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WHO: You... and hopefully Sakura (eventually)
WHERE: Sakura's dreamscapes
WHEN: August 19th
WHAT: Sakura could use some help escaping her dreamscapes, guys. Try not to get stuck in them.
WARNINGS: There's a lot, so gonna cover them underneath each prompt.
I. Church on the Hill
II. Matou Mansion
III. All the World's Evil
[ooc: and as a final note, if any/all of the prompts contain themes you'd rather not deal with, just drop me a pp at![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
ignitible or pm this journal, and we can figure out something that works for you]
WHERE: Sakura's dreamscapes
WHEN: August 19th
WHAT: Sakura could use some help escaping her dreamscapes, guys. Try not to get stuck in them.
WARNINGS: There's a lot, so gonna cover them underneath each prompt.
I. Church on the Hill
[When the dreamscape finally settles, a building will loom right in front of you – most likely a church, as the stone cross that sits at the very top is pretty conspicuous. However, given that the weather has suddenly shifted into a wet evening, rain clouds gathered ominously in the sky, the sight might not seem very godly.
The doors to the church appear shut. However, the silence is cut abruptly by the sound of broken… glass? Maybe a busted window?
Who knows. Have a look around: either through the church doors, or to hunt down the mystery of that noise. There might be plenty here to find.]
[ooc: this prompt will potentially feature human parasites of the worm variety, emotional/physical trauma and abuse (mostly discussed, some shown), and might involve a physical fight (though that can be worked around, just lemme know what you prefer)]
II. Matou Mansion
[When the dreamscape finally settles, you’re inside a house.
... Or, at the very least, a very long hallway. It is the stuff made of nightmares because it’s dark, it’s cold, it creaks with unexplainable noises, and even if you turn around, there won't be a door.
Looks like the only way is forward for now. This should go fiiiine.]
[ooc: this prompt will potentially feature the emotional/physical abuse of a child (discussed, not shown!), murder, discussion of human parasites, looooots of worms, and might involve a physical fight (though that can be worked around)]
III. All the World's Evil
[When the dreamscape finally settles, you’re in a large, expansive room – to call it a basement would not do it justice. It looks and feels like a crypt, instead, a place where the dead sleep, and the holes lining the walls won’t do anything to dissuade you from that thought. In fact, a whiff of the air comes back with the stink of decayed bodies, and though it might be faint, there seems to be… squirming noises.
No matter where you look, though, you won’t find anything living. The floors are bare. No bodies come crawling down the walls. It's as blank as a tomb. Instead, there are three potential ways to move forward. A wooden door to the left and a bolted door to the right – and then, a staircase that seems to lead up and up, to an unknown destination.
Try a door or try the stairs. Try something quick. Just because it seems empty doesn't mean someone isn't watching.]
[ooc: this prompt will potentially feature discussion of trauma and abuse, murder, possession, suicide ideation, a girl who is obviously not in her right mind, and will absolutely involve some level of a physical or mental battle. 'Cause, y'know. Dark Sakura is not very nice.]
[ooc: and as a final note, if any/all of the prompts contain themes you'd rather not deal with, just drop me a pp at
no subject
Even if she's a monster...she's still Sakura. She's still you.
[Another sigh - it shudders in his chest.]
I'm not a murderer, Sakura. I'm not him.
no subject
You're correct. She is me.
The other Sakura you met is me, too.
But ... if you won't kill her, then I can't help you, Howard-san.
You will have to face the worst parts of me alone.
The voice seems to slink away, back into the darkness, tears in her voice:
I wish it had not been you.]
no subject
[This isn't his burden to bear. He frowns at the steel door, hands curling into fists at his sides. It isn't his fight. It isn't his sin.]
[But Sakura is his friend, and she knows him better than most people ever would.]
[She understands the despair of being a monster.]
[He huffs through gritted teeth, before steeling himself to go back towards the stairs. His steps feel heavy. Finally he reaches the door, and without any hint of caution now, he opens it.]
[He'll see what he can do.]
no subject
And given it's still facing the door, it gives off the air off one who has been waiting for Howard's return. Still emitting its low, ethereal hum, it starts to float, pausing every couple of seconds to turn its large body and aim all of its glowing eyes in the man's direction.
Hopefully the gesture is clear: it wants Howard to follow. The room is quite big, after all, seeming to stretch in every direction for miles. The floor is dirt and rocks, the ceiling covered in stalactites, the only landmarks to suggest the landscape is meant to be a cave.
In the distance he'll see the most obvious landmark: a pillar with a black "sun" appearing overhead, the source of the oppressive anxiety that clouds the room like a billion curses. Once close enough, a girl with white hair and an jagged smile will make her presence known, calling out to Howard in sing song]
Ah~ Howard-san!
I was beginning to think you'd gotten lost.
no subject
[He half expects to see that creature that he saw on the video in the subway. Instead, it's the girl herself, just...different. So different. Her smile makes him shudder. He spares a glance for the pillar, evil thing that it is, before turning grimly towards her.]
Sakura. [For it is her, even if the more instinctual parts of him are telling him otherwise. It's her. It's definitely her. He can't let himself think otherwise.] Sorry I kept you waiting.
no subject
[The girl is seated on a raised piece of ground, legs crossed and her head held high like a queen on her throne, examining a favored subject.]
You are welcome here, Howard-san! My one true friend. I would never hurt you. Do you know why?
[Of course Howard would know why. She's going to explain it to him anyway, much liking to hear the words aloud, and places a hand on her chest.]
Because we're the same! Monsters, yes. So tell me -- how many people have you slaughtered? Hm?
Don't be shy.
I'll give you my number if you give me yours.
no subject
[Not yet.]
[He hopes that it continues to be "not yet". "Never" might seem like a nice dream at this point. A wish that he wants to be fulfilled, but he can't trust himself to follow. At the rate he's changing, at the rate his memories are coming back...how long will it be, before the monster catches up?]
Let me guess. You've...killed a lot, haven't you, Sakura...?
no subject
Oh yes.
[Her bare foot taps in time to her voice as she rattles off the list]
Nii-san. Grandfather. All of those Servants who stood in my way. Half a city block, I think.
Those four boys you saw on the video tape, too -- ah, but I told you about them, didn't I?
-- And once Nee-san gets here, I'll kill her, too. I'll teach her how it feels to be outclassed by someone stronger. Someone better than her.
[Her eyes narrow in on him then, head giving a soft tilt to the side.]
Will you help me? You might be Howard-san now, but soon... you'll be Lovercraft, won't you?
no subject
[He says it bluntly, like a parent telling their child that they can't have dessert after dinner. His lidded eyes stare at her. He's tired. He's so tired.]
Even if all the abilities came back...even if all the memories came back...it still doesn't change the fact that I'm too human. I myself might become a monster, yes. But I'll...I won't be the same as him. There are things I have that he never had. Becoming him entirely is...an impossibility.
[He is silent for a moment, glancing back at the pillar.]
Sakura...why do you kill people? What does it do for you?
no subject
Now? He's going to feel like the entire cavern is focused on him, a thousand unseen eyes, even if there are only two occupants in it.
Sakura has stopped smiling]
Is that so...
[Her fingers drum on the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dirt]
So you're one of those who thinks we can outrun the past, then. [Her head lulls again, to the other side, jaw tightening]
How disappointing. I thought you of all monsters...
[A cluck of her tongue. The smile doesn't return, yet her voice remains honey sweet for the moment.]
Why do I kill? It's simple. If people are dead, then no one is left to chastise me, correct? And if no one does, then I'm right. I'm equal -- no, I'm better. Because I was the one who survived.
[Does it sound a little deranged? Perhaps. That her voice begins to race won't help her case either, bloodshot eyes blown wide as she talks]
It's not my fault. The world made me this way. They cornered me until I became what they wanted -- well, now here I am! Isn't it exciting? Yes, I think it is... this is how it must be. It's not my fault -- It's not -- Grandfather told me to accept this. Nii-san hurt me. Nee-san never came to save me. And Senpai--
[A pause, then a swallow. She's ranting and raving. Goodness. The very air feels tight with emotion, like they're submerged and near drowning. It takes a moment before she forces herself to relax.]
You get it, don't you? No one noticed what was happening to me -- no, they didn't care. The world doesn't care. So I'll just be what they want me to be, give them what they want.
no subject
[At least he can take solace in that. He believes there's something else in him that is unable to be changed. His soul, perhaps? Even if Lovecraft rears his head, how will he deal being in the body of someone so deathly afraid of the ocean? That can't be erased by memories alone.]
[His expression doesn't change as she rants. The air presses tight against him, and there is a pang of fear, deep down, reminding him of his past - he tries his best to ignore it.]
It isn't your fault. You're right. I do get it. [He finally says, his tone sincere. He raises a hand up to brush back some of his hair over his shoulder, the circles under his eyes far more prominent.]
So, Sakura...after you destroy everyone, and there is no one left to go against you, what will you do...? Have you thought of that?
1/2
-- Eh?
[That verbal stumble will likely answer Howard's question before she can compose herself, and briefly, she is at a loss of what to say.]
I...
[What happens when you destroy the world?]
I...
no subject
[Smiling again]
Because we're-- we're alike, aren't we? You understand. You don't blame me.
[Yes, yes. That's the correct answer. She relaxes back in place, pleased with herself and preening.]
I didn't lie, Howard-san. You will always be welcome. I would never hurt you.
no subject
I know. And I wouldn't want you to be alone.
[But still...]
[He moves his gaze to the ground. His heart feels very heavy. It feels like he's being smothered under a pillow.]
But you...didn't exactly answer my question. What will we do? You and I, will we just...sit in the ruins of the world together? Is that really enough? Is there...anyone you would miss?
no subject
[That is still not answering the question, and she's aware of it this time, but she doesn't give it much thought either, not when she's turned her head away from Howard comletely]
Why would I miss people who are just going to hurt me? Or abandon me one day? You know how people treat monsters.
[She isn't reclining like a queen on her throne, suddenly. Her body language has shifted -- hands in her lap, a smile stamped on her face, bangs in her eyes. And still she refuses to look at him.]
What a silly question.
no subject
[He's still looking at the ground.]
...I'd miss John.
[He imagines it. A destroyed world on fire. And John nowhere to be seen. John, smiling so wide, now only a memory. John, eyes so vivid blue, forever lost in a world where the sky would no longer be blue.]
[He clutches his chest, as if to stop the pang in his chest.]
Even if you'd be the one who'd kill him, I...
[He doesn't finish his sentence. Shuji. Anya. Atsushi. Jamie. Kei. Ango. Even more names come to mind. Some already lost to Retrospec, but still present in the city.]
[How would he feel, with all of them gone...?]
no subject
... She just. Hadn't thought. to ask him what he wanted.]
Oh.
[A soft whisper. The cavern around them -- it wavers, like an illusion being thrown into the sun. She has to catch her breath before she speaks again, voice tired]
... I would never kill John-san.
no subject
[There's a lilt in his tone, like that of relief. Even so, his hand doesn't move from his chest.]
But John, he'd... [His breath catches at the back of his throat. He barely even notices the cavern wavering around them. He's already lost in the imagery, this nightmarish daydream, of a world gone wrong.]
[He's not even imagining Sakura as the cause, not really.]
[Deep down, he's terrified he'll be the cause.]
He'd miss his family so much. You know he would...
[He can't even imagine the despair that he'd go through. To wake up and lose every single family member in the blink of an eye.]
He'd destroy himself.
[Would he try to take the cause of it down with him? Would he sit, his eyes blank, his emotions too numb to even react to it all? He doesn't know. A man like that, in that situation...]
Would it be a mercy to let him survive, I wonder...?
no subject
Sakura can already see where this is going. There's no small part of her that wants to dive back into her madness and fight the tide, but it isn't satisfying anymore. The images are stuck in her mind's eye -- not just of John's loss, how he'd cope with losing everything, but of every person she's ever dared to care about.
Where once their misery brought her pleasure, it turns her stomach now. The girl watches silent as the strands of her white hair bleed into purple]
... Don't torture yourself with those images, Howard-san.
[She brings her knees up to her forehead, hiding her face with tears in her voice]
... I don't want to hurt my friends.
I just. Sometimes I think this is the only way. I'm going to turn into this, aren't I? And if I can't stop myself, then I... deserve to be alone at the end.
[...]
But maybe you would still be there. I don't know if I could hurt you. [It isn't just affection, in the end. It's an unknown. Sakura could likely take the life of every human, if she were pushed to it. But Howard... might simply survive her efforts. Because he's stronger.]
Then, at least, I could still have someone who cared.
no subject
[Will he? Possibly. Maybe. But perhaps it's more likely than he knows, that he'll end up as immortal as his other self.
[It's like looking into a mirror. I deserve to be alone at the end. He's told himself that in the worst of times after nightmares and memories that sometimes blur into one another. He could destroy everything. He could kill without even knowing it. He's been given too much power and he could use it completely the wrong way.]
[He raises his head, stepping closer to her. It's easy to be lost in his own thoughts, but here is someone who needs to be consoled. She can't be alone in this.]
[He won't allow that.]
[He raises his hands to her.]
Come here, Sakura. Come down.
no subject
It's a slow movement, her raising her tear-filled eyes over the curve of her knees so she can see him, but Howard will note they're no longer red. They're the same color as her hair now -- purple.
Perhaps she had overestimated herself, thinking she could pull off madness for long. After a guilty nod, she reaches out, her hand in his, allowing him to pull her off the platform.]
I'm sorry, that you had to see me this way.
no subject
Don't apologize. [He says, his voice almost a whisper.] You're Sakura, and you're my friend, and you...shouldn't be sorry for things that are out of your control. I understand.
no subject
She knows.
It's why this entire dreamscape was nothing more than a cry in the end, just a girl basking in the comfort of someone who would not turn her away. Except she no longer has the stomach for her own pity party, and nearly laughs at how easily Howard hugs her, that he doesn't call out her selfishness or shame her childish reasoning.
He understands.
That's why she can't hurt him, even for her own gain.
After a wet sob, her tears quickly lost to Howard's shirt as she cries, a wood door appears at the base of the pillar.]