People you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley

[Snipexe]

"That's really interesting. Burnt you say. And what about when you look at me? Can you name some things that are blurry and some that aren't? We need to figure this out, it could be vital to something important in your future that neither me nor you know about, but considering what has happened in the last half hour, I expect you've definitely got some adventures upcoming."

@Shard of Thought

[Zephrun’s Imperium]

Sierra looked up, noting the splotchy, yet vibrantly colored shapes that made up Grey's face. "I... I'm not thinking straight right now," she said. "All these colors make my head hurt; once this goes back to normal, maybe I'll be able to explain better, but now..." She looked away, unable to handle the bright colors for very long. Sierra felt strangely... weak. That in itself wasn't quite enough to describe it. She was weak. She only weighed about 60 pounds, one pound of which came from her long hair. Coming in at only barely five feet tall and with hardly any muscle on her sickly-thin frame she was practically the embodiment of frailty. Despite that however, she was often quite snappish, with a defiant, sarcastic, and often flat out vulgar personality. Often, her mind would keep her going far after her body had begun to yell at her that she needed to stop and rest. Now... now was different. She felt like she had been up for a week straight and wanted nothing more than something to get rid of her intrusive migraine. 

@Snipexe

[Voidus]

"Seventeen years I was trapped here." Voidus said, head still tilted back. "Is that a long time? The blink of an eye? Long enough for her to grow up. Long enough for her to forget about us. That's probably for the best isn't it?"

The heavy thud of footsteps echoed within the barrier.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Star wars crawl, a long time ago, etc.

The Professor stared blankly at the dwindling light as the unnatural darkness slowly lifted. Dead silence filled the room as all eyes were glued to the spot where two figures had just vanished, but then the silence was broken by a clatter of wood as the Professor hurled his chair backwards and rushed towards Voidus. Grasping him by the collar, he slammed the still-smiling Voidus into a wall, glaring at him with eyes of disbelief.

"What did you just do?" The Professor asked, voice a hoarse whisper.

"I answered the question." Voidus flatly replied, smile finally dropping from his expression to leave a blank mask in its wake. "You wondered whether or not I was capable of caring? Told me I wasn't brave enough to find out. Well, now you have your answer, is that enough for you to stop questioning my resolve?"

The Professor stared mutely back, grip loosening as he stared into Voidus' blank eyes, tried to understand. Finding no answers, he tightened his grip again and slammed Voidus back against the wall.

"I never told you to do this." The Professor said, voice growing louder. "This isn't bravery, this is insanity!"

"I've lived for an eternity" Voidus replied. "How could I possibly still be sane? How could you even begin to think that you might be able to understand what drives me? That it would make sense to you?"

Voidus' voice grew louder, matching the Professors as they both stared into each other, faces mere inches apart. The cold light of Voidus' eyes began to spark in rage as his voice climbed to a yell.

"I am a god. Do you understand that? Your entire world could be destroyed and I'd barely bat an eye, I was here before this world and I'll be here long after. Everything you do here, everything anyone who lives on this rock does is ultimately meaningless. One day you will be gone, and I will remain. Alone, until I find something else to occupy me again."

"You were the one who came to me" The Professor roared back. "You asked me to help you save the world, the universe. Tell yourself you don't care all you want but your actions say otherwise."

Dark light began to gather around the two, an intense pressure that warped reality as it wrestled against itself. Two invisble forces vying for dominance. Within the darkness, Voidus began to push the Professor back, pulling himself away from the wall and straightening to his full height.

"I was bored." He said, spitting the last word out in a laugh. "Did you think it was real? That you were special? That you would be the hero of your world, saving it from certain destruction? What do you think could be the source that draws this universe into the Void? The source that seemed to show up wherever we travelled but we never quite found?"

The Professor staggered back a step, sagging under the weight of the thick darkness that enveloped the two. He stared at Voidus with growing horror, losing all strength in his grip, in his legs.

"It was you." The Professor said, voice dropping to a whisper once more. "You're destroying the world. Because you're bored?"

Sneering down at the figure before him, Voidus gave a single condescending nod.

"And now the time has come for this game to end." Voidus said. "And you and your world along with it."

The Professor turned slowly around, looking at his wife standing horrified behind him. And then both the Professor and Voidus were engulfed completely in impenetrable darkness.

[AonEne]

Quote

I just want to say that I called it  I was wrong about Voidus’s motivations but right about the fact that he was the one doing it  everyone bow down  

 

[18th Shard]

On 1/29/2020 at 0:22 AM, Sorana said:

Mike stood, his back pressed against a wall and listened, not-listened to the exchange. He was pale, felt as if the whole room was shaking, as if it was spinning around him. Another lab, another place where they would rip him apart. He could nearly feel the scar in his chest where porcupine's spike had been, before he had ripped it out. He should have ripped them all out.

Run.

His limbs twitched when his brain tried to get them to move, to leave but instead he remained frozen in place, unable to leave, unable to move at all. He stared at Xanas, eyes wide open, the words tumbling out of the man's mouth making no sense to his fear ridden mind. He flinched, whimpered in fear when the grey something flickered around the man's fingers the crytal shattered on its own.

"Please." He begged, the word tumbling out of his mouth. "Please let me go. I know nothing, Ko'Tiel never explained." He fell to his knees, tears streaming over his face and he continued to go on, words tumbling out of him, unable to be contained. "I won't speak about you. I won't tell anybody." But it wasn't about speaking, about telling. It was about something else.

"I've got them under control." he added, hoped that this was what the man wanted to hear, that this was what he needed to hear to let Mike go. Salmon's cool scales touched his hands and jerked away from the slimy fish, immediatly disgusted. Scales formed on his skin, but he didn't notice. Nor did he notice when they vanished again after a few seconds.

"Let me go." he repeated, his voice slightly blurred by the sobs in his throat. "Please, use someone else, anybody else, but let me go."

The man, Ttlarek, returned, held something out to Mike, but he moved away, covered his head with his arm. They wouldn't stop. They never stopped.

@18th Shard

Xanas looked at Mike with a steady eye, but inside he felt worry blossoming. Mike hadn't been this bad when they first met. He was growing more unstable at an alarming rate. Xanas carefully placed his hand on Mike's arm, palming the sub-dermal sedative carefully. It was a carefully crafted device which used a toxin from an animal on the Eelakin islands. The toxin was a depressant which generally rendered subjects more amenable to suggestion - some reports noted an almost Soothing-like effect as well, though Xanas personally doubted it used any non-physiological components, as he had been unable to detect any Investiture coming from it. He placed the sedative on Mike's arm, and it gently attached itself to the skin, where it would eventually begin to become more firmly lodged.

Xanas turned to Ttlarek. "I can't touch the medallions without destroying their Feruchemical charge. Please place them around Mike's neck, in contact with the skin, such that he is able to tap them." 

Xanas looked back at the monitor. Mike's adrenaline levels were still far above what they should be, and his brain waves were far more erratic than Xanas would have liked, but his heart rate appeared to be slowing.

"Mike, we aren't going to give you anymore spikes. I need you to tap those medallions. One contains stored Identity, the other will allow you to burn Allomantic gold temporarily. We are trying to help you. This won't hurt, there won't be any permanent side-effects of this. This isn't an experiment, this is meant to help you. Please hear me, with whatever part of your mind necessary."

He was not going to let Mike keep deteriorating. This was what science was for - to fix people. He would make sure Mike was fixed before he moved on. It was important, to Xanas if no one else.

@Sorana

[Voidus]

"I should get back soon/" Voidus said, making no motion to leave. "The chaos continues to pile up, and I've been getting this feeling. Something... off."

He closed his eyes, inhaling the cool air and taking a moment to simply rest against the spike.

"Do I make the chaos worse? Or better?" He asked the air, eyes still closed. "I'm never sure. Is the world on the edge of destruction so frequently because I intervene? Or would it just have been destroyed long ago if I didn't?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Penultimate backstory post for this arc.

Floating in endless darkness, the Professor held onto the only other thing that seemed real in this void. He held onto the arm of Voidus in front of him, the professors own arm trembling in either rage of fear, even he wasn't sure anymore.

"You're really just bored." The Professor said, surprised at how clear and calm his voice was. "You're going to destroy a world out of boredom."

"Yes." Voidus replied, holding loosely onto the Professor's arm. "I've done everything, experienced everything. A god with no purpose, I've travelled and searched, I've helped and I've destroyed. Raised civilisations up and torn them to the ground. I've been burned, beheaded, poisoned, shot, blown up and stabbed. And still an eternity of existence lies before me."

The Professor stared into Voidus, stared into his eyes and saw the endless pits that dwelt there. An eternity of darkness with no end, no light. A reflection of the darkness that surrounded them, a boundless void.

"And nothing is going to stop you from doing this." He said. Not a question, just an acknowledgement of the truth.

"Nothing." Voidus agreed. "Everything you are, everything that exists in your world, your home, your family, your friends. They will meet with the oblivion that is denied to me."

The Professor nodded, with his free hand he brushed a lock of blonde hair from his eyes and then met Voidus' gaze in understanding. But beneath that understanding was a fierce spark of opposition.

"I still have to try." The Professor said.

His eyes became pitch black as he pulled at the empty void that surrounded them, tried to pull it into them, to crush them both beneath the weight of nonexistence and extinguish both of their lives before either of them could harm the world any more.

Voidus smiled as the pressure around them grew, he gave the Professor a pitying look and gripped his arm tighter. The darkness in his iris spread until it encompassed his eyes entirely, forming two dark pits that seemed to suck in even the darkness surrounding them with inexorable force.

"You want to try to Voidmake me?" Voidus asked incredulously. "The one who taught you how to in the first place? You still don't understand, even after all of this."

The Professor staggered as the darkness pressed in around him, struggling to hold it back his leg buckled underneath him and he fell to one knee. He stared defiantly back at Voidus but a thick sheen of sweat had developed at his brow.

"I am god." Voidus said, voice cold as ice and pinning the Professor with the weight of his stare. "And you can't kill god."

"No, you're not." The Professor stammered out through gritted teeth. "You're just a bored, lonely man."

"Then try it." Voidus hissed. "Keep pulling at the void until we're both consumed by it. Void us."

[AonEne]

Quote

1 hour ago, Voidus said:

His eyes became pitch black as he pulled at the empty void that surrounded them... 

Wait, it can change your eye color? 

1 hour ago, Voidus said:

“Void us." 

That pun is questionable  

Edit: Then again, you are a dad  

 

Edited January 31, 2020 by AonEne

[Voidus]

29 minutes ago, AonEne said:

Wait, it can change your eye color? 

Quote

If you're pulling in universe-ending amounts then yes.

Final Voidus backstory for this arc

The Professor felt his muscles strain as he struggled to keep from being torn apart, felt the tension permeate every part of his being as he struggled to maintain his existence against the crushing pressure of the void that surrounded him. His jaw creaked as it clenched in determination and his gaze did not move at all from Voidus' face above him. He stared at that face and summoned every last bit of concentration he could, all of his anger and hatred of the man who claimed to be a god.

The man who would destroy the universe if he wasn't stopped.

The man who would destroy the Professor's wife and daughter.

While feeling as though he were being simultaneously crushed and torn to pieces, the Professor struggled back to his feet. He hissed out a breath between clenched teeth as he rose from his knee, leg shaking under the pressure before firming and allowing him to stand at his full height once more, matching Voidus' gaze with his own.

It was more power than he'd ever felt before, orders of magnitude beyond what he'd used to disintegrate objects. With both he and Voidus pulling so much on the void, the concept of existence itself seemed a very precarious thing. As though with just a little more strain they could obliterate even that, and reduce this universe and all others to nonexistence once more.

Voidus' expression remained flat, but a small droplet of sweat slowly beaded on his forehead before beginning to trickle down. God or not, it did not seem to be as easy for him to end this as he had claimed. He was straining too, perhaps not as hard or desperately as the Professor but it was not a one-sided contest. The Professor latched onto that thought, dredged up even more hatred for Voidus to fuel his focus, his will to deny Voidus' existence in this world.

He recalled Voidus' smiling expression as he'd ignored the mother of his child. Remembered the way he had stretched that hand out towards Laurelai to annihilate her and the son that she was holding. Remembered his words when he had threatened to destroy the Professor's wife and child in the same way.

"I hate you." The Professor hissed, not sure if he was reminding himself or trying to distract Voidus' concentration.

Voidus blinked in response, but said nothing. A vein at his temple began to bulge and his jaw was beginning to clench in the same way as the Professors as he slowly lost ground. More sweat flowed down his brow until his dark hair was as sweat drenched as the pale golden hair of the Professor.

The two stood facing one another, breathing heavily. Their gazes flickering as they invisibly struggled back and forth to gain an upper hand in their conflict.

"The end has already started." Voidus whispered. "Do what you want but you can't stop it, they will die. Your world will be unmade. Even I couldn't prevent that now. Everything that is in this universe, anything that is even Connected to it will vanish."

The Professor faltered, just for an instant, the slightest breaking of the stare off that the two had been engaged in. But Voidus saw the gap and exploited it, watching the Professor begin to shake under the pressure once again as Voidus gained the upper hand.

"-that-" A faint whisper emanated from the Professor, tension began to leave his body. His jaw loosened, his shoulders drooped.

The condescending smile returned as Voidusstared at the Professor, a touch of respect that he had made it this far, but Voidus had never doubted who would be the victor of this conflict. He prepared a final surge, one more pull on the void to destroy the Professor entirely, but he hesitated a moment before releasing it. Curiosity overcoming him as he wondered what the Professor had said.

The Professors eyes locked with Voidus' once more, but there was none of the defeat that Voidus expected in them. He wasn't straining anymore, but Voidus was still unable to overpower him.

"Then that Connection." The Professor said. "What binds them to this universe, I'll destroy that too."

Voidus' final expression was one of surprise, before the void reduced him to nothing and he vanished without a trace.

----------------------------------------------------

Laurelai stared at the place where the two men had vanished, her dad and someone else she didn't know. She had wanted to ask who he was but the darkness had scared her as her auntie Laurelai, the woman with the same name as her had vanished along with her friend. She didn't know where they had gone, but the darkness scared her. it scared her even more when it surrounded her dad as well.

The room had begun making strange sounds, creaking and cracking sounds as everything began to break apart. Laurelai had run to her mother crying, seeking some comfort. But her mother seemed just as scared as Laurelai was. She had scared at the sphere of darkness that the two had been engulfed in with a hand over her mouth, eyes roaming in search of something, some way to help. Finally she had picked Laurelai up, holding her close and stroking her hair. Laurelai had held her back, nestling her face in her mothers collarbone.

The sounds in the room suddenly stopped, and when Laurelai noticed, she looked up, turning around and casting fearful eyes at the spot where the sphere of darkness had been. But the sphere had vanished, leaving one figure to collapse to the ground from within it, just barely managing to catch themselves with their hands. Laurelai's mother ran towards the figure, throwing her arm around Laurelai's father. She pulled both of them in closely, and Laurelai threw her arms around them both as well, sitting there quietly for a moment and trying to understand what had happened.

"Almost nothing left." Her father had whispered, looking at them both with a mixture of relief and terrible sadness. "I don't know if I can."

The creaking resumed in a sudden burst, the entire building groaning in protest and on the verge of collapse. The timber boards began vanishing one by one, disappearing into pockets of darkness that had begun opening up all around them. Laurelai screamed again, clinging tightly to both of her parents.

"Her!" Laurelai's mother screamed. "You know what to do, we talked about this."

Laurelai looked up with a tear streaked face into the exhausted and mournful eyes of her father. Tears began spilling out of his eyes as well as he placed one hand against her head, a hand wreathed in darkness. 

"I'm sorry." The Professor whispered as his daughter vanished.

He collapsed to the ground, eyes struggling to stay open. He had meant to promise something to her, what had it been? Everything was blurry, difficult to focus on. He could only make out one face, framed in blonde ringlets and looking down at him. His wife smiled at him, whispered something that he could no longer hear, and then vanished into the darkness.

It was difficult to think, difficult to even summon the effort to try. But he would have time later, the empty void within his chest assured him that now he would always have time. The rest of the world collapsed around him, leaving him floating in the darkness. As he floated without direction even the sun and the stars were slowly consumed, one by one, until all that remained was an empty universe.

He drifted through it aimlessly, with no way to note the passage of time. Was it a thousand years? Or only a day? He struggled to remember. Struggled to remember anything other than the endless void that surrounded him. People, places, names. Time erased everything from memory. Or at least, almost everything. He remembered a promise. A promise and two names.

He turned one of the names over in his mind, was it his? Had it always been? It seemed fitting at least, for some reason he could no longer recall. But he could recall the promise.

Voidus had to get his daughter Laurelai back.

[Voidus]

Quote

I was considering doing this later, but given that the backstory wrapped up I may as well get the final scene up.

"How do I keep her safe now? It was so easy, just find an answer. I could devote myself to that. But now she's here again, with all the danger that entails.She's out there, exploring, facing the dangers of the world. Should I tell her? Explain? Bring her back here, safe within the barrier?"

Voidus slowly opened his eyes again, staring once more at the silvery light dancing across the barrier.

"If not, then what should I do?" He asked quietly, eyes wandering in search of something. "I managed everything else because I had to, had to keep things running to find an answer. But now it's answered, and everything else just feels so tiring."

He sagged in place, allowing himself once again to feel the bone-aching weariness that plagued him of late. The apathy towards everything and the difficulty in finding the energy to solve the problems that continued to arise.

"Mac left." He said after a moment of silence. "I don't think he plans to come back. Should I feel relieved or upset? He was progressing well, very well. The most talented with the Void that I've seen in a long time. The Stranger was always a big hope for me as well, but I doubt he'd ever be able to bring himself to do what needs to be done. Mac though, Mac might have managed, with the right pressure."

With a sigh, he slowly picked himself up from the ground, straightening his shoulders. He'd spent enough time here, it had helped a little but the rest of the world would not wait while he spent his time here, time would always move forwards.

"I'll have to find someone else now." Voidus said, giving the spike one final look before turning around and heading back towards the barrier.

[+Sorana]

Frozen Mike stared at the decive on his arm, stared and stared while the Man approched and place the amulets around his neck and stuffed them beneath his shirt. They were cool on his hot skin and he waited, waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Instead he relaxed slowly, his thoughts turning slightly sluggish when the toxin spread through his body.

Tap the medallions. The words slowly registered and he wondered what he was suppossed to do. This was meant to help him. Help him? There was no way to help him. He looked up at Xanas, his fear slightly subsiding for the moment. Trapped, he was still trapped but for now, he might even be safe. Snake wrapped herself around him and peeked out at Xanas. She could test him, ask for something, see if the man meant what said. If he really wanted to help, maybe this was her chance. She could get rid of fox and of Mike at the same time. Squirrel might make a nice next meal and that fish, she didn't need to worry about a fish.

"Could you contact Wes?" she asked, because that was, what Mike would have done, cold calculation slightly coloring her voice. "He will worry about me." Me not us. She wouldn't make squirrel's mistakes. She would trick that man. Her tongue darted out of Mike's mouths slightly longer than before when she tasted the air. "And how do I tap the amulets?" She added another question to keep him distracted. If things worked out as planned, this body would finally be hers and hers alone.

@18th Shard

[Zephrun’s Imperium]

Quote

So, this is super random, but I was roasting marshmallows the other day with my friends and I got a pretty good char on mine. My friend turned to me and said, "Geez, what happened to that marshmallow?" and I said, super dramatically, "There was a fire...."  Anyway, I looked down at the burnt marshmallow and I realized that if Vivica's soul was an object, it would be that sugary, burnt marshmallow right there.  I got a good laugh out of that. 

@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt]

2 hours ago, Shard of Thought said:

@ZincAboutIt

Quote

Highly accurate, I approve.

 

[AonEne]

Quote

So you’re saying this is Vivica’s soul colorized 2020? 

 

[+ZincAboutIt]

31 minutes ago, AonEne said:

So you’re saying this is Vivica’s soul colorized 2020? 

Needs more char, And tentacles.

[18th Shard]

On 1/31/2020 at 0:47 AM, Sorana said:

Frozen, Mike stared at the device on his arm, stared and stared while the Man approached and place the amulets around his neck and stuffed them beneath his shirt. They were cool on his hot skin and he waited, waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Instead he relaxed slowly, his thoughts turning slightly sluggish when the toxin spread through his body.

Tap the medallions. The words slowly registered and he wondered what he was supposed to do. This was meant to help him. Help him? There was no way to help him. He looked up at Xanas, his fear slightly subsiding for the moment. Trapped, he was still trapped but for now, he might even be safe. Snake wrapped herself around him and peeked out at Xanas. She could test him, ask for something, see if the man meant what said. If he really wanted to help, maybe this was her chance. She could get rid of fox and of Mike at the same time. Squirrel might make a nice next meal and that fish, she didn't need to worry about a fish.

"Could you contact Wes?" she asked, because that was, what Mike would have done, cold calculation slightly coloring her voice. "He will worry about me." Me not us. She wouldn't make squirrel's mistakes. She would trick that man. Her tongue darted out of Mike's mouths slightly longer than before when she tasted the air. "And how do I tap the amulets?" She added another question to keep him distracted. If things worked out as planned, this body would finally be hers and hers alone.

@18th Shard

Xanas looked at Mike. Apparently the sedative was working, though something was off. Some mannerism or wording was different now. 

"Wes? I don't know him. I suppose I could ask someone to try and get in contact him, but it might be hard with only a name. However, as to your second question," he paused, trying to figure out how deep to go in response. "They are medallions, not amulets, but regardless, their form is irrelevant. They are Feruchemical metalminds, a system of Investiture use from Scadrial, like spikes but less invasive and therefore less permanent. One stores an attribute in the medallion, then taps it later, allowing one to draw on past unused reservoirs of that attribute. However, using some techniques developed in Southern Scadrial and then improved upon in the Alleys, we have enabled it to be possible for another person to store the attribute and you tap it." 

Xanas gestured at the medallion. "The center ring is nicrosil, which enables you to have the capacity to tap the remainder of the metalmind. The first medallion has an aluminum ring, in which blank Identity was stored. When you tap it, it will conform to your own soul, reinforcing your Identity. It should help with any spiritual degradation caused by the spikes you have, allow your soul to, in a way, bolster itself. The latter medallion allows you to burn gold Allomantically (again, a Scadrian ability). Allomantically, gold grants the capacity to determine alternate persons one could be, which I hope will help re-anchor you to who you are mentally." 

Xanas held up a vial filled with a saline solution with gold flakes stirred in - using alcohol in vials meant one had a flammable liquid in an easily breakable container, and Xanas preferred to minimize that risk. Plus when testing large quantities of metals, you didn't want a drunk subject - sometimes spikes decreased one's capacity to handle liquor.

"Ttlarek, could you grab a chair? Mike doesn't need to sit on the floor."

@Sorana

[AonEne]

1 hour ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Needs more char, And tentacles.

Quote

The transparent background somehow didn’t work  

 

[+ZincAboutIt]

Vivica stared at her notepad, unblinking, while Sierra continued speaking with Grey. She read the words that she had scribbled there, in her own handwriting. 'Vivica - burnt at the edges.'

She read them again. And again. She did not stop reading them, the phrase looping through her mind like a reel of film. There was something rising in the back of her throat; it felt like a scream. The sensation seemed familiar, something that she had done many times, and the reason was there, knocking at the door of her mind. She tired to ignore it, pushing another forkful of cinnamon roll into her mouth. Bennington began swimming in agitated loops.

Vivica did not listen to the knocking in her mind, and began taking notes again, the diligent kind that she'd been taught in R&D. Her hand flew over the paper as she chewed, her eyes barely focused. Something was clouding her thoughts, something thick and dark. It was so hard to think through that knocking - more like a thundering, actually. It, too, seemed familiar.

Her hand went to her pocket, sticky with sugar, and she withdrew a spike. She began flipping it in one hand, then catching it. One, two, three - on the fourth she fumbled it, her fingers clumsy and shaking. Vivica looked at her hand, cocking her head. The thundering sound had changed to a roar, a snapping, sucking wind that battered against her mind. She stood suddenly, backing away, knowing that she could not - must not - let it get in. Smoke continued to pour into her mind, hot and stinging.

"Can't you hear it?" She whispered, clutching her notepad like a shield and staring at Grey and Sierra, who were still speaking. Didn't they know how close it was? The fire. It was right outside the door. Any moment now, and the roof would cave in. Any moment now, and she'd hear that whining sizzle that came from flesh burning like meat. Any moment now, and she'd be alone again. Alone, with the fire chewing through the walls, climbing over piles of charred wood, slipping in hot blood that scalded her feet like tar. Vivica backed up further, reaching behind her for the door handle, praying that it wasn't hot, begging that it would open.

"Can't you hear it?!" She shouted, her whole body shaking now. Was she laughing? Behind her, the door swung open and she staggered out into the Alley beyond; the air looked clear here, but she could still hear it roaring. Vivica gave one last look at Grey and Sierra as Bennington bobbed above her shoulder, eyes concerned. Then, with a sound somewhere between a wail and a giggle, she Alleytraveled.

She ran as she did, moving through Alleys at a reckless speed, barely giving any thought to where she was or who she might pass. The sound followed her, chewing through the walls, crackling in the floor boards. It was behind her, always right behind her. Vivica sprinted through an Alley entirely covered in blue and purple ice, slid through a place that looked like a mud cave, and even ducked through one or two of the imaginary Alleys. Always, always, it followed her.

Vivica wasn't sure how long she had been running when she stumbled into a narrow alleyway of black stone and collapsed, her breath coming in ragged sobs, her palms torn from scrambling through jagged places. She still had her notepad, and she curled against the wall, clutching it, waiting for the fire. Vivica caught sight of the writing for the first time, the notes she had been taking back at the table, and gave a shuddering scream.

Over and over, a litany written in her tight scrawl. Burnt at the edges. Burnt at the edges. Vivica. Vivica.

Vivica. 

Quote

She'll be back at some point, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass up  

@Snipexe @Shard of Thought

[Voidus]

Voidus took measured paces as he walked the Alleys back towards his office, there were faster ways to get there but walking the Alleys had always helped to relax him. The chaos around every corner, exciting discoveries being made behind each door, unspeakable horrors lurking in every sky. It was chaos, chaos kept barely controlled enough to not destroy the Alleys, but that was all it needed to be. The Alleys didn't need to be ordered, they were expected to be a mess.

Voidus sent a tired smile skyward as some immense shadowy being passed overhead, swimming overhead through a tear in reality and passing out through another. There were many such creatures that had been drawn to the Alleys, to the chaos of interwoven pockets of space that crossed through universes. Some had been researched and categorised, but many appeared to be individuals, the only members of their species. Or at least the only members that had so far been found, who knew how many more there were, in the pockets between universes, waiting for some opportunity to burst out into reality to finally taste existence.

"You're not missing much." Voidus told the creature as it vanished into another crack in the sky.

He stared at the place where it had vanished, watched as the crack repaired itself only to tear open in another direction, a new spiderweb of cracks spreading through the sky. But his attention was taken a moment later as he noticed a different kind of twisting of reality, the familiar changing of Alleys that signified someone else Alleytravelling nearby. But the way they were forming, one hastily connected to the next in rapid succession. It may have just been someone unfamiliar with Alleytravelling, but the placement of each Alley was too precise for that. Someone very practised, but hurried.

Changing his own path, Voidus strode forwards again, a little faster now as he connected this Alley with the last to be twisted in front of the other traveller. It was possible that it was simply a Denizen in a hurry, with the discovery of an Atium cache and an attack at the same time there was certainly enough to keep people busy. But it could be something else, another problem arising that would need to be taken care of. And he couldn't turn a blind eye to such things, not yet.

Space warped around him as he stepped into another Alley, only managing one more step before something collided with his chest. Placing one arm on the shoulder in front of him, Voidus kept a firm grip on the figure, staring over their head to see what it was that they were fleeing from. The Alley was lined by dark gray blood-stained stone walls, shadowy tendrils spilling down them and grasping towards the center of the Alley. But nothing that would cause a Denizen any concern.

Looking down for the first time to see what had collided with him, he saw a familiar face, wide, bloodshot eyes, long brown hair that was still settling from the sudden shift in momentum. And a mouth that was still either screeching in horror or cackling with glee.

"Vivica?" Voidus asked
@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt]

Vivica heard herself shriek as she collided with something, and immediately began shifting to get out of its grip. She had to get away, she had to run! Could no one else hear that sound? A hand had closed around her shoulder, and she felt her panic double, her haste reach a fever pitch she would have thought impossible only an hour ago.

"Vivica?"

The sound of her own name surprised her long enough for her to get a look at whoever was waylaying her progress. Her hand was halfway into her pocket for another spike when she caught sight of his face. Vivica blinked, then she clutched at the edges of his coat with renewed fervor.

"Tell me you can hear it too, Nox," she whimpered. "The sound, the sound! It's right behind us, the fire! Tell me you can hear the fire!"

It was moving fast, the whirlwind of flame. The black, choking smoke. Vivica looked up an Nox; he wasn't moving. Why wasn't he moving? She grabbed his hand, her other arm still clutching her notepad, and started dragging him down the Alley, deftly weaving her way around the odd tendrils that reached out for her hair or shoes. She was still giggling, a sickly, odd sound.

"Dead, all dead," Vivica said, the words coming out slightly sing-song, as though she were remembering a nursery rhyme. "Dead, dead, dead. Everyone burned in the fire. Everyone but me. Not me. Never me."

@Voidus

[AonEne]

1 hour ago, ZincAboutIt said:

...she stumbled into a narrow alleyway of black stone and collapsed...she curled against the wall, clutching it... 

 

39 minutes ago, Voidus said:

...something collided with his chest. 

Quote

This is too good to pass up l’m sorry 

 

Edited February 3, 2020 by AonEne
Vivica is a burnt marshmallow, and Voidus is a wall

[Voidus]

Voidus followed hesitantly after Vivica, allowing her to pull him along by the arm as she moved through the dangers of the Alleys with a panicked grace, she had cast a few anxious glances behind them but a quick look revealed nothing visibly threatening them.

"Dead, dead, dead. Everyone burned in the fire. Everyone but me. Not me. Never me."  Vivica continued in a melodic voice that formed a discordant harmony with her harsh laughter echoing back down the Alleys.

Raising a hand to a pocket, Voidus wrapped his fingers around a slender spike but hesitated. That would allow him to see the world as Vivica did, but given her panicked state that might not be the best idea, the spike went beyond mere visual replication after all. He would be experiencing whatever she saw exactly as she was, which might cause some complications if it led to him disintegrating an Alley.

Soothing her might help, but the level of soothing required would be dangerous enough to a healthy mind, let alone one that was already this fragile. Almost any attempt to use Investiture ran the same risks, Spiking, Forgery, healing, any rushed attempt would do more harm than good. What did that leave?

"Never you." Voidus echoed, moving forward so that Vivica didn't need to drag him. "Not you, you're not dying."

He watched her carefully as he spoke, watching for any sudden shifts in her wild emotional state. He was not usually comfortable with trying to express empathy or understand others' perspectives. But then most people who were used to that would likely find Vivica's current behaviour perplexing, and Voidus was the only one here to be able to try.

"You're alive." Voidus said quietly. "We're alive and awake. No dreams to hurt us here."

[+ZincAboutIt]

Nox had finally begun to walk with her, and Vivica felt the smallest part of her relax. They were still moving too slow, far too slow, but this was better than nothing. 

"You're alive," he said. "We're alive and awake. No dreams to hurt us here."

"Of course we're awake," Vivica snapped. The sounds of the fire's progress were growing slightly softer now. Perhaps, finally, she had managed to get ahead of it. She chewed on her lip, then glanced up at Bennington, who gave her a reproachful look. Vivica gave a short, sharp sigh and stuck her notepad out towards Nox.

"Sorry," she said, then waved the notepad through the air again. "No one else will listen to me, Nox. Not Grey, not Sierra. But I know it's coming. The fire, it's out there. I can hear it eating through the stone, right now."

Vivica spun, clutching at his coat. "Right this minute, it's looking for me! It all started when Sierra said... when she said..."

She looked at the notepad in her hand, then held it out to Nox. They had stopped, but the sounds of the fire had grown still more distant. She could stop, for just a moment. Only a moment. If someone else could just see, just understand.

"I took notes," she said quietly, hiccuping as her laughter subsided into soft, sporadic giggling instead. "It is important to take notes, always, when you're making discoveries. I had to take them, you see. I had to protect them from the fire."

Vivica looked past Nox then, past anything. She was still breathing hard, and her heart was hammering in her chest, and she could still taste smoke in the air - but less so, now. She was being rude, and it wouldn't do to be rude in front of friends.

Vivica began to run through her list, the list that someone had helped her make a long time ago, when she'd first gotten her bronze spike. The list was important. The list helped her remember who she was. She spoke aloud, though she did not intend it.

1. Who are you? "I am Vivica." 2. How old are you? "I am twenty-eight." 3. Where are you? "I am in -" Vivica ran one finger along the Alley wall and stuck it into her mouth for a moment "Alley 681-T." 4. Current hallucination count? "Current count is 113 apparitions." 5. What is your Department? "Research and Development." 6. How long has it been since you last slept? Vivica felt a small smile brush her lips. "It has been eleven years, six months, and eighteen days since I last slept."

She blinked once, twice, three times, then looked back at Nox, hoping he would take the notepad. "The list is important," she said, as though that would answer any questions.

[+Sorana]

9 hours ago, 18th Shard said:

"Ttlarek, could you grab a chair? Mike doesn't need to sit on the floor."

@Sorana

Snake smiled at the explanation and sat down when the servant brought a chair over. He didn't move as quickly as she would have liked, but Mike wouldn't have scolded him, so she carefully kept quiet. It sounded easy. Use the one with the identity and replace herself with Mike. She had no use for the second one, knew who he was and who she wanted to be. This was her chance. Mike was too weak and Fox, hopefully these medallions would help her to deal with Fox easily.

She closed her hand around the medallion and concentrated, tried to figure out how she was supposed to tap some invisible identity stored inside.

Mike looked around in the darkness surrounding him, covering him completely. It was eerie, the way it was so quiet, how it was so calm and still. At first he didn't even know who had taken over, only when he saw Fox lying around, appearently sleeping and found Squirrel sitting on his shoulder that he realized that it had been Snake. She had used his fear, his lack of control to ease him out of his place and gently set him aside.

He stared up, somehow glad that Snake was gone, that he had escaped the situation and sat down, holding Squirrel to his chest. He would wait. Snake usually grew bored of being in control sooner rather than later.

"She won't hand control back."

The voice was quiet, nearly unhearable and he turned his head, looked at Salmon. "The medallions will decide who you will be and if she is in charge, she will continue to be." Cold ran along his spine and he felt a weight settle on his chest. So this was it. This was his end. And he had never even managed to find the one who had killed his friend. Staring into the darkness he sat there, did nothing while he tried to understand and to grasp what happened. He was here, she was up there. It had been a long time since he had been able to pull her back down and to reassert control all by himself.

Something changed, the darkness growing smaller and Fox jumped to his feet, looked around, tried to find the reason. Salmon only turned around, swam away and Mike stood up again, looked at his hands, at his arms. He was growing transparent, was loosing his shape. Snake. She was strengthening herself, strengthening the part of him that was her, erasing him completly. Squirrel shuddered and Mike pushed against the darkness, fear racing through his body, followed by desperation. This was his body, his place. He had to look after Wes, had promised the other one, that he would be there for him. He had wanted to become someone Wes could trust, but so far, he had failed. He needed more time, needed to find the murderer, needed to find a way to protect Wes. Mike reached out for Snake and he pulled, pulled and pulled but nothing changed and he screamed, pulled some more. This was his body, his place. And he couldn't leave it to Snake. He had condemned one friend. He couldn't betray another.

His left arm shot forward, scales vanishing and he reached for Xanas hand to grip it in a painfully tight grip. "Help." He whispered.

 

 

[Snipexe]

Grey watched as Vivica rushed away, vanishing. He nodded, accepting the reality of the scenario. All work and no play made Viv a dull girl, he supposed. As the woman left, Grey returned to Sierra. "I'm sorry you feel this way. I think however it may be best that you accept this as your new reality and move forward. Now is the time I guess I ask, how can I help?" Grey mentally winced even as he said that. "Storms I've always been terrible at this. Talking, helping, supporting. Getting one's empathy ripped out piece by piece tends to hamper their ability to make communicate, but you think I would at least make an effort." He sat as he said this, and his whole body seemed to sag as he did so. "So," He tugged on his hat strings."What can I do?"

@Shard of Thought

[Zephrun’s Imperium]

Sierra trembled slightly. She wanted Vivica to come back, though she didn't understand why that was and she wasn't about to try to. Emotions were her greatest enemy, but she sought only to avoid them, for they were impossible to defeat completely. Even she knew that. She regarded Grey and his rigid, stone-like frame. Her vision made him look almost geometrical, just broken down to shapes, though the shapes were small enough to show a good amount of detail. Her instinct told her to snap at him, but she couldn't bring herself to. Another part of her, the part that she tried to conceal most, begged her to break down to tears and just sob until her sister came to hold her. But Sierra knew her sister was gone. And yet, she didn't want to know it. The truth taunted her in her mother's voice, words drifting around in her head like a poison. She took a sip of her water, conflicting emotions only succeeding in making her feel numb. What did she want? 

She'd thought about that question a lot. Always before, she'd had herself convinced that Theresa's death would make her happy. And before that, she'd killed her mother in her search for freedom. She fingered her braid mindlessly, staring off into space. "I don't know," she whispered. She cringed at the sound of her own voice, swallowing. For some reason, though she was quite hungry, she didn't dare touch her food. She felt... exposed. When she was younger, she tried not to eat as much so she wouldn't throw up. Her mother always hated her for it when she did. Of course, it hadn't helped very much, and they hadn't had much to eat anyway. Being hungry was just... normal for her. She hadn't been full since... Well, she didn't think she'd ever been full. And if she had, she had probably been too drunk to remember it. 

"I guess... I want to know what's really going on," she said. "Why... why'd you do this to me?"

 @Snipexe