VIDEO-ish (cw: torture and murder)

[bloomingdespite]

[Before the ICP flickers on, every passenger hears a resounding, deep voice thunder through every car in the train, carrying with it a deathly—if odd—proclamation:]

PENALTY GAME: HELL REVERSE!

[Moments later, every ICP turns on to reveal a figure shrouded in shadows, holding the unconscious body of Xue Yang with one hand as the Eye of Wdjat blazes on both of their foreheads. It's clear they're in the gaming car, but if anybody tries to enter from either end, they'll find the doors are impossibly locked.]

Passengers of the Voidtrecker Express, I hold in my hands an unrepentant murderer who slaughtered one of your very own: the victim being A-Qing, and the criminal being Xue Yang. While she has returned, this crime cannot go unpunished, and I have taken it upon myself to try and burn out the stain on his soul—or, at the very least, provide adequate agony for all of his victims, both on the train and off.

If you need to see proof of my justice...

Avert your eyes if you do not wish to see memories of the brutal death of a young woman in her prime.

[The screen flickers once again, this time showing A-Qing's murder, although it doesn't have any audio. ((OOC: Additional CW for graphic depictions of murder.))

When it returns to the interior of the Games Car, the shadowy figure is gone, but their voice and Xue Yang remain.]

I leave it to the council to dispense their own punishment, as meager as it may be.

Remember, passengers:

I am watching.

[The ICP clicks off, and the train is deadly quiet.]

Comments

[radishlobbyist]

[ There is a change, the pace of the healing picking up as if one of them is suddenly pouring more of themselves into this healing session but a quick glance at the other shows Wen Qing doesn't show Wen Qing anything out of the ordinary and her attention returns to her patient. ]

Keep going [ she instructs, removing a needle to place it differently, quickly followed by two more. ] We're doing well.

[achickenformylove]

[With his eyes closed, WangJi was not watching what the other people in the room were doing, focusing solely on his spiritual energy to try and give the music the best chance of working. So, still, he continued, playing the melody for the room]

[enthunder]

[ Able to observe as she was, the tears on Misa's cheeks didn't go unnoticed. At first, however, Light assumed it was a part of the trance. Perhaps she was... seeing part of it? She didn't understand how telepathy worked, and that had her holding her tongue, but she began to watch Misa more closely. ]

[sensitiveapple]

[ The Force can overwhelm, especially when channeled by someone with no shields, no mastery of what she should do. What she hadn't been expecting was the torture to come back to her. She hadn't known that she would feel every thrust, every slash in her mind. She hadn't known that watching everyone he had killed killing him over and over again would happen.

But the tears suddenly stop and she gasps, as the pain gets to her. It makes her shiver and her body shrink back, but she doesn't stop, not until she's sure that the man in front of her is at least better. ]

[radishlobbyist]

[ No, no, she had not been mistaken when she felt that first stirring of change, something is wrong. She senses it, and then when she pulls herself out of her meditation-like focus enough to be paying proper attention to her surroundings, she finds confirmation in the tears running down Misa's face.

She curses under her breath, looking towards Lan Wangji, towards Lightning, hoping one of them will have the answers written on their face. ] Something's wrong with her [ she hisses, voice low so as not to startle and disrupt anyone. ] Does anyone know if it's safe to disrupt her? [ She is already moving forward to do so anyway, at least by putting an arm on Misa's shoulder, hoping this will pull her back. ]

[achickenformylove]

[WangJi had been so focused on the music having his eyes closed that he hadn't noticed that Misa seemed to be in distress as well. His first sign was when she gasped suddenly, seeing her begin to shudder.

He glanced over at Wen Qing even as he rose. He was still holding his guqin, playing the best that could, this time focusing some of his energy towards Misa as well. Now on his feet, he was ready to catch her if he should have to do so]

I do not.

[enthunder]

Shit. Misa, stop it!

[Her magic can't target multiple people, and she's not even sure if it will help. Misa's power is in the mind, isn't it? She keeps casting, but that doesn't prevent her from circling the bed in a few steps to grab the girl's other shoulder. A shake, following the same logic as Wen Qing.] What, do we just knock her out?

[sensitiveapple]

[ No, she's not done yet. She's not. She can fix this! She knows she can, she just has to push through... She can do this...

But it's Light's calling of her name and the gentle shaking of her shoulders that drags her out. She falls backwards, the Force connection breaking within her mind with a small crackle of energy. But she never truly loses her connection to the Force. It's always there, and it starts the work of repairing what she's damaged in herself.

It won't stop the nightmares, but the scarring won't be as bad.

Her eyes snap open and she scrambles away from everyone, staring around wild eyed, before she remembers where she is. ]

What's going on?!

[radishlobbyist]

[ When Misa shies away from them all, Wen Qing raises her hands in a pacifying gesture and forces herself to keep her distance even though everything in her urges to rush forward and check on the girl's well-being - and then soundly berate her until she no longer feels terrified for her.

Instead, she forces herself to calm and to exude calm. ] You were shaking and crying. It looked like you had taken on too much but we couldn't simply cut you off, we don't know enough about your powers to know if it was safe. [ Well, there is some rebuke in her voice now. ] You must rest now. You did what you set out to do. [ Or even if she hasn't, she needs to rest anyway. ]

[achickenformylove]

[For the moment, WangJi put his hand over the strings to silence them since it seemed that she had come out of it]

If you need me to play the Song of Clarity for you as well, I can do that.

[Music and using it to heal was the best possible thing that he could offer. He was not a doctor... and Wen Qing was likely glad that he didn't try to be]

[enthunder]

[When none of them reach out for her, Light braces herself and places a hand lightly on her shoulder. Ready to pull back, if it looks like it'll only make things worse. She'll beat herself up for involving Misa later, in private.]

You wanna sit down, stay until we know he's gonna be okay? His music'll probably help.

[It's a compromise between resting and seeing a job done, which is the best she can see them offering.]