video; un: Albus Dumbledore (cw: discussion of executions)

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video; un: Albus Dumbledore (cw: discussion of executions)

[Dumbledore just looks exhausted. It has been an especially rough summer for him for a number of reasons, and it shows in the tiredness on his face.

Still, he puts on a weary smile when he starts to speak, his voice calm and sad.]

If I had to guess, I imagine this particular month has been the deadliest one we've seen in quite some time. Probably even more so than our time on the Titanic.

[Which had been its own nightmare, watching so many people die all at once, then crashing into the ocean and knowing Credence would die while he was too busy drowning to help. He's not sure which is worse, the chaos of that night or the long, drawn-out torment of these trials.]

I've seen at least six people executed on the feed alone, but I know that there have been many other trials in town. Presumably other executions as well.

I suppose it would be helpful to know who is still left and who is now missing. I imagine there will be a flood of people who will be enduring the aftereffects of death in a few weeks' time, and it would be good to prepare for that.

[And then, sounding even more melancholy:]

And I imagine it would be good for everyone to know which of their friends are merely missing and which ones are truly dead.

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What aftereffects?

[There was more to unpack there than that, but this was the important part to start.]

When people die here, they return after a few weeks, but they will feel some effects for a time after that.

I know that the first death in this place results in the recently deceased feeling incredibly weak and ill for the next fourteen days. I've experienced it, and it is a very unpleasant time.

I know that the effects are more severe if a person has died multiple times here, including loss of memories, but I am not as familiar with those.

Okay...

How can I help him when he comes back, then?

I suppose in the same way you would help someone with the flu, or some other heavy illness. He'll likely need rest, warmth, and plenty of fluids for a few weeks, so if he can be provided with those things, all the better.

Okay... I can do that.

['Sick' was easier to deal with than 'dead' for sure.]

Thanks.

[He didn't like asking for help and, by all rights he hadn't, more that it had found him, but he wasn't above acknowledging his appreciation where it was due.]

[He nods, wearing a small, sad smile.]

Not at all. It's better if we all know ahead of time. It will make things easier when the departed return to us.

I don't like the validity of these trials but the deaths are real, just the same.

Even if they will return to suffer even further.

[Loki looks more exhausted than usual, a shadow of guilt lurking around him.]

That they are. No matter whether or not these trials or just, a death is a death.

And even though the Sleepers will come back, it does not eradicate the pain they endured.

This place is harsh. It's trying to break us.

Oh, I'm sure it is.

And I'm sure it is succeeding with some of the Sleepers, no doubt.

I wish I knew what to do. What the right thing to do was.

I admit, I feel the same.

I don't feel comfortable giving judgement on the others here in this town when the trials and justice provided are so warped.

I haven't participated either. Even if the evidence in most is incredibly damning.

I feel much the same. Even those that are guilty to not deserve a trial like this one, with immediate torment and death.

This town twists everything into the worst possible scenario.

That it does. Even if one believed in executions for crimes, this method of going about it seems barbaric.

[A look of concern on The Doctor's face. His tone is sympathetic and soft.]

I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry.

[A pause.]

Would you like to stay with Jack and me for a bit?

[He smiles very sadly at that, doing his best to be stoic.]

Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate it.

[At the offer, he considers a moment.]

I have to watch Asher at the house -- but I think I could stay over for a night.

[The Doctor is holding back pain for his friend. He tried- he tried so hard to convince the court, otherwise. His best wasn't good enough. The Doctor really didn't believe Gellert deserved condemnation. And of course, doesn't want Albus aching in his heart.

A slow head-nod.]

Oh, right. I moved.

[Considering the house reminded him too much of Rose. Ten sends Albus the new address.]

One of these days, I would be honored if you introduced me to Asher.

[He smiles a little more at the mention of Asher, nodding.]

Of course. You would like him. He's a very sweet boy, and very smart.

I'll be over soon, Doctor.

I'm glad to hear it's not usually this dangerous, I can't imagine everyone struggling to survive...all of this on a regular basis.

[And many of them failing. He's seen the trials.]

But it's just my luck to show up right before all this breaks loose. Is there even anything we can do about all of this other than hope we don't get pulled into one of these 'trials'? And avoid the robot bears. I guess we have to do that, too. Or fight them.

[And then there was the glass dome and the toxins in the air and the rumors on the walls...well, he supposes there's a lot they can do, there's just too much for them to actually put a stop to all the death.]

Edited 2020-07-23 02:56 (UTC)

[With a small, wry smile, he says:] I'm afraid it is generally rather dangerous here. But not to this level, at least, not most of the time. I suppose that is not much reassurance, but it's true enough.

[Looking pained, he says:] I believe some people have managed to escape their punishments with the aid of others -- and some have secured a verdict other than 'Guilty', though not without trouble. It seems there are way to fight this, but they are very difficult.

It's dangerous everywhere. It's dangerous back home, too. It's still reassuring that 'randomly getting pulled into a trial for a crime you may or may not have committed in another universe, and being executed if found guilty regardless of the nature of said crime' is the exception rather than the rule.

[Even if he'd rather it not happen at all.]

But if it is something we can fight, I'll have to make sure I'm ready in case I end up in another one of these 'trials'.

[He wants to be ready to break someone out if needed, after all.]

I was in a couple of juries.

That seems like it would be a wise idea. Especially if you are able to attend them in-person again, since it seems that the ones taking place remotely are impossible to reach from the outside.

[Trust him, he tried.]

I see. Were the accused in those trials executed?

The first one, no. The second one...she was sealed in a steel vault. Even if I had my flute on me, I'm not sure I could have gotten her out of there, but without it...

I just got pulled in. I didn't have the chance to grab anything.

I should have just attacked the bear with my bare hands.

[And he'd have probably lost that fight, since he was unarmed.]

You may not have been able to stop it, all the same. The bear is a minion of Mother Superior, and she holds great power here.

Unfortunately, we are all very much in her sway. For now, at least.

Albus... I am sorry about the whole affair with Gellert. He was being punished in your world, or will be. That was... This whole thing...

[A long suffering sigh.]

I believe that this has been as deadly as the riots and the plague. We had trouble keeping tabs during those events with how many died. There is a young man who tries to keep tabs at times, but I haven't seen him on. I hope he's staying safe.

[There's a brief second where he wonders exactly how she knows about Gellert and what will happen to him -- but he realizes that the answer is likely Gellert himself, of course.

Not that it matters, not then. For the moment, he is grateful for the kind words, nodding and wearing a sad smile.]

Thank you, Vira. This event has been...quite the test.

[Forcing himself to think of something else, he hones in on her words and says:]

I don't believe I was here for any riots. That must have been brutal.

[She didn't have the details, but at the trial, he'd said that he would be punished in his world, something she expected from their conversations in the past. So yeah, definitely Gellert himself in this case.]

It is a true and different sort of horror. To watch as you or those you love are judged by those with no right to sit in judgement, those unwronged. [She growled.] But that's enough of that.

The riots, yes... For a month and change the cats disappeared entirely. Even when some strange event occurs here and they turn a blind eye to us becoming violent, the cats still watch the natives at all times. It keeps all of us from our basest natures.

When they were gone, everyone took to the streets. All of the natives lost their collective minds and picked up weapons. Many of us did as well. A lot of deaths came at each others' hands. It is one of the times that cause me to the others to be ready to forgive.

My murderer that month is a good friend.

[She is right in that -- this is a new horror, one of helplessness and public mockery. He has weathered monsters and disasters in this place, but all of this feels worse, to watch others have their worst secrets laid bare before being killed where everyone can watch.

Dumbledore pushes that aside for a moment, listening to the rest. It sounds brutal, another form of deliberate cruelty aimed at ripping them all apart. When Vira finishes, he wears a sad smile.]

I am sorry you were forced through that. That everyone here was.

The horror, sometimes for me, is not the monsters. I have faced countless monsters. Years of fighting them, of every imaginable form and type. Rare is the beast or creature that could do more than give me a little nerves other than that damnable tunnel system beneath the town.

[A shake of the head. That one had been too much. Even for her.]

This place can teach you that even the most stalwart of us has a thing that can horrify us. Having to learn to forgive, knowing that the alternative is to lose the few people here you trust, for something that wasn't their fault?

It's a different kind of horror, but I think for some of us it is actually much worse than all the tentacled beasts in creation.

[With a sad, pained smile, Dumbledore nods at that.]

I would have to agree. There is horror in monsters and storms and weaponry, but there is something so deeply insidious in the ways this place can haunt our minds and our souls.

The idea that turns us and our fellows into different people feels more deeply wounding than any bite or cut they might inflict.

Mother Superior struck more surely this month tan she has in the past. We will recover, but it was a much worse blow than before, and you can hear the fatigue.

But we will have to remind them and strengthen them when we get past this.

That you can. And I can only imagine that whatever we are sent next month will only be worse with so many Sleepers being affected by sickness upon their return.

But you are right. We will need to strengthen them and prepare, all the same.

If we are fortunate, then whatever Mother Superior has planned right now will exhaust her temporarily, though I'm not feeling quite so optimistic at the moment. We will have to wait and see.

I suppose we shall.

Still, I suppose I am left to wonder if dreams can ever grow tired. But I imagine we'll see for ourselves soon enough.

We will. but remember. she at least believes she is not a dream. Even she can tire, so long as she believes it.

Take care, Albus.

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