guestservices | Week 5 CYOA: Estelle, Diluc, and Sylvain

[this time, it doesn't even ask for higher or lower. this time, it just cackles, climbing up onto the table. neon lights in a rainbow of colors spell like a marquee over its head as it tip-tap dances in place.]

SYLVAIN: YOU HAVE CHOSEN: SWORDS. WILL YOU TAKE THE PUNISHMENT? OR WILL YOU CHOOSE ANOTHER OPTION?

ESTELLE: YOU HAVE CHOSEN: BODY. WILL YOU TAKE THE PUNISHMENT? OR WILL YOU CHOOSE ANOTHER OPTION?

DILUC: YOU HAVE CHOSEN: EYES. WILL YOU TAKE THE PUNISHMENT? OR WILL YOU CHOOSE ANOTHER OPTION?

[ okay but. none of these are good? he's willing to give his card away should estelle or diluc want it, however ]

Unless any of you wanna trade...

[ otherwise, he'll stick with what he drew, bracing himself for whatever's about to come next. ]

I don't like the sound of any of those...

[She shuts her eyes... then shakes her head. Her selection will stay.]

They're all terrible.

[ he sighs. he's going to keep his selection. ]

Steel yourselves.

[sylvain.

you feel that sharp pain again, in the back of your neck. it digs in, and you cannot move. you are frozen to the stool, for the moment. but out of the corner of your eye, you see mikazuki stand up.

he's normally so serene - he normally is not afraid. and today, he's still not. he is calm, but the expression on his face is... regretful. mournful. every step he takes towards sylvain is like he's fighting it. it doesn't seem to matter much, in the end, because he approaches, and slowly pulls his sword - him, his true body - from his belt. it sounds like he tries to speak, but it's garbled, far more than just the gag should do. and this close up... you can see the gag is stained red with blood.

he shifts his stance, and with a precision, a speed that only someone as ancient as he is can possess, runs the sword through sylvain's stomach, and twists, as he pulls it back out. the force knocks sylvain to the floor, and mikazuki stands there, sword dripping, breathing harshly.

... he puts a hand to his stomach.

estelle.

you too, feel that sharp pain again. but rather than be frozen to your stool, something different happens. you stand. and you walk to your hostage. he watches you, solemnly. he knows what is going to happen.

estelle looks at him, and she is filled with the urge to hurt him. she wants to torture him. whatever skills she possesses, whatever power she has - she finds it at her fingertips once again. there's something in the back of her mind that tells her that isn't right, but - no. no, it is right. this is what she does. she always hurts people.

how would she like to hurt sieghart?

diluc.

you, last but not least, feel the sharp pain in the back of your neck. you are frozen, just as sylvain is, stuck to your stool. for a moment, there's silence, and then from behind the uwu, kaeya stands.

he looks furious, behind his gag. his steps are staggered and lumbering, and he coughs, gagging on the blood in his mouth. static drips to the floor as he makes his way to diluc, fists clenched.

he places his hands on either side of diluc's face, like he's going to pull him in to kiss, almost. it's oddly soft. and the expression on his face is heartbroken, for a moment, as he drags one hand over one of diluc's eyes. and then -- there's a sharp, horrible pain as a jagged shard of ice pierces through, so cold that it burns. the spray of ice goes everywhere - coats half of diluc's face, his chest, and - probably hits the others, as well.

... red static drips down from under kaeya's eyepatch.]

[ strangely, this doesn't feel... surprising to sylvain. after all the times he's spoken with mikazuki, about war and punishment and loss, this feels like judgement delayed.

he closes his eyes, accepting his fate, even as his belly is pierced, even as the force of it being wrenched from his gut sends sylvain toppling painfully to the floor.

he looks up to see his wound mirrored on mikazuki, and weakly murmurs his name.

and then, he looks to estelle and sieghart, to diluc and kaeya with dread.

while estelle makes her decision, the very temperature of the room seems to drop, and a fragment of ice lashes against his cheek. he flinches when he sees half of diluc's face swallowed by vicious frost. ]

Diluc—

[Estelle stands and walks to Sieghart. She doesn't look at her friends' suffering. She can hardly bring herself to think about it. Maybe that's her fault, too. She can hardly keep track of all the suffering she's caused, directly or indirectly.

She takes the man's hand in hers as she gazes into his eyes. It would almost seem like a tender moment, a gesture of compassion... yet no such sentiment can be seen in her empty eyes.

With no emotion whatsoever, she takes one of his fingers, and in a sharp motion, snaps it backward. Then she does the same with the next one. She'll keep going until they're all broken, and then she'll find something else to break.

If someone wants to stop her, they should kill her.]

[ he watches as mikazuki strikes sylvain in the gut, blood dripping as he topples to the floor. his face contorts and his focus is immediately shifting as estelle stands, watching as she strides up to seighart.

but then his focus is stolen, his eyes snapping to focus on kaeya, who now stands before him. the hands on his face are soft, it almost puts him at ease for a moment, like maybe this won't be too terrible, but that look on kaeya's face...]

Kae—

[ a searing pain. similar to one he's felt before, but this seems to burn more than anything he's ever felt before. the pain travels through his eye and into the rest of his skull, down his neck and chest. it's cold, yet hot... he yells out in agony, other eye clenched shut tightly.

the sound of bones breaking gets him to open that eye, blurry, as he looks to estelle. ]

E-estelle... Stop!!

[ he's going to attempt to break free from kaeya's hold, the side of his body that is unaffected from the frost, moving. if he can just get away from kaeya...he can run to estelle and grab her...stop her. that's not her, she would never bring harm to others... ]

[mikazuki stands, unsteadily, watching as the blood blooms across his front. and then, after a moment, he glances at sylvain again. takes a step forward, staggering a little. and without any sort of finese, begins to stomp on sylvain's arm with a great amount of force, like his aim is to shatter the bones.

sieghart - flinches. he doesn't make a sound, but there's a flinch, every time she snaps a bone. and every time she does, she'll feel it too, the snap of her own fingers breaking - not that it stops her. she barely feels it at the moment.

she can break anything she wants. she could break his ribs, she could snap his arms, his collarbone, she could do anything she wanted.

kaeya staggers backwards a little, putting his hand over his eye. the blood seeps out from under the patch, and he groans, just a little, trying to get his bearings. diluc can try - he can try to move around kaeya to get to estelle.

the pain of losing his eye seems to have staggered him just enough, and he falls back against the table. diluc is allowed to pass to get to estelle, but he's bleeding heavily, and he feels a little stiff from the cold.

through all of this, the uwu is just laughing. you don't know what will stop this. there has to be something, right? something. someone?]

[ well. there's nothing on his arm but bone, and it shatters as intended. the pain of it makes him reel, and he momentarily tries to curl in on himself, away from mikazuki.

but he remembers what's happening around them. he's had to fight battles with broken bones and organs barely stitched together with a vulnerary—this isn't nearly enough to stop him. not yet. not while he still draws breath.

with his good arm, he tries to drag himself forward to estelle. tries to catch her by the wrist, or anywhere he can reach if he makes it at all. ]

Estelle, please... Stop. This isn't you.

[ whether mikazuki's assault on him continues or not, whether it's his shoulder that shatters next, or pinned to the floor by the same blade, he'll still try to speak to her, between bloody coughs. ]

...Belius... she wouldn't want to see this...

[The others grab her -- they each get an arm, before she can finish breaking all of those fingers. Diluc will find that all of the fingers on the arm he's holding are broken -- something hideously plain to see, with their skeletal limbs. The hand that Sylvain's holding only has two broken.

She can hear their voices, and yet, she can't bring herself to respond.

Before they can pull her away, she simply delivers a sharp kick to Sieghart's ribs. And then another. There's still no emotion in it; no particular anger or defiance. She's just not done yet. Maybe she'll never be done.]

[ the blood loss and the cold does slow him down, but he presses forward, not bothering to look back... finally he is able to reach out and grab her arm, looking down to see the broken fingers. his heart sinks. ]

Estelle!

[ she isn't responding. she delivers sharp kicks to sieghart and diluc begins to pull on her, trying to get her away from him. it's difficult..everything hurts...but they have to stop her. ]

You're only hurting yourself... Please...

[ there has to be something they can do...someone who can help them...there was that voice in the other room. where is that voice now? it was warm and encouraging...help. ]

[there's the sharp snap of bone, as sieghart's ribs break, bit by bit, and he gasps, choking on the pain. the gag slips free - and when he looks up at estelle, she will see his tongue has been cut out. she's finding it hard to breathe again. maybe - maybe because for every rib she breaks of sieghart's, her own also shatter.

mikazuki continues his assault, stabbing his sword down into sylvain's shoulder to pin him so he can reach his ribs. he aims a swift kick to those ribs, aiming for the satisfying crack of bone.

behind diluc, kaeya lets out a growl, and suddenly he's right up in diluc's space, wrenching at his arm. there's a sharp pop as diluc's arm is wrenched out of the socket, as his wrist snaps, the fragile bone breaking in an instant. a gust of cold wind curls through the air and forms into that same jagged ice from before, slicing through the air. several shards slice at both diluc and estelle's skin, but worse than that, they impact into their backs, a thud-thud-thud as the ice stabs into them. both are left with an uneven pattern of shards sticking out of their backs.

and then - their vision wavers.

and they're in a small dark room. the casino, the uwu, their friends - gone. there are black velvet curtains lining the walls. it is hard to see, it is hard to hear. they have to focus, to make sense of the world around them. and when they can, they see...

something sitting in the middle. something - decidedly less angry than this picture, but a fire spirit nonetheless. there is static across the eyes. but it looks up at the three of them.]

[ he's still a skeleton and yet somehow it feels like he has a lung punctured, every breath he draws excruciating.

he tries to swallow down a wave of nausea from the pain, from seeing estelle and diluc so terribly brutalized. somehow, he may have gotten off the lightest of the three.

it all vanishes into darkness. he squints, ears straining to pick up any sound. (mostly the noise of his own, labored breaths, and his companions'.) ]

Where...?

[ his eyes try to focus on the light in the room—a fiery shape that looks... familiar. he tries to speak their name, but only hears static. ]

Who...?

[Just like that, the compulsion is gone. And in that same moment, everything else comes flooding in at once. The pain, the terror, the regret.

Estelle remains on her knees, making no move to stand. Tears fill her eyes, spilling over and trailing down her cheeks. She makes no effort to stop them. She looks up, too, at the spirit, but she has no words for it right now.]

[ imagine diluc having never let go of estelle, even after kaeya came back with a vengeance and tore his arm out of place. and even still, after blacking out from the searing pain the shards of ice brought.

his vision refocuses and he is indeed still holding onto estelle, other arm limp by his side. the pain is still there and it is burning, but he looks to estelle and his hand comes up to wipe at the tears falling down her face.

then he looks to the fiery figure, a sense of familiarity, but when he also speaks their name, it's nothing but static. ]

Were you the one from before...? The voice we heard, in Envy...

[there's a sharp flinch at who? from the figure.

it's quiet for a long, long moment.

the place they are in is cramped and claustrophobic. they know - they will be scared of the dark, scared of small spaces for years and years to come. or... someone will. it feels like someone else's memory layering over theirs. this place was a prison, is a prison. how did they get out? how did... how did she get out?

the figure finally breathes in slow.]

... You don't have a lot of time. [it's not an answer to diluc's question, so much, but - it does sound familiar.]

What is it that stopped it, the last time? Do you remember?

[ do they know her...? they should, shouldn't they...? he shudders from the memory that isn't his. (though not entirely unfamiliar. the feeling of being trapped. alone.)

it hurts to think, to move, to exist, but sylvain tries to remember. ]

...Our bonds. The hope and courage they gave us.

[ but what can they do with it, now...? he tries to move closer to estelle and diluc in the dark. ]

[Estelle looks up at Diluc's touch. The tears don't stop, it still hurts to breathe, but through all the pain and horror... she's sure that she knows the answer to this. Didn't someone tell her the answer? Even with his ice burning through her back, somewhere in her mind, she can still picture those words.]

Love is a shield...

[Her voice comes out weak -- it's barely audible.]

To extend a hand...even when the world is falling apart around you.

[ he looks for sylvain, reaching for him as he moves closer. now they're together... ]

We stuck together.

[ bonds and love...it's what has kept them alive, all this time. ]

[the figure smiles a little.]

That's - that's right. Your bonds. Those are the most important thing. I really believe that.

[a pause, and it looks up, wrapping its arms around itself.]

I want you all to think about what bonds you've formed here. At home, too. Think about the people who make you happy, who love you. And I want you to use that love to blow that fucking furby out of the water.

Okay? Can you do that for me?

[ sylvain nods. his friends are the most important thing in the world to him. ]

...You're one of them, aren't you?

[ even if they can't quite recognize who she is right now. ]

...I think we can manage.

[ broken and battered, they manage to cobble themselves together. he holds diluc's hand gently, and leans his head carefully against estelle's, even though the slightest movement aches sharply.

he tries to think of everyone he's known, and loved, and lost. (home, and elsewhere.) he thinks of happiness, and he thinks of heartbreak—he tries to remember everything he knows of love.

and above all, he thinks of estelle and diluc, the ones with him now, whom he trusts will make it through this nightmare with him. ]

[There's warmth amidst the pain. She can't reach her hands out to Diluc or Sylvain, but they reach to her nonetheless.

She tries -- tries to push aside her memories of her friends, dead and rotted, or the wretched imitations they just saw, the man she hurt again and again... She tries to remember their true faces. The people she longs to see again -- the people she knows are out there, waiting to return.

...

Her throat feels tight, but she nods.]

[ it's always been the bonds you have in life, and the love that comes with them. he's learned this lesson before and it is a lesson he will continue to honor and practice. as long as they remember it, they will be okay. ]

We can and we will.

[ he gives sylvain's hand a light squeeze, shoulder bumping gently against estelle's. through the pain he manages to sound determined and sure, able to believe in their ability...in their bond, to send that furby packing. ]

Haha. I - I hope so.

[the figure says to sylvain.

it stays away from them, watching as they huddle together, as they try their best. it's hard, to remember the good in the middle of so much pain, but they're managing. she - she is very proud of them.]

... Okay. I'm kicking you out of here. Thank whatever is listening that you guys failed your rolls.

[she laughs, a little - and then the world around them shifts. and they are back in the casino, right where they were before, with kaeya, sieghart, mikazuki and the uwu, the crowd around them watching silently.

but this time, each of them has a little ball of light that dances over their fingers, gives them warmth, a little bit of strength. clarity, too, enough to know what to do with it. this is it. this is the weapon you need to fight this thing. it can be anything. it can back up words, it can be a shield, it can be a weapon, it can be magic, whatever you need it to be. whatever you think will serve you best.

the hostages are approaching. they are going to try and kill you. the uwu's eyes are blank and horrifying as it watches you suffer, enjoying itself immensely.

you can snuff it out, though. you get the impression that this little ball of light packs a punch.

so - how do you want to do this?]

Week 5 CYOA: Estelle, Diluc, and Sylvain

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