towerofanimus | [OPEN]

Entry tags:

[ou] naminé

[OPEN]

Characters: [OU] Naminé and anybody who finds her/her Shadow.
Setting: All over the tower
Format: Up to you
Summary: Naminé's shadow is running around... being nice to people? For the most part, anyway. (Watch out, she's kind of emotional.) Still, this is probably going to get awkward once the real Naminé catches up to her. / Yeah, it gets messy.
Warnings: Emotional Shadow, denial, Shadow Boss Fight and all that entails.

[NORMAL MODE]

[Naminé - or at least someone who looks exactly like her - appears to be in a very strange mood today. Every little thing seems to effect her; one second she's smiling fit to put the sun out of business and the next it looks like rainclouds are what she'll be replacing. The longer she spends on her own, the more distraught she seems to get, but since she appears to be seeking out anyone she(?) knows or recognizes, chances are she'll remedy that problem soon enough. Anybody that's ever met Naminé is likely to be mercilessly hunted down and... smiled at? Whatever the reason, she seems to be very happy to see anyone, anyone at all, but especially the people that she's already met before, and even more so the people she's formed more proper a friendship with. So, anybody that she sees will likely be accosted upon discovery by a very cheerful young lady. (Careful, though - she's liable to be very sad if she's not treated well.)]

[The real Naminé will be searching the tower herself, trying not quite frantically but about as close as she gets, to find her double. Passersby may be accosted by this Naminé as well, only this one appears to be consistently grim and concerned, and she's looking for information regarding the location of her duplicate.]

[BOSS MODE]

[Whoops. So apparently, someone had trouble accepting that this strange person wandering around was part of her - not only due to her own issues with denial but also because come on, how could she trust something like that in this particular Tower, infamous for screwing with people as it is?]

[Floor to ceiling, it seem like everywhere you look there is a giant mass of chains, shifting as though they're alive. In the center of it all is the Shadow Naminé, held aloft by those chains. Clothed in a dress that seems to go on forever, she's draped head to toe in white fabric. The bottom is loose and flowing, the ends cut in a pattern of semi-circles. The front is short enough for the ends of her toes to almost show, assuming she has them, but the back forms quite the train. The middle and bodice are the only things that seem to be tight, and quite tight at that; in combination with the bottom and the long, flowing sleeves that repeat the pattern of semi-circles but go so far past her hands as to totally obscure them and hang off, flying about with her motions when she makes them, she almost seems too thin in the middle. Veiled as she is, the only part of her skin that shows is the space between her nose and about where the line of the real girl's dress usually is. The Shadow's skin is just slightly paler than its counterpart's, though her lips and cheeks are darker, more noticable and expressive, almost, despite the fact that her eyes are obscured. She's almost reminiscent of some the lesser Nobodies, with their wasp waists and strange limbs and flexibility and their apparent lack of eyes, only what's underneath seems almost disturbingly human, for such a creature.]

[It'd likely be hard enough to get to her with just the chains everywhere, but what's worse is that she also seems to be making use of Corridors of Darkness. Fortunately for passersby, she only seems to be interested in attacking Naminé, both with the chains (which the girl is doing her best to block with Reflect, though she'll soon tire at this rate) and with less obvious means. This is also a clash of similar powers, powers over the mind and heart; at first it is visible only in Naminé's apparent distraction, but as time goes by and the battle gets more intense, something about the whole area just seems wrong, like it isn't quite real. Those who are sensitive to such things may notice a fairly terrifying amount of magical/psychic energy that just keeps building up.]

[Those who choose to interfere will find that, unless they attempt to attack her directly, the Shadow Naminé will not attack them. She will say things to discourage them from doing so, but only if they persist to the point of injuring her will she actually fight back. Mental attacks on those susceptible include attempted memory removal and causing intense headaches and/or hallucinations, but the real Naminé will be doing her best to block such things with her own influence. Aside from that, there's the kind of stuff that Naminé will not be able to help much with, like direct attacks from the chains. For the most part, such attacks will be limited to attempting to restrain the interloper and/or cast them into a portal and send them to another part of the tower, usually a benign one where they will not be injured but are nevertheless removed from the fight until they can get back to where it is, should they choose to return. Actually attempting to hurt someone will only happen if they have repeatedly damage the Shadow Naminé and will be limited to attempted knockouts with as little permanent/fatal injury as can be managed.]

[Needless to say, Naminé is going to need some help.]

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[Eleanor tenses at the news. After the last fight she got in with a shadow, she's got reason to be wary.]

Afraid not, but I can help you look, if you want.

[She straightens a little, frowning underneath the helmet.]

I can do a quick round around the Tower, see if I can find her.

[Frown deepening, Naminé can't help feeling a little regretful for having to impart such unpleasant news. (She always dislikes being the bearer of such things, even though she's had plenty of practice with it.)]

Well-- I'd... appreciate it. But-- it could be dangerous...!

[She knows much too well how dangerous she can be, herself, or at least how dangerous her powers can be. In the wrong hands.... That's both the reason she's so desperate to find her Shadow and the reason she's afraid to ask for help. She hesitates, then shakes her head.]

No, I shouldn't drag you into this.

Shh, it'll be alright.

[Though she can't be seen, Eleanor smiles kindly.]

I don't mind helping at all, and you're not dragging me anywhere, if I just happen to puff myself that way, right?

[The girl falters, reluctant. (Maybe she has some inkling of the presence of that smile, even if she can't see it, but it's hard to tell.) She lowers her eyes a moment, weighing her options. She really is loathe to get Eleanor involved, for fear of causing her harm, but at the same time-- ugh, this is such a mess. Her,]

... Right.

[Is hesitant, but she manages a late, slow, cautious smile, more for the other girl's sake than her own.]

... Thank you, Eleanor.

Alright.

[She bobs her head, the closest to a nod she can get, within the suit.]

Wait here.

[She crouches a little, as if she were going to hop, but instead vanishes into thin air, leaving behind a soft cloud of purple mist. The trick to this is to check the floors out of order, to give herself momentum in her jumps. It's all a matter of visualizing her target and then being there. She keeps herself on the stairs, away from the actual floors as she looks into those that cancel out her powers. Then she hops straight into places where they don't. She looks in the Aquarium and the really fun floor with the bars and the lounge - both of them - and the cafeteria and the dorms and the library - both - and then floor with music instruments. Where she lands a few feet away from a Naminé that is clearly not the one she's looking for. Eleanor has the good grace to wave at her.]

Hi.

[Before she wills herself back to where the real Naminé is, landing in a crouch.]

Found her! She's in the music room.

[By now, Naminé's learned to understand a lot of what Eleanor means, even through the suit. (A perk of being her roommate?) The blonde nods back, then proceeds to watch her curiously. She's quite obviously startled at the use of that ability, but she stays put as she was told, regarding the place where Eleanor was thoughtfully. Learn something new every day, it seems.]

[The Shadow Naminé is even more startled than her counterpart, or perhaps it just shows more; her face is an open book. Unfortunately, she doesn't even have time to finish smiling before Eleanor is gone again. (This, of course, does not please the Shadow one bit, but the effects of that won't exactly be obvious when Eleanor's all the way back with the original Naminé.)]

[... Who jumps slightly again at Eleanor's reappearance, but soon enough she's all business again.]

-- Good. [Er, not that she's in the music room, exactly, but rather, the girl is relieved to have been informed of that.] Thank you...! I should go and-- [... What in the worlds is she even going to do? She doesn't know, but... she has to do something.] ... see her.

[Definitely perks of being a roommate, eventually the hulking, looming suit stops looking so much like something out of a horror ~~game~~ movie and more like a familiar face. Eleanor shrugs, letting her arms hang off her sides in a familiar posture.]

...I know you need to talk to her on her own.

[She pauses, a little awkwardly. It's hard to properly express things the way she feels and not fall into patterns and well traveled roads in the minds inside her mind. She feels affection for Naminé, but none of the voices inside her head match it, properly, so she tries to ignore it.]

And I know it's something private but... if something goes wrong, I can stay in the staircase if you need help.

[Not just familiar, but friendly, almost. It's strange, how that happened. At first it was unnerving, though perhaps that was mostly because of its unfamiliarity. She's never been one to judge by appearances, but that doesn't mean they can't startle her. However, it didn't take too long before that shape became normal, became comforting. Eleanor has been good to her, and Naminé won't soon forget it.]

....

[The nod she offers in reply to that statement is apologetic. She says nothing, though - she can sense that that pause does not mean Eleanor is finished speaking. The smaller girl waits, and patiently so, for the rest. When it arrives, she pauses herself, looking as though she'd like to say something but is wrestling with herself. It's probably something along the lines of telling Eleanor she would prefer she be as far away as possible, for her own safety. Taking a moment to rein in that instinct, Naminé is quiet a little longer, then, finally,]

I... can't stop you, if that's what you want to do. It would-- mean a lot to me, but... what I really want is for you to be safe. So.... [Even if she knows she'd need the help, the truth is, she'd rather fall alone than allow another to come to harm because of her - but the problem there is, if she does fall, what will happen next? What would her Shadow do, were that to happen?]

[Eleanor let's Naminé speak, as she's learned after all this time, not to interrupt her. She listens and weights it in her mind, considering. She wants to help, to fight, to kill if necessary. But that's not how this works. Not with Naminé. There are words, inside Eleanor's head, which are not her own, words and ideas and thoughts and feelings. They're not her own, but they help her understand. Naminé is not someone she wants to involve in a fight. It doesn't matter if she can fight or not, if she's strong or weak. What she can or can't do is irrelevant. The heart of the matter is that she shouldn't have to. Because she's Naminé. Because she's kind and nice and warm in a way Eleanor has seldom met in her life.

At length, she bobs her head, once.]

I'll stay away, unless something goes wrong.

[And then whatever goes wrong will have to explain itself to her. And then, because it needs to be said, like all great truths in life:]

You are a very brave girl, Naminé.

[There are many voices inside Eleanor's head, and none of them are her own. Many voices, many thoughts, many ideas, many feelings, many names. There are Big Sisters and Big Daddies, inside her. She likes to think the urge to protect Naminé, however, is entirely her own.]

[Naminé's mind, in comparison, is quiet. The voices in her head are her own. Although she wars within herself, she sees the necessity of what she must do. On the surface, at least, her decision is her own. But the person that she is now, the girl that she has grown to be - she became those things because of not only her own tendencies and talents, but because of the influences of those who helped her learn, who taught her right from wrong and fed the desire in her to help others, to keep them safe even though in many ways she is weak and she knows it. (And yet, she is so, so strong, even if she never recognizes it in herself. Forever bending but never breaking comes with a price, it's true, but to have not lost herself yet is perhaps worth it.) It was a painful road to walk, and her teachers for the most part knew not what they did, but she's a better person for it, for all her failure and her guilt and all the things she can't forgive herself for.]

[The girl's shoulders seem to relax infinitesimally at that answer. It's not a promise to stay away entirely, but it's something. The compliment, however, catches her decidedly off-guard. Blinking up at Eleanor, Naminé seems at first lost for words. In another situation, maybe she would try to dodge it, like she does at times with such things. But this... in this moment, she doesn't have it in her to contradict Eleanor. That doesn't mean she can accept it, no, but, slowly, gratefully, she smiles.]

I'll do my best to make sure you don't have to worry.

[Eleanor bobs her head again, slower this time, then she looks at the stairs and then back at Naminé.]

It'll be okay.

[There's a lot of confidence in that statement, a lot of certainty. It will be okay, because reality will be artistically rearranged until it is.]

Let me walk you there, alright?

[The girl raises her eyes at those words. Even if she can't logically tell herself the same thing, somehow it's... helpful, to hear that, said with such confidence. Part of her cannot help but believe it, even if the rest of her knows the odds too well. One hand curling against her chest,]

... Okay.

[But is that in answer to only the second part, or was it to both?]

[Eleanor doesn't ponder that for long, instead offering Naminé a hand. It might be because of her own past as a Little Sister, but rather than hugging, holding hands is what she most readily associates with comfort, and given what Naminé is about to do, she needs all the comfort available.]

[The offer seems to surprise her, if the look on her face and the way her eyes flicker between the hand and Eleanor's face is any indication. Nevertheless, after a moment, the girl reaches out to take that offer, almost gingerly. Naminé's hand is small and soft and her grasp is gentle, as if for fear of doing this wrong or causing some discomfort for Eleanor, but it's there.]

[Eleanor is careful with the harpoon still strapped to her wrist, and to not squeeze too hard. The leather of the gloves is a little rough, and it makes her wish she could take them off, but considering where they're going, perhaps that'll have to wait.]

[Naminé doesn't seem to mind, or at least there is no outward indication of any such things. It's true that she can think of many gloved hands she'd rather not come in contact with, but this is not one of them. Over time, she holds a little more tightly, though it doesn't seem to be a conscious change.]

[The stairs go on and on almost like forever, and the silence doesn't make the trip go faster, but Eleanor doesn't really know how to lighten up the mood. Or whether it'd be appropriate. She doesn't want to make this any harder on Naminé than it's already going to be. She holds onto her hand, matching her steps, and giving the girl some space to get her thoughts in order.

After a while, they are finally approaching the level where her shadow hides. Eleanor sighs softly as she tightens her hold on Naminé's hand delicately, careful not to hurt her.]

Ready?

[The blonde is perhaps even less certain of what might help in this situation. It's true that she's frightened and quite uneasy about this, but at the same time, she doesn't want Eleanor to be uncomfortable, either. Similarly befuddled as to what might be best, she holds her tongue as well. (Though, truthfully, having a hand to hold seems more than enough.)]

[The girl blinks at the change, but makes no comment. After a moment, her hold tightens as well, by roughly the same amount.]

... Ready.

[But that means she's going to have to let go, doesn't it?]

Alright.

[Eleanor is reluctant to let go of Naminé's hand.]

Just remember I'm right here, alright? If anything goes wrong.

[With no other option though, she loosens her hold.]

[Naminé takes a deep breath, then lets it out.]

I'll remember.

[She looks up at the other girl, and, with an effort, smiles. Then, just as reluctantly but trying not to seem it, she lets go.]

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