupin worrying after him would probably make him only feel guilty.

so dextera assumes, anyway, and so he doesn’t want to push the issue. ]

…yes.

[ he says, slowly. he’s distracted, too. ]

If that’s what it is… I think death is tied to our existence here. The people around me lost memories of me when I died.

[heartsteals]

[ and, for similar reasons, Lupin doesn't ask Dextera about it any further. This is something he needs to speak to Minato about on his own, not hear about from a third party; if nothing else, Dextera doesn't deserve to be turned into a go-between. Minato is Lupin's best friend here. He can talk to him about anything. That's what Lupin thought, at least... ]

It shouldn't exactly be a surprise... That's the normal state of things. It's the coming back that's abnormal. [ a beat. ] They lost memories?

[passio]

…

[ a tense nod. ]

Guren and Ryo did… at least. I haven’t talked to anyone else about it, but I…

[ he looks at the watch on the table, frowning—thoughtfully, more than in fear or concern this time. it’s a theory he hasn’t yet had the time to form concretely, but lupin seems as good a person as any to talk to about it. ]

If someone died enough in this place, would they be completely forgotten?

[heartsteals]

... I can't very well answer that for certain, but it seems likely now.

[ so they can avoid death a few times, but it only takes them closer to even worse fate. To be forgotten sounds even more horrible than dying to Lupin. ]

[passio]

[ dextera nods again, and then he tries to force himself to relax with a long breath. his shoulders ease somewhat, but it isn’t much. ]

Dying is never easy. It seems worse here.

[ for a moment, he clenches his fists, and then loosens them again. ]

…there are a lot of things we don’t know.