~Entry 28~
I.. I really don't like this.
I'm not the only one who's stuck in the wilderness, am I?
Once I figure out how to get out of this swamp thing, I'll try and help anyone who needs to get out too. This is so not cool; can't we go back to having the shopping mall?
[Added a few seconds later with shaky handwriting.]
...There's dead people in the
I'm not the only one who's stuck in the wilderness, am I?
Once I figure out how to get out of this swamp thing, I'll try and help anyone who needs to get out too. This is so not cool; can't we go back to having the shopping mall?
[Added a few seconds later with shaky handwriting.]
...There's dead people in the
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Then why are they all under the water like that? If death really worked like it should around here, then you and me wouldn't be here, right? Besides, both of you weren't here for the zombies when they tried to take over the sphere! I'm allowed to be paranoid.
[He gives the corpses another suspicious glance. But they're still there. Being all dead like. The only thing moving in the swamp at all are the flickering lights that look almost like candles amid the dead weeds and still standing water. It's...creepy.]
Yeah it is really dark out here. Except for those weird lights. [He glances at Pinky.] Do you see them?
[Where are the lights coming from? Why are they there. Like a trick on the water. A creepy...spooky...nightlight....like...bright...ness...
Ghost doesn't even feel his own thoughts trail off as he stops walking and continues to stare at nothing in the middle of the swamp.]
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Oh, that's why you're acting all weird. Well, don't you think this is a lot different than zombies? They're not moving, for one thing.
[But she glances warily at them anyway. Maybe Ghost has a point, though she won't be telling him that. She notices something else besides the dead bodies: the weeds that are moving back and forth to an eerie sort of rhythm, and... the lights that are more like candles burning underwater.]
You mean the lights? Yeah, I see them...
[How can candles burn underwater? Pinky stares at the candles, trying to make sense of how this works. But suddenly, all worries or questions about the candles just disappear from Pinky's mind, as though someone wiped her brain clean. Her gaze is riveted on the water, and the lights, and she starts moving forward, like she is being pulled by an invisible thread.]
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[She trails off... well, yes, it is rather shadowy in a visible sense, but that was not the sort of darkness she was referring to. Her own gaze moves to the strange candlelights when Ghost mentions them... curious. Somehow, she does not think that they have anything to do with any chemicals that can burn in water.
It is... difficult to focus on them, and she takes a step closer to try and get a better focus when the Force sounds like a sharp, silent alarm bell. Her entire body tenses and she rips her eyes away, seeing Ghost transfixed and Pinky walking towards the water with glazed eyes.]
Ghost! Pinky!
[But she doesn't know if words alone will penetrate the haze that the lights have inflicted on their minds. She goes to Pinky first, grabbing her arm and spinning her around to deliver a sharp slap in the face. Then she quickly does the same to Ghost. Her voice is deadly serious.] ( ... )
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OW! Wha--
[He blinks at Handmaiden in utter confusion]
Woah. Where did you come from?
[He has no idea what the hell just happened or how Handmaiden came to be suddenly standing in front of him---did she just hit him?!--but he still instinctively turns to look for Pinky]
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Ouch! Hey, that hurt!
[She gapes at Handmaiden. Did she hit him, or did Ghost?]
Handmaiden? What happened?
[Speaking of Ghost, she realizes he's looking around for her.]
Ghost? What are you doing?
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[She is most certainly keeping her own eyes AWAY from the waters. And no she's not going to apologize for slapping them... not because she thinks it's their own fault, but because 1. it didn't actually hurt them and 2. it was for their own good. Some temporary stinging is not a bad trade-off for escaping whatever fate the lights had in store.]
I did not think merely saying your names would pull you out of it. We are returning to the Tree, now.
[She grips their sleeves, a pinch of cloth in each hand, and starts back towards the semblance of a path... fervently hoping that the elevator door will appear for them.]
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I--nothing.
[He rubs the back of his head in confusion.]
Entranced? I don't remember anything. Just ...I thought they were ...I dunno.
[Calling him.]
Wait--[With a frown, Ghost phases so Handmaiden's grip on his sleeve slips out of her hand. Geez he's not five thank you very much!]
We can't just leave--what if there are other people there following the lights? We have to look at them.
[There's a split moment where Ghost is completely unaware of his verbal mistake. Then horror dawns in his eyes as he mentally backtracks.]
I mean--look for them--oh man.
[Shiiiiit]
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