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towerofanimus2013-01-14 03:35 pm
sageprincess) wrote in towerofanimus2013-01-14 03:35 pm
Entry tags:
The flow of time is always cruel...
Characters: Jaded, 28 year old Zelda and you!
Setting: Dorms, Floor 12, 48, and 11
Format: Starting in action, but I'll match.
Summary: Yet another of the Tower residents has been affected by this month's event, and the ten 'years' she's lived through have not been the kindest to her.
Warnings: Possibility of violence if she gets annoyed.
Dorms
[The night is dangerous, and the Princess of Hyrule is already asleep - or close to it - when the subtle shift occurs. In a quiet instant, her body fills out just a bit, no longer that of a young maiden, and silver strands caused by stress pepper her blonde head. At the same time, her possessions rearrange themselves: her shining regalia, once meticulously cared for, now dull and dusty under her bed; her ocarina and harp, once her most precious possessions, now sitting unplayed at the bottom of her trunk, covered not by pretty silk dresses, but by simple cotton clothes.
The once-girl herself stirs slightly as the change happens, but is otherwise remarkably still through the night. Somewhere along the line, she must have either grown accustomed to the kind of nightmares Tower life would bring, or she learned how to control them.
In any case, she wakes with the dawn, as always, changes out of her nightgown quietly, and stops off at the women's restroom to wash her face before making her way to the elevator, all in a way that seems almost absurdly routine. After ten years of living in the same place, repeating the same thing over and over, she could probably do this morning ritual blind.
... And given how the Tower works, it's not too much of a stretch to say she actually has.]
Floor Twelve
Some say the world will end in fire.
Some say in ice.
[Oddly enough, this planetarium-esque floor has become one of Zelda's usual haunts over the course of ten years. It's morbid, watching the universe slowly die, reset, then die again, but to one so desensitized, that simply means the newer, more foolish arrivals will likely just pass this floor by.]
From what I've tasted of desire,
I hold with those who favor fire.
[She doesn't like interacting with them much, if she can help it. The hopeful, determined ones remind her too much of what she once was, something she doesn't like to remember.]
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate...
["I can think of no better candidate to unite the free people of this tower." Yeah, right.]
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great...
And would suffice.
[Quiet and alone, she watches the destruction of universes again and again impassively. There's no horror in her eyes, no tense fear in her expression, and if you're lucky, you might hear her repeat a short poem that she's memorized over the years to herself.]
Floor Forty-Eight
[Like the planetarium, the graveyard possesses a silent sort of despair that tends to keep the newest of arrivals away. At least, there is rarely anything for them here. This is a place for those who have been hurt in one of the worst ways the Tower knows how.
By watching friend after friend disappear.
She does not mourn them. Because she doesn't believe they are dead or because the very concept of death is beginning to fade from her mind - she cannot say. Still, she finds herself wandering a certain section of the cemetery like a restless spirit, fingers grazing each marker as she passes.
Eight Links, all in a row. Three Zeldas next to them. A Sheik, then, nearby. Navi, Saria, Darunia, Fi, Pipit, Fado, Midna, Fierce Deity... glimpses, however brief, of the past and future.
... Minami, Samus, Ventus-- other familiar names dot the rest of the graveyard, and for one who hates remembering herself, she lingers here, losing herself in the memories she has of others.]
Floor Eleven, dusk
[One good thing has come out of ten years of being trapped, however.
She has gotten damn good at magic.
Blasts and arcs of divine fire follow her command, lighting up the quickly darkening meadow. As the rainbows begin to reverse themselves, there are intermittent bursts of what can only be called pure light, searing any phantom foolish enough to draw close and whisper to her in achingly familiar voices.
She has her own memories to eat away at her. She doesn't need such foul things as a reminder.]
Setting: Dorms, Floor 12, 48, and 11
Format: Starting in action, but I'll match.
Summary: Yet another of the Tower residents has been affected by this month's event, and the ten 'years' she's lived through have not been the kindest to her.
Warnings: Possibility of violence if she gets annoyed.
Dorms
[The night is dangerous, and the Princess of Hyrule is already asleep - or close to it - when the subtle shift occurs. In a quiet instant, her body fills out just a bit, no longer that of a young maiden, and silver strands caused by stress pepper her blonde head. At the same time, her possessions rearrange themselves: her shining regalia, once meticulously cared for, now dull and dusty under her bed; her ocarina and harp, once her most precious possessions, now sitting unplayed at the bottom of her trunk, covered not by pretty silk dresses, but by simple cotton clothes.
The once-girl herself stirs slightly as the change happens, but is otherwise remarkably still through the night. Somewhere along the line, she must have either grown accustomed to the kind of nightmares Tower life would bring, or she learned how to control them.
In any case, she wakes with the dawn, as always, changes out of her nightgown quietly, and stops off at the women's restroom to wash her face before making her way to the elevator, all in a way that seems almost absurdly routine. After ten years of living in the same place, repeating the same thing over and over, she could probably do this morning ritual blind.
... And given how the Tower works, it's not too much of a stretch to say she actually has.]
Floor Twelve
Some say the world will end in fire.
Some say in ice.
[Oddly enough, this planetarium-esque floor has become one of Zelda's usual haunts over the course of ten years. It's morbid, watching the universe slowly die, reset, then die again, but to one so desensitized, that simply means the newer, more foolish arrivals will likely just pass this floor by.]
From what I've tasted of desire,
I hold with those who favor fire.
[She doesn't like interacting with them much, if she can help it. The hopeful, determined ones remind her too much of what she once was, something she doesn't like to remember.]
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate...
["I can think of no better candidate to unite the free people of this tower." Yeah, right.]
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great...
And would suffice.
[Quiet and alone, she watches the destruction of universes again and again impassively. There's no horror in her eyes, no tense fear in her expression, and if you're lucky, you might hear her repeat a short poem that she's memorized over the years to herself.]
Floor Forty-Eight
[Like the planetarium, the graveyard possesses a silent sort of despair that tends to keep the newest of arrivals away. At least, there is rarely anything for them here. This is a place for those who have been hurt in one of the worst ways the Tower knows how.
By watching friend after friend disappear.
She does not mourn them. Because she doesn't believe they are dead or because the very concept of death is beginning to fade from her mind - she cannot say. Still, she finds herself wandering a certain section of the cemetery like a restless spirit, fingers grazing each marker as she passes.
Eight Links, all in a row. Three Zeldas next to them. A Sheik, then, nearby. Navi, Saria, Darunia, Fi, Pipit, Fado, Midna, Fierce Deity... glimpses, however brief, of the past and future.
... Minami, Samus, Ventus-- other familiar names dot the rest of the graveyard, and for one who hates remembering herself, she lingers here, losing herself in the memories she has of others.]
Floor Eleven, dusk
[One good thing has come out of ten years of being trapped, however.
She has gotten damn good at magic.
Blasts and arcs of divine fire follow her command, lighting up the quickly darkening meadow. As the rainbows begin to reverse themselves, there are intermittent bursts of what can only be called pure light, searing any phantom foolish enough to draw close and whisper to her in achingly familiar voices.
She has her own memories to eat away at her. She doesn't need such foul things as a reminder.]
no subject
[Her words are hollow, of course; she's done all of the above and look what it's gotten her. The existence of a hermit, hiding away in the most depressing places, because at least it doesn't feel like it's all a sham.]
There are as many answers as there are survivors.
no subject
[He crosses the room to stand at her side, but doesn't say anything else for the longest time. Instead, he just watches as universes repeatedly die around them. When he finally speaks again, his voice is soft, though empty.]
Forgive me, but I can't remember if I ever got around to properly meeting you before. It's been so long since I first arrived and was told by my roommate that I should find you. My name is Diarmuid. Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. And I'm happy to finally meet one who seems to understand how hopeless it all is. They all keep telling me I should return to what I once was. To keep fighting the tower even if it only will end in failure.
Why should I when it all just comes back to this?
[He motions vaguely toward the room they stand in--at the destruction and hopeless rebirth that keeps playing out around them.]
no subject
You know who I am, then. Who I was.
[Said flatly, with the slightest hint of resentment. She hates remembering who she was, or who Gandalf and so many others tried to force her to be, as though she was some doll to be positioned and talked through.]
They wanted me to have all the answers, all the plans, and all the strength to keep people from falling apart. But I didn't have any of that, nor do I have any of it now.
So if you want answers, I would suggest seeking elsewhere.
[She's done.]
no subject
I suppose it's lucky for you that I no longer care about what you were. I am no longer looking for the answers to the questions I once asked. Indeed, all I'm really looking for is someone who understands and will not force me to change into what I no longer am.
Surely, you understand that need. That want. You seem to have it yourself.
no subject
[In contrast, Zelda remains as stoic and expressionless as she's always been.]
"Destiny" has forced me to be many things, and I am tired of it. Besides, in this shell of a life, what more can we look for but a shred of acceptance from others?
no subject
[Lancer pauses and then laughs bitterly.]
I'm sorry, Lady. It seems like I have more questions than I thought. I don't mean to keep asking you for their answers. I'm sure many of them you still ponder yourself.
no subject
Then you have no reason to associate with them any more, do you?
[She finally gives him a sidelong glance, the ghost of a wry smile playing at her lips.]
I don't have all the answers, and to tell the truth, I don't make a habit of stewing over the questions that lack them. But I've learned a few I would have refused to believe when I was younger.
[Mostly that one, though. If anyone asked her to attempt what she once did, she would drop them like an angry cucco.]
no subject
Yes, you are right, Lady. I just wish it were that easy.
[Lancer falls silent for a moment, rocking back on his heels.]
My roommate for one seems to have recently developed a guilty conscious. He seems to blame himself for not doing more to stop my 'fall from grace' and is now trying to return me to what I once was. It doesn't help I considered him my hero once. It is hard to just throw that all away. Yet, he will not accept my changes and it is hard to avoid him since we share a room. I suppose I should just be happy that as servants we don't have to sleep a lot and so we are in our rooms less than other people are. Or I should say, he is. I've found sleeping isn't such a bad thing sometimes.
no subject
[After that observance, she closes her eyes, considering Diarmuid's plight.]
... That is a troubling situation, with no clear solution in sight. I suppose if you cannot convince him through words and you refuse to do it through force, then it comes down to your desire to be who you are, his guilty conscience, and your friendship, and the test to see which of the three is strongest.
Which do you believe it to be?
no subject
[Lancer pauses to consider her question.]
I would hope that after a thousand years it would be my desire to be myself, though frustratingly enough, my desire to serve still sometimes tries to interfere...
And my roommate is a very stubborn man who well aware of this. Depending on how hard I push him, he might forget honor and use that against me.
no subject
He does not sound like an ideal 'hero' if he would use such an underhanded tactic. [She has Very Specific qualifications for heroes, okay.] And he does not sound like much of a friend if he would sooner attempt to manipulate you than accept you for you who are.
Thus far, it does not sound like your friendship will be winning this bout, from an outsider's perspective.
no subject
[Lancer closes his eyes and shakes his head.]
I won't say he's not a hero, though. Not when I gave up my right to be one by becoming this. I have no right to judge. It's just too bad he can't apply the same courtesy to me.
no subject
[Zelda, meanwhile, doesn't really care. She has her qualifications for heroism, and despite throwing off her nobility, she will still hold to them. Perhaps out of memory of someone who was once her hero as well, who can say.]
"Time passes, people move. Like a river's flow, it never ends. What doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days..." [She recites, quietly, as though remembering an old poem.] I suppose, when the future looks so bleak, some would rather turn and cling to the past than look ahead.
no subject
[He pauses a moment thinking over what she's said.]
Maybe I should tell them that the next time they bring changing me back up. They say we have to keep moving on to survive. Then they need to stop trying to make me go backwards.
[Lancer turns to her and bows.]
Thank you, Lady. You may have changed, but your wisdom still glows. I am honored you have shared it with me.
no subject
But a compliment is a compliment, and she hasn't lost all traces of her integrity.]
Old habits, I suppose. You are welcome, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne.
no subject
I'm sorry, Lady. I have upset you somehow and that was not my intent. Thank you for your advice. I think perhaps it is best if I leave before I upset you farther.
[He bows once more and then slips off into the shadows.]