VIDEO | UN: Trafalgar

[kikoku]

[The video feed that opens up on Law has a bit of a jarring background of metal and glowing screens, a sight many will recognize as the stasis pods aboard Thesa Station. He's taken an excursion in the midst of everyone's weird forest adventure. He's sitting now on the floor of the chamber, back up against one of the control panels to the pods. It's an especially odd place to be, because if you squint you'll notice that there's a chair within view of where he's sat, yet he's still chosen to remain on the cold metal floor.

He doesn't actually speak right away, simply staring blankly at the feed as if he'd turned it on as an afterthought. When he does speak, it's with a heavy bitterness as if he's been wronged in some way. As far as he's concerned, he has been, but he's certainly not going to speak openly about that.]

Do you ever think maybe we're all dead and this is actually hell? I've been thinking about it and I think it explains a lot about our situation.

[Anyone who's met Law before knows that his resting state is looking vaguely tired. Today is different. This isn't even the sleep deprived tiredness he'd had when he was working overtime tending to the injured months ago in the aftermath of the dragon. No, this is something different, an emotional exhaustion, manifesting as a redness around the eyes rather than just his usual dark circles.

Comments

Video; UN: kingofconquerors

[conqueredhearts]

No. Because you're here with me.

[He sure did say that with a straight face.]

[kikoku]

[The slumped posture Law's sitting in seems to get even more pronounced. Damnit, Iskandar, can you not be smooth and charming for just a minute, Law is having a Mood.]

I truly don't understand how you can be so positive all the time.
[This is always true, but especially right now, he cannot possibly fathom where he can pull that confidence from.]

[conqueredhearts]

Not all the time. However, I find that because people look up to me and follow me that I should give them a bright path to follow. So they won't get lost along the way.

[He smiles a little and gives a shrug.]

But I still don't think this Hell. Based on the little I know of the concept that would require no pleasures at all and I've had many here.

text; @unchained

[hedonistic]

[He has a Feeling about this, considering their last conversation, but he'll do Law the courtesy of sticking to text. It's easier to hide your emotions that way.]

idk man
i told you this place was way better for me than where i was before
but i'm definitely dead so i mean, i'm not exactly counterevidence to your theory

Text

[kikoku]

[Kagari’s the real mvp for this move, the only reason the initial post wasn’t in text was because Law literally just didn’t have the presence of mind to switch it.]

You being dead is definitely only proving my point.
Maybe it’s just some sort of purgatory instead, then.
That should still make sense.

Text - oops i forgot to hit send

[hedonistic]

haha maybe
you want to get a drink, dude?
seems like you could use one or ten

[look how nice he's being not even nosily asking once. he's tamping down on his natural obnoxiousness hardcore for u rn.]

video; un: lemonadecandy

[lemonadecandies]

Sorry--I don't know you, but--

Did something happen? [Almost definitely a stupid question, but bud you look like shit, and given the stasis chambers . . . well, she's honestly worried.]

[kikoku]

Nothing's happened. The station's operating normally as far as I can tell.

[He knows that's not what she meant, but he's not willing to address it honestly at the moment.]

[lemonadecandies]

[ah...........]

It just seems like an abrupt thing to say out of nowhere, if nothing's happened.

voice - to - text : un: priorly

[priorly]

It's not hell. Too cold, not enough Republican presidents.

Has something happened in the stasis bay?

[Look, the ship was ejecting pods into deep space at random a few weeks ago. If that's happening again he needs to know.]

text

[kikoku]

[He's got no idea how to react to that first bit, especially because he doesn't know what Republican means. He's gonna write it off as a joke.]

Nothing for anyone else to be worried about.
[It's a personal problem, is what he means but won't say.]

text, un: diablo

[thedarkbond]

[The irony of responding to a post like this with a username like the one he's picked is not lost on Ren, but boy is he going to make it look like it is.]

hmm, i don't know, it kind of seems like there's too many nice people here for that... ( ु⁎ᴗ_ᴗ⁎)ु

you look kind of upset about something, though

text

[kikoku]

[It's fine, Law will just assume it's unironic and Ren is actually a demon.]

I didn't invite questions about my mental state, thanks.
[This is for Hell Discussion and Hell Discussion only.]

Anyway I've updated my theory to Purgatory, does that resolve your problem?

( text | un: sweetie )

[retrorsum]

I've seen Hell, this isn't it.

( this is probably the closest to truth river will ever get on the subject and yet she's going to laugh it off as if she was joking. them being dead isn't the worst idea though )

text

[kikoku]

Everyone seems so sure this isn't hell. Maybe it's just a different sort of Hell than the one people may be used to.

[There's no reason really to assume she's joking, but Law's erring on the side of Being Irreverent in any case.]

text | un: yusei

[planetary_bonds]

The Hell I've seen before was a bit less lively than this.

[There's a bit of a pause before he finally decides to answer again.]

Maybe this is Purgatory instead.

[second chance at life/heaven/repenting for your sins/what have you.]

Re: text | un: yusei

[kikoku]

Yes after some discussion that is my revised theory.

Why have so many people here seen Hell itself already.
[It's been like two, but that's still far more than he'd ever have predicted.]

video; un: chika

[agua]

I think that's a very negative way to look at this.

[ Why don't you smile, weird sad guy? It's easy. ]

[kikoku]

You're correct. I'm a very negative person.

[Just completely deadpan. If he were in a better mood, he might crack one of his typical sarcastic smiles, but Chika, you really don't want Law to smile because he's incapable of doing it in a way that isn't sarcastic or sinister.]
What's your point?

[shashka]

No, because I've seen worse.

[kikoku]

It isn't a competition.
[This terse reply is what you get for undermining his point.]

video; guess whomst

[semblant]

If only it were so easy.

[Moreover, there's no way Law's talking so literally. They may've only had one 'brief'...intimate...weird...key encounter, but that look of his is entirely too transparent.]

What's the matter?

this is bad for Law's blood pressure

[kikoku]

[A very complicated mix of feelings bubbles up in Law's chest when he sees Solomon's face, which is honestly the last thing he needs right now, he can barely handle one emotion at a time. Certainly, he'd spent a lot of time belaboring over the things that had transpired the last time he'd seen the man. Mulling over his own mistakes is one of Law's most frequent hobbies, after all.

But here's Solomon acting as if nothing strange had happened. Though, he is a vampire. Maybe none of it had been strange to him? Maybe he had forgot? Law knew he couldn't be so lucky. Still, after sitting unresponsive for a few moments, doing his anxiety gymnastics, Law decides to show a bit of his hand to Solomon, more freely than he had to most.]

... I found something I wasn't expecting in the stasis pods.
[He says something, as if it could be anything besides a person he knows.]

text. un: scotty.

[kludging]

no. not because i don't believe in hell, though i don't, but because it's just not a likely answer. things are oddly idyllic in between problems, don't you think?

perhaps 'calm' is a better term. it's different than anything i've experienced before, but it's not hell. if it were, no one would be in tubes waiting to wake up: they'd all be suffering at the same time.

[kikoku]

What makes you so sure that the people in here are going to wake up? Have you actually seen someone come out of one? It could all be a false front.

It's not like magic is out of the question in a place like this.
[Look for Law's new conspiracy column on Fantasy Infowars.]