Robin looked at Wyn and Archer, appalled. "I-I can't believe you! You know my husband is innocent! You know who one of the witches is!" She gestured to the door through which Vincent had run away. "It couldn't be more obvious! What is the matter with you!?"

"We have reasons to keep other potential witches alive, but not Zachary. Perhaps this is the best call," Bertram said. "I, too, vote for Zachary."

"Don't you want to win this, dear?" Wyn replies. "If he's innocent and we end up in another cycle, he'll be back and good as new." She says with a small smile. "And if he's gone for good... Well, you'll find another."

Robin's features contorted with rage and disgust.

She took a deep breath, stepped protectively in front of Zach, and made her eyes meet everyone else's in the room. Her words were an echo of something she had said in another timeline, but they weren't shouted in a panic this time. They were low and crackling with fury:

"If you lynch him, then you had better lynch me too. Because I won't let it happen."

"Is that really the case?" Archer asks. "We know sir Vincent is suspect. Yet, all of it rubs me the wrong way. It's too suspect. I believe he's a foul prankster, here to trick us into diverting our attention onto him."

"However, I have no issue in removing him from the Moonview family, and lynching him instead. But something must be done, I will not sway my single vote to prolong this process. We must be swift and efficient."

"Unfortunately it is likely to happen regardless of what you allow.." Wyn mutters.

"It's not personal, Robin darling, it's just part of the cycle. Do you think I enjoyed being lynched? No, but it happened anyways, and now I'm back and breathing, as fate intended. If Zachary truly is innocent, this won't the last time we see him, okay?" She says reassuringly. "Soon all of this will be over, I'm sure of it.."

Basil placed himself between Wyn and Robin, half fearing the women would tear each other apart.

"I understand where your defiance comes from Robin. I felt the same as I watched you all vote my poor Wyn to her death in the nightmare." He said placing his hands on Wyns shoulders gently in a slight embrace.

Releasing her he turned back to Wyn "But there's a fifty-fifty shot that your Husband has been taken over by a witch. That's a reality."

He looked over at Twilip "Then again, if we allow Twilip to live and trust her word, there's potentially a lot more damage she could do with her powers than if we let Zach live."

---

"You don't know that, Wyn!" Robin snapped. "You don't know if he's coming back! You don't know how many times we're going to cycle! You don't know if we'll get any more chances! And you think you can waste this one on Zach?"

She was practically snarling. "Maybe some people here can just 'find another', like they're replacing a broken toy. I can't."



"Don't do this," she implored. "I was wrong about Wyn, and I promised I would never repeat that mistake. You're about to make that mistake. This is your brother, Basil. I am begging you: don't do this."

“It shouldn’t be hard to tell if Twily strays from agreed plans,” Uncle Billy replied, “In which case, we can immediately destroy her.”

“Anywho I’m voting for Zack. Sorry, man, we all have to die sometimes. It happens. But it not all bad, and you’ll get better soon enough!”

---

Wyn shakes her head at Robin and sighs. "Where I'm from we don't have the time or luxury to worry about these pointless sentiments. If there's something that needs to be done, it must be done. I believe fate, the spirit of Gloria, or whatever it is, is testing us. We're going to have to go through this as many times as we have to until we get it right... And no, it's not going to be all rainbows and unicorns."

She then turns to her husband and holds onto his hand.

"Thanks for the back-up, Zilly... I know how hard all of this might be for you." Wyn says with a frown. "I think right now Zachary might be a bigger threat, but you have a point about Twilip..."

Archer clears his throat in an attempt to change the subject.

"If I may... Now that we've all seen to come to an agreement regarding Zachary, who should I use my ability on?" Archer asks the group. "I don't mean a direct answer, although that could be to our benefit, as I feel we should try and work together as much as possible. I wouldn't want to get in the way of anyone else's actions..." He shoots a knowing glance at Mickey.

"The issue is, I seem to struggle with picking to adequate targets that would not interfere with anyone else's stated plans. For example, Master Bertram is always a good choice, I find, but if Madame Robin were to target him, then there would be issues."

"At least I have an ability that can't do much damage against your 'plans' if you leave me alive tonight," Zachary rebutted, standing firm beside - not behind - his wife, "You lot know I'm not the Golden Witch, and here you are about to vote to shoot me anyway. You lot were always stubborn in your ways though. I'm not surprised. I can't copy someone's power and delay someone else, or poison them, or swap them with people, or redirect their actions. All I can do is see who visits whom. I've been cooperative this whole time and what am I repaid with? Bloodlust. I can't help that I just happened to be in the same suspicion pool as Twilip. I can't help that I survived until the end of the nightmare, only to have the witches 'win,' whatever that means for them. The things that make me suspicious are things I've had no control over. And as far as my investigation choices being suspicious? You try starting out with nothing, picking a bunch of pairs of people, and seeing if you can make heads or tails of the results.

I'm voting for Twilip. I know she's a witch. I know she heartlessly murdered me at the end of the story. I know how much of a threat she truly is with her copying abilities. Meanwhile, what can I do? Get lucky with one of my checks and out something you've wanted to keep private? Twilip and the other witches have been working together to hide themselves. Robin, Basil, poor Jackie, Wyn, and I have been doing all we can to find them. I can only hope the rest of you can cooperate enough to find the witches and eke out another victory for us."

---

Basil's hand trembled as he stared down Robin, acutely aware he hadn't voted yet.

Then something warm and small touched his hand.

He looked down and noticed Wyn's delicate hand holding his own, reassuring him and he sighed with relief.

"Yes thank you Wynnie, I knew you'd understand. Zach's power isn't as detrimental to let exist. We know the lead witch with the murder magic is still out there and can't be Zach. He can't do too much to mess up the investigation." He looked over to Vincent and Violet with uncertainty. "I'm running out of suspects...I don't know what to do."

---

Twilip sighs and looks at Wyn and Basil. "Care to enlighten me? As far as I know the only people who can kill us without it looking like a witch are either dead or faking it."
Twilip turna to face Zachary, takes a breath and
"Considering you know that's a lie and that you blew your own pretty little jaw off. Screw off, I vote for Zachary and if you're able to talk with your little witch buddies on the other side, tell them to screw off too."

“This is tough. I not sure this actually best choice, though I guess I should trust my gut. It never led me wrong before, ignoring all times it has.”

“Have we discussed the end of events in dream much yet?” Billy asked, “At the end we left with three people and at least one must be witch. Are there any conclusions we can draw from there?”

---

"I realize I'm suspicious, so draw your own conclusions. But allow me to offer you my shoes, so that you may walk the many miles I have." 'Mickey' said before offering his perspective.

"I gave my thoughts on this but I believe it's most likely that Uncle Zap and Luce were witches, but I also think it's possible Luce was working alone and won on a gamble." A dark cloud washed over 'Mickey's' face, creating a strange shadow. "I also got an insidious feeling that we're missing something huge. Every moment I think of who the witches could be, there's a detail that doesn't make sense. There's a fifth person that's absent. I don't know how to describe this besides a feeling in my gut so strong that I'm afraid I'll shit myself, but I think we're being manipulated somehow."

He turned to Zach specifically. "Uncle Zap, you are about to die. You are about to make your wife a widow. Being cooperative is not enough to stay your fate, you must be decisive. You believe your sister is a witch, but that's not enough. You have no choice but to think that, regardless of who you really are. If you are innocent, then your perspective is invaluable. Tell me about the nightmare--what you think happened."

“Yes, I not able to shake funny feeling either, Mikey,” Uncle Billy replied, “I think it best if I withdraw vote for now. But I interested in see Zack response to your question.”

---

"Withdraw your vote..? When did you become so spineless..?"

“You haven’t even voted yet, you goosemuffin,” Uncle Billy replied, “Anyway, I think there more to discuss, since we can’t afford be wrong. For instance, Mikey, I remember you say you have vision telling you to protect Zack. What that about?”

---

"Good point. I vote for Zachary."

"I can see a purpose in everything, every clue that the universe gives me. I remember at Thanksgivin dinner when he was struggling to cut the turkey. Sad shit, man. Guy like that can't help himself, I had to lend him a hand during the nightmare." It was unclear if this memory had actually happened.

"M-My perspective? Like, from the b-beginning?" Zachary asked, a bit surprised that he was being given this chance. He was not going to let it go to waste. He gave his wife's hand a quick squeeze and a quick kiss, then lowered it, released it, and stepped forward. He was on the podium. It was time to lay it all out on the table.



His heart was pounding, but he pressed forward, desperately attempting to recall the details of the nightmare.

"I'll be honest. I don't know why I chose to investigate Violet and myself. It was just a complete guess, and maybe I would catch her doing something to me. In hindsight, it would've been completely worthless, but I didn't know that at the time. Anyway, Twilip and Archer were found dead. Allister would die later, but obviously nobody tried to kill Wyn. If they had, Bertram would've noticed. And the witches obviously hadn't figured out the reverse psychology trick yet, so Wyn was also safe there.

"If Twilip's not a witch kill, then that leaves two kills unaccounted-for. It's very unlikely though, in my opinion, because we already have two outed killing powers, though they only work from Twilight 3 onward. Nobody's stepped forward with an earlier vigilante role, so I assume that all kills before T3 are witch kills. If someone has a contradiction to that, now's the time to come forward.

"Now why, I ask you, why is it important for us to know whether a kill was a witch kill or a mortal kill? I contend that it's not, because anyone who's killing for the witches will try to be as wildcard-y as possible, and until we have more information, mortal kills are just guesses, even if educated ones.

"So the most likely - simplest - explanation is that I was targeted and meant to die alongside Twilip to keep the mystery of who killed me at the end of the story ambiguous. Thanks to Mickey though, I survived. So the witches decided to let me be. I have noticed that the early kills from the nightmare are also the people who survived the longest in the story, except me. I guess I dodged a bullet in one way and ran right into one in another. I wonder how things would've been different had Mickey not protected me . . . .

"The next twilight, I visited Vincent and myself, because I wanted to corroborate Robin's theory. Of course, after finding Allister and seeing that Vincent didn't visit me, that theory was out the window. Yes, a lot of my checks are to check theories, but I honestly don't know how to be proactive with my role.

"I'm taking too long. Let me speed this up. I was suspicious of Briggs when Wyn revealed his stolen role. I thought stealing roles - being an agent of chaos - was a role more beneficial to a witch-aligned, let alone full-blown witch. I still contend that, especially if you're made unaware your power was stolen until you use your next action, and then you don't even know what sort of power you're stealing. It's a role that requires cooperation and truthfulness, lest it spread like wildfire.

"Speaking of cooperation, Wyn's difficulty was one of the main reasons I suspected her. I regret it now, especially after seeing her results and how she could probably easily find out witches if she lasted long enough to investigate them twice. Hence why I investigated Wyn against Maurice the first twilight of this time loop. I figured she'd be a prime target for the witches if her results are really that helpful.

"What drew my suspicion was also how long Wyn seemed to be lasting without being targeted/killed, though in hindsight the witches may be doing that to put more suspicion on Wyn. Prolonging scapegoats' lives seems to be a popular tactic with them - it's being used on me, though as I said earlier, I don't think the witches had planned that, if Mickey did actually save me. So I checked Basil and Wyn T3 and, even though the simplest answer for them not visiting each other was that Wyn wasn't the killing witch, I was still in denial.

"That's when the hard swing of four kills also happened - two of them Briggs' poison target, one Asher's kill, and one a witch kill. From this point, witch kills also had their jaws removed. I admit I still have no idea what that's all about.

"We as a group decided to lynch Briggs to stop our numbers from getting too low - we were seven then - but now I'm curious who Briggs would've poisoned and if that would've changed things. My guess is that it wouldn't have; it was already too late. After the carnage that was T3, I think there were three witches left: Maurice, Violet, and Lucine. We were already trapped. I think, at this point, Maurice - the only Golden Witch option I think is left - was planning to kill Bertram at the end of the nightmare.

"But back then I was still unsure, so I checked Mickey and Violet, and noticed that Violet had visited Mickey twice. I guess that's not important now since Violet's visits don't do anything, or maybe they did at that point, but nothing really seemed to have happened to Mickey.

"My dear nephew-who's-the-same-age-as-my-wife, I believe you were on to something targeting Maurice T4 and T5. However, I think you would've had to fake your death in order for the kill to have happened. Either that or Maurice was somehow able to avoid you.

"Now, T5 I checked Maurice and Violet and, instead of learning that my targets didn't visit each other for sure, I was told they had no interactions that I could tell. It's possible the Golden Witch is able to conceal their kills somehow, but of course there's no way to prove that.

"Billy had apparently tried to redirect Maurice onto him T2, but that didn't stop either of the kills. This, and Wyn not having visited Basil, make up the discrepancies for either of them being the Golden Witch, but since we've found no other workarounds, one of them - my money's on Maurice - has to be the Golden Witch.

"In summary, I think Lucine is responsible for the closed eye circle, Maurice killed both Bertram and Wyn, using both kills to obfuscate his death as coincidental, Twilip is the witch that killed me in the story, and Violet and Vincent are witches without roles. However, the last two seem too easy, so . . . I do suppose Jackie still hasn't been totally proven innocent, though it's hard to say because she didn't end up lasting that long. Vincent's definitely a witch-sympathizer if not an outright witch, and I feel like there could be one more: Briggs, perhaps. Allister's been pretty under the radar, and has a passive ability, so I can't really nail him down. The fact that Basil has a second part to his role piques my interest, but he's confirmed mortal so it's gotta be helpful to us. That leaves Archer, Mickey, Bertram, Basil, Asher, Billy, James, Wyn, and of course, my dear Robin, who I think are all doing pretty well at trying to sniff out the witches. I hope my rambling explanation has been helpful in the slightest. Thank you for listening."

Zachary takes a bow and a step back.

---

"Has everyone outright forgotten Jackie's results?" Briggs asked, somewhat frustrated. "Your suspicions are not placed on her or her targets well enough, Sir Zachary. Whether or not Twilip was killed by a witch does not change the fact that Sir Billy or the stalker and his bride were the only ones who could have killed her."

"Otherwise, either Jackie is lying, or someone has been pulling the wool over our eyes on how Twilip could have died with those results."

"But at this point, I'm also not willing to entertain a theory that still has me under suspicion in anyway. My defenses have been exhaustive and proper. So like I usually do when Sir Archer gives me an order, I'll proceed to forget everything you said without feeling any guilt so whatsoever."

Briggs tapped his brain a few times, and like witchcraft, he forgot everything about Zachary. Or he at least pretended to.

“U-Um... I’d like to place my vote for sir Zachary as well.” Allister said.

“Man this sucks guess I have to vote for Zach at this point or we definitely lose okay bye.”

---

Maurice remained quiet as Zachary explained himself, and as he finished, he shook his head. "So that's your reasoning, hmm... Truth of the matter is though, that I am plain and simple a mortal. I don't know if you noticed this, but the fact that hippie made me visit him on the second night of the nightmare clears me completely. If I were the Golden Witch and planned to kill somebody, then my kill would have been redirected to him instead. The fact that he didn't die at all means I did not plan to kill anybody, and was thus involved with neither of the kills in the phase. I could not have killed James or Basil, out of whom at least one of them had to be killed by witches. If this isn't substantial information then I don't know what is."

"That said... I do not believe you are a witch either. Your role could benefit us more than it would the witches, and I can understand if your suspicion on me was but a misunderstanding", he reasoned. "It is strange that you still suspect the thief at this point considering he has been remarkably forthcoming to us with information so far, though. If he did something out of line, it would be easy to deduce as well with all the information we have on hand currently."

"Now, as for my vote... I am conflicted. Vincent still strikes me as remarkably suspicious so far and the fact that his talent is still in the unknown is quite mysterious. But we can uncover more information on him by investigating him tonight. The same goes for Violet, of course. Though if their talent turns out to be the exact same, then we'll have to suspect foul play. But besides that, I do not have a prime suspect at all. Still, lynching someone is crucial here since both our... vigilantes are no longer with us. So..."

He paused, thinking. After some time, he let out a sigh. "I don't particularly wish to do this, but I will vote Zachary as well. Even though I don't think he's a witch, we still don't have anything decisive to prove otherwise. And if we are wrong, then... perhaps Twilip may slip up somehow. That's all I have to say for now."



"I wouldn't recommend swapping Bertram, honestly. Not just because it would leave an opportunity for the witches to visit him and kill whoever you swapped him with, but because I also plan to visit him tonight", he declared. "May as well be forthcoming about it at this point, so we can be thorough with regards to my actions."

---

"I'll remember you perspective." 'Mickey' assured. "But it's not enough here. I believe that if you are innocent, then you are more likely to suspect me. And it's only because you know I'm innocent that you're trying to pacify me. I'm voting for you, not that that does any good at this point."

'Mickey' looked over at his butler. "Archie, imma visit Basil tonight--there's no reason to keep it secret if you're gonna be in my way. So focus on anyone else."

Archer nods his head in understanding. “Alright. I hear you two loud and clear. I will attempt to stay out of everyone’s way, without shooting ourselves in the damned foot by mistake.”

Archer’s player curses the fact that you have you use your ability each night.

Zach was flabbergasted at the response to his speech. He expected some pushback, but not to this adamant a degree.

"Mickey, you claim to be a doctor, and very well may have been the one who saved me Twilight 1 in the nightmare. Yes, there are some unexplained things, like how you died alongside Lucine in the story. Of course I don't know you're innocent. My own wife could be playing me for a fool somehow. But I trust her, and I trust you. Call me too trusting, perhaps, but I've always been one to try to simplify things. I just don't have the brainpower or the time to consider every possibility.

"There are things I just don't know. I don't know how the circles work. I don't know how the witches get their extra kill. If I did, I don't think I'd be able to fake being as messy and all-over-the-place as I've been.

"And another thing: You're saying it's not enough because I don't suspect you enough, and I'm being ignored by the people I do suspect. How can I be sure I'd ever be listened to?

"There is one final thing: What exactly do you learn from killing me again? I'm not the Golden Witch, so I don't have the killing power, and my ability doesn't go any further than what I've told you. I would hope Wyn would be able to investigate people even if they're dead, so getting rid of Vincent - an unashamedly uncooperative liar who does no good for us if kept alive - would be a more logical choice, and yet here you all are going for me. Why? Because I lived through almost all the story and all the nightmare? I've already said I had no control over that! I'm just completely lost on how else I can get through to all of you and make myself more clear.

"The reasoning for Maurice's vote is so shaky, I don't know how he's even still standing. Voting for me even though he doesn't think I'm a witch? Saying there's nothing to prove otherwise? Saying he wants to keep a completely uncooperative person alive because 'we can learn more information about him tonight?' Going along with everyone else, no doubt because I suspect him? If that isn't suspicious on its own, then I don't know what is."

---

Robin squeezed her husband's hand.

She was sure she was going to be sick.

These people... they were voting without any soul. Didn't even pretend they cared. Talked of murdering their own brother like it was a business transaction.

She was standing in a den of wolves. And they were going to devour the one person she couldn't live without. They were going to destroy the most human among them.

Robin's vision blurred and dimmed as she hyperventilated.

"Desperate times, desperate measures. My wife and daughter were violently killed with a shotgun just a short while ago, wielded by my dead mother. This madness has to end," Bertram said bitterly. "To that end, cold, hard logic is all we have. There's value in letting certain individuals live for just a while longer so we can learn what we can from them. The same can't be said for you, Zachary, much as it pains me to say. Your arguments are reasonable, but could well be the words of a witch: a witch would be capable of everything you've talked about, including being a target of the Golden Witch in that twilight you mentioned. My stance is unchanged."

Maurice gave a cold look to Zachary. "Don't be ridiculous. You know why we're keeping Vincent alive. If we lynch him early for the third time in a row without gaining any information, then we'll be just as lost as we were before. And then the witches could prevail once more. Frankly, my own instinct doesn't matter much at this point, simply cold hard facts. And as long as there's nothing clearing you directly, there's little we can do. Bertram is right, even a witch could say what you said just now. We could let you survive, but in this climate I doubt lynching nobody will help us in the slightest. As for my innocence, I have already suggested a way to confirm it. If it does not work out during the next night, then I shall yield in my defense. For now though, my stance hasn't changed. We need to work smart, and fast."

---

[THEME MUSIC]

Zachary finally stops arguing. He's completely tongue-tied, having made all the points he thought could save him. He stops feeling indignant, and starts to just feel lost and sad. He had no revelatory explanation for how deep he had made it into both of the other arcs. In his eyes, it was just fate.

In the end, it's deeply fruitless. Almost everyone has voted for him.

Robin holds Zachary's hand, and begs the others not to kill him, even as she herself can barely breathe.

It presents quite a difficult situation, where it becomes challenging to extract Robin from her place beside Zap. Nobody has any solution for the situation. They don't want to get into some sort of strength match with the Moonview Aunt.

Zachary, for his part can't help but cry a little in appreciation for Robin and her belief in him. It's so difficult to have such faith in this situation, but Robin completely believes in him.

Vincent, elsewhere in the manor, can't help but feel happy to hear the execution being so challenging for them.

[SCENE MUSIC]

Twilip sits hunched over James's body. Of course, without a gun, the family would have to make due with something else.

Bertram looks frozen, not sure what to do now, when Twilip stands up and walks past him, straight towards Zachary.

"Sorry brother, but I know the truth," she says grimly, with her fist full of the rest of James's poison. She forces it into his mouth when he tries to respond.

Robin and Zachary are shocked, as Twilip holds her brother's mouth closed. The dose is much higher than that which James ever used, and it seemed like maybe he had already had some unwittingly earlier.

His mouth foams and his eyes roll backwards. He falls to his knees and then crumples over.

Zachary Moonview is dead.

"Twilip!" Robin's eyes widened in horror as the woman stuffed the poison down Zach's throat. Robin was frozen on the spot - until her husband was released. In a blur, she found herself on the ground next to him while foam came out of his mouth.

"Zach!" she gasped. "No, nonononono. Honey, stay with me. Stay with me!" She cupped his jaw to guide his sight to her, but his eyes were rolled back, unfocused.

She scrambled to position herself on top of him and began to administer CPR.

Last edited by UkuleleLady on Tue Jun 16, 2020 4:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The sound of footsteps approaching the dining room can be heard just before Vincent enters the dining room.

"Yo, guys, I'm back from my alone time..." Vincent said just before he see Robin doing CPR to Zach, who have foam coming out of his mouth. His eyes widen in shock. "What the hell happened to Zach?"

Eventually, someone filled Vincent in on what happened while he was away.

"God... Zach didn't deserves to go like that..." was all the musician could say in response to what was going on.

"We did what we had to do," Bertram said, before placing a hand on Robin's shoulder to try and gently draw her away. "He's gone, Robin. Even a small dose is lethal, and he received a lot more than that. If it's any consolation, such a high dosage meant it was probably quick..."

"That was... A lot of poison", Maurice remarked. He didn't seem to say anything else, mainly because he looked like he was about to throw up from the scene before him.

---

"I'd say that was... a weird thing to do, Twilip." Violet comments, her eyes widened at the scene.

Robin had no idea how long she did chest compressions for. It could have been a minute. It could have been ten.

She already knew that when you do CPR on someone, you will sometimes cause one of their ribs to break away from their breastbone.

It didn't stop her from being startled the first time it happened. The snap was so loud. She hesitated for barely a moment before continuing.

Robin couldn't see what was going on, could no longer make out Zach's features through the tears. That didn't matter.

The second time she heard a snap, she cried out but pressed on. But her rhythm became more and more erratic as her muscles gave way to the exertion. Zach still wasn't moving.

She couldn't tell what the rest of the family was doing - couldn't hear them over her own voice, begging and cursing, hoarse from the strain of saying nothing coherent at all. She didn't even feel Bertram's hand on her shoulder. That didn't matter.

Exhausted, she collapsed. Her shaking body curled itself around her husband's. Her head found its familiar resting spot in the crook of his shoulder. Robin buried her face in that spot, screamed and sobbed into it.

It didn't matter.

Nothing mattered anymore.

Uncle Billy winced uncomfortably, shuffling away from the scene.

“Geez, where you even get all poison, Twily. That was little terrifying. I guess something had to be done, but still...” he seemed a little uncertain.

---