towerofanimus | Ad Visitatores

Characters: anyone participating in the event
Setting: floor 56 and eventually other areas of the Tower
Format: either
Summary: Welcome to the Tower.
Warnings: horror/creepiness/potential danger/generally unfortunate things all possible
Notes: PLEASE GO HERE TO MAKE NEW POSTS.

A few minutes before anything happens, Ruana's voice rings out over the Tower's intercom--it manages to be louder than anything the residents happen to be doing. "Hey, everyone, there's something exciting going on at floor fifty-six! Go make sure they don't get themselves killed!"

You arrive, stepping or tumbling, in a surgical suite. It looks abandoned, with dust collecting on the table and floors. The lights flicker, and for a moment blood dripping off the table, puddling on the floor--but no, the lights are back, and surely that was your imagination. It's quiet, eerily so, but nothing hinders you, and you're free to spread out and explore. There are multiple rooms here, like in any hospital, and it's all a bit confusing. Occasionally the lights flicker, and it's a bit frightening as Things appear that shouldn't exist. Shadowy creatures stitched together and reaching for you, doctors brandishing phantom surgical tools, blood splattering the walls or floor or ceiling, how did it get there--but none are real, and all of them vanish when the lights return. Eventually you find the staircase, spiraling up and down into darkness. Approach it, though, and the thing glitters with a barrier that will push back any attempts at climbing the thing.

A girl, a teenager dressed in red and black, appears. And she does simply appear, inserting herself into the space, nearly pushing it aside to make room in it for where she is now. Her face beams with unconcealed excitement, and her words tumble out on top of themselves. "You can't go there! Yet, I mean. You'd all die!"

The girl steps onto the staircase, passing through the barrier as if it weren't there, and sits on the steps to address everyone. "Hi! I'm Ruana. You didn't show up the normal way, so the Tower can't support you yet. We got this one floor ready when I saw you were coming but, well, the Tower's kind've big, so getting all of them set up is taking a little longer than I thought." She smiles, sheepishly apologetic in a carefree sort of way. "I've got everyone coming here to visit you--or at least they know they can visit you--and I'll have someone bring food up for you. It'll be oatmeal, and oatmeal is super boring, but you have to eat it, okay? Then you can have whatever you want! The cafeteria's down on the first floor if you get hungry. We should have everything ready in a few hours. I've gotta go help with that, so you guys wait here.

"Don't worry, the monsters can't get to this floor as long as that barrier is up."

And then she's gone, blinking out of existence. The barrier will remain for three hours.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

... Huh? [That... certainly wasn't what Jeanne was hoping to hear. Her mind instantly flashed to the last incident; if the tower had aged her friend ten years in the blink of an eye, is it possible that they could do the reverse?

... Damn. She has a feeling this is going to be painful.]

You do not remember anything...?

I remember being in my bed in Hinoto-ri one moment, and... [She looks around the surgical ward warily - what is this feeling of dread that permeates the very walls...?] Then we were here.

[But she is not entirely unfamiliar with being told she should know about things she simply doesn't.]

Should I remember more...?

Hinoto-ri? Where is that?

[That half-confirms Jeanne's fears. No memories of the tower, that's for sure... but that name. It sounded like a Japanese city, not a village in a land called Hyrule. She could be wrong of course, but call it a hunch...]

I apologize for asking these questions, but something very wrong is going on here, and I'd like to try to understand what.

... I do not know, precisely. No one has been permitted to go beyond the city boundaries, as far as I am aware, and there is little talk among the natives about the outside world.

[Well, other than the Anoli leader, of course, but the two events hardly seem related, so there's no need to bring him and his up.]

It is all right. To be honest, I wish to find out what is happening as well. The woman who greeted us said she "saw us coming," but... little else she said made any sense.

So this city you mentioned is not one from your world?

[Taken from her world and put into another, then taken from that and placed in the tower? That... is just bizarre. Even more bizarre than most things Jeanne's seen or heard about here. But at least that makes her realize that this isn't the same Zelda as the one she knows. It's comforting and worrying at the same time... at least Zelda isn't under the effects of another strange experiment. But if this is a different Zelda, then where is her friend?]

I'm not surprised. The administrators here - this woman you mentioned is likely one of them - do not like giving too much information away. You'll have a better chance of getting answers from one of the residents here. [She manages a smile, then.] I have been here for several months now, so I will do my best to aid you.

[~~She's napping or something idek~~]

Not in the slightest.

[She speaks with more than a bit of exasperation, as though the city's mere strangeness is exhausting. Horseless carriages, candles that burn without flame, the COMP... it's overwhelming for an essentially medieval girl.]

Thank you, miss. Your kindness is greatly appreciated. [She smiles gratefully, and it lacks much of the melancholy edge her counterpart so often has.] As I mentioned before, we are meant to be looking for someone: a being willing to destroy the balance of time and space. I have heard others say they believe the being's name is Nyarlathotep, though I have no way to be certain if it truly is him.

Do you know where such a being might hide in this place?

[At least she shares her counterpart's sense of duty.]

[It's a little strange, seeing Zelda smiling so freely. Strange, but not unwelcome, and Jeanne feels her own smile widen a bit in response. Of course, that expression doesn't last long.]

Nyarlathotep? [She frowns. The name isn't familiar, but something about it just seems... ominous.]

No, I'm afraid I don't know where such a being could hide. Though this tower is large and offers many places where one can hide, a being with the power that you describe would find it difficult to remain hidden for long, I think.

Besides, the administrators here claim that they saved us from the destruction similar to what you've described. While I don't trust them at all, it seems like giving shelter to one with the power to destroy worlds would hurt what could be a carefully-crafted lie.

[She crosses her arms as she listens, her brows furrowing in thought. It's not that she's ungrateful for the other's explanation, but... that doesn't help her much at all.]

Would it be possible, perhaps, for the administration here to be unaware of his presence? He must be here in some form or another, or else the being who has been directing our actions would be proved a liar.

[Which is... not something she really wants to dwell on, considering Philemon was the one (as far as she can tell) that brought them here. If he was lying, then... what if her way to Hyrule is blocked for good?]

[Jeanne's looking a bit pensive as well. to be honest, she hasn't given much thought to this sort of thing - she had other important issues to worry about after all.]

I'm not sure... [The tower was impenetrable, judging by just how long everyone's been stuck here... but wait. That's not true.]

The tower was damaged some time ago. It's possible that something - or someone - could have slipped in during that brief window. But it's hard to believe that such a dangerous being could remain here unnoticed for so long.

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