towerofanimus | [01] || [Intro] || [Open]

Entry tags:

[01] || [Intro] || [Open]

Characters: Beatrix and You.
Setting: Room 2-09, Library, Maze, Meadow and Anywhere Else.
Format: Prose or Action, I will follow.
Summary: Beatrix's arrival in the tower- She wakes up, goes to explore around and tries to seek answers.
Warnings: None so far, will update if anything happens.

• Room 2-09 (Dormitories)
Your world has been destroyed.

Only fools would believe such words without any shred of evidences presented to them. While it might have been true, there were no ways to tell if it was. Maybe further in this place, there would be... Until then, Beatrix wouldn't believe it. Not until she saw proofs to back up this claim. Both letters altogether were very distasteful, it was hard to believe they had 'saved' her. 'Taken prisoner' sounded more fitting. Not that it made any sense. War was over, Kuja had been defeated and the world was at peace. But it was a better alternative than her homeworld being gone... With everything Gaia's death implied.

Either way she was quickly clothed. Thankfully, most of her belongings were in the trunk, even her sword Save the Queen, albeit... It was broken. She didn't understand how the blade that had been crafted specifically for her could have broken. The blade that had served her so well all those years. But here it was, broken and unusable. Maybe in its full glory, the sword wouldn't have fit the trunk... Very few beings could have broken it, and even few that lived on Gaia. Did this mean it was true..? Did this mean everyone died...? No she shook her head. Impossible.

Yet, it was with sorrow she departed the room to go and explore her surroundings.

• Maze (Floor 29)
Entering this floor proved to be a particularly bad idea. Waking up in this tower and then getting teleported in the middle of a maze, without her weapon no less. This day couldn't get much worse at this point. Ah well, complaining about it would serve no purpose whatsoever. Beatrix sighed and set out to find an exit to the maze. It could and probably would be long, but nothing impossible to accomplish.

• Meadow (Floor 25)
Considering how distasteful this tower overall proved to be so far, the meadow was... Most surprising, to say the least. It reminded her a lot of the Gardens of Alexandria, how peaceful they were under normal times. As if this floor didn't belong to the tower she was in. In all cases, it was a good place to relax so Beatrix remained for some time in this floor, walking around and looking at the various kind of flowers around.

• Library (Floor 19)
Beatrix looked for a book, any book about Alexandria. Even something about Gaia, something that could give her a lead on her current location and what was really happening. But none of those books mentioned the existence of the kingdom. It was like if, as far as this tower was concerned, the Kingdom never existed. Her planet never existed. Most books around here treated topic she couldn't even remember seeing in any library she'd seen seen. Yet, she ended up picking a book at random and reading bits of it. maybe she'd see something familiar at some point.

• Anywhere Else
Beatrix will be exploring for most of the day, not staying for long at the same place. She's trying to get familiar with the tower... And trying to find some answers, as slim as the chances were. She's particularly hoping to find familiar faces. With hope, there would be more from her homeworld around here. That, and she's looking for a replacement sword until she finds a way to repair Save the Queen. This place really doesn't look safe and any sword would be more than welcome for the time being.

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Shion was working in the library as he did every day when he turned the corner and tripped, his arms were in a constant state of hurting from all the push ups that Reno was making him do. Books scattered everywhere and he blushed red, gathering the books and looked around hoping that no one had seen him.

At least no one who would tell Reno.

Unfortunately, Beatrix isn't alone in the meadow. Kuja has been admiring the flowers for himself as well. He makes quite the picture, smiling gently and radiant among other bright blossoms, the (artificial?) sunshine gleaming in his hair and making his pale skin glow. At the moment he's occupied with an everyday drama: a bee is caught in a spiderweb, buzzing furiously to free itself. The spider waits patiently nearby. Will the bee pull free from her trap, or will she tire and be devoured at last?

Of course, Kuja's absorption means he is open to any.... surprises.

As it just so happened, Xellos was prowling around the Library at the same time as Beatrix. For the most part, he'd just been biding his time lately to further explore places and more or less just monitor the residents to figure out where he was going from here.

Of course, part of monitoring was also gauging reactions, and Beatrix was one he didn't recognize.

"Well, hello there!" he piped up suddenly as he otherwise approached quietly from behind. "Trying to find something useful, are we?"

Beatrix turned when she heard the noise of many books falling and scattering around the library, and walked to the origin of the noise, mostly out of curiosity. When she saw the young man obviously looking... Distressed for lack of a better word, at his mistake, she knelt and took one of the books he didn't gather yet before handing it over to him.

"Are you alright?"

At least this was certainty a person who wouldn't say anything to Reno.

Edited 2012-08-09 23:25 (UTC)

Only this demon could get occupied and find entertaining such a sad spectacle. So much for a small paradise, a haven hidden within this hell of a tower. Nothing in this meadow looked nearly as beautiful now. Well, it certainly looked much like it did seconds ago. But now that she spotted the man, her perception of the place had changed.

Not only that, but he shouldn't be here. She had been told he died at the Iifa Tree. She had believed it, after all this was the only logical explanation... But he was here. And if Gaia was indeed gone- It wasn't hard to link his presence to her current condition. And he was one of the few beings who could have destroyed her sword.

"Kuja!?"

She couldn't help but speak when she spotted him, but at least by the look of things, she actually had the advantage of surprise. While her voice was calm and collected, it was equally cold and deadly as she spoke.

"What have you...?"

"Greetings. Yes, I am actually."

Beatrix slowly turned away from her book when the man addressed him, nodding respectfully as an answer to his inquiry. She had met a few number of people so far so she wasn't as surprised to see someone, even though she still had no answers.

"I'm trying to find information on Alexandria and maybe the reason of my presence in this place."

As she still didn't believe her homeworld was gone. After all, there wasn't even a shred of evidence around and she didn't trust anyone enough to believe their words.

While Xellos was not typically the outwardly helpful sort when it came to information, and honestly - watching people pour through books to try and find something useful was amusing, he also knew a little nudge could go a long way.

So he gave a short laugh, circling around her to one side.

"Oh, you won't find much of use in any of those."

He reached towards a shelf, tugging a random book out a little ways.

"No one does~"

Beatrix turns around when she hears the woman addressing her. Even though she knows better than trust appearance, Aerith doesn't really look like a threat. Maybe she could get some more information- She smiles lightly and nods before addressing her.

"It is." she replies softly as she looks around "In fact, it is quite surprising. The other floors of this tower are nothing like this one."

Beatrix remained silent as he circled around her to one side but frowned ever so slightly when he laughed. She was about about to ask what's so funny when he spoke - Won't find much and no one does? She closed her book but tightened her grip over it.

"Truly now?"

This wasn't about to stop her from looking through books. Or anywhere else in the tower, even if it was hopeless. But this man looked as though he knew more about the situation- At this point about everyone in the tower knew more than a newcomer.

"May I ask how you know of this?"

Shion looked up and gave a small smile and took the books, embarrassed by the incident. "Yes, thank you. I hope I didn't disturb you."

"You did not." she replied simply and reassuringly. So far she had met mostly NPCs, and they weren't really talkative or normal, even by her standards.

"Are you the librarian here?"

"Yes I am." she replies quickly and closes her eyes. Introductions- Under normal circumstances introducing herself is what Beatrix would have done immediately. But those are not exactly normal circumstances.

"Forgive my manners. My name is Beatrix and I have been in this place for only less than a day." she says slowly "I have been told my world is gone and I am looking for evidences."

Needless to say, nothing so far. They'll have to do better to convince her.

"Many more than you have tried," Xellos said quickly, keeping up the cheerful tone.

In fact, he'd done that very thing himself. Without the need to eat and this Tower's sorrow providing him with plenty of steady sustenance, going through large portions of the library was a good way to both keep him occupied and tell him just what they were missing in his first couple months. He had in fact still been continuing to do this, but when it was clear not a shred of information about his own world was present in the books, he had slacked off on this.

He glanced back at her a bit. He smiled.

"It'd be a shame for someone who clearly has their wits about them to waste a lot of time, hm?"

Shion smiled again and shook his head, "I just work here," he finished gathering the books and stood up. "There are a few of us, some people are given jobs here." For some reason not everyone was but Shion didn't know why.

"..."

No matter what this man said, she wouldn't back down and stop looking looking for information. Even though if what he said was true, it could save her some time not to linger on those books... Energy she could focus on something more productive.

On the one hand she had no reasons to distrust his words and advises. On the other hand, she had no reasons to trust them as well... She sighed.

"You look a little too cheerful about those facts you are giving me, sir...?"

"You were given an employment... I see."

Then he probably wouldn't have answers... She sighed- That wasn't helping at all, but it wasn't his fault. She nodded slowly and tried a slight smile.

"My apologize, I am Beatrix of Alexandria and I have very recently awakened in this place."

"It is nice to meet you Beatrix. I'm Shion," he smiled at her over the pile of books he now held. "I've been here almost eight months if you have any questions I can try my best to answer them."

Eight months ago it might have been but he still remembered being new and terrified.

He gave a brief chuckle.

"Nothing is served by an ill disposition, is there?"

"Eight month...?" Well that's a lot of time here. There was only one thing she truly wondered now, well countless things but she wasn't going to assault this boy with questions.

"Have you ever heard about the Kingdom of Alexandria?"

"So you would rather smile even if the situation you describe is hopeless."

Made no sense to her, but whatever floated his boat really.

Shion nodded but then shook his head, "There is no Kingdom of Alexandria in my world." He spoke with absolute certainty.

"In your world?"

That's not exactly what she hoped to hear but she couldn't say she was surprised.

"So what they have told is true..."

Shion nodded, "My world had only six cities, it seems there were many different worlds... though they have been destroyed now."

"..."

That's not something she wants ti believe in just now.

"Are there any proofs that our worlds have been destroyed, outside of the message we received?"

He didn't flinch a bit, and kept on smiling.

"Is there anything to be gained from doing otherwise?"

Shion paused but then nodded, "I've been sent to my world, just last week..."

Her voice softened at that.

"... How was it, if I may ask?"

She sighed and shook her head.

"I believe this may be creating a false sense of security in a place where it appears that all our senses should be alarmed."

Kuja's head snapped up, but he turned slowly toward the new yet familiar voice. He was not expecting her, no, not at all, but he wouldn't let her see him startled. Too many other things in this Tower were dangerous for him to be totally relaxed.

Still. Kuja's mind raced furiously as he thought of the implication of her presence. General Beatrix was here, real, and definitely not pleased to see him. When was she taken from..? Could she ruin his plans, small as they were?

"General Beatrix. What a delightful surprise."

Everything was gone... The bodies... [His voice cracked a bit so he did what he often did when he couldn't cope, stuck to the facts.] They were in the correct stages of decomposition for the time I have been here. However I was able to see my world. though there was no light source, no stars.

"I wish I could reply the same."

There was nothing delightful about seeing him around these parts. All things considered, he was probably the only person she didn't want to see around here. Anyone else was bearable. Not him.

So when she replied, her voice was no less cold and she glared at him. If she had her sword, it would already be pointed at him.

"It was foolish of me not to conclude you had to be related to all this. What did you do to Gaia?"

[ She places a hand on his shoulder when she sees it's a bit too hard and nods. ]

It's fine, you need not say more.

I'm sorry to hear that, but thanks for telling me.

[Shion blushed a little, guessing he had gone into much detail.] I'm sorry, it is not easy news to hear.

A familiar smile spread across Kuja's face. It looked light, but didn't reach his calculating eyes. Naturally Beatrix disliked him, but she obviously wasn't the knight on a string but instead the general to the Canary. Damn, it was much worse than he had thought. Still, he keep his body language relaxed, shoulders down, head tilted ever so slightly.

"Contrary to what you might expect, I am as much a prisoner as you. I woke, much as I assume you did, alone and lost... Last I checked, Gaia was peaceful and saved by my darling brother."

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