70. [DREAM/DREAM/DREAM/DREAM]
[So while the rest of Johto alternately panics, cries, or rushes around trying to capture as many of the soulstealing insects as possible, there are dozens of souls floating around in that dream limbo, drifting in and out of each other's slumbering thoughts and visions. Whether it's nightmarish flashbacks or just those dreams where you're at school
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Everything about this door throws up red flags. There is no way Larry would want to go through it. Especially since he was alone. At least if someone was with him the thought of going through that door wouldn't be as terrifying.
And yet...he feels like he's been pulled in. Like there's something he needs to do beyond that door. He knows he's going to seriously regret it, but he steps inside anyway. He's going to be shaking like a leaf the entire way.]
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[On the other side of the door is a lobby. Or a waiting room? ... Both, apparently... right down the chairs, potted plant in the corner, and old magazines lying around. ... Except it all looks like it's been there for a really, really long time. The plant is withered and crackly-looking...]
[At least there's some lights on, though! ... Dim lights, but lights!]
[They glint off of something that's sitting up on the front desk-- looks like one of those little service bells you whack to let someone know you're there!]
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Warily creeping his way around the lobby, he examines the magazines and the dates on them. Damn, those are old. Like, really old. Turning around, he catches sight of the bell. Naturally, he goes to check it out.
Weird...it looks like one of the only things in this place that isn't old and decrepit. He glances around once more before moving for the bell. He stares it for a moment, deciding if he should ring it. What have all the horror flicks and games taught him about trying to find help in a place like this? And about being drawn toward things that are very out of place?
Go for it, obviously. So he taps the bell a few times, sending ringing echoing through the dark halls beyond the room.]
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[... But maybe you should think your know-how through a little more carefully.]
[The bell's note is clear and high, cutting through the silence like a particularly dainty knife. ... But then, silence. For a moment or two, it sounds like there might be something shifting upstairs-- even something that could be footsteps ... but then, nothing. What did the bell do? ... Maybe there really wasn't anyone here.]
[In any case... it doesn't look like there's anything particularly useful around... and hospitals (if that's what this is) are pretty spooky when they're abandoned... perhaps he'll have better luck outside. There's a set of lobby doors nearby...]
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[what had he heard in that dream nearly a year ago again? don't be afraid? that's right... whatever it is he's about to see, Sora can handle it.]
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[But that's the least of his worries...]
[Unlike he might expect from the sight of the door, the place he steps into is... NOT an old wooden building at all. Instead, he'll find himself in a building of semi-immense size... one that was possibly once fancy-looking. Before whatever had happened that left it looking like it had been abandoned for years and years, anyway.]
[WELCOME TO THE MALL, SORA. Never been? That's okay.]
[Might as well get some practice at being a normal modern teenager in. The escalators don't work anymore, but why not check out some stores? There's no one around to yell at you for loitering or moving those mannequins in that clothing store nearby into hilarious inappropriate positions (well, okay, we know you won't do that, Sora. You're a GOOD kid).]
[Or you could run upstairs and try to check out the Food Court...]
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[and those mannequins are giving him a serious case of the jibblies. that's probably why he's choosing to forgo examining them in favor of making his way upstairs.]
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[The upstairs wraps around the walls of the building like a big, circular balcony-- once Sora's made his way up there, he can look down on the lower floor from above. Not that it yields much more of a sight than it did when he was down there to begin with...]
[There's a variety of shops up here, though, looks like... although some of them are blocked off by those big barred doors that are usually yanked down when closing time approaches, there's more than a few that remain unblocked. Someplace called Helen's Bakery, a bookstore... oddly enough, both are still lit. Despite the advance state of urban decay, it would seem there's still some electronics working in this place...]
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One's a sorrow...
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[The door comes open easily-- almost too easily.]
[On the other side of it... there's chainlink. Lots and lots of chainlink. It looks rusty-- and torn in several places. Fog lingers over the ground like water, and drifts gently as he steps through it-- if he steps through it.]
[Looks like a playground... but there's no kids here...]
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[There's no place to hide here, really. No walls to keep his back to. It sets him on edge as he moves through the playground.]
[It was ironic, really. He'd not had much of a childhood to speak of. Of course there wouldn't be any kids around, not for him. He was alone...]
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[As the gunman moves through the series of little play-spaces and basketball courts, a cloud of flies disperses from something half-submerged in a puddle and boils upwards when he gets too close-- a dog's head. Mostly gone by now-- the eyes have long since decomposed and portions of shiny bone are visible here and there through the patchy fur and skin that remain. The head is lying near one of the basketball hoops-- almost as though comically left there on purpose, as if it had possibly been a substitute for the ball.]
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Should've, would've, could've. He was opening it before the instincts even had a chance to kick in. He just wanted to be away from the awful scene of his mother's death. Anything this door could show him would be better than that.]
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[Belying its ancient, rusted appearance, the door opens easily for Ken, moving as though on well-oiled hinges. Beyond it, he'll find himself in a long room... it's well-light, though sort of dirty and full of overturned wooden pews and broken stained glass on the floor... Looks like he's in a church. The aisle is lined with paintings, but they've all been defaced-- slashed with some sharp object (maybe even a shard of that glass that's scattered everywhere), or spraypainted on... there's no words to be seen among the vandalism, though... just this symbol, in pure blue:]
( ... )
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... Hello?
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[But aside from that, eerie silence from the rest of the desecrated chapel. The paint isn't the only vandalism, either... the stained glass windows-- or rather, the ones on either side of the central one-- are pock-marked with what can only be bullet holes. It's surprising they haven't shattered completely... or maybe it's just dream physics at work there.]
( ... )
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{And then there was the girl. She looked vaguely like someone she would one day know, but that was neither here nor there.}
{And despite some deep feelings that something was not right here, she wet her lips, and opened her mouth.}
H-hello.
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[Not just because someone just mysteriously stumbled out of her closet, either. Other children were... well, let's just say that Alessa and 'other children' did not play nice, enough that apart from the other kids in the church... she's pretty terrified of her general age group. She hurriedly starts to gather up the drawings, as though caught red-handed at something she wasn't supposed to be doing. Her voice is a very small whisper.]
You're not supposed to be here. Go away...
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