WEEK 4

[whimsicalism]

WEEK FOUR

Monsters come in all shapes and sizes, it would seem.

The students of Ira Academy will find themselves entering the new week with their hunger sated, but it's likely the grisly scene of Friday's murder and the demonstration of the execution make the food hit much heavier. The risk of death is still very real, and astute watchers might also find it haunting to think about what sort of twisted game could have forced Yuta to lose control of his own actions. Or perhaps, for the fifth week in a row, people are just finding themselves angrier at their circumstances and their captor than ever.

After her release from the washing machine last week, Nanami Kiryuu can be found more often shadowing the other students around, hanging out in the periphery and putting in appearances even if she doesn't have information to share or announcements to pass on to the rest of the group - as long as no one makes an attempt to shoo her away.

The stairs open up to another newly remodeled floor, offering new locations that may prompt more answers to your dilemma--or more questions. There's no way to know which it will be. Thankfully, there's always a new mind-numbing relaxation activity to take in.

How long can this keep going on?

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday
Regains | AC | IC Profiles | Locations | Mystery Information | A Contact | Sheep Contact | Nanami Contact

OOC NOTES

Welcome to Week 4! New locations are now open, a couple of old ones have been tweaked, and characters have started the next week of their education. Please hit the mods with a ping in Discord and put INVESTIGATE in your subject line if you're interested in exploring a new location. Nanami may be putting in some public appearances in threads this week; otherwise, please ping + Discord tag her or the (SHEEP) if you want to speak with then. All NPCs are still available for their private contacts as well!

As a reminder, AC runs Sunday to Sunday concurrent with these posts and is collected based on the prior week; this means you have a whole week to get in AC for the week prior. AC for week 3 should be submitted no later than this coming Sunday. Remember to submit your regains, and sign up for a spot exploring this week's mystery if you want to!

Comments

Investigation: Butterfly Garden

[keyringwitness]

[After the events of Friday night, Yasu was obligated to check out the butterfly garden. The coincidence was so perfect that she almost had to laugh.

And when she arrives to see that all the butterflies are projections, she does laugh, practically cackling.]

Illusions, huh? [she says after recovering from her laughing fit.] That's even more fitting, really... [Yasu extends a finger at the exact angle for one of the projected butterflies to "alight" on for a few moments, then moves it away before it begins flying again.]

Now, let's see if we can find what's behind this particular curtain. [She starts poking around the garden, looking for any signs of a projector or something out of place.]

[holyironmade]

There are so many that I have never seen before...

[The room is a bit narrow. It creates the impression of inevitably walking towards the more swiftly arrived Yasu.]

I should have worried that this big dress of mine will get in the way.

[keyringwitness]

I wouldn't worry about that. It just gives the butterflies more places to land.

[A projection flits across Jeanne's dress before darting off to another part of the garden.]

See? I think they like you~

[holyironmade]

[Jeanne looks down and finds herself swatting the area where the butterfly was, after it has gone away. The big white skirt really created a wonderful backdrop.]

It is so thin! Almost as if you can see through it!

[She... has not fully accepted that it's literally a light trick. Thought maybe the butterflies were more like clones or something.]

[keyringwitness]

That's because it's hard for them to hold on to their existence in a place like this, where the Principal tries to stomp imagination and creativity and fantasy flat.

But if you close your eyes...

[Jeanne can't actually see Yasu's eyes, but she has, in fact, closed them.]

See them in your mind's eye. How beautiful they are. How vivid their colors are, how you can hear their wings flap if you just listen closely enough... capture them perfectly in your mental sights...

When you open your physical eyes again, they'll be so much less fragile. It'll be easy to reach out and touch them.

How about you give it a try?

[holyironmade]

Stomp out creativity...?

[Jeanne had thought that morality was more part of the problem. It's true that there are the repetitive art projects and other things, but it seemed that independent thinking of schemes was actually essential to the long-term blood ritual plan. ...does she value creativity? She is diligent, but that is not the same thing.]

For all my spiritual power, it has rarely been a matter of faith for me... Seeing was always automatic...

[She tries with her eyes squeezed shut. ...she doesn't hear them yet.]

I must try harder...

[In the dark, a butterfly flies in a circle through the palm of her hand more than once.]

[keyringwitness]

Come, come, try to hear... it's so faint that their flapping is barely a whisper, but if you listen closely and open up your mind, you can hear it, can't you? Try to remember.

[Working witchcraft on an extremely traditional Catholic might be risky business, but Yasu is eager to give it a try if nothing else.]

[holyironmade]

I do not... remember.

I spend so little time thinking about... life before entering the iron maiden.

But if I must be out regardless, then I would rather be here... and... remember.

[Her eyes are still closed. She opens the inside of her wrist. Butterfly get...? She thinks she can feel the tiny little legs.]

[whimsicalism]

[Eventually, there is a spot that seems like it could be a projector. A spot on the ceiling is lower than the rest.]

[keyringwitness]

[After getting some miscellaneous supplies from the rest of the floor, Yasu stacks them up so she can climb and get a closer look at this lower portion of the ceiling. Is there anything curious up there?]

[whimsicalism]

[It seems to be a disguised dome with a projector in it… but what’s that paper crumpled next to it? It seems to be a child’s drawing of… a lion and a goat? ]

[keyringwitness]

[...hm...

Well, then. Yasu takes the drawing, leaves for the kitchen, and comes back bearing a posset and a cup of whatever bloup that she could scrounge up in the kitchen, leaving them behind in the same place where she found the drawing.]

[copycut]

You seem like you're in a good mood, Yasu-chan. Is something going on?

[ The butterfly room seems to have Kuro feeling contemplative in her own way. Absently, as she enters, she brushes an illusory butterfly off her shoulder. ]

[keyringwitness]

This place just makes me feel at home, I think. I've always liked butterflies.

[Well, not "always," but no matter how recent that development was here, it was old news back home from a certain point of view.]

[copycut]

Is that so? [ It seems like a normal enough answer, so she doesn't press. ] I don't have much of an opinion on them either way, but they remind me of a friend of mine.

Did that mansion have a lot of them in its gardens or something?

[keyringwitness]

If you looked close enough, yes... You could find them in the mansion, too, but only at night. Golden butterflies were a sign that Beatrice was watching, and you needed to be extra careful on your shift.

[A glint of gold in the corner of your eye typically meant it was time to pay a visit to Beatrice's shrine and leave a cookie as an offering. Just in case.]

[copycut]

Were you just glad for the company, then? [ It seems strange to like them if they were a sign of the presence of a dangerous witch—but, of course, Kuro isn't judging. ] Or... Maybe the danger made your shifts more exciting?

[keyringwitness]

I mean, I was the only servant who managed to make friends with her, so she wasn't really dangerous.

For me, at least.

[copycut]

Hm~m, it sounds like Yasu-chan was a special girl! [ She's teasing. Mostly. ] Well, I can see why butterflies make you nostalgic, then... It's a little insulting that he couldn't even spring for real ones, though.

[keyringwitness]

I don't know... these seem real enough to me, if you look at them from a certain angle. After all, butterflies are almost lighter than air most of the time. Not being able to feel these ones at all is only an academic difference.