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theredlamp · 07-21-2019, 01:26 AM

It’s…perfectly safe?

You’re THALIA PARIK, and this is the opposite of perfectly safe.

You gape at Joe. You gape at the thing above him, a golden bird-like face attached to a massive tower of black matter, squirming as if its teeming of thousands upon thousands of worms.

THALIA: I-Is that…
THALIA: The Null?

It had risen from behind the old man like a shadow, expanding upward. Where did it come from? Why didn’t you notice it before? It had just appeared, out of nowhere-! You stand, frozen, a shiver moving through your body, up your spine, because if this is the same type of thing that went into Seth…if this is the same type of thing that changed Seth into that monster…

Joe is doomed. Joe is in danger. Why, why, why is he reacting so casually? Doesn’t he realize-?!

THALIA: …J-Joe! Get AWAY from there! Joe!!
JOE: Come now, child, I’ve done my part.
JOE: How about you do yours?
THALIA: Are you KIDDING me?!?!
THALIA: There’s a Null RIGHT BEHIND YOU! You have to get away! Come back to the bridge!!!!
JOE: Hahaha! It’s fine!

It’s NOT fine!!!!!!!!

JOE: We have to finish this puzzle, don’t we?
JOE: Please get over here, and we can decide what to do. There’s no need to panic!
JOE: What do you say?

(09-08-2018, 12:52 AM)Benedict Wrote: »>Thalia: Run across the bridge and get Joe the hell away from that thing.

You’ve had enough. You can’t watch this anymore.

This is probably the stupidest, least well-thought plan you’ve had, but without even a pause, you feel your body moving, feet rushing as you burst into a run. As far as this idiotic bridge puzzle goes, you’ll be fine. This was the plan in the beginning, after all. As long as Joe stays on that side, off the bridge, and Camilla stays on it with the chest, then you can cross without any trouble.

You run past Camilla, who yells after you as you go.

CAMILLA: Thalia, no-!

You don’t reply. You have to get him away from that mask. The last thing you want is for another monster like what Seth is now to be created. If there’s a chance to save him…

You’ll take it, regardless of the risk.

Your hand reaches out as you step off the bridge. If you can just grab him, shove him, pull him, do SOMETHING, then you can get him out of harm’s way-

Except, as you close your fingers, you realize he’s already gone. He’s moved. But how, he can’t move that quickly, he’s just a regular old man, there’s no way he could-

Something grips your upper arm hard and yanks you forward.

You stumble – Joe is the one pulling you. You blink in surprise, unsure what to do, but even as you try to pull yourself out, his grip holds firmer.

Let go, let go, let go-!

JOE: Glad to see you over here, child.
JOE: Didn’t take you too long, did it?
JOE: Haha…
JOE: …You know, I didn’t tell any of you, did I?
JOE: I have these dreams, you see. I’ve been having them for as long as I can remember.
JOE: And in my dreams, I dream of quite the strangest things!
JOE: Golden masks, and monsters, and darkness, oh, so much darkness…
JOE: And a beautiful blue bridge.

His eyes…there’s something wrong with his eyes.

They’re already glassy, like that of a dead man. Like you’re talking to a ghost.

There’s a strange humming in your ears. His outline seems hazy, like a mirage. You can’t look at him, and yet, you can’t look away…

JOE: I’ve dreamt of other things too, and even though I denied it for the longest time…well!
JOE: I came to discover that quite a number of them came true!
JOE: Can you imagine? Dreaming of such horrific things, and then seeing them all happen, one by one, and there’s not a single thing you can do about it!
JOE: Haha, it’s like something out of a story!
JOE: So, Thalia, I have to say…I’ve always known I would die in a place like this.
JOE: I would die after crossing this very bridge. That’s what my dreams told me.
JOE: So when I saw this place, and when I saw this room? I knew my fate was sealed.
JOE: All it took was for Camilla to calm me down so I could face my death without panicking. I thank her for that.

JOE: …What’s with that face, child?
JOE: Don’t worry about that silly mask! I’m not in danger from that at the moment.
JOE: You see, I’ve already given my body away.
JOE: I’m already occupied.
JOE: That’s why it isn’t doing a thing. It wants to get inside, but it can’t, and that’s why it’s confused.
JOE: Ah, I can feel him growing…his voice is so loud, I can barely hear my own thoughts…
JOE: I’ve even speaking more like him, hm. I guess that’s to be expected.
JOE: I won’t be here much sooner. I’ll merely be erased.
JOE: Dear child, I do hope you’ll tell everyone not to be sad for me. Especially Kate, that dear firecracker of a girl…

JOE: In the end, I always was a worthless shell.

(10-21-2018, 02:47 PM)tronn Wrote: »>Thalia: Offer Joe a calming punch in his face with the calming touch of your fist.

THALIA: Stop. Speaking. NONSENSE! SNAP OUT OF IT!

You really don’t mean to hurt him. Especially with using this left hand of yours – at the most, you want to just want him to stop talking this meaningless drabble. It’s as light of a slap as you can give him – a punch would be way too much. There’s obviously something wrong with him – is it him? Is it the Null? You don’t know, but “worthless shell”? “I’ve already seen this stuff in my dreams?”

No, it has to be the Null. Didn’t Daniel say that Seth was acting funny before he encountered his mask?

THALIA: Joe, listen to me! You’re in DANGER!
THALIA: You have to snap out of it!! The Null is doing this to you!!

His glasses fly and then clatter to the ground a few feet away.

Was it the right decision? You don’t know. But you now have the chance to do something and get him out of here.

Except you see something golden in the periphery of your vision.

There’s a creak, like that of an old wooden door, a mousetrap’s springs coiling back in on themselves – without even looking, you have the sense of a dark hole, framed by a large number of golden, shining needles-

And it’s only inches away from your face, and its coming closer.

You trust your instincts. You swerve, stepping back with a quick twist of your body, and just as you do, the tooth-filled mouth of the Null snaps closed.

Joe lets out a pained yell, a hand raising up to clutch his face as he steps back against the black mass of the Null. Hopefully that got him back to his senses, but you can’t find out now, because the movement you made was too quick, and your step too sudden, that you find that you’re losing balance, falling backwards.

No, no, no-!

The bridge is behind you, and if Camilla is there, it’s okay, you won’t fall back into the chasm, but that would give the time for the Null to react, to try another go at chomping down on your head, oh no, you have to twist yourself back somehow, catch yourself-

But before you can do so, something catches you instead. A strong set of hands, gentle, grasping you by the shoulders to hold you in place before you fall to the floor.

It’s Camilla.

You balk for the moment, shocked, but her gaze is fixed on the man and the monster in front of you.

CAMILLA: Be careful.
THALIA: C-Camilla?

Wait. There’s something wrong here. What’s wrong here. If Camilla is here, holding you, and she’s off the bridge on the other side-

THALIA: Camilla, where’s…where’s the chest?!
CAMILLA: …
CAMILLA: I threw it.
THALIA: You WHAT?!?!?!

The Null shifts back to Joe’s side. The man lowers his hand slightly, his eyes fixed in a glare.

JOE: That hurt.
JOE: I was only trying to tell the truth.
JOE: You know, I won’t have you trying to hurt this body of mine before it’s-

With the loud sound of metal hitting metal, like some divine hammer of justice from the heavens, the thrown chest directly smashes into the face of the Null.

Author's Note:

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