Wars of the Roses II: Return to Rosebriar [Complete]

Started by Valerian, October 21, 2009, 06:36:57 PM

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Remiel

Remiel awoke with a start.  As the sound of robins warbling in the rosebushes outside filtered in through his bedroom window, he realized, much to his amazement and surprise, that he was still alive.  Of course, it meant that another innocent had been slain in his place.

He dressed and performed his morning ablutions with resolute purpose.  He selected his hat, a brown Victorian derby, and stood in front of the mirror while adjusting it for appearances.  At last, finally satisfied with the way it tilted so rakishly upon his head, giving just a hint of foppishness, he left the house and locked the door behind him.

He stood in the center of the village commons, right below the Hanging Tree, and cupped his hands around his mouth.  "Gentle villagers!" he shouted.  "My friends! Please assemble on me.  Another innocent Rose, Xandi, is dead.  We must take action soon.  Our beloved village is in great peril.  Heed my words, fellow Roses, lest we all succumb to the villainy of the perfidious RoseMart and its treacherous Thorn agents.  You see, I have cleverly deduced the identities of two of the Thorns, and can maintain my silence no longer.  The time for action is upon us."

He filled his cork pipe with soapy water from a small bottle, and stuck it in his mouth, blowing bubbles while he waited for the rest to appear.

sinera

sinera rubbed her eyes and stumbled out of her home, Remiel's shouting having woken her. She was in a foul mood; yesterday her dear Doomsday had been lynched by a frantic mob, and last night she had tossed and turned. She'd finally fallen asleep near false dawn, and now Remiel was proving himself a pain in the tail and waking them all early.

"How do you know the identity of the Thorns?" she mutters. "Could it be that you are the third thorn and trying to save your own skin by ratting out your friends? It seems curious that you already know the name of the Rose murdered in their sleep, when no one else has even stirred yet."
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Remiel

He shrugged. "Call it a...lucky guess," he murmured around his pipe, blowing another bubble.  "I did some early-morning sleuthing, and discovered footprints outside Xandi's window.  The footprints going from the window were on top of the ones going to it, indicating that someone had entered the house via the window and then left in the same fashion.  In addition, there were drops of blood on the windowsill.  Peeking in, I spied Xandi's body slumped upon the floor in a pool of blood, presumably her own.  Q.E.D."

He sneezed, and then reached into his pocket to produce a handkerchief.  "Now, please, have patience, my dear," he said, wiping his nose.  "All will be revealed shortly.  I still have not deduced the identity of the last Thorn, and am hoping to achieve some insight into the question by observing who appears, how they do so, and in what order."

Kurzyk

#78
With a heavy head, Kurzyk walked to the commons where Remiel was. In a foul mood and filled with worry at the events that have transpired, he folded his arms and leaned against the wall.

Eyeing Sinera and Remiel suspiciously, he said, "Well? What's your theory? Who do you believe is responsible for this?"

Bliss

Bliss waffled this day over the prospect of travelling into town at all. It was not that the walk was long, but simply that, upon waking and finding herself alive, she rather feared going to the village and discovering that it was not the same for everyone. She did not want to contemplate in the least of a world from which any more of her fellow villagers had been forcibly removed.

Yet to stay home, and not know... that made it all the worse.

Her misgivings, sadly, were soon given light as her entrance to the village revealed several people already gathered, grimfaced, outside Xandi's house, and Remiel making some sort of observation to the others. "Oh no... not another, please say she's not...?"
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I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
<3 <3 <3

Elandra

When she awoke that morning she could not shake the feeling that she had lost someone dear to her heart. She dressed as the sense of doom surrounded her. Finished she went outside to see who had been killed and to her horror she saw the others gathering around Xandi’s home. “No, it could not be her,” she cried out as she joined the crowd to listen to Remiel was going to say.

She looked forward to exacting revenge on the person or people that had done this to her.
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desert ashes

It took longer than she expected to be able to find the courage to leave her house.  This was getting so ugly and horrible, everyone dying around them -- truly she wanted nothing more than to hide inside her house and keep herself safe.

Her arms were hugged tight around her waist when she finally found her way toward where the voices were coming from, where Remiel waited to make his grand announcement.
make me forget
how to breathe

leave me with the
taste of your sin
they will lie about you, insult you, hurt you,
betray you, injure  you, set you aflame and
watch you burn. but they will not, shall not,
c a n n o t, destroy  you. because  you, like
R o m e, were built  on ashes, and you, like
a phoenix, know how to rise and resurrect.
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let there be beauty born from ashes

Remiel

Remiel looked around at those who had gathered.  "I do not see Marguerite or tes11 here. Have they been murdered as well? No? Very well."

Realizing he had everyone's attention, he cleared his throat and began.  "Friends, we now reach a critical juncture.  There are--by my reckoning--five roses left in the village, and three Thorns.  If we choose wrongly again today, there will be four roses left.  And then, after the Thorns strike tonight, there will be three.  This will effectively mean that the Thorns have won.  Therefore, it is crucial that we choose wisely this time."

Frowning, he walked in a straight line, peering into each face, scrutinizing every villager closely.  "I said I have discovered the identities of two of the Thorns. And I have. But I will get to that in a moment.

"I think it is time to reveal that I am a Bee.  My father, too, was a Bee, as was his father before him.  I come from a long line of Bees, in fact, whose job it traditionally was to ferret out those Thorns who would betray us.  I have kept this a secret until now, because there has never before been a need.  But the need is upon us, and the hour is grim. The fate of the village hangs on the razor-thin balance of this final vote. 

"When I first discovered that Charles Lawson had been murdered, I decided to do some investigating.  Charles was nobody's fool; he would not have fallen prey to a stranger. No, he had been stabbed in the back, gentle villagers, by someone he knew well. Someone, in fact, he trusted.  And that someone was Elandra!"

With a flourish, Remiel pointed the finger of accusation at Elandra. His tone became more urgent, more tense.  "Elandra knew that Charles was planning on filing an injunction against RoseMart to stop the acquisition of the village.  Little did he know that they had hired her as a consultant to facilitate the sale.  If they could not get our roses, Elandra would not get her million-dollar consultant's fee.  She was desperate. She had to stop him.

"So she visited him the night before his untimely demise.  The conversation, I believe, was amiable enough.  But she drugged his tea, and as he lay sleeping, she stabbed him with a knife from the kitchen."

Unfortunately for her, Ryven happened to be strolling by just as she was leaving the scene of the crime, on his way to deliver an order of banana-nut muffins.   I do not think Ryven thought anything of it at the time, but Elandra knew it was only a matter of time before he put two and two together.  Clearly, Ryven had to go.

"But how to do it? Only someone who knew Ryven's daily routine would know when he was most vulnerable. Someone like...Sinera."  Once again, Remiel pointed the finger of accusation, this time at Sinera.  "Elandra went to sinera, explained what she had done, and promised Sinera half of her RoseMart wages if she would help her hide the crime.  Sinera approached Ryven at night, under the guise of discussing a new kind of muffin, and waited until he was distracted before slipping a cord around his neck and strangling him to death.

"It was almost the perfect crime.  Charles was dead, and the only person who had witnessed it was dead too.  Meanwhile, we were busy wrongfully eliminating two of our own, two innocent villagers--Ladysky and Doomsday Jesus.  It looked like nothing would stop their evil plans.  Nothing, that is, except for one thing: me.

"I became suspicious of Sinera almost right away.  She was far too good at blending in with the crowd, acted far too innocent.  She had a rock-solid alibi; she made sure that several people spotted her in her garden pool at about the time Charles was killed.  There is a saying, among the Thorn hunters: look for the least likely suspect of all, and there you will have your Thorn.  Sinera was very good at covering her trail--too good.

"And as for Elandra, I suspected her shortly afterward.  She made sure that she was never the first to cast a vote for any one individual, but instead voted for someone after they had already been accused.  In this way, she was sure to eliminate a wrongfully-accused Rose as quickly and expediently as possible.

"A little bit of investigation confirmed my suspicions.  Both Elandra and Sinera are Thorns. However, there is one problem: There is another Thorn, one whom I have not yet identified."

Remiel folded his arms behind his back, beginning to pace back and forth.  "Someone else knew about Charles' injunction.  Someone else arranged for Elandra to kill him, and for Sinera to kill Ryven."

He narrowed his eyes.  "I do not know for sure who the last Thorn is, but I have my suspicions.  Let us go through the suspects one by one:

"I am almost 100% positive that Kurzyk is innocent.  He was the first villager to discover the body, and often the one of the first to cast a vote.  I am certain he accused me the first day completely at random, and the only reason I accused him in return was so that our votes would cancel each other out.  It really had me worried when Elandra added her vote to his, and I nearly informed her of my status--heh--to try to persuade her otherwise.  Kurzyk doesn't seem to care about blending in at all, and that's usually an indicator of innocence.

"Likewise, I am nearly certain that Marguerite is innocent as well.  She has been extremely quiet up until now, due to--she claims--an illness. Either this is the most devious ploy I have ever heard, or she is telling the truth.  I believe she is telling the truth.

"I believe tes11 is also innocent.  Prior to last night, I sent both he and Xandi letters, informing them of my suspicions, and urging them to carry on in the event of my expected demise.  Xandi, of course, as we all know, was the next target of the Thorns, so she cannot attest to this.  Tes11 has not spoken up either, which seems extremely suspicious, I must admit.  However, it is possible he has fallen to the same illness currently afflicting Marguerite.  So, acting on a hunch, I approached sinera (who did not know, of course, I already knew she was a thorn), and told her I suspected either Kurzyk (who I am sure is innocent) or tes11 (who I wasn't sure about) of being a Thorn.  She indicated that she believed tes11 was guilty, thus convincing me that he was, in fact, innocent.

"That leaves only Morningsdreams and Bliss. Although there were certain things morningsdreams did to set off my radar, I believe that the third conspirator--and the mastermind of the Thorns--is, in fact, Bliss. You'll notice that none of the three ever voted against either of the others.  Xandi suspected Bliss in the second round of voting, and, lo and behold, fell victim to an attack during the night.  A little too obvious, perhaps, but I believe the Thorns are growing overconfident.  Also, if you'll remember, Sinera accused Morningsdreams this last time, leading me to believe that morningsdreams is innocent.

"And thus I give you, gentle villagers, your thorns: Elandra, Sinera, and (probably) Bliss."

Remiel finished his speech with an air of exhausted satisfaction.  He took a deep breath, fished in his pocket for his corn-cob pipe, filled it with soapy water from a hip flask, and stood back, blowing bubbles, while he awaited the outcome of the voting.

desert ashes

#83
Was the man out of his bloody mind?  Dumbfounded and shocked from Remiel's speech -- a lengthy one at that, gracious she'd nearly fallen asleep how many times? -- she stared at him and then slowly looked around at the others.  He'd made some horrific accusations about women she'd lived next to for years.  After all the killings and the lynching, hadn't they'd gone through enough? 

"Where's the proof?" she asked after a moment and clearing her throat.  "If you want us to suspect those three women, where is your proof?"
make me forget
how to breathe

leave me with the
taste of your sin
they will lie about you, insult you, hurt you,
betray you, injure  you, set you aflame and
watch you burn. but they will not, shall not,
c a n n o t, destroy  you. because  you, like
R o m e, were built  on ashes, and you, like
a phoenix, know how to rise and resurrect.
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let there be beauty born from ashes

Bliss

It was a silence fraught with emotion and tension that filled the square around them as they listened to Remiel's pronouncements, and Bliss stood quietly, discreetly daubing her eyes with a handkerchief; she was still pale and dumbstruck by the idea that Xandi had been ripped from their midst, and if Remiel had proper clues to who might have done it, she was eager to hear it so that perhaps at last this terrible daily slaughter could be put to rest.

She never thought she'd hear herself accused.

In a way that she's always thought literary exaggeration, her mouth fell open with a shocked and confused little squeak, protestations boiling up the back of her throat. Yet she swallowed him - was it not always the innocent who protested the loudest? And having revealed himself as the Bee, there was likely no doubt that the others would surely take his suppositions over her own true claims.

Especially because, due to his mistake, there was likely at least one Thorn among them who was laughing inside right now.

"Remiel," she said hoarsely, and this time did not lift her hand to wipe away her tears, "This is a terrible mistake - I am no Thorn, and if I am lynched as one today, I am certain we shall find thee a grave man tomorrow!"
O/O ~ Wiki ~ A/A ~ Discord: Bliss#0337
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
<3 <3 <3

Remiel

Remiel shrugged at morningsdreams.  "I have told you all I know.  It is up to you, now, whether to believe me or to draw your own conclusions. My vote is for Elandra.  You can join me, or you can vote for me, instead; just be aware that if you are wrong, you will not have another chance."

At Bliss' protestations, he looked a little uneasy.  In truth, she was the only suspect he was unsure about.  But his instincts had not steered him wrong thus far, and unless new information came to light, she was still his #1 suspect for the last Thorn.

sinera

sinera has none of Bliss' reasoning, nor her restraint. She marches straightaway across the clearing and punches Remiel right in the nose. "Lying scoundrel!" she snarls, whipping around to face the rest. "It's true that Remiel contacted me secretly last night, and that I supposed that tes11 could be one of the thorns - truth be told, I don't know who they are. All I know is he hasn't even mentioned Kurzyk as a possibility - and he's quick to dismiss Marguerite and morningsdreams.

"How do we know he's not in actuality a thorn, protecting himself and his conspirators? Are we to take him merely at his word? Anyone could say they're the bee - perhaps I should claim to be the bee myself!"

She narrows her eyes at the raw memory of her beloved Doomsday dangling after having been lynched the day before and shakes her head. "Do what you want. I for one don't believe him, since I know myself to be blameless in these affairs."
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Valerian

#87
Current Voting:

Remiel (3) - Elandra, Kurzyk, sinera
Elandra (2) - Remiel, Bliss
Bliss (0)
Kurzyk (0)
Morningsdreams (0)
Marguerite (0)
sinera (0)
tes11 (0)

Yet to vote: morningsdreams, Marguerite, tes11

There are 3 Thorns, 1 Bee, 1 Ladybug, and 3 Roses.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Bliss

"At the risk of falling in line with the very behavior of which Remiel accused her, I found his arguments compelling - aside from the obvious flaw of pointing the finger at myself - and will join him with a reluctant and heavy heart in naming Elandra. I do not know if it will be worse to find it to be true, or if this Bee is proven to be mistaken and to blame for the death of yet another Rose."
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I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
<3 <3 <3

Elandra

That she was accused of this treachery had not been surprising, eventually with only so few left and the nights still filled with horror, she knew the villagers would start to grasp at straws. She listened as the man ranted, listened as he spoke of his reasoning, listened as she was accused and through it all she remained silent with no anger in her heart. When he was done and the others had responded angrily, she spoke softly, just loud enough for others to hear her words.

“It hurts that you would be so spiteful, that you would throw my name around so nonchalantly and back up this accusation with false evidence, Remiel.” She paused for dramatic effect, sighing heavily, “Tell me, if I were this beast you say I am, why would I kill Xandi, the one person who gave me comfort when I so desperately needed it? Why was it you that held the pruning sheers that first day when we discovered Charles had died?”

With that she once again fell silent, knowing if she protested too much the crowd would lynch her for her words.
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Kurzyk

Considering the events of the last few days, Kurzyk lit his pipe and puffed, watching the swirls of smoke make its way up before fading through the fingers of the trees above. His heart was heavy for the loss of Doomsday, especially since it had been a miscalculation on his part that led to the death of another innocent.

As the hour grew farther into the day, he worried that another tragedy would strike from their hand, or perhaps also from the Thorns. His heart pounded as he looked around at those gathered, listening to the accusations and denials fly.

With his pipe still held, and lost in thought, he spoke. "The last few days have held great tragedies for our village. We have lost many; some due to murderers in the night, and others from our hand as we attempted to exact justice."

With a sigh he looked around, "Each of us is suspect. Each with suspicious activity in the last few days."

Turning towards Elandra, "You do raise an excellent point Elandra. One that I wondered as well from the first day. Being distracted with the other killings has caused me to believe there is more than one murderer among us. But the first death did show signs of sharp incisions."

Now turning towards Remiel with a piercing gaze, "As you were working in your garden that first morning, and at this time of season working with your shears, I still find you suspect."

Remiel

Remiel listened to the protestations and accusations against him without a single indication of surprise.  He just nodded, occasionally blowing bubbles from his pipe.  When sinera punched him in the nose, he winced, and appropriately said, "ouch."

When Kurzyk accused him, however, his jaw dropped open in astonishment, his pipe dropping to the ground. "Kurzyk? Really?!?" he gaped, staring at Kurzyk in disbelief.  "Hrmm...I may have been wrong about Bliss after all."

sinera

She wishes she could do more damage to Remiel, but she knows any further protestations on her part would just make her look more guilty than the hurtful words he had said.

She retreated to the edge of the crowd, her eyes filled with tears. Thanks to Remiel she'd likely be reunited with her beloved Doomsday soon.
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desert ashes

Well, she had been attempting to wait for Marquerite and Tes to vote ahead of her, but as their silence continued she could no longer keep hers.  Sucking a breath, she turned her eyes back to the crowd.  "My vote is for Remiel."
make me forget
how to breathe

leave me with the
taste of your sin
they will lie about you, insult you, hurt you,
betray you, injure  you, set you aflame and
watch you burn. but they will not, shall not,
c a n n o t, destroy  you. because  you, like
R o m e, were built  on ashes, and you, like
a phoenix, know how to rise and resurrect.
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 ·· · ideas & cravings ·· ons & offs ·· poetry ·· a/a ·· stories · ··

let there be beauty born from ashes

Marguerite

-Torn between two people she knows-

Damn, I have no clue.

-Closes her eyes-

I will randomly vote for Kurzyk.
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Remiel

He smiled weakly as morningsdreams joined the group of those accusing him.  Taking a deep breath, he turned to Bliss.

"My dear, it appears I owe you an apology.  It seems I had guessed wrong.  Morningsdreams was the last thorn, not you. I hope you can forgive a smug old fool."

Turning back to Kurzyk and Marguerite, he beseeched them earnestly to vote for Elandra.  "My friends, think this over.  If you kill me, then that means the only shot you have of saving the village is if the Ladybug correctly guesses who the Thorns will eliminate during the night. If the Ladybug fails to save a villager, the Thorns will have won. Period. Game over.  End of story. 

"Once again, I say to you: Elandra and Sinera are thorns.  Trust me.  Vote for Elandra now, and if she is not a Thorn then you will know that I am one.  But she will be.  And now I know, too late, that morningsdreams, not Bliss, is the last.

"Think about it.  If I was a Thorn, then why is only Bliss voting with me?  Don't you think it's odd that all three of them--and you, Kurzyk--are all voting in unison?  Don't make this mistake.  Think it over very carefully."

He sighed, his face ashen.  If he had to die, he had to die--truly, he had not expected to live this long--but if the village did not vote for a Thorn this night, only a miracle would prevent RoseMart from razing the once-quiet and peaceful little village of Rosebriar.

Kurzyk

#96
Sighing Kurzyk turned away and puffed on his pipe, not willing to face another trying decision that could well mean the fate of another innocent and yet...

The cries of a nearby willow dipped its leaves into the pond that hugged it and as he watched the wind skitter across the surface of the water he heard Remiel's desperation. Closing his eyes he shook his head and tried to free himself from the guilt of Doomsday. Could his judgement be wrong? After all it was only circumstantial...

Turning back to the crowd that had begun to stare at the votes hanging over Remiel, he gathered his strength and spoke.

"Wait! He makes a point. Elandra and Morningsdreams have voted in unison before. There is a pattern here." Smiling at Remiel he continued, "I'm willing to let this one pass," his expression turning to deadly seriousness. "But if you are misleading us, it will be your neck to bare in the nights that come."

Speaking out to the group, "I have changed my vote." Walking up to Elandra he sighed, "As lovely as you are, I'm sorry but your actions have been very suspect as of late. I believe that not only are there more than one murderer among us, you have conspired with them and must be held accountable."


desert ashes

#97
Dumbfounded she stared at Remiel and then even moreso at Kurzyk as if both had lost their minds.  "Are you serious?  Truly, absolutely serious?!"  She nearly erupted, unable to fathom the depths of this madness. 

"Kurzyk, this is the same man that not only almost accused me of being a thorn -- and then did so -- but also you!  The only reason I vote for him now is because I cannot help but feel he is resorting to trickery.  Who else but the so called mastermind -- as Remiel coined it -- would claim to be the Bee and do this entire show? He is panicking and casting the biggest net he can."  Tears pooled now in her eyes as she began to back away from the square.  Remiel was turning them all insane -- truly, he was! 

"Of course he wants you to change your vote, he's just trying to save himself.  Please... please, think of Doomsday.  I am responsible for Doomsday, perhaps more than any because it was me who pointed the finger -- in fact, the same time Elandra voted with me so did you and Marquerite.  That's no pattern!  That is my stupidity leading to Doomsday's death! Please, Kurzyk," she whispered now, her tears falling freely.  "Please, let us not have another innocent Rose die because of a Thorn's foul play."

make me forget
how to breathe

leave me with the
taste of your sin
they will lie about you, insult you, hurt you,
betray you, injure  you, set you aflame and
watch you burn. but they will not, shall not,
c a n n o t, destroy  you. because  you, like
R o m e, were built  on ashes, and you, like
a phoenix, know how to rise and resurrect.
· accepting new stories ·
 ·· · ideas & cravings ·· ons & offs ·· poetry ·· a/a ·· stories · ··

let there be beauty born from ashes

Valerian

Current Voting:

Remiel (3) - Elandra, sinera, morningsdreams
Elandra (3) - Remiel, Bliss, Kurzyk
Kurzyk (1) - Marguerite
Bliss (0)
Morningsdreams (0)
Marguerite (0)
sinera (0)
tes11 (0)

Yet to vote: tes11

There are 3 Thorns, 1 Bee, 1 Ladybug, and 3 Roses.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

sinera

sinera watches dumbfounded as Remiel swings like a pendulum responding to the rotation of the earth.

"Oh, so all we have to do to convince you we're not thorns is to vote with you?" she barks a laugh. "You were so sure that Bliss was the thorn until she voted with you!"

If there was a note of hysteria in her voice, it's because she knows that if by some chance Elandra was a thorn, she would be the next to feel the hempen collar, even though she know in her heart she's innocent.

"Please, friends - stop this madness! Why would the Bee reveal him- or her-self to us, even now? The thorns would certainly go after him next - look what happened to Xandi! Yesterday she alluded to being the Bee, and this morning she's dead!" her voice breaks as she pleads for her own life, pleading with them to listen to reason before it's too late.

"How can he know the reasons behind what the Thorns are doing? He's making up stories to make himself seem more believable. Perhaps Elandra is a Thorn - I don't know - perhaps Remiel is the Bee - I don't know that either - but as I knew deep in my heart Doomsday wasn't a Thorn, so also do I know that I am not."

She whispered brokenly, "I don't know how to convince you." She looks at Remiel with tortured eyes. "I thought you were my friend, Remiel. I thought you were coming to me to offer me hope after losing my beloved Doomsday... had I known you were only going to twist this knife in my heart, I'd have never trusted you."
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Apparently some people don't read my O/O before adding me on MSN/Y! - so I'll say it here: IF YOU DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE FROM E, I WILL NOT ACCEPT BUDDY REQUESTS. Please read my O/O before PMing me with ideas, thanks.
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