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[crittersheep]

WHO: all
WHERE: all
WHEN: Day 9, evening into night

[the sun goes down; the two moons rise.

it all looks...quite different. the laundromat lengthens and transforms the silhouette of Woolietown in the distance. the lighthouse beacon comes to life for the first time, throwing strong, brilliant light and stark shadows across the meadow and into the barns. the lazy river encircles the pasture in a glittering band, the bobbing shapes of the pool toys a little bit eerie until they drift into full view.

perhaps some of you are winding down. perhaps some of you are just gearing up for a wild adventure in the shadows. perhaps some of you, regardless of if you sleep or stay up, find your dreams and nightmares crawling out beyond the bounds of your own head tonight, drawing others in...

the night is full of possibilities.]

Comments

[catposting]

[ sir that almost looks like Traumerei's mask lmao

anyway ]

Hmmm.

[ glances at the muddled text, shrugs. he's not going to draw ears on this. he's going to draw devil horns and a tail on the ship instead. ]

[finalbows]

<sub>[ the spiel near the bottom of the poster about tears or whatever changes into familiar words, as he draws, in the corner of his eye.

Wangwang's last words. ]</sub>

[catposting]

[ i'm just gonna say it's this because it's hurts more hahAA --

can he

disintegrate the poster or set it on fire or something ]

[finalbows]

<sub>[ oh, yes. Fire comes so easily to you. You were made for it. This is as easy as anything has ever felt. It climbs up the paper easily, erasing first those treacherous words.



You hear a noise behind you. Entering the theatre. Metallic, deliberative, one after another like inevitability. It's the sound of Garland's black sabatons. It's the first sound your ears ever heard and your dreaming mind, obsessed with stories and bookends and tidy resolutions, seizes onto the fear it could be the last.

You are watching the poster burn and curl to nothing as they come closer, closer, unhurried, then stop. Behind you. ]</sub>

[catposting]

[ Angel Devil, when are you going to stop putting emotions in his head. He knows it isn't deliberate, but. gestures at rationality regarding mind control.

he does nothing, shoving down the urge to Enhance something that isn't fear.

if he pretends Garland doesn't exist, it's fine, right? ]

[finalbows]

<sub>[ > ignore.

you tell yourself, over and over

he's dead. you killed him. he's not here.
he's dead. you killed him. he's not here.
he's dead. you killed him. he's not here.
he's dead. you killed him. he's not here.

that doesn't make sense. your master is as good as a god. you can't hope to ever match him--

he wasn't dead, yet, that day.

you are standing in a dreary chamber with walls lined with tubes that look like the husks of old wasp nests. little red cages of something pulsing are in piles, fleshy cables run between them all the way up to the chair in front of you, across a narrow bridge. Your Master is still behind you.

The old man's voice is completely void of feeling. It is merely an assertion of fact. ]</sub>

You will tell me where you have taken the lamb.

[catposting]

[ closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, opens them again.

This isn't real.

dripping with sarcasm: ]

What kind of question is that? I ate it, duh.

[ he still won't turn. ]

[finalbows]

<sub>[ welp.

now it's you that's on the receiving end of that force choke whilst getting lifted up into the air, buddy.

the telekinetic energy he summons glows red, fucking naturally. ]</sub>

You will answer. Or I shall dispose of your reason for refusing.

_{[ lmao. angel devil sure came by the drama honestly. ]}

1/2

[catposting]

[ IMMEDIATELY reaches for Shinsu or magic or anything he can use to break free — ]

[catposting]

[ ... and holds it back. even if he can use it here, he is not showing Angel Devil the robot. he doesn't trust you anymore, teammate. he was beginning to, but you blew it.

he can pull on that, though. he attempts to Enhance distrust and disappointment at "you" -- it could bite him in the ass later, if it works, and if Angel Devil remembers, but right now he's just trying to override the fear of being force choked. speaking of which.

"How am I supposed to answer while you're strangling me, you son of a bitch?!"

surely the other guy will hear if he thinks loudly enough. that's how this dream bullshit works, right? ]

1/2

[finalbows]

_{[ great news, blood fiend, you just spoke with telepathy. the old man heard you loud and clear. ]}

Very well.

<sub>[ he tosses you into the chair, and it's only the fact that it's rooted to the ground it doesn't go flying with you in it. this is, in fact, exact opposite of what "you" want. there's a spike, as it turns out feeling like someone is 'disappointed in you' is inextricably linked with mortal terror for his life in angel devil's mind, for some reason--

curiously, the foreign fear appears to have reached some sort of breaking point. as soon as you've touched that chair, you feel--

you feel-- ]</sub>

2/2

[finalbows]

<sub>[ nothing.

a profound, leeching nothing.

maybe you smell wolf fur, a little. ]</sub>

[catposting]

[ ........... well since talking in his head appeared to work, he's gonna keep doing it.

"Hello?" ]

i always forget to do CWs UHHH STRANGULATION ABOVE / effects referenced tho its over now

[finalbows]

<sub>[ Garland stalks closer, clank, clank, clank, and the distinctive sound of his sabatons... does nothing to you.

He's, uh. Not pretty to look at, now that you're not giving your back to him. You saw him before, in the fountain, but that wasn't from Angel Devil's own eyes; this guy is even taller than the tallest bastard in the pasture, and that... red pulsing thing... really is just a hollowed out ribcage. Is that his heart? Why is it in the middle and also luminescing? You're not sure if this guy's armor is actually supposed to come off. There's nothing that looks like lungs in there.

Talking-without-talking is a pretty good idea, because that was some pretty prodigious strangling. It's almost like he expects you to just be able to heal it, or something. ]</sub>

Will you tell me now what you have done?

_{[ nothing in his voice. nothing in your chest. haha. matchy matchy. ]}

Re: i always forget to do CWs UHHH STRANGULATION ABOVE / effects referenced tho its over now

[catposting]

[ he does recognize Garland. files that away for later, for when he's not strapped to a torture chair feeling someone else's emotions. that part is much more terrifying than Garland's physical appearance; honestly, that guy would fit right in with the Tower.

I drew cat ears on some posters, what does it look like? ... is what he would say, if not for the suspicion of being kicked out soon. this time, he hadn't overridden his own rationality (it's still annoying to think about), and he wants information. or to confirm something, at least.

"Hmmm. I'm fading, master. If you leave me here, I'll soon lose my ability to talk telepathically like this."

the nothing is terrifying in its own way. but next to the vivid memory of being Unmade, it pales in comparison. as long as this isn't Nothing, Blood Fiend can endure.

also lol, Blood Fiend does NOT expect healing to work, he's too used to his regen being nerfed to shit in pastureland. it doesn't occur to him. ]

[finalbows]

A temporary loss. You mistake the sensation for death, due to your innate defect. I am willing to be patient, until the remnant vessel is able to answer my questions.

_{[ there's no answers coming from angel devil. it's curious, existing in tandem to something vanishing right beside you, while you yourself remain untouched. ]}

[catposting]

[ Angel Devil is a telepath Angel Devil is a telepath Angel Devil is a telepath Angel Devil is a telepath Angel Devil is a telepath Angel Devil is a telepath Angel Devil is a telepath Angel Devil is a telepath Angel Devil is a telepath Angel Devil is a telepath Angel Devil is a telepath

all the more reason to avoid him in the waking world. it's not a conscious decision on Blood Fiend's part. not yet.

"That's generous of you, master."

. . .

"By the way, how would you go about distracting a powerful enemy that can nullify normal attacks? A giant ram demon, for example. Unfortunately... my innate defect might be more significant than we thought. I'd hate to disappoint you further, so I'd like to take precautions."

since he's here, he MIGHT AS WELL ASK. surely the waking Angel Devil's memory will interpret this as a reference to the ritual. 🙂 ]

[finalbows]

...A strange last request. A clear lapse in your education... I shall attend to this detail for the next iteration. Four years was clearly not long enough before your release into Gaia. The third Angel I will allot a decade, perhaps...

_{[ he turns his back on you... answer, dammit! are you going to have to INSIST? ]}

[catposting]

[ ANOTHER THING TO FILE AWAY.

lack of an answer is fine, actually; this interaction was still more informative than thirty minutes of talking to the waking Angel Devil.

"Fine, I'll tell you. Honestly, I don't know where I took the lamb. We were traveling, and then suddenly — a flower bloomed, and I started crying. I don't know why. It was so overwhelming that I lost him.

... I figured you would have warned me about something that incapacitating, master. Or factored it into your experiments."

There were definitely experiments, right?

"Unless you don't know how to bring your own Angel to tears. That sounds like incompetence on your part, no offense." ]

[finalbows]

The limits of your psychology have been taken into factor in the creation of the lamb.

_{[ he waves a hand. a blue hologram of a planet appears. ]}

Show me where.

[catposting]

[ just gives Garland's back A Look.

"I just told you, I don't know."

are you deaf sir ]

[finalbows]

_{[ worry not, creation. you may be fucking stupid but he is here to narrow it down for you. ]}

You were traveling Gaia.

_{[ the globe swivels, and a point of red light pours from a particular spot in the ocean. ]}

You took the dragon. But there is mud, upon your boots. _{[ two entire continents go dark, on the globe. ]} Were there settlements, on your path? Of what size?

[catposting]

[ TELEPATHICALLY SIGHING OVER THE CONNECTION.

the fading... is getting to him, and he doubts he'll last here much longer, so. another route it is.

"Kefka took him. Surprised you don't know already." ]

[finalbows]

I do not know the names of the piteous Gaians with whom you waste your time. I have never understood your attachment to them... your inability to cherish Terra, your home. Another flaw to address. I could see its beginnings, in the lamb. I allowed you too much influence over it.

[catposting]

[ just pictures the stupid clown cube really hard in his mind's eye. he has no idea whether images work telepathically, but it's not like he can get up and start drawing. ]