⏪ the other side of life | OPEN

[teaserving]

WHO: Leone Abbacchio & whomstever
WHAT: A Haunting prompt for Akechi; Moody Blues gets to work; Abbacchio takes over the H*t T*pic; you can also wildcard him.
WHEN: Time is an illusion
WHERE: The home decor store & others.
WARNINGS: There is a prompt including Abbacchio's Stand, Moody Blues! The thing about Stands is that normally only other people who have Stands can see them, but I like to play fast and loose with the rules, so I honestly leave it up to you if your character can see his Stand. Prompts are in the comments but if you wanna do your own thing just comment to the post or let me know if you want something more specific!

Comments

[aufsassig]

Yeah, I figured I'd Goldilocks it. Too much, too little, just right.

[Evidently, Abbacchio's conclusion was the moment he'd been waiting for. Wanting to be found out; the reward is a return to something resembling normalcy.]

I was thinking we should try to get up on the roof of this place. Maybe use the lights as a signal. For who, I don't know, but it's better than nothing, right?

[teaserving]

Guess we'll find out if your happy medium is annoying or not.

[Schuldig would mess around like that, wouldn't he.]

I thought about that, but we'd run the risk of dealing with the climate. Which is in pretty shitty shape, for the record. If you can deal with the pain, I'm on board.

[aufsassig]

Sure, but we've got to do something, right?

[He shrugs a little, continuing to lead them along the abandoned corridor, past shop after destroyed shop.]

Not like there are many alternatives. I'm not really interested in sitting around not doing something, and who else is there to do it? One of the little kids? Fuck that.

[teaserving]

[That's actually a fair point. As much as he respects the kids around here, he'd never think to ask them to hurt themselves for a task.]

Yeah. All right. It should be us. I can deal with it anyway.

[Abbacchio is a pro at putting himself through pain anyway.]

[aufsassig]

Now, see, the old me would've taken your bait on that. Asked nosy questions. The new and improved me? I respect that you're ready to do what needs to be done.

[Ah, there it is. Coming up just along the way. The Home Goods store, and its fresh lights, and its thousand thousand mirrors.]

You think the weather outside is less shit at night than it is during the day?

[teaserving]

Wow, what a change. Try not to brag about it. Anyway, I think it's probably the same level of shittiness. The sun is a problem, but I think it has more to do with the atmosphere.

[The mirrors get a scowl from Abbacchio. He swears, he broke a bunch with Akechi the other day, but they're... all back? He stops, looking confused.]

What the hell... [He takes a step forward, then hesitates.] I'm not against your plan, but we need to be careful in there. Something's up with the mirrors.

[aufsassig]

What do you mean, something's up with the mirrors? I mean, hell, there's way more of them than any godforsaken store ought to have, but...

[Hmmm. Like, okay, nobody ever said that Schuldig is good at making plans, but he's also not stupid. You don't have a reaction like the one Abbacchio is having without there being something real behind it.]

...What. What is it.

[teaserving]

I don't really know how to explain it, but... it's like there's something from the mirror that can possess you. I know for a fact that I broke a bunch of these before but they're back to being whole today. And there's too many to cover.

[Abbacchio sighs angrily and runs his fingers through his hair.]

It's not permanent, but it's going to be dangerous. The last person I went with, we attacked each other because of the possession.

[aufsassig]

...Shit.

[He glares at the mirrors from a safe distance, taking stock of them like their very presence offends him. When he turns back to Abbacchio, the playful drawl of his usual tone has fled, and he's more even, all business.]

You can't explain it, but describe it anyway. Don't think too hard, just say whatever feels right. Was it in your head, in your body, what. How did it get you? What did it do?

[teaserving]

[Well, that's some different attitude from Schuldig. But he doesn't remark upon it, not right now.]

It didn't feel like anything at first. I saw how the mirror reflection didn't quite look right, didn't quite match me sometimes. Like it'd smile and I wasn't.

After that, I couldn't control my body. I guess... maybe I felt a little cold? But nothing really stands out.

[aufsassig]

But you could still think, yeah? You were still trying to tell your body to move, but the signals weren't reaching your limbs.

[He hums under his breath, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.]

Did it have its own voice? Was something else in your head with you?

[teaserving]

I could think, but my actions weren't mine. I could still talk, but I couldn't control my limbs.

[Some oddly specific questions, but at least he can answer it. Abbacchio shakes his head.]

No. It didn't feel like there was another voice or something like that. I'd argue it was some kind of entity, but I didn't hear any voices or emotions from it.

[aufsassig]

Shit.

[It's softer this time, more under his breath. More to himself; an awareness of how unpleasant this is going to get.]

And you were still in your body. You didn't feel pulled out of it?

[teaserving]

Not from what I could tell. I don't have anything more specific than that. I couldn't tell you if it was a ghost or a demon or something else, unfortunately. But it was something, and it's got to do with the mirrors.

But I know we need those lights. So we need to figure out our approach.

[aufsassig]

Nah, not a demon. Demon would've said something.

[He remarks absently, squinting irritably into the home goods shop.]

Probably it's aural. The glass is emitting some kind of subsonic noise that you don't hear, but it trips off your brain anyway. Maybe two wavelengths. One to lock up your motor function, one to stimulate it? Something like that. You said smashing the mirrors fixed it, right? So, okay, no resonance, no sound waves. No bullshit brain-fuckery.

[teaserving]

Aural.

[There's a moment in which Abbacchio has to really absorb that. The concept is believable, but it strikes him as interesting that Schuldig is so damned well educated on that.]

You an expert on brain-fuckery then?

[aufsassig]

Now who's the one asking nosy questions?

[Sometimes you're doing so well and then you trip at the finish line because you just gotta get your snark in.]

We can quid pro quo later. More importantly, the hell are we going to do about getting those lights out of there?

[teaserving]

I'm not gonna apologize for being curious about your sudden knowledge of brain possession. It sort of fucking sticks out.

[Anyway: they do have a task ahead of them.]

It does put us in a bad position. We could go in and smash all the mirrors we come across, but that's a lot to deal with.

...There might be something else we can do. [He can bullshit an explanation if it comes up in some way.] What lights should we grab for? That's all I need to know.

[aufsassig]

They're going on the roof, right? So, freestanding and with a cord we can hook up to the interior of the building. Batteries will burn out eventually, and I don't really want to keep going the hell back out there just to replace them.

[He contemplates a minute.]

High wattage, fluorescent bulb. As long lasting as possible. What are you going to do, make a run for it?

[teaserving]

Something like that.

[After Zuko couldn't see Moody Blues, Abbacchio is working off of the assumption that nobody else will be able to see his Stand. It was interesting to try to explain it to the kid. He certainly expects nothing out of Schuldig.

So, Moody Blues appears behind Abbacchio, humming with curious static.]

Just give me a minute.

[Moody Blues only has about 2-3 meters to work with, but they don't need to go in deep to get what they're looking for. The Stand goes in, knocking over mirrors as he goes.]

[aufsassig]

[Well, well, well. Speaking of psychic bullshit — the one saving grace that Schuldig has going for him when Moody Blues makes his appearance is the fact that he's already been shoring up his mental defenses somewhat in preparation for whatever might be inside the home goods store, so he's walled off his mind just slightly better than he usually keeps himself normally.

Which is a good thing, because the purple phantom...thing appears, and it's like a bomb going off inside his skull.]

Ah, shit!

[He claps his hands over his ears — on reflex alone, it's not like it helps with the brain part of things — and drops into an immediate turtle-like crouch, head low between his knees as he tries to shove back the...whatever it is and escape into a sheltered, silent place in his mind.]

What did you do? The fuck did you do?!

[teaserving]

[This is a first, and it's immediately concerning. He debates pulling Moody Blues back, but instead lets him keep going to find the lights they need. Instead, he stares at Schuldig, speechless for a moment.]

You tell me. What's with you?!

[Because nobody has ever reacted to his Stand like this before. What the actual fuck is going on?]

[aufsassig]

Your fucking familiar, asshole! Call it off!

[He's seething through his teeth, fighting because yeah, it hurts but ha ha, isn't that what they always taught at school, how to be useful even when it hurts, how to matter even when they're trying to render you worthless.]

What the hell!

[teaserving]

[Not only did Moody Blues' appearance trigger this reaction, but Schuldig can see him.

Abruptly, Moody Blues fizzles out, like an old television set being turned off. Abbacchio is tense, debating if he just wants to leave now or not. This is bad, he didn't expect Schuldig to have the ability to see his Stand.]

What the fuck are you?

[aufsassig]

Two of a kind with you, seems like.

[The thing disappears, and the shrieking in his mind stops, leaving his head ringing but his thoughts abruptly a lot clearer. Groaning, he scrubs at his eyes, staying on the ground a minute to get his bearings before pushing himself back up to his feet.]

You could've told me you were going to send in a familiar. Fucking hell, I need an aspirin.

[He dabs at his nose, like he's half-expecting to have a nosebleed.]

Somebody trained you pretty well. Is that what you are, a psychic-killer?