Day 2, Part 1: What Nymph Saw

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Splitting your body was complicated, Nymph thought. It felt weird, and she- he today, actually- kept on commenting on things only to have the others look at her strangely and realize she was  referring to something one of her little scattered eyes saw. Worth it, though, because what she saw- about five in the morning, she guessed- she knew would be important.

Nymph was sitting on her bed in the form of a cat, curled up on the pillow a few minutes ago but now wide awake. One of her little ears had heard something. She crept downstairs, shifting into a butterfly cat combination to hover gently above the spiral staircase. With every step, her excitement grew. I’ll figure out who the Mafia is. Lilypad, probably. And then what? Viola? or Sea Glass would’ve helped me, but Sea didn’t come and Viola?...

She shifted into a mouse and stepped into one of the rooms where the voice had come from- no wonder her little eyes couldn’t see what was going on, the sound had came from behind a wall- but what Nymph saw was not a murderer, though just as interesting. 

A girl levitated-yes, levitated- a few feet above the floor. Her feathered cloak was floating out behind her, and she held an orb that seemed to be made of light, illuminating her face. Her eyes were closed, and she was whispering something. What is Shy Peacock doing here, in the middle of the night? A very small black moth fluttered up to Shy’s shoulder, so she could hear what they were saying. “I chose wrong,” Shy was whispering. “I saved HAB, and now Viola? is dead.”

Saved HAB? What is Shy talking about?

“No, you chose right.” Afterwards, Nymph couldn’t say where that voice came from, or what it sounded like, but it felt perfectly natural to be hearing it at the time. “It is just bigger things are afoot than you or I, Peacock. Another day is dawning. Choose again.”

Shy opened her eyes and began to sing, but in the same way the mysterious voice was speaking. Quiet, but a regular tone, and emanating from all corners of the room, which Nymph now saw was Shy’s bedroom. It felt like melted chocolate- no, like sinking into a hot tub. A bit scalding, but mostly just relief, washing away all the tension in a body. The light grew brighter, and brighter, until Nymph had to look away. 

When the room was filled with brilliant light, Nymph woke up. The sun was rising. C’mon, that’s the worst ending to any story. It was all a dream? Really, Chaan? Except she was not really sure that it was. And she wanted to talk to Shy as soon as possible.

Thanks HAB! I didn’t really plan it (though I have the last post written, so I know what everything’s coming too), I play Mafia a lot and this just happened. I love writing in Nymph’s perspective, by the way- I want to steal her and make her my OC now... 

That was an awesome journal entry, Shy! However...  the other voice is the murderer, but the murderer wasn’t supposed to remember what they did, and now I’m stuck. It wasn’t obvious, so I was thinking I could change it, but let’s see.

DUE TO BAD PLANNING, THE MURDERER NOW KNOWS WHO THEY ARE.

Next post will be from their perspective... ;) 

Day 2, Part 2: Shadows

NOTE: As I do not want to reveal the name of the murderer, she will go by the alias Kala(black). She does not know who the angel is, and she calls the angel (Shy), Saphed(white.)

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Kala yawned, stretched, and got up. Another sleepless night. Sometimes she cursed the inventor of Mafia for making everything happen at night, in the dark. But she had to act like everything was normal. She knew what happens to the murderer in that game, when they’re found out. Plus, there was the added difficulty of evading Marigold. Kala didn’t know what had made the cheery girl so nosey, but she was following Kala around like her life depended on it. Perhaps it did. This was a ski lodge, after all. Kala had been going to go after her next, but she felt bad. Mari was her friend. On the other hand, this was the CB. In a non-corny way, everyone was friends. She’d stayed up most of the night trying to decide, and she still hadn’t made a choice. Maybe Lilypad. Or Catsclaw.

I don’t want to kill anyone. That moment with Viola? actually felt really cool, like infinite power. But afterwards? Kala sighed. Then a thought struck her. No one’s making me choose. The deadline should have been last night, but when I didn’t choose then, nothing happened. Kala smiled, one of the rare grins that was purely happy, not tinged with sadness, or maniac like when she was killing Viola?. She was free.

Except her shadow, instead of following her along like a good illusion, started to move up towards her. It multiplied and grew. Kala turned around and barely had a chance to yell before it seeped into her, feeling like the temperature had dropped a good twenty degrees. Choose, a voice said inside her head. Oh no. Now not only do I have a fever, but I’m also schizophrenic. This is serious, Kala. These are the consequences of defying what you have to do. Kala breathed hard, trying to calm down. You’re a voice in my head. You can’t do anything. Yes, I can.

Kala collapsed, coughing. I have to tell Saphed. She managed to get her hands on the black orb and whisper “Help,” before the shadows took over. And made her choose. Because the rules of Mafia say that every night, the Mafia has to choose someone to kill. And I’ve always liked Mafia. It’s no fun when people break the rules.

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Welp, that was dark. Hope ya liked :)  I love study hall. I can just cricket away on a school Chromebook and pretend I'm doing work.

I love what you've done with Nymph's strategy, and Kala. Glad to see this is still going, too--you have good endurance!

Nymph~

Shy Peacock wasn't hard to find, given my eye plants. I tracked her down in the library and pulled her aside. She tried to slow down and ask stuff, but I told her someone might hear and got us to the second floor, where I shifted into a very large, soundproof piece of bark with a face on the inside, hiding us against one of the mangroves and growing phosphorescent patches so we could see each other.

I told her about my maybe-dream and asked her a bunch of questions, and... she says she's some kind of angel from the mafiya? She was pretty shifty about it. I think she's not ruling out the possibility that I'm the murderer. Smart, if it was realistic. I made my case to her (without too many details, of course) and we're going to watch out for what happens next, try to figure out who it is. 

I'm not going to die before this is up--I've got everything perfected in my body, poison resistance and shielded organs, although I can always regrow anything I need. I'm also keeping food just about everywhere. Eye plants aren't going to feed themselves. 

I have some doubt that Shy is the murderer. I'm still watching her, though. It would be stupid to assume I can trust her just like that.

Dear Diary,

Nymph found me. Nymph found me. She had apperantley scattered eyes all over the building to try to catch the murderer. Her strong sense of justice, if not her determination, surprised me. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that she knows. She knows I'm the angel. I can't get that out of my head. If she's the murderer, or if she tells the murderer.... It makes me want to save myself tonight. But on the other hand, if she doesn't, then.... Then I have an ally. If Nymph isn't the murderer, than I might be a little safer. It feels good to have somone powerful on my side. Nymph's OP-ness makes me feel like I have something to lean on. I feel less tense than I have been since I came here.

But I'm also wondering, does she blame me for her CBer's death? If I had saved Viola?, she would still be alive. It must feel awful to lose someone like that. Now that she knows who I am, does she think Viola? would still be alive if she'd chosen differentely? Does she see Viola?'s death in everything I do? I think I should do everything I can to make it up to her. Maybe I'll save her tonight. Or maybe she knows who I should save. It feels good to have an omnipotent ally.

I think I'll trust her.

For now.

Because I can't lock this like Nymph can, and I don't want the murderer to find my identity, I think I'll replace all of my signatures.

- Saphed 

Day 2, Part 3: Warning

Lilypad was tired of being suspected. When she was walking down the hall to her room, she had heard Nymph and Shy Peacock whispering about suspects. Her name was first on that list. And Marigold had been trailing her all day. The thing was... she didn’t like being suspected because it made her doubt herself. She knew that she was the most likely suspect. She also knew it was possible for the murderer to not know who they were. It could be her. It should be her. And she did not want it to be. If I find out who the true murderer is, then people will stop suspecting me, and I’ll have saved all the other CBers. 

So that was how another CBer started looking for clues. And she found something. A round black orb, buzzing. She lifted it up, and impulsively held it to her ear like a cell phone. “Where are you?” a voice said, and Lilypad was so startled she almost dropped it. “Kala! Are you all right?” 

Who is Kala? Lilypad clutched her head, trying to clear it. She knew she should do the calm, logical thing. So she kicked the orb aside and went frantically swinging through the treehouse, calling out that word. “KALA!” 

Behind her, the murderer was so startled she almost dropped her knife. She twisted, like she was trying to get away from something. But in the end, it caught up to her. Kala picked up her knife. And there was another murder.