the seventh - face the light and decide

[fragileprophet]

Characters: Ion and open to anyone!
Setting: The first of the month to present, dorm 1-16, all along the stairs and in the elevator, and floor 38 both day and night. EDIT: Floor 43, trapped in a jail cell.
Format: Either, I'll switch to follow you!
Summary: Ion tries to get back up on his feet after the January event and has a hard time of it, makes the somewhat unwise decision to go around regardless, and finds himself in an unfortunate situation with chuchus after blinking in and out of reality. EDIT: After finding The Bear on floor 14, he brings it to the 43rd floor and has a lot of unpleasant emotions.
Warnings: As with all the other volunteers, Ion's powers are going haywire. Particularly in the last two prompts, he may be putting curse slots on people at random and unintentionally, placing seals, causing giant explosive glyphs to blast anyone and everything in their paths. Potential character injury, or death depending, especially in the last prompt. He also may disappear and reappear at random. Let me know what you're up for! EDIT: For the new prompt, lots and lots of blood and unpleasantness. If anything else happens, I'll keep this updated!

Prompt 1 – Feb 1-4th, any time, dorm 1-16

[If asked, Ion wouldn’t say that he regretted his decision to help fuel the Tower. He didn’t. How could he, knowing that it would give them more time, if only a few months, to reside somewhere that was, if not particularly safe, at least provided them a place to stay that wasn’t a smoldering rock.

That didn’t make the consequences of his participation any easier. Ion was used to being sick, used to being fragile. He had come to know it in a way that he could live with it, to the best of his ability. Some days he even felt something close to strong. To normal.

The first few days of February leave him weaker than he could have ever anticipated. It’s a weakness on top of a weakness that chain him to his bed. Occasionally, he’ll struggle to lift himself to a sitting position and swing his legs over the side, not wanting to waste away uselessly. If that effort alone doesn’t send him falling dizzily back to his pillow, trying to stand on his feet finishes the job.

Of course, sometimes Ion’s legs buckle under him so fast that he can’t catch himself on the bed in time, and instead can be found crumpled in the middle of the dorm’s floor.]

Prompt 2 – Feb 5-9th, any time, stairwell or elevator

[As soon as Ion felt strength enough to get out of bed, he did precisely that. Not that he probably should have, though Ion had always been prone to his own impulsiveness over his sense of reason.

In his determination to overcome his exhaustion, Ion can be found making his way down the stairs almost painfully slow. He’ll take the elevator for certain stretches, if only to rest, but either way he can be found sitting, his head heavy as he leans against his staff, quite frequently. He knows it’s dangerous to rest on the stairs, especially alone, but Ion would rather take all day and risk death to be able to fetch his own meals from the cafeteria than to have his friends trouble themselves to bring food up to him in his bed.]

Prompt 3 – Feb 10th, mid-day, floor 38

[Ion was getting a bit better at walking longer distances the more the month wore on. Not that he didn’t still overexert himself out of habit, if nothing else. He was trying to be conscientious of it, in any case. Today he finds himself out of breath and with spotted vision just a few short floors away from an elevator, but doesn’t trust himself to make it the rest of the way without collapsing. Not wanting another incident, he chooses to make his way into the longue and seat himself heavily in one of the chairs with a sigh. Just a quick rest, he tells himself, and then he’ll continue on his way.

Except, Ion doesn’t have the chance to leave the floor. Eventually, when he feels well enough to continue to the elevator, he disappears into thin air before he can make it to the stairs.]

Prompt 4 – Feb 10th, night, floor 38

[There was no telling precisely how long it was he had been trapped in that black void, but when Ion returned, it was late into the night.

Ion wouldn’t have been particularly bothered had it not been for the multi-colored blobs that had begun to drop from the ceiling surrounding the entrance to the floor and started to inch slowly toward him. Monsters. That was why he always tried to make his way back to his dorm, or at least to an elevator, before the sun had set completely. Frowning, Ion moves his staff to one hand and takes a deep breath. They're nothing so large a single glyph can’t handle, and though he hardly wants to become weak and disoriented as he often becomes after using his powers—and as he had been the week before—they were slowly pushing him back, away from the stairs.

A knot forms in Ion’s throat when, in stretching out his hand, he feels nothing. Not a single shimmering light of a collected fonon for him to harness. He tries again, and again, all while staggering further and further from his goal as the monsters close in on him. Each time, he finds that it's as if his powers have simply been switched off.

Supposing he’ll have to make due with physical force, Ion attempts to whack one of the gel-like monsters out of his way with his staff. It hardly phases the monster—in part because of its composition and in part because Ion’s whacks had never been particularly strong whacks to speak of.

Now, he’s starting to get worried.]


CLOSED TO RICK bashfulshifter

[When Ion finds the bear on the fourteenth floor, he can’t help but feel a twinge of regret. Anyone would, wouldn’t they, when they found their body suddenly out of their control. Not that he wasn’t starting to become accustomed to such feelings—this was hardly the first time that his body has been made to move along like a puppet, allowing him no room to even speak a single word of explanation.

Any trace of exhaustion that he had felt before during his search doesn’t seem to matter. He walks on regardless, up and up and up the stairs until he’s back where he started on the 43rd floor. But that’s not where it ends. Of course it isn’t. He feels his breath catch in his throat when the cell door locks behind him, his heartbeat quicken as he picks up the knife.

Ion doesn’t want to do this. He doesn’t like this. It’s wrong, he can tell. None of his trepidation matters as his arm swings down in a ferocity quite foreign to it, then again and again even as blood pours from the ragged bear, splattering him and his surroundings.

And then suddenly he doesn’t care. He’s angry and sad and hurt. Why shouldn’t it suffer? Ion had always been the one to worry for others, to give the benefit of the doubt, to try and find the best solution for everyone. How had he been repaid? A joke of a life, sickness and pain, betrayal. And he had been too weak to amount to anything. It had been his fault.

How dare she, he thinks as he rips through stuffing and the red covers more and more of his white clothes. I trusted her.

How dare he, he thinks as the blood paints grotesque patterns across his face, if he had listened to me, hundreds of lives wouldn’t have had to have been lost that day in Akzeriuth.

Ion stabs and stabs until his breathing is ragged but still he can’t stop.

Why couldn’t I just have been destroyed with the others? I only failed. Auldrant’s gone and it’ll never be saved. It’s gone and I couldn’t do anything.

Pathetic. He’s pathetic. It’s all hopeless.

The bear’s nothing but a puddle of blood in front of him. It can’t even be called a bear, not anymore. The knife clatters to the floor and the sound echoes through his brain along with that of his own breath in the empty cell.]

What…what did I do?

[He goes to bring his hands up to his face, finds them covered and dripping in blood, and stops. All those thoughts had left him cold and empty and frightened. At the moment, he doesn’t even notice he’s trapped in the evidence of his own uncontrollable insanity. ]

Comments

[1-16, 9th] - oh god this keeps happening I'm so sorry

[bashfulshifter]

[The few times that Rick has managed to make it back to their room following regaining his abilities, he's noticed that his roommate's physical condition hasn't been ideal. He's wanted to help with this--no, more importantly, he's wanted to make it up to him. Rick's selfishness the past few weeks has been inexcusable, given how well Ion tended to him in spite of things; he has to show his appreciation.]

[This would be easier if he could stay human (or in the same place) for long enough to actually ferry items from one floor to the next. This time he's managed a happy compromise: stable for just enough time to build a bowl of hearty chocobo soup, transferred to a mug so that the handle could be grasped by teeth rather than dexterous fingers.]

[...Of course he can't even win in that case, since now he can't fit through the door.]

[The Dinosaur awkwardly stoops so he can knock on the door with his nose. Tap tap. Please open up, his hands are full and he's blocking the hallway.]

yes dinosaur rick come to me

[fragileprophet]

[By this point, although Ion was still mostly confined to their dorm, he had at least regained enough strength to get out of bed without falling over upon doing so. He had been resting, of course, one arm over laying over his eyes as he tried to focus simply on becoming more healthy.

As if simply willing strength to return to the body would do the trick.

When an awkward sort of knocking sounds at the door, Ion stirs and props himself up on his elbows.]

Just a moment.

[A bit confused, he reorients himself in a standing position and makes his way over to the door. Ion finds himself dizzy, if only for an instant, before he opens it to find...

a very large creature carrying a mug full of what smelled to be some manner of soup. Though he's hardly in a position to judge, the concern that knits itself across his pale, tired face comes of its own will.

Leaning heavily against his staff, Ion holds out his hand toward the mug.]

I'm not so sure the dorm is big enough for you to come inside, but would you like me to take that for you?

((ooc: running under the assumption that Ion hasn't seen Rick as a dinosaur but feel free to correct me!))

[bashfulshifter]

((ooc: I would make that assumption as well! Continue!))

[The cup of soup trembles dangerously in the Dinosaur's small hands--he has the handle hooked around a claw, the other palm curled limply around the other side for show, but the stability of this ensemble is questionable at best. It's honestly a miracle that there's still soup left in there.]

[Stubby arms shaking, he carefully extends the cup inside the door for Ion to accept. His beady eyes are imploring. Please take it. He's worked so hard for this.]

[fragileprophet]

[Oh, so the alarming creature did seem to want him to take the mug! Ion's quick to do so, seeing as it looked as if it were about to fall from its haphazard hold. Poor thing. Ion supposed it should have been fearsome, if only by sheer size alone, but it just looked so crammed and desperate that he had a hard time being nervous.

Or perhaps it was because he was so tired. That, or the setting they had found themselves in didn't allow for the same measure of fear so casually. At least not after all this time.

He holds the item to his chest, and in doing so gives the dinosaur the biggest smile he can offer.]

If this is really for me, then thank you; I'm touched by your kindness in thinking of me.

[His smile softens, then.]

Is there anything I can do to help you, as well?

[The creature is certainly a resident of some sort, after all, given the collar. And moreover than that, Ion could never leave a living thing to suffer in any capacity. Not while he was still standing.]

[seventhsong]

[They were all suffering side effects of what they'd done to save the tower. Lorelei held no particular regrets over it; they couldn't very well find a way to save the worlds if the Tower came down too early, after all. But the side effects.. he didn't like a lack of control, and had stayed in his own quarters for quite a while after finding out the weakness simply led to occasional destruction, creation of objects or random healing.

But eventually, he felt well enough to go looking for one of the few people he was certain could completely nullify his concerns about vaporizing people as he wanders - the Fon Master. He knew well Ion had also been there in those machines and likely also had to deal with the side effects, but risks had to be taken. They might well kill each other in the attempt on sheer accident alone, but ... maybe it'd work out.

By the time he locates Ion it might well be incredibly impeccable timing. The little Fon Master seemed to be having issues with blobs. From the doorway is seemingly quite suddenly, an angry redhead with a sword. It's not the first time Ion's dealt with those but maybe it's only his choice of clothing that pins Lorelei immediately as not one of his isofons.

The blobs might be able to resist the staff of a fairly weak boy, maybe a sword and an adult will teach them a better lesson.]

[fragileprophet]

[Angry or not, Ion can't deny that he's happy to see Lorelei. Where his staff can do little more than bounce off of the creatures, a sword would cut them to pieces quite efficiently.]

Oh, thank goodness!

[His voice comes out all at once as he hits the room's far wall.]

I don't know how much longer I can hold them off--they came upon me so suddenly, and I've been trying to use a Daathic Fonic Arte to be rid of them, but I can't seem to bring myself to.

[Ion wouldn't be using this time for so many words were it not for how slowly the things move. And besides, some of them seem to have turned their attention to Lorelei instead.]

[seventhsong]

[He didn't like seeing people get hurt. Especially didn't like seeing good people who weren't so good at defending themselves getting hurt. Monsters taking advantage of the fact that Ion wasn't much good at it right now, was extremely annoying, and although Lorelei doesn't often bother to get angry over things, this succeeds.

And he has no issues at all with hacking the blobs to pieces as quickly and efficiently as he can manage.]

Just hang in there. I'll have them cleared out soon. Are you alright?

[He sounds grim about it, but not at all doubtful he'll be able to manage, even when a hiccup of his own powers heals one of the bisected blobs, forcing him to backtrack and kill it again. The fact that they're slow means he's going to make a good solid effort at crossing the room to better put himself between the Fon Master and his attacking jello monsters.

It's a dangerous place to be, with both of them malfunctioning on a fundamental level. But safer than hoping none of the monsters get too close, surely. And if he can get there? It's back to dedicated slaughter. Lorelei does not share Luke's qualms about murder. Not when it's these things.]

btw gonna start rolling for random event consequences!

[fragileprophet]

((ooc: got a small number this time so nothing big yet though))

Yes, I'm--

[All at once it's like his energy spills out of him and onto the floor. He shouldn't be so exhausted, not now, not after having been gone for so long in the void. Unfortunately, his state of being had never been particularly good at being reasonable.]

--fine.

[He finishes his answer even as his legs wobble and knees buckle into one another. Ion catches himself on his staff, slamming the end of it into the ground to keep him from falling. The boy almost missed, barely managed to move it from being used as a defensive weapon back to the support beam it so often ended up serving as. It's a temporary fix, but hopefully a temporary fix is all that's going to be needed.]

38

[invisible_friendship]

ION!

[A certain replica could hear a familiar voice not too far off. The blonde approached Ion until he was just a foot or so away.]

Hey, pal!

[fragileprophet]

[Hearing his name almost startles him, but in the end Ion just smiles as he turns around to face the source of the familiar voice. Although he's clearly exhausted, he beams at the blonde.]

Jonouchi! I'm so glad to see you; I feel as if it's been ages.

[Of course, that's what he gets for being strapped to a machine and then trapped in a void for a week before spending another week chained to his bead out of pure lack of energy.]

You're well, I hope?

[Not like the rest of the volunteers, all struggling to get back on their feet after last month.]

[invisible_friendship]

[Better than poor Ion. Jonouchi couldn't really do much to help him, but he was glad his friend was up and about like he should be.]

Well enough in a place like this. [It's as if his spirits was unaffected.]

Need me to get you anything? You look kinda tired.

[fragileprophet]

[Well enough given the circumstances. Ion couldn't have asked for a more accurate summary. His smile never fading, he shakes his head politely.]

That's alright. I just need to rest until I regain a bit more of my strength. Nothing that a bit of time shouldn't fix.

[Ion pauses, tips his head demurely.]

But thank you for asking; I appreciate your concern.

Feb. 7, stairwell

[sarcasmancer]

The thing about being Jade is, even if you're feeling terrible, you know how not to show it. Since the beginning of the month, he's felt exceptionally terrible, or at least, terrible for him, to the point where he even shows the exhaustion he feels on occasion. Other times, he pushes through it with his usual seeming total lack of concern.

And of course, other times, he pops into the void, and other times, he has no powers at all. These are still preferable to powers going out of control, though Jade can count himself fortunate enough to have not yet experienced that. No powers at all can be dealt with. Powers out of control...

He would rather not lose control.

That all being said, though, he has a natural advantage over Ion in that he's healthy and strong, and by now it's a week into the month, so he's had a bit of time to begin to recover. When he leaves a certain floor and starts heading down the stairs, his pace is brisk, knowing the risks of using the stairs these days--but all the same, he slows and stops when he sees the green-haired replica slumped.

Jade moves a couple of steps down from Ion, then turns and regards him, eyebrows furrowed. He looks to be alive and conscious, but... "Ion? What are you doing here, all alone?"

[fragileprophet]

At first, Ion doesn't hear Jade. Or rather, the voice sounds distant in his ears, dreamlike and unreal. But he opens his heavy lids, though they flutter in a labored fashion in the attempt. He smiles up at the older man, looking a touch bashful. Like a child who is preparing to admit that he ate a cookie before dinner.

"It seems that, once again, I've overexerted myself." Ion gives a weak laugh, but resigns to shake his head with a sigh that comes out more heavily than he intends. "I suppose I have a natural talent for getting myself into trouble, haven't I?"

His smile fades, then, and Ion's expression becomes a touch more pleading. "I'm sorry, Jade. I know it was terribly foolish of me to have taken the stairs, particularly alone...but I just couldn't stand spending another day unable to so much as leave my dorm." He pauses, looking down at his feet. "I thought I could make it farther than this without needing to stop and rest. I was wrong."

He knew if he stood, he'd likely regret it, if he even managed to lift himself to begin with.

[sarcasmancer]

This is rather more serious than a cookie before dinner. The look on Jade's face is grave when Ion acknowledges that he'd disregarded his health again.

"You do," he says simply--but at least he hears Ion out. In the end, he sighs. "The circumstances are rather different now than they were at the Cheagle Woods, but even so, you should know to be more careful. Did you at least let anyone know you were going for a walk? Any of your roommates, for example?"

All the same, he leans forward to offer his arm to Ion to use as support. "In any case, Anise would be terribly cross with me if I left you here. Were you headed anyplace in particular?"

[fragileprophet]

Ashamed, all Ion can do is knit his brow and look ashamed. His cheeks color themselves rose. He knows it's different, of course he does. Different and more dire, if only that the situation here promises more suffering in the place of permanent death.

"I'm afraid I only have one roommate left, now," he admits quietly, his thumbs idly stroking the smooth surface of his weapon-turned-walking-stick. "He's been similarly out of commission, so it didn't seem fit to bother him."

But the he looks back up, and when Jade leans down to help him, gladly takes his arm to help regain balance on his two feet. "Not necessarily," he admits, "my friends and acquaintances were being so kind to me, bringing me food and drink when they knew I was confined to my bed. It was terribly thoughtful, but I can't bear to think of them going out of their way for me. I thought perhaps it would be a good start to try to make it down to the cafeteria to fetch my own meals."

It is, of course, an unfortunate fact that the cafeteria is so far from the dorms. Ion wasn't planning on completely ignoring the elevators, mind you, but to only take it on the trip down and back definitely felt as if it defeated the purpose of regaining his walking energy.

Floor 38, Feb. 10, Mid-Day

[wrathishness]

[Ion isn't the only one who decided to stop off at the lounge for a rest. Though he only just arrived yesterday, Ira's already spent a lot of time exploring the Tower. Not everywhere, because his method of doing so was teleporting here and there, and there are several floors where such powers are canceled out, but he's still had a very full thirty-two or so hours.

Which means he's still in a bad mood, which means, even though Ion barely made any noise when he sagged into a resting place a couple chairs away, and even though Ion plainly looks wrung out, Ira glares over at him from where he's slumped sulkily onto his own seat.]

Hey, pipe down; you sound like an elephant!

[fragileprophet]

[Not having noticed the other individual on the floor, not having expected to be spoken to, and definitely not understanding what warranted such hostility, Ion jumps, startled, in his seat.]

Oh...I'm sorry, pardon me.

[His brow knits in a mixture of confusion and genuine apology.]

I'll try to be more mindful.

[wrathishness]

[And unfortunately for Ion, it's not that he really did anything wrong so much as Ira just wants to pick a fight, because he needs something or someone to vent his spleen on. It wouldn't have mattered what he'd done; Ira would have found an excuse to get mad about it. On that note, it wouldn't have mattered who it was, either; Ion just happened to get unlucky.

Ion seems to get unlucky a lot, really.]

Tch. You better! I'm tryin' to get some peace and quiet over here and you had to go and hulk-stomp all over it!

[Dorm, let's say the 4th]

[bloodyashes]

[Late in the afternoon, there's a sharp rap on the door, followed by a familiar voice.]

I brought you a meal.

[The lack of a greeting is as identifying as anything, as well as the fact that neither Luke nor Lorelei is likely to be bringing by cooking. And since Ion hasn't been around much the last few days, the kid's probably stuck in bed, is what he's thinking.

GOTTA KEEP YOUR STRENGTH UP, ION. HAVE SOME EATS.]

[fragileprophet]

[Ion hadn't been sleeping, exactly, but at least he wasn't face first on the floor when Asch let himself into the dorm. He sits up weakly, curling his legs underneath him to be able to greet the redhead as properly as he can manage.]

Oh, Asch...thank you.

[He accepts the food that he's been given, honestly grateful, but he can't help but look bashful. Even hardly having eaten much at all since the beginning of the month, unable often to even find the energy necessary to be hungry, Ion knows its an activity he should be putting more effort into.]

I'm sorry you had to go through the trouble; this really is very kind of you.

[bloodyashes]

[Asch slides the metal container off his shoulder - there's enough for several meals inside, not just one, including a full loaf of bread and some of the salted meat.]

It's not trouble; I'm doing a lot of cooking anyway, since no one wants to deal with what Ruana set out for dinner.

[Also, no one wants to deal with what Anise would do if Ion managed to starve himself to death through neglect.]

43rd floor, closed prompt!

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick has found some benefits to this month's shapeshifting difficulties--not many, but he's been trying to stay optimistic.]

[For one, not being able to get back into his room every evening has given him lots of time to explore the less well-traveled floors of the Tower, usually at night while looking for places to hide. The jail floor is one of them; while sinister and generally unpleasant, the monster-proof cages seem convenient should he be in the area during one of his flights. He happens to be wandering by when that second benefit hits--]

[--amplified senses. Presently trapped in the body of Laurence the horse, Rick hears the blood-curdling sound of ripping flesh several floors below where the act is occurring. A different form may have made the subsequent dash up the stairs less awkward, but Rick can't be particularly picky at the moment. The least he can hope for is to provide a quick escape for whoever might be in danger.]

[By the time he makes it to the jail floor, all noise has stopped. Rick cranes his neck through the entrance and gives the dim room a thorough sweep, ears swiveling nervously to pick up anything suspicious. There's a faint sound, like light, exhausted breathing...and then a familiar voice.]

[Ion?]

[Rick wants to call his name and affirm, but what comes out is an anxious-sounding whinny.]

[fragileprophet]

[Ion feels something rising in his throat, clawing to get out as his whole body begins to shake. He can't tell if it's a scream or if he's going to be sick, but whatever it is dies before it can escape when a horse-like noise sounds somewhere outside the cell.

All at once he moves, shaking and stumbling, back away from the mess he'd made, though there's blood pooled so widely and freely across the place it's hard to escape it. Ion's sandals slip in blood as he tries to pull himself to his feet, only to send him crashing back down again. Hardly discouraged, he tries again until he practically crashes into the force field.]

I-Is someone out there? Hello?

E-rank luck strikes again, brb

[bashfulshifter]

[Definitely Ion--and he's struggling! Rick gives another neigh, slightly louder and more panicked, carefully trotting his way along a floor that is unpleasantly slick as he pinpoints the source.]

[Just as he gets close enough to make out his small roommate in a cage, the horse disappears into thin air.]