[029. When you're awake and your own shadows turn into ghosts]

[lydiascreams]

[The Banquet Hall - Open Spam]

[She finds herself on the floor, but not of her cabin anymore, the baseball bat she was holding falling to her side. Before she can even look around to try and make sense of where she is, it all hits her hard. The voices are loud. Too loud. She lifts her hands to cover her ears and closes her eyes, taking deep breaths as she tries to focus, on drowning them out.

It's worse than it was at Oak Creek, it's almost as bad as it was when she first got to the Barge. It probably is just as bad, but being around Arthas has helped her control it more. She just needs to focus.

But it's too much to hold in, she knows that before she can focus, she needs to scream.

All the scream does is help drown out the noise, allowing you to hear what you really need to. I can help you focus your hearing.

She hates Peter, she'll always hate Peter, but for all he's done, she knows he's also incredibly knowledgeable. And she knows he was right. Because when she first got to the Barge, it wasn't until she screamed that she managed to focus again.

So with her eyes still closed, she takes a deep breath, and screams.]


[Video - Friends]
[The scream works and it helps her calm down enough. But it's not until she manages to make her way out of the Banquet Hall, that she reaches for the communicator.

Thanks to the Admiral's warning, she managed to get the suit Babs made her on, and Stiles had time to hand her his baseball bat. Which she's now holding.]

Where's everyone?


[ooc: Lydia can also be found at the Mezzanine, Library or The Master's Terrace for the next few days.]

Comments

Video

[walkthedarkpath]

[ He had heard the scream loud and clear. He was not too terribly far away, and with his higher senses he knew who that came from. He clicked on the feed when he heard her, he looked annoyed as always but.]

Who died?

Video

[lydiascreams]

No one. No one from the Barge, I mean.

[Because plenty of people died, but she can focus enough now that she knows it was in the past. Not now. Not yet, anyway.]

Are you okay?

Video

[walkthedarkpath]

I heard your scream and assumed. As long as its no one important and your not in danger it is fine.

I am fine, this is a normal tuseday for me. Closest to normal I have dealt with in some time.[ sometimes he misses his cray cray world.]

Video

[lydiascreams]

I'm not in danger, thank you, Vergil. [She knows he cares.]

Do you have any idea where we are?

Spam - all ghosts are godmodable!

[threetoned]

[The scream sets every diner in the hall into disarray. They cry out in dismay, tip over chairs trying to flee from the source of the sound, climb over tables in their haste to get away. The clamor is muffled, as if happening far away.

In the midst of this, a figure in a slim, modern suit with two shadows under his feet somehow emerges, walking towards the source of the banshee scream rather than away.

The Master stands patiently by, apparently unaffected, waiting for her to finish.]

Is that really necessary?

Spam!

[lydiascreams]

[Lydia sees the shadows first. It's weird because they have the same source. But she doesn't pay enough attention to it for the time being because it's obvious that there's someone standing very close to her and that kinda takes priority.

She reaches for the bat and stands up. Her head isn't spinning anymore and she can focus. The voices are still there, but just whispers now. She eyes the man for a second, only then noticing the ghosts that she can actually see, not just hear.

Her eyes widen slightly, and then she composes herself again, lifting her chin as she looks at him.]

As a matter of fact, yes. Who are you? [Not from the Barge, unless he's just arrived.]

Spam!

[threetoned]

This is my house. You're disturbing my guests.

[He makes a sweeping gesture at the distressed ghosts.]

Spam!

[lydiascreams]

[She eyes the ghosts for a second again, then focuses on him.]

They're disturbing me.

[Banquet Hall - Open Spam]

[mistconduct]

You motherfucking DICKS!

[Here is Chris.

Here is Chris standing on a table, throwing punches at ghosts. He picks up a serving platter to use as a shield, beating away the specters.

Until, that is, Lydia screams. Chris gives a shriek of pain of his own and falls off the table]

[Banquet Hall - Open Spam]

[lydiascreams]

[She's on her feet a few moments later, her eyes widening when she sees Chris, of all people, on the ground and-- holding a platter?

Shaking her head, she rushes over to him.]

Chris! You okay? [The ghosts obviously aren't. In fact, they kinda look pissed.]

[Banquet Hall - Open Spam]

[mistconduct]

Mother fucking biiiiiiitc-

[He sits up, hugging his ears]

Am I bleeding? Am I bleeding out of my head? Jesus, Lydia!

Spam -- Mezzanine?

[voluntaryapnea]

[He wakes up on a stage, and there's a bright light shining down on him. He blinks a couple of times and lifts a hand to shield his face. It only takes seconds to register that there is a hospital bed a few feet away, a familiar looking chair set beside it. Confused, he sits up and rubs his hand over his face.

He has no idea what the hell is going on this time. He checks the network in time to catch the tail end of his inmate shouting in Latin, but before he can figure out anything beyond that, someone's grabbing his arm and pulling him up. He looks up at the nurse who's trying to usher him closer to the bed and he shakes his head, trying to protest that he isn't sick, he feels fine and there's no need for a hospital bed when he catches sight of the woman lying in the bed she's propelling him toward.

He freezes in his tracks, breath leaving his lungs as he stares.]

Mom?

[His voice is barely a whisper. He takes in the sight of all the machines around her that she's hooked up to and he pulls away from the nurse, moving closer to her, heart beating hard in his chest.]

Mom!

[There are tears in his eyes as he reaches for her hand and it takes him a second to realize that this isn't his mother. But she looks so much like her that it feels like his world has tilted on its axis. He shakes his head and looks back at the nurse, who is watching him closely and he doesn't understand what the hell is going on as she shoves a pile of papers into his hands. He looks down at them in confusion, stares at the words written there and feels his stomach turn.

What the hell was this?

He feels a wave of anger, of disbelief as he reads over the script, of the things that are written there, a piece of his life he's never shared with anyone, not even Scott. He feels sick and lost and confused and on the verge of being completely overwhelmed when he hears the scream. It's loud, louder than he's ever heard her scream before and he promptly drops the pages and runs for door.]

Lydia!

[He's not leaving his mother. It's not his mother. His mother has been gone for years, and now there is someone else who needs him. He's off and running as fast as he can, not even sure how he knows where to go. He's just following his gut.]

Lydia!

Spam -- Mezzanine?

[surfaceshine]

[The key to staying ahead of the game when waging one's own war against all comers is mobility; there's always more to fill in the space left behind whatever was just put down, and the only way to stay on top is to keep up the element of surprise, however that is accomplished. Sometimes it's only just keeping them guessing at where you are.

So he doesn't linger when he's cleared out the succubi in the guest chambers, or at least those present at the same time as he was; he moves back into the corridor at a long-legged jog, slows down to a walk as he presses forward into the other rooms on the floor. He's attracted by the voices, first, and the sound of movement as he slips through the doors into the opera hall.

He doesn't catch much, but he recognizes hospitals at a glance, is about to dismiss it entirely when he doesn't recognize either of the women, but then there's Stiles and he pauses. There's Stiles, and he looks ill and angry, and Dean is just about to call out to him when Lydia screams.

He's already at the door, and doesn't even think before he's ducking back out. By the time he remembers that there's not really any way to tell how close she is - she always sounds like she's right in his ear when she does this - he's doubling back and almost collides with Stiles in the stairwell.]

Have you seen her yet? [He snaps, even as he's already stepping back to let Stiles through the door ahead of him down towards the lower levels.]

Spam -- Mezzanine?

[voluntaryapnea]

[In his rush to get to Lydia, he nearly knocks Dean over, stopping just in time and blinking a couple of times at his sudden appearance. He shakes his head at the question, not focusing on how it's asked -- snappy and annoyed sounding. He doesn't know how to explain to Dean that he's just following his instincts, that rationally there should be no good reason for him to have any clue where Lydia is in this tower, but he knows somehow. She's downstairs, and he doesn't stop to try and explain it, just moves on, taking them two at a time.

The scream had been intense, more like the mirror version of Lydia than the one that he knows so well and loves so much.

Something is terribly wrong, and he's hoping it's just this place and not because she's in trouble or because someone's just died.]

She's down this way. [There's no doubt in his tone. He's that confident they'll find her.]

spam - library

[broughtwhiskey]

[For the most part, he's going at this like a lone wolf, only occasionally partnering up with someone before he (quite frankly) abandons them. Other people slow him down and he refuses to be responsible for their safety. By the time Philip makes it to the library, he's on his own again. The worms are not that interested in him, but that doesn't mean he hesitates to eliminate any that wander too close with a sword he's brought from a much, much lower level. (He's going to have to have a talk with his warden about weapons in the future. If there is a future.)]

[He's content to ignore the books, until one title catches his eye. Finding Your Way Back. The title is somewhat vague and ambiguous, but there's an immediate pull that gives him reason to at least touch the book if not take it off the shelf.]

spam - library

[lydiascreams]

[Lydia has been wandering up and down the Library for a while now. She knows she should leave but she can't bring herself to. So many of these titles are calling to her, so much knowledge she wants, she needs.

But some of the books are dangerous, she's already learned as much. So although she didn't manage to leave, she knows better than to touch them.]

The books are dangerous. [She illustrates this by lifting a bloody index finger.] One of them had claws, it scratched me. [And the Mastering Your Banshee Powers one screamed so loudly, she found herself on her knees, covering her ears in pain.]

spam

[broughtwhiskey]

[His hand stays on the spine of the book when she speaks to him, turning his head to look at her and her bloody finger. He wants to pull it away, but no matter how much he thinks on it, he can't quite work up the will to move it away.]

They're not exactly books then, are they?

[More rhetorical than a genuine question. He looks back at the book, frowning at it before roughly pull his hand free from it.]

[video]

[betamax]

Uh. A staircase? Well, I was, anyway. There was a room with a bunch of people trying to shove stuff at me so I left but then I ended up in this creepy room and there were stairs...

I think I'm stuck, I've been here for like. Ten minutes.

I heard you. Are you okay?

[video]

[lydiascreams]

I'm okay. But there's a lot of death here. I couldn't concentrate without screaming. [He seems to have seen enough of her powers before, so she assumes that'll make sense to him.]

I was at some dining hall, but I made my way out. Are you okay? Can you leave if you try to?

[semifreakingnormal]

[He hears the scream reverberate off walls, shoot through the castle, through him; he leap frogs over a ghostly guard, kicking him in the back before hitting the ground, and turns toward the sound. It takes him only a second to wedge himself behind a desk, keeping an eye out for other apparitions.]

Lydia! [She looks okay, and that's definitely a relief.]

Are you okay? Are you alone?

[lydiascreams]

I'm okay. No one's hurt as far as I know, it was just-- the deaths all over this place. [Obviously, with all the ghosts around. Some actually talking to her, some just whispering in her head.]

I had to be able to focus. Chris was just with me.

[She watches him closely for a second.]

Are you okay? I spoke with Liam, but I haven't heard from anyone else.

[semifreakingnormal]

Are you feeling okay now?

[There are so many unknowns about being a banshee, still. They've learned so much, she's learned so much, but Scott is still learning things about being a werewolf. He'll always worry about what they don't know.]

I'm okay, I talked to Liam too, and Peter, but I haven't run into anyone yet. Chris is okay?

video

[sharpsurprise]

[He's in the Mezzanine, taking a breather from everything that's happening. He looks ragged, but when he tunes in to her video he's smiling like there's nothing wrong at all.]

I think I'm in a normal place for now-- are you alright? [He'd heard the scream, but he has no idea that it was her.]

video

[lydiascreams]

[Since she found out he's an actual samurai, she doesn't feel like she needs to worry about him as much. But she does, anyway, especially when she takes a good look at him.]

I'm okay, I think I got away from the ghosts for now. [But she has no idea where she actually is.]

Are you hurt?

video

[sharpsurprise]

Not badly! [Well, it's honest, at least-- he has a few scratches, here and there, and he's exhausted from climbing these few floors. But it's nothing really dangerous.]

Do you- have any idea where the Barge could be? I didn't see it downstairs.