❝trying to talk my way out of this❞

[guiltapalooza]

Characters: Willow and whoever. OPEN.
Setting: Sixth floor (the forest).
Format: I slightly prefer action over prose, but I'll match whatever you want to do!
Summary: Willow's been doing a lot of magic lately, and tries to meditate to help manage it. Unfortunately she picks the worst place possible. Run into her in A or B, just let me know which one in the subject!
Warnings: Grief. Addiction recovery.


A.

[Since she got here, she's been doing magic almost nonstop. Well, not really, but it feels that way. Casual, advanced, ritual and on the fly-- she's even been teaching it, a little. Willow desperately needs to meditate and feel the Earth beneath her before it catches up with her. She can feel the temptation, feel how easy it is, to just solve everything with a burst of power and a hand gesture, maybe a well-placed word...

But it doesn't solve everything, and it won't bring Tara back. Tara, who had just wanted the best for her; who had wanted her to use magic for good things, as an expression of compassion toward the world. Not for selfish reasons. Willow feels intensely ashamed that she still struggles with this, but that doesn't mean she doesn't. She needs the grass under her hands and trees above her head to recenter herself. To find peace.

She shakes out a circle of ash about five feet in diameter, within sight of the stairs. It's a magical perimeter, intended to stop anything with malicious intent from crossing in and harming her. She hasn't had to use one in years, but Eridan had warned her about the monsters lurking in the woods. Willow uses one now, and settles herself cross-legged in the middle.]


B.

[Some time later, just as she'd really been settling into her inner space, the part of herself that stays calm and undisturbed no matter how much black magic roils through her... she hears a voice, and her breath catches. She could've sworn her heart stopped.]

Tara? [she whispers, and a moment later, she hears another trace of it echoing again.

No. She's dead. Willow lurches to her feet, leaving the small bowl of ash behind, forgotten, and rushes over to the stairs. She's breathing fast, almost hyperventilating, as she races down them.]

Comments

[B.]

[rompicoglioni.livejournal.com]

[Hope you meant to collide with a man on your way down the stairs. That's totally what just happened.]

OOF--well you're in a hurry.

[He wonders if something was chasing her?]

[guiltapalooza]

Sorry-- I'm sorry. [Willow has to make herself stop apologizing. This isn't Tara, she's not here; this is just some poor guy she ran into.

She unsteadily backs up a couple steps higher to give him his personal space back, and takes an audibly shaky breath.] Do you... do you know anything about the sixth floor? The forest level.

[In her urgency she doesn't care how abrupt this is.]

[rompicoglioni.livejournal.com]

[He doesn't mind sharing his personal space with women in need... but now's not the time for that. The very mention of the forest level makes him frown, and it makes sense now. That's where she was running from, duh.]

That's a stupid excuse for a forest. It makes you think the people you care about are calling for you, then lures you in to... [He trails off in a predictably ominous way.] Did you hear something?

[B]

[megid0-maiden.livejournal.com]

[Aradia catches a glimpse of red hair as she heads down the stairway, having intended to explore some of the forest herself. But that looked a lot like her room mate and since Willow had been so nice to her when she'd arrived, Aradia felt it would be wrong to just ignore her now.

And so she follows, allowing her wings to carry her faster than her legs would]

Willow?

[B]

[guiltapalooza]

[Willow comes to an abrupt halt on the fourth floor landing, ironically where they'd met. Her breathing is still rapid and uneven, her eyes wide, distress painted across her features.

But she's obviously trying to get herself under control, too.] Aradia. I... can you do me a favor? [Her overwhelming memories about Tara are starting to ebb a bit now, and Willow can think more coherently. Ordinarily she wouldn't be this short with words, this terse. But it's all she can manage.]

Can you stop me from going back up to the forest?

[B]

[megid0-maiden.livejournal.com]

[Oh no, this isn't good. Aradia nods, more than willing to help where she can]

Wh-sure, if you want me to. Why, is there something bad up there?

[Like she's not going to explore for herself later anyway, but something's obviously freaked Willow out]

B

[hoboherooo.livejournal.com]

[Eiji pauses on his way up the stairs as he notices the hurried woman. And having been in this place for so long, he's come to realize that asking if everything is okay has become a foolish inquiry - better to just cut to the chase.]

What's the matter, miss?

[Because it seems like there's always something the matter in this place.]

[guiltapalooza]

[She stops at his question, closing her eyes for a moment, collecting herself.

Okay. Logical inquiries now. She can do this.] Have you... have you been to the forest level? [Willow asks, tentative and unsure. Her eyes are open again but she's jittery, her thoughts swimming.]

[hoboherooo.livejournal.com]

[The man shakes his head, but he looks a bit uneasy at the mention of it.] I haven't. I've heard some bad things about it, so I've avoided it.

[A]

[token_vengeance]

What are you doing.

[Erik leans on the edge of the stair case, watching the red head spreading out ash about herself. It's an interesting ritual, one that he doesn't know the purpose of.

Except to make a mess, but considering she is in the forest well, it doesn't matter much, does it?/

This floor is one he avoids, due to the lack of things within it to protect himself.]

[A]

[guiltapalooza]

[She glances up and gives him a friendly smile, not recognizing him as they'd only spoken via text, before.]

Meditating. --Oh, you mean the circle. It's a magic perimeter; it'll stop anything that wants to harm me from crossing over it. You never know in a place like this.

[token_vengeance]

...you're Willow, then.

[He hasn't met another music user, really, since he's been here. Not one he hasn't considered a mutation (Vivi doesn't count. Vivi is like a pet).

It's an educated guess.]

B!

[princeoffortune]

[Cue one very surprised Naoto who is now following her down the stairs in concern.]

Willow?

[guiltapalooza]

[She stops in place, turning around and glancing up. Uncertainty and vulnerability are written obvious across her face.]

N-Naoto?

[princeoffortune]

[She catches up to her, brow furrowed]

Are you alright? Did something happen?

a

[weaponiser.livejournal.com]

[She was partially in the mood to go for a walk, be alone for a while, and partially wanted to get back into her training routine - if she wasn't going to get out of here for a while, she might as well keep up on her exercise, at least - when she ran into Willow upstairs.

She tilted her head at the circle surrounding her, but Stein recognized meditation easily enough, and rather than wanting to disturb her, she sat down in front of her, outside the ash circle.]

[guiltapalooza]

[When Willow's meditating, she's tuned into the life around her in all its expressions, and it doesn't take long to notice that she has a visitor.

Mustering herself out of mentally floating among the plant roots, she flutters her eyes open with a peaceful smile. Oh, it's Stein.]

Hi. Did you want to join rootsy time? [Feel free to ask her wtf she's talking about.]

[weaponiser.livejournal.com]

[Eyebrow quirk] Rootsy time? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

A!

[cabecilla.livejournal.com]

[He is not coming from the stairs. He's coming from deep within the forest, flying high over the trees on his way out. And if the low hum that accompanies him through the air is not enough to alert her, then likely the way he crashes into the trees nearby will]

[...well, it's not crashing exactly. It's more trying to find a place to land in the branches, and then not slowing down enough for it to not make a ridiculous amount of noise. Either way, enjoy that whole... murdering the ambiance thing!]

LOL I love this.

[guiltapalooza]

[Willow has been a Scooby for seven years now, which means she's been an unofficial superhero sidekick for that long, too. There's no hesitation-- she jerks up to her feet and out of her meditation, and her eyes immediately go wide at, from what she can see, is a bunch of loudly rustling trees and crashing noises.

She glances at her protective circle and makes a snap decision. That's either someone in trouble or an enemy, and if it is someone in trouble she's not going to save them standing around. Quickly toeing the ash line to make a gap, Willow steps over it, any protective power it once might've had dispelled.

She makes her way to where the noise is coming from, weaving between trees. Whoo, boy. Whatever this is, it'll undoubtedly be interesting.]

ffff he is The Most Graceful!!!

[cabecilla.livejournal.com]

[And lo, there was nothing but a hella beat up troll trying to disentangle his ridiculous horn from a rather stubborn tree. Sorry Willow, nothing too exciting]

[He doesn't spot her for now, too busy being frustrated at the tree instead]

[savedbyasong.livejournal.com]

[Shion was trying really hard not to think about the fact there was a forest in a tower, a floor much bigger than it should be if he went off the proportions of the other floors. It made no sense, nothing made sense.

He was lost in thought, and not really that observant in the first place and so he had to jump out of the way of the figure rushing down the stairs. He tripped and fell but luckily not too far.] Are you alright?

[guiltapalooza]

I'm-- I'm fine-- [Not really, but she sort of doesn't want to harp on her own potentially-going-crazy-from-a-trick status when this guy just tripped down the stairs.

She stops and looks at him in concern.] Are you okay? I didn't mean to trip you.

A

[consumedpast.livejournal.com]

What are you doing?

[guiltapalooza]

[Willow opened her eyes, looks up, and smiles when she sees her. Doing this always puts her in a good mood.]

Meditating. Communing with the Earth, really-- or wherever this is. [She runs the fingers of one hand through the grass beside her, almost like raking through the hair of someone she loves. It's unmistakeably affectionate.] It feels different here than home, but it's still nice.