dramatispersonae

CITRINE

[The room is circular and surrounded by a series of ionic columns, the floor and ceiling stretching overhead fashioned out of cracked, white stone. The area beyond the columns is pitch black, and the room itself is lit only by dimly flickering candles. The candles rest on top of a stone table, which sits in the middle of the room.

And next to the candles rest four numbered boxes]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

-- I didn't say I'd take extra bad stuff from you!

[ but SO RELIEVED that you're not objecting to the idea of not passing damage on ]

Tough! We're figuring this out together.

But leave the new guy out of it.

That's up to him. He gets a say too.

He just got here! It's not right.

Of course it's not right! Nothing we do will be right for him, so we might as well let him make his own decisions about what he wants to do. If he doesn't want to take it, we won't force him, but you think it's any easier to watch?

[ okay, okay, percy gets what you're saying is right, even though selfishly he'd rather just take all the damage while everyone else has a tea party in the corner -- but adding as a last-ditch effort, with a tone of resignation to what you're saying ]

-- he could close his eyes?