so hard to reignite myself

[hachitaro]

Characters: Taro and you!
Setting: Various places around the Tower.
Format: Action, though I can roll with prose if you really want.
Summary: Taro's wandering more or less aimlessly, trying to run away from his own issues and failing badly.
Warnings: Depression, talk of death. I'll edit in things if they come up.


[Floor 4]
[He knows the legends, he's read and heard them again and again, but that doesn't stop him from rereading them. Taro sits in a chair, curled up with a book of Japanese myths. He's got it open to the chapter of the creation of Japan - even if the Izanagi he saw isn't the god from his world, if he ends up following similar patterns it's good for a refresher.]

[Still... if there are others with this kind of power aside from Yu and Jun... if the gods act like the ones distributing power in the Underground there's going to be trouble. He has no illusions that he can stand against a god, either here or at home.]

[But that doesn't mean he can’t try.]



[Floor 13]
[He's never been religious. There was really no need, when he was supernatural himself. Sure, he questioned where he came from or why he was there - but that was just what people did, not just humans.]

[Still, Taro sits on a pew near the back, knees pulled up to his chest. Sound doesn't travel as well here, and this place is usually pretty quiet... which is why it's okay here to just put his head down on his knees and cry.]

[Even if his world isn't gone, he is. There's no real getting around that. And while he's lived for almost a hundred and forty years, he didn't expect it to end so abruptly. Sure, he thought poking around might have been dangerous, and sure he was flippant until the end, but that didn't stop the fact that he had been truly terrified.]

[He's scared. He's scared for himself, because where is he going to even go? He's been good-hearted, but he hasn't been a good person, and he has no idea if that even matters in the end. He's scared for Toshiko - even if she tries to finish what he started, that doesn't mean she’ll succeed. He's scared for the whole Underground - he tried to keep the power struggles to a minimum, but with this kind of interference a lot of people could get hurt.]



[Floor 30]
[Taro stands in tanuki form, surrounded by mist and shivering. His fur is matted, and he looks thin - he doesn't have such a round belly anymore. He knows it's a monster in the mist, he knows he has to break free... but he's so tired. And he can hear her voice, even if it's just an illusion and a lie.]

'You idiot. Why did you have to go and die on me? Now I have to deal with this myself.'

… I know. I’m sorry. I never meant to leave you...

[He needs to get out of this, soon, but he just feels like he's going to fall asleep where he stands.]



[Floor 38]
[Taro is on one of the couches, curled up in human form. He looks all right, though he's tired, but there’s a thin trail of blood leading from the door to where he's lying down. It smells like blood, too.]

[He’s quiet, but if you approach him he'll turn to look at you.]

Comments

Floor 30

[moontothetide]

[Taro wasn't the only one lost in the mist, caught in the trap of this particular monster. Nor was he the only one suffering for it.

But Tara, at least, had been able to keep walking, even if her slower and slower steps hadn't done a thing to get her out.

She was staring straight ahead, and so didn't notice Taro until her shoe bumped against his frozen, furry form. And even then, it wasn't until Tara stumbled trying to take another step that she looked down, and saw him.]

...T-Taro...?

[hachitaro]

[Taro looked up, and and suddenly his eyes widened.]

... Tara?

[He needed to get her out of here. With one more look at where the voice was coming from, he grabbed onto her pant leg and tugged.]

L... let's go. We can't let this thing trick us anymore.

[moontothetide]

[Tara wavered where she was standing. For an instant, she thought the tug from Taro would overbalance her, and knew that if she fell now, she wouldn't be getting back up.

Go. They had to go. He wasn't safe here. She...

...she couldn't leave. She couldn't. She couldn't lose her again, even if it was just her voice.] But...W-Willow...

[hachitaro]

I heard someone too, but they're not here. It's an illusion.

[He tugs again, gently.]

Come on. I can feel myself getting weaker... this thing is draining our energy, I think. We need to go.

[moontothetide]

[She took a stumbling few steps in the direction Taro was pulling. Then Tara's head - she'd been plagued by headaches for days, now, ever since the puzzle rooms - gave another angry throb, and she stopped, pressing her palm to her forehead, eyes squeezed tight shut as the room already lost in white lost yet more focus.

She felt someone else, just behind her, heard that achingly familiar voice she missed so much - "Don't leave me, baby, don't let me die again."

Gritting her teeth and tightening her grip on Taro's paw until her hand shook, Tara took another few steps. Her nose started to bleed.] W-What is it?

30!

[wouldkillforaheadpat]

[Thanks a lot for vanishing right under him, stairs. He really appreciates it. Except not. Especially not when the area around him is all... misty and ugh. These monsters are such a pain, since biting isn't an option. He ignores the male voice telling him to cease being an idiot and come here, and heads back to the way out...

...when he notices some kind of furry moron just sort of standing there. He can't help but stare, before letting out a short bark of laughter.]

Do you want to die or something? [If that's the case, he's tempted to snatch this thing up for lunch before running... not that it looks too tasty.]

[hachitaro]

[The other voice snaps him out of it for a moment, and he turns to face the other guy.]

Heh. I'm already dead.

[It's enough to break him out of the spell though and he heads towards the stairs, ignoring the voice in his head to stop being such a selfish jerk. Once he's far enough away from it, he puts his illusion back on, looking a little twitchy at what just happened.]

Thanks, though.

[wouldkillforaheadpat]

[Oh. It still moves.]

Tch. You sure don't look it. [He also heads for the stairs, apparently losing interest. The mist monster might try to follow, but he's moving quick enough that it shouldn't matter much. The change from furry animal thing to human isn't enough to regain his attention, but Taro's second line is.]

'scuse me? [What the heck is he being thanked for?]

[hachitaro]

[Ah. One of these kinds of guys. Oh well. He'll just keep his cheerful tone of voice. All the better to annoy you with~.]

For snapping me out of it.

[wouldkillforaheadpat]

[Yes. One of those. The teenager's ear twitches.]

I definitely didn't do it for your sake. [Well, alright, he would've been "helping" in a way if this fellow prisoner was actually wanting to die, but...]

Floor 4

[great_king_of_evil]

[ That's an Evil King that enters the library, and as usual some light flicker briefly as he enters the room. He's gotten increasingly interested in this tower's libraries. Ever since the failure of a takeover he attempted last month in fact.

Ganondorf briefly passes by the boy and see the topic of his book- Myths. Bah. probably another god-lover who's just kneeling and praying them when he's in despair. Whatever. May be wrong. Either way, Ganondorf goes to pick up a book nearby. Specifically, one treating of technology- Computers, machines, etc. ]

[hachitaro]

[Taro looks up at the flickering lights, and frowns at the figure who's entered. He looks like... but nah. It couldn't be. Anyway, he watches as he picks up a book and tilts his head.]

Learning something new or review?

[There's so many people here who aren't even used to computers... even though they haven't been around that long, it's weird to think of life without them now.]

[great_king_of_evil]

Those things, those technology didn't exist in my homeworld. Yet they are omnipresent in this tower.

[ Ganondorf slowly turns his head when the boy addresses him. Bah, there's no shame admitting you know next to nothing about computers after all. He's very calm when he speaks. ]

You have to adapt if you want to survive.

[hachitaro]

I can understand that. There's probably a lot of people here willing to teach you about those kinds of things. Anything in particular you're looking for?

[Considering he'd been using computers for a long time... he wasn't exactly the most up to date, but he was more than happy to help people.]

[great_king_of_evil]

Computers. I'm particularly interested in the... defense mechanisms implemented in those machines. At first it didn't make sense to me, but now it's nearly as though those machines are living being, only devoid of a soul and limited in their function.

[ Him being interested in defense mechanism is totally unrelated to the control room. Nope. But he's more than open to someone teaching him about them. ]

Floor 38

[swordofzero]

Suzaku had pretty much retreated into the shadows. He sleapt in his room; there was no Signless and Psiioniic to avoid now, no one who would sit him down and force him to talk about what had happened. It didn't matter. It had happened and Suzaku was the one who would live with the guilt.

When he saw the boy on the couch bleeding he went over straight away. He wasn't an expert at first aid but he could at least help.

"You're hurt." Was all he said as he knelt next to him.

[hachitaro]

Taro looks up, and forces a thin smile, showing his shoulder to Suzaku. There's no visible damage or injury at all, though there's definitely the smell of blood.

"S... see? I'm fine. Just fine..."

He doesn't sound that convincing, though.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku looked at it with a frown, "Did you heal it?" Suzaku came from a world without magic but he had seen healing in action here.

[hachitaro]

"Heal what? There's nothing wrong."

It's obvious from his tone of voice that he's lying - especially with how he's moving his shoulder carefully. "I... I'm fine."

[swordofzero]

Suzaku didn't know how he could still be hurt and yet there be no injury, but after everything he had witnessed here...

"Where did the blood come from?"

Really late 30?

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch himself had been heading down to the garden floor, not even comfortable with being on the restaurant floor - he'd gone down on the elevator and had found himself unable to step out, unable to shake the memories of weakness and fear that had come with the dawning, terrifying realization of knowing his body had been altered with no warning, no sign...

Unfortunately, this took him past the floor where the staircase often crumbled. And it dropped him right into a phantom's mist, just his luck. His armor disappears, and a familiar voice calls out to him from the mist.*

"Hey, Enoch! What happened to you? You used to be so wise and strong...did the song in your heart die?"

*Enoch turns away from Asato's voice, arms folded tightly and head down, shuffling away...and into something soft. He looks down at the odd thing at his feet. Was that a collar? So this wasn't a monster...*

<3

[hachitaro]

[Taro lets out a soft 'whuff' at the impact, and looks up at Enoch. His eyes are half-closed.]

H... hey. Watch where you're going.

['Stop looking at him and listen to me!']

Toshi... please shut up...

[warriorscribe]

It's an illusion... *Enoch bends down to pick up the strange creature, since it didn't even move when he accidentally kicked it.* I've encountered these before.

*And now getting to the stairs down to the garden floor before it gives him a voice that holds more weight in his heart.*

[hachitaro]

Yeah. I know it is. She can't be here.

[He doesn't resist being picked up - he just seems to sag in Enoch's arms, sounding exhausted and weak.]

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch wastes no time in getting down to the safer floor, or as little time as he can waste. He falls to his knees when they're safely on the grass below, his armor having reappeared beneath Taro in a swell of soft white light in the interim.*

They shouldn't follow...

*Or if they have, they're now harmless.*