towerofanimus | Catch and Release

Characters: Anyone who's signed up for the Monster Souls plot. Parts one and two will have their own threads, for those involved in only one or the other.

Setting: Part one - August 3rd, nightfall, starting on floor ninety-nine and working down. Part two - August 4th (early morning) through the 8th, any floor(s). If you think your character might attack/kill Rick for his actions here, might be best to choose the later times to avoid continuity errors/time shenanigans/the like.

Format: Any!

Summary: See above plot link. Rick plans to help Kid Sephiroth with his bestiary by bonding with a monster so that he can shift into it and learn what it is (part one). Things Go Wrong (part two) and Rick begins actively seeking out characters who have close CR that are not presently in the Tower (such as loved ones left at home, or other characters that have disappeared from the Tower and are not currently around); he will engage them in uncomfortable conversation about these relationships and will go out of his way to combine them with the victim's worst fears (which he is also suddenly aware of). Awkward times all around!

Warnings: Violence/injury/character death possible in part one, and...probably the same for part two (combined with lots of angst).

Part One: Catch | Part Two: Release

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The name is like a punch to the gut. She stares at him wordlessly - disbelievingly - and then she shakes her head.]

You can't know that name...

[As far as she remembers, she's only mentioned Piers to one person, and that's Asch. But Asch would never talk about something like that behind her back - would he? ...would he? Sheba's stomach churns and she bites her lip.]

Where did you hear his name from? Please, tell me!

[The request is coupled by another attempt at reading his mind, her reasoning being that even if he doesn't answer her, whoever's in control of him might be thinking of Piers and her other friends, and maybe she can figure something out from there.]

[As before, Sheba's attempts are successful and, at the onset, not noticed. He speaks: ]

I know, Sheba. But if you keep trusting people with this kind of information, you're going to keep being disappointed.

[And he thinks...well it's surprisingly anticlimactic. The memories Rick calls on might as well have been Sheba's; there's no recollection of someone informing him, or some event that led him to these conclusions. He simply knows.]

[Anticlimactic, perhaps, but that just makes it even more troubling. She feels as though there should be some indication of how he got these memories, because she sure as hell doesn't remember sharing them with him. There's a sinking feeling in her stomach as she stays within his mind, trying to delve a little deeper - not focusing on these memories in particular, but attempting to access memories of between the infiltration and now - he wasn't like this then, so something must have changed.

As she attempts this, she keeps her eyes on him and does her best to look as though she isn't sifting through his mind.]

The people I trust are trustworthy. I just want to know how you came to "just know" these things.

[She's doubting her friends' trustworthiness, just a little; it's hard to hear these things, things she's only told one or two people, and not think they talked. But if she keeps him on this subject, perhaps his thoughts will stay on the subject of how he found it out, maybe she can find some proof that they didn't...]

[Accessing the memories of the infiltration involves prodding at Rick's soul directly. There's a flicker of an image--kneeling next to a large, armored body, shuddering on the floor, reaching out with his hand to gently brush his fingers against its forehead--but then some other memory abruptly interrupts. A male voice with a pleasant southern drawl calmly instructs him:

'...Okay, I'm in your head now. Feel that itch in your temples? You might not, that's fine. Different people notice telepathic influences differently. The important thing is that you notice in the first place. Just focus and...don't freak out.'

That, combined with the frown that crosses Rick's face, does not bode well for Sheba's prying.]

...Trustworthy, huh? Even if they're trustworthy, mind-reader, I'm not sure how they could stand to trust you. Get out of my head.

[The thing controlling Rick's soul swoops in, blocking out further memories from surfacing and trying to throw the intruder out.]

[He doesn't have to throw her out, because the second he calls her a mind reader, she's severing the connection between them and backing out herself. The look she gives him is completely unrepentant.]

It's not your head, is it? That's Rick's head. You're someone else entirely.

Why don't you stop playing games and tell me who you are?

[Interestingly, Rick backs away. He looks annoyed, betrayed--but beyond that his strange eyes glimmer with occasional hints of fear.]

I have a lot of things in my head, as you no doubt noticed while you were spying on me. No wonder your friends got fed up and left you here. I don't have to tolerate this.

[Rick turns heel and prepares to leave. Or is it a controlled escape?]

Don't you dare.

[She acts quickly; as he turns away, she points towards the exit with her staff; before he can pass through the pyramid's halls there are three quick bursts of lightning that block his way. They don't stay - but they do give her a chance to dart after him in pursuit and grab for his arm, if he doesn't move faster than she can.]

You're different from the others he has in there with him. They're all pushed away and you're the only one acting. What is going on?

[Rick jumps as his escape is blocked, then briskly turns on his heels and glares at the culprit with icy venom.]

Nothing is going on! Since you seem so eager to push me away, I figured I would do you a favor and leave you alone. [He snatches his arm away, and likely also out of Sheba's grasp.] That is what you're used to, after all.

[Rick continues pursuing his path into the maze.]

[This is what you're used to.

The words strike Sheba like a blow to the gut and she's caught speechless as Rick pulls his arm away. She can't stop him from going because that was just the push she needed to spiral back into her thoughts -

No one should trust you - leave you alone - this is what you're used to...

Her expression crumples and she wraps her arms tightly around herself. Felix, Piers... someone from home, anyone from home. She wants to see them, wants reassurances that they wouldn't just leave her behind. But there's no way to get that. They're out of her reach.

Sheba falls to her knees and stares down at the ground. She'll stay that way for a very long time. Whoever is in control of Rick doesn't have to worry about her coming after him.]

Catch and Release - Semi-Open

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