You're the one that they used to hate but they like you now [OPEN]

[monstrueux]

Characters: Caster/Gilles de Rais and YOU
Setting: Throughout the Tower
Format: Action, but will match
Summary: Gilles arrives in the Tower and goes exploring.
Warnings: Blood, gore, monster death. Mentions of murder, Gilles' crimes. Also, Gilles is an unpleasant person and his permissions post is here. (Although at his current canon point, Gilles is somewhat altered, having had a revelatory experience.) Let me know if there are subjects I should avoid, or if you'd prefer to avoid tagging with Gilles altogether. It's cool! I'm also reusing a couple prompts from my test drive thread. If anyone wants to continue anything we started there, let me know.



Room 1-10 & dormitory floors:
What have I--

[Gilles starts awake, eyes snapping open, tears streaming down his face.]

--done?

[That was what he was going to say, wasn't it? What have I done? It's suddenly difficult to remember, although he can yet see, clearly, his vision of Jeanne at the cathedral. Radiant, beautiful Jeanne, standing at Charles' right hand as he'd stood at Charles' left. How is is he here? Where is he? He doesn't know. Where is she? Where is Jeanne? He has to find her. Nothing else matters. He doesn't care about anything else. She was with him, moments ago. She must be here! Gilles rises from his bed, then heads out into the hallways, searching for her.]

Jeanne?

floor 1 (cafeteria):
[It's a good thing Gilles doesn't have to eat. Since he hasn't actually read any information, he knows nothing about the oatmeal. Fortunately, he doesn't try to consume anything yet. No, instead of eating, he's busy in the kitchen, curiously and furiously moving ingredients around, filling pots and pans and turning the oven on. What he's doing can't exactly be called "cooking" so much as "making a huge mess". The tomato soup splattered everywhere is certainly alarming, although the tiny pasta alphabet letters dotting the walls and floor add a whimsical touch.

It's not that he's not looking for Jeanne, he's just been temporarily distracted. Everything here is so strange and new to him! And his constant urge to cause chaos is difficult to resist.]

floor 13 (cathedral):
[Gilles has noticed that he is unable to summon his monsters. The reason for this must be simple. He he hasn't made the necessary sacrifices in this place. They require flesh and blood to summon. All his old work was destroyed, or used up in his final act.

He hesitates, but in the end decides that he will do it. He will make his sacrifices. He finds these creatures, these monsters, and he determines that they will do for now. He has a place for the ritual already chosen: the cathedral he found. Where else? The altar draws him. He regards it with a mixture of love and loathing, fascination and revulsion, and in the end, he is driven to defile it. That is what he does. In the end, perhaps he cannot change what he's become.

He catches and maims the creatures, then kills them in this holy place. When his grisly work is done, both Gilles and the altar are covered in blood. Viscera are strewn across the floor. Bones litter the nave. It's impossible to tell, judging by what's left, what exactly was slaughtered there. The huge man, nearly seven feet tall, stands gazing at the stained glass windows, blood dripping from his robes.]

floor 28 (music floor):
[It's no surprise to hear music playing on this floor. It's often the case that the instruments will play by themselves. Yet this time, the music is exceptionally loud. That is thanks to Gilles, dressed in his voluminous robes, standing at the pipe organ. The pipe organ, which he has no idea how to play, as is evident from the assortment of sounds he coaxes out of it. If anyone needed further proof that Gilles de Rais is a sadist, well--here it is.]

floor 45 (observatory):
[Gilles hardly notices the glass walls and the skittering creatures. Skittering creatures are old news to Gilles. He has other things to think about.

If there's one thing he can't understand, it's why he has his armor. It's the very same armor that he wore during the war, when he served France so loyally, fighting at the side of Jeanne d'Arc. Black and dull, it makes the huge man look even larger (not that his robes don't do the same). He stares down at his armored hands, frowning. He has his sword, too. The sword his grandfather refused to leave to him in his will. He takes it in his hands, studying the blade of the longsword as he swings it experimentally through the air.

He remembers that bright light, washing over him, but now that he has come to this new Hell, he is not sure what to think. His thoughts are erratic, unreliable, but he tries. So for the moment, Gilles looks relatively subdued: a tall, dark, and gloomy knight casting a reflection in the glass. His swollen eyes protrude from his face less than usual.

Why, why does he have such objects? Surely he is not meant to be a knight again. Not the monster Gilles de Rais.]

Comments

floor 1

[puppy_lancer]

[Sometimes, when Lancer walked by the kitchen, he could smell delicious things cooking. Today he smelled raw ingredients and heard the clamor of pots and pans. When he peeked into the kitchen, he could see it was a huge mess. Bigger than when Diarmuid had tried to make cookies, even.]

What the fuck?

[He mutters, staring at the kitchen and the man who seems to be...scribbling on the floor.]

[monstrueux]

[He's not scribbling, but the alphabet soup is novel to him. Soup with letters in it. He scratches at them on the counter with his long fingernails. Perhaps he could spell something out...

But he looks up at the sound of a profanity. Another Servant? Well, that matters very little to him.

Having never "cooked" before, Gilles has no idea what he's doing. He stirs his "soup" and more of it spills out over the floor. Something gristly falls at his feet.]

Are you a cook?

[Because he looks just like a cook. (Actually, Gilles suspects he isn't one, but hey, there could be a Servant who's also a chef!)]

[Cafeteria]

[pure_as_snow]

[Irisviel had come to the cafeteria seeking a warm meal and little else. Content to consume the usual slop the tower provided to all it's residents, she sat quietly at a table while humming a tune to herself in German in between bites.

But, somewhere along the line, her quiet meal was interrupted by the cacophony of noise that erupted from the cafeteria's kitchen. Rising from her meal, she made her way to the kitchen and poked her head around the corner while wearing a concerned look on her face.]

Is everything all right?

[She spoke in a concerned manner, observing the mess surrounding her before settling her gaze upon Caster himself.]

[monstrueux]

[Gilles blinks at her. There's something very familiar about her, but he can't place it yet, too distracted by other matters. He stands in the middle of the kitchen, and he suddenly realizes he does not know what he is doing. He is acting without thinking. He knocks over a pot, angrily.]

In this vicious universe with its hungry god, it is impossible for everything to be all right!

dorm floors

[fionnuisce]

What's all the shouting abou--

[Waver was cut off by a violent shudder as he stepped out of his room, immediately sensing that ungodly presence he remembered far too well. Of course, he'd never had a face to match up with the long, long list of atrocities until now...bit it really wasn't hard to trace the source back to the shady-looking Servant in the hallway.]

You...oh, you've got to be fucking joking.

[monstrueux]

[Gilles arrests his forward movement, regarding Waver curiously as he steps out into the hall. So, there are others here.]

There is no joke!

[Faced with someone standing before him, he has no choice but to ask the most logical question anyone could ask in a situation like this. He bears down on Waver, towering over him.]

Where is Jeanne?

Closed to Lorelei

[monstrueux]

[[ooc: Continued from here]]

[Friendship is the best thing ever! Along with murder. But really, Lorelei has no reason to know of the nature of the friendship between Gilles and Ryuunosuke.]

You were sound itself, but now meat? Noise made flesh?

[That is an intriguing way to put it. He glances at Lorelei's leg as Lorelei pokes it. Ah... The thought of seeing if he's any different inside does occur to Gilles again, but instead of killing, he's busy playing his "song", encouraged, and then--

Lorelei makes his offer. Lorelei is clapping for him, praising him, and Gilles, who enjoys putting on a show, can't help but respond to that attention positively. It's not often that his performances are looked upon so kindly. That the personification of sound itself enjoys his singing! Surely there is no greater praise! (It doesn't bother him that Lorelei basically admitted he would like any kind of sound.) He can consider taking him apart later.]

Yes! Let us be friends!

[seventhsong]

The result of being brought here, I think. It's been strange. I guess they couldn't collar a fonon.

[Nevermind whether or not Lorelei looks like any other person if unzipped, there is an ear-searing cacophony to enjoy! And he does enjoy it, just like he did all the other horrendous noises Gilles has been producing right along with that poor, poor instrument.

All they needed now was Gilles' other friend, Ryuunosuke, and then they'd really have a noisy time of things. That this might involve screaming is ... irrelevant for now.]

Wonderful!

[It's good to have friends! ..Even if they're completely insane. It can't be helped.]

I wonder if you might be convinced to try any of the other instruments here? The organ is very nice, but there's so much variety to be had!

[No, Lorelei, don't encourage this.]

[Dormitory Floors]

[faithstaynight]

[Ruler had long since stopped being bothered by the presence of Servants in the tower. She's been in this prison for over a year now; so many have come and gone, and several still remain. They were familiar presences, and she no longer immediately thought danger when she sensed a new one. But this... this was different. It wasn't just a nearby presence she picked up. There was also a feeling at the back of her neck, like claws of ice digging into it. It was a sense of terrible foreboding.

She was already on the first floor of the dormitory, visiting Zelda, so she spots him almost instantly as he walks out of his room. And everything in her just comes to a screeching halt, and she freezes on the spot.]

... Gilles...?

[There aren't many things that can render Jeanne d'Arc completely and utterly speechless, but this is one of those few things.]

[monstrueux]

[When Jeanne freezes, Gilles does so as well, focusing on one important fact, the most important fact in the world.

She said his name.

She knows him. There is recognition on her face. He can see it there. Is this--his wish, then? Has it finally come true, in truth? Did the light grant him his wish? Has all his work and his suffering been rewarded at last? Much like Jeanne, Gilles is someone who doesn't lose his voice easily, but for what feels like hours, he stares at her, silent, before he finally sinks to his knees. Her name escapes his lips as a cry.]

Jeanne! Yes--yes, it is I, Gilles de Rais! You know me?

floor 13

[undefines]

[The scent of fresh meat is what attracts Nue to this floor, and the sight of Gilles and the altar, both soaked in blood, is what her curiosity is rewarded with. It's an interesting enough sight that she doesn't immediately pass it by. He looks weird, and whatever was here has been destroyed too thoroughly for it to have been just an act of self-defense, she thinks.]

[She doesn't walk, instead gliding nearer in the air to where he stands, the sound of her movements further hushed the unnatural quiet of this floor. When she comes to a halt, she perches on top of the back of the front-most pew, curled up and balanced on her forefeet.]

Did you enjoy yourself? [She calls out to him, her chin resting on the tops of her knees. As usual, her true appearance is concealed.]

[monstrueux]

[Gilles blinks at her. What is this? Some strange, bright, fey youth? Gilles cannot tell whether it is male or female, but it is truly beautiful. It looks almost... infernal. As he watches Nue, he starts to lick his hands and wrists clean, the gesture oddly catlike.]

Hmm, no. It did not please me.

[It's not only that the violence has lost some of its savor in the residual glow of the light... No. There's more to it than that.]

room 1-10

[thirtybits]

[Judas starts when he hears Caster. He hadn't been asleep, although he'd been trying to, so he wasn't aware of the other man in the room.]

W-what's wrong?

[monstrueux]

[Caster doesn't expect there to be anyone else with him, and he gives a start of his own when Judas speaks. He gazes at him for a moment, trying to understand what might be happening.

He stares down at his hands as if he sees something there--although there's nothing on them save his rings--then stares at Judas again. For a helpless moment, he seems completely bewildered.]

What have I become?

[He asks as if Judas is somehow supposed to know.]

Floor 28

[nonacquiescent]

[Wow why does it sound like a monster movie, some kind of Phantom of the Opera crap going on here. Passing by, Waver's only thought is to tell whoever it is making that terrible racket to knock it off. Because he's a crochety old man like that.]

What the hell are you--

[Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit. He'd recognise that horrible form anywhere. This is not good. His first instinct is to run, tell his other self maybe, make sure Ryuunosuke doesn't find his Servant, but he finds himself stuck in place.]

[monstrueux]

[It's a moment before Gilles stops playing, but he does stop. Then he pulls his hands back. Then he turns, his wide eyes focusing on Waver.

He doesn't say anything at first. He remains still for a long moment, then moves forward with great, inhuman speed, appearing before Waver, looking down at this slender young man.

At last, he speaks.]

I am playing music.

Floor 13

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch was originally going to only pass through. He'd gone to the workshop for fabric for more cloaks, but found no suitable fabric today, so he'd have to make do with the always-inferior material on the floor higher up.

But he pauses, now, on his way downstairs for the elevator, at the smell of blood. Though the grand cathedral holds no inherent connection to religion in his mind, there is no denying it has a certain air about it - an air this carnage dampens. What happened here? Had monsters attacked this man? Surely, that was it. But it's so hard to tell. This floor's sound-muting properties would mean that if the victims had made any noise, those on the floors above would not have heard.

At the very least, it appears there is nothing noticeably humanoid here. Cautiously, against his better judgment, Enoch steps off the staircase to approach the taller man, suddenly wondering if this is how he seemed to the average person back home. At 5'11", he was quite a bit taller than the average of the time.*

[monstrueux]

[Gilles turns away from the stained glass windows as Enoch approaches him. Now, who is this? He watches. There's something about this man. He has a compelling air, although Gilles cannot quite explain what it might be.

When Enoch begins to approach him, Gilles returns the favor. After a moment, he steps down from the altar, moving steadily through the blood, his robes dragging through it. It is even smeared on his face, his mouth.]

Who are you, Stranger?

1-10

[notachickenhawk]

[The sudden appearance of someone in the room, not to mention someone crying, is enough to startle Tobias out of his thoughts, perched on the end of his bed. The hawk looks at the strange man - ugh. He doesn't look like a pleasant person. He might as well try, though. He broadcasts his thought-speak to him, his mental 'voice' trying to be gentle.]

<Hey. Are you okay?>

[monstrueux]

[Gilles gives a start, the tears still standing on his face. He holds such a beautiful vision in his mind, but he, the disgusting man Gilles de Rais, seems all the more vile in the face of it. He'd become a monster. He is a monster still.

He looks around, but he sees nothing but a bird of prey. Yet--he thought he heard someone spoke? Was it a voice? Jeanne had always heard the voices of angels. Gilles' voices had been less pleasant ones.

Birds cannot talk, can they? So Gilles isn't sure who he is addressing.]

I am not! I have died, but this cannot be Heaven or Hell. Nor is it the Throne of Heroes, where I should be!

floor 45

[greyerrant]

There's more than one knight in the observatory. A figure some 8 feet tall, clad in grey plate, and bearing a sword that is toothed with sharp adamantine sawblades looks upon Gilles, and the creatures. The silent wolf says nothing, the slow respiration of his multi-lung assisted body through the armor's open seals is the only sound he makes for the moment. This wolfhound, this guardian at the edge of hell watches what may well be one of his own, something better kept in hell, though he knows it not.

[monstrueux]

Gilles turns toward the other figure, slowly. A stranger, in armor as he is. Does he wish to do battle? He does not seem to, and that suits Gilles, who currently has no will to fight. But what a strange man, with strange armor. Gilles has never seen any like it. Armor and weapons: these do not particularly interest him, which may be slightly strange for a man who used to be a knight, but he is curious enough to draw nearer. The man's larger size does not deter him, for Gilles knows little fear, where his physical presence is concerned.

Once he's within several paces of the strange knight, he bows. Maybe it's not exactly what's proper, but it is what he chooses to do, more an act of artifice than sincerity. With his Servant's strength, the armor doesn't weigh him down as it did in life, so he can move quite freely in it.

Locked to Lancelot

[monstrueux]

[[ooc: continued from here.]]

It is like being in a fairy tale!

[And he leans down to kiss Lancelot's hands.]

I am Gilles de Laval, sire de Rais, Maréchal de France.

[He uses his full name and title for once, so Lancelot will think he's cool.]

Sir Re-Appearing In This Thread

[chevalier_mal_fet]

[Lancelot du Lac is not a small man. He is unused to being loomed over, to having his hands taken up by fingers that easily enfold them.
The lineage is one unknown to him. The gesture, oddly mannered though it is, is one of fealty. For a moment only, The Knight of the Lake is put off his guard-- then, without force, he pulls his hands back to his sides.]

I do not know you, Sir de Laval, nor do I know your title. You owe me no fealty, and my Life is no Faery Tale-- though I am gratified that you know of it, as I have said.

You must have come lately to this Place, for your-- energy is unknown to me.
[But he can feel it, quite strongly, and it is not entirely unknown. There is a note of familiarity now and again, but nothing he can pinpoint with ease.]

Floor 45

[no_longer_a_king]

[Considering the last time she saw him involved him summoning what amounted to Cthulu and the fact he had slaughtered countless children beforehand, could anyone blame Arturia for her reaction upon stepping into the observatory and seeing him there? The moment she recognized the man standing there, she didn't even think, just summoned Caliburn into hand and prepared for a fight if he decided to insist once again she was 'Jeanne'.]

Caster!

[monstrueux]

[He looks from his sword to her as he hears her voice, still holding up the blade that so puzzles him. Having seen and spoken to Jeanne not long before, he has no reason to assume she is angry with him, so he does not understand why she would summon her weapon in anger.]

Jeanne? What is the matter? Why do you call me that?

[He hasn't done anything wrong since they spoke!]

November 15th, dormitory floors

[kindofademon]

[Gilles has had conflicting reports as to whether his Master is in the Tower or not.

Ryuunosuke, on the other hand, has heard not a single word as to the existence of his friend until he passes a room on the first floor of the dormitories and notices a name. A very, very important name.

How to find the occupant of the room? He isn't in at the time, so the best way is... Yes, it's to set up camp and wait. He'll have to come in to sleep, at least. Yeah, that's the surest way!

But waiting for hours can get tiresome, and he didn't bring anything to do...

Gilles will find Ryuunosuke napping near the wall outside his room.]

[monstrueux]

[When Waver had said that Ryuunosuke was in the Tower, then that he wasn't, Gilles had been elated, then disappointed. He'd thought he would never see his Master again, and to have that hope was wonderful! To have it dashed was painful. He had no reason to trust Waver, in either case, but what if it were true, and his Master was gone? He should be able to sense him, but their deaths must have severed their bond. Either that, or he isn't present at all.

Gilles dearly misses his company and his understanding. Attempting to be good for Jeanne is a tiring affair.

He's returning from another (fruitless) round of attempting to find an occupation that might distract him, when he rounds the corner and catches sight of a familiar head of red hair. He draws in a breath sharply, forgetting everything but his Master. The sound he makes is an audible gasp. In a moment's time, he is kneeling at Ryuunosuke's side, his hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently awake.]

Ryuunosuke!

Cathedral

[god_damned]

[ It seems natural for Kirei to come to this place.

He found Avenger here once, and that may be what he unconsciously seeks by returning again. Instead, what he finds is something else -- although its origin is as equally dark as Angra Mainyu.

The sound of his approaching footsteps is obvious, and he only pauses for a moment. When he came here last, the floor was not stained red with blood, nor were there creatures lurking within the Cathedral walls.

They have fallen prey to a greater, more fearsome monster.

But Kirei's instinct is not to flee, nor does he draw his black keys. He watches the man from a distance, his eyes narrow. ]

This altar is not meant for sacrifice.

[monstrueux]

[Gilles, lost in thought, isn't aware of Kirei's presence until he speaks.]

Ah!

[Startled from his reverie, Gilles starts at the sight of the priest. He feels an unfamiliar pang of guilt, because the presence of this holy man reminds him: what would Jeanne say? What would she do, if she saw him covered in blood, having defiled the church?]

Père...

[Gilles has no idea that this was Assassin's Master. He has no idea that Assassin was spying on his workshop. However, he would have been delighted to know he had an audience, that someone else had seen his and Ryuunosuke's artwork. He does love performing.]

No, I have defiled it! And to think, I was once a man of God.

[He approaches Kirei, then. As a priest, Kirei would have been in danger from Gilles if he had been brought to Animus even so much as a few minutes earlier than he was, but there is no sign of a threat in Gilles' bearing, unless one should take his advance itself as a threat. The blood on him, and on the floor, is oddly fresh, as if it refuses to dry.]

Now, what will you do? Will you denounce me?