[closed-ish] if the clouds don't clear

[darkinferno]

WHO: Dante + MANY PEOPLE
WHERE: All over the city + dreamscapes
WHEN: Between 10/3 and 10/13
WHAT: Nightmares and fog encounters!
WARNINGS: Mentions of character death, an NPC on a noose, murder. LOOK FAMILY FEUD WAS A THING, OKAY.

Comments

vera; we were sitting with our backs against the world

[darkinferno]

[To say Dante's on edge would be an understatement. It's only a few days into the month but he's already realized how dangerous this fog can really be--he still doesn't understand 100% what it was that he ran into when he'd found Derek in the middle of the street, but he remembers the way the thing had felt, the way it had seemed to suck out any happiness that might have existed inside of him. The way it had dragged up all the memories he tries so hard to forget, the way it all came cascading back...

He's not going to be taken off-guard again. Dante's got his hackles raised as he wanders the city, sticking close to the shadows. He doesn't carry his sword openly, not yet, but he's ready to summon it in an instant if need be, and his hood is up, his eyes blindfolded. He's still learning how to use this new power he's discovered, and right now, wandering the city, is one of the best times in his opinion to practice. If necessary, he can always rip it off, and in the meantime he's learning to trust this new sense of his as he moves.

It's when he "sees" someone else before him that he stops, instinctively taking a defensive stance, hand at the ready. He doesn't speak... he just waits to see what this other person will do. But if there seems to be anything hostile in their movement, he's ready to defend himself.]

[heiroglyphs]

[Vera's been chased by all manner of horrors in this fog, from chainsaw-wielding freaks, a pack of mutant wolves, and even a giant demon bird. Now they're sending some hooded nutjob at her? She doesn't know who or what is under that hood, but it doesn't really matter. It's kill or be killed right now, and the heiress has every intention on getting home.

Her hand grips tight on the rapier sheathed at her side, shifting her balance into a defensive stance, waiting for the figure to make its first move.]

tatsuo; saying things that we thought but never heard

[darkinferno]

[The scene is familiar to Dante, horrifyingly familiar no matter how many times he's tried to forget it: a decently-sized room, dimly lit by a ridiculous-looking lightbulb bro standing between two beds. He's bound to the headboard of one of the beds, arms behind him and his hands lashed flat to his arms so that he can't even summon his sword. He doesn't have to look to know who the occupant of the second bed is; how many times has he seen Toushiro's face in this dream? How many times has he had to watch him die?

Ghost swings down on his noose as he always does, the same expression on his face as ever. You already know the rules, he says, so let's begin.

Dante doesn't want to play, but he never has control in his nightmares--he's already forgetting that it's only a dream, and the worry that floods him is all too real as a timer starts counting down. Name a method of killing someone that doesn't leave a trace, Ghost reads off his cue card, and his mind races, trying to think of an answer that fits the question but doesn't take the obvious correct answer. He can't let Toushiro die. He can't let--

Only that's not Toushiro on the other bed. Dante's expression breaks in shock as he finally glances over, expecting to see the other boy, and seeing...]

Tatsuo? What are you doing here?

[The timer's still ticking down.]

[thisloveisjustice]

[Tatsuo shakes his head, trying to clear the fog from his brain. What had he been doing? Going to bed? Yes, he'd brushed his teeth and pulled back the covers to get in bed... and then... what? And why is his sitting up?

He tries to bring his hand up to his face, but he can't. That finally gets his attention. He tries to move his hand again and feels the tightness around his wrist. Tatsuo looks down at himself and realizes he's tied up. His arms slung over the headboard of a bed and tied to the rails.]

What the...

Tatsuo? What are you doing here?

[Tatsuo's head jerks up and he spots Dante.]

Dante? What is going on?

[Now he looks around, taking in the way Dante is also tied, the weird lightbulb(?) between them, and the ghost hanging from the noose in the ceiling.

Ghost.

Shit.]

souji; who would have thought it would end up like this?

[darkinferno]

[All in all, Dante isn't afraid of the fog. Maybe he should be, he thinks sometimes, but all his fear has gone out of him in the past couple months, used up and lost on what's already happened. What can the fog show him that he hasn't already had to deal with in one fashion or another?

(This is probably what Ardyn meant by not being reckless and being careful, isn't it?)

But Dante's aware that he isn't everyone, and when he sees a figure he recognizes in the fog, he'll be quick to catch up with him.]

Souji! Is that you?

What are you doing out here?

[Admittedly, maybe it isn't that late, but...]

[tarotcards]

[ since the fog had rolled out and people have been reporting dealing with monsters and other strange things within it, souji has taken it upon himself to go out during the evenings to either escort people around or to just generally help around. if he has the power to help others then he should use it. so when dante runs into him, he'll see that souji is prepared with a sword in one hand and a backpack strapped on (with 29819 supplies in it, of course) ]

Dante?

[ he turns, facing the other boy. hmm is he trying to get anywhere? ]

I'm out to help anyone in the fog if they need it. What about you?

noctis; where everything we talked about is gone

[darkinferno]

[Even if Dante couldn't see the change to the islands, he'd still be able to feel it.

It's the first hint that something's wrong, a sensation that prickles at the base of his scalp and then makes its way up and over, following his shoulders and arms and then to his torso until his entire body feels wrong, slightly out-of-sync with the rest of the world. It's like he's tuning in to something only he can hear, and it sets Dante on edge as he looks out the window of his bedroom.]

Whoa--what is that?

[Outside the sky is dark, an inky purple-black that seems to be encroaching over the city. Dante swears, racing for the door, but by the time he's gotten outside the landscape has changed, and it's sand he steps into when he runs out the door of his apartment building, gritty sand that gives beneath his feet.]

What is this?!

[There's some sort of orb above him, dark and pulsing and glowing like an ember in its center. It seems to have a gravity of its own, a slight pull that's making the trees bend and sway, filling the air with the sound of leaves swishing. Everything is dark, dark, and to Dante's horror, there are shadows crawling toward him along the beach, pressed flat against the ground until they reach him and begin to rise up and take shape, shadows with glowing yellow eyes.

What does he do? Is he supposed to fight these things?!]

kiyomitsu; and the only chance we have of moving on

[darkinferno]

[It happens the same way it always does: by sneaking carefully into the master bedroom of the mansion, testing the floor for any unevenness or rotted boards, following after Brob as he leads the way. There are two separate beds (odd for a married couple?), matched nightstands, a big bureau with a mirror on it--all normal things you'd expect to find in a bedroom. There's someone behind him too, following him in, but Dante's paying more attention to what's going on before them, trusting Toushiro to watch their backs.

And then, just like clockwork, there are game show lights flashing, the both of them thrown into the separate beds as their ghostly host descends from the ceiling. "Hello, and welcome to this week's edition of Family Feud!" He does his intro with the usual exuberance, pausing before adding: "Not to be confused with the real Family Feud, aha. I'm your host with the most, Ghost. Are you ready to play a game?"]

Not again... I've played your game before!

[He wants so desperately to summon his sword, but it's of no use to even try: he's already bound, the sheets having lashed around their arms to bind their hands behind them and tie them up against the headboard, but if he even twitches his fingers they'll wrap him even tighter, pinning his hands flat and ensuring he can't budge them an inch. It's useless, just like every other time he's had this dream.

But one thing's different about the dream this time: when Dante glances toward where Toushiro should be on the other bed, there's somebody else instead.]

Ki... Kiyo? What are you doing here?!

[sharplydressed]

[HEY DANTE WHAT'S GOING ON, how're things going in this lovely corner of nightmare hell?? Yet again, Kiyomitsu's finding himself sorely regretting trying to catch a quick few moments of shuteye tonight...

That said, between struggling to escape and Dante being about as shocked to see him as he feels about being here in the first place, he's just straight-up ignoring their charming host Ghost. The answer to "are you ready to play a game" is apparently a resounding "nah".]

You took the question right outta my mouth— Is this yours?

[Your dream, he means, but doesn't bother clarifying. He's at least been through similar situations enough to start realizing what's going on whenever he finds himself launched into ominous scenarios seemingly out of nowhere.]

izuku; is trying to take it back before it all went wrong

[darkinferno]

[It's a mistake.]

Freya?

[He doesn't realize it at first; he thinks it's just her.]

What are you doing out here?

[Why is she over in Tribunal Terrace? Not that she can't go where she wants in the city, but Dante doesn't usually just run into her at random.

But apparently she's going to run into him, because there's a scream forcing itself out of Freya's throat that's almost inhuman, and Dante can't help but instinctively freeze, a cold chill going through his entire body moments before she slams into him, driving him down to the ground. The impact brings him back to himself, thrusting his hands up and trying to push her away, but her hands are already going for his neck, using his moment of shock against him. Dante grunts, one hand going to hers to try and pull them away.]

Freya--snap out of it!

[Yeah, he could definitely use a little help here?]

i'm sorry i'm so late to this

[heroforall]

[It's the sound of the scream that draws Izuku in their direction. Hearing someone screaming is strange enough in itself to warrant investigation, but there's something about this scream in particular that doesn't sound good.

He's powerless and armed only with the skills he's picked up in fight club, but it's gotten him through everything Retrospect has thrown at them so far, so he doesn't bother worrying about whether he'll be enough to deal with the situation. He's already running headlong into danger.

It's not long before he's coming upon them, his eyes straying over their forms for only a moment before he's moving quickly and launching himself at Freya.] Get off him!

[The impact is enough to knock her off balance and force her to release her grasp on Dante's throat.]

togusa; before the worst, before we met

[darkinferno]

There are a lot of people that follow him in the fog. Dante's used to the feeling of that--he's seen Heartless, he's seen the monsters that had been following Arlene, he's seen the people that other network users have been running into. But usually he can skulk away from them, slip into the shadows and vanish.

Not tonight.

Tonight there seems to be someone else that's following him, someone similarly able to sneak into the shadows and vanish. Dante keeps seeing glimpses of him out of the corner of his eye, a shadowy figure that's never quite there when he looks for him. On a hunch, he leads the figure toward Enprise; unless he's missing his guess there's going to be a fight that comes out of this, and he doesn't like the idea of dragging in anyone unlucky enough to be running errands in the middle of the night. It also means he can use his flowmotion to climb buildings and leap across the streets, riding that wave of power through the night air (it might give his pursuer something to follow, the pink/purple glow that surrounds his body lighting up in the foggy night, but Dante's relatively sure it would find him again regardless).

Finally he reaches a clearing in the district, a large open space before a skyscraper with a decorative fountain out front, and turns to find his shadow chasing after him, not even trying to be subtle about it any more. Like him, he's wearing a long black coat, but unlike him, the other has their hood up, shrouding the face from view.

"Why are you following me?" Dante demands, throwing his hand back to summon his Keyblade if necessary.

It'll be necessary: the hooded figure pulls not one but two Keyblades from the air, black and white, brandishing them and cutting through the night sky. It doesn't answer--it doesn't need to.

Re: togusa; before the worst, before we met

[standalonehuman]

Bad news, because Dante is leading the mysterious figure right to where Togusa is on patrol tonight. The thick fog rolling in doesn't bother Togusa immediately, because it's a common sight this time of year, with Recolle being so close to the ocean.

But something out there moving grabs his attention. He can see Dante coming, the odd lights that follow his powers act almost as a beacon. He remembers it from when he finally saw Dante using his abilities against the sea monster. "Dante?"

The fog rolls back as Togusa enters the clearing, and he spots the same person Dante is facing off with. Shit. Gun is drawn immediately. "Police! Don't move!"

Hey, good to see Cop!Togusa when it's not aimed at you, hunh, Dante?

shiori; before our hearts decide

[darkinferno]

[As the days pass, Dante's more and more tired. It's not the fault of the nightmares--no, he's getting used to those, by this point. The only difference now is that sometimes he sees the people he knows in them; sometimes he's not alone. It's not specifically the fog either, though he'd definitely argue that it's getting more stressful as the month goes on, knowing what might be lurking and waiting for him inside of it. He's been through several fights, each one as bad as the next, and it almost always feels like someone's watching him, like he might be jumped at any time... so nobody could fault him from being on his guard as he slinks through the night, wearing the black coat that Retrospec had sent him. (Much as he's loathe to accept any gifts from them, it is a good coat to wear against the fog, and it does help him blend into the shadows that much easier.)

Tonight he wears his blindfold too, though he hasn't bothered tucking his hair beneath the deep hood; the more he practices moving through the city without using his eyes to guide him, the easier it's becoming. He can tell where buildings are, where cars are as they drive down the roads, where other people are...

Speaking of another person... Dante stops, realizing that there's someone nearby. He can't tell whether they're friendly, ambivalent, or hostile, so his guard's up as he turns to face them, frowning.]

What do you want?

[Whether he should go on the defensive or the offensive, Dante's ready to move in an instant.]

[missingache]

[There's something to be said about moving about in a fog when all you can rely on is your eyes and ears. It was disconcerting. Like Shiori should be ready to respond to the fight or flight instinct at any second. This is tested when he's addressed, wheeling to see who it was. Instantly it feels as if his hackles should be raised, though confusion stops most of this.]

.......

[There's something about this that is making his mind scream that it was time to fight. He takes a deep breath and tries to swallow this down for the moment.]

If that's your Halloween costume, then you're way off the scary mark.

anya; before too late, before too long

[darkinferno]

[It's dark outside, the fog all around him... but as Dante continues to walk through the city it seems to be getting lighter, not darker, even as he's walking away from the lights of Tisse and toward home. Before he knows it he's entered a place he's seen only in his memories--the inside of Castle Oblivion, sparse and white.

Dante comes to a stop, looking around him. He's had a few run-ins with different entities in the fog; what is he going to see here? His heart is in his throat as he listens, wondering if he'll hear his name being called, heralding the loss of control he sometimes feels in his dreams. Fear isn't an emotion he usually feels while wandering the city, but it's certainly present now, and when he catches sight of the silver hair coming toward him from the other end of the hall, he could yell with relief.]

Hey--Fake! What are you doing here?

[It's his replica in every sense of the word, down to the matching black coat. Different than what he'd been wearing in his memory.]

What am I doing here? [The replica snorts, folding its arms in obvious aggravation.] That much should be obvious.

I'm here to take you down.

[It's all the warning gets before the other Dante--what name had Arlene called him by? Riku?--lunges toward him, Soul Eater appearing in his hands. Dante snaps up his hand, Keyblade flashing into existence in a heartbeat, just in time to block.]

I don't think so!

[And the battle is on!]

james; let's try to take it back

[darkinferno]

[He's in darkness at first, but that doesn't bother Dante by this point. He can see, even though it's pitch black around him, and he's got a card in hand. A card that will let him out of the darkness, so long as he can find the door...

The card gives him access to leave the darkness--how, he doesn't know (and it doesn't occur to him to question it; obviously the card would let him leave, right?). But it opens regardless, into a completely different sort of space, one that's white as far as the eye can see. White walls, white flooring, white doors and white stairs. Dante strides forward purposely, but it's only when a voice echoes through the air that he stops dead in his tracks.]

Dante...

Who's there?

[He looks around, but there's nobody there.]

I know you can feel me. You've known I was here since you first woke up, haven't you?

What are you talking about?

[He's distracted enough that he doesn't realize that, contrary to the corridor he's used to, there's another door in the wall, opening to admit someone else into the hall.]

[frostythehitman]

[ There's nowhere else to go. So James follows the only path he has, walking walking walking until he finds a door. The door must mean that he's on the right path--to what he's not sure, but something. So he steps through and is nearly blinded by the overwhelming whiteness.

A moment later he realizes he's not alone. He first hears a voice, then turns his head to see that it's someone familiar. What he's saying and to who, he has no idea. He seems to be alone. ]

...Dante? Is that you?

grell; before it all went wrong

[darkinferno]

[It starts in the mansion.

Dante's exhausted before he even begins to dream, the natural consequences of so many nights with poor sleep and the added encounters of the fog. (Really, he should just start staying in at night and making it a point to not leave after sunset, but what boy his age would agree to that?) He's prepared for a nightmare, but he isn't expecting to find himself in the Spinnato mansion once again, fighting the nursemaid that had threatened them all after three weeks of hell. At first he freezes, worried that he'll have to watch Ryoji die again, but his hand flashes out and his Keyblade is there, there in a way it never was when everything had first happened or in any of his nightmares beyond that. It's there, and he's armed, and he can fight--and that makes all the difference.

Fighting the wraith isn't easy, but it's easier in his dreams than it was in unreality. Dante ducks and weaves and before long she's gone, though it isn't without her poisoned nails managing to scratch him first. He grunts in pain as the scratches burn against his cheek--and that's when the floor drops out from beneath him, almost the same as how it did once before.

But this time, the fall is short, and it's not a forest that he finds himself in when he lands: the entire place, as far as the eye can see, is gray gray gray, with strange ever-changing patterns on the walls and ambient light that both does and doesn't come from the center of those patterns. It's a place he's only seen but once before, and Dante's heart seems to stop in his throat as he catches sight of the figures before him--of Xemnas, ready to swing his beamsaber sword and separate head from shoulders.]

No!

[He's moving before he can even think. He's going to throw himself in between Xemnas and his target again. He can't let the man hurt anybody.]

[erythristic]

[where she is, she doesn't know, but she sees Dante, hears the desperation in his voice, and something surges inside her. a desire to stop, a desire to reach out, a knowledge that if she put out her hand and the world shifted into place, what was in her hand was something that sang with a roar and shouldn't be so light. the scythe in her hand (for all it appeared as a chainsaw, it was a scythe, and she knew that in her bones at this time) sprung to life, and she won't let this man hurt him.

the sound of it is harsh, grating, but the blade of the scythe catches the light sword before it can come down, and Grell parries, a fierce look in her eyes.]

Let's dance, then.

[she'll draw his ire if she has to - fighting bubbles in her blood, from her keeping it down.]

bakhura; there was a time that we'd stay up all night

[darkinferno]

[There's something inside his body that isn't his.

Dante's trapped in darkness, and yet he knows that there's something going on. He can hear voices, his voice, a voice that doesn't sound like his even though he he knows it is. His voice is doubled, his own voice overlapping with a darker, more velvet voice, sure of itself and laughing at the attempts to disrupt it.

No, he tries to cry, but his voice is not his own.

He fights--he fights hard, struggling to see what's going on outside his own body, what's got him trapped; he fights until he can see through his eyes, even if he can't do anything...

He's in a familiar place, somewhere he does and doesn't recognize. His body is moving of its own accord, attacking and dodging and fighting against a familiar boy--until it stops, and the brunet he'd been fighting is gone.]

What are you doing here?

[Dante can't see who or what the force controlling him is speaking to, but it's not exactly a question.]

sora; best friends talking 'til the daylight

[darkinferno]

[Dante's starting to get used to the way the fog functions, as much as he hates it sometimes. The last thing he wants to do is relive his memories time and time again, or to have to worry about the darker aspects of them jumping out in the night. But Dante's also not the type of guy to let that sort of thing stop him from doing what he wants, and so most nights he can still be found out and about, hanging out with friends or getting into mischief or just wandering the streets in some sort of self-assigned watch for other Retrospeccers that might be having a difficult time. If there's anything he's learned over the past few months, it's that he's not the only one that's got dark memories awaiting them.

Unfortunately, there are some nights where it seems like he winds up dealing with his own memories rather than helping anybody else out of theirs. Tonight is one of those nights.]

I should've seen it, as soon as Maleficent started gathering the seven princesses of heart...

[He recognizes the voice, faint as it is. Mickey's voice. Dante frowns, speeding up... and stopping short as the area around him seems to change, dragging him back into the memory's grasp.

Everything is white, white, and he's on some sort of raised platform in the middle of a room. All around him are towers, chairs, something inbetween, with figures sitting in each one. There are a couple faces he feels like he should know, but more of them are hooded, wearing the same sort of coat both he and Arlene have found, their faces hidden.]

Yes. They were all my doing. I used the evil fairy to find seven pure lights for me, just as I prepared thirteen vessels to fill with pure darkness.

[Dante frowns again, looking up at the man speaking. He doesn't recognize him at all, though his eyes are the same amber he's seen in his nightmares before. The evil fairy...?

The man continues speaking.]

That dull, ordinary boy--a Keyblade wielder so unlike any I have ever seen. However, I have not abandoned my ambitions--the seven guardians of light and the thirteen seekers of darkness.

[He's struggling just to keep up, honestly.]

[destiny_key]

[Sora should have known better, really, than to be out this late. But his soccer practice had run late, and his mom hadn't been able to pick him up this time, and he didn't want to bother Minako for a ride, again. The days were getting shorter, now, and so by the time he'd left school it was pitch black and he was still walking home.

He should have known better, because the fog seemed to get worse and worse every night, and after the first time, Sora promised himself he wouldn't go out in it again. But it was late, and it was either walk home and risk more nightmares, or sleep at school, and he was avoiding that too. Which was the lesser of two evils?

Well, he'd probably get in trouble for sleeping at school anyway, he thought.

And then he hears a voice in the dark, and it makes him jump in surprise. The voice is familiar, despite having never heard it before (or maybe he had?), but it chills him to the bone. Another few steps forward, and it's like he's been transported to a completely different place.

Everything is white, the pillars, the floor, and in front of him is Dante, looking up at the figures that perch above them on the raised chairs. Why does everything come back to him? Sora listens to the elderly man on the highest chair continue to talk, every word cutting into him, and suddenly he feels frozen, like he can't move, and he can't tell if it's part of the effect of the memory or the sheer terror paralyzing him.]

hikari; took the joys alongside the pain

[darkinferno]

However, I have not abandoned my ambitions--the seven guardians of light and the thirteen seekers of darkness.

[This time, Dante hears the words and knows what's going on. He's heard the speech once before already, and he's seen what happens if he lets it get too far. Dante breaks into a run, pelting through the fog, trying to follow the sounds of the man's voice.]

Seven guardians of light?

[But the fog is thick, and he's in such a hurry that he almost doesn't see Hikari until he's on top of him, shouting a warning as he jumps.]

Look out!

[Luckily he's gotten some sort of boost to his regular jumping abilities, because he can jump to head-height now, but it's up to Hikari as well to take his advice and duck! Regardless of what happens, Dante's stopping and twisting to look at him, even though it's obvious he wants to keep running toward the voices.]

You all right?

[brokenlight]

[Hearing Dante's voice has Hikari jerking in surprise, ducking instinctively just as the other jumped overhead?

Either way, once he's sure Dante hasn't landed on him, he shakes his head a bit.

What were these voices?

He turns to Dante, noticing the slight anxious expression on his face, but not one directed towards him, but maybe to the voices instead?]

I'm fine. What's going on?