Lissa stood limply, scratching at her arms as she imagined the vines crawling underneath. This is what she'd wanted the whole time, wasn't it? For it to end? For some measure of closure? Shouldn't it have felt more satisfying?
It didn't matter if Lissa felt satisfied. She was too tired to feel anything else. She had fought too hard for a prize that could never be won, and in this moment, at the final hour, she for once decided to go peacefully.
The continuum of memories flowed, images of faces and events and timelines that were collectively theirs. They stood in the nothingness and let these collections of events wash over them, sifting for information and truth. They were the virus, they were creation, it was their sole duty to learn and to spread. An image burned brighter than the others, and so they watched it pass, a recording of a small running boy with curly auburn hair. The virus watched blankly, but something within them tugged and screamed, a name breaking forth from the fog.
Micah. Micah!
"Micah," spoke the creature slowly, which then convulsed in a white-hot contortion of pain. Something was crawling out of it, tearing free--
There was a snap, and Lissa gasped for air as every memory rushed back, reforming her identity from within the sea of entities in creation. She tried to touch ground but there was nothing to touch, and yet she still could not fall. Confused, she grabbed at her arms, but there were no arms to grab, nor any to grab with. She screamed, but their were no lungs to support her, nor any knees to collapse upon, stuck in a void between memories. Where was she? What was she? How could she think and see and hear with no body?
The vines came for her, wrapping around the nothingness, and despite her lack of corporeality she thrashed against her binds, looking for herself and a way to go back home. She had meant to die, not to come back as a ghost--if she was going to remember, then she had so much she still needed to do, and for that she needed her strong arms, her powerful legs, her booming voice. The vines continued to coil, but they moved as she moved, covering instead of binding, and through the rustling of leaves she began to hear the sounds of her own protest. Empowered by her own cries, she kicked and thrashed further, noting that the vines seemed to mimic where her hands and feet would have been. They moved in such concert that there was no tearing them away, as if they were a...part of her now.
Lissa reached out with one vined appendage and slid a hand down her face. It was mottled and textured, but something still remained.
"This is a nightmare," her voice rustled, breathy and lacking the warm leathery feel her voice had been. "This isn't real. I'm not real."
There had to be an explanation here somewhere. She willed herself forwards, and the vines complied, but it was a clumsy, awkward pace, like stumbling around in a dark room and trying not to step on anything. Somewhere in the vines, she would find her body, she would somehow re-enter her body, and then this entire episode would feel like one strange Twilight Zone episode.
She found a body-shape bulk in a mass of vines and began to dig, but the shape of the face wasn't hers, but one that she knew. It was a creature covered in scales--its face had always been so blurred before, but stripped of her mortal coil Lissa could see the snake girl's face for the first time properly, the one who'd dragged her across most of a highway in search of salvation. It hadn't worked, Lissa supposed, but that didn't mean the girl deserved to be here.
"It's me to the snescue," Lissa's voice crinkled, shooing away the vines holding Mox up and peeling her from the wall. The girl seemed so slight in Lissa's steady branches, so thin and frail to have carried her that far. Lissa was stronger, even struggling as a plant, and the least she could do was return the favor, searching for her body all the while. Mox didn't deserve to be here. No one deserved to be here.
However, the further Lissa walked, the weaker she became, deprived from the source of her strength and will. As the vines receded, so too did her consciousness, and she felt the idle tugs of creation at her personality, letting her know what fate would befall her should she allow herself to collapse again. But still she trudged forward, following the direction of whatever made her feel nauseous. If it was away from what made the vines feel safe, then it had to be the way out. She passed several bodies, but none of them were hers, and they all seemed too far gone. Assimilated, perhaps, not worth saving.
There was a light at the end of hallway, and Lissa's body recoiled, hearing the sounds of those who were untainted the way she had been. Her body was wilting under the stress, and the fog was beginning to cloud her mind again, but the creatures up ahead seemed of the variety Mox could trust, not green and glowing and covered in vines. Lissa knelt down and left the snake girl at rest, retreating into the network of vines to watch as her body was carried away. At least one of them would be making it out. At least one of them would be going home.
OOC
Name: Amoxtli
Faction: Halloweentown
Suspecies/Division: Monster ((Giant snake))
General appearance: In her natural form, Mox looks like a giant California Garder Snake, but in her humanoid form, she is tall, thin, and covered brightly with scales, hairless and with beady black eyes.
HP:
OOC
Character's name: Elizabeth "Lissa" Buckly
Character's faction: Mall
Character's journal link: [Journal]
Character's survival stats: [Stats]
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MY CHARACTER: Freckly-tan skin, wavy auburn hair, brown eyes, stands at 5' 7" with strong shoulders and a little bit of holdover baby fat on her stomach and thighs. Currently wearing a tattered light blue gown made of cheap fabric, calling to mind a particular character from Game of Thrones. The dress is worn over what appears to be a comfortable sweater and jeans because nothing about Khaleesi's outfit is Canada-approved.
