recolle | [closed-ish] if the clouds don't clear

[Hell Manor. That's what Dante had called it last month. The ghost possessions and Dante somehow losing the memories and powers of his other-self. Togusa's words echo in his head. "They figured out ... that someone had poisoned the children of the Spinnato family in an attempt to kill off the family line."]

You mean where the kids were--

[Tatsuo chokes before he can say the word 'poisoned,' because he's noticed the size of the beds the two of them are currently tied to. Far too small for an adult. These are children's beds.]

[When did the beds change size? Dante didn't hadn't even noticed, but he certainly does now. If they're in the children's room, then that would mean...

"Or perhaps it's time for the both of you to take your medicine," Ghost muses, and out of the darkness comes another ghostly figure, the nursemaid, a bottle and two glowing spoons in hand. Her fingernails are longer than they have any right to be, and there seems to be some sort of coating--poison--glistening on them and beading up. She stops between the beds, expertly pouring out a measure of some liquid into the first of the glowing silver spoons.

Dante's eyes go wide as he watches her pour, shaking his head and looking over to Tatsuo.]

Don't take any of it!

[Unfortunately, should they struggle too much, the sheets will also separate into straps to bind their legs down, too, so how much they can resist the nanny's medicine is questionable.

Ghost is watching all of this go down with that little smile on his face, and his gameshow host voice hasn't broken as he asks: "So, gentlemen, what'll it be? A chance at the information you seek and an escape, or will the both of you have a bitter elixir to swallow?"

Dante knows there's no good answer, and he looks to Tatsuo to see if he's got some sort of guidance. He doesn't know, he's never known. He's never been prepared to take on this hell.]

[Tatsuo tries to stay calm, but it is really, really hard when that nanny looking ghost clearly wants to poison then. Soooo apparently that's hold the children died. Lovely.

Tatsuo looks between the nanny and the noose-ghost a couple times. Honestly, he didn't like the look of that poison. He settles on the noose-ghost.]

No. No, we'll play. Just... erm... could you explain the rules of the game again?

[Dante takes a deep breath as the nursemaid halts, a glare on her face as she turns to look toward Ghost. Ghost shrugs in return, and without any further discussion, the nursemaid pours the medicine back into the bottle, capping it and standing between the both of them at the heads of their beds. Dante can see Tatsuo if he looks, but it's very surreal, seeing him through the body of the woman. She seems more spirit-like than ghost, more ethereal in the way she glides and the way she appears, but Dante's got no doubt that she's just as dangerous (if not more so!) than the butler is.

Ghost, however, is already moving on. He points in a random direction and an invisible audience breaks into applause and cheers. "And we're back!" he declares, the epitome of their host-with-the-most. "The rules are easy: answer each question with the best question to get as many points as you can. Ready?"

It doesn't matter if they're ready or not.

"Let's try this one again: name a method of killing someone that doesn't leave any trace."

Dante's mind is racing as the timer starts ticking down again. He doesn't want to win. He can't win--he can't sit here and watch Tatsuo die too; how many times will he have to see it if he does? But he also can't let on the fact that he's trying to throw the game, either. What would work without being right?]

Drowning.

["Answer each question with the best answer to get as many points as you can." That does not give Tatsuo that kind of information he actually wants. But fine. FINE. He'll have to play this by ear. Tatsuo glances at Dante from the corner of his eyes... through the nanny ghost. If they've somehow been yanked back out of reality again, like Tatsuo thinks they have, he has to get Dante out of here. Somehow.

What method of killing someone doesn't leave any trace? As a CSI, Tatsuo can think of a few. Some real, some not so real.]

Air embolism.

[If one is to believe various medical dramas. Though Tatsuo is aware this is more fiction than fact.]

[An air embolism? Dante stares at Tatsuo for a moment blankly, but his attention goes back to Ghost as their scores roll up: 15 points for Dante, 5 for Tatsuo. Unfortunately, as this is Dante's dream, he can't be awarded for points the boy doesn't recognize!

"Air embolism?" Ghost scoffs. "How would someone do that out here?"

But Tatsuo will get a chance to come back as Ghost flips to the next cue card. "Next question," he says. "What sort of knife found in a kitchen is most effective for use on other living creatures?"]

A... cleaver?

[He can't very well say a bread knife, can he? Not without Ghost figuring out what his game is.]

[Dante might just have the advantage again this round, because Tatsuo... is not the best in the kitchen. He knows there are different kinds of knives... but he doesn't really know what they're all called or what they're all used for. Though as he looks at the ghost in slight horror, because these are some seriously grisly questions and the ghost is asking them without batting a figurative eye, a answer comes to mind.]

A boning knife?

[He's pretty sure that's a real knife? He thinks?]

[A boning knife is a good answer! Their scores come up on the boards: 15 for Dante, bringing him to a total of 30, and 25 for Tatsuo, tying it up.

"Last question," Ghost says. "For the game: A man and a wife and their two children inherited a house from his ancestors. This house has been in the man's family for generations and with the house came several features including a maid, a butler, and a nanny. One day the family discovers the children dead in their beds and the maid, the butler, and the nanny are the suspects.

"Name three reasons why the husband and wife blamed each other instead."

Dante knows the answer--of course he does. This is the question he'd messed up on before, the question that had led to him accidentally getting Toushiro killed. He takes a deep breath and carefully arranges his expression to one of concentration, as though he's having to think about what the answer could possibly be.

He's not making this mistake again. Not if he can help it. He's waiting until Tatsuo answers first.]

[Shit. Did Togusa ever say anything about what else happened to the Spinnato family? The children were poisoned... probably on the orders of Vanderweele. But was there other family drama playing out at the same time? Tatsuo tried to remember what everyone had found out about the Spinnato family, but he keeps drawing blanks. As the timer starts to run down, Tatsuo spits out the most soap opera-y answer he can think of. Something so completely ridiculous it has to be wrong.]

Because the husband was having an affair with the maid and the wife with the butler! Because their marriage was already falling apart due to arguments over the husband's business dealings. And therefore they were too distracted to notice the children were in danger.

[That... wasn't really three reasons was it...]

[Okay, note to him, never rely on Tatsuo for game show success. Dante's glad he didn't go first, even if it puts him in the awkward position now of throwing the game intentionally and hoping Ghost hasn't figured him out. (Ghost probably has him figured out, honestly.) He doesn't want to just let the timer run out though; he doesn't want Tatsuo to realize what he's doing...]

Drugs, fear of prison, the wife had always hated the mansion.

[Ghost narrows his eyes at the both of them. "The wife was having an affair with the butler? You can't be serious. She would have never, and neither would he. And drugs? Where would they have gotten any?"

For an instant Dante's afraid Ghost has seen through him (ha, ha), but he shakes his head and goes on: "Extraordinarily poor answers for our last round, gentlemen. But there has to be a winner..."

Tatsuo. You get one point. Dante, however, gets zero.

"Ill luck!" their host continues, a creepy smile crossing over his face as he surveys Dante. "But for every ill, there's a medicine, and it looks like it's time to take yours."

He'd thought he knew what was coming--Dante had been ready for the blades to fall from the ceiling, for whatever was going to happen when the sharp edge cut into him. But he's not ready for the nursemaid to step away from her self-appointed watch, pouring the poisoned medicine onto her spoon once more. His eyes go wide as he realizes what's going to happen to him this time, a sudden fear flooding him as she comes nearer.]

Wha--no! You can't!

[And thus the penalty of losing is revealed. Or rather, the benefit of winning. You're not the one to get poisoned.

The blood drains from Tatsuo's face as the ghost of the nursemaid approaches Dante. He struggles against the bindings holding him to the headboard, but rather than getting looser, they just get tighter.]

No! Leave him alone! Get away from him!

[Tatsuo looks over at the ghost hanging from the noose]

WHY?! Why are you doing this?!

["Why?" Ghost still wears that smile on his face as he turns toward Tatsuo, watching him out of the corner of his eye. "Because of the family feud."

It's not a satisfactory answer, but what can you expect when Dante's full attention is on the nursemaid as she stops beside the bed, extending the spoon toward him. By this point he's forgotten that it's a nightmare entirely, and he tries to pull away from the bed but he's bound tight, more ties coming from the sheets to still his legs and pin his shoulders up against the headboard. Out of sheer desperation he tries to set his jaw and refuse to open his mouth, but the answer to that is too easy and the nanny is too used to misbehaving children; she covers his nose with her other hand, blocking his airway until he's forced to gasp for breath... and that's it.

There's no taste to the medicine as he takes it, but there's a burn in his throat as he swallows hard. The nursemaid steps back and disappears into the air, her job done, and Tatsuo will find himself freed from the bed. "That's all the time we have for tonight, folks," Ghost announces, one hand going up to the noose's rope above his head. "Thanks for playing, boys, and sweet dreams." He pulls on the rope, and it rises back up into the ceiling, carrying him out of sight as all the rest of the game show trappings fade away into nothing.

The only things left in the room now are Tatsuo, Brob, and Dante, who is feeling sicker by the moment.]

It's okay, Tatsuo.

["It's better me than you," is what he doesn't say.

Dante feels like he's overheating, his hair sticking to the back of his neck, his heartbeat racing. He tips his head back against the headboard, taking a deep breath to try and calm himself as he waits for the poison to kick in...

In the nightmare, Dante's eyes go glassy as the life goes out of them.

In the real world, Dante wakes with a start, almost falling out of bed in his haste to bolt to the bathroom so he can be sick, the acid in the back of his throat a very real and sour taste.]

[The moment the bed releases him, Tatsuo stumbles over to Dante's, his legs half-numb from the constriction. But it's too late and there's nothing he can do but watch Dante die.

He's is still screaming when he snaps awake. Somehow he's back on the bed and the weird lightbulb guy has gone out. The feel of the covers around his legs and against his torso set off a feeling of panic. Thrashing violently, Tatsuo rips free of his bedding and crashes to the floor next to his bed (luckily missing his night stand.). Sensing a wall next to him, Tatsuo scrambles to his feet and presses his back to it, trying to see through the darkness. He can't go anywhere until he can see properly.

Gradually, his eyes pick up the soft glow of streetlights coming through the window above his bed, and he recognizes his room. With a choked sob of relief, he realizes it was a dream. A horrible, horrible dream... but a dream. Slowly, he slides down the wall until he's sitting, his knees pulled up to his chest. They hadn't been yanked out of reality again. It had just been a nightmare.

It's a long time before Tatsuo falls back asleep... but when he does, he's still there, sitting on the floor, the looming shadow of his bed in front of him.]

[closed-ish] if the clouds don't clear

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IGNORE ME. IDK WHY IT WAS BUGGING ME SO MUCH.