From silent shades and the Elysian groves

[puppy_lancer]

Characters: [AU3] Lancer puppy_lancer, [AU1] Rei Ayanami terrifying, [AU7] Sola-ui marriedthebloke, and you
Setting: All around the Tower, through the week
Format: You choose!
Summary: Catch-all event log for my characters
Warnings: Angst, madness, and dying characters

Lancer

August 11-13

[Like all others marked by the shadow children, Lancer hears the voices of his loved ones, especially the two people who can be said to be his biggest regrets. Misaya and Connla were behind him, accusing him of failing, reminding him of his fault, asking him why he hadn't died in their place. And listening to them, he feels less hurt than relieved. Finally, they would blame the right person. Finally, he could be punished for his mistakes.]

[And most of all, no matter what they were saying, he's glad to see them again, even in the form of these strange illusions. He's lost so many people close to him, both old and new. So now he just wants to cling to these shadow children who talk so much like his Master and his son. Or perhaps the stress of the last few weeks had just snapped his mind.]

[The first thing he tries to do is hug them, but to his disappointment, his arms go right through their forms. Even with them at his side, he cannot embrace them and apologize.]

[Nevertheless, it doesn't dampen his mood that much. He walks through the Tower, showing them various floors that he thinks they'll like. He speaks to them like they're still their old selves. And of course, he brags to them about the package he received in the mail. In fact, he's much more cheerful and energetic than someone followed by shadow children should be.]

August 14 (floor 80)

[By this day, Lancer has lost a good deal of his energy. Every couple of steps, he yawns, stretches, or rubs at his eyes. His collar has gotten gradually paler, but he still tries to keep up a happy facade for Misaya and Connla. Especially since he's taken them to a special floor.]

...Look, Connla. There's the circus. Just don't go too close. You too, Misaya. Even if you wanna play with the guts.

['Useless. You're just trying to distract yourself.'

'He's always paid attention to the wrong things. For example, flirting with enemies while he was suppose to be fighting to save me.']

No, really. They're violent. They'd kill you.

[He's doing his best to stay away from the clowns and keeping his voice down. However, in his fatigued state, he wouldn't notice if anyone else joined him on this floor, or if the clowns would try to kill him.]

August 15-16 (floor 25)

[Lancer hates to admit it, but he's tired. Unknown to him, the color of his collar, and the color of his soul itself is becoming more and more washed out He's lain down on the grassy ground of the meadow and doesn't feel like getting up. Not even the growl of thunder in the distance can convince him that this might be a bad idea. Half of him wants to fall asleep, but the voices of the shadow children keep on waking him.]

['Are you trying to go so easily?'

'You don't deserve it.'

'Not when I died in such pain. And I wasn't able to rest in peace even after that. You know what happened to me. If only you had done your job like you were supposed to. Useless Servant.'

'Liar. Traitor. Kin-slayer. Why do you get to die peacefully after all the pain you caused?'

'You already had your chance. You chose to live like a coward instead.'

'You don't deserve the name of a hero.']

Ah...

[For the first time this whole week, it hurts to hear them talk like that. He had done everything he could to accept their accusations and move on, but they just won't stop. If anything, their words were cutting deeper and deeper into him.]

[But by now, he has no strength to argue with them. He just sighs and smiles. Maybe he does deserve some pain...]


Rei

August 11-13

[Rei wakes up to find a group of shadow children around her bed. However, she disregards them and spends her day as she would any day. First, she goes down to the cafeteria for a big meal, then up to the media room to play some games, and finally exploring the nature floors until it's dusk.]

[This continues until the thirteenth, when she finally starts to hear their whispers. Snatches of voices from her home.]

...Guys? This isn't funny.

[However, her suggestions as to whether or not the situation is funny go ignored. Throughout the day, the voices increase in volume, until at night, when she's snuggled up in her bed ready to sleep, they explode.]

[Suddenly, everyone she knows--her family, her friends, the people who had left the Tower--everyone is screaming at her, calling her a monster, telling her she has no reason to live.]

[She makes a little blanket lump out of herself and whimpers, begging them to go away.]

August 14

[Rei spends the entire day in her room. After a sleepless night, she's too tired to go outside.]

['Aw, is the monster out of energy.'

'Nobody will notice if you die, you know.'

'Right, you're not that special. You're just like the rest of us. Just like all seven of us. Just the same as all seven of us.'

'Your soul is not your own.'

'Your name is not your own.'

'We're all just copies of Yui's real daughter.'

'Nous ne sommes pas encore humains.'

'We're all so expendable. Like flowers in a flower bed--any one would do.'

'So why are you alive?'

'You were our friend. You said you would protect us.'

'But you ran. You ran and we died.']

Stop!

[And her pillow goes flying at one of the shadows. They fall silent before one male voice starts speaking.]

['I'm disappointed.']

[Her father.]

[She bursts into tears now, her characteristic smile having completely disappeared.]

['But you're still our daughter. So die and come back to us.']

[Her mother.]

...Mama.

[Slowly, her collar color and her energy are both ebbing away. She remains still, and except for a few traces of tears on her face, emotionless. Was this how that other Rei always felt?]


Sola-ui

August 11 (mailroom)

[Sola-ui stares with distaste at the photograph of her mutilated family. This is all an illusion, she tells herself. However, even with this knowledge, it's all she can do to keep from shaking and crying. She doesn't want the memory of her children to be forever linked with such gruesome images.]

[A couple shadow children stand on their tiptoes around her, as if trying to see the photo for themselves. She she shoos them away. It seems the Tower has seen an increase in strange, annoying creatures.]

I hope nobody here was responsible for this.

[She calls out to anyone who might be in the mailroom with her.]

August 12 (weight room)

[The shadow children had started speaking. It seems she couldn't have a moment to herself before their whispers echoed in her mind. While she can't make out words, the voices are familiar. If she didn't know better, she would say they were the voices of her family--Kayneth, Diarmuid, and Waver.]

[Today, she's decided to go into the weight room. While Diarmuid isn't watching her, she thinks she can manage to lift a few of the lighter weights. It would save him some time during their next training session if she got in more practice beforehand.]

[So, ignoring the whispers of the shadows, she picks up two fifteen pound dumbbells and starts doing lifting exercises with them.]

August 13 (library)

[If the whispers were annoying before, then now, when the words and voices were clear, it was even more irritating. It became harder and harder for her to ignore them, and hurt more and more when she found the familiar voices denouncing her.]

['Too busy lusting after other men to care that your own family is dead.'

'Mother, I love you and I don't want to blame you...but look what you did to us. Or perhaps it's my fault. I was never good enough. I couldn't protect anyone...'

'Mum, help me. It hurts.']

[Currently, she's sitting in the library, flipping through books as quickly and as noisily as she can to try to block out some of the voices. She's clearly distressed by now.]

August 14 (infirmary)

[She's placing bottles on the shelves of the infirmary when Kayneth's voice sounds in her head.]

['Why waste your time? These bottles will save no one.']

[The voice comes so suddenly that it shocks her. She drops the bottle and it shatters on the floor.]

['Mother, are you alright?']

[Had it been another insult, it would have been better than words of concern. This sounded like something Diarmuid could actually say...]

[Without moving from her spot, she puts her head in her hands and cries.]

August 15 (infirmary)

[Sola-ui is down at the infirmary all day today. Instead of working, though, she's lying on a bed, too tired physically and mentally to do anything but lie back and listen to the voices of her family.]

[Sometimes it feels like a nightmare, when they're all in a hurry to point out everything she does wrong. And sometimes it feels more like a beautiful dream, when they actually act like themselves. She can swear that at one point, her children even got into bed next to her, like they would when they were very young.]

['Isn't it better like this? When we're all together?']

Yes...it is...

[She mutters groggily.]

Comments

[oathshackledbird]

As you say. I'm right here if you need anything, though.

[Diarmuid gives his brother a smile before turning his attention fully back to the shirt he is working on. So far it looks like his brother is doing well. How long that will last is anyone's guess.]

[puppy_lancer]

[The good luck ends when he finishes cutting out the front of the pants. He had chose the most comfortable (and the most plaid) material he could find, but finds that he's out of fabric to make the back. He has to go digging around again, but while he can find similar textures, he can't find the same pattern.]

[So in the end, the front and back of Diarmuid's pants will have two different patterns.]

Hey, bro, do you mind the colors that I'm using for your pants?

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid looks up from where he's sewing together strips of the three bright colors picked for his brother's shirt. When he sees what his brother has put together, he can't help but laugh.]

Well, at least I know I'll be able to find them even when the lights are out...

[He's making a very overly bright shirt for his brother. It only seems right his brother makes some overly bright pants for him.]

[puppy_lancer]

Oh come, on, everyone knows heroes look better in brighter colors.

[He's just glad that Diarmuid seems okay with the pants, mismatched as they might be.]

[oathshackledbird]

[They are to sleep in and so Diarmuid doesn't care so much about the colors as he does how comfortable they are. Besides, his brother is making them for him and that means a lot in and of itself.]

Is that why Archer likes gold so much? It's a bright color and he's trying to convince everyone he's a hero?

[puppy_lancer]

Pretty much. That and he has way too much shit. Seriously, I swear he keeps around a thousand weapons up his holes just to throw around when he's pissed.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid pauses for a moment processing what his brother has just said and sorting out what he means. Finally, he breaks out laughing.]

Do I even want to know why you know so much about what he keeps up his holes?

[puppy_lancer]

[He blushes for a moment, and then joins his brother in laughing.]

I'd say no. It's not a very good situations to be in if you're staring down his holes!

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid continues to laugh with his brother for a short time before shaking his head and becoming a big more serious.]

No, I have seen what one version of that Gate can do. Even if he is limited here, it is not something you want turned on you. I don't think even those as fast and agile as you and I could dodge everything he could throw at us at once.

[puppy_lancer]

[He pouts.]

Especially not if he chains you up so you can't move!

[oathshackledbird]

[That causes Diarmuid to raise an eyebrow.]

That's not a very fair way to fight. Has he done that to you?

[puppy_lancer]

...Yeah. I survived, though.

[It was more a case of two bruised egos clashing than actual combat to the death.]

[oathshackledbird]

Lucky for him.

[Diarmuid frowns before turning back to the shirt he is making.]

If he had killed you in such a dishonorable way, I would have had to fight him agreement or not.

[puppy_lancer]

Only if I hadn't gotten up and made short work of him first. I wouldn't have accepted a death like that.

[His expression softens.]

But thanks for the offer, Bro.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid smiles, looking up from his work for a moment.]

You're welcome. You are my brother after all. There is no way I would allow such an insult to stand unanswered.

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer also smiles and returns to his work.]

Just like I would not allow any insult or injury to you.

[He's almost done with the back of Diarmuid's pants when he remembers something.]

...Say, bro, do you want pockets?

[oathshackledbird]

I wouldn't mind them if you can put one or two in.

[Diarmuid runs a hand over the shirt in front of him. It looks good. Or as good as a blindingly bright shirt can.]

Do you want pockets?

[puppy_lancer]

[He shrugs.]

Sure, if you can put them in. I'll make you some pockets too.

[He begins trimming the odds and ends of the leftover scraps from his first piece of cloth so he can make some pants pockets.]

[oathshackledbird]

Of course. I wouldn't have asked if I couldn't.

[Diarmuid smiles and then sets to work cutting out what he needs for a couple of pockets. One for each sleeve. Each time he makes sure to make the pockets out of a color that will contrast with the base color of the shirt.

At this point, the shirt really can't become more of an eyesore than it already is. Why not have a little fun?]

I am getting close to being done. How are you doing?

[puppy_lancer]

I've just started sewing on the pockets.

[He holds up the front of the pants, with pockets in the form of little cloth pouches sewn to the back side of the cloth. It's not a complete nightmare yet.]

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid gives the pants a look and then nods in approval. The pockets are not quite what he had anticipated, but the pants are to sleep in not go to a fashion show in. They are good enough for him.]

There is no hurry. I think I have this done, but I still have Yotsuba's doll to work on.

[He stands up and carries the tunic-like shirt over to his brother, holding it out. The garment is made from several horizontal stripes of the three colors his brother had picked out with nice flat pockets in contrasting colors on the tops of both sleeves.]

What do you think?

[puppy_lancer]

[He stands up and grabs the shirt to see how it would fit on him.]

It looks wonderful! Thanks a lot, bro!

[He looks back at his own project.]

Let me finish this up, and then I'll try that on!

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid smiles, happy to see how excited his brother is, and then returns to start work on Yotsuba's doll.]

That is fine. I said there was no hurry, didn't I? Try it on whenever you are ready. I am just glad you like it.

[puppy_lancer]

[In a little while, the pockets to the pants are done.]

...Say, what sort of doll are you making for that kid?

[oathshackledbird]

Oh, it's just going to be a simple cloth doll that looks as much as her friend Rabbit as I can. Pretty much like we talked about before.

[He gives his brother a curious look.]

Why do you ask? Do you have something else in mind?