| 001 | Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.

[primordial]

Characters: Sam Erstwhile and YOU
Setting: Room 2-18 and floors 1, 5, 10 and 13
Format: I'm doing action, but I'll follow whatever you have!
Summary: Sam Erstwhile discovers he's found himself right back in the place he hates so much.
Warnings: Sam is kind of not exactly human, so there will be slight mentions of a different diet and being able to breath in water and stuff, but other than that, nothing much! Also lots of text, I apologize in advance.

ROOM 2-18

[He was glad, so glad to return here, to Hinoto-Ri. Yes, it wasn't his home world, but "home" was something that Sam hadn't known for a very long time.]

[He opens his eyes wearyingly, blinking up at the dark ceiling. After a trip like that, he'd need to head down to the river and spend some time there, just sitting at the bottom and letting the water flow around him. It was the best way to get the memories of that place out of his mind for good, to erase the helpless feeling of not knowing what would come next.]

[But...wait, that's odd. There's something heavy on his neck. He glances down, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, and-]

[Is that a...collar?]

[He sits up straight in his bed with a sharp gasp- no. No, this...he had seen this thing among the residents of Animus, what in the world was it doing on him? Sam growls slightly, wrapping his hands around it to tug it off, as if it'll break off easily, but it doesn't budge.]

No no no no no. NO!

[And now he notices that this room is not the one he went to sleep in last night, and he gets to his feet, breath shallow with true, honest fear. This can't be happening. He was brought back home, there is no way that after all that work, he's been brought back without even a second thought.]

[Out of the fire into the frying pan and then back into the fire.]

[Completely ignoring the note beside him, Sam lets out an shriek of indignation and annoyance, pounding the nearby wall with his fists. This is unfair. This is nothing but a travesty, that he's now one of those residents who were involved in such a dangerous and horrible place for good. Really, what is his luck?]


FLOOR 1

[After that unsightly freakout, Sam's calmed down some, finding himself in the cafeteria. Yeah, yeah, he knows about the oatmeal rule, but that doesn't mean he's still willing to eat it. He frowns at his bowl, lifting the spoon full of the stuff before dropping it back in. And then doing it again. And again. And again.]

Ugh. Who even invented this stuff, it's nasty...

[There's also the point where he won't eat anything that people eat because they're highly distasteful to him, but he honestly never liked oatmeal, even before his...well, "incident" back home.]


FLOOR 5

[Time for a bit of exploring. He makes his way to this floor, avoiding the gazes of the people there as he wanders over to the outer ring. What are these things? Viewfinders of some sort? After glancing around, Sam decides to whet his curiosity and peers in the one in front of him.]

[Ah, that's...his world.]

[It really is destroyed, by the looks of it.]

[But there are no tears coming from this young man. No suffering, no sadness, just...emptiness. He doesn't care. In fact, it almost feels good, knowing that the person he wanted to kill has probably been destroyed  along with anything else.]

[The only thing he cared about was long dead before he came here. Why should he feel anything for the rest of the world?]

[So, he stands there, silent, a solemn expression on his face as he continues to stare at that vision of ruin (it's like staring at a car accident, he thinks), totally unaware of anything around him anymore.]


FLOOR 10

[Now, this is a floor he can appreciate.]

[Not for the beauty or anything. No, this is his new cafeteria now. Catching all this fish should be a piece of cake.]

[But also, he's phenomenally glad to see there's no glass, which means he can spend time inside the water as much as he wants. It's a calming place, water. He smiles slightly as he walks around, brushing over the water with his fingers, before he randomly up and decides to try something out.

[People passing by might wonder why in the world he's got his entire head sticking in the water. He doesn't seem to be even struggling for air- he just behaves as if he's sticking his head out a window instead of in a substance that might prevent him from breathing any time soon.]

[At least he looks comfortable?]


FLOOR 14

[Sam Erstwhile is not religious. if you asked him if there was a god, he would probably shrug and shake his head. He doesn't know, nor does he care. If there is, there is, if there's not one, there's not one.]

[So, finding himself in this cathedral is quite the interesting experience. He can clearly hear the mumbled voices in front, though there's no one there, and he seats himself in the back, narrowing his eyes as he tries to parse what's even being said.]

I wonder if those are ghosts talking...?

[It must be really sad, to be stuck for life giving masses almost no one will listen to.]

[...]

[Eh, whatever, they're probably happy doing it, why should he care?]

Comments

[myblueskies]

It's not too bad sir, and once you eat it you can get yummier things to eat. [Romeo had noticed more people had arrived, like they did ever month. They had stolen more souls... It made Romeo a bit angrier but it also made him want to help everyone that came here even more!]

[primordial]

[He pauses in his scooping of the oatmeal, looking over at the boy before letting out a pathetic little sigh.]

I know, but that still doesn't make it better...

[myblueskies]

I know sir. But you'll be sick if you don't eat it.

[primordial]

[He puts down the spoon before shoving the bowl away from him, putting his head on the table in an obvious sign of despair.]

...I'm sick of all of this, honestly! I mean, it's one thing if I was here before, but again...??

[myblueskies]

You were here before sir? Did you go back to your world? [Because that was sad, because the worlds were dead and it was scary to go back.]

[primordial]

[A shake of the head.]

No, no...ugh, I was kidnapped to another world before I was kidnapped here. And I went back to that place after here, and then ended up here again as if nothing happened...

I haven't actually seen my home world in several months, honestly.

[myblueskies]

You went back to the other world? And it wasn't dead?

[Because Romeo had heard of people going to other worlds than here but never going back again.]

[primordial]

No, it definitely wasn't. Had lots of fighting and stuff, but it was definitely okay.

[myblueskies]

I don't think that's happened before! If people come here and go back they go to where everything's dead...

[This was good, this meant that there was another world that wasn't dead, like the one where the visitors had come from!]

[primordial]

Well, guess I'm the special one. Though honestly, I can't believe everybody went back there and I just got roped back here...

[Yeah, he's totally one of those visitors.]

[myblueskies]

Everyone? [He tilted his head]

[primordial]

Yeah. Um, how do I explain this...

[A few seconds to muse over how to elucidate what he means, and then a nod.]

Well, see...I came from a world that already kidnapped me from my home world, right? And I spent a couple months there, chilling out, talking with other people...and suddenly, a whole group of us was taken here, without warning, in the middle of the night...

[A pause.] It was...terrifying, to say the least. But, we all spent a few weeks here, doing whatever this tower wanted us to do, when we all found a way out. We faced...well, this guy, who called himself Nyarlathotep. And after that, we all returned back to the world we were in the first place.

Except I...I returned, that's for sure. And then I went to sleep, and before I know it, I wake up and find myself back here.

[myblueskies]

[He tilted his head and listened carefully to what the man said, once he got a few sentences in Romeo understood what he was saying, and his mouth fell open] You were one of the visitors right? With no collar. [He stared at the mans neck. But no... he couldn't be here because that would mean...]

floor 14

[terreifying]

[Rei stands next to the staircase leading up.]

I don't know if ghosts can enter a house of worship...

[primordial]

[He turns at the sound of her voice, before he realizes that oh, it's just another visitor. He glances back up at the altar with a slight shrug.]

I don't know...the Holy Spirit is sort of a ghost thing, right? I don't think it would be that hard, unless they were, I don't know, demonic ghosts or something.

[terreifying]

Hm...I guess. But I hear ghosts who come into holy places go to heaven.

[primordial]

Really? Huh...but there are things such as haunted churches, right? How come the ghosts there don't go anywhere?

Too religious?

[terreifying]

Not sure. I've only seen a haunted military base before. And that was because the ghost wasn't really dead.

[primordial]

Then how can it even be called a ghost in the first place? Wouldn't that just be...a person?

[terreifying]

Because her body was quite dead, but her soul got stored in something else.

[primordial]

[Oh dear.]

What? How is that even possible...??

[terreifying]

SCIENCE.

[primordial]

[NOT SCIENCE]

[DEAR GOD WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE TURN ON THE ALARMS GATHER THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND-]

[Wait a second.]

But...souls are like, abstract concepts? How would one even use science to remove something people aren't even sure exists?

[terreifying]

By giving souls form, silly.

[primordial]

[He narrows his eyes.]

You say that like it's so easy to do. How do you do it, then?