To Turn Back The Clock And Do Over Again

[agentminiskirt]

Who: Aya Brea, and anyone who volunteered here.
What: A series of little Overdive mishaps occur.
Where: Nautilus.
When: May 8th to May 13th.
Notes: Backtagging is perfectly acceptable in this case, so don’t feel compelled to tag immediately or anything. I will probably be slow for awhile, anyway. But if anyone wants to do something special or have

Comments

[3wayforjustice]

Had he been provided with a map, the mage probably would have found his way out of the woods in the Southern District at some point. However, years of living in Kirkwall had ruined his sense of direction in the wild. And Anders was lost.

He was lost, it was dark, and, of all things, he was using a pair of burning knickers as a torch. Varric would have laughed. Fenris would have scowled. Merrill would have found it fascinating. Any of their usual crew would have had something to say.

Justice was silent on the matter. Typical.

He sighed, and leaned against one of the trees, rubbing a palm over his face. Maybe he should open his book and ask for directions.

[agentminiskirt]

The slowness of time is a heavy weight on her sanity. It isn’t any wonder why she possesses those as she already has-this realm of solitude, surrounded by many memorable and unfamiliar faces, is enough to drive anyone mad.

Her eyes shift lazily in the direction of a man leaning against a tree. His frozen pose leaving him with his hand over his forehead, as if exhausted by something. The particular aura of light surrounding him indicates that he’s human, or at least a body that is capable of possession.

Slowly, she makes her way towards him, cautious so as not to make contact so soon. But before she can stop to think or hold back on what she is about to do-

beat

Aya was staring down at the ground with a man’s hand over her own face.

“Not again...”

[3wayforjustice]

He wasn't even aware anything had happened, until he heard himself speak, without meaning to. He couldn't raise his head. Nothing happened. He tried to move -- tried to speak -- and nothing at all happened.

And Justice rebelled.

It seemed the spirit realized what was happening before Anders did. And the incident enraged it. Blue light crackled across Anders' skin, his eyes glowing like little blue suns of rage. How dare someone invade -- how dare it touch them -- there was no fairness -- no justice -- they would pay for this --

Somewhere in the mage's mind, Justice's voice thundered.

EXPLAIN YOURSELF.

[agentminiskirt]

Whoa.

This was new.

If the second voice was any indicator, it was obvious that this date was not just a table for two. While Aya couldn’t say that she had driven into enough bodies to consider herself an expert at this, she could safely say that this was the first time she had Dived into someone who already had an additional soul occupying it. In most cases, that would raise the question of whether it was safe or not, but seeing as they hadn’t impulsively exploded, then she might be okay.

For now.

“If I could, I would. I can’t...” What? Control it?

Most people wouldn’t find being subjected to trial and error to be all that comforting.

[3wayforjustice]

While he was used to being the mouthpiece for a spirit, this time sort of left Anders feeling rather like the third wheel. He wanted to speak up, even if it was only in his mind, but Justice's rage -- his rage -- silenced his dry retort to the other presence's statement.

REMOVE YOURSELF, THEN, DEMON, the spirit snarled. BEFORE MY MAGIC RENDS YOU APART.

His head hurt. He wanted Justice to quit shouting, but, at the same time, he had to agree. Was it a demon? It couldn't be -- could it?

[agentminiskirt]

Demon? Magic? Aya’s heard some crazy things, and been called quite a few names in the past (Ladd Russo definitely hit a sore spot in terms of what makes her twitch), but that was something... different.

“Stop yelling and calm down. I’m not a demon. I just needed to take a breather.” Sure, snatching bodies may not be the most appropriate method of a “breather”, but it sure as hell beats wandering in limbo.

[3wayforjustice]

Justice didn't do calm. But trying to explain that while caught up in the tide of their anger, their surprise, was next to impossible. This thing was invading, unasked. It was a danger, it needed to go.

YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE! YOU WOULD TAKE THE SOULS OF MAGES -- SEND THEM STRAIGHT INTO TEMPLAR HANDS. YOUR MAGICS ARE NOT TOLERATED-!

Justice. Vengeance. Self.

Calm down. Stop.

He practically screamed it. It felt like someone was driving a hot spike into his temple to do it. But angry blue lines began to recede from his skin, leaving only the telltale glow in his eyes.

[agentminiskirt]

In Aya’s defense, she had no way of warning anyone to body-snatch in advance without a physical form. Sure, it didn’t make this any less awkward or right, but that was how she justified it.

She winced at the booming sounds in hers (Anders’?) head. “Listen! I’m not taking anyone’s soul, okay? I’m just borrowing, but I don’t do soul-taking.”

Clearly this wasn’t something that could easily be reasoned with. That much was becoming increasingly more apparent. But she was tired, and going insane, and hearing any voice, even one screaming at her at the top of their lungs...

Well, it was something.

[3wayforjustice]

No, Justice wasn't something you could reason with. Maker knew Anders had tried, in the beginning. Eventually, he'd just given up. And, even now, he could sense the spirit swirling around at the back of his -- of their mind, watching this intruder, seething. It wanted to lash out -- he wanted to lash out.

Trying to explain himself wasn't going to work either. The effort had cost him. He was simply too tired now.

Even if this strange presence... intrigued him. If it wasn't a demon... was it another spirit?

[agentminiskirt]

Aya took a breath. It was Anders’ breath, of course, but she was the one feeling it. The life in his veins, the blood in his body, the feeling of everything around them. Not the nothingness as a lost soul would, but a being with a physical shape that could hear and smell and touch.

Like this, everything is so vivid and full of life. She had almost forgotten what it was like, and reveled in it for the moment before remembering that she was in a body that didn’t even belong to her. And then she reminded herself that she’d have to give it back sooner or later, leaving her to wander further into the depths of the quiet, lonely space.

She slacked Anders’ shoulders, bringing his hand back up to his face with a sigh. With that, Aya concentrated with her voice inside Anders’ mind:

Does this help?

It sounded like her own. Aya’s. No one else’s.

I’m sorry about the intrusion, but it isn’t like I can ask ahead of time since you wouldn’t be able to see or hear me, anyway.

[3wayforjustice]

His or hers, the breath sort of helped. It was steadying, at least. In some way. His conscious self wanted to rest, desperately. But he couldn't. Not while this other presence was riding in his mind. And while Justice raged at it.

It was a wonder nothing had exploded yet.

Then the voice came. He would have blinked, but he couldn't. It's... identifying, at least.

A woman. At least, it sounded like a woman. He could feel Justice trying to surge forward, to seize the conversation again. As such, the words came out tinged with the spirit's anger.

What... are you doing to me? How?

[agentminiskirt]

It’s okay-you’ll have control again as soon as I leave. I may have gotten a little too close and wound up getting stuck in your body in the process. Sorry about that.

She crossed Anders’ arms over his chest, leaning back against the tree again. His head lifted up towards the sky, taking in the warmth of the light that shined overhead. This was something Aya hadn’t felt in awhile. Or, at least, it was something she’d always taken for granted.

Of course, she had no reason not to take any of those things for granted. That was, until she had lost everything.

My name is Aya. What’s yours?

[3wayforjustice]

He wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. She was some kind of bodiless spirit...? Who went around abducting control of individuals? And he'd thought the pair of flaming knickers had been strange. He'd prefer it if she left now -- maintaining a conversation and holding Justice at bay was taxing his resources.

I'm curious to know how someone who isn't a demon manages to do something like that. A pause, and he added. A demon, or a spirit.

Ah. Introductions. He could do this. He summoned his strength, shoving Justice away, but the spirit still slipped through. They were too entwined, too linked, for such a way of communication to differentiate between the two.

AnJusdertices.

It was two names. Overlapping and linked. Just as they were.

[agentminiskirt]

It was difficult to make out the two words through the muddled, melding voices, but it was enough for Aya to figure out.

Anders.

Justice.

How appropriate, considering how Justice took the whole possession thing.

Got it. Seriously, though, I am really sorry about this. If I could control it, I would. I can leave now and try to avoid you in the future. At least, until I can figure out a way to get my body back.

Her body. Something which Aya is missing now more than ever.

[3wayforjustice]

I'm... not particularly upset.

But Justice was. And that was as good as being angry himself. He tried to take a deep breath, remembered he couldn't, and settled for trying to think calm thoughts.

What happened to you? I've never heard of a human spirit capable of doing this... One from the Fade, certainly.

And Anders was certainly one to know about spirit possession. Somewhere in his mind, Justice made an irritated comment. Yes, it had been his own choice. But that didn't change anything.

[agentminiskirt]

If Anders needed to take a breath, Aya was certainly one to do that for him. She needed it to help calm her nerves. Like the light, the sensation of breathing was yet something else that she realized she had taken for granted.

Breathing is always nice, too.

Seems your roommate doesn’t feel the same way.

Not that Aya blamed them. If she was in their shoes, she would definitely feel the same way. Angered, outraged, violated. She was surprised that the actual owner of this body did not share the same sentiments.

I’d like to know that, myself... I don’t know what happened, exactly-I’m pretty sure I died. People have died in Nautilus before and come back almost all the time, but not always like this.

Suppose if Aya actually was human, it wouldn’t have been so different. If her soul wasn’t something that exploded and gave birth to an entirely new species of monsters, then maybe she wouldn’t have endured such a disconcerting comeback, either.