sageprincess: (Dutiful atonement)
Zelda ([personal profile] sageprincess) wrote in [community profile] towerofanimus2013-10-03 04:54 pm

it's just another war

Characters: Zelda and the poor unfortunate souls that have to deal with her.
Setting: Dorm Floor 1, around the Tower, ending with Floor 25; backdated to October 1st
Format: Starting in action, will match.
Summary: Someone very important to the Princess has left the Tower. She tries to keep herself from swan diving off the handle with moderate success.
Warnings: Fighting monsters in the last prompt, general character instability and depression

Morning; outside Room 1-01

[The warm bath was all well and good, but after a week of being locked out of her dorm, what Zelda truly needed was sleep. And sleep she most definitely gets, even staying in a bit longer than usual in order to recuperate from the fatigue one is treated to when they fail to rest in their own bed for several days in a row. It's late morning by the time she emerges from her room to see if she can't catch the last few servings of breakfast.

That's when she notices a change in the nameplate of a familiar room.


1-01
Xion
Sola-ui Nuadha-re Sophia-ri
EMPTY
EMPTY

She's been here long enough. She doesn't need to see the gravestone that has inevitably appeared on the forty-eighth floor to know what that means.

Her Hero is gone once more.

Time passes, and she seems to be unaware of it as she stands there, silent, a grim expression on her pale face, her hands clenched into white-knuckled, trembling fists. She stares at the nameplate for far longer than is necessary, seemingly lost to the world and anyone who might pass by.]


Throughout the day; various

[After recovering from the initial shock, the Princess slips back into the routine she had before the explosions with all the ease of someone who has been within these walls for far too long.

She can be found in the cafeteria at lunch (and, later, dinner), having been too late to catch breakfast. Distantly, she recognizes she should probably be more upset about having nothing but pumpkin to eat for the month again, but she cannot find the will for it, and so eats quietly and without complaint. Afterwards, she heads to the workshop where the green collar fluid research team has set up, once again helping with organization and data compilation, as is her role. When she has done as much as she is needed for (or is able to), she moves to the library to spend the rest of the day with a book she has likely read once or twice before.

No matter where she is, however, she is quieter than usual, and easily drifts off into her own little world. Her movements also reflect (or perhaps betray) how she is not all there today, seeming more like she's just going through the motions rather than with her usual focus and poise.]


Nightfall; Floor 25

[As evening approaches, she does not return to her room as she usually does, however. Instead, she retreats to the meadow just as its more sensible occupants are likely filing out, and waits, alone with her thoughts.

A dangerous thing, that.

She could have gone to the ninety-sixth floor, and wiped herself clean, letting blissful ignorance take the place of the loneliness she has come to despise so much. But she is Wisdom's child - such things are not fit for her - and she has been on the other side of that kind of amnesia, besides. She could have gone to the eighty-seventh floor, and let peaceful unconsciousness consume her. But such things are temporary, here, and she would only be back where she started, with an hour of sleep paralysis to do nothing but scream inside her own head and think about that which she does not want to. She could have gone to the forty-eighth floor, and quietly mourned over an empty grave. But what right does she have to such a thing when surrounded by the dozens, hundreds of names representing the souls she has damned?

What in Nayru's name has she been fighting for, anyway? She has seen the past and the future thanks to this wretched Tower. She has seen that even if by some miracle they restore the worlds, her country is still doomed and her soul is destined only to repeat this endless cycle of tragedy until the end of time.

"I will find you again. And again. Over and over, if I must, when the time is right. I will make sure things are set right. You are my friend, after all. I will not let you be alone any longer."

Has she been a fool all this time, to think that promise could be kept? To think that all the pain could be worth it, in the end? To think that maybe, just maybe, they could be more than what destiny had demanded of them?

The glamour sun sets, and she trembles with grief and anger begging to be released. Thankfully, in this instance, the Tower provides. The first wave of miniblins is quickly destroyed before they can even draw close in a wide arc of sacred flame, stronger than is necessary for such a weak mob and more encompassing than its wielder's precise style would typically demand. She flexes fingers that sparkle with magic, entire body faintly aglow with a divine aura as she, for once, allows the restraints on her emotions to fall.

She could have done many other things, but she is a princess, so if she must go down, she will at least go down fighting, even if she no longer knows why she is doing so.]
faithstaynight: (pic#4127430)

[personal profile] faithstaynight 2013-10-27 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
... I cannot make that promise.

[Ruler realizes this as well. As hard as it is to admit, and as much as she doesn't want to admit it while Zelda is this emotionally fragile... it would be even worse to make that promise. If she did, then it would only cause more pain for the both of them.]

But I swear to you, I will fight with every last ounce of my strength against anything that wished to take me prematurely from your side.
faithstaynight: (pic#4915925)

[personal profile] faithstaynight 2013-10-31 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't- [Ruler abruptly pulls out of the hug to grasp Zelda's arms - firmly, but not roughly. She's not even bothering trying to mask the pain on her face, but there's a sort of grim determination there as well as she looks at Zelda.]

Don't... don't say things like that. The last thing you can possibly do is give in to despair. [Her voice softens, and her hands move up to gently lay on the princess's shoulders.] There is never nothing left to fight for. You still have yourself and your own freedom at stake, and because of that, you must not give up.