towerofanimus | she is a rising fire

Entry tags:

she is a rising fire

Characters: Jenna and OPEN
Setting: Floors 1, 6 and 101
Format: Either or
Summary: So she saved the world and then found out it got destroyed anyway. Worst. Epilogue. Ever. (In other words, Jenna awakes in the tower and isn't happy to be here.)
Warnings: If cursing bothers you, you may want to tread carefully. Jenna isn't a happy camper.

Floor 1: Cafeteria
[The selection leaves a lot to be desired.

Oatmeal, nutrition bars, water. None of them are things that Jenna would choose if she could eat or drink anything in the world but she recognizes when she doesn't have a choice. She spent a long enough time traveling through Weyard, some nights nowhere near an inn, to be willing and able to eat things that are not appetizing.

Yes, it is bland. Yes, she would choose something else if she could. But no, she is not going to throw a fit or make a face. She's going to eat it calmly. That she's eating oatmeal and is likely unfamiliar to those who have been here a long while are the only things that give her away as a newcomer.

It isn't the food that bothers her. What bothers her is that she has to be here at all.]

Floor 6: Forest
[This is more familiar. Her heavily wooded surroundings remind her of Weyard and if she ignores the staircase she can almost pretend that she never left home. The only things missing are her allies.

Frustration bubbles up in her gut and she pulls her sword from its place at her waist. Who are these people who have "rescued" her? Who have taken her away from everyone she knows and loves? She wants to strike them.

But she can't, and so hunting the mutated animals on this floor is the next best thing. She doesn't need Psynergy to slice them, doesn't need her sword to engulf itself in flames. She has handled far worse.]

Floor 101: Hanging Gardens
[Jenna stands on the staircase and looks up in wonder. Exploring the dormitory levels had only lasted so long until she stepped down one floor more, and here she was.

She has seen many wonders on her journey, but this is new. Idly, she wonders how to get from the stairs to the gardens, unaware of the glowing step she could take to appear there.]

It's beautiful...

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[Although not the floor she spends the most time on, Amelia would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the occasional bout of hunting on this floor. Partly as one can really only practice so much against the air, striking at a moving target is typically much better practice. And with recent events, her drive to keep improving has never been higher.

But it's in the middle of her little hunting trip that the young knight stops, realizing she can hear something that sounds a bit closer to footsteps. Which could mean another resident, or worse, a monster. Then again isn't this around the time of month newcomers typically seem to start showing up...?

Cautiously she places a hand on the hilt of her sword, calling out into the nearby woods.]

Hello? Is that a person or a monster? [What the hell, if it is a monster she's feeling combative anyways so drawing its attention to her doesn't sound like the worst idea ever. And if it's a person, then maybe she'll have a hunting partner or something. Win/win.]

Do I look like a monster to you?

[Jenna steps into Amelia's line of sight. Her sword is in hand and there is some blood dripping from the blade. She has had some success with the mutated animals already.]

Who are you, and where did you come from?

[Although her expression softens slightly when Jenna steps into sight, Amelia keeps her hand near the hilt of her sword for the moment. And now that they're both visible to each other Jenna would be able to see that she's wearing some armor as well, a breastplate, gauntlets and boots. This is in addition to a fairly imposing looking black axe resting across her back.]

Ah, good. For a second I was worried. [Cautiously, very cautiously she lets her hand drift away from her sheathed sword.] My name's Amelia, I'm a soldier of the Grado Empire, not that it means much of anything here. ... may I ask your name?

My name is Jenna.

[She sheaths her sword and observes Amelia. The armor and the axe are things she isn't used to seeing on a woman, but they remind her of many of the boys in her life: Felix, Isaac, Garet, Piers.]

I've never heard of the Grado Empire before. [And she's been all over the world.] Where is it?

It's nice to meet you, Jenna. [Now her stance relaxes, aware the other girl doesn't appear to mean her harm. But her question makes her frown, this is never fun to explain to a newcomer.]

It's on the continent of Magvel, which I'm fairly sure is from a completely different world than the one you're from. ... you did read the note, right?

[The term Magvel means nothing to her. She shrugs.]

The note? No, I burned it. [Setting things on fire when she didn't like them wasn't the most mature of responses, but it sure made Jenna feel better.] But you're trying to say that you're from somewhere that isn't on any of the known continents. You're not from Angara, or Gondowan, or anywhere else?

[And she bites her lip for a moment, trying to remember exactly what the hell the blasted note said wasn't really worth the effort so she decides to just give her the simple version.]

Alright, I just want to say none of those names ring any bells for me and I think I know why. This is gonna be a lot to take in at once and you're probably going to think I'm crazy? But the whole reason we're here is because supposedly our worlds were all destroyed. Now I don't know if that's actually true or just a cruel trick?

But I'm pretty sure you and I aren't from the same world at all, because I'm pretty sure you've never heard of Renais, or Frelia, or Jehanna or Rausten for that matter.

If you're not from Weyard, then where are you from? What is your world called?

[She is more than a little defensive. Worlds being destroyed, being a captive in this tower. Jenna has had more than enough of playing the damsel in distress.]

And how do you expect me to trust you?

Like I said, Magvel. ... if there are any other lands in my world, we haven't found them yet.

[And at her second question she lets out a sigh, frowning quite intensely for a moment before shaking her head at the other girl.]

Honestly? I don't really have any way of proving what I've said, it's not like you're a mind reader or anything. So instead just let me tell you this. [Her expression falls slightly, unable to mask the concern in her voice.]

Please be careful here, I can already tell you're new. This place is horrible, they claim they've saved us but in truth they pretty much just see us as playthings. Even if you don't trust me about the worlds, trust me on that at least.

[Amelia's quip about mind readers brings a small smile to Jenna's lips but the smile is short-lived, because what she has to say next is awful. Jenna doesn't like it. She wants to call it a lie and go about her day but she can't because even though she'd give anything for it to be false, it rings true.]

Playthings? I am no one's plaything!

[She balls her hands into fists.]

They're getting more than they bargained for if they think they can turn me into some kind of doll!

As much as it won't help if you run off and get yourself killed, I'm glad to see you're not ok with this.

[She's... wary in a way of just how much she should let Jenna actually know. But there's no harm in telling her what the admins already obviously know, right?]

They've got more power than you could possibly imagine, and I'm asking you not to run off alone and get yourself killed. There's a lot you need to know about this Tower and if I told you all at once, you'd probably think I'm even crazier than I'm sure I already sound. But some of us are trying to fight back. It's...

[... well. There's really only one way to describe it.]

Basically a war.

The only kind of person who would be ok with all this is the kind of person who's messed up to start with.

[The ponytailed girl rolls her eyes. Who actually wanted to be used? Not this girl. Being used irks her in ways she has trouble describing while using words that are family friendly.]

I didn't sign up for any war. I've fought enough battles. This kind of thing was supposed to be OVER.

[Oh Amelia can think of plenty of words to use to describe this situation that would never be uttered by any proper knight. That doesn't stop her from thinking them.]

The same. I was in a war back home, one that had finally ended when I was pulled here... but none of us signed up for this. Nobody here really had a choice in the matter, not with what they do to us. And as near as we can tell, the only way out of this Tower is going to be through the people in charge.

[Still. That didn't mean she felt any better about pressuring a complete stranger into this, even if she knew deep down nobody here truly had a choice in the matter.]

But I'm not going to ask you to get involved if you don't want to, I wouldn't blame you in the slightest. It's just... you don't always have a choice with this place. They like to do terrible things to people, sometimes just for their own amusement. [There's more there than she's letting on about, especially given the slightly distant look in her eyes for a moment but she snaps out of it quickly enough, her focus returning to Jenna.]

So let's go find the people in charge and teach them a lesson.

[The solution is too simplistic. If it were that easy someone would have done it already and Jenna does know that. There is something satisfying about imagining all the things she'd do to their hosts if she got her hands on them, though. How dare they take her away from the life she had worked so hard to carve for herself?]

What sort of terrible things? [That didn't sound good at all. With the war and these strange things the administrators did to them this was not feeling anything like a rescue. More like an imprisonment.]

[For a second? She honestly smiles at that, and not the detached, worn down smile she's generally been able to muster. Something about hearing her be so... direct about it is refreshing.

As horrible as it is that there are more who must endure this place, a steady influx of new people almost means another shot of morale. More spirits that have yet to be broken, more people who won't think twice about standing and fighting. And Amelia's never been one to lay down while others keep going.]

We've tried, but they're more heavily defended than you'd think. Still, one day? That's exactly what we're going to do. As for their crimes...

[... she doesn't speak further than that for a good ten or so seconds, trying to size it all up in her head.]

They've performed horrible experiments on people, turned some of us into monsters and forced us to fight each other, brainwashed some of us to use as spies, and the monster in charge of it all seems to think this is just some gigantic game and we should be thankful for it.

[Another very short pause.]

Also, she ate one of the only people who was sympathetic to us. [There's not the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice, if anything she sounds more enraged and disgusted. It's not a sight she thinks she's ever going to forget.]

[A patch of red among the flowers moves - oops, that's somebody's hair, looks like. Asch has his attention more on the flowers and his shorter companion, until he hears the voice.]

Who's there?

[Ad... mittedly Sheba could probably tell faster with mind reading but oh well.]

[Sheba doesn't need mind reading to identify the other girl. When Asch's attention is drawn by her voice, Sheba furrows her brow, because the voice sounds familiar. Then she takes a good look. Not even a millisecond passes before she gasps sharply, taking a few steps back out of shock.]

No way...

[Sorry, Asch. Sheba's bolting, weaving through the flowers and the vines to make her way back to the glowing arrow that will return her to the staircase.]

[Jenna's gaze snaps up to the flash of red in the gardens when Asch speaks. She would reply, but there's a blur of motion up there as Sheba runs, and Jenna goes on the defensive, stepping back as her hand goes to the hilt of her sword.

The heel of her boot hits the glowing stair at the top of the staircase. Jenna appears in the gardens as Sheba appears on the stairs.]

What in the world..?!

Edited 2013-08-06 08:32 (UTC)

[It's not much more than a breath until he's after Sheba, but it's enough that when the two girls are switched, he's staring at Jenna in Sheba's place. Asch gives her a good once over, then inclines his head towards the stairs, calling back to Sheba - ]

You know each other, I take it?

[And a better relationship than the last time someone Sheba knew showed up, apparently.]

[Sheba doesn't hesitate. When she realizes what's happened - that she and Jenna have switched places - she immediately steps onto the glowing stair so that she can reappear in the gardens. She's already there by the time Asch finishes speaking, but she doesn't reply to him right away.

Instead, she surges forward and hugs Jenna tightly.]

Jenna... [She closes her eyes. Her friend is here. Here, not a dried-out husk on a dying world. She's here!] I missed you. I missed you so much!

[It's a few moments before she remembers that they have an audience, and she looks up at Asch with a sheepish smile.] Yes - this is Jenna. She's one of the people I traveled with before I wound up here.

[She's also Felix's little sister, but she can't say that without letting Jenna know that Felix had been here once but that Sheba had lost track of them. She already knows that's not a conversation she wants to have anytime soon.]

Sheba, please! [Jenna laughs and puts her arms around Sheba in turn. The laughter doesn't last long however, because it is plain to see in the way that her friend is clinging to her that something is wrong.] It hasn't even been a month since I last saw you... you really missed me, didn't you?

Or... [She tries to lighten the mood and grins.] Was it Felix you missed? I told you when you left, there are plenty of Vale refugees who will stake a claim on him if you don't, and it's you I want as a sister!

[She becomes more serious after saying that, though. Sheba introduces her to Asch and she turns her attention to him, her eyes bright and curious.] Who's your friend? ...is he why you hurried back to Lalivero?

[He's about to interrupt, because there's no such thing as a happy reunion when Asch is around, but then Jenna asks those questions.

Really. Really. Why does everyone always think there's something going on here...]

We're from different worlds entirely. And for the record, I'm engaged.

[And his fiance is here whoops it's a good season for reunions.]

Jenna!

[Sheba's cheeks flush pink and she releases her friend from her hug to swat at her arms.] How many times do I have to tell you? It's not like that between Felix and me.

...it isn't like that with Asch, either! And-- [Asch beats her to it, and she nods as she tries to will the blush out of her cheeks.] Like he said, he has a fiancée.

Like that's ever stopped anyone! [Jenna grins and nudges Sheba in the side before winking at her conspiratorially.] Are you really going to try and tell me Lord Babi didn't have any mistresses when you were in Tolbi? Maybe for your friend and his fiancée, you're the other woman.

[She is clearly teasing her.]

Or is he the other man? You do have a way of making men fall for you, literally!

[...Dear god she made a falling joke. There's no hiding how Asch's hand goes up to his neck, or the sour note in his voice afterwards.]

Yes, falling. Great idea.

[Hopefully Mars Adepts get Detect Sarcasm. If Natalia wasn't here it'd be one thing, but...]

I'm perfectly happy taking care of myself, thank you.

[Oh that's a blush.]

[Falling jokes. Sheba sighs heavily. Maybe she should have expected it; a Jenna who hasn't been here these past months wouldn't know how far past "falling off a Lighthouse" she has come.]

Jenna, please don't--

[Then Asch speaks.

Sheba is quiet for a long moment, and then two.

This time, her cheeks burn a brilliant red and she grabs for Jenna's cloak to bury her face in it. Yes, she's read teenagers' minds before. No, that didn't meant she usually paid any sort of attention to those sorts of thoughts.]

Asch!

What? It's not just any girl who could get my brother to jump from the top of Venus Lighthouse for her...

[She lets her voice trail off though, because both Sheba and Asch seem a little uncomfortable. Sheba much more so. Jenna snickers at Asch's quip but puts an arm around her friend when she tries to hide in her cloak.]

It's your loss. Hey, Sheba, stop hiding.

[Jenna pulls her cloak away from Sheba's face.]

You never answered my question, though! Who are you to Sheba? You said you were from another world, didn't you?

[She looks to her friend and there is a question written on her face. Sheba won't even have to read her mind to know what Jenna is wondering: Are you sure you can trust him?]

Most people here are from different worlds.

[As for her question - there's a faint smile with the fading blush. To be fair, he doesn't know how Sheba would phrase it - but his own conversation with Natalia rides easily on the forefront of his mind.]

I'd hope I'm something true.

[Asch, Jenna doesn't have the context to understand that yet.]

You are.

[Jenna lacks the context, but Sheba doesn't seem too bothered by it. Let her be confused! It would serve her right, after that bout of teasing. She releases Jenna's cloak as she feels the heat in her cheeks fade out, and she takes a deep breath to clear her mind before shooting Asch a quick smile.

Then she turns her attention to Jenna.]

There are a lot more worlds out there than just Weyard. Like he said, you're more likely to meet people who aren't from the same world than you are to meet people who come from the same place. Until last month, it was just me--...

[And then there was Saturos. She purses her lips and changes subjects abruptly.]

How long have you been here, Jenna? It's a big place, so it's easy to miss someone the first few days you're around.

[Or the entire first month.]

I hope you weren't alone for too long...

[Jenna looks between the two of them and hides a chuckle behind one hand. I'm engaged. It's not like that. She doesn't believe them for an instant. Not after that display.

She does wonder how it has happened in such a short span of time, however. For her it has only been a few weeks since Sheba departed for Lalivero.]

I've only just arrived. Don't worry, you didn't keep me waiting. [She looks between them again.] Someone else arrived last month? Who was it?

Felix? Piers?

[Please, Jenna. They're a romantic two girl friendship, except that Asch isn't a girl.]

No one that friendly, I'm afraid.

[He'll let Sheba tell the girl about Felix, come and gone, too. Instead -]

The two of us have been here more than half a year, by this calendar. I don't know how it compares to yours, but I assume it's similar.

[Sheba would give anything for last month's arrival to have been Felix or Piers - but she has to shake her head, because it wasn't. It's in a very begrudging tone of voice that she answers.]

Saturos. Menardi isn't here, though. And there's no sign of Alex, Karst, or Agatio either.

[It's a small relief, but a relief nonetheless. She doesn't dwell on it for too long, though, and instead nods in response to Asch's observation.]

Very similar, I think. The progression of winter to spring to summer here was about as long as it was on Weyard. About three months each... we don't call them by the same names that people here do, though. [She frowns.] According to the calendar here, this month is called "August." It's late summer now. Soon, it should be autumn.

[Her thoughts are wandering. Though it sounds as though she might say something more on the subject, she doesn't; she's just lost in thought. Autumn was soon, and then winter again. A year from the lighting of Mars Lighthouse. But for Jenna... what she'd said about it only being a few weeks, not even a month since Sheba had left... Left. She had no recollection of leaving them, but then, she remembered nothing past the beacon being lit.]

Jenna, you said I went back to Lalivero? [She's seen it happen enough with others in the Tower to recognize what it must mean.] So you have memories of after Mars Lighthouse...

Late summer?

[Jenna shakes her head and looks to Asch as though he might offer some reversal of what Sheba has just said. He doesn't though and she looks back to her fellow Adept incredulously.]

That can't be right. It's not even spring yet. We only came back from Prox a month ago. If it's late summer... [She circles Sheba much like a vulture might circle its prey and then she puts both hands on her hips.] You'll be sixteen soon. But you don't look a day older than the day we came down from Mars Lighthouse.

Could Kraden have been right?

The time you were pulled from isn't the same as the Tower's. You might go from the middle of winter to summer when you arrive.

[On the Tower Weirdness scale that doesn't even rank very high. That said - he raises an eyebrow at Jenna's examination of Sheba.]

She seems to be aging normally to me.

[Then again Asch you age at halfspeed compared to these people.]

Jenna!

[Sheba takes a step back, a little uneasy under the force of her friend's scrutinizing stare. She crosses her arms over her chest and shoots Jenna a look. Even when it's one of her best friends doing it, she doesn't appreciate being looked at like that; it reminds her too much of people who looked her over to determine what they could get from her. Babi, who had determined he could use her to secure Lalivero's cooperation. Saturos, who had determined that he could use her to open Jupiter Lighthouse.

It just strikes a little too close to home.]

What do you mean, "could Kraden have been right"? What are you talking about? I'm aging just fine. [Except no, she hasn't really aged at all, but that doesn't seem like a big deal to her. She's still young - she shouldn't be expecting wrinkles or anything.]

She isn't though.

[Jenna rolls her eyes and looks at Asch with one eyebrow raised and a challenging expression. Maybe on his world this was normal, but on Weyard it wasn't.] She's fifteen. It's the time in a girl's life when she grows a lot all at once. Most girls I know have a growth spurt when they hit fifteen or fifteen and a half. Even if they don't, they look really different after more than half a year! She hasn't aged at all though.

[She looks back to Sheba and the look on her face is sympathetic.] That's right... he started noticing something was strange after you left us to go back to Lalivero, so you wouldn't have heard about it. But we were all exposed to a lot of raw elemental energy on top of Mars Lighthouse, you know? The same kind of energy that's supposed to make it possible to be immortal. Kraden doesn't think any of us are, but he doesn't think we're going to be aging much at all. Not for a really long time. If it's really been that long for you and you still look like this... he's probably right.

I know what puberty is, thanks, I've actually been through it.

[Really, Jenna. He's eighteen and taller than either of you, he's not exactly stupid.]

And she's not aging that differently compared to someone from my world.

[Twice as long years, twice as slow aging.]

...

[Sheba sighs heavily and shakes her head, then holds up a finger to her lips to shush Jenna and Asch.] I think we have more important things to worry about than whether or not I've gotten a few inches taller in a few months, you two!

It's the eighth month. That means Jason is in charge. And Jenna, that means you need to be extra careful this month, especially since you just got here. [Her expression is deadly serious.] He's worse than all of the Proxians and the Wise One combined, and Ruana, one of the other administrators, is even worse than him.

You can't go snapping at them if they make you angry, okay? [...She is so not one to talk.] Promise me!

[The gardens on floor 101 were Sam's favourite place. He saw the girl stood there and smiled at her softly] It isn't it? [Even though he knew now it was not real, it was still beautiful]

Yes...

[Jenna answers before drawing her gaze away from the plants. She is silent as she looks him from his toes to the top of his head, and then she smiles.]

Are you one of the people who live here? [She gestures towards the top of the stairs. "Here," meaning in the dorms.]

[Sam nodded, a small smile back] Yes I am, I live up on the second floor.

Really? I'm on the top floor. The one where all the doors have 1s on them.

[She puts a hand on one hip.] So what is this place and when do I get to meet whoever owns it? I've got a few choice words for them.

"It's a tower between worlds miss, and I'd say everyone has a choice few words to say to them but I'd doubt they'd listen, they saved us or so they say. And they seem to think that gives them the right to do what they please."

[chaos liked coming to the forest floor on occasion. Even though he knew it was fake, it reminded him of Earth, a planet that was now gone, something that he hadn't seen in quite some time. However, when he saw and sensed the person hunting a few mutated animals, he smiled at her, not..really getting involved right now.]

Good afternoon. If you do not mind my asking, why are you hunting these animals? And do you need any help?

Can't you see? They're monsters.

[Jenna dispatches a mutated bunny with a flick of her wrist. Her blade slices through its neck and the creature falls to the ground. She doesn't spare it a glance. She's killed too many monsters in her time for it to bother her now.]

They'll go after me if I don't go after them. Besides, I'm out of practice, and there are probably bigger, nastier monsters lurking around somewhere. I want to be ready for them.

[chaos watched as the person cut down another mutated rabbit and listened as she spoke. While chaos had dealt with death and killing before, that didn't mean he enjoyed it..but he wasn't quite sure if stopping the woman would be beneficial to anyone else that wandered into this forest.]

They are odd variations on animals I know. However, while you could run if they go after you, you are right in assuming that there are other, larger monsters in this place. I shall not stop you, but if you are out of practice, I shall not mind sparring with you either.

[Thorin found the sight of flowers hanging from the rafters and ceiling to be rather...elven. It looked like a scene from the elven city of Rivendell. He did not care much for elves and flowers alike, as he preferred metals or stone. Yet, the scent was rather appealing and he found himself wandering further into the beautiful gardens.

He spotted a girl just in front of where he stood, seemingly admiring the plants also.]

Greetings. I have not seen your face before. Are you new here?

[She looks over her shoulder at Thorin. Funny, he reminds her of some of the people of Loho. She doesn't think this place is in that part of Weyard but she guesses you can never be too sure.]

Yeah, I just got here not too long ago. Who are you?

[He's older than her and that is plain to see. So she chooses to be polite.]

It's nice to meet you, sir. My name is Jenna.

[He nodded to her in greeting.]

I am Thorin Oakenshield. I have been in this tower a few months now and I am still searching for a way out. [This dwarf was not one for giving up. Ever.] This is the first time I have ever stepped into this room though. I never even knew this room existed.

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she is a rising fire

Floor 6!

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Oh my goodness that icon I just want to poke her cheeks.

Jenna is very cute yes.

So of course Amelia has to dump all this horrible information on her.

Floor 101 - party for three

:'D Hiiii, Jenna!

This should be fun.

good job girls

we're the best at this

obviously

and it begins

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Floor Six

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Floor 101

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