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Post by nina on Jul 11, 2010 7:38:49 GMT -5
Silent. Silent was all of ShinRa mansion on this most eerie night. Due to the plague that was the darkness, the townspeople feared it now more than ever. Monsters were at bay outside the town, based in the mountains near the reactor, from which darkness poured. But like a solitary statue, the mansion stood as it had for many years. Some say it was haunted, cursed, by the horrors of the past. Horrors of the past indeed... The halls of ShinRa mansion had seen enough to ruin one's mind forever. Tragedy seemed to rule the near-ancient home for anyone who entered, even in the days when it was new. Now, long since abandoned and a terrible source of tales, it served as a cage to a living being. In through the front door, the great hall lay in ruins. The tile on the floor was cracked in places and dusted, debris from the building slowly falling apart lay here and there. The crystal chandelier that once brightly illuminated the hall had crashed onto the floor below, now in pieces. Wooden frames of the doors showed it's peeling paint, much like the wallpaper on the walls. But what seemed out of place in the process of the mansion's aging were the various claw marks in some of the walls... From monsters perhaps? But if one were to wander to the right wing of the mansion on the first floor, they would come across a small study. Though the study seems fairly bare, a single old door at the back wall stayed ajar. Venturing beyond that door, a long, narrow stairwell lead down into the basement. Deep in the those bowels of ShinRa Mansion rested a young woman, encased in glass and water. The glass surface had fogged over, but the shadow of her figure was easily visible. The room that held her and her prison had once served as a private study, blocked off from the other chambers. Everything was coated in a light layer of dust that accumulated over the years, books and bookshelves, lamps and other things. The only real source of light came from the tank, an unearthly green glow emitting from bulbs at the base and top. The light focused on the tank's contents, but the figure was obscured from the fog that had formed over the surface of the glass. At the very top of the tank was set a plaque, simple brass with "19" engraved in it. A light humming noise came from the machines beside it, a computer with a power generator. The devices seemed to be dusted over as well, having been untouched for some time. But the machines were still very much alive with activity, keeping the figure within the tank in perfect stasis. The figure did not move much, a simple swaying of hair within the liquid that surrounded it was all. Still... She was alive. Sleeping, but still there. She was dreaming, dreaming of her creator's return and the chance to see the outside world around the mansion and beyond. What she didn't know, however, was that her creator had passed on. He wouldn't be coming back to free her... But who would? Records of her were either wiped or hidden, no one ventured into the house, let alone the dark basement. Still ignorant, Nina remained... "When will you come back...? How will I continue without your direction?"
"You will be asleep. And I will return when my business is concluded..."
"You will return... Right?"
"Yes, Nina. I do not expect anything to go wrong."Dreaming. |
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Post by Jamaila Collyns on Jul 11, 2010 9:08:54 GMT -5
This was not good.
Being careless was not something that Jamaila was accustomed to. But, ever since she stumbled upon a portal in her home world, she couldn't help but investigate.
... And, now look where it got her.
Looking around - with curiosity and a small sense of fear mingled in her eyes - the brunette allowed herself to absorb the sight of the building currently in front of her. It looked spooky, and Jamaila instantly felt for her daggers underneath her green trenchcoat pocket. Satisfied that they were there, the brunette then slowly and cautiously made her way inside.
The inside of the mansion didn't look any better - it was instantly branded as vacant and (possibly) haunted as well. She involuntarily shivered. 'I don't believe in ghosts, I don't believe in ghosts ...' Useless, but the mantra was repeated in her head, anyway.
No matter how afraid she was, though, the light-eyed student couldn't help but be attracted into discovering what hid here ... if anything did at all. Gaze quickly shifting; from the floor, to the walls, to the--
Hang on ... there's a door open.
Turquoise eyes slightly narrowed, the brunette then made her way towards the door, taking note of the seemingly-unending stairwell that greeted her underneath.
Suppressing a groan at the fact that her legs were going to suffer, Jamaila then made her way down, hoping that whatever waited for her downstairs was totally worth it.
After what seemed an eternity later - at least, to her - Jamaila shook some feeling into her legs, before her light eyes' attention was grabbed by a light.
She stared ... and then her eyes widened and jaw opened wide.
There was a figure inside a glass tube, floating - possibly - sleeping. From here, the brunette couldn't make much headway with who the figure was - because of all the fog - or what he (or she) was doing there. Blue-green eyes, however, were caught on something else; a plaque at the top of the tank in which the figure currently resided.
"19".
Eyebrows creased together. "19"? What was that, some form of identification ... ? Personally, Jamaila hadn't had much experience with specimens and laboratories and what-have-you - her talents lied in the battlefield, like her father. Not paying too much attention to the number and what it could possibly mean, Jamaila turned - instead - to the machine, which was humming - the only sound currently present in the room.
Walking over to it, Jamaila attempted to decipher what was contained in the computer ...
...
... and failed.
'Figures ...'[/i] She sighed mentally and turned back - now - to inspect the floating figure some more. After all, she had never understood computer jargon, so it'd be a pretty big waste of time for her to just stare at the screen, puzzled. Walking back to the tube that held the experiment, Jamaila didn't exactly register her fingers making their way to touch the glass. ... But, she couldn't help it. She was intrigued. And afraid. And confused. But, her intrigue was much more dominant. [/font]
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Post by tseng on Jul 13, 2010 20:02:10 GMT -5
Destroy it all. Yes. All of it.
That had been the command issued to him by cruel lips. Apparently Rufus Shinra didn't want this old stigma blemishing his new rebirth. Or something like that. He hadn't bothered making queries. His boss had been rather odd as of late, acting erractically as if almost out of desperation.
Things where not looking good. This medicore plan of theirs was failing, as he had known from the very start. Yet he was not smug about it, far from it. Watching a man struggle to cobble back his kingdom was not something to be pleased about.
He slipped through the cast iron gates and crossed the cobbled path. Grass met his feet and struggled to keep him in place, warning him of the sins of old that had occured here. Yes, there was heavy feel to this place, weighing down his every step and causing tension to shoot through his shoulders.
Dust caught his breath, filling his lungs with the stench of archaic memories. There where screams in this air, though muffled down, drowned out by layers and layers of silence. He felt somehow this creeking, aching building was lamenting now. It cried. It longed for lethargy, and yet its eyes remained fully open as its ridgid structures cracked and failed.
Well soon he would give it its rest, yet he felt somehow that if houses had a soul, this place would be going straight to the jaws of hell.
He reached into his jacket, pulling out a plastic bag. He stripped the bag, pulling out a lare, clunky device. It certainly wasn't the most elegent of things, but it would do the job well enough. He knelt down, sighing as he entered a code into the damned thing. It kept flashing green and displaying random figures. The machine was probably was old as this house itself, if not older.
Finally, after resisting the temptation of smashing it across the floor, it beeped in acceptance. He shook his head, placing it inside a cupboard drawer incase some little jerk removed it within the next hour.
He glanced at his watch, mentally taking note of the time. The bomb was a fairly weak explosive, meant more to set the place ablaze more than anything. How cliche. This place had suffered such mortal wounds before... Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, he supposed.
He turned to leave, before of course, the sound of a living creature invaded his mind. And it wasn't a rat. His eyes narrowed and fingers arose to his forehead. He knew he should just leave it. Let whatever moron had broken into here die.
But memories beckoned to him. Of flame, of steel. Of Verdot. His heart quivered and a sigh ruptured the silent air. He had an hour, an entire hour. And even if he got caught in the explosion, his mission would still have been completed. He relaxed, and ran into the heart of misery.
As he deepened his way into the mansion and vanished down the secret pathway, he swore he could hear heartbeats. As if this thing was swelling, pulsing, breathing... Marks scatched the walls, rotted the floral designs... Beast marks? ... Hojo?
It wasn't panic that gripped his heart, but more fear of what he would find out. Something was in here, a terrible, ghastly beast arisen from dust and feeding upon the other inhuman, lifeless experiments.
Yet... When that door was wrenched open... He saw perhaps the most ethereal, beautiful thing. A goddess encaptulated in liquid, floating in a chamber of dreams. Hojo... Hojo, that cruel, manical man, did he make this?
His yes caught sight of a woman, the source of the noise that had dragged him down here? He took a serious glance at her, tossing his head towards the door. "You should go. Now."[/b]
This siren... She was calling. Calling, calling through sweet breath. He was reminded of the flower girl, though she looked nothing like her, though his heart did not beat for her like he did for her. No, he was not encaptulated by awe of soul, but rather, of beauty. A shallow, hollow perception, but important none-the-less.
He couldn't override scientific equipment. Hojo had made it very clear that he would only work on such terms, ensuring that no thick-headed goon and his dogs invaded his private reaserch. Yet he had to get the girl out. He had too, something was driving him that was not his own emotion... But he had too.
He pointed his gun, his hands shaking. He hoped against all hell's hope that this was an older containment tank, one not able to handle a bullet's rupture. A loud fire ruptured from his gun. [/size]
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Post by nina on Jul 13, 2010 20:43:36 GMT -5
The silence was broken.
Even in her deepest sleep, Nina could feel the presence of approaching, living beings like the change in temperature. Her eyelids twitched in response, but she would not wake... Not yet. The machines were determined to keep her asleep, using light sedatives to induce it. But still Nina could feel their heartbeats in the darkness, hear the sound of their footsteps on the old stone floor. The lights of the machine flickered as it was being tampered with, but it's security held. How much longer, though, would the prison last? Surely not long now... It had been years. Nina would have to be woken. And with the strangers so near now, it would be done. Nina began to recover thought process, but still would not wake. As she was aware of the presences, she began to wonder if Hojo had returned. Could it be? After all this time?
Then, in the midst of all the tense air, a shot was fired.
Nina's eyes shot open as if the bullet were her wake up call. The metal projectile sped towards the glass in an instant, but stopped so short of going through. It was like time froze around just the tank, the bullet stopped, the grass cracked slowly, and water crept, leaking from the cracks. Then, the most strange thing occurred. The glass shards around the tank began moving slowly in the air, removing themselves from their respective places and dropping to the sides, away from the tank. The water stayed, as if held still by some invisible shield. Once all the broken glass had parted, the water began to gush out, like time had suddenly resumed. Nina's eyes closed again and as the water rushed out, she slid motionless to the metal base of the tank.
Water seeped everywhere, flowing all over the floor. Nina's bare form lay curled on the platform grate, still motionless for another moment or two... Then she began to breathe. It was more like a gasp for air, than anything else. She coughed up water first, then drew a heavy breath of the cold basement air with desperation in her lungs. Her fingers flexed and curled, her eyes cracked open slightly. Nina seemed so serene and angelic still, though now entirely defenseless and without cover. It was a few moments before Nina's thoughts were sorted out from the chaos, memories and other things coming back to mind. Then there was the present. She had no idea what was going on, her mind was in a kind of shock. It wouldn't register to her for a short time, at least.
Her eyes hazily opened all the way, adjusting to the strange lighting of the room. She was breathing normally now as her vision settled, eyes coming to rest on the male figure in front of the tank. He had a gun in his hand, still aimed at the tank. It then occurred to her, everything that happened. Nina's head hurt from all the buzzing thoughts, so much that she winced and held it. After the pain passed, she tried lifting herself to a sitting position, weakly and barely making it. She felt fear, confusion, and the cool air against her bare skin. Trying, in a vain attempt to cover her naked form with her arms and hands, Nina looked up to Tseng.
"...W-who are you...?"
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Post by Jamaila Collyns on Jul 14, 2010 4:27:11 GMT -5
Another's figures footsteps reached her ears and Jamaila turned her head to the side to examine the individual.
Just as she attempted - in vain - to recognize the man, he - himself - turned his head to look at her, his eyes cold and emotionless.
"You should go. Now."[/i] Turqiouse eyes hardened as she registered the words that had come out of the man's lips. Right ... and who was he to give her orders? Of course, it would be safer for her to leave, but she had never liked listening to people much, anyway. Her dad's girl, through and through. Eyes darted instead to stare at the figure still enclosed in the tank - the brunette was still curious and this man's appearance had only made her more curious. 'Hmm ... maybe I should leave ...'[/i] After all, this was unfamiliar - and, after all, the guy was pointing a gun at the tank, so it wasn't wise to-- Her eyes widened. 'W-Wait a minute--!'[/i] Too late. The guy pulled the trigger, with his target being the (currently) inhabited tank. Jamaila couldn't stifle a scream from escaping her lips and made to cover her face with her arms, just in case some of those glass shards ended up hitting her. When the brunette had recovered enough to look back at the tank, a scene - or so it appeared - from another world greeted her eyes. The figure itself was revealed to be a female, her beauty so ethereal that Jamaila's modest looks were bland in comparison. Amidst the shock, a pang of envy hit her. Who was this woman and why was she so unbelieveably gorgeous? Water and glass shards littered the place, but Jamaila had eyes for no-one else but the dark-haired person-slash-specimen - who was clad in nothing but her own skin, the brunette noted with embarassment. The next words that came out of her mouth weren't important in any way, but she honestly had no other idea of how to sum up her very confused thoughts. "What in the world ... ?" [/font]
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Post by tseng on Jul 14, 2010 19:38:57 GMT -5
Shards slashes the air, threatening skin. Yet he didn't raise an arm to his face. He didn't recoil in fear. He didn't leap out of the way. He just stood, and watched in awe. The glass broke in a strange way that should not have been possible, as if the very tank itself was seeping power.
He quickly lost all intrest in that though, focussing instead on the serene figure that lay shattered on the floor. His eyes narrowed, his brows knitting together and his lips tightening. His heart raced, but he reminded himself that this thing was created by Hojo. Whatever she... it was, was inhuman. Any moment from now wings would no doubt spout from her back and teeth be lunged into his neck. He kept his gun pointed at her, eyes cooling as he cocked his head.
Yet... As she innocently tried to pull herself up, as if she was a mere child learning how to function again... As she tried to pathetically cover herself, causing only more attention to be drawn to her volupteous figure... As she looked up, so childlishly, and asked him who he was...
The gun fired. There was a shrill cry. Liquid sputtered in the air and drenched the ground in pain. Finally, the convex glass crushed in on itself and fell. He had broken yet another tube, but it contained nothing but fluids.
He could not be so cruel. Not now. Not to someone so innocent. It wasn't in his character, wasn't in his blood, but he wished no harm upon her. He knew in time he would regret, but for now he would save her.
He shook his head in frustration, glowering at the other women who just seemed to be dumb-struck and commenting on the situation. "Didn't you hear me?" He considered telling her about the bomb, but decided against such rash action. "Because I am so envious of your ability to stand and do nothing."[/b]
He stepped forewards, steelcapped shoes crackling on the glass. He knelt down to the woman, creature, "I'm Tseng, but you won't need to remember that."[/b] He cocked his head, focussing on her eyes. They where mako. "Can you walk?"[/b][/size]
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Post by nina on Jul 14, 2010 19:57:30 GMT -5
Nina flinched as the man fired a shot into the second tank, which was empty. More water spilled onto the floor, shards of glass among it. Her eyes looked frightened, for she was. A strange thing, she often overcame fear before, but in her fragile state for the time being... She would know it well. Nina's form began to shiver, from not only the fear but the cold air of the basement. She looked at the strange male while he addressed the girl beside him. He hadn't shot her... Why? Why did he even raise a gun at her? Nina wasn't sure of all that was going on, especially why it wasn't Hojo standing there. But all couldn't be figured out right now, Nina felt a sudden urgency tugging her mind. Something bad was going to happen soon, they would need to leave.
But the thought was pushed back as the man came closer, knelt and gave his name. When he drew near, Nina drew away, wary of this... 'Tseng'. Her bright, mako eyes scanned Tseng. She hoped he didn't intend to harm her, but to give her answers as to what was going on. Maybe even tell her where Hojo was. Timid, like a wild yet harmless animal ready to flee from it's predator, Nina couldn't help but keep her eyes on Tseng. Unfortunately, should he have ill plans for her, Nina had nowhere to run. She was weakened, unable to stand by herself, let alone walk. This strange Tseng asked her if she could...
"No... I... I can't... So numb."
Indeed she felt a dizzy spell on her, and a numbness in her limbs.
"Please... Don't hurt me."
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Post by Jamaila Collyns on Jul 18, 2010 6:46:22 GMT -5
The man's words cut through her, harsh and emotionless. Pfft, not that she cared - she just wanted to know what was going on and whether or not she'd be able to go back home again.
She was planning to ignore him - again - but her next words came out of her mouth almost against her own will. "Yes, I heard you perfectly fine." She was irritated - he wasn't her boss, so she wasn't planning to listen to him.
And, incidentally, even if she did leave, then where would she go next? After all, this place wasn't Cocoon.
Turquoise eyes absorbed the contents of the room - from the tubes, to the water, to the girl still crumpled helplessly on the floor.
Yep - this was definitely not Cocoon.
She folded her arms across her chest lightly and narrowed her eyes at the man - Tseng's - back. His name was - unsurprisingly - unfamiliar. There was no need to remember it.
The female human's(?) words, though, couldn't help but bring out Jamaila's protective instincts. Right here, right now ... the girl reminded her of a child - weak, vulnerable ...
Blue-green eyes shifted to look at the female, and then to Tseng, and then back again. As long as he didn't shoot her, Jamaila wouldn't need to make an extra enemy tonight.
That is, if she hadn't already made one.
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Post by tseng on Jul 25, 2010 17:34:03 GMT -5
He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to touch her. It was touching tainted evidence, becoming almost too involved. Not that he wasn't already in the shit, it was just he didn't want to plough himself in deeper.
Yet still, she sat here with wide, glossed eyes, naked and vulnerable. It was a wonder she had not already been lacerated and torn to shreds by the glass that spewed out around her. Tch. Perhaps it was symbolic, a beast that caused serene destruction without inflicting it upon itself? No, no, there was not meaning in everything.
The other girl was frustrating him, but that was all she was. A minor annoyance to accompany the sea of shit that bubbled and raged in his mind. Questions rang out, demanding answers that he could not give. Situations played out, each one ending without his favor. The mistakes had already been made, the path now thoroughly beaten. He would deal with the headache later, drown it out with artificial sustenance.
He reached out, hands not used to being gentle suddenly softened as they came to touch her ripe skin. He could fantasize, he did not. He lifted her, one arm slugged under her legs, the other wrapping across her back, expecting her to use her arms as a sling to support herself.
Temptation burned his lips, how could it not? Her breasts where of milk white, rising with every breath that escaped her full lips. Her eyes closed and opened, sparkling in that unnatural, foreign way, and her words where of such, such naivety, so, so, ... innocent. There where things he could do to her if honor did not block his path... that and the annoying stare of the insubordinate female.
He made careful work to make it through the glass maze, each jagged shard longing for the taste of mutilation. He turned towards the stairs, needing to pass no more words towards the brown haired girl, and hastily climbed the wooden boards. He knew he had plenty of time to get out of here, but still, the drive pushed his legs and made his forehead crinkle with the effort.
As cool air hit his face and a moon grinned down at him, he felt her hair brush slightly against his face. It was wet. His eyes narrowed and darkened with the burden of lust. He fought it back, words becoming his distraction, "What are you?"[/b]
It was a cold, unsettling statement. He didn't care for names. [/size]
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