a simple question; (cw: death/dying discussion)

[icanhearscreams]

[An unsigned note appears on the bulletin board, written in extremely neat handwriting. There's a few smudges on it from erased lines, as if the author wrote it over and over again.]

Is anyone else here dead?

[Just five words. No signature. He'll see how this turns out.]

Comments

[telecosmetic]

Well, after the first week... [She waves her hand, and another image of the mascot and the group appears.] ...Fav had a little announcement.

Apparently the town couldn't hold all of us, so someone would have to get murdered. [The image changes to be tinted red, Fav's cheerful smile somehow seeming more sinister.] And of course, there were a few little bonus motives, ways to make people really want to kill. The only thing in between people and their rewards were the trials.

[She waves her hand again, and the town scenery is replaced with a courtyard with a fountain in it. Five generic portraits float in the sky.] Once we found someone's body, we'd have some time to investigate, and then get brought to this place to discuss and figure out who did it. Then we'd vote-[She points at the portraits]-and whoever got the most votes was executed.

[icanhearscreams]

[He listens quietly. He doesn't want to interrupt. His own 'game' was murderous as well, on a larger scale.]

And I assume it repeats. Until how many are left?

[telecosmetic]

[Her expression gets solemn.]

Four, at the end. Some of those were because of this serial killer magical girl who sneaked into the town, though. [The individuals fade one by one, turning into more ghostly apparitions, until only Miach, Nagi, Recette, and Seraphina are left.] Although those of us who died were still able to see the living, and interact with the world if we tried hard enough.

[A brief intermission, to show a ghostly Eliza throwing marshmallows at Szayel.]

And...there was one last trial. To solve the mysteries, and reveal the person truly behind it all. [The living move to the center, and a spotlight shines down on Nagi.] And decide what to do with her.

[icanhearscreams]

Wait, so you were like a ghost or something? ... Weird.

[He nods, continuing to listen. None of this makes sense, but neither does his own tale.]

So what'd you do?

[telecosmetic]

Yeah, that's a pretty good description of it. And, well...everyone was pretty mad at Zange, and she phrased it like they had a choice to kill or spare her. But she was really also trapped there, for even longer than all us others. Plus...us ghosts knew that if they killed her, the whole thing would just repeat again. There were already a bunch of ghosts from the last round stuck with us. [A few more indistinct ghostly figures fade into view.]

It...it was very tense, since us ghosts couldn't communicate with the living during that trial. But in the end, they voted to spare her, and that meant all the ghosts got to come back. [Slowly, the ghostly figures fade back into full visibility. (Technically not how it went in reality, but she prefers that visual.] It also meant that the whole town was now crumbling since Zange was also free from having to run those death games now. But we had enough time to say goodbye before each heading home. Or, well, to someplace else better in a few cases. [One by one, each of the figures opens a door, stepping through as it disappears behind them.]

[icanhearscreams]

Okay... but what exactly brought you back? You just showed up alive again?

[That makes no sense.]