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madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: They try to choose a path.
Word Count: 1121
Rating: Teen
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS
Apparently, Whisper or this Kukulkan deity can’t help them cheat. For one thing, apparently, doing so would lead to the Lords of Xibalba exacting horrible bloody revenge in return for the perceived transgression, because they’re all about ‘do as I say and not as I do’, which Darling is all too familiar with. More to the point, they couldn’t even if they wanted to, as this trial of the path randomizes every time it is walked so there is no set answer. Even the personalities change, probably to have a better chance of tricking them. Darling suspects that’s truly the main issue, given that the Lords of Xibalba want to kill them anyway and will try at the slightest provocation, but ‘protecting people’ seems to be a nobler excuse than ‘simply is incapable’, she guesses.
It’d make sense if they had to go Down to go further into an Underworld, but given that Whisper knows it’s been other directions in the past, it hasn’t been nearly that simple. A lot of people make that mistake without even really considering the matter, and paid for it.
While she’s been thinking, the Captain has been using her pair of binoculars but from the frown they don’t seem to be doing much good. She’s also been ignoring the whispering and arguing coming from each of the doorways as she wanders between them. Darling tries that trick, Whisper coming close to the edge to try and peer through the dark, but she can see absolutely nothing. They’re not supposed to be able to see, but maybe with the right technology or the right ability foreign to this place, the magic won’t be prepared for it.\
“Are you making your decision?” the Right Path asks, still polite, and politely she shakes her head back, just in case. It’s sensible to be polite to talking pathways, particularly in a situation where many of the related spirits tend to be bloodthirsty.
“I’d hurry up. Sticking around here is also considered forfeit, if you’re too slow,” the Left Path warns, gravelly and grave. “Besides, one of the Lords or their court might decide to come to play judge, and you won’t enjoy that if it happens.”
“I want an answer from each of you—which is the correct path to travel?” the Captain announces suddenly, and Whisper perks up. Apparently this particular approach is not common, though Whisper can’t say if it would be effective or not.
Mr. Brown closes his eyes, thinking.
“Ooh, me first!” Up Path exclaims, then goes silent.
“If they have to wait on you to think, they’ll be stuck here for a while,” Right Path states. The Right Path seems to like picking on everyone and pretending it’s perfectly polite and within the bounds of manners and not doing anything wrong. She’s unfortunately dealt with snooty people like that before. She still hasn’t figured out whether it’s a good idea to steal from people like that. On one hand, they deserve to find out that the world doesn’t revolve around them. On the other hand, they’re more likely to make a fuss and go out of their way to try to hurt the hotel or whatever other service workers they encounter for not controlling the entire world and making it perfect for them and reading their minds, and she really doesn’t want to inflict that on them.
“You’re mean.” It’s interesting how you can just hear a pout in a face, considering they can’t read features or body language to determine anything at all. “In that case, I’ve decided. I wouldn’t listen to anything Right says at all. They don’t care about being cruel, so they probably would tell you exactly what they need to make sure you suffer.” She’d agree with the Up Path, but this doesn’t really narrow it down much.
“Just because I don’t put up with these fools doesn’t mean I’d lie to you or try to harm you. I can clearly see you’re of higher caliber and wouldn’t deserve to be treated the same way. The best thing you could do right now is head back the way you came. You can still escape Xibalba and a horrible fate that way. If you won’t listen to my warning, though, that’s your business. I won’t steer you wrong. Just come my way and everything will turn out all right.” Darling’s first instinct is not to trust this Path, but is that the correct solution or just what Xibalba wants her to think? If it is a trap, making the correct path a jerk she wouldn’t trust would be a clever move.
“I can’t walk, but if I could and I were you I wouldn’t go either Right or Up,” the Left Path adds, to the protest of the Right Path and the Up Path. Darling would trust the Left Path, as it seems the most helpful so far, but is that what Xibalba wants her to think? Or is second-guessing herself like this the real trap?
“You shouldn’t think this is just a show of solidarity, although I do appreciate Left sticking up for me,” Down rumbles in that deep voice. “But I really do think Left or me is the correct path for you to take.” And that’s nice, looking out for each other, but then, the position had already been determined before they’d even gotten here, and they can’t just change it by willing it. Besides, is this an obvious play for sympathy? Darling hopes the Captain or Mr. Brown has a better idea of what’s going on and how to understand all that, because the more she thinks about the words, the more confused she gets. That’s the point, she knows, but unfortunately, it’s working.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: They try to choose a path.
Word Count: 1121
Rating: Teen
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS
Instinctively, Darling knows that she can’t just have Whisper check out each path. While scouting is intelligent and even useful under most circumstances potentially containing hostile enemies, the path to Xibalba is built to be just as cruel and obtuse as the court itself, so any attempt to scout would be taken as a choice of direction. Whisper does not pass along any godly descriptions of what happens if they get it wrong, and the choices might be taken as individual and not representative of the whole group since killing people individually and turning against each other seem to be gruesome hobbies of the Lords of Xibalba, but she guesses the fate of the one who guesses wrong would not be pleasant. It’s even entirely possible they’d live, if they could survive limbs being cut off or other such torture methods, but she’d rather avoid that if she can, and she’s pretty sure the Captain and Mr. Brown would say the same.
Apparently, Whisper or this Kukulkan deity can’t help them cheat. For one thing, apparently, doing so would lead to the Lords of Xibalba exacting horrible bloody revenge in return for the perceived transgression, because they’re all about ‘do as I say and not as I do’, which Darling is all too familiar with. More to the point, they couldn’t even if they wanted to, as this trial of the path randomizes every time it is walked so there is no set answer. Even the personalities change, probably to have a better chance of tricking them. Darling suspects that’s truly the main issue, given that the Lords of Xibalba want to kill them anyway and will try at the slightest provocation, but ‘protecting people’ seems to be a nobler excuse than ‘simply is incapable’, she guesses.
It’d make sense if they had to go Down to go further into an Underworld, but given that Whisper knows it’s been other directions in the past, it hasn’t been nearly that simple. A lot of people make that mistake without even really considering the matter, and paid for it.
While she’s been thinking, the Captain has been using her pair of binoculars but from the frown they don’t seem to be doing much good. She’s also been ignoring the whispering and arguing coming from each of the doorways as she wanders between them. Darling tries that trick, Whisper coming close to the edge to try and peer through the dark, but she can see absolutely nothing. They’re not supposed to be able to see, but maybe with the right technology or the right ability foreign to this place, the magic won’t be prepared for it.\
“Are you making your decision?” the Right Path asks, still polite, and politely she shakes her head back, just in case. It’s sensible to be polite to talking pathways, particularly in a situation where many of the related spirits tend to be bloodthirsty.
“I’d hurry up. Sticking around here is also considered forfeit, if you’re too slow,” the Left Path warns, gravelly and grave. “Besides, one of the Lords or their court might decide to come to play judge, and you won’t enjoy that if it happens.”
“I want an answer from each of you—which is the correct path to travel?” the Captain announces suddenly, and Whisper perks up. Apparently this particular approach is not common, though Whisper can’t say if it would be effective or not.
Mr. Brown closes his eyes, thinking.
“Ooh, me first!” Up Path exclaims, then goes silent.
“If they have to wait on you to think, they’ll be stuck here for a while,” Right Path states. The Right Path seems to like picking on everyone and pretending it’s perfectly polite and within the bounds of manners and not doing anything wrong. She’s unfortunately dealt with snooty people like that before. She still hasn’t figured out whether it’s a good idea to steal from people like that. On one hand, they deserve to find out that the world doesn’t revolve around them. On the other hand, they’re more likely to make a fuss and go out of their way to try to hurt the hotel or whatever other service workers they encounter for not controlling the entire world and making it perfect for them and reading their minds, and she really doesn’t want to inflict that on them.
“You’re mean.” It’s interesting how you can just hear a pout in a face, considering they can’t read features or body language to determine anything at all. “In that case, I’ve decided. I wouldn’t listen to anything Right says at all. They don’t care about being cruel, so they probably would tell you exactly what they need to make sure you suffer.” She’d agree with the Up Path, but this doesn’t really narrow it down much.
“Just because I don’t put up with these fools doesn’t mean I’d lie to you or try to harm you. I can clearly see you’re of higher caliber and wouldn’t deserve to be treated the same way. The best thing you could do right now is head back the way you came. You can still escape Xibalba and a horrible fate that way. If you won’t listen to my warning, though, that’s your business. I won’t steer you wrong. Just come my way and everything will turn out all right.” Darling’s first instinct is not to trust this Path, but is that the correct solution or just what Xibalba wants her to think? If it is a trap, making the correct path a jerk she wouldn’t trust would be a clever move.
“I can’t walk, but if I could and I were you I wouldn’t go either Right or Up,” the Left Path adds, to the protest of the Right Path and the Up Path. Darling would trust the Left Path, as it seems the most helpful so far, but is that what Xibalba wants her to think? Or is second-guessing herself like this the real trap?
“You shouldn’t think this is just a show of solidarity, although I do appreciate Left sticking up for me,” Down rumbles in that deep voice. “But I really do think Left or me is the correct path for you to take.” And that’s nice, looking out for each other, but then, the position had already been determined before they’d even gotten here, and they can’t just change it by willing it. Besides, is this an obvious play for sympathy? Darling hopes the Captain or Mr. Brown has a better idea of what’s going on and how to understand all that, because the more she thinks about the words, the more confused she gets. That’s the point, she knows, but unfortunately, it’s working.
