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 Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 8:18 pm
It began with a dream, so obviously, wonderfully a dream. Otto was in some kind of forest, a forest with hundreds, thousands of colours, all bright and outrageous. Beneath him strange trumpet-beaked ducks scuttled, a few oddly-shaped woodland creatures pausing to stare at him before diving back into the multi-coloured grass.
There was a sign next to Otto. You are here. Something above the sign grew and stretched until it formed a perfect smile.
"Welcome back," the mouth moved as it spoke, "but I'm afraid you're a little too early. We just got everything quite together, there was some sort of great fight going on, battles, wars, queens, you should have seen it. But enough about us. Who are you?"
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 8:31 pm
In the flow of the dream, Otto didn't put much thought or worry into where he was, or why he was there. The dream was oddly happy and bizarre in comparison to his usual bouts of sleep induced delusions. But as the strange grin rose from above the obvious sign, he felt a twinge of familiarity creep back into the forefront of his mind. Wonderland. Was this... Wonderland? His first train of thought was along the lines of 'not again'. "Uh..." His eyes narrowed, offended that the creature who'd obviously intruded on his dreams had the audacity to ask him such a stupid question. "Otto. Is this ********' Wonderland again? Didn't we get rid of Alice?"
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Posted: Fri May 09, 2014 6:51 pm
"Get rid of Alice?" The smile literally flipped upside-down. "No, you made her stronger."
The teeth disappeared and there was only a voice. Something began pulling Otto's feet along, tiny little mushrooms with tiny hands, skittering on multi-appendaged legs. "Let's go find Alice together! You brought her a gift after all."
There was a red fragment, it looked like a small red crystal, in one of Otto's hands.
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Posted: Fri May 09, 2014 7:29 pm
"You gotta be kiddin' me--" The grin vanished, and Otto worried he'd pissed the thing off. Soon, it didn't matter. he was being made to meet the girl anyway. I did not! I was sl---" Otto opened his hand as he fumbled along, looking down at the fragment in his hand. When the Hell did that get there? Did this have anything to do with his key, or was it just another odd detail that suddenly found itself thrust upon him. Then again, it could all still be an intricate dream he'd likely forget. "Wow. Great. Yeah, let's go meet Alice. Yippee." He did not actually sound happy.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 7:35 pm
They walked and walked and the mushrooms and little insect creatures chattered excitedly about how wonderful everything was until they hit a small house. It seemed like a pretty comfortable house, warm and inviting, the kind that Otto would have liked perfectly, as this was his dream.
The door opened, and inside the cot was-
- "Talk to Alice!" The voices chanted. "Talk to Alice talk to her! She is so lonely!"
The figure stood up and turned its head and raised one decaying hand towards Otto, hair falling out of a rotting skull, while the other half of its face looked exactly like Nevada.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 7:45 pm
The house kind of reminded him of his grandfather's farm house. He'd always associated it with warmth, caring and love. One of the few people called family he'd trusted. So despite being told Alice waited for him inside, he walked in. This was, after all, his dream. So really he should have known better. Otto never had nice dreams. The figure turned. Otto felt the world become cold and dark. A storm of fear surging through his veins as the face of Nevada's rotting body stood before him. No matter how many weeks flew by without her, the smell and images of that day would come back to him as clear as crystal. It was a dream, but he could feel his body shake and ache in turmoil. "What.. kind of sick.. game is this.." He shuddered, taking a step back away from the outstretched hand. "********... it's just another dream. As usual. Another ******** dream." It was just mixing all his memories. Wonderland, Nevada... He held his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.Wake up. Wake up.Wake up.Wake up."
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 8:38 pm
He didn't wake up. Of course he wouldn't wake up.
The decaying arm reached out and snagged Otto's own arm, at the crook, surprisingly strong. "I just got here," the voice coming from the body sounded like Nevada as well, "You're not going to leave me are you? Everyone leaves me. I just want someone to stay for tea and cookies."
There were tea and cookies on the table she had been sitting on, the tea still warm, the cookies fresh baked.
The grip didn't loosen on Otto's arm.
"Are you going to stay? If you do I'll give you what you were looking for."
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 8:43 pm
Don't touch me. He chanted in his mind. This rotting hand that was not Nevada. That voice that was hers but not. Nevada was dead. A corpse that rang of her was talking to him. Don't leave me. Her desperate pleas rang from memories of ho0w she died, frantic and wishing to be saved. If this was Alice, she was sick. If this was his normal, usual nightmares, then so was he. Otto shook, but he sat, the grip on his arm telling him he clearly had no choice. He wouldn't hit her. Wouldn't run. After all, dead or not, it was her face. Her voice. God, how he missed her voice. He still felt the fragment in his fist. Did she want it? "What I'm lookin' for, huh?" He murmured, looking down at the tea and cookies briefly, half expecting them to turn into bugs. "Sure. I'll stay. Ain't like I got much better to do." He'd wake up eventually, right? Play it out. Wait it out. He'd wake up eventually.
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 5:40 pm
"That's right, I'll give you everything you're looking for."
All skin, all flesh, all hair, was peeling off her delicate head. It felt a decaying skull behind, maggots dribbling from the eye sockets. Skeletal hands grabbed a hold of Otto and then the cold dry absence of lips, the terrible texture of insects and decay kissed him.
He woke up in the infirmary. It was still Deus Ex, but unlike his other visits, there were no other beds other than his own.
He woke up in his room and someone was sitting next to him on a chair, dozing. She suddenly snapped awake, and then tucked strands of short black hair behind her ear. A crooked, wry smile as she looked at him. "That was fast."
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 5:45 pm
Every fibre of his body repulsed in shock from that kiss. It was unnatural. It was wrong. Nevada was dead, and this was a corpse. Before the ick factor of bugs and dead girlfriends could make him hurl, and before he could even ask Alice anything... He woke up. But did he? Otto sat up suddenly, blinking hard before his head turned to the woman beside him. "Fast? What?" Did he fall asleep on duty? Why was he in the infirmary? "What the Hell happened? Where..." He was glad he wasn't in that dream, of course. It had been surreal, and made him miss Nevada all over again. A Nevada that wasn't rotting and dead, of course. "I had a weird dream I was in Wonderland again..."
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 5:49 pm
She shrugged for a moment and then stood up. "Whatever you say, boss, whatever you say. Anyway, I got the report you wanted," she picked up the file from the table and handed it over to Otto before pausing, and raising her hand away, pulling the folder away, "you're welcome. I could have died out there just so you know. I'm not your assistant for fun and giggles here, I'll be deducting it directly out of our division pay."
The folder was still held away at arms reach. "Well? Aren't you going to say something? Maybe thank you for risking your life because I was too busy banging my wife, Sam."
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 5:57 pm
She looked awfully familiar. Cute as Hell. Almost like Sam. But Sam was dead, so that had to be a coincidence. Otto wasn't much of a morning person anyway. His brows furrowed as he was handed something. He didn't ask for any reports. Did he? Hell, he wasn't in Death anymore, so he didn't much need to deal with paperwork now. Hold on. Assistant. He never had an assistant. Was she mistaking him for someone else? This had to be a----- Wait. This was Sam. Dead Sam. But Alive Sam? Wait.... what wife? Wait, he had a wife!? Otto's face burned bright red in a burning blush that spanned across his face to the tips of his earlobes. Yeah. This had to be another dream. "Uh..." He drawled dumbly, his hand held out uncertainly. "Wha... uhm..." Maybe this was Alice's doing. She'd told him he could have everything he wanted. Was this what she thought he wanted? So then his wife could be.... "Uh. Right. Thanks... Sam... Bang up job risking your life. Awesome." He murmured suspiciously, taking the report and stepping out of bed. He gave the report a once over to see what exactly this alternate world had in store for him.
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 6:16 pm
Sam settled a second folder down at Otto's lap and then pulled the chair close to him again. She smiled, crossing her legs and leaning close to get comfortable. She put one hand on the bed. "I thought you would like this, something familiar, something comfortable. Humans seem to innately crave familiarity in unfamiliar situations, a moth grasping the last second of flickering candlelight."
There was a pause. A comfortable breeze ebbed from the window, sunlight filtering into the room. "Otto, is it okay if I call you Otto?" Sam's folder had turned into a bowl of apples, perfect red apples in shape and form. She took one now, and from her coat pocket took out a knife, slicing into the apple. "What if I told you you were at a sort of crossroads. Nothing huge but let's just theoretically say that little artifact fragment you have lodged in you temporarily stopped your heart." She paused between mid-slice. "Well, theoretically since you haven't quite woken up yet and your heart hasn't quite started so you see, we have a small dilemma here which as you call her, Alice was kind enough to inform me. You are something of a main character, Otto, so of course I had to personally come to see your, well, your death."
There was a slice of apple at the tip of the knife and Sam offered it to Otto. "How about it? You, and me. You can take the final voyage and I'll make sure you're comfortable. If you go now, you don't have to worry about the fine print." She gestured at the folder Otto was holding.
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 6:31 pm
Lucky for him, her facade did not get drawn out. Otto sat on the side of the bed, clutching the folder on his lap with nervous hands. His nerves only got more and more shaky as the encounter wore on. His gaze lifted to meet hers as she began to speak, dropping down as he suddenly realized the forms turned into a bowl of apples. Despite the ambiguity of the dream, the atmosphere was surprisingly peaceful. "Crossroads?" That didn't sound good. Further explaining proved that to be true. Not good at all. The shard was in his heart? Was he dying for real? His hands fidgeted with his shirt's fabric, his eyes darting around and never settling on any one thing. He'd imagined his death more often than he would have liked. And this wasn't so bad in comparison. No being torn apart, no being eaten by bugs, no being left to die in pitch darkness all alone. Just.. peacefully in his sleep? That didn't sound so bad. But then again, Otto would never take dying laying down. If he had a choice, he would always choose to live. Sometimes he hated that persistence. To be told he was important, a 'main character'? As if out of everyone on the island with amazing skill or capable personalities, he could possibly be deemed as needed? It felt good, so good it hurt. He'd love to accept those sort of words. He wanted to. But his negative side took them as a ruse. Pretty words to butter him up for something. Never fully capable of trusting. He tentatively took the apple slice, looking it over curiously as he thought to himself. This wasn't Alice. This was someone else, using Sam's image as a means to talk with him. Who was it? He had a hard time remembering anyone on the playing field of his encounters. Never mind the fact they seemed interested in him. Maybe it was for the shard? The key? He had something they wanted. That much was certain. "Fine print?" Otto asked, looking down at the folder. "Maybe I wanna worry about it. Makes all the difference." "Who are you, anyway?" Zoobey just a reminder quote. dont rush to tag me xD rest up and tag when you feel like it <3
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2014 6:27 pm
Sam leaned forward and took Otto's hand and for just that moment as she initiated contact the facade was lost, her face overlaid, imposed with another, a purely skeletal face wearing the traditional reaper's cloak.
"I think you know who I am," Sam said quietly, in a voice not hers at all. "The question is, who do you see as me. That memory, your memories from when you stopped, that your memory of the deceased and what you may consider my domain. I hope that answers that very enticing riddle and paves the way to a second question for our main character."
She was Nevada now and perfect and whole and beautiful in form as she leaned closer and slowly closed his eyes. It was getting very tiring now, and the world seemed clouded and foggy. It would be easy for him to close his eyes.
"You are here to leave, Otto and I am here to do what I was created for and nothing else. Now then, please relax. We're at the conclusion."
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