trustwellness[It’s been a fairly peaceful week; the lack of incentive has been both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, no one is being explicitly pressured to kill; perhaps this week will be the one in which you decide that enough is enough.
On the other, you haven't heard from your dead friends in over a week now.
Either way, Friday dawns as it always does; while it's quiet, as usual, there's a heavy sense that something isn't right hanging over the university. Maybe it’s the usual feeling of dread this place brings, the sort of fear and uncertainty that has caused others to leave their rooms late at night even when they know just how dangerous it is; maybe it's something more.
Whatever it is, the feeling isn’t lessening any as time goes by and if you’re willing to risk opening your door before the clock chimes this morning, you’ll find the hallway clear. You won’t find any bodies or blood (or crushed tomatoes), but as you move to explore you’ll find something off in the foyer.
Perhaps the first thing you’ll see is the cracked wall near the clock, where the now-familiar being made of shadows and silt has taken over, rippling behind the wall like it’s waiting for something. Some of it has seeped out onto the floor as well, pooling on the ground in a manner that's almost agitated, and it’s edging closer and closer to…
Is that a man in a bat costume?
...That's possibly a little concerning for several reasons, if we're all being honest with ourselves.
Either way, Batman isn’t the only one incapacitated on the floor here; it appears that Watanuki is also out cold, lying on the ground nearby. Both of them are a bit too far away and the entity is a bit too close for you to risk running over there, unless for some reason you don't happen to value keeping your legs attached to your body.
Of course, if you didn’t wake up early, the Wordsmith’s voice probably will get your attention; it can be heard throughout the building, sudden and intrusive.]
I have made an effort for the rules to be very clear, Apprentices. And yet time and time again you choose to act against them. Do you truly hate the university so much?
Rule Five has been broken by Distinguished and Independent. After this long, you should all know precisely what the consequences for that will be.
[And it seems, for now, that that's all he's offering – no details, no mention of exactly how Rule Five was violated. It's possibly because that's just how the Wordsmith is when it comes to extraneous details; it's likewise possible that he sees no reason to offer them if for no better reason than he doesn't want to encourage another attempt. However, while he's certainly been a lot of things, a liar with regards to offenses that have been carried out isn't one of them; he isn't incorrect about one other thing, either – that being that you certainly should know what the consequences for this sort of action are going to be.
The shadows are swift as they surge forth from the wall, the darkness rippling again before shooting forward, thick tendrils sweeping over the floor and wrapping quickly around the limbs of its intended targets, creeping up over them in a manner that's slow and almost possessive in nature. It doesn't move to consume right away, however; for a long, horrid moment it lingers, pressing down low over the bodies of those it's subduing, and it's difficult to say why. It's slightly different to the normal behavior of waiting for witnesses, though it certainly seems to be doing that as well; usually it carries out that sort of thing on the floor, well away from anyone it's going to overtake.
Its intentions become a bit more apparent, perhaps, when Bruce stirs a bit on the floor, when Watanuki's eyes flutter open.
They tense up almost immediately, writhing against whatever's holding them down; the oppressive weight the shadow entity is putting on them, the grip it has on their limbs is inescapable – and surely they know it's inescapable, they've seen what this thing does, they know what's happened to everyone since Kyrie tried to fight against it on that first week – but that doesn't do anything to deter the natural human instinct to try to escape, whether through fear or simply a matter of fight or flight.
Bruce is taken first – perhaps because he's stronger, harder to deter and keep pinned down; either way, the entity is swift in devouring him, sweeping over that pointed cowl and spreading out immediately to pool on the floor again; Watanuki follows shortly after – and its difficult to say, really, whether the swiftness of it all is torment or mercy, given that it allowed them to wake up at all.
And with that, only eight apprentices remain; the Wordsmith seems to have nothing further to say on the matter, allowing the university to fall into silence once again.
The shadow, on the other hand, will be present in the foyer for the remainder of your stay here, spilling down from that split in the wall. Perhaps it's keeping watch; perhaps it's serving solely as a reminder that you aren't going anywhere.]