nikkernoodle | STABBED THROUGH THE HEART

[Salieri doesn't say anything.

He just continues that glare, hand clenching around that handkerchief as he simply folds his arms.

Waiting.]

...I am trying to do a good thing here, you know. Actually accomplish something.

["For once" goes unsaid. It just hangs in the air, heavy.]

I... lied to you. When we got our latest envelopes.

[that...is a bit of a surprise. But honestly not that much of one. If it had really been about him being forgotten again...it would've been easier just to show him. But Discord had sent the thing off, hiding it from him. At the time, Salieri hadn't pushed for Discord to tell him; he figured that, at this point, it was best not to know.

Now, however, Salieri's mouth presses into a line at that]

...I thought as much.

I probably should have come up with a better lie. But it was a bit... startling.

[...He snaps his fingers. The photo appears, fluttering down, and Discord grabs it from the air. Still hiding it from Salieri, not wanting him to see it right away. Even now, when this is what it's all about, he can't just...

Discord doesn't want to hurt him this way.]

What's on here... it can't happen.

[Salieri's eyes close at that, taking in a steadying breath--in, out, slow--before he opens his eyes again.

He holds out his non-bloodied hand]

Give it here, Discord.

Ah...

[He's hesitant. Not immediately moving to hand it over, waiting probably a moment or two too long. Before he very, very reluctantly holds it out.]

If... you insist.

[Salieri reaches out to accept the photo, swallowing hard as he looks down--and his breath catches in his throat as he stares down at--

there they lie, lined up, sallow as ghosts,
eyes closed, quiet, still
the blood that pools around them is a stark contrast to paled skin,
red seeping into the ground underneath them
they're dead, all of them, everyone here that he's ever cared about

There's a horror that fills Salieri's chest, tightening in his throat, and he's going pale with it. The handkerchief falls to the floor as he grasps the photo now with both hands, smearing some blood on the corner]

...oh.

[his voice is very faint]

...Yes. Oh.

[He slumps a little, arms crossed, leaning idly against a bookcase. An excuse to not have to look Salieri in the eye right now.]

I couldn't just show you that. I thought... I might figure out some way out of this. A solution, some way around it, but... [But nothing. It's like the last trial all over again. One life or all. Both were important, both mattered so much, and there was no getting everything they wanted.

There are no good options.

...Just... one slightly less bad one. Minimize it all, if he could.] I... couldn't. If there is some wriggle room, some way to get around the rules of this game, it's not anything I can figure out in time.

And so you...decided to stab yourself. With my dagger.

[it's not hard to put two and two together.]

Did you miss the part where Farrah said that a suicide doesn't count unless no one figures out that it was a suicide?

...I wasn't really sure what else to do.

[Is it a stupid and reckless and poorly thought out move? Oh, you bet. It reeks of desperation. Someone's feeling cornered.]

I'm certainly not going to be killing anyone else. This seemed more... straightforward. Although, I'm not really an expert on human anatomy, so I was thinking, ah... perhaps...

...you'd help.

[There it is.]

So long as something happens, I figured, perhaps the Wizard will feel satisfied enough and the threat can simply... disappear.

[This can't...this can't be happening. Discord, trying to kill himself to prevent the contents of this picture?

I wasn't really sure what else to do.

It rings familiar, because it is familiar. It's been the song of this entire situation since that first murder, getting louder and louder as the weeks have passed, as that feeling of helplessness increased--I couldn't do anything!--and now, here, it's bubbling over, causing Salieri's hands to shake.

There has to be a way out; there has to. There has to be some loophole to exploit, some way out of this. Salieri's mind scrambles to find something, anything to latch onto that will make it so this horrible choice does not actually have to be made]

--no. [he shakes his head--he can't, he can't just tell Discord where to stab himself--]

No, I... [he trails off, going quiet, as something clicks. A possible solution. It's probably a long shot, a chance, but maybe--]

[Salieri's head shoots up, looking at Discord] I won't help you with that. No. But...you'd possibly get your magic back if you got out of here, wouldn't you?

I... Well, I assume so, yes. It's always here, it's just dampened somehow. If I got out, I sure hope that would stop.

[He's been counting on that fact, actually. But that's-- It hits him, then, what a random change of topic that is.]

...Why?

Because.

[he turns the photo around, the bodies clearly displayed]

They're dead if you--if you--if you do that, because who here would believe that the Lord of Chaos would commit suicide? [slightly snapped, but he has a point to make, so he pushes forward]

And they're dead if we don't--if we don't do anything, but if you escaped, if you got away with murder and you were able to get your magic back, then...could you...is there a possibility that you could bring them back?

Edited 2021-06-30 00:27 (UTC)

[There's a... logic to it, of sorts. Right now, it's just... dead one way, dead another, dead, dead, more people, more of the kids dead through no fault of their own and--

And he remembers, when Peregrine asked him, just a week or so ago.

"...Can you bring people back from the dead?"

He hadn't been able to say yes, because he hasn't tried, has never had a reason to try. Who had there been for him to bring back? Who had there been that he cared enough about to even try that. But he can alter reality, do whatever he feels like, because what can tell chaos no and...

And...]

If I--

[Oh. If he got away with murder. If he--]

I... Maybe.

[He doesn't like answering honestly right now. He'd rather lie, just say no outright, but it just slips out.]

[Salieri lets out a breath at that, shaky, grasping onto that maybe, onto the tiniest smidgen of hope--]

Then...in that case--[he reaches behind himself to pick up the dagger, grasping it by the handle, voice low and determined as he brings it to front again.] I'll show you where to use this, and then you're going to use it on me.

Edited 2021-06-30 00:35 (UTC)

[For a good six or so seconds, he just stares at Salieri, because

um.]

I'm going to what now--?

[HA HA HEY SO THIS IS ALL A FUN PRANK AND HE MISHEARD THAT RIGHT]

I said, [he takes a step towards Discord, advancing slowly, with purpose] that I'm going to show you were to use this, and you're going to use it on me so you can leave this place. Then you can get your magic back and find your way back here, and try and bring them back.

The other way, they're dead without question, you included. But this way, there's a chance that they could be revived.

You--

[And he steps back, slightly, moving away from the bookcase. Just staring at Salieri still, though his eyes drift down a little to that dagger again.]

You want me. To stab you.

[Just reiterating it, as if saying it will make this feel more sensible, somehow. It does not.]

I said I'm not going to murder anyone, but I'm especially not going to stab you, Antonio.

Oh, so what? You're going to stab yourself instead? And who is going to believe that you killed yourself? [his voice is full of derision, even as he keeps advancing] They'll accuse someone else, and then they all die.

But if you kill me, it counts as murder. You get away with it, you survive--you can come back for them. For us. You said maybe and that's a chance, Discord--a chance where our only other option is no chance at all!

Edited 2021-06-30 00:46 (UTC)

[He feels his back hit a wall, but it feels numb, distant, unimportant right now. He's still looking Salieri in the eyes, hoping to find some measure of doubt in there, but...

He seems determined. And usually he actually enjoys Salieri's determination, that drive, it's... admirable, in a way he hasn't really appreciated enough before.

Right now, it's absolutely terrifying.]

You want me... You want me to kill you. And lie about it. Get away with--

[There's a sick feeling building somewhere he can't place right now.]

You know it's only a chance and if this... if it doesn't work...

[If, if, if, he says, thinking when--]

You'll just be gone.

At this rate, I'll be gone either way. I was close enough to it, myself, that I gave you this--[he glances down at the dagger, pointedly, before his attention goes back to Discord, perhaps less than a step away from him now. He doesn't close that distance yet.]

...my story is already over. In my world. [quietly] Here, with this, there's a chance that it could continue. That we could continue, together, all of us.

Our odds are either nothing, or a small something. It might be only a chance, but it is the only chance we have.

[He says it so confidently, even while acknowledging the small odds of victory, that Discord almost believes it too. That this is the ticket out of here. That this would... could work.

It isn't a nice thought, but it'd be something.]

...You aren't about to back down from this, are you? You really believe this... this is the best shot we have.

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