[ Five has been through these labyrinth of corridors before. One would think that he should be putting all of his energy into closing the gate to Hell, but it’s like a sickness with him; he can’t give up on family. Lila disappeared far too many days ago to have real hope of finding her, but like or not, she’s a part of that family now. That means he’ll take any spare moment to keep looking. Lila’s clever, and even in dire circumstances, he doesn’t put it past her to have left some sign behind for him to stumble onto.
He can tell that he’s far past the Room of Seals when the cold becomes more tolerable. It’s remarkably quiet for the potential end of days, but he still moves deeper into an area he’s somehow yet to explore.
That’s when he sees a woman’s figure that momentarily fills him with stunned hope, only for a second look to recognize her as the opposite of the one he was looking for. Vanessa Ives. What is she doing down this deep?
She seems preoccupied by something he can’t quite grasp but feels… oddly disturbing. He approaches slowly, trying to get a sense of her before he interrupts whatever he’s stumbled on. ]
Vanessa. [ To get her attention. ] Were you possessed?
[ Since Wrath has found a way to temporarily commandeer the room of seals, Vanessa hasn't had as much 'official' busywork to do. She should be using that extra free time to perhaps help more at the crossroads or even the wards, but as much as she hates it down here, she finds it difficult to pull away.
Even more-so since that demon thought to threaten her. No matter her experience, she hasn't entirely outgrown spite, so she doesn't go far, but truthfully she knows she ought to simply leave. She can no longer help down here, but who is he to say? Who are any of them to say? They don't know anything, not really. Even those who think they do—
He was the only one who knew.
Vanessa.
She hears her name even if the rest of it is lost to the voices in her head, and there's confusion shadowing her gaze when she slowly looks over her shoulder. She had been drawing something small against the wall with her fingertip, but she can't remember what.
She doesn't see Five when she looks back, though. For a long stare, she can only see the figure of an old friend...one who had loomed over her during her possession, pushing her deeper into it for the sake of his daughter. ]
How are you here?
[ But before the man can answer, she blinks (finally she blinks) and he's gone. Lack of sleep? Is that it? Now she looks at Five like she is waiting for him to disappear, too, utterly uncertain if he's real. ]
[ The possession theory doesn't leave him when she turns and asks a question that doesn't seem to be addressed to him. She asked him how, but he answers what, in case that helps pull her out of whatever daze she's in. ]
I was looking for someone. [ His eyes narrow and he stays just out of arm's reach. ] It's been a while. So let's try that again. How long have you been down here? What did you see?
[ He squints back at her. The beginning of what? After a briefly suspicious stare, he decides it couldn’t hurt. ]
Lila. Bleached hair, about my height. Crazy eyes. [ He frowns, if only because it’d be easier if he could have said ‘the pregnant one’, but he’s the last person left who knows. One reason he hasn’t given up his search. His brother would never forgive him if he didn’t try. ]
The apocalypse is a magnet for some people. She wouldn’t run before seeing it for herself.
[ 'Crazy eyes'. Well, she empathizes with this Lila already. Vanessa has heard of her through the network, but never met her. If she's gone missing, does that mean she's missed her chance? So it is with certain types.
If she isn't dead. Does he think you did something to her? Vanessa glances him over, then turns to peer down the hall as if waiting for someone to turn the corner.
Nobody seems to, but she could have sworn she heard something. It isn't easy to sneak up on her, but now it's already happened once. Unsettled, she forces herself to look back towards Five.
It seems he really is here after all. Not a hallucination. ]
Would she not then be within the Room of Seals? How much closer can one get to the end of days? ...So to speak.
[ It may not doom the whole of this world, but it could certainly ravage the citadel and beyond. Could it grow, if it was unleashed? ]
[ She's not wrong, Lila could have gone into the room. It wasn't so easy to sneak into when she first disappeared, but he can't be sure of anything. She could have mimicked his abilities to slip in, but she'd have to be motivated by more than curiosity. ]
It doesn't always help to know where it starts. [ And based on absolutely nothing, he doesn't think she would have without altering him. There's a large part of him that isn't expecting to find her. The most he can hope for is a message she left behind.
Vanessa doesn't look like she's seen her, and the more he looks at her, the more he wonders how long she's been soaking in the sights. There's something off about the way she's moving, but he hasn't pieced it together ]
What about you? You're just here for the atmosphere?
[ The inquiry momentarily puts her on the defensive, however subtly, with shoulders slightly more squared and chin gently lifted. It's temporary, though, when again she looks over her shoulder and her pose cracks.
There, that had certainly been a scream. A woman's? Could it be Lila's? She expects that Five will already be gone when she looks back ahead to face him, but instead he's staring at her as if he hadn't heard anything.
Further ruffled, her stern shoulders immediately droop and she hugs herself, nails digging into her elbows. ]
I was assisting those in the Room of Seals before one of our own took it under his wing.
[ Not an answer for what she's still doing here, but then...she's still figuring that out. She attempts to redirect the focus back onto this Lila character. ]
[ Five is reminded of Klaus the more he watches her react to things that aren't there. It makes him wonder if she's seeing ghosts or if there's something else picking away at her sanity. He's had his own moments in the Gut's Bind that should make him less judgmental, but something about Vanessa has always seemed like there's more to it that he's missing. ]
Wrath chased you away? [ Wild guess, but he was asking for any help that he could get. If she's not there, he decided she shouldn't be. — He's hesitant to let her turn the conversation back to Lila, but she is the reason he's here, so he answers. ]
Because before we were family, she was part of an organization that was heavily invested in it. [ He frowns and looks behind him. ] ...And surprisingly enough, I don't think she would have disappeared without saying something about it.
[ Chased? The concept gets a hard stare, but she doesn't respond. She wouldn't let someone like Wrath 'chase' her away... And he hadn't yet tried to. He had only warned her, as if she would suddenly be a danger to them all when she had been working more closely with the room than any of the others until now.
Insulting.
She keeps silent on the matter. It isn't hidden that Five is on friendly terms with the demon, but it seems most people pay Wrath a certain amount of respect. Vanessa has always been careful because of this, and even now when everything is so loud...she manages.
To Lila, then. No... To the apocalypse. As ever. ]
What manner of organization would be invested in the end of days?
[ Her silence about Wrath is noted. He's curious, but leaves it alone for now. Instead he watches and considers. Vanessa has a certain way about her, and she seems to know an awful lot more about him than he does her.
He needs to be careful about that. ]
If you knew the world was going to end, wouldn't you be?
[ A bit sharp in tone, though what need has she to be defensive of the matter? Such a thing wouldn't happen while she was around. It certainly wouldn't happen because of her.
But doesn't it sting? ]
No.
[ Said to the voice with a hiss, though it may seem like an answer to Five himself. Contradictory to her actual answer, if so.
She pauses, then folds her arms protectively, and her tone immediately shifts back to the weary drag against gravel. ]
What I mean— I would do anything to prevent it. Is that their cause?
[ His eye twitches at her tone over something she can't know. The world ending never seems possible until you've been through it multiple times, and he can assure her there's a big chance it'll end here.
Her curiosity just makes him more suspicious. Does it matter now? ]
The opposite, actually. They mainly existed to make sure it kept on track. [ Five technically helped them in that goal, but only because he always planned to betray them. ] How successful they've been depends on how you look at it, but I don't think Hell breaking loose was ever on their radar.
[ They sounded nearly as if they were some sort of proper collaboration of those who might care, but it sounds as if they were no better than the demons of Hell, whether or not they saw themselves as such.
Her eyes narrow. He is, after all, a friend of Wrath's.
But then...she has to recall how the Doctor has phrased it at times. What of the creation that might come after? What of—
Her nails dig. That isn't what they want. That isn't what you want. ]
[ Five can see what she's implying, but he's the one who brought it up. Still, he wishes she'd phrased her second question another way. Lila is a complicated subject. ]
Like I said, she was a part of that organization. She isn't any more. [ Neither is he. ] She's also managed to get my idiot brother to fall for her, so I don't have a choice.
[ Diego Hargreeves? Vanessa never had the chance to even meet him, despite him saving her once. She knows that Five has other brothers, but she has only seen them in a vision. A vision of the apocalypse that he would 'rather avoid'.
Her gaze casts aside, and she sighs. Though it sounds as if she might relax, her nails only dig further into her sleeves. She tilts her head towards something invisible behind her.
His search is likely a lost cause. So is avoiding the end of days. ]
...I haven't heard them whisper of her. Not down here.
[ He notes the tension, but really, who wouldn't be tense right now? Lila is the least of their problems, and yet... he's lucky Diego isn't around to find out he lost her. ]
Neither have I. She vanished without a trace. [ He sighs. She's done that before, so it doesn't necessarily mean demons ripped her apart, but it's a shame. With her gone all he's left with is mysterious women who seem to enjoy prodding information out of him while offering nothing in return.
Not that it matters right now. As long as she doesn't interfere with Wrath, she can spend the last days however she cares to. He's leave her to crawl up the walls but something nags at him to ask. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
action > regarding the forthcoming apocalypse
He can tell that he’s far past the Room of Seals when the cold becomes more tolerable. It’s remarkably quiet for the potential end of days, but he still moves deeper into an area he’s somehow yet to explore.
That’s when he sees a woman’s figure that momentarily fills him with stunned hope, only for a second look to recognize her as the opposite of the one he was looking for. Vanessa Ives. What is she doing down this deep?
She seems preoccupied by something he can’t quite grasp but feels… oddly disturbing. He approaches slowly, trying to get a sense of her before he interrupts whatever he’s stumbled on. ]
Vanessa. [ To get her attention. ] Were you possessed?
no subject
Even more-so since that demon thought to threaten her. No matter her experience, she hasn't entirely outgrown spite, so she doesn't go far, but truthfully she knows she ought to simply leave. She can no longer help down here, but who is he to say? Who are any of them to say? They don't know anything, not really. Even those who think they do—
He was the only one who knew.
Vanessa.
She hears her name even if the rest of it is lost to the voices in her head, and there's confusion shadowing her gaze when she slowly looks over her shoulder. She had been drawing something small against the wall with her fingertip, but she can't remember what.
She doesn't see Five when she looks back, though. For a long stare, she can only see the figure of an old friend...one who had loomed over her during her possession, pushing her deeper into it for the sake of his daughter. ]
How are you here?
[ But before the man can answer, she blinks (finally she blinks) and he's gone. Lack of sleep? Is that it? Now she looks at Five like she is waiting for him to disappear, too, utterly uncertain if he's real. ]
no subject
I was looking for someone. [ His eyes narrow and he stays just out of arm's reach. ] It's been a while. So let's try that again. How long have you been down here? What did you see?
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[ In the dark, in the shadows? You were born here. ]
Since the beginning.
[ A pause, and she steps closer with a more focused squint. Her tone suddenly levels. ]
Who do you seek? Perhaps I have seen them.
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Lila. Bleached hair, about my height. Crazy eyes. [ He frowns, if only because it’d be easier if he could have said ‘the pregnant one’, but he’s the last person left who knows. One reason he hasn’t given up his search. His brother would never forgive him if he didn’t try. ]
The apocalypse is a magnet for some people. She wouldn’t run before seeing it for herself.
no subject
If she isn't dead. Does he think you did something to her? Vanessa glances him over, then turns to peer down the hall as if waiting for someone to turn the corner.
Nobody seems to, but she could have sworn she heard something. It isn't easy to sneak up on her, but now it's already happened once. Unsettled, she forces herself to look back towards Five.
It seems he really is here after all. Not a hallucination. ]
Would she not then be within the Room of Seals? How much closer can one get to the end of days? ...So to speak.
[ It may not doom the whole of this world, but it could certainly ravage the citadel and beyond. Could it grow, if it was unleashed? ]
no subject
It doesn't always help to know where it starts. [ And based on absolutely nothing, he doesn't think she would have without altering him. There's a large part of him that isn't expecting to find her. The most he can hope for is a message she left behind.
Vanessa doesn't look like she's seen her, and the more he looks at her, the more he wonders how long she's been soaking in the sights. There's something off about the way she's moving, but he hasn't pieced it together ]
What about you? You're just here for the atmosphere?
no subject
There, that had certainly been a scream. A woman's? Could it be Lila's? She expects that Five will already be gone when she looks back ahead to face him, but instead he's staring at her as if he hadn't heard anything.
Further ruffled, her stern shoulders immediately droop and she hugs herself, nails digging into her elbows. ]
I was assisting those in the Room of Seals before one of our own took it under his wing.
[ Not an answer for what she's still doing here, but then...she's still figuring that out. She attempts to redirect the focus back onto this Lila character. ]
Magnetism, you say... Why her?
[ What is Lila's connection to the apocalypse? ]
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Wrath chased you away? [ Wild guess, but he was asking for any help that he could get. If she's not there, he decided she shouldn't be. — He's hesitant to let her turn the conversation back to Lila, but she is the reason he's here, so he answers. ]
Because before we were family, she was part of an organization that was heavily invested in it. [ He frowns and looks behind him. ] ...And surprisingly enough, I don't think she would have disappeared without saying something about it.
no subject
Insulting.
She keeps silent on the matter. It isn't hidden that Five is on friendly terms with the demon, but it seems most people pay Wrath a certain amount of respect. Vanessa has always been careful because of this, and even now when everything is so loud...she manages.
To Lila, then. No... To the apocalypse. As ever. ]
What manner of organization would be invested in the end of days?
[ Beyond the demons of Hell? ]
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He needs to be careful about that. ]
If you knew the world was going to end, wouldn't you be?
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It won't.
[ A bit sharp in tone, though what need has she to be defensive of the matter? Such a thing wouldn't happen while she was around. It certainly wouldn't happen because of her.
But doesn't it sting? ]
No.
[ Said to the voice with a hiss, though it may seem like an answer to Five himself. Contradictory to her actual answer, if so.
She pauses, then folds her arms protectively, and her tone immediately shifts back to the weary drag against gravel. ]
What I mean— I would do anything to prevent it. Is that their cause?
no subject
Her curiosity just makes him more suspicious. Does it matter now? ]
The opposite, actually. They mainly existed to make sure it kept on track. [ Five technically helped them in that goal, but only because he always planned to betray them. ] How successful they've been depends on how you look at it, but I don't think Hell breaking loose was ever on their radar.
no subject
They wish to ensure it?
[ They sounded nearly as if they were some sort of proper collaboration of those who might care, but it sounds as if they were no better than the demons of Hell, whether or not they saw themselves as such.
Her eyes narrow. He is, after all, a friend of Wrath's.
But then...she has to recall how the Doctor has phrased it at times. What of the creation that might come after? What of—
Her nails dig. That isn't what they want. That isn't what you want. ]
And you still care for her well-being?
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Like I said, she was a part of that organization. She isn't any more. [ Neither is he. ] She's also managed to get my idiot brother to fall for her, so I don't have a choice.
I'd rather avoid it, for the record.
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Her gaze casts aside, and she sighs. Though it sounds as if she might relax, her nails only dig further into her sleeves. She tilts her head towards something invisible behind her.
His search is likely a lost cause. So is avoiding the end of days. ]
...I haven't heard them whisper of her. Not down here.
no subject
Neither have I. She vanished without a trace. [ He sighs. She's done that before, so it doesn't necessarily mean demons ripped her apart, but it's a shame. With her gone all he's left with is mysterious women who seem to enjoy prodding information out of him while offering nothing in return.
Not that it matters right now. As long as she doesn't interfere with Wrath, she can spend the last days however she cares to. He's leave her to crawl up the walls but something nags at him to ask. ]
How prepared are you for the apocalypse?