Identity V x Danganronpa

Chapter 17 -Aesop?-

     Eli's P.O.V: "Seer"

     What's going on with Aesop? T-this isn't like him to react this way. But wait a second...  "Aesop, a-are you the traitor?" I asked silently. And the entire room went complete silence. 

     Aesop didn't even turn to look at me, but I knew he was also thinking the same. "Trouble is..." He replied calmly, "I'm not sure if I'm really... the traitor or not." Then looked back at me, and his face says it all. He doesn't care, I told myself. 

     "But if you kill Vera, the others would have to vote you as the traitor," I argued, "Leaving one of the traitors alive and you'll be-"

     "Then let them vote me," Aesop said softly. "I'm only doing my job after all..."

     What? Wait hold on a minute!

     "Y-you can't be serious about killing me!" Vera cried. "Do you have a death wish or something? If you let the others vote you as the traitor, you'll be dead either way!"

     "This matter doesn't concern me," I heard him began, "It's my job to help you... therefore, you won't be in pain for so long."

     I watched in horror as Aesop was about to force Vera into drinking that toxic liquid. Even Brooke was flapping her wings in alarm next to me, warning me to stop this before it's too late. And I have to agree with my companion, this has to stop right now. As a friend-- 

    "Aesop, please forgive me," I muttered as I shove Aesop from getting too close for comfort, impacting him to let go of the toxins. Immediately, my owl swooped in and caught the small container with the toxins before it could crash onto the ground, and handed it over to me. 

     Holding onto the toxins, I was relieved no one got hurt. However, when Aesop got up from the ground, I could tell he wasn't so happy about this as he gave me an unsettling look. Vera, on the other hand, was trying her best to stay calm in the corner.

     Silence occurred throughout the entire room and I was beginning to wonder if Aesop was really the traitor. I mean, if he was the traitor, why exposed himself so easily? I thought to myself, hating the fact that he had kept this a secret from me. And the fact the he's acting like one, drives me insane-- 

     "You want to know something, Eli?" Aesop interrupted, bringing my mind back into reality. "You're right about me."

     "Excuse me?" I heard myself saying. "What do you mean that 'I'm right about you'?"

     He closed his eyes for a second before answering, "I'm the traitor... there, I said it."

     Hearing this, I could feel my mind raced. H-he's the traitor? After all of this time, he decided to confess? Wait, no... something's off... A traitor wouldn't reveal their own identity, would they? Or does he knew he'd been caught? 

     "I-I don't believe you," I shook my head, "Are you 100% sure you are the traitor?" I questioned him. 

     He didn't answer my question and I could tell he's hesitating on that part. Just as I was about to press him further for more answers, we suddenly heard footsteps approaching towards us. 

     "There you guys are!" Emma's head popped up from the doorway, but when she saw Vera covered in bad injuries, she gasped. "V-Vera?!" 

     "Um, do you know where Emily is?" I politely asked the gardener, hoping she brought her best friend along. 

     "Of course I'm here," I heard a familiar voice behind Emma replied. And there stood Emily, including Tracy and Fiona who's right behind them. 

     Thank god nothing happened to them. As I explained everything to the girls about how we met Vera alone in the storage room, Emily started to examine Vera closely. "Well, it appears she's suffering some minor bruises and I believe she has a broken leg which does explain why she can't walk properly."

     "Anything to stop the pain?" Tracy asked, glancing around the room. "Wow, this storage room has some pretty strange stuff." And she distracted herself by searching some of the boxes in the room...

     "Hey, Eli," Emma glanced over at me, "What's that you're holding in your hand?" She pointed at the toxins in my right hand. 

     Oh no, I almost forgot about that! "Well um..." I faltered, wondering how I should explain this to her. I can't tell them my friend was about to kill Vera with this! Or worst, she'll probably suspect us as traitors. But when I stole a glance from Vera, she didn't seem to be worry about anything. 

     "Actually," Vera began, "They found it hiding along those boxes. Apparently, the traitor was hiding it here in the storage room to keep it on a low profile," she lied. "If it wasn't for these guys, who knows what'll happen later on."

     Emma frowned for a few seconds as if she was still progressing on what Vera had just explained. Finally, she showed her gratitude. "Wow, thank god it's not in the wrong place then!" She sighed in relief. "Since I was so worried about what's going on, especially that Monokuma had just played us like a fiddle, and now we're all stuck here trying to get back to the main room."

     "Played us like a fiddle?" I repeated.

     "Hm?" Emma tilted her head curiously at me, "You don't think this short game was all staged? The reason why we chased after for nothing and suddenly wounded up being separated from the others?"

     Well, she's right. I told myself. Monokuma had announced us to play this short game, but all of a sudden? That's kind of strange for the most part. 

     "Speaking of which, you haven't seen the others, did you?" Tracy asked, still going through couple of the other boxes to find pieces of scrap metals. 

     "No, we haven't," I responded confidently. 

     I watched as Emily got up from the ground. "Vera, tell us what happened that got you into this condition."

     "A-alright," Vera nodded slowly, "So this is what happened. . . "

     Vera's P.O.V from before: "Perfumer"

     When we arrived down towards the storage room, I heard a thump on the ground behind me.

     "Ouch!"
     
     Immediately turning around, I found my friend sitting on the ground, "Fiona, are you alright?"

     "I'm fine," my friend answered back, getting up from the ground. "I just tripped, that's all."

     "If you say so," I said, hoping she didn't suffer any broken bones. 

     It didn't take us that long to find the kitchen when we arrived there. "I wonder if they have something other than water," I over heard Fiona mumbling behind me. 

     "Me too," I replied, thinking she was talking to me. "But water is fine as long as it's clean and fresh."

    "...Hmhm," I heard her replied back. 

    As we turned on the lights in the kitchen, I was amazed to find this place looking so beautiful and clean. Not a single speck of dirtiness is on the kitchen. "Woah, they have everything!" I exclaimed, rushing over to find sparkling pots and pans on the stove, shiny utensils in the drawers, not to mention how many fruits are piled up nicely altogether in the bins, how sweet!

     "Alright, let's not get carried away here," Fiona said, pushing me away from examining the oven. "We came to get a quick drink and we're out of here."

     "But what's the rush?" I asked, and then I realized what she was talking about. Behind her was a paper that read: 5 minutes of using breaks during the game. "Oh, I guess we better hurry."

     We walked right over to the fridge and when we opened it, there was a lot of different kind of drinks. "I'll take the wine, don't mind if I do," I said, taking it out of the fridge. "Want to share it with me, Fiona?"

     "Um, I'm good," she smiled politely, but I can see it in her face that she doesn't want to accept the wine. 

     But just as I was about to reach in the drawers to find something to pop off the cap, the lights went out. "What's going on?" I demanded, trying to feel my way around the kitchen. 

     "The lights went out!" Fiona answered. "Who turn off the lights?"

     "Wasn't me!" I shouted. And that's when I heard someone laughing coldly in the dark. It sounded so lively that I couldn't tell if it was my ears playing tricks on me. "Who's there?" I squeaked. 

     "I-I think I found the light switch!" Fiona said, and she was right. The lights were instantly back on the moment she flipped on the switch. Fiona's back was turned towards me, but I could see she was trying hard not to be afraid of the dark. 

     "Good work," I smiled, but that's when I noticed someone was standing in the back of the door. It was a shady, cloaked figure, carrying a butcher knife. My mouth wanted to scream so badly for help, but it wouldn't let me. We're trapped!

     And before I knew what was happening, the stranger with the mask began to attack us...

     For some reason, the stranger was only after me as it just hit Fiona on the back with the bottom of the knife, causing her to fall down, but then decided to run towards me instead. And I knew at this moment, this traitor wants me dead the most. 

    "Vera, watch out!" Fiona yelled as she got up slowly, looking quite exhausted from the impact of the hit. 

     "Fiona!" I called her, "Go get help, hurry!" I shouted as I did my best to dodge some hits. 

     "But I can't leave you-"

     "GO!"

     And I heard her muttering some prayers as she left the room... But just as I caught her opening the door and leaving it wide open, I could only pray to make this out alive. And after a few seconds of looking back towards the door, I noticed someone running towards Fiona's direction. IS that Emily? What was she doing down here?

     As for me, I did my best to dodge the traitor's attacks, but wounded up getting some bruises and cuts from the knife, leaving me to bleed slowly. I need to make an escape, I told myself. Then I realized I have the bottle of wine with me... Using it as a bat, I strike the attacker down in one blow when he tried to come after me, forcing the bottle to explode. Now that's what I called a head shot! 

     Leaving the attacker down, I hurried out of the kitchen as fast as I can. Not forgetting how this storage room is supposed to handle, I slammed the door behind me, trying to put as many objects on the door so it'll keep him distracted in the kitchen for some short amount of time. 

    My heart raced as I could hear the attacker trying to take down the door. How do I get out of here? How do I get out of here? And that's when it clicked me. I was still bleeding....

    Doing my best to get some of my blood dripped onto the doorway of the storage room, as if I was running away from here, I grabbed a towel from one of the boxes, and wiped as much blood as I can from my body. Then went into hiding behind a pile of boxes, praying the traitor won't find me.

     Fortunately, my attacker didn't. Once the door was opened, it ran out of the storage room, leaving me alone. . . 


(Update: I forgot to add Fiona was there! If you didn't read this part before, then you're okay.)