first chord: your messiah was never mine

[gloryseizing]

Characters: Van Grants and you poor unfortunate souls.
Setting: The cafeteria, the library, and the cathedral.
Format: I am equally comfortable doing either. I'll start with prose but will follow the format you reply with.
Summary: The Tower has pulled in another arrival from Auldrant. He doesn't seem too upset about being here.
Warnings: It's Van. He won't be outwardly hostile unless you're part of the Abyss party or are hostile to him first, but he can escalate things very quickly if need be.

Floor 001 Cafeteria.
Some people pitch a fit when they see the oatmeal. Some put off eating for as long as they can. Van takes neither course of action and simply brings his bowl to a table, sits down, and begins eating.

It isn't very tasteful, but he has had far worse. Most importantly, it's sustenance.

If he is to undertake the task of familiarizing himself with the Tower, then he must have energy. That means he must eat.

He has no hint of the air of a frightened new arrival with him, though the oatmeal clearly marks him as new. He doesn't seem to opposed to company, either. He meets people's eyes as they walk through the cafeteria and acknowledges them with a nod.

(There is no point in being dismissive of these people just yet. He might find some use for them.)

Floor 003 Library.
He isn't sure what he expects when he steps off the staircase. On the one hand, their hosts claimed to have rescued them. Their library, then, may contain useful information.

On the other, if the letters are a lie and this isn't as it seems, he can be assured that he will find absolutely nothing that is worthy of his time here.

There is only one way to find out. He walks through the library, examining the spines of books on as many shelves as he can find. Occasionally he strokes his goatee in thought, as if imagining how he may use some meaningless information in one book to combine it with meaningless information in another to create something meaningful.

Floor 013 Cathedral.
This cathedral pales in comparison to Daath.

He is at the back of the cathedral now and he could almost swear that he hears mumbling, though the place seems mostly empty. It seems to be coming from the front, and so he walks to the altar. His frown, only slight at first, deepens when he reaches the head of the cathedral and everything is silent.

He retreats to the back and hears the mumbling again.

"How very curious..."

Comments

Cafeteria!

[seekinganswers]

[In stark contrast to Van's solitary bowl of oatmeal, Sheba's plate is practically laden down with food. She's developed quite a taste for stuffed french toast and chocolate chip pancakes. With a side of scrambled eggs and a glass of orange juice, it's all part of a balanced breakfast. The perfect way to start your day in a horrortower!

She meets Van's eyes as she's looking for a place to sit and then nods back, a little startled but not unduly so. She sets her plates down and slides into the seat across from him, glancing at his oatmeal.]

So either you're new, or you actually like that stuff. [A small, mischievous smile -] Which is it?

[gloryseizing]

Observant, aren't you?

[He doesn't mean it rudely. It is a simple statement of fact. Though it wouldn't require exceptional powers of observation as the oatmeal is a very clear marker. While he was in line, he saw people who were not new helping themselves to all sorts of different foods, but he had all but been strongarmed into taking this.

He might be able to find some use for the girl, so he smiles kindly.]

I've only just arrived. [He is very calm, for someone so new.] I take it you are familiar with this place, Miss?

[seekinganswers]

Call me Sheba.

[She smiles back. She's never really seen Van before, and hadn't dwelt on his image long enough the few times she's seen memories of him for his face to be immediately recognizable. There's something vaguely familiar about him - she thinks he has eyes sort of like Tear's, but it's been so long since her meeting with the Fonist (and she hasn't run into the newer Tear yet) that she can't really be sure.

It's better to be polite than to jump right into hostilities based on suspicions, she thinks, but she'll be cautious.] It's been eight and a half months since I first woke up here. I'd hope I'm familiar enough with it by now.

asdf... Y-you! [Also, cafeteria, since Luke still needs to eat the oatmeal ha ha...]

[desireforchange]

It tasted absolutely terrible, but it had to be eaten, right? Thanks to his body no longer rejecting the mere idea of food, Luke had finally managed to eat the required first meal.


Sighing, the replica hoists himself from the table, gathers his things, and begins walking. Seconds later, he is strolling towards the exit, a thoughtful expression resting on his face. These past few days have managed to do nothing but surprise him, so he's appreciating the breather. So far, nothing too shocking has happened. This could explain why his guard is down, as well as the reason his entire body stiffens with what (or who, rather) his eyes land on--steps immediately coming to a halt.

"Van...?"

Van is here--he is sitting there, eating, as though everything is perfectly fine. Instantly, Luke's eyes dart around the cafeteria. Tear isn't here (that's good, in spite of the fact that she is likely going to find out, anyway). Teeth clenching, Luke approaches his old instructor with a less-than-happy expression. A tiny voice in the back of his mind wonders exactly why he didn't simply continue out of the cafeteria. Maybe a part of him is slightly comforted by the familiarity. After everything he's seen and learned, so far, it's nice to see someone he knows--even if they did try to kill him and all of his friends (and destroy Auldrant as they knew it)...

...Okay, maybe leaving the cafeteria would have been a better idea.

[gloryseizing]

Ah, I see. Sheba, then. I am Van Grants. [He wonders if his title has any meaning here, and then shrugs. What does it matter? It is his title and he is free to use it as he sees fit.] Commandant of the Oracle Knights.

[Eight months is a long time. He gives the girl a once-over before nodding. Yes, he decides, she may very well be useful. For someone so young to have survived here for so long, she must have some sort of skill he can use.]

As someone who has been here for more than eight months, what sort of advice would you have for someone who has just arrived?

always watch your step in a cathedral; there's probably ions afoot

[fonlines]

"Many things are, here," come the soft tones of the Fon Master's voice from the central stairwell, though it can't really be described as soft for the steel that lurks just beneath the surface.

It's much more apparent than usual, at any rate, perhaps only because of the increased volume he'd spoken at to be heard through the natural dampening effect of the sound on this floor. Certainly not because of the company, because despite his kind demeanor and placid smile the Fon Master supported the ideals of the Light of the Sacred Flame and his group, right?

"One gets used to it after a while." He's not looking at the Commandant, instead staring past him up at the stained glass with an unreadable expression. The smile never leaves his face.

Then, abruptly, he tilts his head to look directly at the man. "I must say, I wasn't expecting to see you here, Van."

library

[fionnuisce]

[Waver had pulled himself away from his research for a while; he could use a break now and then to clear his head and reset the tangled mess of intersecting tracks that had once been a reasonable train of thought. The harder he worked on the task at hand, the less he accomplished, and that was a problem. The instructor in green and black had chosen to distract himself in the same place he always did--the library, with one manner of book or another on his hand.]

[The day's next distraction game when Waver caught sight of someone that looked strange even by his standards of the word--which was saying a lot. How on earth did anyone fit through doors with an outfit like that? Of course, remarking on it immediately might have been a little out of line.]

Is there something you're looking for? [So instead of criticizing Van's apparent sense of fashion, Waver glanced up fromt he book he was reading with a simple question.

[seekinganswers]

[Van...

So this is him. She looks at him again, and this time, thee is a sort of faint recognition in her eyes. A memory of him standing over - not her, Asch, but she saw the memory from his point of view. The angle is different now that she looks at him head-on, but now that she's made the connection he's recognizable enough.

Her hand curls tightly around her fork, but she is careful to keep her expression polite and her voice even.] Commandant Grants is sort of a mouthful. Do you mind if I just call you Van?

[Then she sets the fork down and brings both her hands up so that she can rest her chin on them as she considers the subject of advice.] The people in charge around here are much more powerful than I would have thought imaginable. They don't like it when people challenge their authority, so it's best to keep your head down. [And then she smiles.] And the others who are stuck here with us are really sick of schemers by now. I'd advise everyone who was new here to not pull anything. [She meets his eyes briefly.] We've all been in the same boat for so long that we're very protective of each other, you see. I know I wouldn't just stand by if someone did anything to someone I care about.

[It would sound like a warning, except she's smiling, so the severity of it is somewhat lessened.]

cathedral

[melodyoftheabyss]

Tear is often in the cathedral, just taking in the silence of it when she's inside. It's pale in comparison to Daath's Cathedral, but it is the closest thing she can find to her world. Somehow not only her but many others from her world ventured here as well.

What she doesn't expect is to see Van there. When she walks towards the cathedral, she notices the familiar figure without much effort. It's been a week or so since she's spoke to Luke about missing memories and her brother.

"Van...?"

There is surprise in her tone and she doesn't attempt to hide it.

Library

[queensgeneral]

He's never seen his face around the tower before. Not that Darres has gone out of his way to mark and remember who was frequent where, but he could safely say he's never see this man in the library before. The tall knight didn't mean to impose but it was better to help him now rather than let him waste his time searching for answers he probably wasn't going to find.

"What are you looking for?"

[Library party]

[bloodyashes]

[This is a redhead minding his own business somewhere in handicrafts.

This is a redhead with his arms full of books, who has just rounded the corner of the aisle to see the last person he ever wanted to see. He just about drops his books.

ABORT ABORT ABORT

Turning around and going the other way immediately might have been an option, but he's probably already been seen. The shocked expression Asch is wearing instead closes up, hardening into anger, into everything boiling up and waiting to come out. Getting angry, after all, is his typical first reaction to things that hurt.

He's been free. Even if it was a short time by Auldrant's standards, not even half a year, it was the first time in his life that Asch didn't have to deal with Van at all, not serving him, not chasing down his plans. He burned that part of himself, with the tabard of the uniform Van had given him, and no matter how the Tower throws it back in his face -

He's not going back. The determination sets his shoulders, or as close as possible with the right one still injured. And really, there's only one thing he wants to say.]

I hope you enjoy the hell out of this world, without the Score you hated so much.

Library

[attheclocktower]

Xion had come to the library looking for a friend. Shion, specifically, because he needed to hear the news that Elena was back too, if he hadn't met her already. He worked in the library sometimes, she knew that, and so it seemed like a safe first option to check.

Unfortunately she wasn't having much luck so far. After a half-hour of searching (the library was pretty big after all) it seemed like a good time to turn to help. And so she approached the first person she came across, who happened to be Van.

"Excuse me," she asked, "Um... I'm looking for a friend of mine. He's a little older than me with white hair. He works here sometimes."

+1 Cafeteria Person

[woodpeckermaruta]

The first place he saw her, upon arriving in this hell...

The Deadman can feel a sinking sensation as he stares out into the cafeteria. He abruptly forces the thoughts and feelings to the back of his mind, closing his eyes for a moment. Sighing, he opens them right back, and the black-haired teenager slowly makes his way to the emptiest-looking table. There's, unfortunately, someone already sitting there--some guy with scary-looking eyebrows and a goatee.

Sitting down a couple of seats away from said guy (and on the opposite side as him), Ganta doesn't bother offering the stranger so much as a nod at first. The fourteen-year-old is clearly not new here, as there is not an ounce of surprise and/or wonder lurking within his expression. He appears to have easily adjusted to the routine of things, as he immediately begins eating, gray eyes planted on the meal before him.

After a couple of seconds, though, curiosity gets the better of him. He glances up at the odd-looking man across from him. This guy is obviously new (he's eating the oatmeal, after all), yet his body language says otherwise.

"You are new, aren't you?"

Me. *smirk*

[gloryseizing]

"You look so surprised to see me."

Van carefully spoons more of the oatmeal up to his mouth and continues eating. Poor Luke really does look so incredibly flabbergasted. Honestly, this from a replica who had managed to defeat his original? Perhaps thinking of him as a foolish replica had been the right mindset all along.

He doesn't look as unhappy as Luke does. Rather, he looks bored... and quite a bit unimpressed.

"Did you really think that if the world was destroyed, I would go along with it?"

Sound advice for anywhere with Ions.

[gloryseizing]

"Is that so?"

Van has seen many curious things in his time, both in Auldrant and in the brief time he has been here. He supposes he should be prepared for further curiosities.

Curiosities such as this Fon Master, who is clearly two years younger than he ought to be. He is not Sync (though the steel in his voice makes him wonder); he is not Florian; he is not the replica they call Ion. And yet he looks very much like the Ion-who-was.

"Nor was I expecting to see you," He says after a moment of looking into Ion's eyes. "You look better than I would expect."

Alive rather than dead.

[gloryseizing]

[How did he fit through doors? Very carefully, of course. It got easier after years of practice being dressed this way.

Van looks over to Waver when the man speaks. He shrugs before speaking up himself.]

I'm not looking for anything in particular, merely hoping to familiarize myself with what is available.

[Van was the sort of person who liked to cover all his bases. He may not have a use for any of this right now, but when he sees the big picture, he can piece the smaller things together to create something of use.]

[gloryseizing]

[Impudent girl. He isn't sure whether to be amused or insulted by her audacity. Most people called him Van, but only after they had known him for a time.]

If that is easier for you to remember.

[Perhaps this is a good thing. She seems to be far from spineless and he will need people who can stand up to hardship. It is only a matter of figuring out what makes them tick and how to best nudge them into doing the things that he wants them to.

...oh ho. For this girl, it seems all he will need to do is to convince her that her friends will benefit from doing what he says.]

That is sound advice. Thank you for your input. [He probably won't follow it, but now he knows what sort of a front he should be putting out there.] Where were you taken from, Sheba? You seem to recognize my title. [And she is dressed like a Fonist. There are plenty of people from Auldrant that he hasn't met in spite of his extensive travels. This girl may be one of them. Now, did "Sheba" mean anything in Ancient Ispanian? He'll have to think on it.]

[gloryseizing]

"...Tear."

He needn't have mourned for his sister upon reading the news of their destroyed world after all. She had certainly been misguided, but as long as she continued to live, there was a chance that she could learn that he had been right all along.

She seems so surprised to see him. It is a little insulting; had she truly believed that he would perish so easily?

[gloryseizing]

"Nothing in particular," He says over his shoulder to the knight. "I am merely familiarizing myself with the library's selection."

Of course, he is looking for something that can be of use to him, but he can't very well come out and say that. He knows better than anyone that would be useful. Depending on others to find it for him would in all likelihood cause him to waste time with trifles that they believed were important when they were not.

[fionnuisce]

[considering how outrageous most Servants' outfits tended to be, he really wasn't in much of a position to judge.]

Am I to assume you're something of a new arrival, then?

[And while he wouldn't judge the absurd outfit, strictly speaking, it was the kind of thing Waver imagined he might have noticed around the Tower before now.]

[gloryseizing]

As I recall, you had a rather strong dislike for the Score as well.

[The words come out mildly. Where Asch is angry, Van is calm, if a little surprised to see him. Hadn't he died? Yes, he's rather certain he had died.]

That being said, I hope you also enjoy this world.

[He looks at the books that Asch had almost dropped, but hadn't. And then he looks at the books around them. Handicrafts? Pah.] You seem to have found ways to occupy your time.

[gloryseizing]

He is pulled away from his perusal of the shelves by the sound of Xion's voice. He turns to look at her. A girl who appears not much younger than Tear, looking for a friend. Maybe it is that she reminds him of his sister, or maybe it is just that he needs to put on a good appearance here.

Van looks concerned when he looks down at her.

"I apologize, but I haven't seen anyone like that. What is his name? I can help you search for him."

[gloryseizing]

"Yes, I am."

The question makes him wonder if most people have less composed reactions to appearing here. He supposes that must be the case, because otherwise, why would anyone doubt it when they see what he is eating?

"But I am trained to be prepared for situations such as this."

Not the worlds being destroyed specifically. Oh, heavens no. But he has had military training, and panic never served anybody well. He knows that from experience.

[gloryseizing]

That assumption would be correct.

[Fresh off the boat, or fresh out of the sleeping pods, as it were. Not that Van knows about the pods yet.]

Am I to assume that you are not?

[fionnuisce]

Not as such, no. Relatively speaking I've hardly been here long compared to some, but I believe it's definitely been several months.