Rainbow Rose(s) ~ Neuv x Wrio x Reader (TEMP HIATUS)

Captive Audience

"The Oratrice has made its decision. The verdict is guilty." Neuvillette's cane hit the floor, and the guilty was removed from the court. Trial after trial, verdict after verdict. Innocents, criminals, witnesses. Audience. Everyday, in a cycle. A long, never ending cycle. For centuries.

After each trial, a brief period of rain. During each trial, no sign of the nation's (former) archon. Before each trial, an empty shell. A long, uneventful life with no exceptions. No unexpected visits, no new friends. Each visit was scheduled, appointments made for them all. For Furina, for the traveler, for Wriothesley. Time outside of trials and appointments was spent on paperwork. Every bit of writing that had to be done, was done earlier than due.

Paperwork, appointment, trial. In an attempt to keep himself busy, that's how life went. There was no time to think, to feel. There was nothing but an empty husk of Neuvillette that remained. The rest could see it too.

When would they come back? Would they come back?

Were they alive?

~

Paperwork. A bitch ton of it. New criminals to be processed, old ones to be released. After the prophecy was fulfilled, the entrance to the primordial sea was closed tightly. No accidents. But it meant more work for Wriothesley. No time for anything. Paperwork, constantly. Perhaps a good thing. The little time Wriothesley had was spent sleeping or in the ring, sparring his troubles away. No time to think, to feel.

The people in the Fortress were all left with residual aches and pains from the prophecy. He did his best to help, alongside Sigewinne. They were open with their problems, telling him everything. He spent his time focusing on their problems, their complaints. Their horrors took over his mind. He had no time for his own. Yet the question still found a way to present itself to him.

Will they come back? Ever? When?

Please come back already. Give us a sign.

~

The people of Poisson were still licking their wounds, some taking longer to recover than others. The losses were many. Homes, loved ones and possessions were all swept away by the unforgiving tides.

Navia was victim to more than one of these losses. She had lost friends from Poisson, she had lost Melus and Silver. She had lost many possessions, and she has lost a dear friend. One she had sworn to protect was taken away from her by a different tide, one more unforgiving than any other.

Navia wanted them back. All of them. She waited by the graveyard for their return every day.

~

Walking through the hallways of the lab had become boring. At first, the screams of the damned had scared them. They'd flinch at every noise thrown their way. But the sounds died down. It seemed that with every visit from the Doctor, his voice seemed to overpower the rest. With every weekly check-in, the other voices seemed to die.

Walking through the halls left me listening to the whispers, the residue of the noise that once echoed. The whispers were trapped within my mind, the commands swirled around like a never ending snow storm.

I had been upgraded from patient to assistant. The Doctor had control now - full control. His commands seemed like sacred words my body refused to disobey - whether in fear, respect or a feeling of honour, I don't know.

He made me tend to patients he didn't care for; those with injuries or diseases that meant nothing, those he considered failed subjects, etc. They were my duty. Keeping some of them alive, healing some, using some, disposing of some.

Following orders was simple. He gave them, I completed them, I awaited my next command. I barely saw him, either he was busy or I was. Dion and I weren't linked as closely as we used to be; we only saw each other when we took care of the same patient or needed something from one another.