Whispers at the Gate
Title: Whispers at the Gate
Author: naturalbluicons
Characters/Pairing: Glitch. All characters featured.
Rating: PG-13 (Possible R later on)
Summary: The souls did not perish.
Warning: Violence, language, possibly disturbing imagery.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tin Man, I'm just playing in the Outer Zone
Word Count: 1525
Notes: I cannot thank amedia enough for her help in guiding me to make this it's best.
Part One
Breakfast was tense. Glitch glared at Cain over the toast. Cain ignored him.
"I get it. You think I'm losing it. You don't have to keep giving me that look."
"Glitch, come on, ghosts in the machines?" Cain frowned, chastising. "How did you even come up with that?"
"Ambrose told me-"
"It sounds to me like Ambrose is bored and getting creative trying to explain things." Picked damn inconvenient times too. Cain suppressed a cringe as he remembered the look on poor Sam Autry's face when Glitch had shown up and started going on about ghosts while the rest of them were trying to figure out what had happened to the young man and how the turbines had activated.
"He's essentially a computer, Cain, he doesn't get creative." Glitch responded flatly.
"I don't believe in spooks, Glitch. Tell me Ambrose saw a person in there messing with the wiring or touching stuff he shouldn’t. Going on about phantoms isn’t going to help anybody because it just isn’t possible." Cain knew that whoever was causing these troubles had to be solid and real. He knew Glitch meant well, but if the incidents were going to continue to grow worse, he had no time to humor notions out of a fiction book.
"But I keep hearing-"
"Echoes or something, Glitch. Not ghosts. There's no such thing as ghosts." The tin man's tone said he was done talking about it.
---
Pacing the main parlor, Glitch seemed to grumble more to himself than to the Viewer who had been attempting to meditate by the window.
"Cain can look at me like I'm a poor, disturbed headcase all he wants, but I can hear people or- or spirits- or something- I hear them."
Raw looked uncomfortable- on edge. He didn't speak, wouldn't even look at Glitch.
"Are you even listening? You're supposed to be an empath- empathize!"
Raw still wouldn't look; if anything he seemed to curl farther in on himself.
Glitch tensed, watching. "...You can hear them too." It wasn't a question. Looking at the viewer, he suddenly felt sure. "You can hear them!" He grabbed Raw by the shoulders. "Raw , tell me you can hear them- or feel them- something- answer me!"
But Raw pushed Glitch away with a defensive snarl. Glitch glared in response.
Raw's gaze abruptly went to the doorway. Glitch's eyes followed to see Azkadellia standing there, looking pale and drawn.
"Princess Azkadellia?" Glitch took an unsure step towards her. "Are you all right?"
The way she looked at him made him shiver. After a long moment, she started to say something, but closed her mouth before any words came out. With a shake of her head, she swept out, Raw looking after her in worry, Glitch in puzzlement.
---
Night had fallen over the O.Z. but Glitch couldn't sleep. In the shadowed corners of his bedroom he swore he heard hushed voices.
"Hello?" He swallowed hard, sitting up and staring into the darkest corner.
For a moment there was silence, then "Hello," so close he swore he could feel some phantom breath on his neck. He went rigid, rocking to one side and nearly falling from the bed.
"Who's there?"
"Hello," Came the whisper again and it was just as close.
"Y-yes, you said that." Glitch stammered, and suddenly his eyelids felt heavy... what was happening to him...? He took one last shaky breath before unconsciousness claimed him.
When he woke, he was surprised to find himself in a hallway, dark night still beyond the windows. He felt an ease that he had been missing for days. Getting up, he started down the hall towards the stairs.
"Wake up.”
Glitch smiled thinly... voices... It was so strange really, and yet he wasn't afraid. "I'm awake."
"Go on," Another voice murmured and more joined in: "Go on, go on..."
"All right." Glitch smiled, amusement in his eyes, and moved forward towards the stairs again.
"Glitch, wake. Up."
He chuckled. "I've told you, I..." He peered at the stairs. They looked... bigger. As though they'd been made for a giant. "That is very interesting."
"Go on!" They sounded so cheerful.
Glitch climbed up onto the first step. The corridor felt windy. "Odd..." he murmured. He'd have to speak with the Queen about the draft. His vision was growing somewhat blurry...
"WAKE UP!"
Glitch gasped, his stomach lurching as his eyes refocused to show him a long drop into blackness. "Ah-!" He dropped into a crouch, gripping the balcony railing on which he perched, his head spinning. "I-" He squeezed his eyes shut, his head dipping forward. "Oh, Ancients!"
"Climb down slowly." The voice that spoke to him was deep and steady.
"You got me up here!"
"They did. Let me help you, Glitch."
His synapses firing off like a battlefield, Glitch's eyes widened as he recognized the voice. He looked back towards the doors that lead to the balcony, knowing the speaker could not possibly be there.
"...Mystic Man?"
---
Azkadellia could hear whispers. Sleepless, she sat up in her bed, gazing into the darkness. Slowly she stood, placing bare feet onto the cool stone of her floor, and then she was moving; past her window, past the fabric covered mirror, then through the doorway and into the moonlit halls. The whispers called her and she followed willingly to where they led. Soon she found herself pushing open a pair of heavy doors to see the brain tank and she felt a grim sense of what was coming.
“I’m sorry…” she whispered as she stepped into the room, gazing around with brimming eyes. She could see the many faces of lost souls, looking at her with scorn and loathing, and a chilling expectation. “I’m so sorry.” The tears spilled over and the sunseeder began to shift, gears and metal pulling aside, opening up like a monstrous, dark void. Azkadellia swallowed a sob, knowing what the phantoms wanted. Her shoulders trembled and she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, trying to keep down the cries that wanted to tear themselves from her. The ghostly form of a small child emerged from the hole and looked at her with baleful eyes. “Oh no.” And that time she failed and her sobs escaped her, shaking her entire body. “No,” She covered her mouth with a trembling hand, and cables began to break free from the walls, pushing her towards the child in a way that was almost gentle. The specters gathered, following her, pressing her onward.
“Az?” DG’s voice broke through the whispers, and the older princess looked over her shoulder at her sister. Eyes still streaming, Azkadellia’s stomach turned. DG didn’t understand. DG thought there was redemption for Azkadellia. DG couldn’t see the little child whose soul the Sorceress had ripped away. Azkadellia never stopped moving forward, ever closer to the gaping mouth that waited to swallow her whole.
“Az, what’s happening?” DG had woken and she had felt darkness. She’d felt it and known something was wrong, so she bolted from her bed, her instinct telling her where to go. Now she started towards her sister, but cables wrapped around her middle from both sides and held her back. She gasped, trying to push them away, but the cold steel held strong. “Az!” Fear crept into her voice. “Az, help me! Help me fight them!” She stretched as far as she could, reaching out for her sister. She could not see or hear the spirits that drew Azkadellia further towards that terrible blackness in the machinery. She could not see the small child that also reached out his small hand and looked at Azkadellia with those horrible eyes that had known such terror… “Az, please!” DG begged, but Azkadellia’s eyes were on the child now, the cables encouraging, the whispers reminding.
“I’m so sorry…” she whispered one last time, and DG knew Azkadellia was not speaking to her. She watched as Azkadellia reached out and took not her sister’s hand, but some phantom hand that DG could not see.
“NO!” DG wailed and struggled harder, but the cables that held her did not give and she watched as invisible somethings and shiny cables drew her sister into the darkness. “NO! AZKADELLIA! NO!”
“DG!” She heard Cain’s voice and the sound of his feet pounding down the stone hallway, coming nearer every second, but she couldn’t turn her eyes away even as he burst into the room to watch with her as the darkness fully claimed Azkadellia and the machine began to shift once more, eliminating all evidence that it had ever opened at all. DG still screamed, and suddenly the cables released her, slithering back to their places. She would have fallen forward had Cain not caught her, staring in a wide-eyed and utterly stunned silence at where the opening had been.
Her voice failing her, DG could no longer scream, but only manage hoarse sounds of pitiful agony. “No…” Cain turned her away so she could no longer look, hugging her tightly to him, but though she no longer looked, the image of Azkadellia letting the sunseeder take her was burned into DG’s mind.
Author: naturalbluicons
Characters/Pairing: Glitch. All characters featured.
Rating: PG-13 (Possible R later on)
Summary: The souls did not perish.
Warning: Violence, language, possibly disturbing imagery.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tin Man, I'm just playing in the Outer Zone
Word Count: 1525
Notes: I cannot thank amedia enough for her help in guiding me to make this it's best.
Part One
Breakfast was tense. Glitch glared at Cain over the toast. Cain ignored him.
"I get it. You think I'm losing it. You don't have to keep giving me that look."
"Glitch, come on, ghosts in the machines?" Cain frowned, chastising. "How did you even come up with that?"
"Ambrose told me-"
"It sounds to me like Ambrose is bored and getting creative trying to explain things." Picked damn inconvenient times too. Cain suppressed a cringe as he remembered the look on poor Sam Autry's face when Glitch had shown up and started going on about ghosts while the rest of them were trying to figure out what had happened to the young man and how the turbines had activated.
"He's essentially a computer, Cain, he doesn't get creative." Glitch responded flatly.
"I don't believe in spooks, Glitch. Tell me Ambrose saw a person in there messing with the wiring or touching stuff he shouldn’t. Going on about phantoms isn’t going to help anybody because it just isn’t possible." Cain knew that whoever was causing these troubles had to be solid and real. He knew Glitch meant well, but if the incidents were going to continue to grow worse, he had no time to humor notions out of a fiction book.
"But I keep hearing-"
"Echoes or something, Glitch. Not ghosts. There's no such thing as ghosts." The tin man's tone said he was done talking about it.
---
Pacing the main parlor, Glitch seemed to grumble more to himself than to the Viewer who had been attempting to meditate by the window.
"Cain can look at me like I'm a poor, disturbed headcase all he wants, but I can hear people or- or spirits- or something- I hear them."
Raw looked uncomfortable- on edge. He didn't speak, wouldn't even look at Glitch.
"Are you even listening? You're supposed to be an empath- empathize!"
Raw still wouldn't look; if anything he seemed to curl farther in on himself.
Glitch tensed, watching. "...You can hear them too." It wasn't a question. Looking at the viewer, he suddenly felt sure. "You can hear them!" He grabbed Raw by the shoulders. "Raw , tell me you can hear them- or feel them- something- answer me!"
But Raw pushed Glitch away with a defensive snarl. Glitch glared in response.
Raw's gaze abruptly went to the doorway. Glitch's eyes followed to see Azkadellia standing there, looking pale and drawn.
"Princess Azkadellia?" Glitch took an unsure step towards her. "Are you all right?"
The way she looked at him made him shiver. After a long moment, she started to say something, but closed her mouth before any words came out. With a shake of her head, she swept out, Raw looking after her in worry, Glitch in puzzlement.
---
Night had fallen over the O.Z. but Glitch couldn't sleep. In the shadowed corners of his bedroom he swore he heard hushed voices.
"Hello?" He swallowed hard, sitting up and staring into the darkest corner.
For a moment there was silence, then "Hello," so close he swore he could feel some phantom breath on his neck. He went rigid, rocking to one side and nearly falling from the bed.
"Who's there?"
"Hello," Came the whisper again and it was just as close.
"Y-yes, you said that." Glitch stammered, and suddenly his eyelids felt heavy... what was happening to him...? He took one last shaky breath before unconsciousness claimed him.
When he woke, he was surprised to find himself in a hallway, dark night still beyond the windows. He felt an ease that he had been missing for days. Getting up, he started down the hall towards the stairs.
"Wake up.”
Glitch smiled thinly... voices... It was so strange really, and yet he wasn't afraid. "I'm awake."
"Go on," Another voice murmured and more joined in: "Go on, go on..."
"All right." Glitch smiled, amusement in his eyes, and moved forward towards the stairs again.
"Glitch, wake. Up."
He chuckled. "I've told you, I..." He peered at the stairs. They looked... bigger. As though they'd been made for a giant. "That is very interesting."
"Go on!" They sounded so cheerful.
Glitch climbed up onto the first step. The corridor felt windy. "Odd..." he murmured. He'd have to speak with the Queen about the draft. His vision was growing somewhat blurry...
"WAKE UP!"
Glitch gasped, his stomach lurching as his eyes refocused to show him a long drop into blackness. "Ah-!" He dropped into a crouch, gripping the balcony railing on which he perched, his head spinning. "I-" He squeezed his eyes shut, his head dipping forward. "Oh, Ancients!"
"Climb down slowly." The voice that spoke to him was deep and steady.
"You got me up here!"
"They did. Let me help you, Glitch."
His synapses firing off like a battlefield, Glitch's eyes widened as he recognized the voice. He looked back towards the doors that lead to the balcony, knowing the speaker could not possibly be there.
"...Mystic Man?"
---
Azkadellia could hear whispers. Sleepless, she sat up in her bed, gazing into the darkness. Slowly she stood, placing bare feet onto the cool stone of her floor, and then she was moving; past her window, past the fabric covered mirror, then through the doorway and into the moonlit halls. The whispers called her and she followed willingly to where they led. Soon she found herself pushing open a pair of heavy doors to see the brain tank and she felt a grim sense of what was coming.
“I’m sorry…” she whispered as she stepped into the room, gazing around with brimming eyes. She could see the many faces of lost souls, looking at her with scorn and loathing, and a chilling expectation. “I’m so sorry.” The tears spilled over and the sunseeder began to shift, gears and metal pulling aside, opening up like a monstrous, dark void. Azkadellia swallowed a sob, knowing what the phantoms wanted. Her shoulders trembled and she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, trying to keep down the cries that wanted to tear themselves from her. The ghostly form of a small child emerged from the hole and looked at her with baleful eyes. “Oh no.” And that time she failed and her sobs escaped her, shaking her entire body. “No,” She covered her mouth with a trembling hand, and cables began to break free from the walls, pushing her towards the child in a way that was almost gentle. The specters gathered, following her, pressing her onward.
“Az?” DG’s voice broke through the whispers, and the older princess looked over her shoulder at her sister. Eyes still streaming, Azkadellia’s stomach turned. DG didn’t understand. DG thought there was redemption for Azkadellia. DG couldn’t see the little child whose soul the Sorceress had ripped away. Azkadellia never stopped moving forward, ever closer to the gaping mouth that waited to swallow her whole.
“Az, what’s happening?” DG had woken and she had felt darkness. She’d felt it and known something was wrong, so she bolted from her bed, her instinct telling her where to go. Now she started towards her sister, but cables wrapped around her middle from both sides and held her back. She gasped, trying to push them away, but the cold steel held strong. “Az!” Fear crept into her voice. “Az, help me! Help me fight them!” She stretched as far as she could, reaching out for her sister. She could not see or hear the spirits that drew Azkadellia further towards that terrible blackness in the machinery. She could not see the small child that also reached out his small hand and looked at Azkadellia with those horrible eyes that had known such terror… “Az, please!” DG begged, but Azkadellia’s eyes were on the child now, the cables encouraging, the whispers reminding.
“I’m so sorry…” she whispered one last time, and DG knew Azkadellia was not speaking to her. She watched as Azkadellia reached out and took not her sister’s hand, but some phantom hand that DG could not see.
“NO!” DG wailed and struggled harder, but the cables that held her did not give and she watched as invisible somethings and shiny cables drew her sister into the darkness. “NO! AZKADELLIA! NO!”
“DG!” She heard Cain’s voice and the sound of his feet pounding down the stone hallway, coming nearer every second, but she couldn’t turn her eyes away even as he burst into the room to watch with her as the darkness fully claimed Azkadellia and the machine began to shift once more, eliminating all evidence that it had ever opened at all. DG still screamed, and suddenly the cables released her, slithering back to their places. She would have fallen forward had Cain not caught her, staring in a wide-eyed and utterly stunned silence at where the opening had been.
Her voice failing her, DG could no longer scream, but only manage hoarse sounds of pitiful agony. “No…” Cain turned her away so she could no longer look, hugging her tightly to him, but though she no longer looked, the image of Azkadellia letting the sunseeder take her was burned into DG’s mind.