|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 6:52 am
It felt good to be able to help build up the wall, and Ruse was only to happy to look for more materials to make it even stronger then before. This time she ended up finding a...cellphone. Really, she couldn't see how this could be used as something to build the wall. The screen was broken, and she doubted it would work- RiinnnggWithout thinking, she answered the call. Someone needed her assistance to clean up, so she walked down the hallway at a brisk pace, keeping her cool and opening the door- ...Okay seriously what the ******** was thisSomeone was leaning over the left over pieces of a bloodied body, smiling and laughing about finding a replacement. She appeared to be injured, but even as she reached out the wounds seemed to heal all by themselves, how, she had no idea. Upon hearing her thanks, Ruse was now faced with the goddess once more, alarmed to see traces of grey along her neck. The sight freaked her out more then anything, but she didn't say a thing, choosing to focus more on the hungry look in her eyes. The phone began to ring once more, and she answered it. Pokerus where are you?
I, er, got into a little bit of trouble.
Again?! 'sigh' well, I'm not surprised. You have a knack for doing these things.
I swear mom it's not my fault. I was minding my own business, and these guys started back talking and then-
Yeah, yeah I can see where this was going. You destroyed something didn't you?
....Could you help me out?'
There was a long, drawn out sigh. 'I'll be there in 30 minutes. Don't do anything until I get there, okay?
Thanks mum, you're a lifesaver'As soon as she hung up, the phone was taken from her. She was then faced with a goddess whom seemed terrible and powerful, her mind reeling from the sudden change. The world around here was nothing but insanity. There was no wall to protect her or anyone else, just insanity that corrupted everything it touched. 
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 7:34 am
And yet again, she found herself back at the Wall.
Mnezara wondered what would happen if the Wall would fall. But it was so tall; the height of it was loomed over her and she wondered what the point was in building it higher.
But if the Goddess decreed it, that meant it had to be important, right?
She sighed, and searched through the debris to find something, and her fingers brushed across a friendship bracelet. It wasn't something easy to miss, what with its garish colors, though for some odd reason, it filled her with warmth.
Mnezara plucked it off the ground and as her gaze rose, she caught sight of a mannequin, its arm sticking out. Well, it might not build the wall higher, she thought, but where else could she put it?
She slipped the bracelet onto the mannequin's wrist, and then suddenly, the hand moved, and grasped hers tightly.
The wall was gone. She didn't have any idea where she was, and Mnezara felt the hand slip out of hers, as more of them reached out to her. Without even thinking, she grabbed one of them, intent of yanking it out, but it went limp in her head immediately.
Another, she thought, but her efforts were in vain. It shattered at her very touch, and all the hands she tried to hold onto crumbled into ashes and were whisked away, and she was left alone. All alone. It was dark and--
She gasped, jolting awake, but found herself again, in darkness, but in murky waters. Waters surrounded her, yet she could somehow breathe.
She swam forward, and found herself facing a mirror. A tall rectangular mirror with a black, gothic frame, the glass of the mirror giving off a strange silvery light. Her fingers grazed the glass and it shuddered beneath her touch.
There was no reflection.
Tentacles suddenly curled around her, suction cups pressing into her skin, the water filling her lungs as she choked--
"You need rest, you give so much and still they would plague you." She stared up at the Goddess, trembling, but the figure closed her eyes again. "That's enough for now."
The next time she awoke, she was back at the Wall.
A wall does not protect, a wall can only buy you time.
It didn't matter how tall it was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 6:46 pm
Remye had taken a brief moment of reprieve from battling and doing tasks for the goddess to nap, huddled under a decaying roof in the Ruins from the acidic rain. When one got over the smell of acid, it wasn’t too bad, though she wouldn’t stay out there long. Soon, the whispers reached through the fog to her, sinking heavily into her mind and rousing her from her slumber. “The Wall”, it reminded her. “Build it higher.”
Grimacing, the young slip of a girl wandered to the Wall again, spear secured over her shoulder as she began rooting through the piles of rubbish and debris, seeking for something to perhaps stuff in some of the holes in the wall, to try and secure it from the bottom upward. Her fingers graced the edge of the VHS tape deep in the pile of debris, and with some work, she pulled it out, examining the tape with a frown before looking around. The label indicated some importance, and she wanted to see what was on the tape, but doubted she would find a working device.
Her doubt was silly. Of course she found a working device for the tape. She climbed up to the TV and VCR, placing the tape in and leaning back to watch. Her eyes scrutinized the screen closely as it played out in front of her. The color was tinny at best, but she could understand it clear enough. Her eyes scrutinized the scene as it played out; the woman on the bed, her gaze never faltering from the screen, made Remye wary about looking at her surroundings. The blood doubly so. She eyed the two bodies as their blood pooled out, and jerked when the speed suddenly picked up on the device.
How strange.
The woman’s eyes never wavered, though her body jerked occasionally in quick, minute impulses. But the eyes never changed. Remye found herself staring back, transfixed even as the blood dried and the bodies (she presumed) grew all the colder. Suddenly time seemed to jerk to a stop, slowing to a normal speed as a man entered the room. “What have you done?”
Remye thought that was obvious, and watched, transfixed, as the man went from gently scolding to venomously chiding. Clarice? What an unusual name. She watched as the woman’s eyes never faltered, never leaving Remye’s, as the man chastised and mocked her. Until he squeezed her hands, however. Remye’s chest convulsed slightly with ache and fury in reaction to the pain on her face, the pain and guilt and sorrow and white-hot rage. Suddenly the video was not in a hospital room. It wasn’t placed on some girl and some man in a white coat, locked in an eternal struggle.
Remye dimly realized this was her own memory, and watched, eyes growing distant as the memory clouded around her.
She was in the forest, running on all four legs. A distant howl behind her made her jerk to the side, and Emery snarled with a white-hot rage when she saw the darting shadow of something unwelcomed in her forest. It was her first foray without someone watching her shoulder, and a stray wolf had wandered too close to home.
She would take him down. Normally her Dad would’ve given some speech on morality, on offering the wolf a place to lay its head and rest. But after another pack attacked their land, tried to push on their territory line… Emery wasn’t taking chances.
She would show Jackson she could be a guard, and not just some mindless hunter. The 12 year old wolf bolted ahead after the shadow, silencing her snarls in favor of silently stalking it. Before she could get too far, she heard a pained yelp and then nothing. The forest seemed eerily still. Someone had taken down her chill. Snarling, she closed the distance quickly, stopping when she saw who it was. “You ********.” Emery snarled as she shifted, walking up to the man in question and shoving him. “That was mine!”
“What’re you doing out here, Em? You’re just a kid.”
“Hey, <********> you, Avery.” Emery snapped, pointing at the wolf between them. “He was my trespasser, I’ve been tracking him for three hours!”
“Does your Dad even know you’re out here? Get home, Princess. You’re wasting my time and wasting the pack’s resources, playing soldier.” Avery sneered at her, and Emery saw red. She was sick of being coddled, sick of being Daddy’s little girl, sick of being useless. Snarling, she lunged at Avery, and the two rolled in a fit of frantic biting and scrambling to gain purchase. She was hauled off by someone much larger and much stronger, snarling low.
“Let go of me! Let go!” She swung and tried to hit the brute who’d hauled her off Avery, pathetic Avery who scrambled away from the tiny teeth and claws Emery had aimed for his hide.
“Emery!” She froze, cringing at the tone. It was her father. “Get. Home. Now.” Jackson growled, dropping her and pointing. She slunk away, grimacing as shame and rage broiled in her stomach. Avery’d get his. She’d make sure of it.
Remye jerked out of her reverie as the fuzzy, monochrome white noise took over the screen. She stared at it for a long minute, before stepping back to return to her hunt, but the moment she stepped back something within it shifted. She watched as two hands reached out slowly, forcing their way out of the fuzz, before a head appeared. A familiar one. She smiled slightly as the Goddess of Protection freed herself partially from the TV. But her eyes were… odd. Empty. She watched as the fingers slid up, pressing past her eyes into her skull to extract something.
The feeling of emptiness, of being there but empty, of being nothing but a shell, was terrifying and empowering and dull and exhilarating and suddenly, it was gone and she could see again. The TV was only bars of colors, but Remye felt… odd. Reassured, though something was missing. As she turned away, a numbing sensation filled her gut, leaving her dreading something. But what?
Something beyond the wall. Something terrifying. Remye fled the Wall for now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 7:20 pm
A wall - The Wall, she whispered. This wall kept all bad things out, and all the good things in. Was he a good thing, then? He must have been. Axel nodded - yes, he was a good thing; and as a good thing he was obliged to help keep the good in and the bad out. Paranoia was a friend of Ruin, so Ruin would obviously approve of his helping.
He picked up the brick, liking the way it felt in his hands. It was sturdy, stable, had a good weight - it would fortify the wall nicely. He hefted it into the air, placing it
In the skull of the formerly helmet wearing figure in front of her. Smack! Another hit, and the blood and bones and brains were splattered everywhere. It was necessary, she told herself. Completely necessary that she should live - it was a matter of survival.
The tide grew louder as she looked out, louder and louder until it gave a deafening roar -
He was awake, strawberry blonde hair from a messy braid fanning across his face. An absent minded hand was tracing a pattern along the petite figure's back, his grey eyes staring at the slowly revolving fan blades.
Could he trust himself with her? What if he gave in to the old him, and hurt her severely? She was stable, but even the sturdiest armor had its chinks and weak points. Could he rely on his own willpower to not hurt the woman that had placed all her guarded trust and affections in him? He didn't think he could if he were being honest with himself. He thought about it all the time, and he always came up short.
She stirred, eyes slowly finding his face. "Good morning, L-"
It was gone with the sound of stone on stone, and the warm arms of the Goddess wrapping around him. She told him he didn't need that anymore, and that trust in anyone but her was unnecessary. He would argue that trusting in Ruin was still needed, but she went through him, taking out the memory that she claimed he didn't need. He felt safe, protected.
"Of course, Goddess." He mumbled before walking away with a smile. He only needed to trust the Goddesses, not himself or anyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 7:36 pm
This was what he had heard whispers of, from others or the Goddess weaving her tendrils through the fog he wasn't sure. But he had wanted to see it and perhaps even marvel. It was still being built, being fixed and maintained and still it needed to be higher, she had said.
Liom stared at it, his head craning as far back as he could without tipping himself backwards. There didn't seem to be an end in sight, he couldn't see the top of it and yet she wanted it to go higher with the random items she had deemed usable to build her fortification. Bricks, stone and random pieces, perhaps even from different realms.
Through the collection of provided materials, the shadow boy's hand drifted to the stained brick. Perhaps more to see what the stain even was, it was stick to the touch making him frown for a moment as he moved his hands around it to get a better grip; mostly on the harder lumps. Perhaps he didn't want to know what was coated on it after all. Perhaps he should just do as he set out to do, help build this Wall and do his work. Seemed easily enough actually, moving about the giant structure helped him find the perfect spot for his contribution. Carefully, with one hand on the wall itself, he slid his brick into its new home with a thick and heavy smack.
Smack!
The sound seemed like it had been a solid enough hit, but he knew better. These were helmets after all and just one swing wasn't going to do it. He raised the brick high in his hand and brought it down on the other person with another hard smack. Finally, it cracked coupled with a muffled scream that reached a new, higher pitch until it was cut short by an explosion.
He shielded his face from the onslaught of human debris, not carrying that it was bits and pieces of the once person - he had killed him after all. The last bit of brain matter plunked against his helmet, almost prompting him to sit down with a heavy sigh. His breathing was erratic, and it was all he could hear along with the softly beating waves across the sand.
They were going to kill him. Just like everyone else was going to kill him.
If he let them, but he was going to kill them first.
The sound of the tides grew louder but he found himself ignoring it, even as the sound increased around him until it suddenly.... stopped. It dissolved all around him, shifting and fading as a new wave of sound filled his ears and his isolation was replaced by crowds and bells and laughter.
The halls of high school, San Dimas High School. He had been so excited when he moved over from the islands with his sister; he had nearly insisted so he could get the feel of the mainland and get a new change of pace. His parents had been hesitant but after so much time they finally gave in under a mile long list of conditions.
So excited, different cultures to get to know. New people to meet with a friendly smile and the Aloha spirit. But he didn't feel that now and his smile had all but vanished. He didn't sense the ohana like back home in his old neighborhood or his old school, like these people were out to get him. They shared the same skin tone but they spoke a different language all together and seemed to be looking at him with suspicious eyes; like they knew he wasn't one of them.
Okay, maybe he was being a little prejudice and stereotypical here but he had always heard the dangers of Southern California; infested with gangs and drive by shootings... and gangs. He had laughed it off, couldn't be true and now he was beginning to wonder if it was.
His first day at a new school had been nothing but him with his head down, his mouth shut and his hands clinging tightly to the shoulder straps of his backpack. Even those he said hello to, he avoided especially with their smiles that he was accustomed to wearing, they were trying to get something from him or trying to figure him out with one quick glance; maybe even join their posse or whatever. He kept to himself that day, and a few more after that...
Liom blinked as the soft scraping of stone pulled him from the memory, the sound that should he should have heard as he slipped it in. He backed up, staring at the wall and unable to move, especially when they warped and twisted before his eyes. The hands engulfed him - he was actually petrified, knowing the last time arms had come at him - "You don't need that, you'e safe now. You never have to trust in anyone," she said in a soothing whisper. There was such a harsh undertone though and he stared blankly at the wall and those secure arms, wanting to ask what she meant. But his mouth wouldn't move, nor when the memory vanished from his mind because it was replaced by something else anyways. A power. Safety. Liom gently touched the pulsing glow upon his chest.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 7:39 pm
He glanced down at the bracelet in his hands. It was delicate, rainbow and knots. Ixb rubbed it through his fingers a moment trying to think of what it reminded him of. Something hovered in the front of his brain but he couldn't place it. When he saw the mannequin's arm it seemed like it was only natural for the poor abandoned thing to be gifted with the bracelet. Ixb's mouth twitched as he put the thread around the plastic wrist delicately. When it grabbed him he screamed like a woman. Apparently he didn't handle sudden surprises very well anymore. The smooth, base line personality he'd come into being with seemed to shift by the moment and shatter him into more facets. By the time he stopped yelling Ixb realized the wall was gone. He was still clutching the hand in desperation until his eyes dropped to the field before him. All of them turned to him, needing him. The hand he held seemed to suddenly collapse, like a dying sand sculpture. "No no.." Ixb's fingers sifted through sand and he desperately grabbed for another and another. "No no.." They all dissolved in front of him. And night turned to day he stood alone under the dark sky. "Anyone?" He reached into nothingness. "Anyone? Is anyone alive?"
They'd arrived to find the camp empty. The Sahara sand whipped them hard, burning their faces. He already knew he was sunburned. If only anyone would tell them where they were going first... just once.. it'd be great.
The tents flapped furiously in the wind, equipment lay abandoned. All tried desperately not to think the worst and he couldn't help but remember his first mission here.. with the bodies.. vomiting..
"There's someone alive" A call came from one of the tents and they all rushed to see while the Lifers worked on the equipment. He heard talking at the tent door as more and more people crowded in.
"Who is it?"
"Can you see?"
"Hey are you okay?"
Questions peppered the gathered group until he could finally nudge in far enough to see. It was just someone's back, but they were rising and moving slowly. The figure turned and there was a collective gasp.
Julie's corpse moved like a twitching insect. He body was a cavity, a hive, writhing with infestation. He heard someone retch and then heard someone whisper.
"It's Julie."
He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. His chest felt like it was caving in. He was horrified, angry and hit with the sudden reality of having lost a friend. It had only been a thing they all thought would happen but hadn't really seen.
The image of her. The lifelessness. The horror.
He'd never forget.And then he was blinking up at the Goddess. She caressed his face and whispered to him. He closed his eyes again and it was gone. When Ixb finally woke again he was staring up at the wall. He should have been secure but all he could do was feel unsafe.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 8:52 pm
Liom was ready to go, even through the motions but he felt something, heard something urge him back, for him not to leave. To keep building even though his task had already been completed (but hadn't hadn't it? He had felt a blessing...)
Build it higher
He moved, almost on automatic, trudging around for something to use to please her wishes of an unending structure that would reach to heights he couldn't even fathom. It was hard to see at first, so small in the litter of debris and other material that was many ways just haphazardly placed upon the wall to make it grow. It was glowing though, like it was trying to call him and announce it was there for him. His hand wrapped around it, wiping his thumb across its smooth surface. Really, it was too small to really add much but it seemed to have a purpose, wanting to be found.
Liom's eyes scanned across the wall, trying to find a spot amongst the other gadgets and gizmos until he finally found it. A perfect spot in a large tower. In an instant, all around him, screens began to flicker and come to life; each one a different image, showing him something different. Code he couldn't read, graphs he didn't understand, data that went too fast for him to figure out. There was a man in one, talking but without any sound and in another, one that caught his attention more was a blonde woman. Her voice projected clear like a bell to him, he could hear her.
"This is R-type Golem trial number three. The date is March 5th, 2012. The time is 0200 hours." She turns to another computer, and types quickly. In the back ground there's a metal table, and if you squint, you might notice that it's covered in dirt, or possibly mud. "The new core has been modified with changes 1a-1nn." She continues to type and then looks up toward the table, "I am now initiating golem formation and personality installation."
He didn't understand any of it really, gibberish almost but then he noticed on the table something move. And even though he knew perfectly well that he was simply watching this on a screen, he craned his neck to the side to get a better look at what he was seeing. The mound of mud on the table seemed to be moving. It was contorting, first into a ball and then reforming before it took on a more humanoid shape. His eyes went wide as it continued to change from the simple mud it had once been. It was a person. Moving, smiling, scratching his head, acting just like a normal person. Until he crumbled, turning to his natural state.
Sighing the woman turns and walks toward the camera. "Trial 3 is a distinct failure. Stability has worsened. Modifications 1a-1nn will be removed and examined indiviually at a later time." She reaches toward the screen and it goes blank. Another flickers on displaying a similiar scene, and then another, until the entire wall is playing scene after scene of the woman testing, the man being born from mud, and eventually, something about the man breaking or acting oddly, sometimes violently before he returns once again to the earth. Those scenes grow briefer, and briefer, until all the monitors go blank. A moment later all of the screens reveal the exact same scene.
The screen shifted, static for a moment until the picture came back.
The woman, a little older now, a little happier and more confident, stares solemnly into the camera, "This is R-type Golem trial number six-hundred and thirteen. The date is November 16th, 2014. The time is 0300 hours." Stepping back she hits a key on the other computer, a newer one and heavily modified. "Change 198rr is now in place."
Liom found himself stepping forward, staring in awe at the screen as he watched the event happen once again. This time quicker, he had formed so quickly and his form more solid and stable and longer. He's a person for longer and only mud again as the test seems to conclude. The boy almost found himself touching the screen, a frown forming when static and snow greeted him. And almost pushed away, shocked when he saw different things.
He's young, beginning grade school. Darker skinned kids are teasing him, he's lighter than them. They argue, as little kids do. They laugh. He throws a punch, knocking one of them to the ground.
Static.
Those same children, some time later. One of them still sports a fading black eyes while he has a healing cut on his lip. He holds out a rice ball, something his mother had made him. His last one. The other boy smirks while the others gather around to see there are others for them as well.
Static.
He's older, glued to the television, sitting way too close but his eyes wide with awe. Five teenage cops who patrol earth arresting space criminals in flashy spandex costumes. Its catchy, they have abilities. He has decided his future from this show.
Static.
His older sister laughs at him and calls him cute as she ruffles his hair. He teases her about something called a hula and that she'll only end up working at luau for tourists.
She wants to slug him.
Static
The AIM chatbox flashes with a link to a website.
Static.
He smiles, staring at the calendar as a balloon wafts around his head. His sister had decorated his room as she has for every single one of his other birthdays. Streamers, funny pictures and small flower leis.
He's finally nineteen.
Him. Somehow he could tell he had seen snippets of his own life. He'd seen something like that before, hadn't he? He couldn't remember, like anything he tried to recall it would drift away before he could fully see it. Not like this, watching it. He stares at the screen, wondering if he'll see more but the image that follows is not of himself but of the Goddess. He stares at her.
"Your only hope is in survival," her voice booms from a hundred small speaker. "Your only hope is through me, do you understand....how much it takes? How much we need? We do this for you, and yet you cling to such things?"
Her arms embrace him, heart and whole. She's strong, he can tell even though he doesn't find it in him to struggle. She's going to take something form him, he can already guess before she even pulls herself away from him taking the memories he had finally gathered.
They were gone and he felt dizzy, Liom staggered for a moment trying to push away the awful feeling of enclosure. Dread, woe, he didn't like to feel this way but he did. The boy clutched at his chest.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:44 pm
Naiad shivers as she reaches the wall. She hears the whispers of a goddess telling her to build the wall higher. Biting her lip she walks closer. She did not know what these things she was to keep at bay were but she had a feeling she should listen. Nearing the wall she watches the other figures scaling and building the wall with the materials that they brought with them. The fact that some of their forms stilled and grew vacant bothered Naiad and yet she wanted to help.
Looking up at the wall she shivers again. It seems ominous and she feels small standing there under it. Yet she also can tell that it seems to come closer to her as if the odd orderly pattering of brick, stone and debris is staring down at her in hunger. Gulping she takes another look and yet it has seemingly become a basic wall once more. Nodding as if to herself she looks around for some type of material to help.
The object that calls to her however is an odd partly melted plastic horror that looked to be part cheerful cartoon cat at one point in time. Slowly bending over she scoops it up into her hands and looks at the thing as a sense of safety fills Naiad. Taking it she looks on the wall for the best spot for it. At first there is nowhere that feels right. She even had to climb a bit before it started to flicker on and off. Naiad took this as a signal that she was close. It soon glows brighter and brighter until her eyes are filled with a blinding white light.
All of a sudden she wakes in her bed, The darkness all around with her covers pulled over her head. Naiad feels so small and weak that she whimpers as she feels her heart thundering in her chest so load that she can hear it as well. She feels something outside the covers shifting and sinking onto the bed and a harsh laugh comes from above her as the covers are yanked away violently revealing the razor sharp smile glinting at her through the dark.
Then she feels her world shift again and she remembers..
She was very small, her small leathery wings held tight against her as she cuddled the fluffy stuffed animal close. She was hiding in the closet again from the thing she KNEW was under the bed. She had that feeling that her 'fluffy' and the doors of the closet were the only things protecting her from the creature. Her tail was even curled around her as she sat with her knees against her chest and 'fluffy' under her wings. Then there was a bright light as the doors were yanked open and her aunt stood there starring down at her.
Gulping she looked p as her aunt reached down and grabbed her arm. Yanking her from the closet and chiding her for the childish behavior. Shivering as the woman took her 'fluffy' she cried out and her aunt glared. She cried as she was sent to bed in the dark, without 'fluffy' or anyone checking under the bed for the creature she tried to tell her aunt was there.
Naiad shivers as the memory recedes and she is blinded once more by the light before it fades into the form of the goddess from before. As the goddess takes her hands and speaks Naiad tries to smile. That smile only got a little brighter as she felt the warms and yet the pulling of that memory out of her. She feels better as the goddess fades back into the wall and the feeling of warmth and safety return. She can tell that the wall will continue in keeping the bad things at bay. Looking at her hands where the item had been before she sees the glowing blessing. Smiling she hold it close and returns to the ground.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:46 pm
He found himself at the Wall once more, with the Goddess telling him that it still needed building blocks added. The Wall was needed, an essential piece to the world he would reign soon.
He choose the VCR tape, covered in dust and dirt. Brushing some of the collected dust off, he found the tape read
Clark County General
Security Zone 3
05/19/2008
12:24am-7:02am
Cocking his head in curiosity and scanning the wall for some sort of receptacle for the tape, he quickly found the TV with the VCR player. He popped it in, and began to watch as the tape began spinning from one reel to the other.
She was sitting there, staring emptily at the camera. Directly at him, blood dripping everywhere without notice of the woman. Blood, horribly red blood on the walls, on the ground, all around the room. She stared and stared, ignoring the two small figures on the ground and their ever increasing pools of blood. Time sped up, her body staying in the same spot but twitching at points. Finally, a man came in. They talked, and he led her away to a place Axel hoped was better than this.
Everything went fuzzy, and Axel was drawn in closer to the screen.
They'd been talking for a while now, just little chats and the occasional mission together. There'd been some minor flirting from his end, and she'd eventually given in. She'd asked for a date at the beach, where he'd just gotten back from, and she'd asked about something more permanent.
Stupidly, unthinkingly, he'd said yes. He'd resigned himself to bunkering down, staying stagnant with one person for an extended period of time. She... would probably never leave, if he were to be completely serious. She had too many friends, too many people that cared for her that would make sure his life was short if he ever broke off their relationship. He was done, completely through - no longer able to breeze around the island and have his way.
It hurt. He couldn't keep his cool, and the gun was drawn. Shots rang out through the facility, and a very badly muffled scream of a groan shortly thereafter.
Game over.
Axel clutched at his heart, the feeling of his life shattering and falling to pieces on his head overwhelming him. His entire way of life was gone, and now there was -
The Goddess. She pulled herself out of the screen, staring at him emptily. She assured him he didn't need this memory before painlessly sinking her hands into his eye sockets, pulling out the offending memory. He blinked, and she was gone along with the scene of the woman, replaced with a few colored bars and the words OFF AIR. He felt reassured, sure of her and the Wall.
But as soon as he turned the other way, he couldn't help but feel a great looming dread. Something was going to happen soon...The Wall could only hold for so long.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 11:10 pm
He didn't even try to leave this time, he needed to finish his work. There was still more to do, still more materials to find to help with this wall. His eyes searched the ground like usual, he found himself an old alarm clock. It seemed broken upon examination, having ticked its last tock some time ago. The only thing seeming to still work was the bell, the striker clicking softly with ease against the bell.
It could be of some use hopefully, among the clutter and the bricks that made up this wall. Liom found the small thing a nice little spot, tapping it into place and seemingly setting off the alarm. It rung heavy in his ears.
He could hear the bell perfectly clear, he wanted to ignore it and just lay there with the strong arms around his chest. The owner complaining and trying to wrap herself further into him but it had to end, she let go. The warmth gone and goodbyes given their place as she left, leaving him with nothing but the view of crimson hair against soft white prestine cotton. He frowned, flicking the light switch and leaving.
The trip down the hall was quiet, though given the hour it wasn't much of a surprise. And a relief really, being able to express his excitement in the open air and not have to hide it through crowded halls to the labs. He passed through them with ease, making his ay in to be greeted with the prepped pod and golem staging area. His fingers danced across the keys to initiate the program, no records were needed this time, no one needed to know. The records would be destroyed in a matter of hours anyways.
Sequence complete, he strode over to the pod and laid back and let it go.
Some few minutes later, he found himself waking up on the cold metal table, naked and uncomfortable. But, it felt right. Like his. Even after so many times of testing this body while his body only lay so many feet away. He stared at it, left in its peaceful slumber.
So unaware, even as he stood over it. Apathy, resentment in such short order just staring at it. It was limp, fragile and the cuff around its wrist came off with ease but even as it snapped on there was only silence. Raeg quiet like usual.
His hand lifted from his side once more, this time to run a finger lightly against his old face, trailing down to the soft and tender neck until his hand wrapped slowly around it, twisting it with small little snap. Such strength, such power. Something to hide, because no one needed to know of this accomplishment. At least for now. To know that the 8-type had worked, proof in his very being. And would have once been looking right at him, the old body useless with its broken neck but he still alive. Immortal.
The tears had come without him knowing, dropping silently on that old useless body. But he could only smile through these tears, not bothering to remove them from his old persons. No, it needed to be disposed of.
The piercing sound of a bell rang out through the air, shifting the memories.
He's on a beach, the waves pound behind him while the skies overhead are nothing but clouds and gloom. Impending forces that no one should have to deal with. There are several other boys around him, all in wet suits with their long boards in arm. They all share the same expression as he does. Uncertainty.
They keep looking back to one another as one of the group keeps trying to insist about the surf. "It's choice!" He tells them, but they all seem to share the same troubling thought. A hurricane was coming in, eastbound. It was likely to dissipate into a tropical storm like so many other times but the wreckage it could cause still made them all hesitant to tackle the swells and the waves that broke at Kolekole. Even just standing on the beach made him a little nervous. They were still barely in their teens and no where in the leagues of the more seasonal surfers who were trying their luck with the early rounds of what the storm would bring them.
He looks out, a few bodies in the water trying to catch a choice wave. He bites his lip, unsure and ready to leave like a few of their other friends had. It was always a risk to go out in the water, so many factors (even the smallest mistake could take out the most seasoned pro)... how much more could trying during this kind of weather affect his odds. "Fine," he found himself saying much to the delight of the other boy. A hand clapped him on the back and then pushed him along to the tumbling ocean -
"Was it worth it?" He heard whispered into his ear. Liom would have wanted to say it was, the accomplishment and the smiles from the other surfers. But he couldn't find himself speaking, just staring up at her as she traced a thin line with a finger. So gentle, just like in the other memory. To much like it, her jerked when her fingers found his neck. "Will it be worth what you'll face?" She asked him, "you've some so far but..."
She didn't go on, simply squeezed and leaned closer. "If you rise too high, you'll be above my protection."
It burned.
It hurt. He could feel the last of these memories pull from him like ribbons, playing backwards as she claimed them for herself. She let him drop when finished, leaving him empty and branded. Leaving him trapped within these walls.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 11:24 pm
As Naiad turned to leave she heard the goddess again. She blinked as the goddess asked for her to build it even higher. She can feel that the voice is truly wanting her to help and she stops her journey away from the wall to return.
Again she sees the other figures trying to help to only become still. While this still bothered her she could not shake the feeling there was more she could do to help. The wall still seems innocent and yet hungry. Gulping as she came near she looked for something else to use to strengthen the wall.
She then lays her eyes on the old dusty VHS cassette. The only color on it being the label. She carefully picks it up and reads the label to herself.
Clark County General
Security Zone 3
05/19/2008
12:24am-7:02am
She nodded to herself thinking that this would be good. After all, the wall was a security measure for them right? Looking around she smiles as she finds the perfect spot, an old TV on top of a bulky VCR. Smirking she slides the tape in and watches as the screen of the TV flickers a few times before playing. As the hospital room appears she watches. The colors seem muted and the sound rather quiet, but the picture itself was very clear, the time was listed at the top of the screen.
Naiad watches the young woman on the bed. She seemed sick, as her skin looked washed out and gaunt. Even as she stared at the camera she did not show any emotion despite the fact that the lower half of her gown was covered in blood. Shivering Naiad finds she cannot look away as she notices that the walls are also splashed in red, droplets of red sliding down the soft green paint slowly. As she watches she sees two bodies on the floor with blood pooling underneath them. Gulping Naiad's eyes widen at the scene.
Naiad then watches as the tape forwards to 6:56am. The body of the woman always staring at the camera and yet jerking minute to minute until the tape goes back to normal. The blood seemed to darken and dry during the time spent and it made Naiad shudder at the fact the woman barely moved during that time. then a hooded white figure enters and the woman finally blinks as he steps over the bodies and tsks at the woman asking what she had done. While she does not respond it seemed the hooded man did not mind and that bothered Naiad even more.
"I will say this much, my dear, you've done well to make it this far. To go unnoticed for so long, to ensure yourself a nice long, solitary mission. It's tragic really, that you're always so very clever about exactly the wrong things." Naiad hears the man say in a sweetly poisoned voice to her as he sits next to the woman and brushes a piece of hair out of her face. "It was always going to end this way, and the sooner you accept that, the better for everyone concerned."
Naiad shivers as the woman continues to ignore the man to stare at the camera even as he picks up her hand and continues his words. "You can save lives, or at least protect them for awhile, and you can take them, of course, quite easily. But the ability to create life, to hold and nurture it? That isn't yours, Clarice, not any longer and not ever again. Do you understand?" It was when his knuckles when white around the woman's hand that she finally looked away and towards the floor. But this did not make Naiad feel any better as she could tell the woman's expression broke into a million stabbing pieces of sorrow, regret, and rage.
Then the screen flickers and Naiad sees one of her own memories instead...
She was crying. The rain was falling all around her as she hugged herself tightly as she was soaked. She could remember her father yelling, telling her that she could no longer speak to him. He was nothing more than a lower monster, and nothing to them. They were demons, the lords of the others around them and better than them. The kitsune would die and that was that for getting near his daughter. Naiad knew it was her fault. That he would loose his life because of her love of his tails and his infectious personality that had her so close to him. She cried because she did not want to loose and yet there was nothing she could do. The servant of her mother, the beautiful Kitsune male that she thought she loved would die and she had been banned from even seeing him one last time.
Her eyes widened as she heard his shout from the manor behind her. The '12' year old's eyes widened as she knew that had been him crying out before he died. He had been her friend and now he was dead. She was angry and yet felt like she would die at the feelings. It had been her fault after all.
Then as soon as the scene finished the screen flickered again and returned to fuzz. Naiad watched with tear filled eyes as something from within pushes out and forms hands that reach towards her, then a head follows before the goddess pulls her torso as well partially out of the screen to stare down at her, eyes empty.
"That isn't yours, not any longer and not ever again." Naiad hears the goddess tell her before her fingers slide into her eyes painlessly to pull something free of her. For several minutes she stands there, still, blind, empty. Then her sight returns to find the goddess gone and the screen of the TV only displaying bars of color with the text: OFF THE AIR. She feels a sense of reassurance as she stares at it but when she turns away she feels the numb dread fill her. Gulping she looks at the wall knowing it was still keeping the things at bay that were more terrible than she could imagine, at least for now.
Once again though when she turns away again to leave she feels something in her hands. Looking in them she sees another blessing. Managing a smile she holds it close as she closes her eyes and goes to leave.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 12:26 am
Once again as Naiad started to leave she felt the pull again. Looking back at the wall it looked the same and yet she felt as if there was another thing she could do for it. Turning around she went back again and looked for another item to add to the wall. This time she saw a small friendship bracelet sitting on the ground. It's rainbow knots seemed bright against the dirt and she felt something warm and hopeful as she picked it up off the ground.
Looking for a place to put it she smiles as she sees the plastic mannequin sticking out from under some office equipment, one of it's hands outstretched. She thought it looked like the perfect place to put the bracelet she had found and so she softly places it on the mannequin. However, before she can pull back she feels a painful pressure on the hand as it comes to life and grabs her.
As Naiad looks down she sees that the wall is now gone and in it's place is the brilliant, fiery orange of sunset overhead, the night's darkness only just creeping in at the corners. With the scene above her comes the endless field that stretches far into the horizon. Naiad feels the hand slip from her only to see many, many, MANY more reaching towards her. There are so many she could barely see the ground as they demand at her. Gulping she reaches down and grabs one, pulling with all her strength only to have it go limp at the will behind her actions. She feels a flare of determination and reaches for another But this one shatters at the barest touch. She ties them as quickly as she can but as they each drop and crumble at her touch she finds herself alone in the field. Ashes being blown away by a soft wind as night covers the world. She then shivers in fear as she reaches into the night, but this time nothing reaches back.
She wakes from this nightmare only to find herself in another one, a memory...
Naiad sighs and once again ignores the impulse to hug the fluffy tail as it passes by. Her father was watching her closely for any clue that she had not learned her lesson about fraternizing with the lower races. She shivered as she felt her aunts eyes on her as well. Could they not see that she was trying to do as they asked? She was ignoring her love of fluffy things just for them! She could care less about most of the lower races and even agreed with her father and aunt about them. They were lower than them and not worth her time. However, it hurt every time she had to ignore the fluffy softness of one of those lesser races that had that tail or ears. It just made her want to cuddle or glomp that softness and yet she was doing everything to do as they asked and ignore it. Sighing once more she felt alone, she knew of no other demon with her proclivities and it was painful none could understand that it was not that she did not agree with their ideals.. it was just that she liked their fur...
Naiad awoke this time feeling haunted by the fact that none understood her and anxious that her father might find out she still felt the same as before. However before she could dwell to much on this she looked up to see the goddess kneeling over her with a gentle expression to her face. "You need rest, you give so much and still they would plague you." Naiad hears the goddess say before she caresses her brow and slides her hand over Naiad's eyes, closing them. "That's enough for now."
Naiad wakes later to stare up at the wall. She can no longer remember the nightmare but she suddenly realizes the truth, The wall only buys time, it does not really protect them. Looking down at her hands she sees another blessing. Holding it close just as she had the others she slowly gets to her feet and heads away from the wall.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 12:34 am
The wall called to him again. As usual, he listened. He followed. He was such a good soldier. A good worker. A good drone. Trebor picked up the alarm clock, setting it neatly on the wall. As soon as he did, he was presented with a memory he just wasn't comfortable with. Following in the footsteps of the one who gave up everything to be immortal; he knew he wasn't ready to take that risk. But what risk was worth taking? The letter was so official. It was all gold and monogrammed and fancy like they use in the city when they want to give you an award or something official like. It was beautiful. He wanted to frame it.
But he didn't.
"Dear Robert Morris. We at Juilliard are pleased to inform you that-"
He never could spell their name right, anyway.
When he threw the letter in the trash, he knew he was going to marry her one day. He just knew he would. But that didn't mean he could let her go off and live without him. Her dream had to be his dream, now.
And his dream had to stay in the trash.He let the goddess take this memory too, because it welled him up with an unmistakable anger that he knew he shouldn't feel. When she warned him not to rise too high, he sunk down onto the floor, and nodded. She was right, of course. Her dream was his dream, now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 12:49 am
He was back at the wall, unsure of why he kept coming back. He'd already been suspicious of its power to keep the bad out, and the good in. After all, there were so many bad things in the world already. The monsters he'd been fighting, the fragmented silhouettes that Ruin sought to eradicate, the sense of despair he felt after leaving this area.
Still, he followed the directions of the Goddess and picked up a cracked and stained cell phone from the pile of materials. He began to take a few steps towards the wall when the phone rang.
He answered without a thought, hearing a sharp and clear female voice on the other side of the line. "Hey, I need you to come down to the labs, I've got a bit of mess here." She said, and he followed the summons.
What he came upon wasn't at all expected. She was a mess, gashed across the front, but the man was even worse. Completely shredded, utterly destroyed. He'd found something? She could make a new one? "Ma'am, I don't understand..."
She turned, the wounds completely healed already. She gave him her thanks, and as she walked away he saw the thin grey marks on the back of her neck. They looked like...no, never mind. He'd ignore it.
The phone rang again, and he answered.
"Hello?
"L@#$? It's your father."
"Dad? What are you doing? Where are you?"
"I can't quite say, son. How are you?"
"I'm good, I guess? Moved out of mom's house-"
"That's great. Listen, I put some money in your account. I need to leave. I love you."
"I love you too? Dad, wa-"
Click.
The Goddess was there, staring at him. She took the phone from him, told him it was necessary that it be taken away. He looked her in the eye, examining all the madness and instability that went on inside her...
There was no wall, no protection. Only the Goddess and her madness.
She needed replacing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 1:24 am
Vaneda returned to the wall again, this time knowing what she had to do. She didn't wait for the goddess, looking around the crumbles of the ruins for something, anything.
Her eyes land on a alarm clock, reaching over to the device and picking it up. Moving her hand over the screen, she looks at the time that has stopped, dusting the glass to look at the little numbers. The top has two bells with something in the middle. The alarm. yes this would be good for the wall. It's after all a alarm, that would alarm them of danger isn't it?
Taking it over to the wall, she sets it down the moment it is, the alarm sends a shrill sound into the air. her hands come to cover hear ears but it's too late-
The memory starts to play and she watches. Like she always does.
The woman slips out from her partner, slipping out of the room. Slipping farther and farther away. Until she is in a lab, and she's lying down. Nevada knows this lab, but not like this woman does.
She knows what the golem is, she knows all of it. This is her world and she knows it. She slaps the bracelet on and then she changes.
From one body to another. Snapping the other bodies neck. Vaneda can't believe the risk, the danger. What if the golem didn't work? What if she had died?
What if?
The memory fades and comes back, only this time its her. She's a bit younger, with a full set of eyes. Her hair is tied in a complicated mess of braid and she is shivering. On her is her thick jacket, A small backpack. She has 100$ or something like that in cash. Winter is crisp in the air as she looks around the college grounds. It's not her school, because she ran away from her school.
She had run away from her home.
But not because she was some disturbed teenager, rebellious against her parents wishes. No. She has a specific goal in mind. Alaska. She was searching for Alaska. She looks at the student roster of the posted list, but see's nothing.
Nothing again. She's ventured from Maine, to New york, To Virginia, where she currently is now. She has no idea where, and her money is severely dwindling. Breathing into her hands to warm them, Nevada sighs. Darkness is following in, which is why its getting colder. This time, she doesn't have somewhere to stay. The shadows are out and about, she can already see them dancing in the periphal of her vision.
"Hey! Haven't I already tried to recruit you??" Nevada looks up at a man, dressed in a white coat with a tree branching out. "You see the shadows right? Did you decide not to join?"
She blinks, wondering if he is just some guy looking for a girl for the night. "Shadows? I have no idea what you're talking about. I think you've got the wrong girl." She tsk's, not in the mood to deal with him, not realizing that he might be referencing her sister. As she turns to leave, he grips her arm, pulling her back towards him and summoning a weapon.
It glowed with a language she's never seen, scratchings. "Don't move." He whispers. her breath hitches as a shadow floats towards them, forming. Slowly slowly. She wants to run, She wants to leave. She wants to find Alaska. "You do see them! Don't worry this one is no big deal. Ah sorry too about the mistaken identity thing, you look like another girl I talked too..." And he slices at it with his weapon, the thing disappearing.
Nevada is staring at him, gripping his coat. It's not the creature that scares her now. Its that he seen someone like her. "What's her name, do you remember?"
"Alaska or something like that." The guy blinks, "You know her?"
Nevada breathes in, "Take me to her."
He gives her a thoughtful gaze, "I can't just do that missy. But I can give you an option of seeing her?" Nevada doesn't care. She'll do anything. She'll take anything. She'll risk everything.
"Take me to her." She repeats, following the hunter into a further darkness.
"Was it worth it?" The goddess speaks, appearing before her. Vaneda looks up at her and smiles sadly, "It was always worth it." She answers. A small gasp escapes as the memory is burned away from her mind. Leaving her empty at the wall.
Instead of feeling safe within it though, she felt trapped. So she walked away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
