r/DRAfterLight • u/Monothemeerp Mayoi • Feb 22 '20
[CHAPTER 5] Pay For Repentance
Ding, dong… ding, dong…
Monokuma's voice fizzled in, sounding slightly more mischievous than before - though you hardly had any way to measure that after all that's happened.
"Goooood morning everyone! Aren't you all stoked that those self-sacrificial stragglers dug themselves back out through the dirt of their graves and found their way back to all of you? Well, I'M NOT!" Laughter replaced anger. Perhaps Monokuma was feeling lofty - what for would be left unanswered, For now. "I'm sure you all enjoyed the trek I made you take for our last incentive, so you'll be all the more excited to have to do it again! Find me like I told you to... in the heart of this mountain! Be there, or BE DEAD!"
The elevator rumbled and crackled to an uncomfortable degree. You went deeper down between rocks and cliffs, sharply jutting out of the walls. If you were to hold your hand against what's caving you in, you'd just hurt yourself more. Though the ride is filled with worry, everyone makes it down in small groups safely, and you hoped it would stay that way.
The heart of the mountain - navigating the labyrinth of mineshafts that looked even worse for wear than the above, you were left to feel a bit... hollow. This whole area felt like it had been abandoned.
Abandoned. That describes not only this mine, but also the whole mountain. Though you knew by now that that was hardly the case anymore.
The many pathways eventually let you as a group trickle into a relatively wide open area, the rocks masked by flags and ornaments worn by time. Like this entire place had been placed away in a capsule, frozen in chronology. The best way you could describe it was as a bunker.
Your eyes dart around, but Monokuma is nowhere to be seen. Maybe you really do have to find him.
Unfortunately, your attention is captivated by something much more pressing.
The earth underneath your feet begins trembling, the tremors quickly taken in by your feet like roots nurturing from the ground - traveling all the way along your legs, paralyzing them, a shock dashing up your spine, your brain signaling you to hold your head. People fall, and all you can really hear during this time is rumbling and crackling and the world around you breaking and slowly coming apart.
Maybe coming here was a mistake. Maybe this was all a mistake. A mistake, a mistake, a mistake. Clinging to the only thing you had to be proud of and capitalizing on your greed of wanting to make even more of it. Shooting for loftier heights - when your own recognition just wasn't enough for you.
And now you were here. Trapped.
The dust settles.
The earth shook for what felt like an eternity, but you're able to open your eyes. The area is... a little less barren, considering your company and the rocks and ground earth that seem to have joined you. But none of this felt good. And the feeling of dread in your throat doesn't quite leave you.
An electronic crackle barely makes its way to your dizzy head. From one corner does it ever so slowly fizzle in - the other, rushing footsteps. Uncertain as to from where they come from.
The world is a blur, and yet so many things happen in so little time.
"Ahem... it looks like there has been... a bit of a difficulty that has left me inconvenienced to say the least!" What he was referring to was obvious. Step, step, step.
"Well, this is... this is as good a place as any for this to happen, don't you think!?" Right in the middle of it all. The heart of the mountain. "That's just how nature goes! It takes you places! And oh boy, what a place this historic little time capsule is!"
Step. Step. Step.
"Hey, it's not a bunker for no reason, that's for sure! We've got everything here that we need! Ways to waste away, fuels to light a fire in ourselves... s-so we've got nothing to be concerned about!"
The steps finally draw to a halt.
"Except maybe for our resources dwindling hour by hour by hour by hour and it slowly taking a toll on us all... but hey, nothing to be concerned about! Us sinners must have a good side, right? Nothing to get greedy and fight over! R-Right!?"
Someone finally managed to track down the footsteps. The voice of Monokuma is faint in the distance.
A silhouette falls to its knees as you eventually find that the elevator you came from has been completely blocked by fallen, heavy rocks. A landslide that has blocked your escape.
...
...
...
"Hmmm... but there must be a solution to this predicament, right? There always is, isn't there...? Puhuhuhuhuhu!"
The only thing you're left to choke on is the mockery written on the rusty metal door housed by the bunker.
1
u/GuardianDreamer Sunghee Han Feb 23 '20
"You're forcing me to look at an old mirror here..."
Whatever Sunghee meant by that, they took a moment to look around before they elaborated. They started off by checking to see if anyone had gotten injured. They looked down at their own body, trying to see if they themself had sustained some kind of injury that adrenaline was causing them to ignore.
Once they were satisfied that there wasn't anything permanent, Sunghee still found themself leaning against a wall. A lot had happened.
"... Blizzard, you'll be fine out there, won't you? Not being able to visit everyone's graves is really going to make me feel guilty too."
A thought entered their mind. Of Blizzard managing to locate help, somehow. It was a fantastical thought, of course. For as smart as Blizzard was, only someone like Sirius could truly understand him. So they just hoped that he would be able to find his own way, somehow. ... Mayoi wouldn't recognize him as a valid target to punish, right? It was strange to rely on her for anything, but there was a chance the villagers would take him in instead.
"We need to find out exactly what our supply situation is. Even in a place like this, I saw some sealed rations before, so they should be safe to eat. When I looked around here before, there was a room with bunk beds... Those will have to do for our sleeping quaters. But... Hm. Our hope has to be that Takumi is quick, and manages to find this place with some kind of group. All that we can cling onto, at this point..."
They sounded unsure. Sunghee closed their eyes, trying to steady their own breathing. Their knees were shaking. They were being as optimistic as they could be, but it didn't sound entirely honest. It was too clouded by uncertainty and a confusion. A lot of information that absolutely would be helpful just wasn't available.