Posts by Lingering Darkness

"That's cool; royal blue's a regal color," he said. "But I personally prefer electric or neon blue. See?" Alekto pointed to the neon blue color of the tips of his head with a grin. "So are you a dog or a cat person?" Alekto asked, changing the subject.

While Era's attention was on setting the cake away, Kaji snagged a Danish and a cinnamon bun, ignoring the heat that radiated from them. He absently started eating the Danish while staring at the bag of icing he stole, contemplating the message to leave Era. When he did figure out what he wanted to say, he was already finished eating the Danish and was halfway done the cinnamon bun. This is another reason why I like haunting Era, he thought with a grin, she makes some of the best sweets I've had. Now Kaji just needed Era to leave the room or turn her back for an extended period of time; he couldn't wait to deliver his message.

"But so are kitties!" Alekto said, defending cats, even though the warlock actually wasn't sure if he was a cat or dog person. But, instead of dwelling on the subject, Alekto asked another question. Or, questions. "Harry Potter or Twilight? Lord of the Rings or the Chronicles of Narnia? Star Wars or Star Trek?" Alekto liked books quite a bit. And he couldn't keep himself from asking, "Isaac Asimov or Philip K. Dick? Or maybe you're a Wells fan?" Alekto didn't entirely realize that some people, like those who weren't huge science fiction fans, may not know who the authors he listed were. Not everyone was as into science fiction as Alekto.

Alekto had to bite his tongue to keep from launching himself into an explanation of the books, because he'd go through the summaries, the plot, the characters, who was a dynamic and who was a static, and the pros and cons of each book if he started. So he stuck with a sheepish smile and a few words "Well, don't worry about knowing the authors. I may be a bit of a science fiction freak," alongside a breezy chuckle at himself.

"Yep!" Alekto said, his sheepish smile gone, and replaced by an almost excited grin. No matter how many time he'd read the book, he'd never tire of the stories contained inside. "It's the first volume of Isaac Asimov's Complete Stories. There's forty-six of his short stories in here."

"And this is only the first volume," he told Purple with a grin, as he opened his book, flipping through the pages. Stopping at page 104, Hell-Fire was written in bold at the top of the page. And he started reading.

"There was a stir of a very polite first-night audience. Only a handful of scientists were present, a sprinkling of high brass, some Congressman, a few newsmen.

Alvin Horner of the Washington Bureau of the Continential Press found himself next to Joseph Vincenzo of Los Alamos, and said, 'Now we ought to learn something.'

Vincenzo stared at him through bifocals and said, 'Not the important thing.'

Horner frowned. This was to be the first super-slow-motion films of an atomic explosion. With trick lenses changing directional polarization in flickers, the moment of explosion would be divided into billionth-second snaps. Yesterday, an A-bomb had exploded. Today, those snaps would show the explosion in incredible detail.

Horner said, 'You think this won't work?'

Vincenzo looked tormented. 'It will work. We've run pilot tests. But the important thing-'

'Which is?'

'That these bombs are man's death sentence. We don't seem to be able to learn that.' Vincenzo nodded. 'Look at them here. They're excited and thrilled, but not afraid.'

The newsman said, 'They know the danger. They're afraid, too.'

'Not enough,' said the scientist. 'I've seen men watch an H-bomb blow an island into a hole and then go home and sleep. That's the way men are. For thousands of years, hell-fire has been preached to them, and it's made no real impression.'

'Hell-fire: Are you religious, sir?'

'What you saw yesterday was hell-fire. An exploding atom bomb is hell-fire. Literally.'

That was enough for Horner. He got up and changed his seat, but watched the audience uneasily. Were any afraid? Did any worry about hell-fire? It didn't seem so to him.

The lights went out, the projector started. On the screen, the firing tower stood gaunt. The audience grew tensely quiet.

Then a dot of light appeared at the apex of the tower, a brilliant, burning point, slowly budding in a lazy, outward elbowing, this way and that, taking uneven shapes of light and shadow, growing oval.

A man cried out chokingly, then others. A hoarse babble of noise, followed by thick silence. Horner could smell fear, taste terror in his own mouth, feel his blood freeze.

The oval fireball had sprouted projections, then paused a moment in stasis, before expanding rapidly, into a bright and featureless sphere." Alekto took a noticeable pause, longer than the normal breathing pauses he had been taking.

"That moment of stasis-- the fireball had shown dark spots for eyes, with dark lines for thin, flaring eyebrows, a hairline coming down V-shaped, a mouth twisted upward, laughing wildly in the hell-fire-- and horns."

Then Alekto looked up at Purple, closing the book slowly, showing that the story was finished.

((Copyright 1956 by King-Size Publications, Inc. Story by Isaac Asimov. Page 104-105, the Complete Stories, Volume 1))

(Both are accepted; thank you all for joining this RP. This RP is now officially open! Go ahead and post.)

Lingering Darkness sat in her room, staring out the small window she was allowed. I don't understand. How did I get here? In all my travels around my world, I haven't seen any place like this. And then I'm locked up? I do not remember committing any criminal offense. Lingering sighed, not understanding that she was in an asylum, a place where humans went to be "fixed" mentally. Lingering understood little of humans; she was never interested in the few words she had heard of them, but that was because hearing anything of the other Planes was difficult and Lingering preferred to think more about where she was, instead of where she was not. Lingering hadn't even known that she could jump Planes; she knew that the phenomena would either take some serious power or some serious luck.

Lingering could feel her Bri stirring; it felt like a stream or creek flowing somewhere just beneath her markings. It always felt like that, so Lingering took comfort in the familiarity of it. But underneath the comfort, Lingering knew she had to keep a strict hand on her Bri; she had a bad tendency to loose control sometimes. And Lingering didn't want anyone to get hurt if her Bri reacted to something. So Lingering tried to quell the fleeting waves of panic- she wasn't near water and she wasn't trapped underground. She was safe, she didn't have to worry. -and focus on the outside she could still see- see, there is light out there. Where there's light, there's hope -because Lingering couldn't risk loosing control. Not again. Not after her years of training and time without incident. Lingering kept her breathing in check and tried to stay away from any thoughts in her mind that may cause any fear to swell up inside.

Jin was about to fall asleep. He as sitting at a window in what would be considered the main room for the patients, but Jin wasn't human and he knew so little about their customs that he just wanted to find his way back to wherever had been before accidentally plane jumping. He didn't know where he was, but everyone that seemed to have any power in this place didn't think he was able to leave the building. He hadn't been able to look for anything in anyone's mind, but that was because they didn't want him touching them for extended periods of time.

"It's like I've got the plague," he muttered to himself, chuckling slightly. But anyway, all he had gotten from the brief moments of seeing into a staff member's head was that the staff here, because that's what the people who worked here were called, thought he was insane. And now Jin was just hoping to be able to get out without having to use telekinesis, because he had figured out that the staff was human and humans may not take having a telekinetic blast a hole in their wall very well. And Jin couldn't stay in here; he needed to be moving, to feel freedom. He couldn't stay here. Just the thought of staying anywhere for too long brought bile to his mouth now. But staying at a place like this; Jin was seriously tempted to just use telekinesis. But breaking the wall might be considered a crime or an offense, and Jin didn't want to deal with trouble.

"So I'll just sit quietly at the window until they realize I'm not insane," Jin muttered to himself.

"It was no trouble," he said, grinning. He had enjoyed reading it aloud to someone, and when that someone liked the story, too . . . well, Alekto couldn't help but smile then. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Alekto shrugged. "Not many people care much for books, let alone science fiction, around y- our age," he said, mentally cursing his stumble. Just because she likes science fiction and very well may have been dead does not mean you can mess up and let her know what you are. People don't accept those kinds of things. "Some do, and that's great, but some people are just more focused on other things, I suppose."

Kaji watched Era for a while, noting about how much time was between each time she looked up. About thirty minutes. That was very well enough time for him to scrawl his message in the icing with a bit of time to spare. So as soon as Era looked up at one of the intervals and then looked down at her book again, Kaji set to work. Snagging a piece of wax paper, he set it on the counter and, as a shrouded shadow, scrawled "I'm still watching you" in large letters of icing. Then he started to disorganize all of the ingredients and pots and pans and utensils and things; really, anything that he could get his hands on silently and move around, he did. Soon, he was finished, with only a few more minutes left in his allotted half-hour. So he scurried back up to his perch on top of the cabinets, holding a wooden spoon. When he was up, he dropped the spoon onto a pot below him, successfully making a loud clatter. Now time to watch what happens, he thought with a smirk.

"Mind if I come, too?" Alekto asked, already standing up. "In case you don't want to be alone on your first day back?"

Kaji grinned, somewhere between a mischievous smile and a smirk. Era was taking his games rather well today. Kaji settled into his perch, planning on leaving things alone for a bit; he couldn't constantly be doing things, so he could take a short break here and see how things are going without him meddling. Maybe if someone came in, he'd meddle some more, but at the moment, he was content to simply watch again.

"Well, I'm sure it couldn't have changed too drastically," he said, referring to the woods around the river. "Maybe a few more trees and maybe new animals dens and such, but nothing to monumentally different."

((Sorry I've been gone for so long! I've been studying for exams and haven't had time for much else... Sorry.))

Kaji grinned widely as he followed Era out to the street, simply a shadow on the ground, a murky figure not truly corporeal. Taking advantage of the dimming lights, Kaji sent shadows swirling about. They prowled about like two-dimensional beasts on the street, circling about slowly. Shaped like disfigured wolves, the shadows stalked about. Kaji only smiled, following Era as a shadow on the street.

((I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long! I've been studying for exams and I haven't had the time for much else . . . Sorry.))

"Oh, well . . . Unless there was some serious demolition and reconstruction going on in the town, it couldn't have changed too much. Or, at least, the main parts couldn't have. Maybe a stare changed location or went out of business and different ones sprung up, but I'd think the town would have stayed about the same," Alekto said, sticking to the bright side.

((Really sorry that I haven't been around to post. I've been studying for exams and I haven't had much time to do anything else. Sorry.))

"To all of the patients now in our facility: the weather outside is rather nice and dry, unlike the last few weeks of rainy April days. We are opening the doors, so you are allowed outside in the courtyard and gardens. Please do not waste or squander this opportunity. That means any and all violent or inappropriate behavior that may occur will be dealt with firmly. This is a precaution meant to protect you. I hope you all enjoy the day. If you all act well, and if the weather permits, tomorrow may also be a day with courtyard privileges," a staff member spoke into the intercom. Through the computer system, the staff member unlocked the doors and focused the courtyard cameras. Satisfied that the patients would appreciate this outdoor time, the staff member sat back in the chair to watch the monitors. Mostly the monitors with cameras focused on the courtyard, gardens, and hedge maze.

Lingering jumped a little when a voice suddenly spoke over the intercom. She stared at the door when it clicked as it unlocked. Lingering blinked, slowly standing. Courtyard? Gardens? Lingering frowned slightly. I don't think that leaving is an option, though . . . But Lingering couldn't resist the thought of going outside, so she was out the door in a moment. She barely stopped to ask a staff person which way the courtyard was before running through the halls and outside. The ground was slightly wet under her feet, but the intercom had said that it had been raining for a time before now. Lingering didn't mind, though. Her feet itched to run as Lingering looked around the rather large courtyard and at the gardens surrounding the area. Outside of the cobblestone courtyard were gardens. Hedges and bushes and other plants grew. Opposite to the facility door, across the courtyard, was a hedge maze. Since it sat downhill from Lingering's view, she could make out a pavilion in the center of the maze.

Lingering didn't think twice about it; she was already running into the maze and smiling as she lost herself in the pathways surrounded by hedges.

Jin blinked, trying to banish the tiredness from himself. Outside, eh? Jin stood and made his way out of the room. Asking a staff member, he was given directions to the courtyard. He grinned as he walked outside. Sitting on one of the benches in the courtyard, his eyes swept about, taking in his surroundings. It was rather warm, and, though the ground was somewhat damp, there weren't too many clouds in the blue sky at all. Whatever rains had been here, they don't seem to be coming back soon. At the moment, at least. Jin grinned to himself and sat back, closing his eyes and letting white hair fall somewhat into his face.

"Well, you have me as a tour guide until you get to know the new layouts, then," Alekto grinned.

"So, what would you like to see first? Library, cafe, stores, bookstore, sweets shop, et cetera, et cetera . . . ?" Alekto asked. "Or, do you just want to stay here for a bit and get reacquainted with the town later?"

Kaji blinked when Era fainted. He didn't know what else to do. His shadows dissipated and he stood where he was for a few long moments. Really, what was he supposed to do? After one or two more moments, a small growl escaped from behind his slightly sharp teeth. Really, the Shadow Kitsune couldn't do much. So Kaji solidified and scowled as he picked Era up. He wasn't supposed to have to help her. She wasn't supposed to collapse and faint on the sidewalk! But Kaji knew he couldn't just leave her there; people with worse intent than he could easily stumble upon her and Kaji had enough morals not to let anything like that happen to the girl he was supposed to be haunting. After phasing through a few walls and walking for a short while- or, the equivalent to a short while for Kaji -Kaji arrived at Era's house. In a moment, he was in her room, putting her down on her bed. As soon as she was out of his arms, Kaji let his corporeal figure fade away into shadows. Perching on a corner shelf, Kaji sat and watched, waiting for Era to wake. He decided not to even consider what she might think when she awakens; if he did, he knew very well that the move he took was risky and Kaji was not in the mood to worry about that. It's not like he had been seen or anything. The only person that could have seen Kaji was Era and she would probably pass it off as a dream even if she had seen him. Or, that's what Kaji was hoping for. He wasn't sure what he could do if that wasn't the case. Though, it's not like Era would think immediately about Shadow Kitsunes if she woke in her room after blacking out on a sidewalk. Not many people knew about Shadow Kitsunes at all, so Kaji deemed himself safe.

"Okay dokey," Alekto nodded. "It doesn't matter to me; you're the one who chooses the pace here. After all, it probably wouldn't be wise to just throw you back into the world you're just getting reacquainted with."