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 Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 5:30 am
Returning once again to the wall, Wyng heard, for the third time the gentle whispering of a Paranoia. Again she urged, "The Wall, build it higher. Take whatever you can find and build. The Wall is safety. Terrible things await you, only the Wall keeps them at bay." Still not remembering what exactly the wall was keeping at bay, Wyng, once again, went to search for building materials. As with before, she noted that she was not the only one heeding the goddess' call, for there were others coming in from other areas, carrying and dragging material to build up the wall with. Others, yet, were scaling it, fixing things just so until their forms stilled and grew slightly vacant. Seeing the others working on it, she once again both perceived and did not perceive the wall, for it seemed massive and small. Ordered and messy. As far as she could tell, it was whatever the goddess needed it to be, and yet, she never saw it as good enough. Thus, Wyng went to search for more building materials. As she was searching, she happened upon a friendship bracelet
. A pretty thing of rainbow knots, that seemed completely out of place. Perplexed, Wyng went to look at it closer, not quite believing her eyes. Picking it up, she examined it closely. The more she examined it the more it seemed to fill her with something warm, something hopeful. Shaking her head at the fact that an item could illicit such emotion, Wyng searched around for where she should put the bracelet. Soon, she spotted a plastic mannequin partially buried under office equipment. It was sticking out a bit at the Wall with one hand out-stretched, as if it was asking for the bracelet. The perfect spot for the bracelet found, Wyng slipped the bracelet over the fingers of the mannequin, and onto its wrist. As she did so, she did not expect the mannequin to come to life, but it did and immediately grabbed her hand as hard as it possibly could. Suddenly Wyng's vision was overtaken by, what at first seemed to be some strange memory, but as it went on, Wyng realized what it really was, a nightmare. Directly after the mannequin had grabbed her, Wyng had looked up, seeing something vanish in her periphery. The wall was gone.Instead, overhead was a brilliant, fiery orange sunset with the night's darkness starting to creep in at the corners. Looking back down, she realized that she was in a field that stretched far into the horizon. Then, the mannequin's hand slipped off of her hand, but Wyng wished it hadn't because, soon,she saw hundreds, thousands, more like it reaching for her. The multitude was so thick and demanding that she could barely see the ground. Wyng grabbed at one and pulled, only to have it go limp just as she put all her strength and will into the action. Her determination flared and she reached for another, only for it to shatter at the barest graze of her fingers. One by one and two by two, she tried to hold on, but in the end, the hands dropped and crumbled, and drifted away as ashes in the wind, until finally she was standing in a field. She was alone and night had settled over the world. She tried reaching into the darkness, for something, anything, but nothing reached back. Then, she awoke from that nightmare to find herself a child again and with her mother by a lake. They were weaving crowns from flowers, laughing and joking all the while. Laughing, she went to gather more flowers, but when she returned, her mother was gone, no trace of where she had gone. Hearing something behind her and believing it was her mother, she happily turned, only to find that she was suddenly in a barren field with armed people bearing down on her. Struggling to get away from them, she's finally caught and then, she woke up. This time, she knew that she had not woken to another dream, because there was the goddess kneeling over her body with a gentle expression. "You need rest, you give so much and still they would plague you." She said, caressing Wyng's brow. Then she slid her hand over Wyng's eyes, closing them. "That's enough for now." She awoke some time later, and stared up at the Wall. She could not remember the nightmare she had had, but one thought stood out clearly in her mind...
A wall does not protect, a wall can only buy you time. 
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 7:48 am
This time when Reap returned to the wall it was with a deep sense of dread. He still had to keep the bad things out, that was important to do, but he was no longer optimistic or had too much faith in the goddess herself, she was shifting slowly from the role of guardian and level source of guidance to something far more tyrannical and intimidating, he’d gotten to keep his song, but he had lost so many more uncountable things along the way, things he didn’t even know why he’d wanted to keep.
When he found the alarm clock it made sense exactly the way the USB had and he climbed the wall to place it on the shelf that it seemed to belong to. He almost fell when it rung out and he plunged headlong into another memory.
The vicarious comfort of the awakening was reminiscent and pleasant, leading into the excitement and anxiety of an experiment, an experiment with consequences that thrilled him right to the core. Immortality. It had been important to him once he knew, he shared in the liberation, the shaking off of the dread of imminent mortality.
And then he fell deeper still.
Late at night, a bundle of nerves. He’d intercepted the transmission by mistake, simply ******** around with the comm with the walkie talkies they used to signal police raids on their dvds and games. He hadn’t known who was on the other end, words he didn’t understand. Deus. Co-ordinates. Part of him hoped it was a covert drug drop, he could sidle on in and be rich then get out of this shithole forever.
He’d gone alone because he didn’t do sharing, and because the last guy he trusted shanked his face wide open almost ear to ear and left him in the plastic surgery unit for way to ******** long. He was done trusting people and coming to terms with the fact he in actuality had no friends at all.
When he got there he hadn’t expected people to be there or at least he hadn’t expected them to have weapons like they did - the vast glowing scythe looked positively lethal. They looked like guys who were ******** going places. When they spotted him he asked if he could join them and for a minute had expected the black and white haired guy to kill him on the spot. He had a tendency to open his mouth when he should have kept it shut, a trait that would have him later ask death himself for a piece of chocolate. He survived only because the ginger bloke – who was familiar - had spoken up and it had seemed hopeful, he’d been reasonable, he could escape the den of ******** snakes and backstabbers he lived in.
They told him it was dangerous, more than he knew, asked him if he was sure. He was. He had nothing to live for.
It hadn’t said anything in the small print about being knocked the ******** out.
He never saw what they were there for.
And the goddess was there again, standing over him, touching him, making him shiver, gentle but twisted, wrapping around his throat, making it hard to breathe. Was it worth it? He didn’t know, she kept taking the memories from him, leaving him stumbling blind in the darkness. He was afraid and he wanted to ask her to leave him enough, leave him something to face whatever it was that was coming.
But her grip was tight and his resolve was weak.
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 11:33 am
It was again time to build up the precious wall that the Goddess had provided, and Lyzzi moved around in search of materials. A small blue plastic and metal thing caught her attention, and while it was small, she couldn't help thinking that the wall might need it. Picking it up, she took her own time to find the perfect place to insert it among all the computer equipment on the wall. Once that was done, several screens flickered to life.
Her eyes darted from one to another, eventually resting on a screen where a woman was narrating something... She understood the words, but not the sentence. What she saw after - the man made from mud - was confusing to her, but she continued to watch. Again and again, the same woman conducted what Lyzzi gathered was some sort of experiment regarding the mud man until, one day, she did it. The mud man no longer crumbled away without warning...
They had planned this for a long time. Enlisted the help of a certain prince. Got all the students together, despite their differences. They shared a common goal, and that was the most important. Although she was anxious and unsure, having her friends and... Well, she supposed she could call them trusted acquaintances there made her feel a lot better. She had hope that it would all work out fine, and they would score their own victory against an opponent that had terrorized them again and again.
Lyzzi frowned, feeling disoriented as she found herself staring at the Goddess' face on one of the screens. She froze, terrified as the Goddess reached out for her through the screen, holding her so tightly that she thought she might die... And when she was finally free again, she was trembling, staring up at the wall made up of blue error screens.
The wall... Does it really keep all the bad things at bay?
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 1:01 pm
Someone whispers through the fog, and he recognizes it as one of the Goddesses. It wasn’t his specific Goddess, but the Goddess of Paranoia. He respectively nods once. She whispers to him of a Wall. A Wall? Oh. Linswo turns his gaze toward the tall structure. Build it higher? Well, if that was what she wanted, how could he disobey? It takes him a while at first, but then he found a bouquet of dried flowers. He figures it’s not the strongest material to build the Wall with, but they call out to him for some reason. He knows that they’ll suit the Wall just fine. When he arrives at the wall there’s a beak gleaming on top of the rubble. His eyes light up and he carefully places the flowers inside.
He’s staring at a man with bright red hair, a nervous expression painted across his face. Apparently he’s speaking, but the voice is distinctly feminine. This isn’t his memory to begin with. “Tell you what, Ben. You can help me with my button pushing thing. And then I can go with you on your mission, and help you with your looking around thing. Sound good?” He only grows more nervous, but Linswo can see what’s happening. What’s going to happen. He agrees—the memory owner deserves this. Everyone deserves love.
But then the operating table. The insides of his stomach twist as he stares aghast. That face…His face pales and he turns away.
--
He’s not in the operating room anymore, but now everything’s bigger. The sky is not grey, but a bright blue that matches his core. Wispy white clouds are scattered above him and lazily mask the sun shining above him. Children’s laughter echoes behind him. He turns around toward the other kids running across the playground. When he curiously spins around once, he can see his mother calmly sitting on a park bench with a book in her hands. As if possessing a sixth sense she looks up. Thin lips curl into a smile to reveal dimples that mirror his own. She tilts her head and waves.
His face lights up and he waves back. “Hi Mommy!” he shouts before running off on his own. He can hear her laughing because he’s so old already—almost entering middle school—and still calling her Mommy. The swings are tempting, but something convinces him to wander into the shady patch of flowers and trees. He’s never been to that part of the park before. The first step into the shade is cool, and his sneakers slightly sink into the soft soil. He giggles, bends down to examine the dirt for anything interesting. Maybe if he’s lucky he’ll find a pill bug or worm to fool around with, but a ladybug would surely be a sight to see and admire. Most importantly, he feels safe because it’s bright outside. They won’t bother him now. That’s what he thinks, anyways.
A soft breeze grazes his cheek. The cool sensation is comforting at first, but then it becomes icy cold. It’s like tiny needles prickling his skin. He holds himself tightly while curling into a ball. Everything’s okay. Everything’s alright. It’s just my imagination like Mommy said, it’s just… But as garbled murmuring fills his ears, he suddenly doesn’t feel so sure. Is he losing his mind? He hopes it’s not real. Now the murmuring is shrieking laughter and his heart sinks.
--
The voice that whispers in his ears is not the shadows, but the Goddess herself. She takes a deep breath, and suddenly he feels happy, safe.
He keeps building. This time he picks up a cassette. The antiquity of the contraption seems familiar. Linswo turns it over until he spots a label. He cocks his head at the unfamiliar address, but keeps moving. It’s natural for him to take the cassette and slide it into the VCR above a television. The screen sparks to life to play the video.
The gaunt, washed out woman immediately sets him off. He takes a nervous step back, but continues watching. It takes him a while at first, but then he notices the bodies, and the bodies make him visibly flinch. The walls are also splashed with red and he wants to whisper What happened? What’s wrong? Suddenly the cassette is fast forwarding even though he never pressed the appropriate button to begin with. He decides not to ask how; he just watches the red on the wall darken and the pool beneath the bodies grow larger and larger. A man appears. The fast forwarding stops. Linswo can hear him wonder, “What have you done?” The shadow too, is curious. The ensuing conversation confuses him, causes him to knit his brows together while he stupidly stares on. Immediate sympathy at the mention of creating life, nurturing it. He can only imagine what this Clarice feels when the screen switches to another scene.
--
There are plenty of haunted places in Wisconsin. The reality of this fact sinks in when he ambles up a trail with his friends. They’re all laughing amiably, and he’s laughing with them. It was just a dare, just a way to past the time. It wasn’t like the house was really haunted. None of them believed in the supernatural. Motel Hell? Ha.
The hotel is extremely run down when they arrive. It looks stony because the paint has peeled away from time, but the sight doesn’t unnerve the teenagers at all. They’re still laughing when they walk through the entrance. The interior matches the exterior perfectly. Everything is in ruin, rundown. Mold and dust and cobwebs are littered everywhere as they walk through the main hallway. Nothing happens at first, not immediately. They all decide the excursion would be much more exciting if they split up, and everyone is left on their own.
That’s when the singing starts. The voice is feminine, so he knows it’s definitely not from one of his friends. He shrugs it off though, labeling it as one of his friends bringing a recorder. That’s all it was, but there’s a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. He’s felt this familiar sensation of a rapidly beating heart and growing feeling of dread. But he doesn’t know why. It’s like he’s forgotten. He tries making his way up a set of stairs to the second floor when he hears someone scream from the basement. Panic and concern seizes him, but the concern outweighs the fear. He runs toward the basement and lets out his own yell when he sees the fresh blood splattered across the wall. Hands tremble when he stares into glassy eyes.
“No way…” he breathes while backstepping his way up the stairs and running out. He trips over another body. “This isn’t real.”
He tries running up the stairs to the second floor and something heavy falls from above, but its long sleeves catch on a piece of floorboard. A pale face stares straight at him. Ringing fills his ears as someone cackles Get out now!
He nearly trips, but scrambles out the exit. He’s tempted to collapse onto the ground, but the fear keeps him running. He sprints until he’s on a dirt path trail and lit houses are dotting the distance. Civilization. Finally he falls to his knees, tears spilling onto the dusty ground. “That wasn’t…”
Something flashes in the back of his mind. Black tendrils. Chilling laughter. Creaking floorboards. His childhood. But none of that was real. This wasn’t real either. He laughs weakly as he stumbles to his feet. That’s right. This wasn’t real. This didn’t happen. His friends are missing. He has to report this to the police…
--
The Goddess emerges from the screen. When she slides her hands into his eyes, it’s surprisingly painless.
Keep building. His face twists with hesitation, but he obeys. He picks up an alarm clock. Linswo places it on a nearby shelf.
A murmur. Arms. Bright red hair. The lights turn off, then back on to reveal someone walking down the labs. Someone sits in the pod, and then…
…
Linswo is confused. He stares at what he thinks is the someone’s body and that someone snaps her own neck so easily. He can only watch silently. She realizes then that the experiment is a success, and as one last thought enters his mind he concludes this woman is crazy. He hears the alarm.
--
He’s in the police academy. He could’ve had a comfortable, stable life as an engineer, but no, that kind of life wasn’t satisfying to him. As much as he would’ve loved it, something still would’ve been missing.
This isn’t what he imagined when he said he wanted to protect others, but he isn’t against it either. Gloved hands grip the handle of his pistol. He loads it with ease, but hesitates to fire at the stranger standing behind him. He points the nozzle at the older man instead. Eyebrows are furrowed together. He tries to put on a stern face but he doesn’t know if he’s pulled it off well. “What do you want?”
The stranger’s eyes never flickers. He stands calmly, so sure of himself. It’s like he’s done this a thousand times over and then some. “You can see them, can’t you?” His head nods toward the side.
His arm stiffens and his body locks up. There’s no need for him to follow the man’s nod because he can already see the hazy shadow lingering behind the tree. “…so what if I can?” No sense in lying. He feels the man would immediately call bullshit anyways.
“Wouldn’t you like to do something about it?” He takes out a cigarette to place between his lips. The other hand reaches into his coat for a lighter.
“…”
“I can help you, if you want.”
And the hunted will become the hunter. Predator.
--
“Was it worth it?”
His lips part to say something, but nothing comes out because he isn’t so sure himself. He stands calmly when her hands grip his neck. Why is this choking sensation familiar? His mind flashes to the strange figure with the sword. The Goddesses hands burn when she pulls the memory away.
He rubs his neck. He feels empty.
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 1:27 pm
It needed more and she wanted to feed it. It needed to be higher to free her from this burden of impending fear. Though it was deep and fleeting she felt it looming all around her and so she nodded to the words of the Goddess and moved to find another piece to add to it.
A brightly colored object caught her eye and she grabbed a friendship bracelet laying discarded on the ground. Blinking a few times she clutched onto it, feeling the importance of it as she moved with it, searching for a spot to place it. Among the other bodies placing objects she moved slowly, searching carefully. Stopping quickly she saw an arm reaching out, almost screaming at her to place it. Mel'ae smiled a little bit and moved closer, tying it over the hand carefully in two loops.
It was sudden and she nearly jumped out of her skin as it reached around her, tugging at her arm. Trying to pull back did nothing and she blinked as her entire world shifted to another. "Where?" She tugged and the hand crumbled. Mel'ae moved back quickly and rubbed her arm where it had grabbed her from. Another hand from behind her seemed to reach for her leg and she jumped with a twirl.
They were all there waiting for her, reaching for her. The ground littered with hands was disturbing to her and she tried to move away, only tripping over a few more hands. "!!!" It wasn't a sound but her body was rigid, moving down she stared at a particularly sad looking one who had grabbed a side of her skirt. Mel'ae bent down, grabbing at it and pulling on it. What was it exactly?
She shrieked a little to see it had fallen apart under her grasp and she moved back. The petite girl reached for another, pulling with both hands another crumbled and she looked disturbed. It seemed they were less malicious but needing help. Three... Four... Twenty... Mel'ae was frantic, scrambling to find one that she could hold onto. It was a mission - maybe they needed saving?
Time passed and she stopped, staring down the last one. At her mere touch it crumbled and the world around her felt dark. Mel'ae held herself tightly. She couldn't help them, save them and anything she had touched had fallen into nothingness. Now she would be there too with it, trapped in her failure.
Fluttering her eyes they opened on a new scene entirely. Mel'ae was back in a house which seemed to echo deeply into her soul. It was empty like the field had been. Her parents had gone and then her brother, the ever drawing of endless hunger blinding them to all that was important. Mel'ae shuttered as the nightmare moved around her - loneliness and darkness. Cold filled the house that had once had warmth and the pictures ruined.
Her body was the only thing alive and it heaved a few noiseless cries, holding her body. Glancing up she could see the hollowness begin to eat away at the house like termites eating up wood. Around her the house was fading, leaving her not only alone but without any shelter, without the safety she knew. Falling to her knees the floor had come in around her, eaten away into the nothingness, a void. Mel'ae grabbed hold of her knees. "No, no I can't be like this." It was vulnerable, it was dark and it was fear.
Mel'ae blinked it back to stare upward into the figure of the Goddess overhead. "W-what?" She could barely hear the words before her eyes were forced closed again, back into sleep but without any dreams to bother her.
Waking again she moved back quickly, staring at the wall in massive size and shuddering down into her core. "Time." Mel'ae spoke slowly and softly. She had so little time now, the wall was impressive in size but had truly done nothing but hold them at bay for such little time. Quickly she walked away from it, there was no more comfort to be had here.
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 7:00 pm
The Wall, again - ever and always the Wall. Naian surveyed it and sighed, shaking her head. What were they keeping out, anyway? She'd never asked, but the Goddesses had sent her out and she'd... done things she couldn't remember, and woken up trembling and not known why, blood and tear-stained, and not known why.
She moved past the Wall, feeling adrift, until her eyes lit upon a simple bit of color. Naian bent to uncover a bracelet; it fit around her own wrist well enough, but it didn't seem to suit her. Still, it made her happy to look at the colorful beads. It didn't take long for her to find out where its place in the Wall was, either - an arm, made of some hard substance, protruded from the structure. She worked the beads over the fingers and settled it around the wrist. "There you go..."
The hand grabbed her own. She gasped and tried to pull away, but it had her.
And, after that brief struggle, she realized the Wall was gone. All around her was glorious light, the sky painted in rich, warm tones. Her hands fell to her sides; dimly, she was aware of the hand releasing her, but that didn't matter. Not with that sky overhead.
It went down, and down, to just the barest bit of dark on the horizon - and then a greater dark beneath that, a dark with fingers. With a start, Naian realized that she was standing in a vast field of arms and hands, straining up towards the sky. The ones near her were reaching... for her.
She reached out, slowly, and took one; the fingers folded around hers, squeezed, then went limp. They crumbled to nothing in her grasp, and she gasped. "W-wait! Hey..." She grabbed the next one, and the next, to no avail; soon she was clotted with dust. It caked her own fingers, her hands, her legs.
And then there were no more hands left, and the sky had gone dark, like the bottom of a pit. There was no more glory. No nothing. The vast loneliness of it descended on her and crushed her, and she fell to her knees. "Goddess..."
She reached up, her hand invisible against the darkness, black on black. Her fingers strained, but nothing touched her-
It was dying. They were dying. She couldn't find them, couldn't touch them - the warm glow of the earth was gone, her roots cut off. Dying. Withering away. And nothing within but blackness, the curse eating away at the core of her. She moaned, a low, bitter sound, and hugged herself with curse-stained arms-
With a start, she awoke - she had been asleep? And there, as if bidden by her last words, was the Goddess. Paranoia, not Longing, but a Goddess nevertheless. She looked so gentle. "You need rest, you give so much and still they would plague you." Naian sighed under her touch. "That's enough for now."
- And she awoke once more, ringing emptiness in her mind. Too familiar now. Too bitter now. She held the taste of ashes in her mouth, and only one thought echoed in the void that had held memory: A wall does not protect, a wall can only buy you time.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 2:51 am
She had been in the Ruins enough to hear the Goddess' call. She let her feet guide her, they knew where they needed to go. Where the Goddess wished her to be. She found herself at an impressively tall wall. She looked up it, there was no end in sight yet the Goddess wanted it higher. Protection, safety. To keep the evils at bay.
Palem was unsure, worry in her eyes at having to work on such a task. How could she manage? She was small and weak. Her brows pushed together, she still found herself looking through the debris that littered the ground. In all the tangles of random objects, the first thing she found were some dried flowers. She picked them up and frowned. Of course she would find something useless. She held them out in front of her, as if diseased and to her surprise there was a perfect spot in the wall for them. Her hand moved to -
place them in a make-do vase. Her eyes moved from the flowers to a nervous man. His face was earnest and good natured and with a smile on her face she tried to strike a deal with him. Mindless button pushing for help on a mission. He looked nervous at the thought, she pushed harder; coy tones, hands on elbows to get him to concede. It felt goof, despite so much, to finally have this. To allow this to happen. She deserved this. She deserved love.
As she looked down upon her familiar desk, it suddenly shifted into an operating table. A shift in visions. A shift in tones. A familiar face stared up at her, lifeless amongst various remains. She smiled at him, picking up a scalpel. Ready. She deserved this. She never could hold on to anything good.
Palem watched, her hands still on the flowers, not daring to let them go as she felt the exam room fade away into a cozy little home.
There was a small crowd, simply made up of her older brothers and her father. Her mother had a small child on her hip, out of the way but still the obviously the one overseeing all - as she did, a Matriarch through and through.
She didn't look happy, none of them and she looked the worst off. Tears threatened to fall from her cheeks as she looked at the small circle of objects she had tried to conjure together in the simplest of spells. Her brothers had gotten this when they had been younger than her. She had read all about it, knew the functions of the spell through and through, the binding on the book itself had worn to threads with how much she reviewed it each night.
She had been ready, ready for her first application of spell work. As a real witch. But it had crashed and burned. Literally. There had been a small fire and all that remained was the smoldering remains of a few feathers and a rat, doused the instant things had gone wrong; quick work by Douglas.
"I guess you're not ready after all," her mother sighed. Maple didn't dare look up, but she could hear her brothers snicker in her ear before their footsteps could be heard retreating. Her father laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, rubbing it in gentle circles; a pity pat really.
She had been so sure. She had read the book and everything. She knew how to do this. Why couldn't she do this...
Palem was on her knees without realizing, she wanted to curl into a ball but warm arms kept her from the defensive move of sadness. The flowers were in her hand, it became clear when the Goddess leaned over, nose to petal and inhaled. "Such a terrible thing," she whispered in her ear with a smile. "You don't need such pain. Not anymore. Not ever again," her lips danced dangerously close to her own, Palem wanted to jerk away but the Goddess was too strong really. Her presence overwhelming and her work needing to be done. A thin wisp drew from her mouth and into the other so close to her own. The memory was gone, taken in such a simple action.
She sat their transfixed, lighter and not noticing the new life that Protection breathed into the flowers in her hand. The Goddess was gone before she could say anything.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 6:30 am
Another call pulled Ezophyr back to the wall. His eyes skimmed as more junk seemed to clutter. However, as much junk as it it, it is full of memories. He could feel the emotions wafting off them and a small smile quirked on his face. Each one of them, precious, in a sense. Because what were they without any memories? Existence is crucial from these. And he sighs softly as he turns to look for the next item to place upon the wall.
He walked slowly. Each item passed him by, but none of them called out to him in any sense of the particular. However his eyes glanced upon a certain one and he stared at it carefully. It reminded him of his own bracelet. He looked down at his own before back at the friend ship bracelet. He then bent down to pick it up.
The bracelet is pretty thing of rainbow knots, bright against the grim backdrop of the Ruins. The sight of it fills you with something warm, something hopeful. A plastic mannequin, partially buried under office equipment, sticks out a bit at the Wall, one hand out-stretched. It seems a fairly obvious home to place your prize, and it slips neatly over the fingers and onto the wrist. There's a sudden, painful pressure as the hand swiftly comes to life and grabs onto your own.
You look down and the Wall is gone. Overhead is the brilliant, fiery orange of sunset, the night's darkness only just creeping in at the corners. You are in a field that stretches far into the horizon, and as the hand slips from your own, you see hundreds, thousands, more like it reaching for you.The multitude is so thick and demanding that you can barely see the ground. You grab at one and pull, only to have it go limp just as you put all your strength and will into the action. Your determination flares and you reach for another, only for it to shatter at the barest graze of your fingers. One by one and two by two, you try and hold on, but in the end the hands drop, and crumble, and drift away as ashes in the wind until finally you are standing in a field. You are alone and night has settled over the world.
You reach into the darkness.
Nothing reaches back.
Memories flashes through his mind before one stops. He's enjoying his time with a man. They both smile at each other. They kiss. They laugh. They have fun. But the memory slowly crumbles and shatters like glass. It is suddenly replaced by the two of them running up a flight of stairs. They are holding hands-- the place is slowly getting darker. All sound is lost. Then all sight. All that is left is that hand, the precious hand. And then soon enough that disappears and he is surrounded by nothing but pure darkness. Soul crushing emptiness and loneliness devoured him in that darkness.
You awake from a nightmare and find yourself in another. It's one from your own life, a dream that leaves you haunted and anxious as you wake once more, this time to the Goddess kneeling over your body with a gentle expression. "You need rest, you give so much and still they would plague you." She caresses your brow and slides her hand over your eyes, closing them. "That's enough for now."
You wake up some time later, and stare up at the Wall. The nightmare is gone, but in it's place a thought suddenly becomes very clear...
A wall does not protect, a wall can only buy you time.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 9:13 am
Build it higher, build it stronger, keep the bad things at bay. And given what bad things were already known to be out there, Annabell wanted to help all the more. Flowers had been nice the first time, but she wanted something more substantial this time. Maybe that was why, even though there was something about the little techno stick that intrigued her, the girl still chose the VHS. At first she thought she could put it on top, thought she could help build The Wall higher. But the sight of the VCR distracts her. Not sure how she knows this, the girl realizes that the VCR has a hole that perfectly fits the VHS tape. Honestly, the letters are faintly similar and something within her pushes her to set the little box of plastic into the larger one. The VCR takes it was a series of whirs and little clunking noises and Annabell takes a step back to look at the TV that flickers hopefully. When it finally stops flickering, the scene that unfolds is not anything Annabell would have expected. The girl on the TV stares at Annabell blankly, somehow knowing her. Mild nausea stirred within the girl as she noticed the woman's lower half was drenched in blood and that the small things on the floor were pooling it too. Time speeds up, the woman on the screen jerks and moves in awkward little spurts and then someone walks in. Time is back to normal. The man talks to the girl, calls her clever and not clever, he calls unable to create life. She didn't know how she had gotten back.
A large rock had fallen and crushed her and she had died. But here she was, back at school, mildly confused with everyone else who had gone on the trip. Even the ones she had watched die too, they were here.
It wasn't right.
After that she went to her room and did not come out. One last time she climbed the multitude of stairs to reach the tower that would protect her from the world and she did not leave. Death waited outside her door, uncertainty and fear. She was too young, too foolish and silly. But she cannot be sure she hasn't already died yet and in a moment of panic pricks her fingertips to watch them bleed.
That's a sign of life. If you can bleed, you're not dead yet.
Yet. She could die again if she took a chance. Chances meant giving up everything she had worked so hard for, meant giving up her friends and schoolmates.
But blood poured from her fingertips and spots on her skin and she was alive... That was not always enough.Hands are what Annabell sees first. Tears roll down her cheeks to remember what it was like to give up on life, but the Goddess frowns at her. That isn't yours, not any longer and not ever again. Fingers move to remove the memory and take the tears with it. Pain isn't wanted, its fine. Annabell doesn't fight her. But when she breathes in and walks away, she feels worse than hollow. Now she feels numb.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 9:57 am
[[The Wall: Part 1]]Helping to build the Wall seemed a simple task. Itoto grabbed the first thing that caught his eye amongst the junk that littered the area. He'd thought nothing of it at first, only wanting to get things going. The longer he held this small, melted down flashlight, the more he paused to examine it. He felt something strangely familiar from it. The memory that soon washed over him resonated with his soul. It chilled, a feeling and insecurity he never wanted to feel again. He hated feeling so small, weak and helpless. Had he ever felt like this before? Something began to stir, and without any way to stop it, a memory flooded his senses...
One moment he was fighting with those he worked with, a place he called home. But he'd been overpowered by one of many who were so much bigger than his small frame, his weak power.
Cold, damp and dark. Trapped in a barred off cage. Four others were in this dank, and horrible place, all in separate cages as well. He was scared. Afraid of what might be coming for them. A dainty lady, who looked completely unassuming walked in with a creature who looked like death itself; Skeletal, thin and old as ancient times. The seemingly pleasant looking woman had a less than pleasant gleam in her eyes. She passed by the cages, but stopped at his.
The boy's heart gripped with fear, he could only stand stiffly as the pair opened his cage. Why me, he thought. Why were this odd pair who had trapped him and his comrades down here coming for him? What did they want? Information? He was just a trainee. He didn't have anything of value for them, so why?
He felt his body freeze with paralysis even while he still stood. The lady did all the talking, taking something from the Death looking man, gently urging the boy to turn around. His back was to them, he breathed short and shallow breaths as fear rippled through his nerves. And then she held it out in front of him as she kept her small hands firm to hold him in place. He couldn't see her, but he saw what she held.
A black, large, wriggling bug. A thousand legs, and many appendages that belonged on a creature from Hell. She was speaking, but his ears felt as if they could not decipher her words, his fear too prevalent to do more than panic.
He couldn't move, even as she took the bug from sight, even as she let him go, his body would not move.
And then he felt it. The bug was now on the nape of his neck. Worser yet, it began to burrow. It dug and bit down into his skin, worming it's way violently into his neck, spine, headed for his brain.
He was helpless to stop it, unable to do more than scream and convulse. There was no reason to do this to him, other than remind him he is their toy. A small, defenceless plaything for their sick amusement. To watch him write and drool on the floor as his insides were devoured by a black and wriggling bug.
He could very well die here, and there was nothing he could do. He held no power to save himself.
It didn't take much co-ercing to get Itoto to hand over that memory, and the unpleasant emotion it invoked. He gave it readily, not wanting to ever have to see, hear or feel it ever again. How could someone function with such a thing? OOC Character name: Itoto Character appearance: Small grey male, with sporty clothing. Link to Heart Log: Heart Log
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:20 am
Once again, she heard the call. Remye woke from her reverie as the whisper reached through to her core, urging her to return once more to the wall. Build it higher, it pleaded. The Wall is Safety. Who was she to argue with such wisdom? Remye dawned her spear, tying it around her shoulder to keep it safe and secured on her trek. She saw the same familiar figures, hauling things to the wall, building it ever-higher, scaling to fix breaks in the wall to keep it secure.
The Wall is Safety.
Remye began searching for her materials for today, rooting through the piles in her hunt for something to fit onto the wall, to build it higher and more securely. The wall was their only protection against what laid in wait on the other side. She had to build it higher. The bracelet was the first thing she saw, really saw, in the piles of rubbish around her. She plucked up the colorful knotted piece, smiling a little at the warmth that settled in her core. She glanced around, trying to find its place, and spotted the mannequin.
It was perfect, really. She closed the distance and reached down, sliding the bracelet over the fingers and onto its wrist. Her eyes snapped open and she yelped when the hand suddenly came to life, clutching at her wrist. “Let go, let go!” She snarled, trying to yank her hand back. The wall was gone around her, but she struggled solely with the hand. It wasn’t until the hand slipped from her own that she realized things had changed.
She looked around, eyes wide. The Wall was gone. She was on the other side now. Fear gripped her chest as she looked around, looked at the fiery sky, the night creeping in, and the hands, the never-ending field of hands, all reaching and clawing at her. She grabbed for one of the hands, pulling, but it went limp the moment she pulled with all of her weight. She tried desperately to hold onto the hands, but eventually, one by one, they all fell away.
Night dawned.
She was alone in the field, reaching into the darkness for something, something familiar. Nothing reached back.
Remye jerked awake, eyes wide as she looked around. She was young again, so young and small and fragile, in the woods, but this was different. She wasn’t just lost; she was hiding. The bogeyman was coming, but not the ones that helped. No. This one wanted her skin. She’d heard him yell in the fight; Avery demanded Emery’s hide for what she’d done. For what she’d caused. Blood for blood, he’d snarled.
He’d found her in the forest, he was reaching for her, this was it, she was going to die –
She woke up again, quite suddenly and with a start as she realized the Goddess was kneeling over her. She sunk back, laughing weakly. “Thank Goddess, it’s only you.” She mumbled, smiling at the caressing touch and closing her eyes.
That’s enough for now.
Some time later, Remye regained her consciousness. She looked up at the wall, at how high it had been built. While her memory was gone, and with it the nightmare that left her crippled on the ground… She was suddenly staring at a terrifying reality. The wall would never be high enough to protect them.
It would only delay what was on the other side.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 11:14 am
She heard whispers in her ear again, those same whispers from the Goddess of Protection. To build it higher, to help keep the things at bay. Palem was still at the wall, the whispers seemed to keep her here. To do work, to find more material, to build it higher.
Her eyes were fixated on the ground, her hands were rummaging through electronic equipment in hopes of finding something suitable for the fortification of the incredible project. Her fingers found something large, brick-like but flatter so she pulled it out. At first she wasn't sure what it was but as she dusted off the caked layer she found it was an old VHS Cassette, the only hint of what it could be was the worn and faded label.
Clark County General
Security Zone 3
05/19/2008
12:24am-7:02am
She didn't catch the connection of such a tape, simply liked the size and shape of the object in her hands and went to find a place for it like she had her flowers. The perfect spot for the tape was found in short order, like it was waiting for it and as soon as Palem popped the tape in, she heard static and saw snow. A television on top had flickered on, it was adjusting the tracking of the tape and then settled to show her its contents.
She stared, watching, like a moth to a bright shiny light just staring at the television and what it was showing her. There was a woman on a bed, gaunt and washed out, staring right back at her. Wasn't moving, wasnt' doing anything but staring at her in her blood stained hospital gown. Now that Palem looked, everything was red and not just her. And two bodies were on the ground, swimming in their own blood.
The girl jumped back a little at the sudden change, as time on the tape moved forward in rapid succession; the girl remained silent and still while the blood around her darkened and dried. It wasn't until 6 hours of the tape passed did someone enter, a hooded figure in a while coat.
what have you done?
The first sound, from the beginning with the lack of it she would have thought it were a silent security camera. Or perhaps it was just the woman, as she didn't respond. He continued to talk to her about things Palem couldn't understand, his voice sulky yet like a snake and yet he seemed so gentle with her even with how pained she looked. Finally emotion, but shattering as she looked down. Her only response to the man, looks of pain and rage and regret.
Palem felt her breath suck in when the screen flicker, filled with snow for a moment before it seemed to settle on another picture. On impulse her hand went to the television, her finger hovering over it. Because she knew, she could feel it, that this was a memory of her's. Because the girl in the middle with her hands held tightly over her head as she tried not to buckle under her weight was her.
Figures, relatives, were all around her looking on with looks of discontent, some even scowling as the last remnants of the magic circle the girl was in faded and darkened and burned into the wood - another sign that she had failed. A few of the candles had gone out, but they didn't budge. Just looked on. Because it was so rare to see one of their own fail in their familiar summoning, the last one had been so many years ago; Rose to be exact. And now they had another. Maybe it was that they didn't know what to do, but no one moved. No one tried to comfort her as she finally gave in and fell to her knees, silently crying (daring really not to let them see her tears, her anguish and wail in her defeat. She would only give them this...)
Her only solace in her Aunt Rose was lost in the crowd of figures, even with her beautiful spiral horns that helped pick her out from the crowd. No one moved. No one said a thing and just watched her. She had failed, would she ever be ready?
Palem stared at the televison, her eyes glazed as she fully recalled this moment. The pain in her heart. She had been read, she knew what she had been doing... but her FEAR, it had ... she couldn't.... she was numb. And she didn't fight it when the arms engulfed her, pulling her close and whispered in her ear.
She did react, finally letting go of that breath in weak gasps when she felt the fingers plunge into her skull, fishing and pulling out something important. Palem felt empty, staggered back when the Goddess was done. The television flashed bars and a high pitched down of Off Programing.
Dread... utter dread. But perhaps this wasn't a really new feeling.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 11:57 am
"The Wall....wall...wall...wall." The word echoed in Acerola's head as she searched for another item to add to the Wall or increase the defense in some way."Is Safety....safety...safety...safety." She found it. An alarm clock. It had "alarm" in its name, after all. Maybe she could use it to warn others of approaching danger? She put it down, just as a memory flooded her.
She watched someone rise out of bed, at the sound of an alarm clock, barely able to contain the excitement. Either everything was going to go perfectly or terribly wrong. And everything went terribly right. Acerola winced as the person snapped the neck of the previous body. She felt remorseful that the person had been able to discard something he/she had lived with for so long so easily. And then, another memory went off...
- - - - - - - - -
A boy's voice, muffled by distance and a large slab of wood between the speaker and the one the speaker was addressing. "May I come in?"
The door opened, and the boy stepped in. "Happy Birthday", the boy said, smiling slightly, holding a shoebox in his hands. Acerola (or rather, Clara in this case) took the box carefully and opened it.
It was back.
She remembered a few weeks ago, when she had wandered around the streets, looking at the windows of stores. In the window of a pet shop, she saw what she thought was the most adorable kitty ever. She marched right in, asked the shopkeeper shyly to see it, and bought it without a second thought.
Bad mistake.
The kitten's angelic-ness was only skin deep. Clara watched in horror as the kitten tore EVERYTHING down. And once everything had been ripped apart, it ripped everything up once again. She grabbed the kitten, a box, and ran out of her house, and left the kitten in the park. When she returned, she had a house to clean up.
And the kitten was back.
The boy laughed sheepishly. "I found this kitten in the park, and I know how much you love cats, so I thought I would give it to you. Well, I have to go, see you around?" And with that, the boy left.
The kitten stared at Clara and Clara stared back. If she kept the kitten, who knew what was going to happen. If she abandoned it, Shu (the boy) would be crushed...not only because she had gotten rid of his gift, but because he would think that he was a horrible friend for not realizing.
She gulped. She decided she was going to keep the monster and raise it well. To protect her one and only friendship.
Of course, the next few times Shu dropped by, she had to close the door behind her so he wouldn't see the state of the house.
- - - - - - - - -
Acerola returned from the vision to feel the Goddess' hands. "Was it worth it?" she heard the Goddess say. And then....nothing. Did she forget something? Surely, she mustn't have.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 12:10 pm
Clark County General
Security Zone 3
05/19/2008
12:24am-7:02am
She watched the scene roll over in front of her, lightly crouching down so she could rest her tired legs. She had done so much, and this moment seemed like the perfect time to just rest, watching the video and the woman who was stuck in the white room, as it slowly became red, red like her own heart. It wasn't until time slowed down that she realize the woman had been moving, doing . . . something to the poor creatures that were allowed in her room. Or forced in, regardless.
The man spoke cryptic words at her, with a hidden malice that Finale had caught, her eyes never leaving the screen as she watched the on goings. She could see the hurt in this woman's body - it was hard to miss the emotions that spilled out from her normally concrete face. Something had happened to this woman, something deep down and painful, making the little woman watching her ache softly.
It was a keening feeling, deep in her slightly prismatic heart, which now pulsed in a plethora of colours, even if it always returned to the red that it started. A blink of her eyes, and the memory shifted, making her pull back, just a little.
She had just come to the Lost Clans abode - a flurry of crudely created tents, every one of them as horridly placed as the other - only a couple flourished, embellished, a mark of the nobles they had found, saved, kept to remember what they had before.
They had told her to stay away from the others - those who knew what had happened, how close she had been to that battle. She was now considered tainted, of a sort. She could not talk to those around her - find what happened to her family. Did she even have a family anymore? The whispers in her mind grated against her psyche, always there, always talking. They told her things she didn't want to hear. Stuck in this tent, quarantined from everyone, she had no choice. She had started to listen.
It was the lowest she had ever been, she felt like her body was breaking apart, leaving her thoughts and being locked in this hell forever, alone and without those around her. Days felt fluid, almost melding together, some where all she did was lay in her bed, hoping and wishing that someone, at least one person she knew, was still alive, and expecting her to come back to them.
All she wanted to hear was the voice of someone she remembered, telling her it was all right.
Not these voices in her head.
The TV changed, a flicker that caught her off guard. As she watched the screen, the Goddess came through, promising her that the sad memory was one that she did not need anymore. Part of her believed the woman, but another part - something deep inside - reminded her that it was important. At first, she flinched when the hand came to her, pulling at the memory in her head, her concrete feeling of dread suddenly confusing her.
She was missing something important, suddenly, and she didn't know why. Turning up to the wall, she stared it down, expecting it to tell her the secrets she had lost.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 12:15 pm
Still there, still empty and numb. And still the whispers engulfed her, telling her to build it higher. How much higher could it go? Still she looked for items, walking on automatic as she had done previously. Eyes downcast, she looked. Something caught her attention and she knelt down. It was a cellphone, cracked and stained in an unknown substance (and in her state of mind she didn't want to know). Such an odd thing to find really, and perhaps useful for the wall itself.
Palem carried it, her two hands wrapped around it thinking nothing of it. She stopped when it rang, her eyes falling onto the screen before she raised it to and ear and clicked to answer. She didn't even say a greeting, she didn't need to. The person on the other end had already started talking, requesting her presence in a lighthearted manner in the lab.
The scenery had shifted around her without her realizing, dissolving into pristine hallways. Her pace was shift but no one paid her no mind and soon Palem found herself walking through a set of doors to be greeted by a blonde woman surrounded by bits of body parts. She smiled but her news seemed grim but laced with hope as she explained the condition of the body that was piecing itself together. Right down to the white coat. "Thank you," Palem heard. And this time it was the Goddess smiling at her.
But something was different. There were thin traceries of grey twisting and lengthening along her body. But the girl said nothing.
A ring startled her, Palem glanced down at it - still in her hands, never having left. Carefully she picked it up and heard a different voice, male.. sweet. Like a gentleman, so cordial. But something told the girl that this had been a conversation by different means, but electronic none the less.
"I hate this word limit... anyway, I was asking are you excited about Prom?" AJ asked her, even through Critter she could tell he was smiling that usual wide grin.
"It does seem to be a nuisance to some, so I guess we have to choose our words carefully sometimes. Prom? Aa, I'm not sure." Obviously a conversation online, there lacked her usual stutter but her meek nature still shone through.
"Why not?" He asked, "It would be fun. I signed up for the catering and if you want, I can come to your door."
"My ... door?" Good thing he couldn't see her, she was tensing up a bit.
"Yep, I can come to pick you up, that's the proper manner, ladies needed to be cherished."
"O... only if you want to. Really, that could be rather nice."
"Sure I want to do so! Okay, let's meet at your door that night. By the way, have you chosen a dress?"
"Alright," she was blushing, "I haven't since I didn't know if I would be... going or not. I don't know really what I would wear."
"You should go with me, that's my first time to attend, and you?"
"Go with you, uh alright. I haven't attended a prom before, I've mostly done family gatherings and parties before."
"Dance, dance and dance. And maybe something more? Anything don't miss the chance! You'd better choose a pretty dress now."
"Hopefully I can find something to wear." The conversation had continued, with another butting in; such was the nature of critter. But still. She had been asked to Prom. Her. Maple was so happy even after she signed off the program.
And stared at the phone, smiling. But gentle hands took it from her, taking with it the call she had just witnessed in a different form. "You understand don't you? Why it had to be done?" Her expression shifts from empty to something of terrible power. "Yes, of course you do."
This world is insanity and fog, but within the face of the Goddess she beheld the true depth of the madness that twists and corrupts everything it touched.
Looking up, Palem could finally see there was no Wall. There was only the Goddess, staring inward and through her from a thousand eyes and avatars.
Palem ran.
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