Sinking

[warriorscribe]

Characters: Enoch and anyone (one prompt closed to Urotsuki, one closed to Lucifel)
Setting: Various floors in the tower, August 2, August 6 and August 8. More prompts to come pending Individuation and infiltration results, watch this space!
Format: Starting in prose, but it doesn't matter.
Summary: Enoch makes an attempt to help someone in particular, and then has a complete and utter breakdown two days later
Warnings: Mentions of character death?

August 2, Floor 101

a - open: Anyone on the hanging gardens floor who happened to be passing under a rather tall palm might have a few dates fall at their feet. Or on their heads - thankfully the palm in question wasn't a coconut palm! Looking up would reveal someone's up there - Enoch, with ropes made of braided gauze and stone weights helping him scale the trunk, making his way down slowly with a bunch of dates awkwardly held in one hand. Maybe he'd share!

b - closed to first responder: Something had caught Enoch's eye as he headed back to the stairs with his new harvest in hand - a Succubus, hovering patiently where she could catch nearly anybody passing through. At first, Enoch seemed curious by her lack of aggression, though still wary. As the monster fluttered over to take one of the dates from the bunch in his hand, all his wariness and curiosity gave way to a dazed calm. Seeing this, the Succubus dropped the fruit, useless to her, and took Enoch's arm to lead him off. Anyone care to try to snap him out of it or attack the Succubus before she kills him?


August 6, Floor 12(locked to chainsawn)

Enoch had managed to avoid seeing Kidou's gravestone until now, that part of the graveyard already cared for by his fellow gravekeepers. It figures that on the day he saw it, he would get that note from Urotsuki. He'd asked to meet her on her favorite floor, and it was sure she would be the one waiting for him. He entered the floor, into the swirling galaxies of destruction, keeping an eye out for the girl.


August 8, Floor 69, later 81 (Locked to brbtalkingtogod)

It didn't matter that Rick had been possessed. He still hadn't been trying to attack him. He had been running. And all the same...

Enoch wandered, his gaze a far away, troubled one. He didn't seem to have any idea where he was going, following staircases and riding elevators. He passed people without acknowledging them. Everything the monster in control of Rick still stung, mixing with the guilt of killing him, churning in his gut and filling him with numbness. It was only a matter of time before he stepped where there wasn't a step, tumbling off into the soft clouds of the floor below.

The pain began to abate. Dazed, Enoch stared straight up, already unwilling to move let alone what the floor would do to him. Even the peaceful air of this floor couldn't pierce the defensive numbness yet, only counteract the pain and guilt, so it left him with a detached sort of feeling, one in which nothing quite seemed to matter.


August 8, Floor 81

Lucifel had moved Enoch away from that floor, and while it seemed he would stay with the scribe all day, even he had to leave for various mundane things like food and drink. While his guardian wasn't there, Enoch lay in the bulges of the windows, facing up to look at the stars above. He appeared vulnerable, hugging himself and staring out at the alien constellations distantly, his back propped slightly against the incline so he wasn't lying flat, cradled in the bulge of the window. He had to apologize to Rick, but he had no motivation to even move. To think more on that thought. He let his mind empty again. He doesn't acknowledge anyone who simply approaches (unless their names are Patrick Dawn or Lucifel), but he will respond to conversation attempts, though it may take a try or two to get his attention.


August 11, Floor 100

Well, he hadn't meant to do anything on this floor. But when four shadow children walked up to him and grinned unsettlingly, ultimately trapping him on the stairs, he had to jump off, floating to the room below with his Arch.

It took him a moment, in the sudden sharp pain of seeing the house in Meridian again, wound torn open by his prior encounter with the thing that had possessed Rick, to realize the shadow children weren't attacking him. Instead, they'd followed him off the stairs and gathered around him. He reached out to gently push one out of his way, and his hand went right through it.

He had to wonder if he was hallucinating. On seeing someone else pass by on the stairs with their own in tow, he asked, "Ah...do you know what these are?"

Comments

August 8, Floor 69 -> 81

[brbtalkingtogod]

Why is it that almost every time when Lucifel is trying to distract himself by walking around he find Enoch in a state that is more than worrying? The floor they were on just screamed 'death wish' into everyone's face, he has read the floor guide. The archangel quickly got over to the scribe and grabbed him by the arm with his right hand and lifted his left, quickly flicking his fingers to get them off the floor before he could be affected by it as well.

They would find themselves at floor 81 in the next moment. But instead of using the chance to enjoy the view, Lucifel looked at Enoch. "Speak up."

[warriorscribe]

The sudden change in environment didn't do anyone any favors. Enoch's numbed mind reeled, and it took him an abnormally long time to focus on Lucifel at last. When he did, there seemed to be no coherent thought in those eyes, no fire of determination, no sharpness of intelligence, no softness of empathy or even sorrow.

He didn't even seem to internalize Lucifel's command, staring into his eyes blankly. The only sign of recognition was that his free hand raised as if to touch him, but it didn't make it across his own body, his arm dropping limply over his stomach instead as the motivation to move failed him.

[brbtalkingtogod]

That's... alright, he has no idea what to say or what to do this time. He couldn't even read the look on the other's face it was that bad. That Enoch wasn't willing to speak made everything just harder.

"Enoch..."

[warriorscribe]

The arm Lucifel was holding had blood splatter, very light, across it. Though it probably wasn't much of a clue, itself, considering it could have come from anything. That is, until the glamour flickered and it was blue - hard to see on his own blue frame but the absence of red notable. It wasn't monster's blood.

There was a little sound in the back of his throat as he opened his mouth as if about to speak, but gathering the idea of what happened into words just didn't work. He couldn't put it into words because he just couldn't think of it.

If Lucifel's hold on his arm was loose enough, he tried to slip out of it to take his hand instead. "Stay," he said quietly.

[brbtalkingtogod]

Lucifel stared at Enoch's arm when he decided to take his hand as the archangel's hold on him had loosened. The scribe isn't wounded. There isn't any red mixed in this either. It's not monster's blood. Which leaves only one possible conclusion.

It was the blood of one of the residents.

Unconsciously he gave Enoch's hand a squeeze. "I'm not going anywhere."

[warriorscribe]

Enoch quieted at the repetition of the promise etched indelibly into his memory, his fingers going slack in Lucifel's grip. There was something more direct about his blank stare, a bit of focus returning to him, though it was still eerily void of any of the things that should be there, of most anything at all.

There was something important he had to talk to Lucifel about. But it was tied up in what happened, so he had a hard time focusing to try to remember what it was.

[brbtalkingtogod]

The archangel took a seat next to the scribe's head since he was still lying on one of the couches and it didn't look like the blond would get up any time soon. He also couldn't give him that so called 'shoulder to cry on' due to that. Enoch had said that he could have needed contact like that during the journey but it couldn't be provided as Lucifel had been intangible.

That one time where he collapsed from exhaustion came to his mind and how Enoch had taken care of him during that time... this may work just as well. He carefully lifted Enoch's head up and shifted his seat some, making him rest his head on his lap.

Now to get him to speak to him. The usual questions wouldn't work so he would have to think about how to word them. "Does the blood on you have a connection to what has happened?"

August 11th, Floor 100

[lightofhumanity]

chaos himself did not usually come to this floor, as it showed him an old marketplace in a city where Mary, Jesus and he had preached with the others. It opened up far too many bittersweet memories, so chaos usually did his best to avoid it.

However, when he was approached by five shadow children while stargazing and thinking on the eighty-first floor. Puzzled, chaos had tried to speak with them and got nothing, other than a sense that he might have met them before. Curious and wanting to see if he could see anyone else who had met them, he had wandered upwards, only to be joined by one more shadow child. While they were slightly odd, they were not doing him any harm, so he let them follow him, even though he was curious about them.

When he saw, heard and sensed Enoch, he stopped on the stairs to speak to the person, only to have the shadows swarm around him as he did so.

"I do not truly know. I remember there being old tales of souls that looked like this and stalked the living, but in my universe, those tales were false. I get nothing from them, other than a sense of familiarity..but I am puzzled about them."

[warriorscribe]

To his surprise, the one immediately in front of him stepped aside to let him past, and all four fell into line behind him like baby ducks following their imprinted parent as he returned to the stairs.

"They seem to be harmless. But things in this tower rarely are...and Jason sounded far too ominous. I don't know what to make of them. They can't be touched..."

[lightofhumanity]

The effect might have been a bit cuter or amusing if it had involved something other than these shadows or something they knew..but right now, the effect was just puzzling and odd.

"I do not know either..but I do wish I did. Things in my universe that were bound to a lower plane could not be touched or interacted with normally with humans in their plane..but other than that, I do not know why we cannot interact with them now. I do not think they are holograms, so I am at a bit of a loss."

Which was rare for chaos.

[warriorscribe]

"You can't look into their minds?"

He looks back at his crowd, having gathered behind him in a semicircle now that he's stopped.

[lightofhumanity]

..Well, chaos hadn't tried until now, since he was trying to cut back on the habit of peeking into minds, but it was something he could do, even if it was dangerous. Enoch's shadow children just gave him the mental equivalent of static..but when he tried it on one of his own, his face noticeable fell and grew more melancholy.

Sadly, he had looked through Shadow Mary's mind..and had seen an image of her screaming and attempting to kill him with a knife, even though the both of them knew it wouldn't work. Gripping his fist, chaos tried to calm down as he replied, not even bothering to look through the other minds of his shadow children.

"For some reason..I can. Yours give me nothing but static..but I can identify one of them right now. I..do not want to look through the minds of others right now. I'm not prepared."

Unfortunately we're heading for a reveal paradox....what should we do about it, you think?

[warriorscribe]

"You can identify them?" What did they mean? That they had minds to be read? They had identities? Enoch looks back at the ones following him. Why did he sense nothing from them?

august 6th, floor 12

[chainsawn]

[ Urotsuki didn't wait long after seeing his message. Eager at the thought that maybe he had news about where the guy was, that maybe he didn't leave again, she quickly hurried towards the floor they promised to meet. It's easy getting there for her either way since she's done is so often before, and since the eagerness is driving her she gets there even faster than that. It's why she's indeed there before he is.

At least it isn't anything like last time. Maybe since she hasn't accepted the fact he's gone yet this time, so she hasn't snapped - yet, either way. She looks a little different than usual though. Her expression isn't completely blank, there's something like definite worry in it. Her hands are empty (an improvement over the chainsaw from that one time) and instead one hand is fretting with the fingers of her other hand nervously.

When she finally spots Enoch entering the floor, she opens her mouth as if she wants to say something, but then closes it again like a goldfish gasping for air like she can't say anything after all. ]

[warriorscribe]

*Well. He'll be there to try to keep that snapping from happening. He approaches her, subtle worry on his own face, though he's staying as composed as he can.*

Urotsuki...

*The one thing he knows is he will not lie. And he will not give her a partial truth. But the truth is...hard to say. Maybe his tone gives it away before he speaks again.*

I...saw his name, on a gravestone when I was working. I'm so sorry. *If she'll stand still for it, he'll try to give her a hug. She can't do anything self-destructive if he's holding onto her, if she can't take comfort from it. He'd go into trying to tell her she can save him, but... All he knows is that he has to do what he feels is right.*

[chainsawn]

[ On a gravestone. Even Urotsuki knows what it means. She's seen it before, after all, and she's seen others mourn people who left by looking at the gravestones too. It means he's gone. Gone.. again. And sure, last time he came back, but who knows if the same counts for this time? Maybe he's gone forever. Maybe she's alone forever.

She doesn't lash out, especially not since the thoughts are still rushing through her head too quickly for her to do it. It's why she freezes on the spot, making it easy for him to hug her, even if she's only standing there like a pillar, completely frozen.

She's abandoned. Again abandoned. It hurts. Last time she tried to get rid of the pain by killing and being killed, by replacing it with other pain. Part of her wants to jump right back into it, but she's not sure yet if she can. ]

It hurts.. [ Her voice is so tiny that it's barely audible, and her body starts shaking a little. Her usually blank expression almost seems to grow hollow. ]

[warriorscribe]

I know... *Enoch starts rubbing her back, trying to comfort her as she starts shaking.* I know.

Zo might be able to find him again, and bring him back. But until then... As long as he's away, he's in danger from Ruana. Do you remember the message that was everywhere in the tower last month?

*He had to do what he could - he wasn't gone, not totally, and he was in need of help.*

[chainsawn]

[ ... Message. She might not have been as occupied with it as others since she's so oblivious, but even Urotsuki noticed it at least once with how it was all over the place. She can't fully recall it though, not in this state, but she's at least listening to Enoch's words. Maybe he can come back..? Maybe she can.. do something..? ]

I.. I won't.. let her hurt him.. [ She slowly shakes her head against him. It's all she knows for sure. She can't let people hurt Kidou. She can't let them bring him in danger. She has to do something, at least..

Tears well up in her eyes though as she says it. ]

[warriorscribe]

That's right. You won't.

*Enoch couldn't use the dead as a foothold. He couldn't become stronger through such loss. But to save someone's life... If Urotsuki was the same, someone else who couldn't overcome loss by death, then this was the only way. To emphasize he's not dead. Not gone. In danger and in need of help.

He patted Urotsuki's back comfortingly. It's okay to need to cry.*

August 2, Floor 101, Option b

[sunflowerfairy]

[Yotsuba had gotten into the habit of going down for sling stones before exploring the Tower, and since she was a little low on stones-about six or seven-she was hoping to head down to the floor full of crystals and restock before running around and playing like she usually did. However, when she saw a beautiful monster with horns and wings and claws leading away Enoch, the thought of getting more stones flew out of her head.

She wasn't a grown-up, but Enoch wasn't doing anything! He was gonna get killed if she didn't fight! However..it was really hard to fight when one's mind was trying to comprehend how a monster like that could be so pretty, but, thankfully...Yotsuba wasn't dumb and made a connection between the crystals in the floor she was heading towards and the monster about to hurt Enoch. So, as her mind numbed, she looked down, away from the monster and called out as she slowly loaded her sling and got ready to fire.]

Enoch! Snap out of it! She's a monster! Get away or you'll die and Yotsuba will be sad!

[And, with that, and a better cleared head, Yotsuba looked up and fired the bullet at the creature, trying to aim for her back, since she was behind the two. However, since she wasn't a perfect shot, it would probably end up hitting her in the lower back, assuming the monster didn't dodge or block.]

[warriorscribe]

*Young children were of no consequence to the Succubus, she didn't even expect her to fight - she didn't even spare her a glance over her shoulder.

Until the rock hit her and she let out a startled cry, crashing to the ground. Enoch staggered and stumbled into the trunk of a nearby tree, the haze in his mind clearing slowly. The dates in his hand dropped to the ground and he reached to pull the sling from around his neck, his other hand going to the pouch at his waist. As the Succubus struggled to her feet, Enoch's point-blank shot hit her between the eyes, and she collapsed again, dazed and bleeding from her new head wound.

It took another moment for him to tear his gaze away again, and pick up the dates he'd dropped before walking quickly towards Yotsuba.*

Thank you, Yotsuba.

[sunflowerfairy]

[As the Succubus hit the ground, Yotsuba kept her gaze up and away from the monster. She would have drawn another bullet, but when Enoch managed to compose himself and take the monster down for the count, she abandoned those thoughts and looked up at Enoch. She wasn't sure if the creature was dead, but it probably was, from her view of things. If she wasn't, well, then Yotsuba would fire another shot.

While she would smile at Enoch, there was no way she was letting him off without trying to act a bit like a grown-up.]

You're welcome! Be more careful, okay?! Your head gets really messy when you look at that monster, so be careful! And don't die! And..what fruits are those? Are they yummy?

[warriorscribe]

*He smiled a bit, amused by her attempts to sound grown-up and responsible. She'd earned it after a save like that.*

They're dates, and they are. ...I need to wash these before we can eat them, though.

*He actually wants to boil them down into a syrup to dip nutrition bars in. But he's going to forget all about that soon enough.*

[sunflowerfairy]

[While Yotsuba wasn't aware the the syrup made from a date could make a nutrition bar taste better, her smile would just widen at that comment, partially because she was always interested in good food and partially because she was really curious about this new fruit!]

Okay! Let's wash them off and eat them together then! They look yummy..and we can eat them somewhere without any monsters!

[And Yotsuba would even remain on foot during the whole thing, since Enoch's armor made it very hard for her to play cicada and sit on his shoulders.]

[warriorscribe]

*They were only one flight up from the dorms, after all. Enoch leads Yotsuba up to the fifth dorm floor bathrooms, where he broke a few dates off for Yotsuba.*

Here, go wash these in the sink. I'll wash the ones I have, and we can meet outside.

*Sure, leaving him alone to such a mundane task wouldn't help him. But he didn't want to deal with Yotsuba asking if it was really okay to go into the men's restroom, nor did he want to intrude on the privacy of the women's.*