Second investigation

[letsplayamod]

[Friday has come once again, Typhon’s deadline for the carrot of a motive dangled in front of their faces. Temptations abound and, when the godlings stir in the morning, the air feels thick in a way it hasn’t before. Thunder rumbles outside and the sound of sheets of rain pour down but only ends up pounding against Athena’s protective barrier. No one could ask for a finer umbrella.

There's no more monstrous cyclops threatening your morning. The horses were corralled back to their stables to wind down from the frightening excitement of last Wednesday. From then on, Typhon's threats have once more grown quiet. Everything seems to be... fine.

Still, something feels off.]

Comments

[markofnobility]

Help lift the weapons off of him!

[catsgothistongue]

What does it look like I'm doing?!

[Lifting with all he's got!!! Damn it Alex don't you dare die on them!]

[rockymountaindie]

[ Careful with how you lift. There's the shelf, and there's everything that was on the shelf, too. A lot of tools, a lot of...chisels. Chisels that remain pointy-side down as you remove the shelves.

To find Alex, still laid out eagle-spread on the anvil. Staring up at the ceiling, blood spilling from his mouth.

It's probably like that because of the numerous chisels that have pierced through his body. ]

Hhhh- h- fuck.

[ His eyes meet Ranma's. ]

I- I don- don't—

[pariunt]

Gods below.

[Oh, what the hells. What the hells.]

[murchada]

[immediately swiveling over to the closest healer--]

H-Hurry! Please!

[raisethemoon]

Alex! It will be alright, we can -

[ But she can't do anything at all. ]

[brokenhabit]

[ Oh. That's.

That's bad. ]

A-Alex...

H-Hang on, don't try to speak right now...!!

1/2

[rockymountaindie]

[ Lebkuchen's talking to him. So his eyes find hers, even though they're hazy, already.

He opens his mouth to say something. Coughs up blood. Chokes— ]

F-find- y-you have to- find- Cl- Clear—

2/2

[letsplayamod]

[If the circumstances were different, this particular part of the story would be ending very differently.

If the shelf weren't so heavy, if the anvil wasn't a factor in sandwiching him between it and the shelf, if the chisels weren't so sharp...if the person lying here bleeding was not Alex Browning.

The God of Life chokes out his last word, the name of the girl he loves more than his own life, and the light in his eyes dim completely.

Alex Browning is dead.]

[markofnobility]

[Ferdinand is instantly kneeling down to start healing, using his power to try and pinpoint the deepest more organ ruining wounds first]

[rockymountaindie]

[ The magic starts to knit together some of his wounds...but there are too many. Even for the three of you together, there are too many. ]

[markofnobility]

Don't do this Alex, please-

[catsgothistongue]

[oh. fuck.]

HEALERS, GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE NOW!!!

[He knows better to not yank out sharpy stabby things from body. Ranma wastes zero time scrambling to take off his silk shirt to try and put pressure on the wounds, staunch the bleeding, ANYTHING--]

[taintedfayth]

[He doesn't need to be told twice-- he's already casting Cure!]

[rockymountaindie]

[ His body starts to glow but he continues to bleed. Cure isn't strong enough for this. ]

[necromants]

[...He could have healed this back home. Yes, it would have been difficult, and already he's mapping out the ways he would have sealed the wounds, how to remove the chisels, and how to make it so that Alex would come out of this alive. But that's back home, with his magic operating at full power. Here...?

Here he doesn't stand a chance against this, and he knows it.]

...I'll do my best, but...

[He doesn't finish that. He's already told several of the others that he isn't at full strength here. But Zvei tries, he attempts to seal the injuries around the chisels for the time being, to hopefully prevent Alex from bleeding out, but...

Well, it's a Friday in a murdergame. I don't expect this to end well.]

[rockymountaindie]

[ The chisels are...kind of everywhere. A small mercy his face wasn't pierced. But that just means you can tell when it doesn't work. He's bleeding too fast for you to heal. ]

[necromants]

[That's what he thought. Even with Ferdinand and Seymour's heals, this isn't going to work. Zvei keeps trying, though, because anything less would be unacceptable.]

I'm not going to be able to seal his wounds. I'm sorry, Alex.

[If you have final goodbyes or questions, now's the time.]

[fillets]

[ There's a sharp intake of breath from Riful, who stands in the doorway. ]

Oh.

[cannotunravel]

Alex...!

[Misane hurries towards him, trying not to slip -- but in her hurry she did. Even though she fell and bruised herself, she crawls towards Alex, finding him in a very ugly situation]

You cannot die. Hang in there. I'm telling you to not die!

[She's even using her godly skill to imbue Alex with determination, like that'll stop him from going towards the metaphorical light. She doesn't know if that even helps or not, but she's trying!]

[rockymountaindie]

M- Misa- sane- I-

I'm s- sorry—

[cannotunravel]

Stop that and stay here! Don't you dare leave us...!

[Doesn't seem giving pep to Alex is helping, so instead she focuses it on all the healers, one after the other. She has no idea what she's doing, and even if this was as effective as she hoped, it'd be pointless]

[yourheroine]

…

[While this all goes on, Aoi tries to take Alex’s hand, concentrating and trying to use her power to give Alex her energy.

Not that it’ll do much. All Aoi can do is recharge a battery, not fix a broken one.]

[rockymountaindie]

[ He'd appreciate it if he could feel it. But he can't. ]

[yourheroine]

…boop boop boop boop boop…

[He stops moving, stops breathing, and Aoi tries to get a signal again.

Didn’t he avoid a bad end in the past? Come on, reload to before he fell! This isn’t the right ending!]

Please…