ᴅᴇᴅᴜᴄᴛɪᴏɴꜱ - ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴛʏ ᴠ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ [ONGOING!]

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 10 | ᴛʜᴇ ᴜɴᴛʀᴜꜱᴛ

It had taken quite a while for everyone to simmer down, but, eventually, Y/N found themselves sitting between Leo and Emma at a large rectangular table in the same cozy room from before. Neither Joseph nor the resistance wanted them sitting near them, and the O/P was completely fine with that-- they understood that their allies were still a bit sore from the underhandedness of their loyalty.
A small part of them felt a twinge of guilt at deceiving them in that way, but they resolved that they wouldn't have gone through with it if it wasn't necessary. Sacrifices had to have been made in order to bring the groups together like this, and, if that sacrifice was any shred of their already-tattered reputation and dignity, then they were completely okay with that.

They sat there, back straight and hands in their lap as everyone took turns carefully and (mostly) calmly recounting their actions and reasoning on everything that had happened up until the confrontation point in the garden. Eli spoke about the formation of the resistance, Joseph recounted his forceful partnership with Y/N, and even Leo and Emma properly explained their relationship to each other as father and daughter, to everyone but Y/N's utter shock and surprise.

Y/N was asked to speak up on more than one occasion, and they did so with little resistance-- though, understandably, their testimonies were met with much skepticism and doubt from their allies. No one could fully prove that they were lying, of course, and, with Emma and Leo's encouragement, everyone at the table was able to declare the O/P's statements as valid and fit them into the larger timeline they were constructing to better understand their situation.

One by one, everyone began to better understand each other's motivations. It was through this shared understanding that, eventually, everyone seated at that table came to see how closely their goals were aligned.

They were all still equally baffled and unsure of what to do next. They all yearned for freedom, but neither faction could possibly imagine working with the other to obtain it. Not with the current system of the game which enabled such cruelty and violence towards each other.

"What..." Tracy mumbled quietly. "What do we do now?"

Y/N knew exactly how to answer that question, but they knew they couldn't be the one to answer it.

Working together and combining the unique talents of both the hunters and the survivors was their only hope at escaping. Their allies had to come to that conclusion on their own-- the O/P was overthinking their influence on the situation, and they didn't want to appear forceful in this combining of forces. With their current unpopular status, they would most likely only wind up driving them all further apart.

"Well, it's fairly obvious at this point, isn't it?" Eli's gaze shifted nervously to Joseph and Leo's. He seemed to know what needed to be said but looked conflicted on how to say it. He spoke slowly, cautiously testing the ice with his words.

"We all want to be rid of this manor's influence in the end, right? So then... it might be in everyone's best interest to cooperate and work together. To join forces and aim for victory as a collective unit of Oletus Manor's victims."

These words seemed to be the final straw for the already furious photographer. Upon the utterance of the statement, the ice broke and he seemingly snapped-- rising from his seat and slamming his fists against the table in a most uncouth manner.

"No. My mind has already been made up. I've learned my lesson with the O/P-- from this point onwards, I work alone. Survivors only ever complicate things, and I will not be having any of that compromise my own investigations." He pushed out of his seat, turning away from the group with his head held high as he stomped back towards the hunter's side of the manor.