Dies Irae

[terreifying]

Characters: Rei, Hojo, Jade!Eridan, and the rest of you
Setting: Floor 27, then the rest of the tower
Format: any
Summary: Rei has finally fully embraced her Angelic side. Details here.
Warnings: Body horror, possible graphic violence

Floor 27 (locked to Hojo)

There was no warning when Rei Ayanami's body changed. The girl didn't even have time to gasp before her mind and her body finally gave out before the overwhelming energy of her core.

Her body collapses into a white, constantly shifting mass. The only thing it has in common with her form seconds ago is its mouth filled with jagged teeth and the thousands of eyes that litter whatever shape it takes. Sometimes it has wings, other times arms and legs spouting at strange angles, and other times spines and tentacles. Once, the center of the mass even turns into Rei's normal eyes and face. No matter how it shifts, the glow of its core shines from within its body. It is too bright. It seems to be something that might explode any second.

Heeee~ey. Brothers? Where are you?

The gaping maw sings in a language unfamiliar to the ears, but all too comprehensible to the mind

Come back. Come stay with me. Let us all be one.

It reaches out, trying to find its brethren. At the same time, it is listening for anyone to possibly respond to its message.

Throughout the Tower

The thing that once was Rei creeps through the tower, sometimes walking on strange limbs, other times shuffling forward because it can't hold a form. Those in the area may feel the heat radiating from its body. Every few "steps," it stops, as if it has thought of something or entered a familiar place.

Those are the only moments that "Rei" can actually think. But what remains of the girl's mind has too many questions and too few answers. What is she now. Where is she. What is she doing. And even that moment is all too brief before the Angel's songs fill her mind again, leaving her with only on urge.

She has to take her brothers back. Back to the womb of their Mother. All of humanity must be one existence again. Even if she must destroy their bodies, she will take them back.

When she encounters a human, her body will shift and lash out. If they are unfortunate enough to get too close, she will devour them with her jaws or envelop them with the ever-changing mass of her body. But her core glows. It is like what remains of Rei is giving those who would resist a chance to stop her.



[OOC: Jade!Eridan will be the one to finally kill Rei]

Comments

[terreifying]

She considers his form for a moment. Perhaps if she attacked him over a larger area? The white mass that composes her body slowly spreads.

How did they lord over mankind if they could not take forms mightier than those of men?

The mass is flattening itself, trickling around the floor and even flowing up the closest wall like liquid. Arms start rising from the liquid as it gets closer to Enoch.

[warriorscribe]

Enoch takes a cautious step back as he watches Rei's mass spread out. He hadn't considered being surrounded against only one enemy!

"They are mightier. Even if they don't look it." Enoch takes a swipe at the nearest arms, letting his momentum carry him in a circle to attempt to fend off others.

[terreifying]

Are you saying then that they do not hold the human form in disdain?

The hands might be coming from more angles, but they are no more durable. They are shredded before the Arch, but more hands keep coming.

[warriorscribe]

"Of course not!" A hand grabs the back of his leg, and Enoch swings low at it.

That's when another grabs his wrist. Enoch struggles to free his weapon as more successfully latch onto him.

"Rei...release me!"

[terreifying]

The fingers start flattening, much like the fluid on the floor. They start slipping into the cracks of the arc. If they do make contact with his skin, the material actually feels oddly warm.

However, she stops as he calls out her name.

I...will?

The fingers start retracting again.

[warriorscribe]

As soon as the Arch is free, Enoch pulls it away, staggering back to the safe, actually not Rei-covered center of the attack.

He looks up at Rei, not even clear on what this encounter is. Is it a fight? A conversation? He's not even sure why she listened to him in the first place.

"...Thank you. What you're doing to the others...you're only causing them pain and fear. Don't you think this tower does that enough on its own?"

[terreifying]

The only reason she listened was that hearing her human name could call up the buried parts of her humanity. Even as an Angel, she had a great love for the species who came from the same root as her. Therefore, she would speak with them, again and again, until they were ready to join her.

But they will only experience that for an instant.

[warriorscribe]

"But for no reason. Death doesn't function as it should here, and killing the body will only see to their resurrection. Even an instant of meaningless pain is too much."

[terreifying]

The humanoid torso touches its chest with a hand.

Will their souls, never come to join mine?

[warriorscribe]

"You've...killed some, haven't you? Can you sense whether they have or haven't?"

What souls joining together does to the person as an individual, he doesn't want to know.

[terreifying]

I...cannot. Not now. I don't know why. But I cannot.

For Rei, she had just assumed that if all the souls were in agreement, then the conglomerate would have no problems with functioning.

[warriorscribe]

"Then isn't it best to assume they have not, for their own safety? Souls aren't meant to be toyed with."

[terreifying]

Then I have...failed?

The human torso poking out of the white mass shakes its head, as if in disbelief.

[warriorscribe]

"It...may not be the right time for it. If this was something you were meant to do in your world, then...it simply might not hold for this one."

Enoch didn't want her to feel like a failure. Especially not when she might not be. Displaced and without anything left...

[terreifying]

She continues to shake her head, and the part of herself that she had sent after him start retracting. For the first time since starting her rampage, she is retreating.

[warriorscribe]

"It...it will be all right. We are alive, and we will all find a purpose. I know it isn't so easy for angels but surely you can find a new path..."

Enoch doesn't follow the retracting arms. He'll only move after her if she moves. She doesn't seem stable, and he doesn't want to be caught off-guard.

[terreifying]

She keeps retreating. Her Angel form now knows that this is an argument she can't win, and she had spent too much energy to fight a prolonged battle with a person augmented with the power of Angels. If she stays, her human form and its guilt will take over completely. By then, the Angel side would have no way to complete its objective.

[warriorscribe]

"Rei. ...Everything will be fine."

It's all he can offer as she retreats. He has the feeling she'll want time to reflect. But hopefully that puts an end to the "new monster" attacks...

[terreifying]

There is no reply. She just continues retreating until she is hopefully out of his sight.