Hey guys! Welcome back! This chapter's title is based off of "A Cruel Angle's Thesis" by Yoko Takahashi from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
For the next chapter, I planned from the start that it will be tilted "Steppin' Out" by FLOW from Durarara x2 because I was rewatching it around then, but Sk8 the Infinity has since come out as well as it's theme song "Paradise" by Rude-α. I don't know which I want to go with, so I'm putting a poll on my profile. Please vote because I'm very indecisive! Both are somewhat fitting (although ironic), but that's how I choose every chapter title, it's very loosely based of the content of the chapter, but goes with the theme of the overall story; hence, this chapter. It's why I don't choose something like "Irokousui" from Horimiya (it means colored perfume), because it could (although a very, very big stretch; to the point where I really am just making this up) symbolize the blood of many different people, it doesn't fit with the theme of the story no matter how you look at it. Sorry for rambling about obvious and meaningless stuff, please vote in the poll!
*Splatter*
The sound of blood hitting the floor filled my ears.
How could this have happened? I was so careful; all that planning couldn't have gone to waste! I was stabbed. I was stabbed. I was STABBED! NO!
Tears escaped from my eyes. I planned on living much longer, though the plan did not account for the current situation, but that's besides the point. My life should be hitting its peak, not it's end; and yet, it is.
Now that I think about it, I'm at my end, and all my mind is filled with is sorrow, regrets, and disbelief.
Do I want my life to end this way? No...
I can no longer speak, not that I was verbalizing anything anyway.
My final thoughts:
I lived a life with ups and downs, like anyone else. Yet, my life was filled with fun. I may not have been the most joyous, but I had those around me who were. Are they happy? Are they doing well? I'm sure they can live without me, but will I place a hole that cannot be filled in their hearts? Best not think about that now. I was content with my life, and I can't think of anything I would've changed.
Was that good enough? Luckily there's no English teacher grading my final thoughts.
I can feel my consciousness fading.
It feels so bad. Too bad for me.
Farewell you two. Live for me! I may not be able to continue on, but that should just make you guys run down the path of life with your heads higher!
You don't have to forget about me, but don't let me hold you by the ankles. Use my push as extra strength for you guys go on for that much longer.
Oh, I guess my time's up. Heh, I never even saw the person who was tormenting us for so long. I don't even have the strength to think about it, let alone looking back and seeing. Well, I know they'll figure it out.
I love you two, and don't ever forget it.
"Gold! Where have you been?!" Blue yelled. Said boy was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head as everyone fawned over him.
"Explanation please!" Ruby demanded, politely. The others nodded in agreement.
"Well, after the whole shadow monsters ordeal, I searched for an exit, but to no avail. I had been sealed in the room. Before I knew it, gas had filled the room and knocked me out." Gold recalled the events that seems to be so long ago.
"You mean, you were asleep the whole time?" Black deadpanned.
"No, I had been put in a secret-looking room when I woke up. There was food that I reluctantly ate, before being put back to sleep in the same way. I guess a lot of time had passed when I woke up again. The door was wide open so I just walked out." Gold furthered his explanation.
"So, they just put you to sleep a few times and fed you?" Blue laughed.
"Actually, I'm kinda scared that they did some sort of human experimentation on me, but I don't feel any different."
"Relax, they probably did it just to add more dynamics to our already mysterious situation. Possibly, the goal could have been to create discord among the group." Platinum speculated.
"Yeah, probably." Gold sighed.
"AHHHHH!" A female voice suddenly shrieked a bit aways down the hall. Everyone turned to each other before they all darted in that direction.
Blue was the first to arrive.
"No! GREEN!!!" She yelled. She collapsed to her knees by his corpse. Blood was pooling from the stab wound in his back, where the base of a dagger could be seen.
To her horror, when she turned her head, she could see the bodies of both Red and Diamond.
The others had similar reactions when arriving at the scene.
Red had clearly been beaten to death by the baseball bat that lay near his corpse. He had likely been struck on the back of his head from behind. Diamond, however, had seemed to have been burned alive. His body was burnt to a crisp, and was only identifiable by the remains of his hat and scarf.
"No!" Tears welled up in Platinum's eyes.
"Red..." Gold muttered.
Everyone had become sad in an instant. Three of there comrades gone, at once.
Blue wiped her tears and stood up.
"YOU'RE A F*CKING DICK!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. She exhaled and turned to her friends.
"Let's find that bastard."
Everyone stood up and wiped away their tears. Looking at each other, they seemed to have reached a conclusion.
"Hey! Asshole! Wherever you are, we'll find you. Know that we're coming after you, and we ain't showin' any mercy; not after this!" Black called out.
A small shadow creature appeared from around the corner with a note in its hand.
"Aww, this one seems friendly!" Moon fawned over the cute-looking monster.
"Muni-minm!" It made a strange noise as it handed the paper in its hands to Moon. She grabbed it and glanced it over.
"Let's see... Watch out?!" She ducked as she looked upwards, only for the ground beneath them to dissolve into nothingness.
All of the remaining teens fell into the pitch black emptiness.
Survivors: Blue, Gold, Ruby, Platinum, Black, Y, and Moon
Dead: Red, Green, Yellow, Silver, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, White, X, and Sun
Unknown: Crystal
"Ow!" Gold winced in pain.
"Shit- I think I broke my back." Black exaggerated.
"We don't know that yet." Y countered.
"Don't know what?" Moon asked.
"Obviously she's saying we don't know what we're doing here yet." Ruby sighed incorrectly. Y snickered.
A loud noise suddenly filled the room, and everyone faced forwards.
"ATTENTION ALL LIVESTOCK, I, YOUR CAPTOR, HAS COME TO THE DECISION TO LET YOU ARGUE OUT MY IDENTITY." The voice, which had obviously gone through some sort of filter, boomed throughout the room.
"Wait! Livestock? I knew it, we are here just for your entertainment. Enough with your games Featherine! Answer me now! What is-"
"FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS A PRERECORDED MESSAGE, SO I CAN'T ANSWER QUESTIONS, AND I COULD STILL VERY WELL BE ONE OF YOU!" ALSO, A LITTLE THING CALLED HINDSIGHT BIAS."
"Ugh!" Black yelled. With the current events, they could've deduced that the mastermind was someone external, but the message being prerecorded makes it so that the mastermind could still be in the room with them while their message is being played.
"Even if the message is prerecorded, and they're not just lying, it would be pretty difficult to do. It still heightens the chance that it is external person controlling this." Blue reasoned.
"Uhh," Crystal grumbled, "what time is it?"
She yawned as she got up.
"Ughwah! Crystal?!?" Ruby jumped back. Crystal yawned again as she looked around to see looks of shock and utter disbelief.
"What going on- where are we?-!" She suddenly remembered what was going on.
"We... we were trapped, and people started t-to die! We were searching when- Gold! Is he alright? Did he make it back!" She glanced around befor her eyes landed upon Gold.
She ran up and hugged him and he blushed ever so slightly.
"You're safe! I was so worried!"
"Umm, Crys?" Gold asked.
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?"
"?"
Gold glanced around, silently asking someone to explain. Ruby stepped up.
"Well, y'know... you were acting kind of strange, ever since around when Yellow and X died."
"Wha- Yellow and X... died?!" Crystal was bewildered.
"Yeah? Don't you remember?" Ruby was confused.
"No?"
"You mean, ya don't remember the whole trial you put Platinum and me through?" Black heaved.
"What? Trial?" Crystal turned her head to the side.
"Or when you laughed at Emerald's dead body?" Moon inquired.
"Emerald... died?" Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes at what she just heard.
Survivors: Blue, Gold, Crystal, Ruby, Platinum, Black, Y, and Moon
Dead: Red, Green, Yellow, Silver, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, White, X, and Sun
While they were catching Crystal up on everything they had come to the same realization; she's normal again. They had stepped aside under the guise of letting her process the information to discuss.
"So..." Gold trailed off. This also helped him to catch up.
"Yeah, she's not-" Blue was cut off by Ruby.
"She's not such a batshit crazy bitch anymore." Although vulgar, everyone had to agree with Ruby.
"What should we do? I don't know if telling her the full truth will help." Y sighed.
"We told her the basics of her craziness; it's fine. She doesn't need to hear about how she laughed at dead bodies." Moon reasoned.
"And, tel-"
"WAS THAT ENOUGH DISCUSSION TIME? IT WILL HAVE TO BE. ANYMORE, AND LETS SAY, YOU MIGHT FORGET ABOUT ME?"
Moon jumped as she was cut off. All of them flinched. They were so caught up in what was going on that they forgot about the prerecorded message.
"Damn, we're totally being toyed with. Predicting our conversations and allotting time for discussion, that's going a bit far." Gold smirked.
"ALRIGHT, ON WITH THE PURPOSE OF THIS GATHERING. THIS KILLING STUFF HAS GOTTEN, WELL, BORING. SO I HAVE DECIDED, I WANT YOU TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHO OR WHAT I AM!"
"What?!" Black said enraged.
"Bored of the killing?! Then you should just let us go!" Moon yelled.
"Please stop reminding me of Bernkastle." Platinum sighed.
"SO, I WILL ALLOW YOU TWO WHOLE HOURS TO SEARCH FOR CLUES, YOU CAN DIVIDE THE GROUPS UP HOWEVER YOU WISH. AFTER THAT NO MORE FREE CLUE-HUNTING WILL BE ALLOWED. I WILL ANNOUNCE WHERE YOU WILL ALL MEET UP AND YOU WILL DISCUSS THE CLUES TOGETHER. WHETHER OR NOT YOU PUT THE PUZZLE TOGETHER, I WILL REVEAL MYSELF. ONLY IF YOU GUESS CORRECTLY WILL YOU MAKE IT OUT ALIVE."
"So basically, guess correct and we're free, but guess wrong and we all die?" Crystal asked.
"SO BASICALLY, GUESS CORRECT AND I'LL LEAVE Y'ALL ALONE, BUT AN INNCORRECT ANSWER WILL COST ALL OF YOUR LIVES. THAT'S IT FOR NOW. YOU GET TWO HOURS STARTING IN FIVE MINUTES. GOOD LUCK, OR, I GUESS I SHOULD BE SAYING DO WHATEVER, I'M FINE EITHER WAY."
The speaker system made a sound as it turned off.
...
...
...
Five minutes came and went as the teens sat lost in thought.
"So, I guess we should get going?" Crystal suggested.
"Oh shit! It nearly been ten minutes! We only got two hours to gather clues!" Black hopped to his feet. The others snapped out of their thoughts.
"Yeah, your right. Whether we like this outcome or not, we should gather clues." Ruby concluded.
"That's right. Well, since Green's no longer here to assign teams, I'll take on the role. Blue, Gold, Crystal, and Ruby will search the south and west halls. Black, Y, Moon, and I will take the north and east halls. Got it?" Platinum took the lead. The others 9nodded their heads.
"...So, ya' gonna go 'er whut?" Platinum said with a straight face.
"Wha..." Y was dumbfounded. Everyone else had similar reactions.
"I-I sorry I though it'd be funny; just trying to lighten mood, ya' know?" Platinum blushed, embarrassed.
"It's alright." Ruby sighed.
And with that, the groups set off to their designated areas.
Survivors: Blue, Gold, Crystal, Ruby, Platinum, Black, Y, and Moon
Dead: Red, Green, Yellow, Silver, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, White, X, and Sun
"So, what clues do we even look for?" Moon sighed.
"I don't know. I guess we'll see it when we see it?" Black suggested.
"I mean, I guess that's the best philosophy in this situation." Y agreed.
"Amateurs." Platinum huffed.
"Oh, so 'Ms. Detective' finally has an opinion?" Black said sarcastically.
"Yeah, we need to search areas of interest first. Wandering around aimlessly might lead us to a few things, but I'm willing to bet that there are more clues in places where the supernatural events occurred, or where murders took place." She replied.
"Mhm, so we investigate the dead bodies again?" Moon sighed.
"Yeah, I guess, but mostly where the dead bodies are at." Platinum nodded.
"How do you know all of this detective stuff Platinum? Been studying with Looker?" Y asked.
"Uhm, more like avoiding Looker, but keeping close tabs with another member of the international police that is close to our age, but I'm not gonna reveal his identity. Mostly mystery novels and shows though." She responded. (A/N: this is lack-two or Blake y'all)
"Ah, makes sense."
So they head of to the room where the first murder took place the kitchen.
"Gasp!" Moon yelled.
"What?" Black sighed.
"I just realized this, but we've already been back to the kitchen!" Moon explained.
"Gasp indeed!" Platinum's eyes widened.
"Wait, kitchen, us, twice..." Y gasped, "the body!"
"Wait, wait, wait! Silver died in the kitchen, and we left his body there. Why did nobody realize the corpse vanished into thin air!" Black yelled.
"To be fair, we were starving and sleep deprived. Only food and Emerald was on our minds." Platinum reasoned.
"Yeah, mine especially. My false prophetic dream told me that the mastermind had moved his body to the counter in the kitchen to torment us." Moon recalled.
"Well, your dream may have been more accurate then you realized at the time." Y speculated.
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah. Maybe the mastermind has been moving the bodies, just with the intention of hiding evidence rather than tormenting us." She continued.
"Oh my god! You are so smart Y!" Moon's eyes widened in excitement.
"Well, let's not get too excited." Platinum said.
"Yeah, they're still hiding evidence that we now cannot use. Clues that could've been really important." Black exclaimed.
They arrive at the kitchen, and like they thought, Silver was not there. The blood stains were still present on the floor and table, but the body and weapons were gone. They searched thoroughly, but nothing came up.
"Damn, this is gonna be harder than I thought." Black sighed.
"We might just have to go off of the evidence we already have." Platinum glanced at the clock on the wall.
"What evidence." Y laughed.
"Well, there are many firsthand accounts that we haven't heard in full detail." Moon spoke up.
"Yeah, we have all had different perspectives of the events that have happened within this building, so weaving them together might reveal the full story." Platinum headed for the door.
"Let's see about Sapphire now."
Survivors:Blue, Gold, Crystal, Ruby, Platinum, Black, Y, and Moon
Dead: Red, Green, Yellow, Silver, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, White, X, and Sun
"Man, I hope we don't run into the other group wandering the halls like this." Ruby sighed.
"What do you mean?" Blue asked, confused.
"He means we would have to come to the realization of how inefficient we're being." Gold explained.
"But, there has to be better way the just roaming the halls, hoping tha-" Crystal was cut off by Gold putting his index finger to her lips and shushing her.
"Re-lax, what else are we supposed to do? I mean I'm sure we've found all the evidence we need already." Gold tired to ease her nerves, albeit a little to much.
"Yeah, I mean, any evidence left behind would've probably been already hidden by our captor. They seem cruel like that." Blue sighed.
"I guess." Crystal sighed.
Survivors: Blue, Gold, Crystal, Ruby, Platinum, Black, Y, and Moon
Dead: Red, Green, Yellow, Silver, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, White, X, and Sun
"We've found so much evidence!" Platinum said with sparkles in her eyes.
"Don't exaggerate. We've found like what? Two pieces of evidence that don't really point to the mastermind in anyway." Moon rationalized the situation.
"That's the beauty of evidence! Find a little bit, and it leads to more! There's always a trail, the detective just has to be good enough to find it. And really, most evidence makes no sense until it's tied together with the rest of it." Platinum defended herself.
"Okay, I get that, but remind me, what have we found again?" Moon asked.
"Well, there's no bloodstain." Y answered.
"Yep."
"And, we found Diamond's phone."
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry, how does that help?" Black asks.
"Well, with the lack of a blood stain, it can be concluded she died in a way that did not, well, result in bleeding." Platinum theorized.
"But that just means the mastermind cleaned up the blood to hide evidence." Y countered.
"Yes, but no. It's a possibility still, but why would he or she set up this trial if it were impossible to find any evidence. Besides, Silver's bloodstains were left, so chances are, they only took the bodies."
"Okay, well what about Diamond's phone?"
"That'll be explained at the trial." Platinum said with a smile on her face.
Survivors: Blue, Gold, Crystal, Ruby, Platinum, Black, Y, and Moon
Dead: Red, Green, Yellow, Silver, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, White, X, and Sun
"Ahh!" Blue yelled, spooked. On the wall was a sloppily drawn person, who was hung by a noose. If that wasn't creepy enough, it was also drawn in blood.
"How disgusting!" Ruby was shocked.
"T-that looks l-like my blood! Did I d-do that while I was crazy!" Crystal panicked.
"How would you be able to identify that as your blood, it all looks the same. And besides, from what I heard, you weren't that crazy." Gold said, but his face looked strangely hardened.
"Nope."
"No, she would've."
"Wait, what?" Gold looked at the two in shock.
"Let's just say..." Ruby trailed off.
"We weren't joking when we said she went crazy. As in crazy-crazy." Blue finished for him.
"Yeah..." Crystal's eyes fell downcast. She heard some of the horrible things she had done, and she regretted them, even if she couldn't remember what they were. Unbeknownst to her, her crazy self and her memories could save them on the spot.
"It's okay Crys, I love your blood-painting-thing!" Gold grinned. Crystal blushed slightly, but frowned as well.
"We don't even know if she did this. Besides, if anything, Crazy Crystal was... interesting." Ruby tried to be nice, but was frowning as well.
"Yeah, she helped with the whole Yellow and X fiasco." Blue smiled. She she looked at the green clock on the wall, and her smile turned hollow.
"Let's hurry though, we don't have all the time in the world."
(A/N: I put a lot of subtext in that last section for absolutely no reason. It just flowed out of my brain and through the keyboard I guess. It actually fits perfectly since I managed to put the most conflicted characters in the same group by chance, and all of their inner conflict is somewhat coming to light as we head towards the finale. Try to spot it all and come up with your own thoughts and theories on what these characters are feeling!)
As they continue down the hall, they find absolutely nothing of use. The blood drawing was the only thing of use they found, and it most likely meant nothing.
Yet, as they continued on, they found blood splatters on the floor.
"Oh no, not again." Ruby sighed. Crystal was trembling, and Gold shuddered in anticipation.
A huge sigh of relief escaped Blue's lips that had been trembling ever-so slightly moments ago. They had stumbled upon yet another painting of blood on the wall.
However, this time, the painting was detailed and intricate. It was obvious that another person had drawn this one. It detailed their friends' deaths.
Silver in the kitchen with a poison barb in his back, White surrounded by shadow monsters, Sapphire eaten alive by the shadow monsters, X hit with the modified taser underneath the door, Yellow's neck slashed with a knife, Emerald lay next to a bloody dagger, Sun's head bashed in by a vase, Pearl hung in the hallway, Diamond burned alive, Red and Green next to a bottle of spilled pills, and Moon drowned in a tank of water.
"So brutal!" Crystal winced.
"Wait, Moon's still alive!" Ruby's eyes widened. The others froze momentarily in realization.
"We gotta warn them!" Gold yelled as he darted down the hallway. The rest of the teens looked at each other and nodded before chasing after him.
Survivors: Blue, Gold, Crystal, Ruby, Platinum, Black, Y, and Moon
Dead:Red, Green, Yellow, Silver, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, White, X, and Sun
"Okay, there were three dead people here. Yellow in the room down that hall, X in the room behind us, and Emerald down the hall a little that way." Platinum explained. The others nodded.
"So, there's four of us, and not much time. I think we should split up to investigate. Two will inspect the scene with Emerald since we only saw it briefly earlier." She continued.
"Sure, but won't that be dangerous?" Y glanced at Moon.
"Yeah, but so is being executed when we don't find enough clues." Black said grimly.
"I guess so. I'll look after X, I guess." Y smiled sadly.
"Okay, I'll take Yellow." Moon piped up.
"I guess you and I will inspect Emerald then." Black said and Platinum nodded.
"Good luck!" Moon said as she started walking.
"Good luck!" The others said in response.
Moon opened the door to the room where Yellow died, and sure enough, her body was gone.
She walked in and shut the door behind her. Looking around, she saw the bloody scissors still stabbed through the wall, and the drops of blood that had rolled down her body and dripped onto the floor were still present.
Moon covered her mouth in an attempt to keep herself from vomiting. If the scene wasn't gross enough, the smell must have been. Although the body was gone, it still smelled like death in the room. How long had her body been decaying in here before it was retrieved? It seemed like it must've been longer then the others.
She decided to start writing her findings on a pad of paper so she wouldn't forget.
"Damn, that smell is getting to be unbearable. Maybe I should step out and get some fresh air..." Another death flag appeared for Moon. (A/N: is this too much? I couldn't resist putting it in, sorry...)
Unfortunately, when Moon tried the door handle, it did not turn. She took a deep breath before grasping the door handle again. Calmly, she gave it a slight twist, yet the door did not open.
"Damnit! Let's see..." she thought out loud. A lightbulb going off in her head, she looked up before screaming at the top of her lungs. Preparing herself for a trap, she took a few steps back while catching her breath.
"Wah!"
She fell into a tank of water. It was beneath the floor, but the floor had been cut so that the top of the tank was level with the floor.
'Well, I guess I now know what fish in aquariums feel like.' She joked in her head.
As she swam up to escape, the tank quickly moved up. She sank to the bottom as the tank rose. When it came to a stop, the bottom of the tank was level with the floor while the ceiling acted as a lid.
She was trapped.
Desperate for oxygen, she banged her fist against the glass walls of the tank. By now, she had gone two minutes without air; she was starting to lose consciousness. Unable to hold her breath any longer, she let out the carbon dioxide in her lungs and gasped for air. Unfortunately, she only took in water.
In fear and pain, Moon lost consciousness. Within moments, she died of asphyxiation.
Coming out of the bathroom, the mastermind was laughing as they pressed a button on a remote in their hand.
While they left through a hidden passage beneath the bed, hidden speakers throughout the room activated, playing the song "Asphyxia" by Cö shu Nie.
Running in through the now unlocked door, everyone ran into the room.
"Damnit!" Yelled Blue with tears in her eyes. Gold grimaced and looked at the floor off to the side.
"It's so cruel!" Black yelled as he looked for the speakers.
But what caught their attention most of all was the message left on the tank in big letters, and an arrow pointing towards the bed.
"IT'S TRIAL TIME! COME JOIN ME IN THE TRIAL ROOM!!"
(A/N: sorry if the whole music thing seemed comedic, stupid, or anything like that, it wasn't my intention. Right before I wrote that she died from drowning, I recalled that "asphyxiation" was a cooler word that meant basically the same thing. Then, I immediately thought of the song "Asphyxia" and thought of how cruel it would be to play the song while someone was dying from asphyxiation.
Survivors: Blue, Gold, Crystal, Ruby, Platinum, Black, and Y
Dead: Red, Green, Yellow, Silver, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, White, X, Sun, and Moon
Y walked into the room that X died in. She had been on the search team, so she wasn't present when he had died, and that was something she had deeply regretted. She and X had been close, closer to each other than any other person present that day, and yet, he was alone when he died.
"Oh X, why'd you have to get tricked like that?" Y weeped as she fell to the bed.
Like the other corpses, X had mysteriously vanished, leaving behind not a single clue that he was in the room. There wasn't even a splatter of blood because of the way he had died.
"I loved you, X. Please don't leave me." Y cried. She didn't let it show when she was with the others, but she was hurting very much on the inside, and she just needed to cry it out. And so she did that. She cried for many minutes, until she slowly started to feel better.
"I needed that," Y sighed as she stood up and wiped her eyes. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She scanned the room for new clues, but there wasn't anything they didn't find before. Although...
"Is this more of that same long, brown hair we saw before?"
She collected in an evidence bag.
"AHHHH!" Y heard a scream down the hallway.
"Moon's over there!" Y panicked as she ran towards the door, but she suddenly stopped. She glanced at the bed, before looking back at the door. Panicking, glanced back and forth between them before seeming to come to a conclusion. She quickly ran to the bathroom.
She started to fix up her face, using a little makeup to conceal that fact that she had been crying. After a few minutes, she seemed contempt with her work, and ran out the door and down the hall.
"Mooooonn!"
Survivors: Blue, Gold, Crystal, Ruby, Platinum, Black, and Y
Dead: Red, Green, Yellow, Silver, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, White, X, Sun, and Moon
"Are you sure that's even evidence, Platinum?" Black asked as she took a photo of the bed.
"Yeah, it's obvious that someone had laid down in this bed, but it wasn't a room that anyone we know of slept in."
Platinum and Black were in a room on the other side of the hall in which Emerald died. The only evidence in the hallway was a chip in the wall that went it pretty deep, so they decided to check the room out.
"Yeah, that we know of, so what about when Gold was missing? Or when Crystal was crazy? For all we know, one of our now dead friends could have laid on this bed when we started searching yesterday!" Black argued.
"Valid points; but, what if it was the mastermind. Even if there is only a 1% chance that it's them, that's 1% closer to the truth we're searching for. Realize that even I know more than half of my "clues" will amount to nothing, but it's my hope that they will lead to something that makes me know that we will certainly find the mastermind." Platinum countered, and Black could not argue back.
She walked into the bathroom discovering two daggers that sat next to the sink, one covered in blood.
'This proves my theory, and adds to it.' Platinum smiled as she walked back into the bedroom.
They continued looking around when Black suddenly stopped.
"Was that a scream I just heard?"
"I didn't hear anything." Platinum brushed it off.
"Yeah, it must've been nothing."
They continued with this mindset for a few minutes longer, until...
"Moooonn!" Y yelled down the hall.
"Now that, I heard." Platinum darted out of the room and Black chased after her.
"Y!" She yelled.
Y looked back at them and explained how she had heard Moon yell while she was searching her assigned area.
"I thought I heard that too, but that was a few minutes before you yelled out to her, wasn't it?" Black asked.
Y looked down at the floor, solemnly. They had reached the room Moon was in.
"You guys!" Gold yelled out to them.
"Hey!" Ruby yelled.
Black tried the door but it was locked.
"Shit!"
"You heard the scream too?" Y asked. Crystal suddenly looked panicked.
"No, but we found a note, I guess, from the mastermind. It detailed all of the deaths, including... Moon's"
"..." Y was frozen. Tears escaped her eyes. She tried the door again and pounded on it when it refused to budge.
"Open, damnit!" She fell to the floor sobbing. Blue ran up to comfort her.
They all knew vaguely what was behind the door. With all of the evidence, there was no way Moon could still be alive. They just didn't want to accept it. Y most of all.
Suddenly, they heard a click from the door. They all glanced it wearily.
"Should we..." Ruby trailed off.
After a moment's consideration, Black opened the door.
Running in through the now unlocked door, everyone ran into the room.
"Damnit!" Yelled Blue with tears in her eyes. Gold grimaced and looked at the floor off to the side.
Platinum saw a note on the floor. She picked it up realizing it was Moon's notes
"It's so cruel!" Black yelled as he looked for the speakers.
Ruby saw a key just past the door on the floor.
But what caught their attention most of all was the message left on the tank in big letters, and an arrow pointing towards the bed.
"IT'S TRIAL TIME! COME JOIN ME IN THE TRIAL ROOM!!"
Few... finally done. I don't know if it's because I've been reading too much My Next Life as a Villainess: all Routes Lead to Doom! or what, but I've really been feeling those change of POVs to retell the same events this past... week. Yes, I only took a week to write this chapter that you had to wait months for (9/28/21 - 10/04/21), but that's actually average for a chapter this size. What took so long was my planned break, as well as rereading the story and planning out the rest of it. It really helped to refresh me and remind me of small plot holes I always intended to wrap up at the end, as well as small things (remember that Y and Moon liked scary things?). I hope to publish this chapter around the 15, but we'll see. I am planning on finish the last chapter entirely before releasing this one so that I can write it as neatly as possible by tying these two chapters together as much as I need to. The last chapter will definitely be the hardest to write, as you probably can understand why, and also because my notes mainly just have key points I have to hit (this one did too, but I followed them a little too loosely; Diamond was supposed to be found in the middle of the chapter, Red was supposed to die towards the end, and the big cliffhanger was supposed to be announcing the trial, that's why I put the people tracker thing in this chapter, since so many people were supposed to die throughout the chapter). Anyway, the next, and last, chapter should be released on the 31 if all goes well.
Okay, so this is me before publishing this chapter on the 18. I waited for a few days to see if I could finish the next chapter before publishing this one, but a lot of school stuff came up and I couldn't (Psychology is so much fun, but also so much notes). So, I will try as best as I possibly can to finish it before the 31, but if I can't, I'll release it 12/24 (jk). Remember to vote in the poll so the stress of naming the last chapter won't kill me. Please!