Identity V x Danganronpa

Chapter 96 -Final Trial: Lost In Decisions!(P.t 4)-

     Lucky Guy's P.O.V: "?"


     Everyone's faces dropped... 

     "Wait, what?" Robbie stopped fidgeting his axe. "What do you mean, you don't?"

     "Don't even think something like that, Lucky Guy..." Helena sighed. "Of course you exist."

     "Yeah, you really do exist," Violetta agreed as well. "Don't go so hard on yourself..."

     My eyes fell onto the ground. "I don't know what to say..."

     "I do," the mastermind jumped into our conversations in the class trial. "I guess I should've told you earlier, but... Lucky Guy," she studied me from afar. "If you and the rest of everybody else leaves this school... You know what that means, don't you?"

     My eyes began to water a little, and I quickly wiped my tears. "I...I..."

     "What's wrong, Lucky Guy?" Mukuro said with a victory smile. "Afraid to give it your best guess as to what will happen if you leave this place?" 

     . . . 

     I know what's going to happen if I leave... 

     . . . 

     I know it all too well... 




     "I won't exist in the real world," was all I could say and the room fell into a deep silence...



     . . . 

     "Then... Lets stay!" Luca suggested out loud, surprising the rest of us. "Let us stay... And we could be non-existent for Lucky Guy..."

     "Are you crazy?" I stared up at him with a sad look. "T-that's impossible... I don't want to die, but I don't want to lose you guys as well once we escape!"

     "You have a choice," Mukuro reminded me, clearly noticing my frustration. "However, I must've forgotten to mention to you guys in one slight detail here..."

     . . . 

     "And what is that?" I slowly glanced up at her hopelessly... 

     "You could exist, although..." Mukuro began with a warning. "That is, if you walk past those doors," she pointed at the door behind the room. 

     . . . 

     That door... Was it ever there before?

     "The Hope Gadget won't help you," the mastermind kept on persuading me. "But those doors would, once you stepped into the 'Door Of Your Desires.'"

     . . . 

     "The 'Door of Your Desires?'" Mary repeated with a puzzled expression on her face. "What's behind there, may I ask?"

     "Certainly," Mukuro nodded her head slightly. "It's the only way Luck Guy can live if he and the rest of you guys entered to take on your desires... After all~" She met my eyes. "It is the reason why you guys are here because of it. Your desires and out-going determination has led you to your doom whichever choice you choose to take."

     
     Hearing this news, my hands started shaking, and my eyes landed onto the Hope Gadget in my hands... 

     I want to be with the others so badly... Was it really true? Was I... Selfish? N-no! I can't be selfish and greedy! I just want to find peace with myself! I... I...


     "Time is ticking," the Ultimate soldier pointed at the Monokuma clock on the walls. "You guys better decide or else the game is officially over for you."

     "Hang on," Jack the Ripper began. "How do we know that door isn't a trap to lead us to death?"

     Mukuro rolled her eyes and sighed. "That's up to you to decide. Whether you want to try to take on the next level," she replied. "It's all up to you guys to vote. Every. One. Of. You."

     . . . 

     "I guess... We only have 3 choices left," Antonio reminded us as he softly played his violin. "What do you guys think? Stay for despair and death due to our memories? Leave for hope without Lucky Guy? Or... Try to take back our desires and save Lucky Guy from his non-existence?"

     . . . 

     When he put it like that... I figured nobody's going to vote on the same choice... Meaning some of us will vote for death, while the others would vote to escape, or... 


     Everybody was starting to pause and think with a mixed-emotions swelling up inside their minds, and I could feel it... 

     "I want to help you Lucky Guy," Demi began silently. "Really, I do, but..." She avoided my eyes. "I can't really face my desires strongly enough to survive again..."

     "Me too," Eli sighed calmly. "After all, the outside world is kind of dangerous if we all leave..." Then explaining, "I had a vision that... The world around us is crumbling to despair... I see it... It's like--"

     Next to him, Aesop nudged him on the elbow to shut him up... 

     "Ow! What was that for?" The seer rubbed his elbow, turning to face the embalmer. "Seriously, did I say something wrong?"

     
     . . . 

     'The world around us is crumbling to despair...' Those were Eli's words from the future, isn't it? 

     "Eli," I called out his name. "W-what did you just say? You... You saw what's happening in the real world, right?"

     Eli looked away and I could tell he didn't want to say it... 

     "Hey! Don't ignore him!" Martha raised her voice over to the seer. "Tell us what you're hiding from us!"

     When Eli opened his mouth, Aesop interrupted him by saying, "It's nothing... Just forget what he said..."

     "But why?" Murro questioned him. "We have to know the truth!"

     Aesop glanced at him with a steady look before crossing his arms. "Then it's not my place to say..." 

     "Yeah, I bet it's not!" Tracy snapped at him. "Geez! Enough with the interruptions and just go on already!"

     "Anyways," Eli sighed. "I was trying to say that the outside world I had envisioned weeks ago is really chaotic... That's all I could say, I'm sorry."

     "What was it like out there?" Lisa suddenly brought up a question for him, her eyes focusing onto the ground. "Tell everyone what you saw that made it so chaotic..."

     "I didn't see much," the seer replied unhappily. "All I heard were explosions, screaming, people running away, and..."

     "Ah, but you did not see one specific detail from The Tragedy, Eli," Mukuro announced, standing up from the throne. 

     Huh? What does she mean by that? I... I don't understand... What does this have to do with 'The Tragedy?' Was it related to what's happening in the outside world? 

     "And what's that supposed to mean?" Martha asked with a confused look on her face. "What is this... 'Tragedy' thing, anyway?"

     The mastermind coldly answered smoothly, "The Tragedy is known as the Most Biggest, Most Awful, And Most Tragic Event In Human History." Then explained as she crossed her arms. "There's one thing Eli did not see through the Tragedy... And that is people killing each other out for Despair."

     W-what...? T-that's impossible... Why would people do such a thing? Don't they know killing each other is bad for them?! 

     "You're lying!" Jose argued, gritting his teeth. "There's no possible way anybody would be willing to kill someone just for despair!"

     "Yeah! That's not like them to be possessed in some sort of way!" Patricia pointed that out as well. 

     "Unless," Lisa frowned slightly. "Unless they were under the influence to do so...."

     "Huh? What the heck do you mean by that?" The mechanic snapped impatiently. "Am I the only one who's so confused here?"

     I shook my head. "Not at all," and then staring back at the mastermind. "Mukuro, explain this to us," I began with a determined look on my face. "Explain to us why Eli didn't see that in his vision... That people were killing each other..."

     "So you want to know?" Mukuro's eyes fixed onto mines very tightly. 

     (Author's note: Just so you know, Mukuro has button eyes as well, so just imagine it as a button-eyes version, okay?)

     "I'm not going to repeat myself, am I?"

     "Of course not," the ultimate soldier responded swiftly to me. "If you want to know more about the truth, I suggest you make your vote on whether you guys want to leave or not."

     "Why are you rushing for us to vote now?" Freddy demanded across from me at Mukuro. "Can't you be a little more patient with us?"

     There was a moment of silence as Mukuro stood there, unmoving...


     "The main idea here is to vote," Mukuro reminded us. "And I happily suggest you vote to leave this place if you want to be a part in the Tragedy's mess..."

   
     It was as if Mukuro's going to give up... Just like that... Whatever our decisions may be... I do not like it one bit!


     "But what if we don't want to leave?" Hastur suggested. "What if we... all die together?"

     "No! How about we save Lucky Guy's existence a bit longer?" Freddy advised us. "After all, Lucky Guy has so much risk for us, and we're just going to leave him like that? Who am I kidding?"

     . . . 

     "But if we pick that 3rd option," I started to panic. "We're going to enter into another killing game, aren't we?"

     "Bingo," Mukuro agreed, although her expressions didn't change as much as she liked to. "It'll just be like going back to square one."

_________________________


     Okay, I'll stop here for now. Thanks for reading~!

     -Taina Zakura-