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

Entry tags:

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

[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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.]

[Lydia is a mess. After the library, she made her way back down to try and find Stiles despite Vergil's advice. Her hair is now up on a ponytail, but there are still traces of blood over her right ear. She has no idea how much time has passed since they got there.

When she gets to the mezzanine, she knows she's been to this place before. She knows she was fairly safe here. But she doesn't know where it is or what she's supposed to be doing.

She doesn't know how long she's been in this room when she hears someone coming. And even before she sees him, she knows it's him.

So Lydia runs toward the door, baseball bat still in hand.]

Stiles!

(ooc: posting order Lydia, Stiles and Dean?)

[Stiles darts down the stairs, reaching for the door handle to the mezzanine even as he hears his name. Thank god. He tugs the door open quickly, relief washing over him as he spots her a second before she reaches him and he hugs her tightly, pulling her close.]

Are you okay? We heard you scream.

[He pulls away to look at her, lifting a hand to her cheek and pausing at the sight of the dried blood on her ear, eyes widening.]

What happened?

[For once, Dean doesn't snap about the proximity, either; he has one arm raised to catch Stiles in case he doesn't stop in time, lowers it again when he does, and lets it go.

He'd understand about the instincts. There's a reason he's following Stiles - and there's a reason why as soon as they reach the mezzanine and Stiles and Lydia are immediately drawn to one another, as they hug, the hunter skirts them both with only an initial cursory glance at the banshee before he's glancing around their surroundings.

There are ghosts here, of course, which are ignoring them; that could do it. He can see the floor of the ballroom from here, too, with its press of non-corporeal bodies and its self-contained ebb and flow. He pauses there, the sword still in his hand down to one side but ready, his splinted right hand patting carefully at his pockets until he produces a small pouch of salt he took from the kitchens. He paces the length of the space, not looking at the two teenagers, but listening to them for now - a junkyard dog along a fence, watchful and wary and silent.]

[As soon as she sees Stiles, she wraps her arms around him tightly. She was so worried about him when she heard from Scott and they weren't together. But she glances toward Dean just as he looks at her and she's glad Stiles found his inmate, at least.

This place is filled with supernatural, and Dean has even more experience than Allison does, as far as Lydia knows.]

I'm okay-- are you? [She looks at Stiles for a moment longer, then glances at the hunter again.]

I met the man responsible for this place. He trapped all these people in here. He left them here to die.

[He's so focused on Lydia that at first he doesn't even notice the ghosts. It isn't until she's hugging him back that he catches a glimpse of one of them moving around, completely oblivious to the three of them. And then his eyes are a little wider than before. He's seen some weird shit. Hell, he's been some weird shit. But he's never seen a ghost before. It's unsettling.

For a moment, he watches as Dean moves around, pacing, watching and waiting and quiet and that's unsettling, too. Even if this place puts Dean directly in his element.

He takes a deep breath, shifting his gaze to Lydia again, and nods.]

Yeah, I'm fine. [He grimaces at her words, and then looks over to Dean.]

Sounds like a great guy.

[Dean is content to completely ignore the moment of comfort each of them takes from being together again and alright, though it's only because this seems to be a fairly safe place for it just now. That's why he chooses to watch instead: he'll say something the moment any of the ghosts show even residual interest in them, but none of them do, so he lets it go for now.

Then Lydia answers and he pauses, turns so he can look at them without turning his back on the nearest specters. His jaw is tight and his eyes narrowed, but this time it suits him. Annoyed but professional, not frustrated and shut down.]

Of course he did. This place is drowning in restless spirits which usually means a hard death. Which also means that I'm not looking to hang around here long enough for them to move on to the violent side that usually comes with restless spirits with violent deaths.

Do you remember where? Anything that seemed off about this asshole? If we can figure out what he is, maybe we can stop it.

[Or if he's actually one of the rare, twisted and fucked up humans, just put the asshole in the ground.]

[She glances up at the ghosts even though she doesn't have to. They're all talking to her. In her head. Since she screamed, she doesn't feel overwhelmed by the voices. But Dean is right about them being restless.

With an arm still wrapped around Stiles' back, she turns a little more to look around the room, trying to situate herself. But it's impossible, it's like nothing is in the right place, or at the right time.]

I saw him at a dining hall. The ghosts in there were angry, they were coming for us after I screamed. [Admittedly, probably because she screamed.]

That's when he found me. He told me I was disturbing his guests. He looked human but-- [She pauses and glances up at Stiles, because maybe he can make sense of this.]

He had two shadows.

[Stiles eyes the spirits roaming around the room aimlessly. The hair on the back of his neck is standing on end. He shifts his gaze from Lydia to Dean and back again, his body tense. His hand lingers at the small of Lydia's back as she turns to talk to Dean, partially because he needs the reassurance that she's really okay, and partially because he's pretty sure the voices in this place have to be overwhelming.]

And if the ghosts are his guests, then we're the intruders.

[Even though they'd gotten no real choice in being there or not. Awesome. Dean's right though. They shouldn't linger too long. There are a lot of ghosts floating around this place and it's hard telling what might set one or all of them off.

Stiles pauses at the mention of the man responsible having two shadows. Then he shakes his head, because nothing comes to mind. He looks at Dean.]

Do ghosts ever have two shadows? Or do you think this is something else?

Ghosts don't have shadows at all. It's either corporeal, or the extra shadow is caused by some other connection to this plane.

[He's running through a short - very short - list in his head, and none of the options are good. They're also not extremely likely given that he can almost recognize several of the creatures he's seen here but not quite. Enough for a lot of his knowledge to be applicable, but not an exact match.

And unfortunately where the supernatural is concerned, the right match is crucial. He paces back to them, holds out the pouch to Lydia.]

I passed a dining hall on my way up before I ran into Stiles. I'll go back and see if he's there. I need to get a look at him, see if I recognize anything.

This is salt. If the ghosts come after you, make a circle, stay inside it, but don't waste it; there's not a lot of it left in the kitchens. And let me see your hands.

[Once his hand is free of the pouch, he'll dig the grease pencil out of his pocket. Anti-possession sigils really need the strength and binding of blood magic to be most powerful, but all Dean needs right now is a stopgap; their best bet is to get out of here, not batten down the hatches for a siege.]

Well, he was definitely corporeal. Aside from the two shadows, everything about him looked human.

[She'd say it felt human, too, but she's not entirely sure about what she was feeling in a room with so many actual ghosts.

When he offers her the salt, she nods and takes the pouch carefully, then slides it into the belt Babs added to her suit.]

Thank you. [She knows why he's helping Stiles, but she knows he has no reason to help her. But then, he asks to see her hands and she stops herself from glancing up at her boyfriend to check if he thinks this is safe. Dean is helping after all.

So she holds out her hands. Her right one still blood stained from when her ear was bleeding earlier. She didn't exactly find a place to wash them.]

One of the books in the library made my ear bleed. [Because that sounds completely normal.]

[Stiles watches Lydia tuck the salt into her belt and then holds his hand out when Dean tells them to. He's not sure what Dean has in mind, but he trusts him to know what he's doing when it comes to this stuff. He's read his file.

The sight of the blood on Lydia's hands makes him grimace, but he diverts his gaze quickly. Her words give him pause, though. One of the books made her ear bleed? He shakes his head a little, because just when he thinks their lives couldn't get any weirder, their lives manage to do just that.]

Be careful.

[He'd suggest coming along with Dean, but if anything, Stiles is smart enough to know that'll just end up putting Dean in more danger. He's not much of a fighter even with all the self-defense time he's put in with Stephanie and Bucky and Allison. And as much as he loves Lydia, he knows she's not much of a fighter either. Their strengths and talents lie elsewhere.]

Mm. Probably some kinda glamor. The shadows were probably closer to real than what your eyes were seeing.

[This almost speculative; he won't know until he sees for himself, of course, which he fully intends to do. He barely notices the blood on Lydia's hands until she says something, setting the sword down on the ground where he can still grab it up if something crops up, but leaving both hands free. Dean adjusts the grease pencil in his splinted right hand, holding it a little awkwardly but securely enough for this, anyway. He taught himself to always be able to draw this.

First Lydia, then Stiles, he supports their right hand with his left and inscribes a quick but confident, simplified version of his own tattoo on the back. He's not exactly gentle but he is careful, professional and quick, then steps back to pocket the grease pencil again and reclaim his sword.]

That'll protect you from demonic possession as long as it's not broken, and as long as you stay away from the more powerful ones. There's nothing easy I could give you against them, anyway. If something happens and it wipes off or one of the lines break, you can just connect them again. Salt for ghosts, that for demons. Holler if you find anything else.

[He ignores Stiles' admonition to be careful; he'll be precisely as careful as he needs to be, not an ounce more or less.] Keep moving up. I'll try to catch up if I can. [At which point, of course, he pauses and glances quizzically at Lydia.]

You don't mean you got hit with the book, do you.

Edited 2015-03-09 01:49 (UTC)

[Lydia stares down at the drawing and then glances back at Dean, nodding. If only they had something like that back home, before anything happened to Stiles.]

No. [She answers at his question, lowering her hand as she shakes her head.]

The books there have some kind of pull, they make you want to read them. I don't know how exactly it happens. [She glances at Stiles again and takes a deep breath.]

The one I opened screamed until my ears were bleeding. I dropped it, and it fell shut.

[Glamor. Magic. Thing with two shadows. It's sounding truly more awesome by the second. In the way that it's not at all.

He manages to keep his mouth shut while Dean is drawing the symbol on Lydia's hand and then on his own, staring at it and burning it into his memory for later reference and usage.

"That'll protect you from demonic possession as long as it's not broken, and as long as you stay away from the more powerful ones."

He wonders if it would have worked as protection against the Nogitsune, wonders if the Nogitsune would have been powerful enough to be able to break the symbol or if Void would have been bothered by it at all. He'll probably never know the answer, but by the look on Lydia's face, she's thinking along the same lines and he quickly drops his gaze.]

...screaming books. [He purses his lips, reaching out and resting his hand at the small of her back again.] That's a new one.

[Dean knows more powerful, more time-consuming tricks that certainly couldn't have hurt against the Nogitsune, but the problem with most of that is that one has to have forewarning to get it into place, or to know where a Key already exists. It's not a problem for Dean since the world ended and one can expect to run into a demon any given day of the week, but before that it was... tricky.

Now he raises an eyebrow as he picks up his sword again, glancing swiftly and briefly at the movement of Stiles' hand, but ultimately nods. It's not the first time he's heard of cursed books, either. Luckily that one's easy.]

Stay outta the library.

Go. And stick together.

[The hunter himself is already moving towards the stairway that will take him down to the banquet hall, hefting the sword in his hand again to get used to it.]

[She definitely doesn't need Dean's warning to stay with Stiles. She's not planning on letting him out of her sight again until they're back to the Barge.

She watches Dean go for a moment then turns to look back at Stiles. She doesn't need to be a mind reader to know what he's thinking. They are usually along the same lines. It's not a surprise anymore.

So without another word, she wraps her arms around him and tiptoes, kissing him softly before pulling back again.]

I spoke with Scott and Liam, they're both okay.

[He closes his eyes when she kisses him, returning the soft pressure instantly. He draws in a breath and exhales slowly when she tells him that Scott and Liam are okay. Or at least were when she'd spoken with them. He nods quickly.]

I've only seen you and Dean.

[She keeps her arms around his back and nods slightly, keeping her eyes on him to make sure he's okay.]

Let's see if we can find them. [Because leaving without the rest of the pack would never be an option.]

[He leans in closer to her, hugging her more tightly for the briefest of moments before pulling away and lifting his hand to her ear. He winces at the sight of the blood, gently brushing some of it away with his thumb before meeting her eyes.]

You're sure you're okay?

[Lydia makes a face when he winces, then nods.]

Does it still look gross? I didn't find a mirror. [And it wasn't actually her priority since she was looking for him. But she still hates being gross.]

The scream from the book-- it wasn't just any scream, Stiles. It was a book about banshees and the scream was definitely a banshee scream.

It's not that bad. [He presses a tender kiss to her forehead before looking at her once more, mouth tugging downwards at the corners.]

So...hearing another banshee's scream makes your ears bleed?

[Jesus, that's not alarming at all. He's definitely going to try to get her to see a doctor when they get back to the Barge.]

[She leans into him as she tightens her arms around him.]

It did this one time. I don't know if it happens every time. I never heard another one before.

[After a moment, she pulls back and looks up at him.]

What about you? What happened to you?

[He hopes it's not something that happens normally. The thought is horrifying. Not that they have much experience with other banshees. Sure, there'd been Meredith, but she hadn't screamed around them as far as he knows.

He lets out a breath, eyes troubled.]

There's a room upstairs that -- they make you think you're reliving something. It's all an act.

Reliving something?

[Her stomach drops as she brushes a hand over his hair, watching him closely. The first thing that comes to mind is the Nogitsune. And all the people he killed while using Stiles' body.]

What did you see?

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

Spam -- Mezzanine?

Spam -- Mezzanine?

Spam -- Mezzanine?

Spam -- Mezzanine!

Spam -- Mezzanine!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

SPN, I will never forgive you for forcing me to take this stylized trampstamp seriously

It's what the ~fangirls~ want

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)