#despairvania

It really was a beautiful moment for everyone. The full moon hung in the sky, illuminating the scene unfold as you all reunite with those peers you thought you lost. Potentially awkward, but nonetheless, very heartwarming.

Matthew simply sat by one of the tents. He moved to cover up as much of his face as he could with his scarf, as if trying to silence his sobs. It had always been rough in this absolutely garbage castle, but...

Well, it just felt like it was only ever getting worse. Things had started out bad enough, but then two people were murdered, and Luna...

The thought of her made him retreat even further into his scarf. Maybe he should just crawl into the tent and curl up against nothing, let the gaping loneliness really just fill up his disheartened being.

He had never really known Luna very well. Clearly not, really, since apparently Luna wasn’t even her real name. But whatever. He thought she was terrible, and it turns out, yeah, she really was! And everything still sucks, so, great. Really. Just, great. 

Matthew sighed into his scarf, the wetness of the cloth not really bothering him that much. But, following another sigh, he finally lowered the fabric, allowing it to bunch up properly around his neck. 

Sure, he hated Luna, and now she was gone! He would never see her again, and he could just block her on titter if he really hated her that much, but... Matthew still felt bad. He didn’t want to bother with any feelings of remorse or guilt regarding the latest murderer, but... he had gotten a bit heated at the trial; more than he was used to.

And, well, Matthew wasn’t exactly the best at dealing with his emotions.

Trying to figure out why Luna was bawling her eyes out, Jotaro came closer to the water fall and looked around. The moment he saw brown eyes, and brown hair staring back, he fell to his knees and felt his entire body pale.

His papa, his mama. 

His parents. 

Tears bubbled on their own, causing a rush of tears to slide down his cheeks. He reached into the water, trying to get to his family, only for it to be fruitless. Damn this magic castle! Why couldn’t physics work like normal and let him touch his father’s hand?

Why did they look so upset? Well, it meant they didn’t expect or want to be here but Jotaro pondered deeper than that. Were they disappointed in him? Were they disappointed because he got them into this mess, and disappointed because he could do nothing to save him besides kill another, which would only hurt his relationship more. If he killed someone, his parents would only see what they saw from when he was kidnapped, with that bruised tattoo staining his face. They’d see Yuu’s son, not the one they raised. And if he did nothing? They’d be trapped, possibly die because who knows what this wretched castle would dawn on them. 

“Papa....” He reached out, and though he could only touch water, he tried to get deeper, with his sleeve now wet. “Mama...Papa....please...don’t....hate me.” More tears. “I’m not like them, I’m not....like them..but I can’t save you....i....” 

“I’m so sorry.” 

In the wake of Red’s destruction, there were a lot of unanswered questions floating around Kouki’s mind, and undoubtedly the minds of the others. She could speculate all she wanted, but for the time being it seemed like yet another mystery, and she wasn’t sure how to feel about it. But in a weird way it was... kind of a relief. I mean, she was a robot, so she didn’t die, because she was never alive in the first place, right? 

It really felt like they couldn’t get a break, and when they were all called to the library by Dominique, she had a feeling something was up. That feeling was only reinforced by Dominique’s words. But what mattered was that whatever was happening, it was happening in the subterranean hell. So that’s where she went.

Stepping into the massive cavern, she felt a mild trepidation in her chest, unsure what to expect. Dominique really hadn’t given her much to go on besides a vague description about some shift in magical power. Some of the others had arrived before her, and seemed to be staring at... something in the waterfall? Kouki couldn’t tell from a distance. 

Kouki walked right up to where the others were gathered, and before she couldn’t even think to comment, she noticed something in the waterfall. Not her own reflection, like would be expected. Instead it was the reflection of three people. It was her band members, Irina, Nikita, and Takeshi. But something was off. They all... didn’t look too happy. For a moment, she stood speechless. Where were the reflections coming from? There was nobody there besides the others. For a tiny fraction of a moment, she thought she’d see her buddies again, but it was just some sort of illusion, or magic, or some fuck like that. It was a reminder of the world she had been cut off from, and it kinda... hit her hard. Her disappointment was immeasurable and her day was ruined. 

Instinctively, she looked back again. Everyone seemed to be looking at the waterfall with some kind of expression on their face. 

Once the words of the ghosts got through to Marquette, they froze in one of the corridors.

They hoped and prayed that it was only a dream, that it was all in their head. Thoughts like that weren’t rare by any extent… it was a bit too colourfully phrased for them maybe. Maybe that’s the true effect of the castle! Makes you think in old English too, haha, how wild! That was it, that was the truth. It was just another one of those days, just another day to show the world they were worth someth--

The titter notification from Dominique threw them off though.

Oh. Oh no.

Why would their host be asking such a thing? Maybe there was something different occurring! More monsters, perhaps? An announcement as to more of the workings of this castle? It had to be… right?

Marquette wasn’t feeling too good and they sure as hell knew it isn’t the spoiled milk anymore. They staggered to the library, keeping closer to the walls and wrapping their arms around themselves as this unnatural wave of anxiety washed over them.

Marquette, stared at the stressed Dominique in wide eyed fear. The fidgeting of their host didn’t reassure Marquette, and although they strained to hear what they wanted- that those groans were just temporary, that only they heard their blasted insecurity- it never came.

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, nO, NO, NO.

Marquette, Well, Morgan desperately looked around at everyone else in the library, visibly shaking.

“N-no, they’re lying! What do ghosts even know?! That’s… not true! I AM Marquette D’airelle! I am! I Have to be! I am Marquette D’airelle, the Ultimate Bachelor. I-I…” They yelled, trying to sound confident like they had done previously; trying to even pull it off as a joke, but the tremor in their voice was enough to crack this fine veil of denial. They ended up stumbling into one of the bookcases on the walls and used it for support.

“I am Marquette D’airelle and I am not anyone else!”

“I am Marquette D’airelle, I am loved and I am worth something.”

“I am Marquette D’airelle… I prefer Cats to dogs? No… that’s not right. I like dogs? Long walks on the b-beach and um… I’m left handed. No wait. I...”

“S'il vous plait, Je m'appelle Marquette D’airelle, et La vérité fait mal, non...?”

“I… Call myself Marquette D’airelle and I…I  h-h-have no sibling. N-none at all. Non-existent, fictitious, fake, no one needs to know!”

That had been the breaking point. 

All their near crazed and frantic statements were made as tears pooled out of their eyes and they tugged on their hair in frustration. But they physically struggled with the final comment. It sputtered out, as if it was tearing them up inside to even utter the words.

“What you must remember, is that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing...”

What is up lads, we did it! The final roster for Despairvania is here!!