1st Heavenly Body

[rememberscarlet]

Characters: Jellal and Open
Setting: Room 01-10/Dormitory Floor 01, Floor 48, Floor 25
Format: Action
Summary: Jellal arrives in the tower. He has really rather mixed feelings about it.
Warnings: Nothing beyond the standard Animus horror?


[A - Room 01-10/Dormitory Floor 01]

[He awakens only slowly, far from panicking even as he notices his inability to move... though... it does seem quite strange that he can't recall where he is... how he has gotten here.

He remembers being prisoner of the magic council, awaiting what punishment they seem fit... remembers surrendering himself after all and his refusal to turn even as Natsu... as Fairy Tail and the other Alliance wizards had called out for him... all but Erza... she had understood, and he will forever be grateful for that...

And here he is lying now... unable to move... unable to recall how he had gotten here, if this was his punishment... None of this seems familiar, but then again... he doesn't have much to compare it to, does he?

It's the letters that truly catch him by surprise; surely, it can't be that-

Minutes later, he can be found rushing down the corridor (now actually wearing his own - okay, already kind of borrowed - cloths); it can't be true, the world couldn't be just-

Could it?

Whatever the case there is one person he needs to find. That surely must have been brought here as well...]

...Erza.


[B - Floor 48 | The Graveyard Floor]

[As if the letters weren't disturbing enough at first; Jellal really can't help the uneasy frown on his face as he stumbles onto the very first floor beneath the room he had woken up in.

He shudders as he walks from grave to grave, reading name upon name... some ever twice or more...

(He is very glad that so far, he has yet to see any that sound familiar to him.)

What a macabre place...

Who had made it and why? And why bring him of all people here?]


[C - Floor 25 | Meadow Floor]

[There is really no telling in what kind of environment this place... this tower... is standing it, but... regardless of that, nobody can't deny that it is really damn cold right now. Fortunately conjuring a lasting fire to keep himself warm is hardly a challenge, despite the state of his memories, and so - after a rather long day - Jellal can be found sitting in front of one, frowning as he rubs his hands, his gaze drifting towards the distance as he recalls what he has learned today... and as he remembers snippets of his life in a certain other tower.

After a moment, he shakes his head sharply - he doesn't want to remember, he fears those memories, and he can't dare linger on what he doesn't know, not right now. Not when he needs to find a way to fix this all... somehow.

After a moment he sighs, reaching up to comb through his hair. ...Just what is he supposed to do here?]

Comments

[rememberscarlet]

[And unfortunately, Jellal doesn't have anything to disprove her. He shakes his head, still frowning.]

I hardly remember anything. Who are you?

[taintedwhite]

[She walks to him, closing the distance between them. Her hand comes up to cup his cheek, that strangely disturbing smile curling her lips fading only slightly.]

They did mess up with your head too, didn't they? ...My poor dear~

[rememberscarlet]

[He takes a step back, raising a hand to push hers away.]

Answer my question.

[taintedwhite]

[She bows down her head, her white hair hiding her face. She holds the hand he's just pushed away against her chest, as if hurt. She whispers.]

...Mean.

[She's seen the Hummingbird play that little act more than once. And she managed to make Ganta and other boys feel bad. So why couldn't she do it with this boy? He's no different.]

[rememberscarlet]

[He furrows his eyebrows, confused and wary at the same time - unlike Erza or Natsu he cannot recall anything at her sight, no bits or pieces, but still... does that truly prove anything? Biting his lip, he looks at her uncertainly.]

Not intentionally. Still, please... answer my question.

[taintedwhite]

[He was falling for this. Just as planned.]

You promise you're not going to push me away again? ...Or laugh at me when I tell you?

[rememberscarlet]

[Oh, the dangers of lacking memory.]

I do. Please.

[taintedwhite]

[The dangers of meeting Wretched Egg in general.]

I'm... Oh God. That's ridiculous.

[She turns away from him hugging her frame. And above all, hiding her smirk. She should just turn around and kill that idiot. But she feels like playing with him for a while longer. Like the cat with the mouse.]

You and me... We're...

[She turns back toward him, her expression schooled into a tensed and slightly sad one.]

I'm Erza.

[Yes, she might have overheard you when you were muttering that name. Oops. And if you suffer from amnesia and it's the only name you repeat, it must be someone important. A lover maybe? It's a risky bet but she doesn't have anything to lose.]

[rememberscarlet]

[Erza is indeed someone important.

Erza is a friend; a friend, whose name was the only thing that remained with him after he originally woke up. A friend who had found him when he had wandered the forest - lost except for the knowledge that Nirvana was too dangerous, that it need to be destroyed. Who had convinced him to live and atone.

This person before him? There is not question that she is not her.

His expression changes instantaneously at her 'admission', all uncertainty disappearing into a narrow frown as he extends his hand and fires a thin blast of light - designed to be nothing more than a warning, to miss her cheek by just a few centimeter - before he speaks up again, voice hard and unamused.]

No, you are not. I will ask only one more time.

Who are you?

[Amnesiac he may be, but that doesn't make him stupid. This time, he will not be falling for any deception of her.]

[taintedwhite]

[Ah. Looks like she pushed it a little there. Well nevermind. Wretched Egg doesn't give a start or step back at his attack. She just smiles at him, the wicked smile back on her lips. Visibly pleased by the reaction she got from him.

Stupid or not, he's not as weak as she had initially thought. That makes him interesting.]

Tsk~ You promised not to push me away again~ Have you forgotten that already?

Besides how would you know? Do you even know who you are?

[rememberscarlet]

[He presses his lips together, regarding her with a cold glance. He won't fall for her tactics again, not after this.]

I don't consider it a priorities to keep promises to liars.

I know enough.

[taintedwhite]

[Wretched Egg chuckles.] Ksha~ Truth is such a subjective notion~

Honestly~ Wouldn't you prefer she was the one standing here in front of you instead of me?

[rememberscarlet]

[Yes. Yes, he would prefer it. To see Erza of course, to talk to her, to have her help in unearthing his memories once more, her presence to reassure him that he would not turn back into the cruel person he used to be.

And yet, he shakes his head firmly because.]

No. She does not belong into a place like this.

[Unlike him, unlike the girl before him, Erza is Light. Deserving of what happiness she has found, and so much more.]

[taintedwhite]

But we do, don't we? You, me... The monsters that we are.

[rememberscarlet]

And I never denied that.

[Try again.]

[taintedwhite]

Tell me your name~ And I shall tell you mine.

[rememberscarlet]

You know, that's not the proper way to ask for someone's name.

[Meaning that nope, he won't tell her unless she spills hers first.]

[taintedwhite]

You know, I've never been taught the proper way to do anything~ [Quite the opposite in fact.]

You can call me Wretched Egg. Or the 'Red Man'. ...I don't really care. [Usually people don't call her. They see her, scream and run.]

[rememberscarlet]

What a shame.

[Or well. Not. Consider yourself educated of it now. :|]

Jellal.

[taintedwhite]

[As if. ...Don't raise your hopes too high. It's Wretched Egg we're talking about.]

Jellal~ An interesting name for an interesting boy~

[rememberscarlet]

[Oh, he's not. He couldn't care less, really.]

If you say so.

[taintedwhite]

So are we gonna fight, Jellal~?

[rememberscarlet]

Is that your intention?

[Have a raised eyebrow, and a glance that very much convoys his disinterest. Despite her attempt to fool him, he has no desire to fight her.]