damedana | [UMINEKO SPOILERS] Heart (Scored)

You like happy memories of a 9 year old handing out candy to the family during her trick-or-treats, right--?

Oh, no wait.

It's now this scene.

Ushiromiya Maria loved to hand out candy in the trick-or-treats during the family convention. Ushiromiya Battler ~~always thought it was cute.~~ would also like to shove candy down people's throats until they burst.

Oh.

[he has a split second moment of what might be genuine sympathy or might be just dull shock because of not expecting candy to come coated with the memory of guts]

[and then he puts his gloved hand to his face.]

Oh, your faces .. the agony you must've been in. You didn't realize such cruelty was even possible in the world, then, did you? Like children. It's good to have a teacher like Beatrice, isn't it? Someone who understands how the world works, and can take you by the hand through it all until you're forced to come to terms with what it means to be alive.

And I suppose ... oh, I'm not stupid; I suppose I'm meant to change your mind about this, somehow. Unfortunately, stuffing candy down people's throats until they burst is disgusting, and cruel ... and someone who can do such a thing with a smile on their face is inarguably cute, and worth protecting.

How selfish of you to hide such an adorable little sister from me, aspirational father! I would've loved to meet this ... oh, what is the word for her, to me? Cousin? Aunt? Niece? Oh, whatever.

What's this you've put on the nightstand, though ...

[and thus, he goes to pick up the receiver of the phone.]

Good news, the phone works!

There's also a voice on the phone if you put your ear to the phone. A familiar girl's even. She seems to be breathing kind of harshly into the receiver, like she's in terrible pain. Words coming out in a garbled mess as if she's having trouble speaking, "Hello? Hello? Please... is anyone there?"

Except that can't be possible, you(?) saw Jessica's face.

There wasn't a face left for her to speak with.

Yes? Hello, miss?

[suddenly brisk, and attentive, and polite, and oh so eager to please.]

[(she must not realize she's dead. wouldn't it be something, when she does.)]

Where are you? Are you in danger? How can I reach you?

"I--who is this? I need to--Maria... Battler! They're the ones in danger!"

An Ushiromiya household servant, obviously - [he refrains from amusing himself by asking "Who else would I be?"] - how much danger? Are you sure you don't want someone to come help you right now?

[he is pretty sure, in fact, that Maria's doing just fine. but he won't tell her that.]

"Heh? T-that can't be--... no, you're not..."

Please, let me reassure you - I'm not Kanon, but he's been like a brother to me in my time working here.

Is it safe to come find you, miss?

".... n-no. It's... is Kanon there? Can I..." There's a broken sob like she can't really make the sound less... distorted. And wet. "Is he there? Please I want to talk to him..."

Please try and hold on a moment longer, miss. I'll be right back.

[and he leaves the phone off the hook and goes to the wardrobe. for reasons. Kanon-related reasons, perhaps.]

Sure, except you can probably hear the click and dial tone of a disconnected line as you make your way over to the wardrobe.

Hm.

... well, be a shame not to peek ...

[so yes, he's opening the wardrobe anyway, even as he has to walk through a few shallow pools of blood to do it. spish spish spootsh]

It's time to witness this lady just get murdered lots.

Pretty sure you'll enjoy that.

[you'd be correct.]

[but that doesn't answer the burning curiosity Merlot has about what clothes Battler keeps in his wardrobe.]

It's an empty wardrobe. There's only wire hangers with nothing on them. This isn't his bedroom, Merlot, gosh.

[well]

[perhaps not]

[but it could've been]

Not even Big Brother Kanon's clothes, huh ... ah, well. they wouldn't fit me anyway.

[so he goes to try the phone again, because while that obviously meant something he's unfamiliar with a disconnection tone entirely, and so.]

There's no voice on the line anymore, just dead (ha) air.

By the way, you got some red on your hands from touching the phone. That's fun.

[puts that stain up to his lips]

[and licks it off his fingers, contemplatively, as he's already shrugging away from the phone and moving towards the door, leaning down to pick up the sword where it fell.]

It would be very unfulfilling if the same trick works twice, father. Just so you know. But I'll respect your commitment to personal integrity, all the same. It's a kind of honor, and I understand that.

[but he is going to try and cut the chain with the sword, again, anyway.]

Probably there is a feeling of seeing a faceless girl laying on the floor to bring some delightful horror upon licking.

The thing about this chain is that... in fact, the sword will not work against it. There is a key lock attached to the chain lock in addition to everything else to keep it sealed.

[oh. well. so this one actually has a key, for real, this time.]

[the first thought Merlot has, then, is "perhaps the key is buried in the candy-basket?" and so that's what he's going to check first.]

There are no keys in the candy basket. And you already got that memory, so...

[not to worry, he's not going to stop there - but there's only so much one wants to throw at a poor room with a view at a time, after all, especially when one is working their way up to something like - say - pulling the beds apart, to see if there's a key hidden beneath the mattresses, and also opening literally anything openable, again. i.e., the dresser, the nightstand, and if there's a cabinet under the sink in the bathroom that too. he's going to get his hands on them all - and if need be he's going to try and pull on the electrotoxin that is his right to call on as well and see about disintegrating anything that gets in the way of tearing through the room to find - that - damn - key.]

The key to that lock is somewhere in this room, after all.

Well. At least one of the beds has a corpse on it. What do with the corpse?

Also, that is so many memories of murder you're hitting hunting around, do you want the breakdown of when and where?

[you know what, might as well. there's a certain threshold past which he's going to lose it and dissolve into a puddle of orgiastic violation and it's important to know when he crosses it.]

[also i forgot about the corpse entirely lmao so yeah Merlot is definitely getting his gross blood-coated fingers - because tearing the room apart absolutely means getting some of what's on the floor on your hands, at least if you're Merlot - all over that corpse, too.]

So...

The bed without the corpse sure has the memory of seeing Eva laying dead with a spike through her head.

Beyond that, there's nothing hidden in the mattress or under the bed.

The dresser has poor George laying out in the rain near the arbor with a single hole in the middle of his head.

There's nothing hidden in the dresser, but there are random clothes there that smell of nostalgia and family, memories of baby to preteen Battler interacting with his mom Asumu. They WERE packed away nice and neatly but I guess they're a mess again from the rummaging.

There are 3 photos on top of it, all covered in that red substance. One of the 3, however, has a small spot where there is no red and Ange is 6 years old and smiling happily at the camera.

There is nothing in or on the nightstand other than the phone which still rings a dead line.

There is nothing under the sink.

Please explain the electrotoxin tho because uuuhhh huh???

Moving the corpse does get an "Oof!" from it, though!

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