003. [Action - Catchall post/Nightmare Castle]

[twinsanity]

[A - Daytime.]

[After the first night in the castle, Alfred has been way over on the subdued side; he's been avoiding most people and he's jumpy as hell when approached. The armory was disappointing - he's strictly a ranged-weapon sort of person, though at the same time he found that it's quite stupid for him to not take anything; he's got daggers on him for the time being, and if all else absolutely fails throwing one's blades is always an option, albeit a stupid one.

During the day, he's been spending a lot of time in that star chamber; he finds it calming, relaxing in ways he can't really explain, and his willingness to leave it is reasonably low. Oh, he's seen two sigil doors, and he's aware of the pink mark on the back of his hand; that doesn't mean he knows what to do with the damn things.]


[B - Nighttime.]

[At night, however...

There's a thing that's been in the corner of his vision since the first night - never really advancing, but always present. When he can see it properly, it resembles a man with arms that end in claws and wrapped up in a shroud, an enlarged, exposed heart just visible through tears in the fabric, pulsating slow and steady; whenever he turns to look, it's never really there, but as soon as it fades he can hear the screaming - the nails-on-chalkboard sound ripping out of the creature's own throat, accompanied by a higher-pitched sound that's most definitely a woman, and none of it is anything he really wants to dwell on.

One of these nights, he snaps; it's in the crystal study, and he's backed up against one of the cases, breathing heavily and shaking, and while the thing doesn't seem about to attack him, it is getting rather close.]

I-I didn't do anything but what you deserved...I gave you what you deserved!

[The thing snarls at him; he's quick to jerk back, rattling the case behind him hard.]

I don't know what you want from me - I did...I did what I was supposed to...

[And he's feeling for the dagger at his side, but he doesn't seem quite able to grip it properly, much less do anything useful with it.]

Didn't I?!

[...It's a bit hard to know what in the good fuck he's going on about; either way, however, it's clearly not good...]



[OOC - take your pick on whatever you want to do with this one, and if you want to go with something else entirely I'm good for that as well; just specify A, B or whatever it is you want in the comment subject!

ALSO if you need a pink sigil, this idiot's got one.]

Comments

Daytime!

[paladinlost]

[Sorry, Alfred, but that calm around the star chamber isn't going to last very long.

See, there's a paladin outside the room that's currently knocking a whole wall down. With his trusty frying pan. The sound of metal hitting old bricks is most probably not pleasant to hear, and let's not get started about all the dust that's kicked up.]

[twinsanity]

[Oh, for the love of -

For a short while he's tempted to try to ignore it; however, that's the sort of thing that you can't really ignore for too long, is it. Well. At least something's getting him out of that room; in some ways he should probably be grateful, because being allowed to just sit there and be upset or melancholy or whatever other thing he was that he can't identify properly isn't exactly a good thing.

But this is Alfred and "grateful" is probably the last thing he's capable of being, so he'll just be storming out and looking peeved as hell instead. Does this work for everyone?]

What do you think you're doing?

[paladinlost]

[Anything that isn't between him and the wall works for Cecil at the moment, really. Better not get in front of that frying pan.]

I am- [bang!] -trying to find- [bang!] -my Chandelure. She's the only Pokémon who appear in my nightmares that is still missing, and I do not intend to let such a flimsy wall stop me from getting her back.

[Flimsy, he calls it, but his valiant weapon is staring to look more than slightly damaged. There's almost a right angle in there.]

[twinsanity]

The last time I went somewhere I wasn't supposed to go, I ended up in the dungeons for my effort.

[Now that that's out of the way, however, he's content to look Cecil's, ah, weapon of choice over; just because this is probably nigh-suicidal doesn't mean that he's not thinking it over anyway.]

You know, you're going to either need a heavier weapon or some patience - there's usually a trick to these things, after all.

[paladinlost]

This castle has a dungeon? Why, that almost feels like home.

[Except for the part where Baron Castle's dungeon is well-lit and not particularly haunted. He shoots a quick look at the pan, frowning.]

This particular passage had no secret switch that I could find, sadly. And since my usual specialty is well-maintained, non-rusty bladed weapons, I had to... improvise.

[twinsanity]

Doesn't it just.

[Really, there's a reason he's so comfortable here, though he's more used to being surrounded by legitimate monsters; the haunting is...new.]

Well, surely there are maces and the like in the armory, right? It's bad enough that they don't have anything ranged, there must be something in there that's not completely useless.

[...Cecil, look what you did. Hopefully you don't mind him wandering into said armory to have a look; seems we're going on an adventure.]

[paladinlost]

There must be a few somewhere, but there's something unpleasant about spending time in this room, even for the sake of a better weapon.

[He does mind, in a 'nope, baaaad idea' sort of way, but he does follow in hopes of maybe getting something useful this time. He makes sure to stay as far from that ominous suit of armor as humanly possible, though.]

[twinsanity]

Well, I haven't come across anything too bad in here during the daylight hours - except for that thing, I'm not going near that. I've never been a believer in bad vibes and all, but that thing has them washing off in spades.

[Just. Gesturing vaguely at that armor, there. There's very little about this place that bothers him, all things considered, but that suit of armor is just unsettling.]

Just how much experience do you have with situations like this, hmmm?

[paladinlost]

Oh, most certainly. Even without my magic I can feel the weight of a thousand curses on it. It almost reminds me of some monsters from my world...

[Except he'd much rather share a room with the monsters. Weaponless and tied up.]

That would depend on what you mean by 'situations like this'. Counting Johto this is my third time waking up in a strange locations, I've visited abandoned castles once or twice, I deal with murderous monsters every week at home. Only the presence of a mark on my hand is new. And yourself?

A!

[bertall]

_{[What's better than finding a proper weapon? How about finding out that someone who supposedly 'died' (he assumes he did anyway) is actually alive? That definitely isn't supposed to be a thing. People were supposed to stay dead, weren't they?]}

...You're alive?

_{[He only intended to peek inside to check things out, but... you know. He still felt pretty bad about the whole terrace incident. Clearly sneaking into the room was the best idea in the world!]}

[twinsanity]

[Oh, look, it's that alarmingly tall kid from the terrace; there's an awkward moment where Alfred isn't entirely sure what to do with his face, but at least he's not displeased at seeing the guy. Really, he's one of the few not-insufferable people here.]

What, did I die?

[He doesn't so much sound skeptical as he does just...huh.]

Well, I guess we've proven two things then - you really can't stay dead here, and we're never doing that again.

[bertall]

_{[Plus he didn't drop him! Not like he really had the chance to do anything, but the point still stands.]}

You just sort of... passed out and vanished after you went over.

_{[That is either the best or worst reaction he's seen to death.]}

It was your idea to begin with, wasn't it?

[twinsanity]

"Passed out" sounds about right, actually - I woke up in some hideous dungeon on the first floor.

[filthy commoners, completely unsanitary and unbefitting, etc etc]

And really, I don't remember saying it wasn't. Just...keep that in mind next time anyone else decides to jump over.

Or don't, depending on how much you don't like the person in question. I really don't care.

[bertall]

I don't think I'll be going back there if I can help it.

_[rude]

...Though if they jumped even if they knew what happened to you, then I think they'd have it coming. It sounds a little cruel, but I can't spend every minute worrying about everyone here.

[twinsanity]

[...pfft.]

And how is that cruel, hmmm? It's perfectly true.

[Ah well.]

It was worth a try, anyway. At least now we know that's not working.

[bertall]

Soldiers are supposed to protect people, aren't they?

_{[And he's done a splendid job of that so far.]}

[twinsanity]

People as a whole, yes, of course. You can't be responsible for every individual that makes a stupid decision.

B

[artfuldestruction]

[The door to the Crystal Study suddenly bursts open, and an obviously panicked man flies inside, flailing for the door and moving to slam it hard behind him. Just when he's about to succeed, however, a monstrous head appears and blocks the door's path, snapping and thrashing and trying to force it open. Another head, exactly like the first, also forces its way into the gap, and proceeds to try and bite the man desperately throwing his weight into trying to get the door shut.]

Go away, go away...I finished with you when I left this place, you-

[With a yell, Kato channels all his energy into one last tackle, causing the heads of the creature to scream in pain and withdraw. The door finally, finally latches into place, the creature violently slamming itself against it and screeching. Miraculously, however, it holds firm, and Kato closes his eyes and slides down to the ground, falling the last foot and panting.

It's then that he notices the room's other occupant.

...other two occupants. His breath catches in his throat.]

W-What? No, you're outside, you-! I c-closed the door, I...I got away from you!

[...well. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to come into the Crystal Study.]

[twinsanity]

[Well, at least that seems to have gotten the...thing's attention off of Alfred for a moment, though that really isn't much comfort, um]

You - what?! What the hell else is outside, we only created one of them!

[artfuldestruction]

...

what?! You created this thing?!

[Kato's voice is going steadily higher the more he yells - at this rate, he'll be a soprano in seconds.]

Have you completely lost your mind?

[twinsanity]

Well, I...possibly?!

[His hand finally manages to tighten around one of those daggers, though he's not brandishing it at Kato just yet.]

It's not as though he didn't have it coming to him!

[artfuldestruction]

How did you-

[Wait wait wait, just wait a minute-

....

wait!]

That's mine, you fool! How dare you-why did you do that to him?!

[twinsanity]

[...............................

wait what]

What's yours?! I'm fairly sure he's not yours, unless there's something I wasn't told!!

[artfuldestruction]

Enough! It's bad enough that you've turned him against me, let alone into that!

[Forcing himself to his feet, Kato staggers over towards Alfred, face flushed with anger.]

Do you have a pokeball?

[twinsanity]

[WHAT THE HELL, KATO

Honestly, the sheer force of his "what" will actually curb the yelling for now, because really what are you even - ]

You know, somehow I don't think that's going to work.

[It's not going to curb the bitchery, granted, but still.]