their lies and truths that run rampant and wild

[bowandblade]

Characters: Archer [AU3] and you! (open)
Setting: Floor 25, Dorm Floor 1, and a general all-over-the-tower bit
Format: Using action brackets, but will match in threads.
Summary: So the week started well enough. And then these strange messages started appearing around the tower... (If you want to react to the ever-changing 'Lancer and Archer' rumor, feel free to pick any version.)
Warnings: Nothing at the moment.

Floor 25 - Meadow - prior to the rumors appearing

[Ever since he visited the meadow to watch V/V's concert, Gilgamesh found himself returning to the floor whenever he found himself wanting to enjoy something simpler. It was quiet and free of irritants (the "monsters" of the tower), so he could remain there as long as he wished, whiling away his time.

Not that he has anything to do out there. Not really. But sometimes idle fingers fiddle with the longer blade of grass, or pluck flowers out of the grass to twist at the stems.]


All over the tower

[The message on the wall in the first dormitory level is the first that he sees. At the time, it had been nothing more than a small amusement -- something to smirk at with mild puzzlement, as he didn't know either of the people mentioned on the message. But he soon becomes aware of the other messages-- graffiti, as people began editing them-- on the different floors.

So what does he do? He goes on out there to look around and see just how many obvious messages there are. With so many floors, that's bound to take awhile.]


Dormitory Floor 1

[...It's almost ironic that he finds himself back on the first dormitory level, staring at the same patch of wall he had seen at the beginning of the week. The message keeps changing, and every time he walks off to find something else to do, he just seems to come back to find it changed again.

Maybe he should stick around to see who's changing the rumor. That sounds like a good idea.]

Comments

Dorm floor 1- latest version of the rumour

[savedbyasong]

Shion was headed down to do some more foraging, he hadn't slept, how could he sleep when he knew Sephiroth would invade his dreams.

When he saw his roommate stood near the rumour that he passed most days, and it often changed, yet he never quite believed he raised an eyebrow. "Did you write that?"

[bowandblade]

A sound in the negative passed Archer's lips before he shook his head. It was almost troubling how many times the rumor had been rewritten. The changes had apparently never moved away from not mentioned 'Lancer and Archer.'

"It is difficult to tell what was the original graffiti, now that there are so many iterations."

[savedbyasong]

Shion peered at it, trying to read through the scratchings. "I can't make it out either. Do you think it was even about you at the beginning?"

[bowandblade]

"No, there was another message here earlier. About an Amagi Challenge of some sort." He looked carefully at the wall and the multiple strikeouts, tracing what little of the very first message he could still see. "It was changed to refer to 'Lancer and Archer are cheating on each other' sometime after that."

But which Lancer and Archer? And, with whatever combination, who had done it and why?

"Ridiculous."

[savedbyasong]

He had no idea what an Amagi challenge was and he frowned. "And are you?"


He only knew of one Archer, and no Lancers though he guessed it was someone else in the tower, and he hasn't really gotten the hang of rumours yet, the concept of people writing false things just for fun was beyond him.

[bowandblade]

If not for the fact that he had ended up believing the earlier iterations of the message, the answer would have been a simple "No." But such was not the case.

Archer folded his arms across his chest with a faintly annoyed expression. "Of course. It is not too surprising; we are both Heroic Spirits, after all."

...The way he spoke, it was as if he expected Shion to understand what he meant.

[savedbyasong]

Shion had no idea what he meant. But tried to look like he did, because of the tone. "Of course."

[bowandblade]

And yet, he only had one Lancer in his mind when he said as much. He found himself pointing at the message. "It is not a very specific message, though. The other Archer and Lancer will likely receive questions."

[savedbyasong]

"There is another Archer" That could get confusing quick, "Are you even sure this is about you then?"

[bowandblade]

"Of course it is about me!" How could it be anything else? "I do not see the point to all of this, though. It is a nuisance and a pain to those who write over these messages."

[savedbyasong]

"But if there is another Archer and another Lancer, couldn't it be about them?"

He didn't see the point either, just because they could carve on the walls didn't mean they should, it seemed a very strange thing to do.

[bowandblade]

There was clearly only one way this could work out.

"Perhaps it is about all of us. But that sounds ridiculous."

Yes, he was not so far gone as to be completely swept out of some form of logic.

[savedbyasong]

"It does, but even if it was just about two of you there are four possible combinations and only two of them involve you at all." Shion pointed out.

[bowandblade]

Hmmm. See, he could understand that logic. But there was also something telling him that the messages were about him. It was a difficult feeling to ignore.

"That is something I will have to keep in mind." He almost sounded reluctant to say that much. "Have you seen more of these messages?"

[savedbyasong]

"A few. I saw one about poisoned food. And one about nightmares. Some of them seem true and some just seem silly." And he still hadn't worked out who was creating them, or why.

[bowandblade]

"If they are meant to scare us, it is not working." Not that there was much that actually scared him. "But I had heard something about a giant whale."

[savedbyasong]

Shion opened the bundle of papers he tended to carry everywhere. "There are a few mentions of a giant whale that I saw. I'm not sure who wrote it, or what they were thinking. Since when the whale did crash into the tower there was a lot of damage, a lot of people were hurt."

[bowandblade]

"You were here when this giant whale appeared before?" So far, that whole story was easily the most interesting through to come out of this entire predicament. "What happened?"

[savedbyasong]

"I was." He nodded, "It hit the barrier first, we were given enough warning to be told to get as far down the tower as we could, when it broke through the fog it took out the dormitories and many of the higher level floors, though there were not so many then." He told him, tucking the papers under his arm again.

"It wasn't really a whale, at least not in the way they are where I come from, it was more a ship, there were monsters inside it. They swarmed the tower. We were fighting for a few days, it hit the systems pretty badly as the administrators were not able to do anything for a while, like they were powerless."

[bowandblade]

"...Barrier." That is the first thing that catches Archer's attention in the boy's explanation. There was a barrier beyond what they saw outside the windows? That implied there was something out there that needed to be defended against. ...The whale itself?

"Intriguing. So if that situation occurred, it shows that these administrators are not infallible."

[savedbyasong]

"Yes, the fog. It rips things to shreds. Apparently." He nodded, "I assume it is both to keep things out and keep us in. They are not, though they took down the threats pretty quickly at the end they were powerless while their systems and power were down."

[bowandblade]

"So the administrators could be harmed if they did not hide themselves as they do." Definitely something to muse over, considering their situation. "I would enjoy having a minute with each of them."

He felt a minute was all he needed.

[savedbyasong]

"Against us though they have absolute power. They can take away any power we have and kill us in a touch of a button." He explained, willing his roommate to be sensible.

[bowandblade]

He flexed his fingers into a curled fist, smirking to himself. "Then it would be a matter of separating them from the button, obviously."

It was unfortunate that analogies like that only worked so far. With the fools hidden away as they were, accomplishing something like that would not be easy.

[savedbyasong]

"First you would have to find them, and get close enough." Shion pointed out with a small frown.