dramatispersonae | TURQUOISE

[ Reality twangs uncomfortably in the Ring around you, and next thing you know, you're standing with your teammates beneath an apple tree. No one else is anywhere to be seen.

Faith's voice sounds. ]

You believe in so many--

[ The crackling of paper, the turning of pages. ]

--so many things. Tell me, which of these would you pick to believe in? To save you and fulfill you.

[ Fourteen scrolls materialize around you, with words on them. Approach, and the words will echo in your head: ]

"Our team." "Ourselves and our ability to persist in being as such, as long as we live and breathe; our own reality." "Kindness." "Family, our own blood." "Bravery, determination, and adventure." "The little things in life." "Change and growth." "Being at the top." "Happy endings." "Justice." "Inner strength." "Friends and friendship." "Delicious pie." "Our own personal truths."

[ At the foot of the apple tree, a silver box appears. It can fit exactly three scrolls. ]

Explain to me why

explain to me why

[ Reality stutters around you. ]

you believe so much

you believe in each other

[ Crack. A break runs down the center of the world before you. ]

What have I believed in?

Who am I?

I am...not what the Story made me.

I am not virtuous. All I have is pain.

I can be bad.

[ Reality dissolves, and then you're back in the Ring... ]

[ Reality warps once more, and you're falling through warm rain to the distant sound of weeping.

You land on the bottom of a huge, open-topped glass case that towers over you. Water sloshes around the glass, slowly but surely rising. Beyond the waters, you can see the blurry outlines of several other teams trapped in glass like you.

There is nothing here except the silver box from the first round. The scrolls are still inside it, but each of them is now wrapped around a handful of small glittering tokens--some silver, some gold.

Sorrowful's voice sounds once more. ]

Each of you shall take a token from the box and suffer the punishment bound to it. Refuse to do so, and your shelter will shatter and you will drown immediately. Take them, and you may survive long enough to be rescued. If anyone takes pity on you!

[ In the distance, somewhere, there is still the sound of weeping. ]

[ The weeping in the distance grows louder and louder as you attend to your terrible tasks, until finally, the voice of Handless Faith reaches you again. ]

Stop! I remember--

I remember--

I have learned of hope.

[ The voice of Weiss of Sterling reaches you from somewhere far away. ]

If there's one thing I'm grateful for, above all, about being here, it's that I've learned how to have hope. It's not an easy thing when you're under pressure, but here, that pressure has lessened enough that it's all right to take a moment and hope for something good.

I'm glad for that, and I hope other people are experiencing the same thing.

[ Magical glyphs appear around you, drawing away your pain and erasing your wounds. ]

[ Your surroundings shimmer and fade, returning you to the Ring... ]

ROUND ONE

ROUND TWO

Round Three

IN THE END . . .