past regains

[kaisoumods]

Secret Log: Purgatory

Congrats on your untimely death! After you die, you will awaken in a very drab waiting room. The only other people in the waiting area seems to be the others who also died back at the cabin. On the wall, there is a sign that reads: Welcome to Purgatory! Please take a number and wait while your soul is processed for its next destination. Thank you. Sure enough, under the sign there is one of those old number ticket machines.

From there, there is nothing to do but... wait! There are plenty of old chairs to sit in (some are even comfortable), along with stacks of magazines that are all discontinued. If you get hungry, there is a cabinet and fridge that is full of various discontinued snacks and drinks. Fancy yourself a New Coke or Pepsi Blue?

Finally, there is an old fashioned tv and antennae. You can use this either to watch some cancelled shows or watch a feed of what's going on back at the cabin. You'll have to deal with adjusting the antenna regularly and bad reception though.

That's about it for purgatory though! Enjoy your stay.

[OOC: This is the log for all the characters that die during the October Horror plot! It's up to you if your character is still affected by the roles given to them by the plot. Please do not discuss or link this log anywhere outside the Purgatory chat until October 15th. After October 15th, this log will be shown to everyone else. ]

Comments

[poisontippedcure]

[Rose isn't sure what to say. She'd honestly expected some sort of rebuke, considering how foolishly she'd behaved with him earlier.]

[Somehow, this response is both the best and worst that she could imagine. It's comforting, but part of her was expecting to be shouted at, and she's not sure how to respond now.]

You seem like you've spent a lot of time thinking about this.

[unreachableside]

[Blade looks at her for a long moment.]

... In my past life, I was cursed with immortality. I died a thousand times, and got up each time. Every death was agony. Every death was real.

[He says it with the calmness and resignation of someone speaking about events that happened a long time ago.]

A pain without cease, whatever the cause, can only be called torture.

[poisontippedcure]

“Cursed” with immortality? I can certainly believe it.

[Instantly, Emet Selch pops up in her head. Though he never admitted as much, he must’ve felt the same. Maybe not the same physical pain, but the same anguish of seeing those he love perish again and again, each retelling a ghost of their former selves.]

I once knew someone with a similar affliction. I was there at his end.

It was, in a way, a mercy. Though I’m not sure the same can be said here.

[unreachableside]

Usually people have trouble imagining such a thing. But human lives... are not meant to live that long. Human minds. It's just too much.

[The mara...]

... This person you knew. Was he... happy? Was he able to move on without regret? I don't know much about my past life's end. Obviously it happened, or I wouldn't be here, but... I wonder how he died. I wonder if he found a new reason to live. I suppose I'll never know.

[He folds his arms again.]

I would rather be held here than relive the same night again and again like the gods' plaything. It seems well within their power.

[He thinks of Venti, and feels a pang of regret.]

At least... whatever fate awaits us, we're not going into the long dark alone.

... Are you scared, Rose?

[poisontippedcure]

That is...a difficult question to answer.

[Rose frowns. She didn't understand Emet Selch when he was alive, and she's sure she understands him even less now.]

[But she can try, for Blade's sake, at least.]

I think he held regrets when he was alive. There were people he missed that he couldn't see again. When he died, he feared that he--his people, would be forgotten. If he were assured that wouldn't be the case, I think--I think he would have moved on peacefully.

[She was there, she met him after the fact, and she still isn't sure.]

As for me, I'm terrified. I don't want it to be over. But we're here, and we can't change that.

[unreachableside]

... No one wants to be forgotten.

[He can understand that.

He's quiet for a moment, watching her quietly from behind his fringe. Then, a touch softer:]

Come here, then.

[And he holds out his hand.]

[poisontippedcure]

[Rose nods. It seems like the time for words has since passed, and so she'll take his hand.]

[She's not sure why. Maybe it just helps to feel less alone.]

[It does make her feel better though, at least a bit.]

I appreciate what you did for me. Even if I still ended up here in the end, it was worth something, I think. So thank you.

[unreachableside]

[Then it's working, isn't it? He gently squeezes her hand and doesn't let go.]

I thought you'd be angry still.

[He did lock her in the cellar or whatever.]

You got to live through the night, and help the others. That's enough for me.