blastiafreak | [video]

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...]

[ He shakes and his muscles tense, whimpering for how powerless he feels. Even when he tries again to pull himself free, but that's only met with pulling him back and running their hands along him, over his sides, his fingers, his stomach... It's the sort of pathetic death he'd be ashamed of; he can't even stop crying and twitching.

The fifth chime rings, and the ghost decide they should stop just carrying her up, and flip her over so she can stare down the spiral staircase and the floor far below her, and from the distance she's being held, it'd unclear if Tyr's alive or dead from the way his head hangs and he's being held up. ]

[At first, she screams, and then the sound dies in her throat as she looks down. No, no, no, she hates being up high unless she's the one in control. She's too scared stiff to even struggle--and they might just let her go, anyway...

And Tyr--the way he's being held makes her stare fearfully down. He's moving, right? It's hard to tell with all those things clustered around him.

As many ghosts get close as can fit around Tyr until they're blocking everything else from view. They're all eager to touch him, to feel and steal away his life, and as the chimes go by, they start to dig their fingers into his skin, too.]

[ When she screams, he lifts his head, but even when he opens his eyes, his vision is too blurred to know what's happening; he just knows he sees her because she's the only patch of colour up there. Maybe she's dead, for the way her scream just cut out like that... He mumbles out her name, but even if she were close enough to hear, the chiming drowns it out.

Their bodies cold and pressed against him, their fingers touching and passing through his bones and sapping the heat out of his body, holding his staff is one of the only things keeping him from letting his eyes fall shut again and giving in. He's lost track of the chimes, but now figures it doesn't even matter.

As the chimes go on, the ghosts start to loosen their hold on her, some hands slipping to just hold her by her coat and her hair. They want to see what she would do now that she's decided to stop fighting. It's not fun if she's not lively, afterall. ]

[As nauseous as she feels keeping her eyes open from that height, she keeps staring down at Tyr, and makes a little gasp when she sees him lift his head. He's alive--but they're still trapped.

Another sharp gasp escapes her when she starts to slip, and her heart leaps into her throat as she dangles there in the air. They're really going to-] N-no! Stop!

[Rita's completely lost track of the chimes, but the ghosts haven't. There's only a couple left, so they have to hurry, and sap at Tyr's strength wherever they can. One even presses its hands to his face.]

[ He shakes his head and tries to throw those hands off him, but it feels like every way he moves, there's just another cold touch waiting for him.

But at least Rita isn't dead yet. She hardly sounds okay, but she's not dead, so...he feels a little bit of hope. His protests just come as rough mumbles. ] Get off of me! Just...

[ The ghosts that circle Rita laugh, and before they go - as few of them as there are left - they let go of her arms, her coat, her hair, and just hold her by her legs. Their hands go through her boots to sap the warmth out of her skin in the time they have left. ]

[Rita shrieks again, clamping down the impulse to kick her legs as she hangs helplessly and just keeps shouting no. There's no chance the ghosts won't kill them, no chance she and Tyr can even help each other like this.

And they're all surrounding Tyr wherever they can, pressing their hands deeper to numb him with their cold-

Until the final chime sounds, loud and echoing.]

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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. :>

action; ♥! Ooh!! :D Happy birthday to him! ♥

action; ♥! Thanks! :3

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action; ♥! Morning! :D