towerofanimus | 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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[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.]

she is a rising fire

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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.