[003]

[fallen_stage]

Characters: Kuja, Zidane, and YOU
Setting: Floor 2 (infirmary), Floor 14 (media room), Floor 18 (study room), Floor 22 (art gallery), Floor 26 (morgue)
Format: Starting with prose, will match
Summary: Kuja meets with his brother for a chat; Kuja gets stuck; Kuja around the Tower in general.
Warnings: Claustrophobia in the morgue.


After speaking with Zidane over the network, Kuja immediately made his way to the media room. Although he browsed through the selection, he did so without real interest. He was here to have a little chat, not settle down with a story. Maybe later.


The morgue was an unusual and out of place location. What point was there to a morgue where the dead never remained so? Kuja looked through some of the cabinets, and while he did find a few remains, they were utterly unfamiliar, without any identifying markers. Most of them were empty, as if built for a higher death count... In one he thought he saw a glimmer, but to go headfirst into a dark, narrow place was foolish. Instead, he tried to fish it out with magic, and when that didn't work, he braced himself on the shelf to reach the object with his foot.

Immediately the drawer slammed closed with a heavy click. Kuja pressed against the door, but nothing happened, not even when he rammed against it. His heart started pounding in the stifling space, but he couldn't panic.

"Hello? Help! I'm in here!"

Kuja resisted the impulse to also shout 'I'm not dead'. The scent of cold metal and preservative filled his head but that didn't mean he had to lose it entirely. Someone would come by. Eventually. In the meantime, Kuja summoned some fire, for light since the metal didn't melt in the slightest.


After all that nonsense, Kuja just wanted to relax. What better way than with a book? Some might not think a medical text wasn't very engaging, especially one focusing on chemistry, but Kuja liked it. The text reminded him of the countless hours studying in his youth, learning how magic could affect and shape the body.

Now, if only the ghostly whispers would stop. At first Kuja tried to decipher the words, but every time he listened, the noise was just this side of unintelligible. So, like with many minor annoyances, Kuja ignored it. The warm, wet air stirring at his neck was harder to ignore, but he could manage it well enough.


With all of the changes in the recent pod situation, Kuja decided to take the next step in his education on more mundane methods of medicine. He had the book from the library with him, and he was checking the information against the stock available in the infirmary.

Comments

Floor 18?

[death_awaits_you]

[ Aside from the random creepy noises and the variable lighting, Ryoji finds this place a pretty nice spot to hang out in, when he wants to read - and there's an awful lot of interesting information in the reference books here! A lot of the time, however, when he comes in, he's alone - except today, there's someone else already here, and it's someone he doesn't recognize.

Well, as long as they're here together, he might as well say hello, right?

He wanders over into Kuja's line of sight and waves. ]

Hey, there! I just came in here to do a bit of reading, but I couldn't help but notice - you have beautiful hair! It's like snow...

[fallen_stage]

At first Kuja thinks it's the room when he feels the growing sense of dread. Such feelings of anxieties are rare; Kuja doesn't often let himself dwell on problems. He tried to ignore it, focusing on his book. At the new arrival, Kuja looks up, eager for a distraction from the choking panic. Not even now does his smile falter, even as his hand clenches into a fist by his side.

"Hello. That's kind of you to say."

/forever late

[death_awaits_you]

"Well, it's true!" Ryoji laughs a little as he says that before smiling brightly and continuing, "It seems like a good idea to get to know people here, so we can all help each other, so -- my name is Ryoji Mochizuki!"

no worries!

[fallen_stage]

He always kept his fingernails long, part vanity and part practicality. Kuja could feel each sharp nail stinging the flesh of his palm. It grounded him as the dread continued.

At least Ryoji was a bright note, a beam of sunshine piercing through cloying mist. He had a likable face, and Kuja reflected his smile.

"Kuja King. This Tower can seem so large sometimes, but its residents so few. A pleasure to meet someone who knows the importance of getting to know everyone."