END GAME: THE COUNTDOWN STARTS

[sailmods]

[the prisoners wake up on cold, hard floors.

the lights are bright, glaring, a sterile cell with sterile bars facing a sterile hall. the prisoners with you, across from you, and no one else. no rocking of a ship in waves, nothing. just the prisoner and their prison.

time passes, one assumes. the rhythmic click of Friday’s heels down the hall. it’s almost like the ticking of a clock.]

Comments

[decohere]

Yeah, I was wondering if it were some sort of trap. But. It'd be a pointless one, when she already has us caught. [she's not allowing herself to get as wound up in her paranoia, no second guessing right now. just taking advantage of the opportunity presented with the belief that they're capable of somehow winning. nothing else.]

... [she watches, frowning with concern that he's unable to put it back.] Well. It would have been funny.

[light_mischief]

It would have been very funny. And believe me, I'm willing to disassemble myself piece by piece to get out of here, but the bars are too narrow for anything more than my fingers.

[case in point, he holds his bone out between two fingers.] Want a bit of me to remember me by?

[decohere]

... Humerus, even. [of course she's hiding how worried she is behind bad jokes.

she reaches out, delicately takes the small bit of bone. and smiles weakly.] I'll keep it safe. Or shove it down her throat. One of the two.

[light_mischief]

It should be big enough to choke her with, just so long as you also put your hands around her throat.

[he looks through the bars as best he can to take in the other freed prisoners, his voice dropping in volume so that the chatter will mask it.]

If you see an opportunity to get out, take Fio and Darcy and go. Don't hesitate. The four of you getting out will make all of this worth it.

[decohere]

[Ava closes her eyes as she weighs the low chance of success, them against every impossibility] You know neither of them would ever forgive me. [the matter of forgiving herself is another entirely, one she knows is already too far in debt to ever come close to settling.

but them alive and safe and free is worth a lifetime of resenting her, probably.]

I'll look for whatever opportunities I can to make this right.

[light_mischief]

They'd get over it. [he tilts his head.] Besides, I'd expect you to come back. But we may need reinforcements. People unhindered by Malin's control. You, Peter, and Darcy can be trusted to find the right people for the job.

[decohere]

[she doubts it. the same way she doubts either would even listen to her if it came down to it. but she understands for his sake, being helplessly stuck behind bars while those he loves risk their lives to rescue the love of his life... that he needs to hear it. she nods. appreciates that he still trusts her, despite her inability to ever prove that she deserved it.]

Of course I'd always come back for you, Skulduggery. But. We are the right people for the job. Darcy and Fio, they're so strong and capable. You raised them right.