(no subject)

[sphererpmod]

Who: The People making the Right Choice: The Power Station
Where: The tunnels to housing the Power Station system to the agricultural dome.
What: The Choice plot.
When: ICly: August 1st or so.
Warnings: Death, violence, creepiness, bugs, being buried alive, fear of failure, claustrophobia etc. I will update this as the warnings come out in the threads.
Important Notes: This is the first log for the Choices plot. This log only covers The Power Station. The other choices will have their own logs going up. Please remember to warn for things that need warnings in these threads.

Departure

The door that Enis opens is very small, the sort that only allows one person to pass through at a time. From where you stand outside of it, there’s no glimpse of light, or if there is it’s so far away that you may as well be imagining it. Flicking on the flashlights that had been found from the storage tent, the corridor is small as well, and it looks very wet and green in the dim lighting. This door lingers open for a fair amount after the group passes through it one by one. From the way it appears in the glass of the dome, it almost looks like a hungry mouth.

But when you’re about halfway down the extended hallway, the door creaks on audible hinges and then slams shut in a way that it absolutely shouldn’t.

That’s not ominous or anything.

Encounters: Environmental

Once the door is shut behind you, and you’re moving towards the single path, you start to realize just how old all of this around you is. Where as things in the Sphere normally seem bright and sparkly and new this is ancient and rusting and crumbling. The light here is a sickly barely there orange that creates more shadows than something that you can actually see by, which makes the way the metal grating floor incredibly perilous. Water drips constantly here, making everything wet and slick and slippery. There are places where the lighting seems to have burned out. Or has it? Sometimes it has, and sometimes it’s just that the grating has no walls to hand hold across a chasm that you can’t tell the distance on. Hope you’re getting creative.

But needing to walk over epic heights isn’t just something that you need to contend with. There are places where the flooring just gives way below your weight suddenly, and places where there’s none of it all together. Better tread softly and be fast on your feet--it’s an incredibly long way to fall, and not something that you can live through.

Every so often, the pathway will end with a door with a rusted hatch, the window of it coated with grime and rust and dirt (and is that ash?!) that need to be forced open, and then closed behind them before the next door will even budge.

The entire way, the feeling of being watched doesn’t stop, neither does the sound of distant screaming. It’s far enough that you only seem to catch the smallest hint of it, and no matter which direction you go in, it never seems to get any closer or farther away.

Encounters: Archetypal Fears.

There are things that humanity as a collective is afraid of, and has always been, even if it’s something that some fear more than others. Different rooms are full of different fears in varying amounts. Some of the rooms will only affect one person, or a couple of people. Some will affect the entire room.

In order to defeat the fear, you must move onto the next room before the fear becomes overpowering. Panicking people in an enclosed space is never a good idea.

The different archetypal fears that can be experienced in whatever configuration of people are:

• The dark: The flashlights don’t work. Any lighters or matches or won’t work either. This can be either a group or individual fear.
• Claustrophobia: The walls feel like they’re closing in, and the ceiling is getting smaller. This can be a group or individual fear.
• The fear of being buried alive: The room starts to rapidly fill with dirt. Individual fear.
• Drowning: The room starts to fill quickly with water. Group or individual fear.
• Bugs: Bugs start rapidly spilling out of the ceiling, and quickly cover the individual and the room itself. Individual fear.
• The fear that everyone hates you or dislikes you: The person keeps thinking that they’re hearing the group talk shit about them, that they hate them, etc. Individual/group fear, but even in a group, it’s everyone each hearing this for themselves.
• The fear of being hunted: Something is coming. It’s right on your tail and if you don’t get out ASAP then you’re going to die. Group fear.
• The fear of falling
• Whatever you can come up with: Be creative! Do it in an interesting way! Just remember that these are archetype fears that loads of people have. Not personal.

Encounter: Personal Fears.

These fears are the ones that each character had on their own applications. They can be individual or shared, but that should be decided among yourself on the plotting post.

As they get closer to the power station, their fears become more and more intense. It’s going to take great strength to continue onto the room where the power station is.

Encounter: The Power Station.

When you step into the main room of the power station, all of the individual fears intensify around you, but you become aware, at least dimly, that you have reached your destination. There, on a pedestal in the middle of the room is a golden half-sphere that needs to be pressed in order to start the power up again. But it really can’t be that easy, can it? The longer you wait to do it, the more the feelings and fears of doubt that this is what you need to do wash over you. Eventually, that fear swells into the feeling that you probably shouldn’t even push the button. This mixes with the fear that you already have failed, and that everyone back outside has died already. They’ve died and it’s all your fault. You took too long, you didn’t do enough. And now you just need to wait to die too.

Or, you can push the button.

Once you push the button, the half-sphere becomes flush with the pedestal and it sinks slowly into the ground. As it meets the floor, the panels in the floor light up in a pattern of rings leading out to the door. Sure, you’ve got to hike back to the Sphere proper, but the fears that you’ve already faced are gone even if the physical obstacles are not.

The door into the Agricultural domes won’t open until both objectives have been fulfilled.

photo inspiration

Comments

Questions?

[sphererpmod]

Dick Grayson

[hardtimeasking]

[This Was a Bad Idea]

The door that is opened was small. Smaller than what Dick had anticipated. He ducks down as low as possible, slipping through the door and into the corridor. It felt like he was being squeezed through a tube or something, constricted even.

Turning on the flashlight doesn't really do much good. Not with how dim and wet everything looked. He doesn't jump when the door slams shut and keeps going.

[It's Like a Box, Only Smaller]

Slipping into another room has him stopping short. Something was off about the room. No, not something. Everything. The place didn't seem that big to begin with. Maybe he'd miscalculated it. Maybe it hadn't been something that had been calculated at all.

"Anyone notice that?"

It was like the room had gotten smaller. Is that what had happened? Or was his mind playing tricks on him. Bruce had trained them for many things, he could get through this. Maybe.


[Choose your own adventure (or we can do shared or individual personal fears). Or poke me at Alex's (notmybattle) OOC post or PM Dick's journal.]

It's Like a Box, Only Smaller

[minus1twin]

Wanda followed behind Dick, careful with each light press of her toes as the metal grates had a tendency to fall or break beneath them.

Her awareness was stretched thin but she tried to keep herself focused on the changing situation around her. Even so, it wasn't until Dick's voice broke the eerie silence that she noticed the rooms apparent change. It's only a feeling at first but it's unmistakable. "Yes." Her voice barely rises above a whisper.

"The walls are closing in. Go towards the door." She steps forward, closing the distance between them.

[hardtimeasking]

Growing up an acrobat's kid and doing things just like his family, it helped. Especially where the metal grates were concerned. He was light on his feet and didn't think much of it. Then again, one couldn't watch their feet in a situation like this. Not if they wanted to live.

That one word. Barely even a whisper. He didn't like the feeling of walls closing in on him. Even if he'd been trained for everything. Something he's trying not to think about.

"Heading that way. Stay close."

This was a bad idea

[architector]

Antonio was no stranger to holes, having spent decades in his past in one crypt, cave, or another, hiding from humans and the daylight. The modern world made for modern conveniences and far more acceptance for the eccentricities apparent of vampirism. The dimness in the corridor did nothing to hamper his vision, in fact, the lack of light was welcome to his sensitive eyes.

"Shall I take point?" It was a whisper in the darkness, but the closeness of the corridor made louder speech unnecessary.

[hardtimeasking]

The holes didn't bother Dick any. It reminded him of the acrobatic acts from when he was younger, before Bruce had taken him in. Things that he didn't even want to think about. Though, he stills slightly hearing a voice that he didn't recognize. Not that he knew everyone that lived in the dome.

"Depends. How good are you with things like this?"

[gristle]

At the door.

[There was no way in hell Beverly would have not gone along with this. They needed all the help that they could get and she was definitely going more than a little stir crazy just sitting here and waiting for something—anything—to happen. So, Bev armed herself with the things that she’d accumulated over her time at the Sphere. There was the sword that Aaron had made her, the knives from Jason and Ubbe. There was finding the strength and smarts within herself that everyone had helped her learn about. And she’s not scared. Okay, she’s a little scared because only an idiot wouldn’t be scared of the crazy shit inside the Sphere, but it’s a normal, healthy level of fear. If someone wants to talk her out of it, then she’ll listen to them, reassure them and hug them but she’s going no matter what.]

Open: archetypal fear: drowning. (Saving someone)

[The dripping that has been accompanying their journey thus far has been a constant and steady noise that may as well have been incorporated into the background. But as they open one hatchway door into the small, dark room, the sound becomes louder to her. It echoes around Beverly and then turns into a steady steaming sound. In front of them, the door has slammed shut: it’s just the two of them trapped in the room now. The two of them trapped, and the water is starting to pour in from other cracks, the streams of them increasingly turning into pressurized white-capped flows.

The water rises, and it’s cold. It’s cold and it’s up to Beverly’s knees by the time she reaches the other side of the door and looks through the portal. Behind the glass she can see that the rest of the group has appeared to go on without them.]

Okay.
[Bev’s voice is soft--she’s not all too pleased to be locked in rapidly rising cold water, but it doesn’t mean that they’re going to die.

She refuses to believe that they are.

So, Bev just reaches out for the other person.]

They’re not going to leave us, and if there was something really wrong they’d be banging and trying to get the door open. It’s gonna be okay.

Personal fear: Being Forgotten by everyone who you love. (Needing to be saved.)

[This room was larger than the others had been, it was larger and cleaner. It was definitely brighter that was for sure. It’s brighter and has the familiar golden light of the Sphere, and it almost seems like there’s some sort of festival going on. The atmosphere around her seems like that. Crowd sounds fill the room, people laughing and talking with familiar sounding voices. The hand that had been so tightly gripped around her sword as she’d stepped into this new room went a little slack, and Bev’s eyes went a little wide when she spotted familiar long past faces in the crowd.]

Aaron? [Bev’s voice is so hopeful and she wants to believe in it so badly. But the man just looks at her and tries to be kind, of course he tries to be kind because he’s Aaron. But his voice is soft.] Sorry do I know you?

[That’s not unusual for people who come and go from the Sphere even if it still sucks every time. So not trusting her voice, Bev just draws back and pulls away from him with a shake of her head.

And then as she moves back into Jason as Bev tries to escape. She stares at him and he just looks at her and she knows he doesn’t know who she is. Bev doesn’t even try to talk around the calcifying lump in her throat. Tommy just goes flying by and he doesn’t stop.

Then she tears off into a run and collides with another familiar face. One who hasn’t left. One who was still there because Beverly has literally just seen him. ]

Richard?

[He just raises a brow at her and crosses his arms crossed his chest as he peers down at her. ]

I don’t believe I know you so I don’t think you have any business calling me by my first name.

Nononononononono—

[the single word forms into a rapid fire chant as she turns and runs away from him, shoving through a crowd that she knows every member of but who look at her like they’ve never seen her before rather than giving her their familiar smile or greeting. All of her friends, her family, the people she loves… they don’t know her at all.

Bev runs faster, but she’s at the beginning of the crowd even before she realizes that she should have reached the end. She keeps running. She runs again. Then she runs again until she’s panting and gasping. Leaning forward and resting her hands on her knees as she pants to get her breath back the worst of it hits.

The shadows in the sunlight are as familiar to her as her own. As her eyelashes squeeze shut, she crumples to the ground, because this is going to be worse than anything else and she knows it. Richie’s voice comes through first, ]

I don’t think this girl is alright.

[Then Eddie’s:]

Yeah, she sure does look like a sad sack doesn’t she.

[And then, worst of all: Stan’s.]

We should just leave her alone. It’s not any of our business. She’s not any of our business.

[Then without saying a word in response, Beverly just curls up on the hallway floor with the same metal that it’s always been, the same dreary light, the same lack of space. It’s a difference between her mental and physical world that Bev can’t distinguish right now. Drawing herself tightly into the fetal position with her sword and daggers forgotten, Bev can’t seem to beat this fear.]

drowning

[jondrette]

[It wasn't that they were alone. That was no problem for Eponine when she spent most of her life alone. The problem was the water. Cold, it came at all sides, soaking the hem of her trousers. The cold didn't even matter. What bothered the young woman was what came next: the drowning.]

But I cannot swim, [She tells Beverly, looking up at her.] And the cold will still our limbs faster.

Re: drowning

[gristle]

Being from Maine had meant that Beverly could swim like a fish from the time that she was very small indeed. She definitely has met people who couldn’t swim before but she’d never been in a situation where she couldn’t feel like she could directly help them somehow. Beverly takes slow and deep breathes, counting them in her head before she reaches out and takes Eponine’s hand within her own.

“Okay.” Looking into their older woman’s dark eyes Bev just keeps her grip on her hand, the warmth in grounding Bev even though she doesn’t know what the term is.

“I’m not going to let you drown, alright? That’s not something I’m going to let happen. Let’s get close to the door and see if that slows the water down. It’s cold and it’s going to suck but I’m not going to let go of you.”

at the door

[architector]

[With lean muscle and being on the shorter side for men, Antonio didn't cut an impressive figure, though the saber and side dagger he's acquired from artisans in the dome lend more credibility to his combat ability, that and how comfortable he seems with them. While dark holes have never been threatening to the vampire, they've even been a comfort more often than not, this particular hole filled him with trepidation as well. They had no idea what to expect.

Instead of attempting to dissuade the girl, though, he came to stand beside her, jaw set, resolute.]

Many of depending on the success of this quest.

[gristle]

[For a long moment, Bev doesn’t say anything, but she thinks over all of the people that she’s loved here, both past and present and gives a small nod. ]

I know. None of this is going to be easy. But we still need to do it.

[Grimly, too grimly for a child of her age, Bev looks back over what remains of the people in the Sphere city, and she just shakes her head.]

If we don't, I don't think we're going to survive this.

Ben Solo

[havethestrength]

֎Departure

Ben is surprisingly prepared for the journey, but Enis had given everyone a decent idea of what they might have to go through. Nightmares, and worse, was more than enough after being here for so long already. Still, he looks tired. He’s not used to this sort of thing from the ‘intrepid hero’ side of things. It’s taxing, and he’s starting to understand why his family was so revered by the resistance (not that it makes everything better). When the door opens and the lighting is revealed, he pulls out a flashlight (it was the only one he could find) and turns it on. It doesn’t give off enough light to illuminate exceptionally far, but it’s enough if he stands in the front.

֎Encounters: Environmental

Taking the front, Ben makes his way carefully forward. The Force is an advantage for him as his balance is better than most. At several points, the flashlight itself seems to go off, unexplainably and Ben can feel a heaviness in the area, a darkness through The Force. They’re not alone. He wonders if the others can feel it too – he knows Rey does, so he’s not sure if he should say anything.

“Be careful in the dark areas, I don’t think any lights will work there.”

֎Encounters: Personal fear 1

When they enter one of the rooms chills run through Ben; not only from the temperature of the room but because of the man standing there, smiling as if this was all part of 'His' grander plan.

He stands with his neck slightly bent forward as if he’d been leaning forward with interest throughout his life. His face is cracked and wrinkled, cheeks sunken beyond what traditional-age would allow, and his eyes hold a hollow cruelness in their sunken husks. This is Supreme Leader Snoke, the man Ben had revered for decades, the man who had led him down the path of the dark side. Now he knew what the man truly was; a failed clone of Emperor Palpatine himself.

His hand immediately moves to the lightsaber at his wrist, the other, clipping the flashlight to his belt, still on.

“I see you’ve brought friends.” The man’s voice croaks, betraying all the age that the clone had been given. “Do you think that will be enough to defeat me a second time? Before, I was unprepared, naive to the belief that you had the conviction to follow through. Now, I know how pathetic and weak you are.”

As Snoke emphasizes those words, Ben can’t help but wince. He’s right, he’d been pathetic and weak to believe the man, to follow and worship him as he’d done his grandfather. He’d truly followed Anakin’s path in the end – event to the point of being manipulated by the same man. Snoke’s creased face breaks into a smirk, then a smile. “You are mine, Ben Solo, you will always be mine.”

֎Encounters: Personal fear 2

This room is dark and hot. Lit only by a red glow that betrayed a body and face covered in shadows. No, not a face, a helmet covered in red cracks and a body covered in black. Ben knows this man. He’s dead, killed by Rey what feels like ages ago. Killed by a mother who sacrifices herself to save him and the memory of his father who helped him to make one of the hardest choices of his life – the last choice of his life, in fact.

The shadow doesn’t say anything, simply moves forward. Ben can tell there’s a smirk under that helmet, a knowledge that killing him, killing everyone will redeem him for his folly of choosing the light over power.

environmental

[jondrette]

Dark was not a problem for Eponine. She lived in the dark, lurking and watching. Here, though, the dark seemed heavy, weighing them down like damp clothing or chains. She didn't like it.

She also didn't like the way it echoed, noises bouncing off of who-knew-what and coming back as screams. "No- this is a different sort of darkness. The kind that eats all light." That doesn't stop her from trying to keep close to the light.

Re: environmental

[havethestrength]

Ben understands, at least he thinks he does. People are instinctively afraid of the dark. Though, from his other conversations with her, Eponine seemed less the type to fear the dark and more the type to understand it. Still, he let her stay close, glancing at her and the others from time to tome to make sure they were still there. Who knew what this place held that might try to separate them.

"Exactly. My weapon might not work here." If it ate the light would it eat the blade of a lightsaber?

[gristle]

"What the hell?" Beverly remembers when this thing was here before; she hadn't been close to the man with the mask (or his redheaded boyfriend) by any means, but she had seen him around. They'd mostly kept to themselves, but they were here and then had gone months before Ben and Rey had showed up.

Swallowing, Bev just increases her grip on the sword that Aaron had made for her, because none of this is good. Like at all. She breathes slowly and deeply and then looks to Ben again, watching him with one eye and the man in the mask with the other. "Is this guy supposed to be like death? Ren, right? He was here for a little while. Why is he here now?" The last question isn't one that Beverly particularly asks to him, it's something that's more aloud but she still asks.

[havethestrength]

Ben's hand moves to his side where the lightsaber sits, the other handing the flashlight to the nearest person. "He is, was, me." They deserve an explanation and this is the best he can give them at the moment.

There's the feeling of a test in this. In facing your fears like his uncle once told them they would have to do in order to complete their training. With quick movements he unbuckles his lightsaber and flicks it on. A blue glow washing over everyone. "Don't take your eyes off him." That would only be to Kylo Ren's advantage.

Environmental

[architector]

With his keen senses, the point wasn't necessary for Antonio to notice anything. The poor lighting was playing hell with his enhanced night vision, constantly forcing his eyes to adjust to minor shifts in the dim illumination. Still, a suggestion that no lighting would work ahead caught his attention.

"Even those we've provided?"

personal fear 1

[whiteroadrunning]

Alec hasn't loosened the death-grip on his bow for their entire journey through this place, but the moment he hears that unfamiliar voice, an arrow is knocked and drawn.

Ben looks frightened. Or-- perhaps frightened is the wrong word. Chastised may be better, but even that misses the mark. Ben's more difficult to read than most, and while that's intriguing to Alec, he can't puzzle it out right now. He's too focused on Snoke, aim leveled between his eyes, with only the occasional glance cast to Ben.

Courage, man.

"Ugly bastard, isn't he?" Alec asks; the query is directed to Ben, and Alec's voice is gentle in a way that doesn't match those harsh words. "Friend of yours?"

Wanda Maximoff

[minus1twin]

i. Departure/Environmental - Let Things Begin

[Wanda is familiar with perilous quest as well as the oddities of the Sphere but this is different, unfamiliar and eerie. She recalls the pathways beneath the Sphere during the break in the dome, the undead, the blood...

She isn't letting her guard down.

Red mist curls around the tips of her fingers, shedding a soft warm red light over those nearby. It gives her an edge when the floor drops, allowing Wanda to lift the falling figure or fly herself. It's a familiar process, one she's practiced a hundred times, but it's difficult too. The screaming in the distance catches and tugs at her attention. She stretches out her awareness but in response, her senses over all dull as she attempts to focus over a wide area.]

Someone is screaming...

[Her voice is soft, whispered, and she isn't sure if anyone can hear her.]

ii. Group Fear - Being Helpless

[She feels a familiar crawling sensation creep down her spine as the group continues forward. The group has separated a little but she can feel everyone within her range of senses and then, one by one, they vanish. It isn't that they're gone. She can see the figures of her companions within the soft orange lighting of the path they've been traveling but she can't sense them anymore.

Wanda reaches out for her abilities but nothing comes. Darkness and silence weigh against her.]

What's going- [Her voice cuts off as she see's one of the figures a few yards away be pulled off, into the darkness. She doesn't know who it is or what's happened. All Wanda is able to tell... someone is gone.

She runs forward and comes to a stop. Bright scarlet pools at the floor and her stomach turns. The screaming continues but added to it is the harsh growls of something dangerous and Wanda has no way to fight it, no way to defend those around her.]

iii. The Power Station

[As soon as she enters the room, she stops. Wanda can feel the swell of her power at the tip of her fingertips but something stops her from reaching forward to press the button at the center of the room.

Her fears, her memories, her sins.

Wanda falls to her knees and stares at the button that will end all of this, locked between heavy forces. She is reminded of Vision. Of his desire for her to kill him. Does that make her weak or strong? Can she be strong when everyone keeps leaving her? Can she be strong if she's always alone?]

iv. Wildcard

[ooc: you know what goes here! I am game for anything.]

i. Begin

[fatedsacrifice]

Noctis had originally endeavored to travel alone to see what he could find out, but the lady who had some sort of fire ability (to his brief knowledge) had gone in the same direction. So he had nodded to her to acknowledge her presence but watched with interest when that fire mist surrounded her fingers. Was she a black mage of sorts? And how was she doing that? Did she wear a ring or something?

But the king was determined to see this through and try to bring some sort of semblance of normalcy back to the people here. So as he made his way through the metal tunnels or whatever they were, he crouched down, selfishly wishing he had his friends with him. Still, he stopped when the lady had pronounced someone was screaming and took that moment to finally talk to her.]

Where are they?

[It was about all he got out before stopping to look around. He hadn't been fazed by the floor dropping earlier since he had just warped his way back up but it had been a pain.]

ii. helplessness

[architector]

[Several things happen at once. Wanda falters, seems unable to see them, but he can suddenly hardly make out details in the...darkness? His breath quickens when he realizes there are so few sounds around him, that the air smells stale and lifeless, save for a thick dampness. He tries to move quickly to her side, but his movements seems slow and sluggish, like a nightmare, to him, even though they are merely human speed. It seems an age before he's at her side.]

Wanda? [He feels as though he's whispering, but his speech is a normal quality.] What's going on...?

Éponine Thénardier

[jondrette]

Departure
Eponine waited with the rest of the group, watching people disappear through the door one at a time. She wasn't fully sure this was what she wanted, but considering she had already died once and didn't really want to do it again, trying to circumvent such a tragedy seemed like the best option for her. Soon, it was her turn to make the decision: to stay behind, or go forward.

She straightens her cap, squares her shoulder, and takes a step through the door.

Environmental
She likes the flashlights, keeping them close. It's like her own personal candle, but without the heat or need to keep the flame lit. She shines it down at her feet so she doesn't trip, the moist atmosphere and the dark almost making her laugh.

"It's like the sewers. But far less stink." But her words don't take the edge off, as she had hoped. They did nothing to lessen the heavy feeling, or block out the sound of screams.

Personal Fears
She can see him. His dark green coat that so nearly looks black, his wild hair. She can almost make out his freckles and his smile. Oh, she loved his smile, even if it was never aimed at her. She breaks into a run, closing the distance between herself and the man. "M'sieur Marius!" She throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around him. "Oh! I thought for sure you were to follow me into death! But here you are! Come, you must follow me, I can take you back to our homes!" She goes for his hand, starting to drag him back toward the door.

"Mademoiselle! What is the meaning of this?" Marius Pontmercy looks at the small woman with a lack of recognition in his face. He pulls her away to hold her at arm lengths.

"Marius? Do you not- you do not remember your Eponine? I- you remembered my name!"

"I've never seen you before in my life," he says, shaking her off.

"Surely you are joking, m'sieur! I dream of you ever night- My last breath on earth was in your arms!"

"Someone-" he hesitates, looking around, then turns back to Eponine, grabbing her forearms in both of his hands. "I do not know you, madame. Please-- you must go. My wife will be here any moment and--"

"Wife?" Eponine pales, watching as Marius lets her go and begins to walk toward another figure, slender and fair in a black dress, Cosette waits for him, leaving poor Eponine standing on her own, at the edge of a chasm, watching them walk away without so much as a second glance behind.

Environmental

[architector]

"I can assure you, there is simply a different kind of stink." It was spoken in jest, though there was a tense edge to his words. The screams filled his superhuman hearing from all directions, distracting him from tracking their footfalls. He'd been in many a sewer, hidden in more than a few, but this was something entirely different, oppressive in its very existence.

"Do you think it's haunted?" The screams suggested something of the sort.

Alec i Amasa

[whiteroadrunning]

i. departure

This is hardly Alec's first journey into an unknown abyss, and with any luck, it won't be his last. Nevertheless, the ambiance is... a tad unnerving, not so unlike the oracle chambers he's visited. He remains near the door, allowing his eyes a few moments to adjust before taking a few steps forward. Just in time for the door to SLAM shut behind them, and Alec starts badly, jolting around to glare at it. Then, a nervous laugh -- almost a scoff -- as he shakes his head and presses forth.

"Illior lend me strength," he sighs.


ii. archetypal fear - being alone

For the first time in days, Alec can't feel eyes on him. He'd been so completely aware of it before, nearly to the point of neurosis; something was watching them. Something following. And then, just as suddenly, it's gone. Everything -- everyone -- is gone. The emptiness around him, the simple lack of presence, is a weight in and of itself.

"Hello?" And it's dark still. Alec casts out with one hand, fruitlessly searching for anyone else in the party.

Nothing. No one.

Alec draws a slow breath, and closes his eyes to brace against the sudden sweep of panic. No, this can't be right. Think through this, reason it out. They can't have just disappeared; the flooring here is surprisingly solid, as are the walls, and there's nowhere to go but forth. There'd been a nightmare like this, hadn't there? It seems long ago, but a loneliness -- emptiness -- gripped one with panic in certain areas. And all they had to do to get through it was--

"Press on," Alec tells himself sternly. "Move."

Forward he goes, slowly, ensuring his footing and one hand braced to the wall. And, to keep himself grounded and focused, he begins to softly sing as he makes his way.

[ooc: Feel free to find him shaken and singing loudly as he emerges.]

iii. the power station

This shouldn't be as difficult as it's become.

Alec blames it on exhaustion. They're all weary from the journey, worn bare from the various strengths of will they've faced over the past few days. That's the only explanation for how they're all deadlocked now. Lingering by the door, arguing with one another. We need to-- and We can't-- battling supremacy.

Alec hasn't spoken yet. He's gripping his bow, shouldering it, crossing his arms, kneeling, standing, pacing. All the while staring at the button as his unease steadily grows. There's no right answer. At least, there doesn't seem to be. But if they don't--

Alec squeezes his eyes shut and rubs his face with both hands. How to settle this? How to decide? How would Seregil handle it? And just as suddenly, he hears Seregil's voice in his mind; perhaps some trick of their bond, perhaps owed simply the span of time they've shared together: What have we got to lose, tali?

And Alec laughs quietly. Is it really as simple as that?

"What have we got to lose? If we're all dead either way, it's worth the chance, isn't it?"

Re: Alec i Amasa

[havethestrength]

Ben can feel the fear rising up in him. Thankfully, he's been working on these sorts of emotions and manages to stave off a bit of the fear that's pressing against him.

That's when he hears Alec's voice and his eyes fix on him. Good, find a point of focus. "What are you talking about?"