week four, tuesday

[jettisons]

[Sometime on Tuesday, Bellamy will find Raven and Lucina and lead them to a secluded part of the oasis, his expression somewhat grim. It's clear he's starting to really loathe everything about this game. He's already given Raven a crash course, so he simply finds a rock to sit on and nods at the two of them.]

Alright. Let's talk.

Comments

[rightfully]

[ Lucina likewise takes a seat. Tucking the skirt of her dress under her legs, she looks remarkably composed, despite the enormity of the situation. Not at ease in truth, but a good enough effect. It's pretty learned princess behaviour.

To Raven, she looks over, expression unassuming and just a little kind. ]

I understand this may be daunting. I want you to know, I have no intention of harming you, or anyone. I want the same thing you want: to end this wretched game before anyone else gets hurt.

[ Lucina chances asking - (because she knows the limitation Raven is enduring now), ]

Do you believe me?

[hydrazine]

[She stays standing while the other two sit, arms crossed over her chest. She agreed to come, of course, but it's clear she feels uncomfortable about being here; knowing, now, that someone who isn't a Siren (and who isn't Bellamy) is frightening. It makes her feel more vulnerable than she would like. But... She can't reverse that. More than anything, she wants this all to end, too.

So, taking hold of her pencil and paper, she writes a quick response.]

I believe that you want it to end. [She can't say she trusts in much more than that. She doesn't know Lucina well enough for that.] So what's your plan?

[rightfully]

There are two ways to end the game. You believe you know one of them, but you don't. Bringing the island's population down to seven will not accomplish our goals; it will only lead to calamity.

[ There will be questions, undoubtedly. Lucina may or may not be able to answer them.

For now, she starts here. ]

This is what I propose. There are certain people I need to remain alive if I am to succeed in what I'm planning. To that end, I will tell the Sirens who to kill. [ Lucina's expression shutters somewhat. ] I'd prefer to stop the killings altogether, but I suspect that our Chiefs wouldn't hesitate to cull the remaining population permanently if we pulled such a thing.

Otherwise, I will leave you and your own be, and will expect the same courtesy.

[ For all that Raven feels nervous, Lucina feels much the same way. None of it shows, of course. Monday night with Bellamy, she had been skittish as a rabbit, trying desperately to hide her mounting terror behind a mask of gravity and nothing. Now, it's possible she succeeded. Her expression remains clear and kind, shoulders held up in a stalwart arc. ]

[jettisons]

[Bellamy crosses his arms, his expression closed off, but doesn't say anything. For now, this is between Lucina and Raven.]

[hydrazine]

[She listens carefully to everything that's said. While it's true that she certainly doesn't trust either of the Chiefs, she also doesn't have any strong reason to either trust what Lucina is saying. That being said, she also doesn't have a reason to distrust it. So, when she writes down a response, it digs deeper into what the other young woman is saying. Her expression is skeptical, but it's not entirely disbelieving.]

Before you tell me what that plan is, you're going to have to tell me exactly how you found out that information and why you believe it's true.

[rightfully]

[ That's entirely fair. Lucina remains calm as she answers, even though... yeah. It's tense. This whole situation is brittle, too many lives at stake and too many people saying, "no, I'm telling the truth." It's unnerving.

Which is, she's realised by now, very much the point. ]

I was told, in confidence, by the Chiefs.

[ A thought occurs. ]

I will answer your next question momentarily, I promise. But first -- who told you about the volcanic spirit? Hal, or Pal?