event ♃ you've got these little things that you've been running from

[seekinganswers]

Characters: Sheba and you!
Setting: One closed, backdated prompt; the others are all open, taking place at various locations in the Tower throughout the week.
Format: Action to start with, but I can easily switch to prose if you want. I'll follow what you do in your tag.
Summary: After the infiltration, Sheba meets up with someone she has an agreement with. Later on in the month, the shadow children break out and some of them start following her around...
Warnings: General angst, possible descriptions of a man being burnt alive in the mailroom prompt depending on how conversation goes, possible character death/suicide in the floor 34 prompt (though it can be avoided depending on how conversation goes), possible character death in Saturday's prompt.

[Wednesday, July 31 - closed to [ou] sephiroth]
[I'll contact you if something happens - well, she supposes this counts as something happening. She'd certainly want to know if he'd found something down in the depths, after all. The thirtieth had mostly been a day of resting and reflecting on what had happened down there, and though her sleep had been uneasy, she's up bright and early on the thirty-first. She doesn't know where exactly she'll find Sephiroth, after all.

He doesn't have a mailbox - or if he does, he doesn't check it - so Sheba knows it's going to take some legwork to find him. She hits up some of the more common floors first, idly scanning the minds of anyone she comes across. She doesn't dig deep. All she's looking for is a recent memory of seeing Sephiroth somewhere, so that she has an idea of where to go. Once she feels she has enough clues, she starts searching for him in earnest - after stopping in the library to take two books to sandwich her set of stolen ones. She doesn't know if it will help or not, but she'd like to not make it too obvious to whoever's watching that she's parading around with stolen goods.

It's later on that she finds him. Even with their agreement, she's not sure how he'll react to being interrupted, so she just clears her voice to get his attention before calling out.]

Sephiroth?

[Sunday, August 11 - all around the Tower]
[When she wakes that day, it's to find three shadow children standing around her bed. Sheba has the distinct feeling that they've been there a long time and it's a little unsettling, because she thought that monsters weren't supposed to enter the dorm rooms. Her first reaction is to let out a cry - sorry, roommates - and to blast them with lightning - even sorrier, roommates - but that doesn't help. When the lightning fades, the shadows are still there, staring at her.

They shift out of her way when she gets out of bed, and one pads a little closer to her when she starts rifling through her trunk for her clothes. It even goes so far as to reach in, suggesting an outfit - Sheba gives it a thoroughly weirded-out look, but takes the indicated clothing anyway. She starts to put it on before glancing at the other two visitors. To her surprise, they're looking away. Then she looks down at the one that had chosen her clothing, which isn't.]

How about a little privacy, huh?

[It shrugs, then scampers over to join the other two. She can't shake the feeling that she's seen this sort of behavior before, but she doesn't get the chance to think on it. The three shadows have disappeared by the time she's pulled her tunic over her head. She blinks. Well, that was... strange. She supposes this is the start of whatever Jason has in mind for them this month. As far as things go, it seems relatively tame.

She wonders how long that will last. But she can't dwell on that, either - if she sits here wondering she won't get anything done. She leaves her room and heads up the stairs to the first dormitory level to catch the elevator. She presses the button to call it and steps inside. As the doors are closing, a shadowy figure darts in after her, and she can't help but take a step back in surprise.

The shadow child stares back at her but doesn't speak. It leans back on its heels and smiles like it knows her innermost thoughts. It's a thoroughly unsettling thirty-minute ride, and Sheba is very glad when the doors open on the first floor and the shadow child scampers out the door and up the stairs.

The rest of the day continues in much the same manner. She's joined by three shadows at breakfast - one sitting right next to her, the other two across from her, in some sort of mockery of a family meal. They leave when she finishes her food and stands up to put the dishes away. Some parts of the day, she is alone. Others, she isn't. A shadow child follows her through the library but runs away when she pulls down a book and turns through its pages, like it's worried it's about to get some kind of a lesson. Another follows her up the stairs and to her job cleaning the pool, gesturing at the water like they should be relaxing in it rather than working. She ignores it to descend into the water, and when she resurfaces, it is gone. A third follows her a few paces behind as she goes about the day, though sometimes it darts forward like it should be the leader, before falling back as though suddenly remembering it's not in charge anymore.

And then there's the ones that just watch from a distance. They're there for her, she knows - she can feel it the same way she can feel their gazes on her. Walking among them is almost like walking among the people in a city. Not Tolbi - in Tolbi it would have been easier to vanish into a crowd. But Lalivero, certainly. She hasn't felt this many eyes on her since she was the Child of the Gods.

Sometimes other shadow children draw close again, and she has the distinct feeling that they're some of the ones she has encountered already, observing and judging as she goes about her usual routine in the Tower. As the day passes, her unease intensifies and is supplemented by a slight irritation. It's as though they're watching, waiting for something, but this day they do not swarm and they do not speak.

Sheba feels like she's waiting for the other shoe to drop, but there isn't much she can do about it.]

[Monday, August 12 - Floor Eleven]
[It's raining heavily, but Sheba doesn't mind. She doesn't mind the thunderstorm, either. She's right in her element here. And besides, she thinks as she pulls up the hood of her cloak, glancing briefly at the shadow child that has been on her heels since she stepped out of her dorm room in the morning, Maybe this thing doesn't like the rain.

No such luck. The shadowy figure follows her out onto the floor and looks directly at the lightning as it flashes, seems to revel in the crash of the thunder. Then it looks to her. Its gaze is still unsettling and she has a sudden flashback to the elevator the day before - the figure that had taken it down to the cafeteria with her. This is the same one. It's smiling like it can read her mind, only she knows it can't, because she's an Adept and she would be able to tell if it was. And right now she feels nothing except a vague annoyance at being followed around like this.

She makes her way to the lake and sits down at the water's edge to watch the lightning reflected in the water. There's something about thunderstorms that ease her mind. She stays there for most of the day, and is actually starting to feel quite a bit better when suddenly the shadow speaks -

"Sometimes I wonder why I gave up the Shaman's Rod for you. It's worth so much more than you are."

She starts, her heart pounding, and looks around. But the voice, though quiet, came from so near, and so the only one that could have spoken is the shadow at her side, smiling at her with those too-bright teeth.]

[Tuesday, August 13 - Floor Thirteen]
[This time, they start talking at the beginning of the day. There's three of them. Two were outside her room - one was at her bedside, impatiently pacing back and forth. Sheba wonders if it would have tried to wake her if she'd waited any longer to get up.

"You're the worst sister ever! Mama and Papa should have left you in the ruins where they found you."

It was a voice she hasn't heard in so long. The young boy who had been her brother, whose only thoughts when she'd been taken had been "Won't someone save my elder sister, Sheba?" even though they shared no bond of blood. She'd stared at him in horror and then run out of the room, only to find two more figures waiting.

"It's about time you showed your face. Or did you think you could stay away from us forever?"
"This is what we get for taking you in? Avoidance and then dooming us all?"

The voices were too much. She'd run for the elevator, hoping that she could get the doors closed before they followed her in, and had practically slapped the button. No good. They'd made it in just in time and she'd resorted to covering her ears and closing her eyes during the ride down. This time it had been her who'd bolted -

"Running away again, Sheba?"
"That's all she's good for, dear. Running away from her duty, her destiny."
"I wish my sister had been someone else! Anyone but you! This is all your fault!"

- and she hadn't stopped running until she'd arrived at the cathedral. Now she's here, curled up in one of the pews with her hands over her ears, reveling in the silence that this floor's terrible acoustics have brought her. The shadows haven't caught up just yet, but the sinking feeling in her stomach tells her it's only a matter of time.

Her collar is still violet - lighter than normal, but still closer to violet than it is to clear.]

[Wednesday, August 14 - Floor Thirty-four]
["Just jump."

There is a crowd of shadows around Sheba, too many for her to count, as distracted as she. The voices, to her, are not particularly notable - it's a sea of vaguely familiar sounds, almost like home, except home was never like this.

She stands at the end of the strip of land closest to the winding path, staring at her feet.

"Aren't you the Child of the Gods?"
"Show us your power."
"This shouldn't harm you..."
"...unless you were really lying all along."]

Stop it!

[The voices don't pay her any mind. They certainly don't stop.

"You lied to us."
"You were supposed to be our savior!"
"But you didn't do anything to stop this."
"You let us all die."
"Lalivero was destroyed because of you."
"You didn't even come home to die with us at the very end."
"Our blood is on your hands!"
"You should just die!"
"Who needs a savior who won't even come home when she has the chance to?"
"Did Babi even kidnap you? You went with him willingly, didn't you?"
"You're always letting yourself be someone else's pawn."

Their accusations echoing in her ears, Sheba takes one step forward, and then another. She's so tired. Maybe jumping would be the better option. Maybe...]

[Thursday, August 15 - Floor Seventy-eight]
[Having caught some of the more recent network posts - during one of the rare times when the words weren't warped beyond all recognition - Sheba is hesitant to check her mailbox. But she knows she can't run from it forever, and so far today has been mercifully free of shadows. Which is a relief, because she's so tired and she's not sure she could muster up the energy to outrun them. Not after the day before.

So she's here now, and her collar is almost dangerously light. Still faintly violet, but much closer to clear than to its original color. As soon as she opens her box she wishes she wasn't - wishes she was somewhere else, anywhere else. England's letter is the first thing she sees, but the fabric bundled up behind it is the first thing she smells, and she backs away with her hand over her nose, reeling.]

No--

[She wants to turn and run. Maybe it would be proving yesterday's shadows right, but she doesn't care. And so she turns, not bothering to close the door - and stops dead in her tracks.

There's a shadow just behind her, and she fears she knows who it is. For now, it is silent. But then, Felix was always a man of few words. She feels his stare, and it almost feels - accusatory. Questioning. She flinches away from him and turns back to the opened mailbox. As much as she wants to ignore this, she knows she can't. So she clears the distance and reaches in for the cloth, choking back a sob. She's not sure when she started crying.

When her fingers touch the material, she hears his voice.

"I suppose you're happy now. You've been trying to get me killed for awhile now, haven't you? I almost died for you on Venus Lighthouse. Now I'm dead, and all of Weyard with me."]

No, that's not-- Felix-- Please--

["It would have been better if I'd never met you at all. All you wanted was to go to Jupiter Lighthouse. Without a Jupiter Adept, maybe Isaac could have stopped me before we lit all the beacons."

She squeezes her eyes shut.]

Weyard was dying--

["Weyard and everyone on it is dead because of you. But I'm not surprised. You were always such a pain."]

Stop--

["If I had to take a Jupiter Adept along, it should have been anyone but you. You were always causing trouble and making me risk myself to pull you out of it. You think you understand me? You think you can share my pain?"

Sheba trembles, shakes her head, covers her face and tries to stop her tears.

"You don't understand anything. You don't even feel the weight of all the lives you stole when you condemned Weyard to destruction. I was willing to play the villain, Sheba. But you want everyone to see you as some kind of savior, and you're the furthest thing from it."

She can't take this. The burnt, ruined cloak still in her hands, she flees from the mailboxes but collapses on the stairs just outside. Felix's shadow follows her and she can feel his stare. She curls up in on herself, clutches the cloak to her chest, and closes her eyes to block him out. It doesn't work.]

[Friday, August 16 - Floor Sixty-two, morning; floor sixty-four, evening]
[That morning, her eyes are bloodshot and her collar is lighter than it had been the day before. She hopes desperately when she wakes and sees no shadows in her room that maybe the day before had been the worst of it, but when she steps out into the halls she knows that won't be the case. Across from her room is another shadow, the way he holds himself too reminiscent of Piers for her to not recognize him.]

Good morning...

[She's too exhausted to fight him. She simply turns and heads down the hall, trudges up the stairs, and takes the elevator to the sixty-first floor. One more flight of stairs and she's at the beach. She looks over her shoulder. Of course, the shadow of Piers followed her the whole way. Before he can say anything, she speaks again.]

I know what you're going to say. I know it.

["Of course you do. That's the one thing you were good for on our journey, wasn't it? Knowing the things people wish to say but haven't yet said."

Sheba sighs and removes her boots, tossing them back before wading into the shallows. The shadow follows her.]

Someone had to do it...

["You learned so much about strangers." A pause. "And yet you know so little of the people you claim to care for."]

Piers, I--

["Don't speak." Sheba is too tired to protest; she kneels down in the shallows and lets the seawater wash over her legs. "You know more of the Tower than you do of Weyard."]

I know barely anything of the Tower.

["Yes," the shadow sounds amused, "And that is what makes it so very sad, don't you agree?"

---

Piers' shadow leaves her at sundown. She has about an hour of blissful relief, until she finds herself on the desert floor, and steps out into the sands. A voice comes from behind her - Jenna's, and she hopes desperately that it belongs to the Jenna that just arrived in the Tower, but it's not.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it? Not that you care."

Sheba's face falls.]

Jenna...

["No, don't. I understand. It's awful to be alone, isn't it?" The shadow steps forward and wraps Sheba in an embrace. "So awful you'd abandon the people who never abandoned you, just because you felt you were alone. How could you leave me, Sheba? How could you leave any of us?"

Tears well in Sheba's eyes and she tries to return the hug, but her hands pass right through the shadow, and she realizes that it's not holding her. Not really.

"We protected you from Saturos and Menardi. We let you come with us when you didn't want to be left behind. And now Weyard is nothing but a wasteland, and you've left us to make new friends... to replace us with people who look like us but aren't us. How can you do it? How can you smile at them and spend time with them so easily? You've already forgotten us!"]

I never forgot...

["No, you did. You didn't recognize that my brother who was here before wasn't really my brother, did you? That he wasn't the one who did so much for you? But you clung to him anyway. And now you're clinging to a me that isn't really me. I guess we were just replaceable. Just a means to an end. All you cared about was your destiny."

Sheba tries to pull away from the shadow, but it moves with her, keeps its inky-black arms around her.

"You were my best friend, Sheba. And you left me all alone. It hurts so much and it's all your fault. I was going to be able to hold Mom and Dad again. Felix was going to be home with us, the way it should have been. And you ruined it. You ruined it!"

She can't escape the shadow, but she can't stop crying, either. Part of her longs to die then and there, just so she won't have to hear Jenna's voice any longer.]

[Saturday, August 17 - Floor Sixty-nine]
[Her collar is so close to clear. When the glamour flickers and fails, it's easy to see that it's not just her collar - her soul is a faintly pulsing violet, the color radiating - not much, but enough - into the immediate area around her chest and torso. When the glamour is on, her fluid is mostly clear with a few streaks of violet.

She can barely move, and it's not because of this floors effects. She's still on the stairs, surrounded by shadows - as she had been all day. It started with just three. Just Felix, and Jenna, and Piers. They'd urged her out of her room, whispering vile things all the while. Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Mia had joined them later. And then Faran, his wife, and her adoptive brother - and the closer they got to the sixty-ninth floor, the more shadows there were. Laliverans. Suhallans who had believed in her. The servants that had taken care of her in Tolbi.

Their words mix together. Sheba just wants peace. She wants it all to stop. She clings to the stairway's railing, looks out at the clouds.

"That's right," Piers murmurs. "You came from the sky, did you not? Of course you would want to return."

"You could join us," Jenna sounds excited, her arm linked through Sheba's but not really touching her. "You could die too. You should have died with the rest of us. This is a place you can do that, isn't it?"

"But you shouldn't come back." Felix's voice, strong and steady. "You should stay dead. It's what you deserve, after condemning us all."]

What I deserve...

[After everything from this week, Sheba feels like it's true. She pushes herself away from the railing and uses the little strength she does have to walk out onto the clouds, and once a few feet away from the stairs, she lies down and curls up.

The shadows file out after her. Jenna, kneeling nearby and stroking her hair, whispering how it's all her fault Weyard is dead and how she left her friends all alone. Felix at Jenna's side, nodding and muttering his agreement. Piers on Sheba's other side, his shadowy hands over and under her limp one, speaking in undertones about how it was her people who had nearly doomed Weyard so many years ago, and how instead of facing their actions they'd vanished into the skies, and how he was sure they would be proud she was living up to their ancient legacy.

There's Isaac, cloistered nearby with Garet and Ivan and Mia. He mentions how he should have never left the world in someone else's hands, that he shouldn't have let Sheba convince him. Garet, his temper getting the better of him, screaming about all the things they could have done that now they'll never be able to do. Ivan, weighing Sheba against Hama and Hammet and Layana and everyone else he cares for, wondering how Sheba could think so highly of herself as to think her life was worth even a fraction of theirs. And Mia, her tone of voice sympathetic and pitying as she details all the ways Sheba was wrong for the world, and how she feels so sorry that Sheba ever thought she could do good.

And the townspeople from Lalivero and Suhalla and Tolbi. They're cluttered around her, too. There are so many shadows that they obscure the nearly unconscious girl, the almost-clear liquid in her wireframe barely visible when the glamour is out, the purple of her cloak and the gold of her hair barely visible when it's not. But it's possible to catch glimpses of her from the staircase as the shadows shift and push their way forward, ever closer as they continue their accusations and hand out the blame.]

Comments

August 15th, floor 78

[ambassadorasshat]

[There's someone heading down the stairs from the 79th floor. He has three shadows following him--somewhat of a relief as there were six with him in the elevator, but he lost two (temporarily) to the circus floor and one just...wandered off.

Luke's tired, and it's visible in his face and steps--he's not really paying much attention where he's currently going and nearly trips over Sheba's form on the staircase. He manages to avoid her, but stumbles in the process, flopping down on the stairs near her.]

Sheba...?

[seekinganswers]

Luke...

[She looks up at him. The shadow of Felix takes a step back, but doesn't back off too far; it looks sort of disgruntled and it crosses its arms, silent for the moment and just watching. Sheba nearly sighs in relief, because even though he's far from gone, there's at least a small reprieve.

There are three shadows behind Luke that she can see. She struggles to sit up, still clutching the ruined cloth that smells of burning flesh.]

They're... also following you.

[It's the closest thing to a "hello" that she can manage.]

[ambassadorasshat]

...Not as many as before. Good.

[Luke catches that smell, making a face at it and recoiling slightly. He hadn't noticed it until he got closer to Sheba.]

...Ugh, that thing smells. What happened to it?

[And a hello back to you, Sheba.]

August 16th - evening

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick isn't sure how long he's been wandering the floors, looking for people he can help. Judging from the arc of the sun against the sand, it's been the entire day--one more day of his three shadows running behind him, shouting about his negligence, abandonment, betrayal. But the more people he found to help, the quieter their voices got, and the more vibrant the blue hue of his soul became.]

[To continue living--to bring back the people he loves--he has to help.]

[Rick approaches Sheba and the clinging shadow at a fairly brisk and surprisingly aggressive pace. He needs to catch their attention.]

L-L-Let g-go of her! She's--she's h-had enough!

[seekinganswers]

[Sheba could sob in relief at the sound of a voice that isn't from Weyard, but she doesn't have the energy to do even that. Instead, she lifts her head and looks in Rick's direction as he approaches.]

Patrick...?

[There's a look in her eyes right now and it says "You were right." The warning he'd given her - not him, the being controlling him, but at this point she doesn't see the point in distinctions - had been absolutely true. Jenna was here now to prove it.]

This is Jenna... remember, you talked about her once...? Say hi...

[The shadow of Jenna doesn't let go, but it does shift a bit, its head looking as though it's resting on her shoulder - though when Sheba moves, her shoulder passes through it, and it readjusts. Its smile is sickeningly sweet.]

[bashfulshifter]

[The look Sheba gives pains Rick as much as every other accusation thrown at him over the network. It's enough to make him stop--he even briefly considers apologizing.]

["Actions speak louder than words...Use your actions to make up for what you did."]

[Rick regains his composure and steps in front of Sheba--presumably through Jenna, unless she moves out of his way.]

...N-No, d-don't...don't r-remember what...what I-I t-t-told you. R-Remember who she...who J-Jenna was. Not...this.

[Behind him, a shadow creeps up by his ear. Don't you think you've lied to her enough already? it whispers. Rick clenches his fists but doesn't respond, keeping his eyes fixed on Sheba's.]

August 14th/Floor 34

[mywayofhelping]

["If you hadn't betrayed your clan, Weyard wouldn't be in ruins now."

"You did nothing for me. You destroyed what little was left of my life."

Alex was quickly growing tired of this. Quite literally, actually. It took him a while to identify the sensation as it wasn't one he had felt this strongly in about 30 years, but he was feeling more and more drained all the time. He would sleep a bit now, but having these two voices constantly whispering lies to him was making it tough. At least before all he had to do was leave that strange level. Now, he was on the verge of feeling desperate.

That "package" he had received was obviously a fabrication, though he can't help but wonder who knew he had been in that country, much less about...that little slip up. Perhaps it was just part of this "glamour" he had heard about? It would take a lot of power to take someone else's thoughts and twist them into realistic taunts. The entire concept fascinated him. Unfortunately, he really wasn't finding himself able to focus on that at the moment. They just wouldn't stop...

"There's nothing I can do for anyone now. We're all dead. Except for you. Isn't this what you wanted?"

"I left my son without a mother because his father was gone. Now he's dead, too."]

I won't fall for this...

[Alex had taken to wandering the floors that didn't scream "imminent death" to him in hopes that he could lose these two shadows. Unfortunately, he had ended up in an area where warping and levitating weren't possible for some unknown reason. But who should he see with her own entourage of shadows...

Alex quickly dismisses his own growing desires to jump as he approaches.]

You certainly enjoy precarious situations, don't you?

[seekinganswers]

Oh, it's you...

[She doesn't sound happy to see him, but then, most people from Weyard wouldn't be even without the people they'd grown up among urging them to Jump, just jump! If anything, Alex is a happy distraction from the shadows. None of them scatter - she's not nearly so attached to him as that - but hearing a different voice does make their words a little easier to ignore.

She gestures at the shadows.]

Look, you've met them before. I think you fought some of them, too. Jenna said you helped her and Kraden at Venus Lighthouse...

[There's a light laugh, but there's little to no mirth in it.]

Funny, isn't it? It's a twisted little reunion. Can you hear them? They're telling me to jump. Is your shadow telling you that, too? [Then she looks behind him and sees that there's more than one, and for a moment she looks incredibly surprised.] Oh, sorry. I guess "are your shadows" would be better... right?

[mywayofhelping]

If you're referring to these shadows, then yes, I've seen them the last few days.

["Maybe she's right. Maybe you should just jump. We can't be any worse off than we are now."

"If my existence didn't matter and your son's didn't, does yours have any worth, either?"]

I'm afraid I can't hear your little throng. And what a strange request... Then again, would it really harm the "Child of the Gods"?

[Saturday]

[bloodyashes]

His reason for roaming the stairscase is twofold - he hasn't seen Sheba in some days, and the company he was keeping wasn't enough to drive off one particularly stubborn spirit. Van shadows him, with words of glory that might have been, words of how if Asch had just cooperated they could have saved something, and he's much harder to ignore than the others. The color is gone to Asch's elbows when the glamour flickers - there's some fading all the way to his shoulders.

When he sees the cluster of shadows around a small body, it doesn't occur to him that it's who he's looking for. He just charges in, sending a few of the weaker ones scattering off immediately and the others stepping back just a bit. The glamour is up; it's long enough for him to recognize her, to make a rush to her side.

Why this girl, Asch? Why has she become more important you you than all of Auldrant?

For once, he can't ignore, can't not snap back.]

Because unlike you, she actually cares about me like a person!

[He drops to his knees, swinging arms through the insubstantial forms in hopes of scattering them further.]

Sheba? Say something, you idiot.

[He's more worried than annoyed, really.]

[seekinganswers]

[She hears his voice before she sees him, because she's not looking out to the stairs. She's looking at the clouds and then sometimes at the shadows nearest her - Jenna, Felix, Piers - but she doesn't see him coming. She does see his feet, though; then his knees as he drops down, and she forces her eyes - which up until then were half-lidded - open.]

Asch, hey...

[She chuckles weakly. Well, this is embarrassing. She tries to sit up but finds she lacks the energy to do that, so instead she cracks a grin.]

Have you met them? You met Felix and Jenna... oh, but these are different ones... [Another weak chuckle, and she cuts her eyes at Piers. He, like the other two, hasn't moved at all since Asch's approach, though Isaac's companions have taken a few steps back, Faran's family has shifted a little, and most of the townspeople have backed off considerably - though they're still lurking.] And that's Piers... The one from my world. And look...

[She manages to raise a hand and points in the direction of Faran and his family.]

That's Faran... he raised me. His wife, she was my mother when I lived in Lalivero. And look... I had a younger brother. I guess you didn't know that. I never talked about them... I left them...

[She's not in good shape. That much is obvious even without looking at how clear her collar is.]

Floor 13

[notachickenhawk]

[He's never been religious. The very rare times he'd been dragged to church he hated it, never saw the point in it. But they're usually quiet, when they're not doing services, and the architecture is nice.]

[He can hear them whispering, accusing him. It makes him feel sick to his stomach. He morphs human before he steps inside, barefoot again - and he squints at the shape he sees.]

[Sheba. Right. He can hear Rachel whispering to him (oh so she's the new girl? Right, because what we had meant nothing. It'd never work out anyway - beauty and the bird), and tries to ignore Ax as he walks alongside him (you are weak. You are a disgrace to the family. I should have expected as much from a human - you could never understand. And you are no longer my shorm).]

[His footsteps are quiet, but he taps the wood of the pew she's lying on.]

Sh... Sheba?

[His voice is rough, like he's going to cry, but he has to try, at least.]

[seekinganswers]

[She looks up at the tap and at the sound of someone's voice. For a few moments, she just looks at him, unfocused - she's disoriented and she can't think who this might be.

She sees the shadows trailing after him, though; realizes this must be someone who's - not real, they're all just wireframes, but at least this isn't some additional trick the Tower is playing. He's someone who's trapped here, just like her. So she can't yell for him to leave her alone. She's not sure she wants to be left alone, anyway.

Not if those shades of her family might come back...]

How do you know my name..? [And then -] Are you alright? You sound like you're going to cry...

august 11

[terreifying]

[Rei herself has no less than ten shadow children walking behind her. She gives a quick wave at Sheba and her shadow children. This is the biggest number of shadows she's seen so far.]

...Wow, it's like everyone has at least one.

[seekinganswers]

[Sheba doesn't notice the wave at first - but one of the shadows does, and it waves back to Rei. That makes her blink and she looks around until she sees the other girl and her multitude of shadows.]

Yeah. Jason was playing dumb on the network awhile back about those explosions - but I bet this is because of them. Which means the explosions were probably his fault.

August 16th, Floor 64 - Evening

[gradosfinest]

[When she arrives on the floor 64 staircase she quite frankly looks like hell, gasping for breath as she doubles over before collapsing for a moment, dropping to her knees with her hands on the ground. There's only one way she's managed to find a reprieve from the shadows and their relentlessly onslaught, and that's to run like her life depended on it.

This is a battle she can't win. She knows that. Every time she encounters them she gets a little bit weaker and her body has had about all it's going to take of this relentless sprinting around, to say nothing of her emotional state. It's all become so clear how meaningless it's been, how little her title as a knight truly means in the face of the words of her former companions, those she had left behind. She isn't even sure she can call herself a knight at this point, they certainly don't think she can... it'd be easier to give up. To just lay down right here and wait for the shadows to come by and finish the job.

That's when she happens to look to the side, out across the blazing sands of this floor. And that's when she spots her. Sheba. With a shadow damned near wrapped around her.]

... gods damn this entire tower...

[It would be easier to give up and if she were alone? She very well might have. But that's her friend over there and no matter how hopeless it seems, no matter how much she may doubt her own ability to help, there's something inside of her that simply refuses to do nothing. Slowly, unsteadily, she forces one of her feet underneath her again.

Get. Up.

That's what she tells herself as she pushes herself up with her hands, slowly climbing back to her feet before taking a few unsteady steps out onto the sand, and when she speaks, there's a remarkably intense edge to her voice. Frankly she has had quite enough of these, the Tower, and really everything by this point.]

... leave her alone. [She really doesn't have a plan if the shadow doesn't back off, but... she'll think of something. She has to.]

[seekinganswers]

[The shadow looks in Amelia's direction, and though it's hard to tell with just the smile, the smile alone is dismissive. It makes no move to back away from Sheba; instead, it just shifts so that it looks like its head is resting on her shoulder.

"Is that another friend you've made here? Aww. How cute. No wonder you forgot all about your real friends, Sheba. I bet she's big and strong, just like everyone else you surround yourself with, because you're so weak you can't survive on your own."

Sheba flinches, trying to move away from the shadow. But it moves with her, and she looks to Amelia desperately.]

She won't go...

["She," not "it." Sheba, at least, has found herself unable to disassociate her best friend with this creature.]

Friday, Floor 62 - Morning

[thinkwisely]

[To say that Ivan run into Sheba on the beach floor would be a bit wrong. It was more than the teen stumbled headlong into her sight, his posture poor and bent and tired as he shuffled forward through the sand. He doesn't seem to notice her yet, though. He's not very close to the water.

Go to a nice, peaceful floor, he had told himself. It'll help clear your mind, he said. But it wasn't helping. After he had woken up Thursday morning, everything had felt worse--so much worse. He couldn't even focus on being concerned about his own murder with the shadows on his heels. And now...it seemed like there were more of them. And they were angry.

Especially the young girl who's voice he couldn't place...yet it somehow tore him apart on the inside.

I'll never have a future. I'll never have a life because of you. How could you do this? How could you do this to me? I want to live. I just want to be alive.]

I'm sorry...I...I...

[He reaches for the shadow's hand. It pulls back. Instead, he brings his hand to cover his face. With no real bonds in the Tower, having only just arrived, it's no surprise he looks like he's about to pass out onto his face.]

[seekinganswers]

[She almost doesn't hear him. Piers and the sea are loud, insistent - but his voice breaks through to her as he stumbles into her view, and she leaps to her feet. The sudden motion makes her dizzy, she almost falls backwards into the water - the shadow of Piers, ever a gentleman, puts out an arm as if to steady her (though she would only fall right through it, really) and murmurs a "Careful. You never did know when to take it easy, now did you?" which she shakes off as she takes a step forward.]

Ivan!

["Oh, yes," continues Piers. "The Ivan that doesn't even know you? He's not real, Sheba."

You're not real, she wants to say - but that feels so much like a lie that she can't even form the words. Instead she moves from the water's edge a little unsteadily to cross the sand to him, puts a hand on each of his shoulders. It's as much to keep him steady as it is to keep herself standing.]

Ivan. It's okay, I've got you.

Thursday (Floor 78)

[jeweloftolbi]

Pathetic.

[The Sheba that is not the original Sheba stands a few paces away. She has received her own gift but has had no time to look through it. Watching someone who looks just like her react this way to a mere shadow is irritating.

(Her own collar is very light, but she is only tailed by a single shadow, and that is Kraden. Lecturing her on all the things she should have done. How she could have been a better student. How she was such a disappointment that he'd been forced to leave Tolbi for the backwater village of Vale.

She thinks too highly of herself and holds him in too high regard to believe this is really him.)

She nudges Sheba with the toe of her boot, an expression of disdain plain to see.]

To think I share a face and a name with someone like you. Get up.

[seekinganswers]

Wh-what...

[Sheba can barely believe her eyes when she looks up and sees herself staring down at her. Close by, Felix scoffs -

"Another one of you. As if you weren't enough of a handful on your own. She's right, though... you are pathetic. Maybe this one has some sense."

She's always known that it was possible, of course. There had been two Lukes, she's seen more than one version of a few people in the Tower in passing, but she never really believed that she'd ever see another her. It's disorienting - as if this entire situation wasn't disorienting enough - but her curiosity wins out over her dismay at the situation in general, and she shakily gets to her feet to look her in the eye, still clutching the ruined cloth that had once been Felix's cloak.]

You just... arrived here recently. [It's a statement, not a question. Sheba's eyes wander to the other girl's collar. Light, but clearly it used to be violet. Then her gaze wanders to the shadow child behind her and she has to wonder who it is.] Has... anyone told you about the administrators yet?

Wednesday, Jul 31st - Floor 74

[neverbeamemory]

[So apparently he's nothing better to do right now. Not that killing a few monsters in the eternal gloom of this cavern isn't a suitable pastime. If nothing else it keeps Sephiroth's skills sharp. Not to mention his mind, he's going to need that focus to make his final conclusions about their own latest excursion below.

Three Husk in front of Sephiroth discharge a wave of blue electricity which by a careful block with Masamune is conducted right up the great blade - losing most of it's intensity by the time it courses through his own body and earths in the sand. A swipe later and the monsters are cleaved neatly in two, Sephiroth turns his head to avoid most of the blood splatter as Sheba's voice rings out behind him.

After a pause, he extends the turning motion into turning his whole body to face the girl.]

Sheba. [He acknowledges. Quickly his eyes pick up the books she's cradling but doesn't stare, only a spark of curiosity is betrayed as he takes a careful look around behind himself once more before relaxing his combat stance.]

[seekinganswers]

[Blood splatter, dead monsters - these things neither surprise nor bother Sheba anymore. Not when it's just a few of them at once. She wonders if maybe the Tower has made her jaded, or if she was always like this because of her time on Weyard - monster corpses have never been something that have bothered her, really. Not unless they looked human.

She smiles a bit as he starts to relax. She herself doesn't seem any more relaxed than she had been previously - she knows the administrators may be watching with their cleverly-hidden cameras - but she doesn't seem more on edge, either.]

It's been a while. [Not really, since they'd spoken briefly before the infiltration - but it has been a while since they've had a longer conversation.] I thought maybe it was about time we talked.

[In other words: I found something, and we agreed that I'd share it with you if I did. There's a glint of excitement in her eyes, and though she doesn't look down at the books, her hold on them does tighten somewhat. It's easily missed, but if he's looking, he may see it.]

Floor 34

[morituramfides]

[Jin had some pretty subjective views on the whole death and the sanctity of it and what not. He didn't even consider this place to have a concept of death-- it was almost completely a nonissue to him. Die, you came back in the morning no worse for wear, unless you really let it get to you.

The part that mattered to him was-- well, basically he kind of owed Sheba after blowing her up that one time (even if she completely deserved it). And every now and then, the part of him that didn't want someone else to win would resurface again, at least until he remembered again that it wasn't a big deal if someone died anyway. It was a complicated thought cycle.

So he reached out an arm, forcefully grabbing her wrist to pull her a step back away from the edge.]

It's a long way down, kid.

[seekinganswers]

Yeah, it is...

[She doesn't fight it when he grabs her wrist and pulls her back. There's a nagging voice at the back of her mind that says she should - that she should just listen to the people who have raised her, who have watched her grow, because they're older and wiser and they know so much better and none of them would have doomed an entire world just to save themselves, and how it was only fair if she joined them in death now.

But she wants to live. She's had a near-fatal fall once already and she'd thought she'd been prepared to die then and there, but she survived and she likes living and maybe it's not death she wants, maybe she just wants all these shadows to shut up.]

I wonder, if I fell, do you think I'd hear them the whole way down? [She makes a sweeping gesture at the shadow children.] Or would it all stop once I fell far enough?