[RE] Decisions

Fool me once and all that...but you would too. “Ha- hey!” This time it isn't the pleading voice of a woman, but the voice of a man. Awkward, uncertain. “HEY!” He calls again. You can hear him turning against the door, addressing something in the shadows. Some one. But you're not stupid enough to fall for this again. You saw what happened last time. LONGNIGHT

"Don't do it."

The voice is gruff and comes from one of the several civilians who had come to seek refuge in the Rathskeller for the LongNight. They had all been there to see what had happened to the woman who had tried to open the door last time. Foolish Outlander. It was sad, but it set more than a decent example.

"It's a lie. A trick. You'll be ripped to pieces if you open that door."

And if you weren't, the uncertain shifting of the group in the tavern warns of potential mutiny, should someone be so foolish again. It was their choice to go out. But risk letting something in... Not this LongNight.

You’re late. It’s not your fault, exactly, except that it is- it’s entirely your fault, because you lost track of them, again, and now you can’t find them, and the Long Night or whatever is nearly upon you and they’re still missing but what are you supposed to do because it’s getting dark, real dark, and it’s entirely your fault. You should have kept better track of them, but they were always so resistant to your hovering, and you figured hey, how much trouble could they get into, locked up in this bubble? A lot, it turns out. But you don’t know that right now. All you know is that they’re missing, and you’re late. So you hurry along the empty path, unnerved and uneasy in the eerie quiet. There is nobody - nobody - on the road, only dying street lights and howling wind and more snow than you ever knew could possibly fall in a single place. But there’s life ahead, or so you have been led to believe, a group at the Rathskeller, a safeguard against the dark. Maybe they’re there, your absentee quarry. They must be. They love… bars. And… peo…ple. And… and… and okay, so they don’t like any of these things in particular. Let’s be real, though: your sisters are more likely to be causing havoc than hiding from it. All your fear aside, they’re probably fine. You’re the one who should be afraid. It’s dark when you reach the Rathskeller. Like, really dark. Panting now, you reach for the gate, and… nothing. The thing is locked, shut tight against the darkness. Shit shit shit shit. Mere meters away you can see lights, and silhouettes in the windows: civilization, safety, just out of reach. “Ha- hey!” you call into the shadows, your voice echoing eerily down the alleyway. “HEY!” Behind you, a sound- and you spin around, heart in your throat, hopeful and terrified as a figure comes closer, indistinct in the dark. It looks almost familiar, and then suddenly there are two, and hope rises hot in your fluttering chest. Could it be…? Maybe…? “Grusha?” you whisper hopefully, fear coating your words like sticky tar. “Tae? I’ve been looking for you- I missed you- I-“ But whatever else you would have said dies upon your tongues. It isn’t your sisters. It was never your sisters. Once again, you have failed as a brother. At least, you think in your final moments, this will be the last time.

How delightfully wrong you are. The monster was out there, but he wasn't knocking on the door. Instead they prowled forwards clothed in the rotting flesh of wolf pelts, a tangle of bones dragging behind, and even the broken skull and antlers of a horse-like creation. In the flash of darkness, Zero is overcome by fire, electricity. Sand litters the snow, providing traction for whatever spirit or lost soul will try this door next. Will you let them die too? LONGNIGHT

That scream ... Remi knew that scream ... He'd heard it before, though the last time he'd been the cause of it. It was... It had to be.. Zekle. "NO—" The alchemist moved to rush towards the door. Was there still a chance the man was alive? This wasn't a trick, and if he was too late? That meant they had all let someone die. Pain gripped at Remi's heart. Once he'd almost killed Zero. He owed him nothing less than trying to make sure that nothing else succeeded where once he'd (thankfully) failed. REMI What have I become? My sweetest friend—Everyone I know goes away in the end If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself. I would find a way

VAI The huntress "Remi--" The alchemist rushed towards the door and Vervain was hot on his heels - as quick as she could be, anyway. She didn't drag him away from the door, and she didn't force him to do anything. But her hands gently came to clasp over his own, eyes stinging as the screaming echoed through the door and then was silent. Shaking her head, Vai gave his hands a squeeze. "Remi, it's too late. Don't open the door. We'll only lose you too. I know it's a terrible thing to say - I know it is. But please - think about this." Her voice was low and pleading, hoping she might be able to talk some sense into him.

Remi knew Vai was right, and yet his hands still trembled with the desire to throw open the bolts and to go out into the darkness. His mind couldn't cope with the notion that there was nothing that he could do. That Zero had been in danger, and Remi could have prevented it. He was dead, and though the alchemist hadn't been the cause the first time the two had met, he felt like he might as well have been the cause this time around. Turning and burying his face into Vai's curls, Remi grit his teeth. "He was the one Vai.." Remi whispered against the huntress. "The one who found me as a lion. The man I almost killed that night." The injustice of it all felt palpable, and though they weren't even half way through LongNight, Remi had already lost hope. REMI What have I become? My sweetest friend—Everyone I know goes away in the end If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself. I would find a way

VAI The huntress Vai let her fingers work through Remi's curls as he turned to lean into her, her other arm slipping around him and turning him gently away from the door. Her eyes never left that door, not until they were far enough away that it couldn't burst open and snatch them both out into the night. "The one...?" she whispered back, uncertain at first. There were a lot of 'one's it could be, each worse than the last. So to hear it wasn't Loren or Ianto, while it didn't change the horror in the slightest, was still a relief. "It's not your fault," she told him gently. "None of this is anyone's fault. It's dangerous, Remi. For everyone, until this darkness lifts. You can't blame yourself, it will drive you mad." Stepping back a fraction, she cupped his cheeks in her hands. "Look at me, okay? We're all going to make it through this. And when the sun comes up, we'll find all the ones we lost and make sure they are put to rest properly."

Remi let himself be moved, utterly putty in Vai's hands as he always had been. She was a place of safety for him, even in the midst of all this chaos. Looking down at her, eyes filled with unshed tears, Remi sighed. "And when someone knocks again? We just leave it? How can we know Vai? " His lip trembled. No philosopher was he, but if he had the mental training to understand such a thing, Remi certainly would have erred on the side that letting someone die was as bad as killing them was. "How?" He whispered again, shivering in her hands at the thought of what they would see out there when finally the sun came back up. REMI What have I become? My sweetest friend—Everyone I know goes away in the end If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself. I would find a way

Sam had been scared himself of the voices at the door and just watching Remi speak, but as he saw the amount of distress he was in he had to rush forward and gently take ahold of his arm, another hand on his shoulder. "D-Darling. It's just...it's a trick. It's a-almost definitely a tr-trick. Things l...like this happen every year. And if it isn't..." He looked towards the door and sighed, bit his lip. "Then li-like Vervain says. It's not...worth it. For you. Please, listen." He thought if he could convince Remi it wasn't real (because really Sam had no idea if it was or not) then it might ease the guilt. Samuel I'm starting to wake from silent sleep I'm starting to break and I can grieve

VAI The huntress "We can't know, Remi. I'm sorry, and I wish I had more answers for you..." Brushing a gentle thumb across his cheek, she smiled sadly. "But the odds are slim. Most of the Outlanders are accounted for. Naturals wouldn't wander around during LongNight." That was as much reassurance as she could give. Then a red haired man she couldn't instantly place stepped forward, Vai blinking as he took Remi by the arm and the shoulder and called him... darling? So this must be Sam. "I'll get you something to drink?" she murmured to Remi, intending on it being tea rather than booze.

Remi's jaw clenched as she said most. What made it worse, is that not only was it true, but it was also the best they could possibly hope for. "I know." He whispered in response. Then suddenly Sam was at his side, once again reassuring and trying to calm the alchemist after yet another death. Glancing towards Vai, an uncertain sort of look in his eyes, Remi shook his head. "I can get it. You have enough to do." Pulling away from Sam for just a moment, he pressed a kiss into Vai's hair, just as she'd done to him so many times. "I love you, Vai." He whispered, knowing full well that she knew it but...it made him feel steadier somehow, to say it outloud. REMI What have I become? My sweetest friend—Everyone I know goes away in the end If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself. I would find a way

VAI The huntress "Alright, Remi... You know where I am if you need me," Vai murmured, a soft smile on her face at the kiss he pressed against her dark curls. "I love you too," she said easily in return, kissing his cheek and dropping her hands to his shoulders to give them a gentle squeeze before stepping back. With a gentle nod to Sam and a warm smile to them both, Vervain drifted back among the group of people gathered in the tavern. A few encouraging words and some food, and someone struck up a very quiet, very soft tune on a guitar. Things were soothed again. For now.