voice;

[entreats]

So, can the witch in charge come out yet?

[ It's a simple statement, and for a moment it does sound like the message might just cut off there. Just that one flat statement, seemingly devoid of any emotion aside from a vague hint of annoyance.

But then there's a sound that's faintly like a step, then a grumble, and then the message continues anyway. Still mostly deadpan, but a little more annoyed this time. ]

Sure, I get it. The whole crime and punishment theming? Very cute. Maybe start using that talent to build an amusement park or something more productive next time, if this sort of thing is your hobby. Either way, it's really not done to let yourself be heard on the way in, and then just act like you're not there.

[ A slight pause-- and then a sigh. ]

Just tell me someone can point me to the witch. I really don't have time to be beating around the bush.

Comments

[alethiological]

Will.

[ Aaaaand nothing else. The Narration would like to apologize to Ange and her inevitably rising stress levels. But she brought up that cursed island, so it's... fine. The voice from that first message doesn't match. At the very least, this person is not her. ]

A bit.
Who's asking?

[entreats]

[ A name she doesn't recognize. She doubts it's even a full name. Is this person being guarded like she is, or just someone messing with her? It feels impossible to tell, no matter how many times Ange reads the words, as if looking for a clue.

Which makes the only solution maybe meeting in the middle. Actually providing some information on her end too.

If this person is some witch, then they surely already know who she is anyway. Her name isn't valuable information in that case. ]

Ange Ushiromiya.

[ She leaves it at that, just to see whether this person recognizes the name - or has any reaction at all. ]

[alethiological]

[ One thought is finally thrown back to check the Records (voice match: 'Gretel', Rokkenjima Fragments, fourth game. Alias of-) yeah, yeah, don't need the whole thing. Ah, hell. Turning off the network and dropping the conversation would've been easy, if it were anyone else. ...But it's Ange. Not some sick onlooker, but someone directly involved in that tragedy. A girl who spent two thirds of her life trying to find an answer, and her grief was turned into a chess piece in a board game. Her entire existence relegated to a footnote for the enjoyment of monsters.

It's not right. ]

I'm sorry for your loss.

[ It's not right, and blowing her off or being short with her isn't an option. Sentences it is. ]

I'm not getting into this in public. I'm aware that makes it harder to trust anything I say, so I won't ask for it. Best I can offer is credentials. Grand Court finally got off their ass after the fourth game. In my case, I was called on to execute Beatrice.

I have no intention of toying with you like those witches did. Whatever answers I can give, I will. Just in person.

[entreats]

[ Grand Court. Like that Dlanor girl she read about with Featherine? He said his name was Will, but Ange can't remember anyone with that name showing up in that story of the sixth game. Wait, he came to execute Beatrice?

A whirlwind of thoughts moves through Ange's mind, though it ends up sticking on the fact it seems like he's being nice to her. Acknowledging her loss. Not asking her to trust him. Willing to provide answers.

With how little kindness Ange has received in her life, it feels highly suspicious.

But-- what else can she do? If this is one of the few things she has to hold on to here, she has to at least find out more. It's not like she hasn't walked into far more dangerous things before. ]

Let's meet up then.

[ Ange is infinitely grateful for the fact that hiding behind text makes her seem really cool and collected right now, when she feels like anything but. ]

Where are you?

[alethiological]

[ For one fleeting, hope-stained moment, an assumption remains unbroken. He won't be going anywhere, nor will anyone else, so surely, surely, Ange will prioritize asking questions about where she is and how she got here and whatever else humans go on about when they're shafted into a different Fragment. Surely, she would not be so distracted by this that she would drop everything to get them immediately.

This is a queue from the Narration for all the Observers to laugh. Of course she would. And he's an idiot for thinking otherwise. ]

Inn. They have rooms for newcomers. Sort that out first.
I'm not going anywhere.

[entreats]

You're not my dad.

[ Sorry, Will.

The stubborn streak of the Ushiromiya apparently doesn't end even at their youngest.. Because Ange is absolutely shoving everything else aside in favour of going to find him first. There's no way she can focus on anything else while all of this is haunting the back of her mind anyway. Ange is already heading in the direction of the inn even while she's writing all of this to him. ]

I need answers first. Everything else can wait a few moments. So stay there.

[alethiological]

Hope not. His dress sense is terrible.

[ Sayth the sinner who wears a scarfbelt.

But honestly, what did he expect. That whole bloodline is all stubborn and zero self-preservation. Can't even do the bare minimum. The only positive side to Ange's warpath is being in the inn means he can just scruff her and drag her to the desk afterward. ]

I said I'm not going anywhere.
No uniform, one arm. Shout if it's too crowded to see.

[entreats]

[ There's no reply.

Mostly because Ange wants to get to the inn and meet this person as soon as possible - and because there's so much to think about in that reply he gave her all the same. One arm? Did this person lose one, or is it just some weird potential supernatural being thing?

And does he really know enough about Rokkenjima to know her dad?

Ange paces as quickly as she can, making her way over to the inn. It is crowded in there, but Ange would rather die than shout in a place this full of people and make a fool of herself, so rather than actually giving that shout, she just looks around the best she can - the benefit of being relatively fun-sized compared to a lot of people here is that she can easily make her way through the crowds.

It's the 'one arm' description that mostly helps her, since it's not exactly something that applies to most people here. It helps her spot him in the crowd, making her way over, feeling the way her heart pounds so loudly with anticipation and questions she can hear it up in her own ears.

Ange tries to not let it show though. Careful to keep up her pokerface until she's sure what to think of this person, she instead just opens her mouth to say: ]

Wow, I can't believe you were saying that about my father when you dyed a single streak of your hair to try and look cool.

[ ... hi, Will... Nice to meet you too, bud...

Look, this is just Ange's one (1) coping method when she's too nervous to say anything else, or to ask any of the stuff that's actually on her mind right away. You're getting the same treatment her brother got. ]