towerofanimus | « act ii »

Characters: Bernkastel + you
Setting: see prompts!
Format: I'm starting with prose for neatness's sake, but I'll match you!
Summary: Bern wakes up in the Tower again. She is not happy about it, of course.
Warnings: it's Bernkastel

Dorm floors
She sat in a ragged theater for weeks. At least, that's what it felt like. A hollow remnant of the world she knew: an abandoned stage, curtains full of holes and tears, wood splintered beneath her shoes. And there was no explanation. She'd pushed open the double-doors to the world outside time and time again, only to find a barren wasteland before her eyes. Time passed oddly, as if she were only dreaming.

So she stayed in her empty theater. She conjured up fireworks and mirages, and sprays of streamers and confetti in the air to entertain herself, but even her own magic felt plastic.

She'd closed her eyes for a moment, and woke up to see a white ceiling above her, unable to move. When the feeling of paralysis faded, she abruptly sat up in her bed, looking around to find herself in a Tower dormitory once more.

Realizing that wherever she had been was no more (at least for now), she felt her astonished silence fade into anger. Was this one of Jason's games? Some form of taunting from Ruana? She'd looked into the disappearances of the Tower's residents, but didn't think it was anything like this.

Bernkastel stalks through the dorm floors, the fur on her tail on end, her back arched up angrily, not unlike a cat who's gotten stepped on. There's someone in particular she's looking for, and her mind is much too cloudy to merely sit down and search for her presence. Interrupt her if you want, but it's not always wise to approach a scorned cat before it has time to stop seething. ~~Translation: go for it.~~

Floor 99
Having regained most of her composure, Bernkastel has decided to go looking at the rest of the floors that appeared while she was absent. Her curiosity spikes up at Floor 99, the environment somewhat reminiscent of the kakera sea. If one ventures far enough into this floor, Bern can be seen sitting at a small, fancy-looking table with a tea set on it, sipping from a cup indignantly, her expression flat and unamused.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh, you're back!"

Ryuunosuke calls out to her with a cheery smile. Has he noticed that someone who's promised to do horrible things is pissed off? Of course, she looks ticked as hell.

Does he mind? Not one bit.

Bern stops dead in her tracks at the sound of the voice, and slowly, very slowly, turns to face it.

Shit, it's him. A muscle in her neck twitches, but she tries to otherwise not show her irritation.

"I don't have time for your pleasantries."

"You don't look busy," he replies, still smiling. "Where are you headed?"

"That's none of your concern," she answers, starting to walk away again.

You're not getting away that easy. Ryuunosuke strolls after her. "Man, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

If this got any more severe, she makes a mental note to just teleport to the floor above her. But for now, she settles for saying nothing, and poofing a small brick wall in front of Ryuunosuke. Whether it makes him halt for a second or just trips him doesn't concern her. Or if he's savvy and wants to hop over it, at least it would provide a temporary distraction.

He trips and barely manages to not fall on his face.

"That's rude," he mutters, picking himself up from the floor.

Bernkastel again does not respond, but ups her defense another notch. This time, it's one of those floor-mounted, spring-loaded punching bags that pops up in front of him. Oops.

Ow. He walks right into that and falls back a bit.

"Really rude, what'd I do to you?"

This time it's just a plain-looking floor mirror. Please don't act as if you've forgotten the whole body-swapping incident.

"...Oh yeah! That was fun, wasn't it?"

No, Ryuunosuke, it was not.

Fun, right. Well, this has gone on a little too long for Bern's taste, so she disappears in a flourish of confetti. Fun. Although, she merely teleports to the floor above, if Ryuunosuke feels like pursuing her.

Enoch can't help but notice, as he climbs the stairs to get to the elevator, someone rather angry-looking. In both feline and human posturing, even, that was a bit disorienting. Not too long ago he may simply have gotten out of her way.

But now there was a constant search for distraction. He did move aside to let her onto the stairs ahead of him, but he spoke as she passed.

"Are you all right?"

"If 'alright' is the correct phrase to use for one's mental state in this Hell-tower," she growls, her voice wavering in frustration just a small bit. She doesn't stop her walking, however, muttering as she moves past him.

"I know... You seem worse than average, though." He doesn't make a move to follow her, since she's apparently going the other way, but he does raise his voice just enough to carry, one last attempt at helping out. "Can I do anything to help?"

[Nue has some fondness for this floor, in so much as she is fond of any floor. She likes the atmosphere, and she likes that this place has do many nooks and crannies to lurk in.]

[It's not with any particular purpose that she floats through the crystalline caverns,, pace leisurely, feet above the ground and Seeds of Unknown Form cloaking her appearance. When she comes across someone else, she isn't especially surprised, but the scene strikes her as a bit odd nonetheless.]

Funny place for a tea party, don't you think?

[ Bern pauses mid-drink, and lifts an eyebrow at "Nue." Although it isn't exactly 'unusual' for her, she has to say, this is the first time she's seen a mass of disembodied white smoke assembled in a vaguely human shape. The voice coming from it seemed human enough; maybe this girl was using illusion magic, or was a shapeshifter. It would be ignorant to think she and Lambda were the only ones in the tower who could do that.

Although the possibility of the smoke girl being Ruana in some sort of disguise crosses Bern's mind, she discards it quickly. She didn't give off even remotely the same presence as Ruana did. Plus, she wasn't one to make visits in person, as far as Bern could tell. ]

Depending on your definition of 'funny', I suppose.

You know, odd. Unusual. [The silhouette appears to sit in the air, elbows on her knees and chin propped against the heels of her palms. Her tone is conversational, with a slightly mischievous lilt to it.] There aren't even any dolls to share with.

Yotsuba often came to this floor to restock on sling bullets, which she put into the pouch on her sash where she kept her sling when she wasn't using it. However, she also liked to wander around this floor, since it was pretty, even if the crystals would hurt her eyes.

However, when she saw a lady sitting at a fancy table, sipping tea, she couldn't help but draw near, curious. This lady looked fashanable!

"Hello! Are you a good person?! You look really fashanable!"

« act ii »

Dorm Floors

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idk can they teleport between floors that aren't magical, I'm guessing here

probably!

NOTED FOR THE FUTURE

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floor 99

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Floor 99