blastiafreak | [video]

Ow-! [She curses when the tome falls on her, and shouts out her frustrations at the seemingly-empty hallway.] You things are so dead, got it?!

[Not that they aren't already....She crawls out from under the bookshelf, rubbing her head with a scowl.]

[ He looks over at her, but he's not too concerned (though he could hear that thunk when the book fell on her). ]

Come on, we need to find them before we start making threats.

[ With a glance back to see that the ghosts don't appear to be following them (yet?), he starts walking more carefully down the hallway. ]

I'll threaten them all I want!

[Because it doesn't feel like they're really accomplishing anything else...Nevertheless, she strides forward down the dark hallway, walking quickly but keeping her eyes open. The hallway seems to end in a spiral staircase that winds upward, though there's a few doors on their current floor. If they want to find the staff, they can't go up...]

...Come on. Let's go right.

[ Maybe they're not accomplishing anything but getting more bruises than they need... But if she wants to complain and toss around threats, he can't really stop her. As much as he wants to leave...he really doesn't want to leave his staff behind, and he simply goes along with her suggestion and shines the light of his device in that direction. It feels like the light is getting dimmer. ]

Okay, right it is...

[ After a moment, he thinks aloud- ] I wish we knew what time it is...

...Even if we find a clock or something, I bet it wouldn't even have the right time.

[They'll know when midnight hits, anyway. The house should disappear, and they'll...

Wait, what will happen to them? Will they just appear outside like nothing happened?]

...Let's just hurry up, all right? [And she flings the door open, while another laugh comes from the staircase. There's nothing there, except for a lacquered staff with gold tips floating lazily in the air over the steps...]

Mm... [ She's right about that. It doesn't stop him from wanting to know how much time they'll be stuck here, though. The thought of disappearing with the house in the same way his staff might doesn't even cross his mind - thankfully, or he might just give up on finding his staff entirely...

When he hears that laugh, his first instinct is to see if there's anything in the room that looks immediately threatening, and failing to see anything that does, he spins on his heel to try to find anything else that could be a threat.

His eyes are almost instantly drawn to the staff, though. It has to be his. ]

My staff! Wait here!

[ Letting himself get careless, he runs after it, slipping along the floor but not falling over. The sooner he gets it, the better. ]

Huh? What- [She glances back down the way they came when the laugh sounds, but at Tyr's shout, she whirls around, confused until she spots the staff. And then she starts after him, shouting.] Hey! Wait, don't just go running in!

[The staff drifts higher up the staircase, which is old and rickety and in danger of collapsing.]

[ He still makes it up about a half-dozen steps before he stops, too aware of the way the stairs shook under his feet while he ran. He glances back at Rita before turning his eyes back to his staff. ]

I can't leave it!

[ Even though he's not moving now. This isn't really sturdy, is it? And Tyr's not about to risk real injury just for his staff. He can always make a trade, he reminds himself.

But until he has to do that, he shouts up the staircase. ]

Get back here! Give it back!

[The stairs creak and groan under his feet, and the staff hovers just out of reach, where he could grab it if he just went on step higher...

Rita dashes over to the bottom of the stairs and scowls, noticing how unstable it looks. It just might collapse if she tries to climb it, too, so she stays there.] Just wait! Something has to be holding it, right?

[ One more step... He grips the railing as he thinks about taking it, but he knows he's just being taunted.

Still, he almost sneers at Rita. ] Like a ghost?

[ Tyr's sure now that fighting ghosts is pointless. If he had his staff, though, he thinks he could fight almost anything... ]

[She stiffens and glowers up at him furiously.] No! I mean like another crazy monster!

[There's a clock on the wall next to Tyr--was it there before? And was it ticking so loudly? The tick-tock seems to echo along the stairway as the minute hand moves. 11:59.

The staff hovers tauntingly in the air, right there.]

[ There's nothing there, but with everything else that's happened, an invisible monster isn't that strange. He hesitates, glancing at her and then at the clock before looking to his staff again. ]

Then if I don't get it this time, beat this thing for me.

[ The clock might not even be real - he's sure he would have noticed it before if it was there - but it's enough to make him take a halfstep up and try to snatch his staff out of the air. Seven steps off the ground shouldn't be too bad even if the stairs do collapse.

Assuming he's not crushed by the rest of the staircase.

He makes a mental note to try to dive away if the stairs falls apart. ]

H-hey! [She gapes at him, half-tempted to go up anyway. Nothing about this sits well to her.

When Tyr takes the step, he might be able to grab the staff--as that single stair collapses, and several ghosts materialize around him, grabbing at his limbs with their frozen hands and laughing delightedly.]

[ He gasps as the touch, both from the shock of their sudden appearance and how cold their hands are on him, and finds himself at a loss for breath. He closes his eyes and clings onto his staff as he pulls it to his chest at least, but there's nothing he can do to fight when there's nothing to support him save those stupid laughing ghosts... So much for his earlier plan. ]

[The translucent shapes hold him in vicelike grips. One leans in front of Tyr and trails its cold fingers over his shoulder, towards his neck.

All the while, Rita's shouting as more ghosts appear and grab for her; it's too sudden for her to cast a spell.

...And the clock continues, tick tock, counting down towards midnight...]

[ Tyr's more or less forgotten about the clock and can't hear its ticking over his racing thoughts - he's even ignorant to her own situation and the rough, tight hold they have around her arms and jacket as he shouts for her: ]

Rita! Hey-!

[ Help me. His words come out choked enough to give away what he means even if he won't say it. He twists his head away from the ghost, scrunching his head against his shoulder to hide his neck. Flailing with his legs is the best he can do, and even that feels feeble.

The seconds counted down by the clock feel like they're hours apart with the ghosts holding onto them and holding them still as their hands turn their skin cold. ]

[She can hear him and catch glimpses of him between all the hideous forms. She's terrified for both of them, and thrashes violently against their awful hold, shrieking the entire time.]

No! Let go!

[But the ghost seems to enjoy Tyr's reaction, placing one hand over his chest and searching for his neck with the other. They don't have much time left...]

[ He hates the way her voice sounds, and an awful feeling weighs on his stomach as he realises they're both helpless here. The more they fight, the more they seem to enjoy it, like a power trip. More ghosts reach out for Rita to try to keep her still.

The hand on his chest make Tyr choke on his words again, gasping and trying to twist himself away, but he has no leverage and no way to actually get away. They're the only thing keeping him from falling through the gap between the stairs.

He'd take that over being strangled by those disgusting hands, though. Shaking, he tries to kick the one in front of him away. (Is there only one in front of him? He hasn't opened his eyes to know.) ]

Get off of me!

[The ghost pauses only briefly as Tyr's foot passes through its ice-cold body, and then it resumes its touches, the hand against Tyr's chest pressing, then passing right through clothing to touch skin.

For her part, Rita realizes they're still growing in number, and a panic starts to overtake her. They're both caught, they're both trapped by these things that they can't even fight, and she can only guess that the monsters are trying to kill them. Even knowing that, all she can do is struggle with all her strength.]

G-go away! Get back!

Agh-

[ He thought they were cold when their hands just touches his clothing; he wasn't prepared for how that hand would feel when it touched his bare skin. Even if all it did was stop for a moment, he raises his leg to kick it again until he realises that, if it can pass through his clothing, it could easily pass through his body and kill him from the inside. He thrashes violently and tries to pull back, screaming. ]

Get your hands off me! You- [ Whatever they are. He ends it with a frustrated sound.

He's too concerned with his current situation now to consider Rita's, and his eyes are closed so that even if he was considering her, he wouldn't see the how the ghosts try to pick her up with one grabbing her by the knee to pull her off her feet. ]

[Tyr's screams make Rita even more desperate to break loose as she gasps and her heart pounds. And then, when they start to lift her off the ground, she shrieks, kicking and twisting and trying to get out of their freezing grip any way possible.]

Stop! Get off! Get off, or I'll- [She doesn't even know what to threaten them with.

Unfortunately, Tyr's right about the ghost's aim. The other phantoms hold him tightly, half a dozen of them crowding around and forcing him still, as the first one presses harder against his skin, until the fingers begin to pass through...]

[ It's bad when Rita can't even make a threat. He vaguely wonders if she's experiencing the same thing he is as tears sting his eyes, and he screams out in pain. His body shivers - it's so cold it feels hot - and he feels like he's going numb from the ghosts' hold with his body effectively immobilised. As much as he'd rather deny it, he's starting to accept he'll probably die like this.

Even though she's kicking and screaming, the ghost hold onto her better than any group of humans would, with their hands gripping her sides and wrapping around her arms like a vice. They laugh at her unfinished threat with a cruel, childlike sort of giggle as they lift her off the ground like she's as light as a doll. ]

[She yelps from panic and pain as the pull her up. If she wasn't crying out, her teeth might almost be chattering from how cold she is--but that's barely on her mind, not when she's almost certain they're going to die.

There's really nothing more terrifying than something they can't fight.

In response to Tyr's reactions, the ghosts clamour closer. It's like they're savouring his pain, and then the first one pushes its hand further, towards his ribcage-

Suddenly, the ticking stops and there's a loud chime from the clock, a deep and almost angry sound.]

[ His heart skips a beat when he hears the clock chime, and he waits to be released - but there's nothing but a second, deep ring of the chime that seems to shake him. Or maybe he's just shivering violently enough to think he is as he feels his bones being caressed like that one stroked his arm earlier.

If they could at least fight, if he could move or concentrate long enough to cast something, then he wouldn't feel so pathetic. Even when Kanone had him, he could fight (for all that worked for him)... He hangs his head and bits his lips shut to keep himself from screaming and to unsuccessfully distract himself from the pain.

There's another chime, and if Rita were on the floor, she might have been able to feel the floor shake with it. As it is, one ghost simply cups her face with its hand, smiling at her, but its touch soon turns violent as it digs its fingers into her face to force her to look straight up the tower. ]

[A wash of relief comes over her when she hears the chime. Midnight means the end of this horrible curse...But as the chimes continue, her relief goes right back to cold fear and panic. It's not ending.]

N-no... [Her glower at the smiling ghost isn't even convincing now, and then she gasps in fear and pain when her face forced to look up. What now? And what are they doing to Tyr? She can't hear his cries now...

A fourth chime sounds as the ghosts begin to become restless, and now others join the first and press their phantom fingers right through his clothing, touching his arms, legs, back...]

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action; ♥! And heading to class soon! o/

action; ♥! Okay! Have fun! \o

action; ♥! Thanks! :D

action; ♥! /o/

action; ♥! \o\

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action; ♥! Sorry for delay, making a cake!

action; ♥! It's okay! That's a delicious reason for delay! :9

action; ♥! Hee, I hope so! Delicious apple cake~

action; ♥! Oooh! That does sound yummy :D

action; ♥! It does! :> We won't try it until tomorrow, though-!

action; ♥! Ah, it is pretty late, huh? |D;

action; ♥! Well that wouldn't normally stop us. 8D; It's my dad's birthday cake for tomorrow. :>