towerofanimus | 001. ☾ Introduction ; Arrival

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001. ☾ Introduction ; Arrival

Characters: Cecil Harvey & OPEN
Setting: February 14th–16th; Dorms (she awakens in 3-01), Floor 99, Floor 90, Floor 87, Floor 81.
Format: Prose to start with, but I'll match you!
Summary: Cecil has just arrived in the tower and is finding the whole experience more than a little disorienting. Disheartened by the news that her world has been destroyed, she takes to wandering her apparent new home. I'm really interested in having her affected by one of the tape players, sooo if you're up for tape player shenanigans, put a ♥ in the subject line after your location choice and I'll come hit you up OOC for plotting!
Warnings: None for now!

Cecil bolted upright, eyes snapping wide open, and immediately reached for her hip on instinct. Of course, she found no sword there, which only served to alarm her more. Despite being raised for war in a time of peace, no simple task was ever not marked by her soldier's upbringing and Cecil was on her feet as soon as she'd realized her weapon was not within reach the way it should have been, the way it always was. Everything was odd and unfamiliar around her, making it obvious she was not in Baron, if her strange and uncomfortable clothing was not a testament enough of that. She moved to take a step away from the bed and a flutter of paper caught her attention. She picked up the letters from the floor where they'd fallen and skimmed over the printed words.

The paladin didn't know how many times she read the first one over exactly, but a fresh wave of pain washed over her every time her eyes fell on one word: "destroyed". The ground swelled up at her and she had no choice but to sit back down on the bed or else she'd fall herself. Her gut felt twisted in knots and her hands visibly shook, but she wasn't entirely surprised by the news. When the initial shock wore off, she simply held her head in her hands and cried.

She'd spent months trying to save the Blue Planet, but it'd fallen to Zemus anyway. Even in spite of defeating him, it would seem he'd won in the end.

Cecil wasn't idle for long. She could accept that the world she knew was gone because of her own failings, but she couldn't accept that the others were too. Kain, Rose, Rydia... They had to have lived, escaped somehow like she had. Somehow, she would find them and they'd take back the Blue Planet. The white knight wiped her face and got back up, paced the floor of the dormitory room and looked more closely at her surroundings. She seemed to share the room with other women, but the trunk at the foot of her bed distracted her from the fact. Warily, as chests on her world were known to contain monsters sometimes, she opened it and fortunately found a weapon— the Mythgraven Blade.

Dorms
In hopes of finding her friends, Cecil is roaming the dormitory halls for them, calling their names. She could use help, so you can either play tour guide or give some tips on surviving the rest of the tower.

Floor 99
Crystals are a familiar sight for Cecil. On her home world, crystals are often sentient beings in their own right, practically considered deities by all peoples. Cecil was probably attracted here by the comforting surroundings and is exploring to keep her mind off of everything else.

Floor 90
Cecil's always had a little bit of a weak spot for music (and... dancers, but let's not talk about that). The mermaids' songs are haunting, but the paladin knows a femme fatale when she sees one, so she's probably hanging back.

Floor 87
Wizard of Oz poppy field. (Not that Cecil knows what the Wizard of Oz is.) Maybe your character finds Cecil asleep, about to be devoured by monsters, or maybe she finds your character asleep, about to be devoured by monsters! I have no preference for who's being rescued!

Floor 81
Your character is most likely to find Cecil sitting in a window, stargazing and brooding about her lost world.

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England still wasn't used to this, was unsure she ever would be, though granted she had not been around long. But she liked to keep herself busy, exploring the tower, with some hope of finding people she knew, or even some idea as to how to get out- a hope she hadn't given up on.

This lake was a place she hadn't seen before, but she immediate recognised the calls that came from the water. Then she saw the woman, standing nearby; at least she seemed to be standing back. England approached her, eyeing the lake cautiously.

"You should be careful of those."

Cecil stood safely on the banks of the lagoon with the other woman, her sword in hand. She was surprised by the sudden presence of someone else, but not ungrateful for it. She glanced at the blonde, her brow furrowed in apprehension. The half-fish, half-woman creatures had lovely voices, but Cecil was accustomed to not trusting most things with the lower half of an animal. Usually, they were as dangerous as they were alluring.

"Do you know what they are?"

England eyed the creatures warily, arms folded across her chest. She couldn't remember having many pleasant experiences when it came to those things, and would never voluntarily even speak to one anymore.

"Mermaids," she said quietly. "Not ones to be trusted, in my experience."

"Mermaids?" Cecil inclined her head curiously, her cobalt eyes wandering back to the half-women. They were as seductive as the succubi, the vampiresses, and the snake women of Mount Ordeals on her world, and that was also what made them so sinister. "They sing beautifully."

"They do," England admitted, her own eyes still running over the creatures. She turned back to the other woman quickly, trying to ignore the seductive notes as their songs swam across to the two of them. "That's part of why they're so untrustworthy, however. It is easy to lure people over. And if you get too close, they've been known to drown people."

The blonde's explanation caused Cecil to swallow hard in nervousness and she frowned deeply at the mermaids. They were truly monsters then. "I see," she replied, her tone grave. "Thank you for the warning. Did these monsters exist where you're from then? Or have you been here for long?"

"Oh, no, there are plenty where I'm from, though not everyone believes in them." She frowned, folding her arms across her chest, and wondered how even talk of the mermaids back in England, mermaids she hated, could remind her of how much she wanted to get back. "I've only be here a few days, actually," she murmured.

"A few days?" Cecil sounded astonished and then her expression became wracked with sympathy for the other woman. "I am truly sorry. I, too, have recently arrived. My name is Cecil Harvey."

"Yes, it has been... something to get used to so far." She sighed. "I'm sure I can handle it, of course, a-and there must be some other way out of here." She was still very much in the denial stage; she refused to believe that her home and everyone there was gone, like she refused to believe she was stuck here. "I'm England," she said, giving the other woman a small smile.

Cecil didn't know if she believed that she truly couldn't leave the Tower one day, but it wasn't much of a stretch to believe that her home world was no longer, given the circumstances that had been shortly before she arrived in Animus. She returned England's smile and nodded to her.

"I would hope there is as well, England," she replied, "I only question the usefulness of escape if there is nothing to return to." Cecil was probably carrying around more guilt about the whole affair than she realized herself, already half convinced that the Tower was her punishment for letting the Blue Planet fall.

"Of course there's something to return to," England replied quickly, a frown on her face. "I can't believe that the world is..." Her thoughts wondered to her people, and to the other nations. She wondered if they were looking for her; then again, someone in the tower had told that time passed differently here, so perhaps not.

She shook her head. "Everything must be fine. And I'm not the only one who believes so. I've spoken to several in the tower who believe everyone back home to be just fine."

"Believe..." Cecil's frown deepened. "But they do not know... do they?" For a moment, her own thoughts are back on her home world, wondering what's become of them, what was to become of them. Would she ever see them again? Rosa... and Kain...

"Well, no, but..." She hesitated. No, they didn't know; nobody seemed to. Most simply seemed rather unsure. "All we have is the word of those who brought us here. It may be just be a ruse, to keep us from trying to escape."

The idea of being kept in this tower for the rest of her life, away from her home, her people, the other nations she cared about; even her sisters, France. America... No. No, she refused to entertain those thoughts for long.

Cecil took a breath and shook her head, looking out across the lagoon and watching the mermaids continue to play and sing. It was truly an unforgivably deceptive scene.

"That's true. You bring up a good point..." Another sigh and the white knight turned back to England, offering her a rueful smile. "I apologize for my pessimism. Thank you for reminding me to be hopeful."

England waved a hand at the thanks. "Oh, well, I'd just rather not admit defeat. The fools that brought us here can't be so difficult to get away from..." She was trying not to give away how unsure of that she was, however, especially after speaking with others here. "A-And the world being destroyed wouldn't make any sense, anyway."

She frowned, arms folded across her chest, eyes staring out at the water.

Cecil, easily inspired to optimism, did not notice England's wariness, but rather, she found her final statement curious. "It wouldn't? Why is that?"

"Well, what could possibly have caused it? There were wars, yes, and other serious matters, but-" England shook her head, scoffing. "Really. What could have destroyed everything so suddenly overnight?"

Had somebody started World War III while she slept? No, it didn't make sense. That was one of the things she had been confused by, the thing besides her own stubborn persistence that had kept her doubting.

It did strike her, however, that things might not be the same for Cecil. England had spoken to somebody in this tower who she knew to have died in the fifteenth century, after all. As strange as it was, it seemed there were people from places that were not her own world. "Although... ah, where are you from exactly?"

Hmm... Another good point. But perhaps everything had been obliterated overnight. There was no telling how long they'd been asleep in this unfamiliar time and space.

"Ah," Cecil replied, "I do not think we are from the same world. I am from the Blue Planet, from the Kingdom of Baron."

So Cecil really was from another world. "No, we aren't." She paused, frowning. "Well, I doubt you'll have heard of it, but I'm from England, on Earth. I'm a nation." England sighed. The more she learnt, the less she wanted to be in this tower. "This damn, ridiculous place."

"You're from England... and your name is England?" Cecil raised a brow at the other woman. She laughed softly and looked sheepishly at the blonde. "I'm afraid I don't understand. What is 'a nation'? I understood a nation to be a kingdom, not an individual."

"Oh..." England supposed she should get used to explaining these things to others. She gave Cecil a small smile of apology. "Well, I suppose it can get complex. But I represent the nation of England, as a personification. I was born when the country was, as a human, before becoming who I am now. What happens to the people, the culture, and so forth, all affects me. Where I come from... all nations are like that, you see."

"A personification of a nation..." Cecil repeats thoughtfully, her eyes widening a little in fascination as she processes England's explanation of herself. "That's amazing. I have never met anyone like you before. Please forgive my ignorance before."

The paladin raises her brows suddenly then when a theory occurs to her. "If... you are your country... how is it that you can survive if it has been destroyed? Perhaps this is further proof that what is claimed by our hosts is not the truth?"

"Oh- No, it's... it's fine. I shouldn't expect you to have heard of us, not even sharing my world." She sighed. The words sounded ridiculous, but that was the truth of it.

England considered what Cecil was putting across, a slight crease in her brow. "And that... that is true."

She thought for a moment. She missed her people, her country, and felt the pang of that loss, of being very far away from them. But it was true that she wasn't ill or critically hurt, as some serious loss of her culture would provoke; that had to be a good sign. Of course, anything was possible and she remembered being told "time travelled differently back home" or something to that effect, but she ignored that. Her home had to be fine.

"It would make a lot more sense for our world's to be just fine. We haven't been saved, just kidnapped."

Gilbert had taken to exploring floor 99 every once in a while due to the fact that not much seemed to be wrong with it. He used pretty much any safe place in the tower as a haven, and while he wasn't much of a cave person, he was always happy to find new safe places.

It was here that he spotted Cecil. "Hey, haven't seen you around before," he said. "Are you new?"

It wasn't Cecil's first time on floor ninety-nine, but since she'd quickly found that the rest of the tower was particularly dangerous or otherwise incredibly bizarre, the crystal caverns were comforting in their familiarity. She hadn't counted on company though, since the floor was usually quiet and serene.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," she answered, standing up from where she'd been seated at the edge of one of the small ponds. "I found myself waking up in one of the bedrooms here the other day."

"Well, hey! Welcome to the tower, then. Did you eat your oatmeal alright, or did you make a fuss about it?" Gilbert's gaze shifted to the pond, then back to Cecil. However, his eye contact promptly flickered in another direction as he thought he heard a sound. "Did you hear something just now? It better not be a monster. I have my sword and everything, but I don't want my birdie getting hurt," he said, gesturing to the yellow ball of feathers that rested atop his head.

Cecil had been about to answer when she heard the noise too. She shot the tiny chick a little smile as she drew her sword and picked up her shield. "Stay here."

Even if all she had was the lightly padded gambeson she'd found in her trunk to protect her, she was determined to handle a fight anyway, alone if she had to. Shield up and sword at the ready in her right hand, Cecil followed the strange noise behind a few of the larger intricate crystals.

"A tape player?" She blinked down in disbelief at the heart-shaped mechanism emitting the unusual sounds. It didn't seem anything like music to her and she frowned at it thoughtfully. She lowered her shield and put away her sword, but she still felt uneasy for some reason. Different from her mood moments ago. She felt restless suddenly as she stared down at the player, unable to turn away. "I... think... it's safe. No monsters, at least."

Gilbert wasn't entirely sure how to react when Cecil told him to stay there. Hey, he could fight too! He just wanted to be careful because he had taken his bird with him today. He, too, stared at the tape player in disbelief. "Well, that certainly is a... thing. Good to see it's nothing dangerous, though." Gilbert shifted his stance a bit. "I don't think I ever gave you my name! The name's Gilbert Beilschmidt, though the name they put by my door is Prussia. And you are?"

Distracted from the tape player, the white knight looked away, turning to her present company and smiled, her features suddenly lighting up from the sincerity of the expression.

"Cecil Harvey," the young woman answered and her smile turned slightly coy. "You have three names? Most men I have met only have two. May I ask what makes you so special?" She wore no dress today to curtsy with, which would have been her traditional form of greeting, so she instead had to settle for presenting her hand — with a wink.

That was her first sign that something was wrong. Cecil wasn't certain she'd ever winked at anyone in her life before. She was neither flirtatious nor cocky in nature and, secondly, she would certainly not have ever spoken to someone she just now met in such a manner. It was rude and a little presumptuous she felt, yet she made no move to apologize, let alone retract her statements.

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001. ☾ Introduction ; Arrival

Floor 90

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Floor 99 ♥

♥

Starting the tape effect, if you don't mind!

No problem at all! o7

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