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Post by flightlessicarus on Dec 19, 2015 20:41:14 GMT -8
Falling falling falling...
Fall for long enough that it no longer feels like falling at all.
There is no feeling.
There is no ground.
If there is, you cannot feel it.
Your name is Seth, and you are now dead.
You are not the first of your template to fall, nor are you by far the last. Just another lost soul.
A red glow shines through the mist. It seems... Familiar. You reach out for it. It slowly draws closer. You try to call out to it. Your voice is distant and faint, as if it is not entirely your own.
It answers your call... using your own voice.
what the fuck is going on here?
Welcome to the clocktower, the final resting place of all versions of Seth [REDACTED]. For the most part, unless permission is granted, outsiders are not welcome. The caretaker of this tower is the robed child, Thanatos. He is often busy helping the newer dead Seths get used to their new home. It has gotten easier since the alpha Seth's brief visit here.
He's been taking trips on his boat more often though, thus leaving the other seths to their own devices.
Today he is here though, and he's brought in another newcomer.
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Post by flightlessicarus on Dec 20, 2015 7:18:39 GMT -8
Thanatos walks through the front door, a crying bloody Seth trailing close behind. He's wearing his time heir pajamas and has horns upon his head. Must have come from a post-visit part of the timeline.
"What happened to that one?"
"Did he get in a bad fight?"
"Why the fuck is he crying?"
The peanut gallery, standing off to the sides of the entryway, chatter amongst themselves in curious confusion.
"Here, let me take you upstairs to get washed off." hopefully it actually washes off. But if not, it's not too big of a deal, just an indicator of that Seth's state of mind.
Soon enough, they arrive upon the second floor. A prospit dreamer Seth runs about the room with reckless abandon. A rather drab fountain of strange purpleish water stands in the center of the room.
Thanatos leads the newcomer into the fountain, clothes and all. Most of the blood is washed off. There appears to be a rather fatal-looking cut across his neck. Tends to happen on occasion. "well, you're pretty much clean now. let me check the directory for your entry." Thanatos opens a thick book and thumbs through the pages. Soon enough, the child finds the entry he's looking for. "hmmm... seems to match up." Meanwhile, the new Seth seems to still be distraught.
"can I, just go over there?"
"are you sure you want to be stuck over there? You might want to pick a better place to anchor yourself."
"...somewhere else then, I guess."
"Here, let me take you somewhere." Thanatos offers out his cold, tiny hand. The new Seth accepts it and is led up the stairs.
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Post by flightlessicarus on Dec 20, 2015 8:21:34 GMT -8
Upon reaching the third floor, a familiar melody is heard. There is a Seth at the far end corner on this floor playing a particular vaporwave song on the piano. A memory is stirred.
"Wait... we were here before. Where are we going exactly?"
"It's not a question of where, but when. We will be visiting the memories of your last day alive."
Seth is silent. For some reason, he doesn't want to go back there. It's painful even trying to recall it.
"I won't force you, but it will help you... come to terms with things."
As much as he seems to be dreading a revisit to his final day, Seth knows at this point that Thanatos has a good idea of what often works in this process.
He hesitantly agrees to go through with it.
They enter the elevator and the door closes behind them.
Seth and Thanatos exit the elevator and step out onto the beach. Tufts of pink grass poke out of the sand. A blue house sits a short distance away.
"My house... Kat!" Seth dashes off towards the house. Thanatos follows behind at a more relaxed pace.
Much of his work has already been done at this point, the memories will do the rest.
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Post by flightlessicarus on Dec 21, 2015 0:31:27 GMT -8
Seth enters the house, nearly kicking the door open.
All is silent. If Seth were alive right now, he'd be breathing fairly heavily right now.
He looks over towards the living room. There's nobody living here anymore.
The scythe that was previously on the wall is conspicuously missing, hanging chains and all. He looks over at the couch, the one Kat would always sleep on. Her notes are scattered across the coffee table, as they usually were. She is nowhere to be found in this room however. Aside from the paper clutter, the room is spotless, minus a decorative scythe. Working off a hunch, he checks his sylladex.
The scythe is there. He pulls it out. The blade is still covered in blood.
A memory is triggered. Bloodstains begin spreading across the carpet. Looking back to the couch, the dead body of his treasured house guest is there. Outside the window, the scene seems to be shifting erraticly from the land of ink and roses to charcherry forest on fire.
His hands are shaking. He nearly drops the scythe. In the reflection of the blade, he can see himself, blank eyes, bleeding neck, even paler than usual skin, almost tinted blue.
What appears to be his body is now toppled over Kat's body, scythe dropped out of his failed grip. A cracked heart container lies upon the table, red liquid pooling out. Thoren stands opposite of the scene, suddenly visible. He has no words as he sullenly gazes upon the bloody scene.
Seth remembers it all now. The plotting, the stabbing, the shame...
He turns to Thoren to say something.
"..."
Nothing comes out.
There just seems to be such a great gap between them now, no longer linked together. They can vaguely tell from looking some inkling of what their respective emotional responses might be, but it's just so blurred and hard to guess at this point. Thoren seems to be showing signs of... guilt? Has he ever even felt guilty for anything in the first place? This is the Seth who singlehandedly slayed not only the entire active v2 crew in his timeline, but also an entire band of elves.
Seth, with the chained scythe, he seems to be feeling... remorse? disappointment? hopelessness? futility?
He had thought that he would be able to send Lady Ananke to her rightful place, but at the same time, that meant killing Kat, and being alone again. He couldn't stand the thought, especially with his actions being intentional.
So he followed her down.
But upon searching for her, there was nothing, but painful memories that had been thought to have been left behind.
Even in death you cannot escape from your past.
There is nothing but your past, because you have no future.
You are dead.
Your name is Seth, and you are destined to be forever alone.
The End.
Thoren picks up the cracked empty heart container, and makes a wish. A wish that this would never happen.
Not in the alpha timeline.
The empty heart container glows and the damage begins reversing itself. The red liquid trickles back up into it and the cracks mend back together. It shines brightly as the gears of time spin backwards. The scene's damage moves in reverse, as if a VHS tape being rewound. The blood disappears, the scythe is placed back upon the wall, never to be used, and the handler of aforementioned scythe walks backwards through the front door, out of the house.
Thoren passively follows the path of the reverse walking Seth, soon a reverse flying Seth, un-gliding across the deep blue ocean. The island disappears under the horizon, until he lands from a faraway shore, overlooking a cliff. Reaching the point where things could be changed, the reversing slows, and then stops until time resumes running forwards, at normal speed.
It is no longer a dream. This is now reality.
Seth had not noticed any changes at this point. For all he knew, there were no changes. An oddly well-described reply on a message board, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
Thoren had only been gone for the length of a single heartbeat, masking his path perfectly.
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Post by flightlessicarus on Dec 21, 2015 20:09:41 GMT -8
Two land firmly on their feet, holding hands. One is a bit taller and scrawny, with rips and tears in his time heir pajamas uniform, while the other seems to be brimming with life, wearing a red longsleeve and black jeans with a couple light chains hanging off the pockets. A bit different from the yellow pajama pants, but he means business tonight.
They stand upon the small dock at the edge of the island. The tower looms straight ahead.
They look towards eachother and nod, walking forwards.
Seth and Thoren enter the tower. It is exactly as it was last time they had visited it. A couple of seths are standing around, one trying to pick a fight with the other right next to him. The Hot Topic store is still there, likely still offering new wares only to those with a certain level of badassery.
They look over at the newcomers with blank eyes, like deer in the headlights. They can sense life energy from one of them.
"It's the alpha Seth."
"what the fuck is he doing here again?"
"I wanna fight him."
Alpha Seth clears his throat to speak.
"Thoren and I have some important shit to discuss with everyone. follow us upstairs."
With minimal questioning, they follow up to the 2nd floor.
This floor is just as predictable as the last. However, Dark Beta Seth in the corner speaks up.
"Well, what do we have here... a warmblood and a crowd of fucking lemmings. And Thoren."
"Nice to see you again too, Not Important."
"I have an actual fucking alias now. You may call me Raphael."
"Sure, alright then. You up to fuck some shit up soon? Maybe make a difference for once?"
"What's your ploy, Thoren?"
"I'm playing it straight this time. Some bitch is causing trouble for the dead Kats and jacked Raine's body. We're gonna do something about it."
"...count me in." and with that, Raphael joins the party, refraining from making any further comments.
They all continue up to the third floor.
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Post by flightlessicarus on Dec 21, 2015 21:21:53 GMT -8
The pianist stops playing his usual vaporwave fare, sensing a strong force ascending the stairs. He walks away from the piano and peeks around the corner. A couple of link seths are standing nearby, watching the crowd of seths following the two seths in front. Without Thanatos to tell him otherwise, Alpha Seth decides to go up to the 4th floor. Thoren tugs on his hand before he can ascend the steps.
"Where the fuck are you going?"
"I'm going up the stairs."
"That leads up to Thanatos's office! Nobody fucking goes up there but him!"
"And who's gonna stop me?"
He comically waits for a reply, but there is none.
"Point proven. You can take the crew up the elevator, but I'm taking the stairs. I'll meet you... at the end of time. Blue hole entrance."
"Got it." Thoren chuckles a little, and then directs the crowd of seths towards the elevator.
Alpha Seth and Thoren let go of each other's hands and Seth walks up the stairs, to the 4th floor.
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Post by flightlessicarus on Dec 22, 2015 0:54:08 GMT -8
Seth walks up the stairs and arrives... in front of his childhood home in Idaho. So many memories here. He can't get distracted now though. Seth walks up to the door and tries opening it. Locked. He had forgotten one of the main things about this house, the front door was almost always locked. There was always another way inside however. He climbs up the side of the house and onto the 2nd floor balcony. The door inside is always unlocked. Sure enough, it lets him inside. Seth enters the house. Muffled death metal can be heard from downstairs. He immediately recognizes it. It was off one of his favorite albums. Thanatos must be home today. He walks down to the first floor and to the doorway leading to his room. A sign reading "KEEP OUT!" is taped onto the door. A fine example of his edgy attitude during his younger years. He isn't sure whether to embrace the nostalgia or groan at his past self's design choices. Ignoring the "warning" on the door, he opens the door. There is no lock on it, so it opens just fine.  A much younger version of himself is sitting at his desk, red aura blazing as he continues studying something. "...who the fuck is in here, I thought I locked the door." "It's me, Alpha."The boy gets up out of his seat, his aura settling down. His blank eyes pierce right though. It's so strong even Thoren can feel it, and he's not even in the same room, let alone same floor of the tower. It's gotta be Thanatos. No other version of Seth has such an effective death stare. The boy smiles slightly. "long time no see, alpha." "I almost didn't recognize you without you robe, Thanatos. The stare was a dead giveaway."The two seths laugh. Nothing like a little bit of black humor to brighten up the mood. "so, what brings you here?" "I'm here on business. Thoren and I have began recruiting the other Seths for something important.""...recruiting? for what?" "Do you know about Kat and Raine, right? well, one of her has started some shit against the lost pawns and the rest of the dead kats. She's piloted a dreambubble close enough to swallow the meteor whole. She's even taken Raine's body for fuck's sake. Her alias is Zwei and she is nothing but trouble to everyone I care about.""...hm, that is a pretty big deal. i have a lot of homework though. taking classes to get a reaper's license is no easy task." despite not having an emotional connection to either Kat nor Raine, he understands that every other seth does have it. "Heh, so you actually went through with it. Props to you. I'm guessing you're cool with the shit me and Thoren are doing?""as long as it restores order, do what you think is right. they need something to occupy themselves with anyhow. maybe an actual opponent will make them less hostile amongst themselves." "Thanks, Thanatos. I'm glad we have an understanding here. I gotta go meet up with Thoren soon. Keep up the good work here.""alright. see you later." That last sentence seemed a little ominous, but then again a lot of things are that way with Thanatos. He is the resident grim reaper cosplayer of this tower after all. Seth leaves the house and makes his way back towards the stairs. |
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Post by flightlessicarus on Dec 22, 2015 7:18:52 GMT -8
Seth walks back down the stairs to the third floor.
It's quieter than usual.
He walks over to the elevator and notices the pianist is gone, and he took the piano with him. however the fuck he's supposed to fight while wheeling a piano everywhere is just boggling, but that isn't much of an issue now.
Seth enters the elevator and hits a couple buttons. Pulling down the lever, he prepares to grip the side rails for dear life. Thankfully, the elevator goes up at a more reasonable pace for shorter trips.
He steps out of the elevator and onto a gravel road. Long grass gently waves in the breeze. Seth internally calls out for Thoren. He replies just a few moments later. There is an air of confidence, though with a hint of impatience. Seth replies with tempered enthusiasm. He dashes off down the road and into the forest.
A fallen tree deep in the forest dips into an invisible hole, clipping unnaturally with the rest of the landscape. The forest is unnaturally quiet. Not another soul in sight. Seth seems to be too determined to meet up with Thoren to give it too much thought. He leaps into the hole, disappearing into the ground.
Seth lands on his feet in the Skaian Magicant. Thankfully, the obstructive couch has been moved so the main road can once again be taken. He dashes down the hallway and eventually reaches the den room. Once again, the room is eerily quiet and empty. Even checking the music room next door, not even the traveling salesman nor the hopeless traveler remained. Thoren must be really fucking good at clearing this place out.
After some slight hesitation, Seth enters the hallway leading to the veil. He still can't figure out which timeline this spacey path came from. Was it even from a memory in the first place? It doesn't matter though. All that matters is that he meets up with Thoren and the rest of the seths. He begins to walk up the desolate winding path through space, looking towards the Blue Hole on the horizon.
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Post by flightlessicarus on Dec 22, 2015 8:24:16 GMT -8
Thoren stands at the doorway to the end of time.
Thankfully, an actual door was installed where the rift was located before. A sign warning about forced fusion and glitch clones is posted nearby.
A few moments ago, Seth sent a message, closer than when Thanatos stared right through him.
He must be almost here by now.
There is a massive crowd of seths behind Thoren, filling up the entire spiral pathway. All of the glitch clones have been cleared out. They were no match for Thoren and the entire seth army.
Alpha Seth arrives at the outer loop of the spiral pathway. He can hardly believe his eyes. How any seths is that? A hundred? A thousand? It's difficult to tell.
Sensing his life energy, the other seths clear a path for alpha Seth to walk upon. He begins walking along the path.
Alpha Seth glances at the other seths as he continues around the spiral. They seem to have undisciplined dispositions, each of them trying in vain to stand out from their peers. A fair amount are wearing badges of "individuality". At this point those badges seem useless, their purpose defeated by mass production. Despite this though, all of the seths seem to be eagerly awaiting whatever comes next.
Alpha Seth finally reaches the center of the spiral pathway. Thoren stands before him, smiling with pride. They greet each other with a hug and then resume holding hands. Together again, they feel stronger than ever.
The crowd cheers.
Moments later, the door opens and two other seths walk out. Rudolph and Schrodinger. Rudolph is wearing his ugly Christmas sweater.
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Post by flightlessicarus on Dec 22, 2015 14:49:46 GMT -8
Rudolph looks out at the odd scene with confusion. "What the fuck is going on out here?"
"You're just in time for the briefing." Thoren answers.
Alpha Seth closes his eyes for a moment trying to summon the calm to begin his speech.
A moment passes and he opens his eyes again, ready to face his audience.
"All seths from across time, I have brought you all here to discuss a troubling development. Kat is in danger. All of them are. The bubble where her dead reside is in danger. One of them has broken free from imprisonment. She calls herself Zwei. Though she may be one of the Kats, she wishes only to spread despair to all she meets, including those of the same template. She has already captured the lost pawns within her dreambubble. Their group has been deprived for so long that the vast majority of them no longer have the will to fight back.
The plan will go as follows. With Thoren guiding you, you will all go through a special gateway that will lead to their bubblespace. Once there, you will ascend the stairs and meet up at the skate park upon the surface, where our allies will meet up with us. I will not be able to lead you all the entire time, but I have faith that Thoren will guide you just fine in my relative absence.
Now, who's ready to kick some ass!"
The crowd roars, some of them waving their scythes around. They are clearly ready.
"To the elevator! The top floor awaits!" Thoren points off into the distance and the seths immediately begin snaking their way back to the skaian magicant, still incredibly loud.
A minute or two passes. The crowd is still shuffling out of the veil. Rudolph is deep in thought.
If only she was there when he needed her...
He and his sibling had saved everyone in the session from the Blue Hole, but at the cost of his own life. From what he's been told, nearly every other after him was saved by Kat, the witch of life. But for some unknown reason, she never showed up in his final hour. To this day he still does not know why. Maybe though, if he can find the Kat from his timeline, he can find the answer to this burning question.
Rudolph joins the party.
Schrodinger follows behind out of habit. He's not gonna be stuck alone here at the blue hole.
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Post by flightlessicarus on Dec 23, 2015 0:30:45 GMT -8
The seth army somehow manages, with some clever tricks, to all fit in the elevator at once. Alpha Seth and Thoren opt to take the elevator after that round, mostly because alpha Seth can't access pure spirit form on account of still being alive. Upon walking into the elevator, they notice one of the other seths was left behind. Hypnos is taking a nap in the corner of the elevator, mostly oblivious to all the bustle earlier. He sits up and yawns. "Hey there... Wait, alpha, is that you? And you're not dead yet?"Thoren has a pang of guilt. "Of course not. I am our representative for the alpha timeline. I'm still alive and well?"Seth notices it and seems a bit confused, but decides not to push any sort of questioning. He's here to help Thoren become better, not to scold him for past mistakes. "so, what kinda shit is going down again? some kinda siege? There were a fuckton of seths piling in here earlier like this was some kinda fucking clown car.""Close enough. We're saving the kats from super bitchkat.""meh.""What do you mean 'meh'?! Kat's a pretty fucking important person!""I'm just not feeling it this time. The first trip was alright, but I'm just fucking done with all this adventure shit.""...suit yourself. You better hold onto your pajamas though, we're taking this bitch to the top floor.""whatever."And with that, Seth begins typing in the combination needed to direct the elevator to the top floor. The doors close. He pulls the lever, and then waits. a dreadful sinking feeling surfaces. The elevator begins to ascend, faster and faster. The cabin begins to shake. an intense fear re-emerges. Seth holds onto Thoren for some sort of support. Thoren just sorta... holds onto him? He's somewhat confused at Seth's fearful reaction, trying to read anything that shows up. A memory transforms the area. They are now all wearing tron suits. an ominous banjo can be heard for some odd reason. A familiar southern accent begins reciting the words to the boat scene song from willy wonka and the chocolate factory.
There's no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going!
There's no knowing where we're rowing,
Or which way they river's flowing!
Is it raining? Is it snowing?
Is a hurricane a-blowing?
Bah! Not a speck of light is showing,
So the danger must be growing,
Are the fires of hell a-blowing?
Is the grizzly reaper mowing?
Yes! The danger must be growing,
For the rowers keep on rowing,
And they're certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing...
Seth is crying and screaming, gripping Thoren tight for comfort. There isn't much comfort to gain from a bewildered ghost. Upon crossing the threshold, Alpha Seth disappears in a white light, still screaming. |
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Post by flightlessicarus on Mar 24, 2016 10:44:20 GMT -8
The island is quiet and dark, not a soul in sight.
The tower stands tall as it reaches above into the clouds, beyond what can be seen. The "clock face" has no hand or numbers, just an infinity symbol.
Mist gathers about everywhere. It really is quite gloomy here. The front doors are just down the path.
What will you do?
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Post by powerkitten on Mar 24, 2016 11:54:54 GMT -8
The dead Hier decides he needs a new handle to distinguish himself from the Alpha. He decides on dischargedNintendo. With that taken care of, DN decides to look around the tower, maybe there'll be a clue about Omega's daughter.
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Post by flightlessicarus on Mar 24, 2016 12:03:50 GMT -8
On the third floor, the elevator door opens. Raphael walks out. Cojiro falls off the ceiling and onto the floor.
He looks around. The place is unnaturally quiet.
2nd floor, the fountain is dry. What the fuck happened here?
He goes downstairs to the first floor and notices someone.
Wait, he's seen this kid before. He joined in after the shitstorm.
"Hey."
A blue chicken behind him flaps his wings while jumping around.
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Post by powerkitten on Mar 24, 2016 12:10:36 GMT -8
"Oh, hey. I'm DN. I tried to go fight Omega and got myself a Heroic death for it. Turns out I need to be alive though, since that timeline got doomed and the Alpha RN lives. I was just explaining what had happened recently to someone on the messageboard. A chap by the handle of fatalItinerary."
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