Play well, but don't lose your-
Who: Open, please tag yourselves
What: Hallows Eve Celebration, part 2
When: Forward-dated to the 31st of October, 10:30pm
Where: The Keep's Great Hall, the grounds, anywhere ( Read more... )
What: Hallows Eve Celebration, part 2
When: Forward-dated to the 31st of October, 10:30pm
Where: The Keep's Great Hall, the grounds, anywhere ( Read more... )
But was he really spared anything? If Alex's head was here, with some blood all around the neckline of the scarecrow he was now apparently attached to, that meant his body was...
"Oh, God," he repeats, the words choked and nearly frantic. He stumbles away from the wall then, doing a fair job in keeping his feet even as wobbly as he feels himself to be. He's using the wall now and excusing himself as he pushes past other scarecrows to get back to the Great Hall.
"ANDERS!!" he bellows down the hall ahead of him, unable to even remotely hide the horror in his tone. The lycan has been through a lot since arriving at the Keep and done so with a relatively fair humor, but this... this isn't something be is even remotely prepared for.
One scarecrow stumbling through the Hall doors in three... two... one.
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"A-Anders...?" She watched him with wide eyes, a hand hesitantly reaching out to him until solely the tips of her fingers touched the material of his cosume at his shoulder. She wondered dazedly if he'd even sense her touch, and Chloe slumbed down next to the mage to gaze unsseeingly at Alex's form, before liftiing to look at all the other headless people now collapsed in the great hall.
"D--Derek? Derek?!" She had to know if he was headless, too. Had to yell for help, as Anders was doing. He was a healer though. But... how would one heal this?
Then Chloe heard a panicked shout, and she gasped, turning hopeful eyes to Anders.
"W-was that...?" Was that who she thought it was? If so, she is going to make certain she is out of Anders' way this time so she doesn't get mowed over.
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The light faded from his hands. Calm -- he had to stay calm. Remain in control of himself. There were too many people here, who likely had nothing at all to do with this. All victims. If he lost control now... But how in the name of Andraste's burned backside were you supposed to stay calm in the face of this?
And why should he remain calm? Someone was responsible for this. Heads didn't just pop off on their own. Who did this to these people? To these other mages?
His head was in his hands by then, as if to drown out the sound of his own thoughts, his eyes shut. He had to hold it back. Hawke would come and smack some sense into him -- Varric would appear -- something would happen.
He didn't hear the shouting. Or the question.
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This wasn't good. His head was in his hands--but there was more than pain in his expression. Shock and horror washed over Chloe, even as Alex's voice was a distant sound to the roaring in her ears.
Alex was okay. He had to be. Anders would see--would see what? Chloe didn't know, but she couldn't sit and do nothing while he crouched over Alex's body. Reaching to Anders, Chloe took a gamble. She grasped his shoulders in her hands. Tried to turn him towards her. Tried to get him to look into her eyes and see the anger and determination there.
"Anders, I hear Alex. We can't break down just yet. We have to figure out what is going on so we can help these people. We'll work together. We can do this. Please hold on. You--you're strong. We can do this."
He had to be strong, to live through what he'd lived through.
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What did help, however, was one familiar voice amongst the chaos. He might not have retained the rest of his body, but his hearing had not suffered at all from the beheading. He rounds on Chloe's voice, blue-green eyes wide as his nostrils instinctively in response.
He begins stumbling in that direction, not quite yet realizing that this body doesn't seem to pick up on the random things he's crashing into like people and tables. "Anders!! Chloe!"
Yep, definitely doing a poor job of holding back that panic.
He can just make them out ahead, shouldering past a small group and trying his best to not trip up on several other fallen bodies. When he finally gets a clear view of what's ahead of him, he'd feel sick... but he didn't have a stomach any longer. Anders is kneeling on the ground, his face buried in his hands and Chloe is hovering over him with a hand on his shoulder.
There's no missing his own headless body on the ground before them either and he's just going to stare at it.
"Jesus Christ..."
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But, Maker, how is he supposed to stay calm? There is a roaring sound in his ears, everything feels disconnected, save for the furious thunder of a spirit fighting to free itself. If he loses himself in that anger, in that vengeance, there was strength for the taking, strength to push through this, maybe... maybe even to put a stop to what was happening here.
When her voice reaches through the roar, he manages to look up, the light dancing under his skin like bright veins. His eyes are a warring mix of brown and flickering blue. Help these people...
Yes... he could help. If he could convince Justice to help. Not to lash out. There was nothing to lash out at. He'd helped in the Fade, for the half-elven boy.
Please.
Let me do this.
His gaze snaps up at the other voice, at the cry of his name, and all pretense of control falters. Anders wants nothing more than to help, to fix this perversion he sees walking his way. There is a horrible flash back to a Darktown sewer, to Hawke with that thing wearing Leandra's face...
And there is suddenly...
AGREEMENT.
They stand, pulling away from the girl, while light crackles around them. Whatever has happened, if Anders lacks the strength of mind to carry out what must be done, perhaps they will manage.
"What is this madness?"
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When Anders finally looks up at her, Chloe wanted to sigh with relief. Maybe she was getting through to him. Then she noticed his eyes were glowing and she gasped, her hand jerking away in fear. She'd seen eyes that glowed before, and at that point in time she had been looking into the gaze of a demon possessing someone. She couldn't tell if Anders was there, or not. The certainty that she was facing a demon in the lab back home was not the same feeling she was sensing now.
"A-A-Anders?"
Then she heard Alex's voice again, and her head snapped to the side a moment after her new mage friend's.
"A-Alex!" There was relief in her tone--her expression. But it was swallowed down a moment later as she took in the scarecrow body attatched to her friend's head. Slowly, Chloe looked back at Alex's crumpled form on the ground, then back up into Alex's familiar face. Her own paled of all color, and she almost didn't hear the terrifying tone leaving Anders' lips through the blood roaring in her ears.
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