Private - The Werewolves of Caylus Plains | Page 4

Megan smiled at the comments in turn, once again pulling the brim of her hat to hide the upper portion of her face as she mumbled to herself, "I see....I see... so that's your plan after all... This will make it harder, but not impossible... I have no choice but to use -it- " With a flick of her wrist Megan flipped her hat back revealing a rather confident smile, "You know, before I played this game I played many others. Included in those were all fifty three Danganronpas. For those unfamiliar they consisted of killing games in which the player character is responsible for determining who a murderer was within a small group of friends. The catch? If the player character chooses wrongly, everyone except the murderer dies, while the killer walks free." Megan paused staring down both @Gwyn ap Herne, and @Harveste in turn. "Yes, calling out Gwyn was extremely suspicious, anyone with common sense would immediately think that I was the killer trying to thin the heard. Presently I have no way of proving my own innocence, nor do I have a way of proving Gwyn's guilt." As she spoke Megan once again hid behind her hat, a smile growing beneath the rim. "If this were Daganronpa,the situation is impossible, but lucky for us.... This isn't Danganronpa which means we don't have the same handicaps."

With a sudden flurry of activity Megan flicked her staff before her summoning a wave of icy energy that cascaded around her, showering her in a faint light blue aura, "It's time I reveal our secret ability! The one hidden from us from the first dawn of this game until now!"

Megan paused hoping to build as much dramatic tension as possible before simply stating,

"Our ultimate weapon, is our lives themselves."

Megan didn't wait long before continuing, "Or rather, it is likely our only weapon here, whats more, its a weapon that our enemies, the killer or killers can't use." Megan smiled, turning her side towards Gwyn eyes narrowing, "The reason your not willing to nominate me is because you know you'll win the debate for now and, I'll die, but the killings will continue, this will do nothing but draw more attention to yourself." Megan pursed her lips before turning towards the others. "You all need to understand, for us normal villagers this isn't a game of survival, that's the enemy team's goal, to survive. For us to win, we -have- to kill the killer, to do that we have to be willing to die for the goal itself....

So... @Magdalyn I understand your hesitation but believe, but have faith, this is the best path.

@Alkaid Zexis you've already voted tonight but tomorrow is a new chance. Do not waste it.

@Corvella, @Seigi, @Comet, @Ueno Mizuki, @Savannah Reed I know none of you want blood on your hands, but please understand the only path to victory is paved in blood.

What I'm trying to say to all of you, either vote for me, if you don't believe, or Gwyn if you do. I'm willing to die to prove my innocence, but take it as evidence that my claims are true." Megan then pointed to both Gwyn and Harveste, "Those two are the most likely to be the killers."

 

Mizuki would have explained the idea behind sleeping in shifts, or rather what kind of shifts they could use to minimize the odds of things going wrong, but before she got the opportunity things escalated rather quickly. One of those who hadn't spoken a lot yet (@Megan Tritor) began to speak with quite a bit of flair, declaring that to abstain from voting was for the group to doom themselves. Her reasoning was based on the idea that each night the werewolf (or werewolves) would commit a murder, so unless they lynched someone each day the monsters would just keep getting rid of the innocent until there were none left. The reasoning itself was actually pretty solid, even if it didn't remove the fact that they had no way of knowing who the werewolves were and if they chose the wrong person they'd only be helping the werewolves. Even with that in mind, Mizuki had to admit that Megan wasn't saying complete nonsense: either the werewolf was alone or the werewolves would be working together (if this place worked the same as the game they were all referring to now), so no matter what happened whoever got murdered through the night would be an innocent... Unless someone had one of those defensive abilities? Mizuki wasn't entirely clear how that worked.

Still...

"I once read a story about a group of people who were trapped inside a god's domain. Every year they'd have to sacrifice one of their own or the entire group would die." Mizuki had always thought it an interesting story, short but in its own way very insightful. "Every year someone would either volunteer or get voted into being the sacrifice, until only one person remained. This person, seeing how either way they'd still die, told the god that they wouldn't volunteer to die. The god then explained that the moment the group had shown the solidarity to refuse to send one of their own to their death everyone would have been free to go." That person promptly committed suicide because they couldn't handle the realization that all those deaths could have been avoided, but that was less important in Mizuki's mind. "I figured that if we're in danger of getting killed anyway we could at least see if refusing to play along would get results."

People were already beginning to accuse one another, so Mizuki's words fell on mostly deaf ears as she sighed. "You don't have to yell." She told Megan, before considering briefly who to vote for. "I still feel this is rather random, but if we're doing this I'll vote for the most enthusiastic of us. If I'm wrong you can rub our faces in it once we're out of here."

Vote: @Megan Tritor​

 

As Seigi was standing there, mortally terrified, people kept talking and talking. Half of what was being said simply went over her head as she battled with herself. Voting? Someone to death? That was... not good! But doing nothing was essentially just as bad. So why couldn't they just... or do... ?! Any and every thought that the hero girl tried to form for another way out was cut out and rather replaced in that voting was the 'correct answer'.

But... but... ?! Urgh, Headache. Alright, this was a Nightmare, as Seigi already confirmed. A pretty livid one. Maybe some sort of magic on her? Willpower alone should bring her through this. With her head through the wall. The hero-girl would refuse to let anyone play mind-games on her! So what if she voted for herself? But... that was the easy way out, no? She would, essentially, lose.

So, in the end, Seigi really had to vote? It was still a dream. So whoever Seigi sentenced wasn't actually real death anyways? It didn't count. It was all in her head. She wouldn't betray her ideals. Once again, any other thought like that tying up whoever they voted for simply slipped her mind.

Every Single Outcome Ended In Death.

...

"Alright..." Seigi nodded silently to herself as she, finally, started to listen in. Just in time for some big declarations from the GREATEST OF ALL WITCHES. Yeah, that was an actual person Seigi had met. As @Megan Tritor kept talking and talking Seigi finally spoke up as well. "You played ALL fifty-three games of Danganronpa? And others, too? Have you played Rebellions: Secret Game?!" Seigi was all excited for a second to have found a like-minded person before she cleared her throat. This wasn't how it was supposed to go, no. Pointing her finger at the magician, Seigi continued. "Clearly, you ARE an EVIL WITCH! It's quite simple, really." Seigi put on a cocky grin on her face.

"Actually having claimed to have played ALL of them has been your downfall! Every smart child, such as a genius as myself, knows that, nowadays, the series is a slave to capitalism! And Capitalism is Evil! By reading those you're essentially giving your support to capitalism! Henceforth, you are evil, too! They don't call Spike the "Second EA of the South" just for nothing, after all!"

That and the fact what Seigi had seen in her dream... wait... could one actually dream inside der dream? Whatever, was it such a surprise though? The first game, a so-called must-play 'retro classic' was very well received and after, obviously, they just produced more and more and it became worse and worse. A Story told thousand times. Shaking her head to get back on track, the hero continued. "Thus, I shall have you executed!"

Vote: Megan Tritor

 

Megan surely put on a show for the rest of the group that Comet slightly enjoyed. More drama always meant more fun; thus her anxiety eased and she felt stable enough to speak further with Mags by her side. "There's no good or evil. Everything is more than black and white. Not to mention you can't claim she's an evil witch without getting to know her well. Maybe you'll learn that when you're older," she told @Seigi who acted ridiculous in comparison to when Comet was her age. "And she," her head nodded towards @Megan Tritor. "can't go pointing fingers, saying that Gwyn or Harveste are most likely the killers, either, because we don't know a thing about what's going on. Since you're putting yourself out there "evil witch" and making a scene you're probably innocent. No killer in their bright mind would try to make enemies so quickly."

 

Megan shrugged as she crossed her arms behind her head before letting out a loud whistle aimed towards Ueno and Seigi, "Well then, you'll kill me, just to kill me? What a giant waste of time. At least use my death to -learn- something. As it is, all you have to go by is my reasoning, but it's not as if tomorrow will bring you any better clues." Megan waved her hand, "Clearly you have no intention of actually winning this game at this rate."

 

The conversation about killing game escalated quickly into series of pointing fingers. Corvella herself cannot stay away from it, it's like everyone here has to obey some kind of rule. Strong illusion magic? No traces of it. No choice but to win and survive this. "I never really wanted to accuse anyone, but for me the most suspicious was the ones who refused to discuss." With a heavy sigh, she cast a vote. "Hesitation never win anything"

Vote: @Magi Heart ​

 

Gwyn was only a little irate. There was only a faint tremble in her crossed arms and the scowl on her face was wrestled into a more uncomfortable expression than fury would suggest. She only wanted to punch Magan's teeth down her throat a little. How dare she target someone as harmless as @Harveste? The Faerin could barely hit the slimes they'd faced without wincing in apology. She was a good person and while Terrasphere had shown a remarkable ability to corrupt people, some had resisted. Seemed to shake off the weight of the world that leaned heavy on those who did more than the average quest or bounty here or there. The game wasn't kind. Those that still were were outliers.

She tamped down the irritation that flared to like once more as @Corvella agree with @Alkaid Zexis and others turned on the darker witch there with them. She was only a little bit more than irritated with the whole of them. She was absolutely furious at herself.

With a sudden few steps she closed in on @Megan Tritor to snap a foot or so from her face. "You know what? I believe you. That you aren't the one who did it. Childish cruelty is something that drives violence and you drip with immaturity, but no. I don't think you did it and so my vote doesn't go to you." She struggled to steady herself and rein in the impulse to lash out further. It wasn't the place. It wasn't the time. "We're all in enough danger without you turning a shit situation into a spotlight for your drama."

She backed down and sighed, moving away from the smaller girl and looking over those who hadn't yet retreated to their cabins for the night. "I vote @Magi Heart to break the tie. Not for suspicion alone, but... for mercy." She couldn't stomach meeting Corvella's eyes as she said it, but no more could she damn the other woman for her own reason.

"Magi hangs. If any of you believe in gods here or at home, pray she doesn't remember this, that none of us do. Or that this isn't, at least, in vain."

Vote: @Magi Heart​

 

The cabin was still untouched. Magi did not do much in here when she woke up. Just headed out the door with everything a blurry fog. Now, she was back and sitting in the bed. Her feelings about this entire scenario pretty clear even in the strangeness of it all. Falling onto the bed and laying face down. Grabbing the pillow she stuffed her face into it whimpering. Her tears wetting the fabric.

"I just lay here. *Sniff* while I lay here... they all try to kill eachother... again... and again.... like... like they're crazy? Am I crazy?"

Magi lifted her head up and looked out the window directly above it. Nothing but creepy fog. Like her mind, her soul, her memory. But there was a part of her that terrified her. A feeling that this was just how everyone was. What everyone wanted was not love and justice. Not peace and harmony.

They enjoyed this grief and despair.

Her heart hurt again worse than before. It was time to go to sleep and wake up in a better place. If not, maybe she could exist in a better dream where things were not so horrible. If only she was what she sought to be so badly. Or if she had just stayed Wendy and kept being blind to reality. Reality...

"I....I... remember now.... no one wants a sappy silly magical girl wannabe do they? Gee whiz, I'm always playing w-w-wrong aren't? I just don't want to see it or hear it anymore. I want to disappear... I only wish I could take everyone with me and keep them from this... w-what am I even saying? That's horrible too... but it's how I...sigh...oh well.... I just wanna nap... zzzzzzzz."

R I P​

 

Mizuki wasn't pleased either with the accusation that she wasn't trying to learn more about the situation or the fact that Magi was the one who got killed. She would have snapped at Megan that the witch-lookalike was the one who ruined Mizuki's attempts at learning more about what was going on when she just had to go and put herself in the spotlight, but it was already getting late and after the others had gone through the trouble of carrying Magi out of her cabin where she had been sleeping and hanging her from the noose the Caenis didn't feel like starting another fight. Instead she went to her own cabin when the others also left, although Mizuki wasn't planning or expecting to catch much sleep. She highly doubted that the danger would disappear with Magi's death, because even if Magi had been a werewolf (and there was no proof of that, everyone had voted her to the gallows because they thought it was better to try and get her out of this situation as quickly as possible) Mizuki doubted that there was only one werewolf... or that the werewolves were the only thing to look out for here.

The fact that the moon was full and red wasn't helping either, since even if Mizuki wasn't a werewolf her wolf-like nature still responded to a blood moon by making her restless. Wolves hunted day and night, but they were especially active during the full moon when there would be plenty of light to hunt by. The red moon part... might just be Mizuki's Berserk mastery messing with her head.

Once she woke up from a short sleep which had been full with twisting and turning Mizuki growled to herself, trying to get rid of the frustration she was feeling from the situation and from not even feeling very rested after that night. Well, she was still alive, so that was something. If there was any mercy in this place nobody died tonight either, but Mizuki was doubtful and had difficulty with the idea of this place offering any mercy other than the easy way out by being hanged.

Leaving her cabin Mizuki looked around, then frowned and sniffed. She wasn't smelling any blood. Even if the murder had happened inside of one of the other cabins if someone had been killed during the night the smell would have spread far enough that a Caenis's sensitive nose would have been able to pick up on something. And there was something else... she wasn't smelling any rot. For a moment she didn't know why this puzzled her, but then she realized why that bothered her when she arrived at the little clearing amidst the cabins.

Who removed Magi's body from the gallows? Maybe the werewolves decided they'd rather feast on a readily available body since it was out there in the open anyway?

Thrown die:

68

 

Magi was hanged. It was something bizarre, that people like them can hang a living girl to put her out of misery quickly. She felt that she was to blame in this situation, but she cannot help it. After they somewhat coldheartedly left her body in the open, all of them went back to their cottage to sleep, the same applies to Corvella. It was like all of them were a character in a scripted play, none of it makes any sense.

"Did I really do the right thing?"

Corvella woke up with a gasp. It looks like the night didn't last that long, but she swore that she had been struggling to sleep for ages last night. She quickly looked around to see if they were relieved of the bad dream, but no, same old cottage.

She ran outside, as the now-empty noose eerily gave this horrendous feeling, that it wanted another to claim like the previous day. Corvella decided to ignore it first and circling around the houses. No blood, no rotting smells, no sign of werewolf killings. That's reassuring. She spotted another person, the caenis girl Mizuki went outside her cabin to check and by her looks she was sure that nobody did get killed.

"It succeeded."

 

From the outskirts of the small group, Megan began to cackle at Corvella's comment.

"Fu~ Fu~ Fu~ "

It had seemed her previous monologue had turned most of the group against her, as they seemingly regarded her now with shifting glances, either from fear, confusion, or pure annoyance. Despite this, she had remained visibly confident through the rest of the previous nights proceeding, joyfully skipping to her room unconcerned as Magi's frail body swung from the gallows.

"Do you really think we've won that simply?" Megan said as she tried to nonchalantly hide a knowing smile behind her hand. In a brief moment, her emotions seemed to shift as she pensively tapped her chin, "No one is dead but we're still here.... why....could...that...be...I wonder?" Whatever the Magician thought she kept to herself, for the time being, deciding to instead watch the proceedings with an amused grin on her face.