Haven't you seen a spindle before?

[paradisamods]

And haven't you seen how dull and dreary the castle seems of late? The white walls seem almost grey and the marble floors have lost their shine. Even the chandeliers seem made of grimy glass. Perhaps that drowsy spell has even the mighty castle in its grasp. What a thought!

But today the sleepers have risen, all of them feeling an indelible call to shuffle and stumble toward the Insolitus. There is something most precious to them hiding behind that named door, and they would do all they can to protect it. Their eyes may be closed shut, their movements hindered by sleep, but they are keenly aware of anyone seeking to harm their most beloved treasure.

Voices of many sleepers, all of them monotonous, speak in unison:

“ You should have let sleeping dogs lie. ”
LINKS: OUTSIDE THE DOOR | TALK TO THE ENEMY | FIGHT THE ENEMY (Keep this to one thread!) | Start your own as you please!

Comments

FIGHT THE ENEMY

[paradisamods]

The sleepers won't find their way in here once you enter to find the enemy: a giggling little boy with a spindle in its hand. It seems so very smug (and so very young, so innocent). The cat that got all the mice in the world.

"You shouldn't have done that. All they did was sleep."

[ NOTE: This is for defeating the enemy. For continuity's sake, please keep to one thread, no tagging order. ]

[secondchances]

[For the first time in a long time, Stephanie shows up to a fight without her cowl. It's strange, but she's sure most others wouldn't even bat an eye at just another person here to end this. At least her examination of her self and her choices and what's led her to this moment is entirely derailed when she realizes this thing is in the form of a little boy.

Crap. It would. But this has to end now.]

Enough of this.

[This is probably a bad idea, but Steph rushes forward to grab him.]

[paradisamods]

[ But it looks so happy to see her! It squeals and promptly runs away just round and round the room like a game of tag. ]

You can't~ catch me~!

[secondchances]

[This is a nightmare. Steph attempts to cut the thing off.]

Are you fucking kidding me?

[batteriesarehard]

[Carley arrives just in time to see... some blonde girl chasing a child? Nothing about this stupid fucking castle will ever make sense. She's got her gun though, and fires a shot just in front of the kid with the intent to make it stop in its tracks.

When she speaks, it's to Stephanie, not creepy mcbabyface.]

So this is what's causing all this? Some kid?

[paradisamods]

[ It's just about to try and crawl between Steph's legs when that gunshot has it jumping and shrieking-- in glee. ]

Hey! That's cheating!

[secondchances]

It's not--[maybe this is more for herself than anyone else] It's not a kid! Don't think of it as a kid!

[It's so small, but Steph aims a kick low to compensate.]

[batteriesarehard]

[It's one thing to shoot at a monster - if that's what this is - that looks like a kid, but actually shooting it? Carley hesitates, waiting to see the reaction to that kick.]

What the hell is it, then?

[paradisamods]

[ The kick sends it slumped to a side, still laughing and entirely unharmed. ]

What are we playing? Hide-and-seek? Football?

[secondchances]

[Just kicking something that looks like a child makes Steph want to vomit. Instead of answering Carley, she makes another grab for the enemy.]

We're not playing! You need to stop.

[batteriesarehard]

[She recognizes this girl's voice from the journals, the message that no one ever wanted to hear. She'd lost her friend to this... whatever it is, and here she is trying to stop it. It needs to end, before the same happens to Clementine or Ben or Lee.

It's not a real child, she tells herself.

So Carley takes aim again, waits until she has a clear shot, and fires. Not a real child, not a real child.]

[paradisamods]

[ It curls into a ball just as Carley takes aim, the bullet hitting its mark and, yes, burrowing into its tiny plump arm and splattering blood all over the place. It lets out no cry of pain, though visibly upset. ]

Why did you do that? It isn't nice.

[ But the wound on its arm heals as they watch, the flesh and skin stitching itself together while what blood staining the floors evaporate into a fog. ]

[secondchances]

Shit.

[It regenerates. Not good. So they either find a weakness, or keep piling on the damage until it can't.]

Try it's head!

[Please be a good shot.]

[batteriesarehard]

[She doesn't have an unlimited supply of bullets on her, but Carley's favorite thing about this castle is the whole wishing for ammo thing. She prefers a single well-placed shot than emptying a clip into her targets, though, so she takes her time to line this shot up.]

You really need to stop talking, you little creep.

[First trash talk, now she squeezes the trigger, aiming directly between the little monster's eyes.]

[paradisamods]

[ Well, now, that's really not nice. It rises to its feet, all of three-feet tall, as Carley lines up the shot, frowning like a kid denied his day at the zoo. ]

Silly, you can't hurt me. I've borrowed too much time for anything to hurt me now.

[ Not that it stops the bullet from entering its head, right between its eyes and splattering its brain all over the place. It hardly budges. ]

[secondchances]

[That's such nightmare fuel. Steph hates this place. She's not sure what to do, so she goes with the usual--trying to slam the enemy into the ground, and keep him down.

At least he's not firing lasers or anything.]

[batteriesarehard]

[Damn it Steph how is she supposed to shoot it when you do that? Carley circles around and keeps the gun pointed at her target, eyes trained for her next clear shot.

And then suddenly there it is, and she empties the rest of her clip into the little fucker, bullet after bullet straight into his face. Maybe if she causes enough damage, it won't be able to regenerate?]

[paradisamods]

[ It squeals like a kid pinned down on the floor for an onslaught of tickles. Tickles by gunshot. It regenerates its crushed head with as much speed as it has before, slowly stitching back together its ruined mouth that still manages to speak. But the sound comes from outside the door, the sleepers speaking on its behalf. ]

Let me just spin a little thread. I would be so happy if only you would let me spin a little thread.

[ensorceler]

[ Somehow Anne has made it past, only because the sleepers seem to be so involved in stopping everybody else from going through. She is certainly conspicuous in her ornate garb, even with a cloak around her dress. The cloak itself is shredded along with her skirts, barely managing to find her way through the door.

She should have a guard. She should have somebody protecting her. But despite wanting to hire so many, Anne no longer believes there is anyone to protect her; not in any world or kingdom. She no longer fears death, having already faced it on the scaffold, and if she dies now in the pursuit of the people's safety, she can only hope to go to Heaven. Why shouldn't she try? There is nothing to gain by sitting in her chambers and hiding.

Anne's cloak doesn't only hide her dress, but also a dagger and handgun in the pockets. She goes in knowing she may have to do harm or receive harm, and her leg aches as her lips tremble, especially when she hears gunfire and — children's laughter? She freezes just inside the door, barely gasping when she sees a small child, then quickly looks over her shoulder to see that those asleep do not follow her, but they do speak, and it makes her shudder as she rushes further in and away from the sleepwalkers.

And towards the child that seems injured and pinned down by one Stephanie Brown, dropping to her knees before them and crossing herself when she sees it's wounds healing right before her sight. ]

God be good. What are you doing?!

[deadlybanker]

[Giovanni bullied his way to the door through the crowd that reached out to grab and tear at his clothing, diving to the ground and rolling the last few paces to avoid the arms meant to block him. The chants of '...spin a little thread. I would be so happy if only you would let me spin a little thread,' followed him as he ran inside but thankfully the group itself did not. It was haunting to hear so many voices calling out for the same thing but it was not nearly as chilling as the sight of two ladies assaulting a little boy. One was holding him down and the other held a weapon like the one Ezio had shown him. And the poor boy's face... Torn and ruined. Why would anyone attack a boy that young?!

He stood there a moment taking in the scene before he opened his mouth to protest the actions being taken. Words that failed to appear when the sunken in face of the child morphed back to it's original form. ]

Mio dio...

[His hushed words grew hard as his eyes narrowed against the creature in the room. ]

That is no child. Is that the cause of all this madness?

[secondchances]

[Wow, this couldn't get any more awkward. Steph looks over at Anne and then--then this man that she very much hopes isn't Ezio's father despite those robes, knowing exactly what this looks like.

But at least the man knows what's up. Steph keeps the boy pinned.]

It regenerates, we need to figure out what we need to do!

[batteriesarehard]

[Great, now they have a woman that looks like she's about to pass out from the vapors to deal with, this just gets better and better. At least the woman isn't trying to save the demon child though, and the man catches on quick enough. That's handy.

With a clatter, the spent clip falls to the floor and Carley reaches to grab the spare from her back pocket.]

I can't exactly stand here and shoot it forever! Anyone wanna throw something out here?

[ensorceler]

[ Anne doesn't recognize the man who enters, though of course she understands Italian and sees he might be more competent at dispatching the foe than the women. ...If he has any supernatural powers, that is. Time to panic without looking like she's panicking, needing only moments to try and recollect herself. ]

A priest! We need to fetch a priest.

[ Curse having to fall back on superstitious Catholic nonsense, but if bullets won't do it? Well, is there really time to go get a priest? There's only that and one other thing she can think of. Looking like a child or not, she knows the Devil can take any form. ]

Or we must cut off it's head, so that it cannot haunt. Here!

[ Digging the dagger out of her cloak and holding it out to the man. Stephanie needs to hold the thing down, and no matter how badass any of these women are, this man probably has more physical strength. ]

[paradisamods]

[ It really is difficult to laugh with a torn up throat and barely any jaws to work with, though that doesn't stop it from trying. It just gurgles and gurgles, unable to speak save through the mouths of others. ]

And I touched the blooming blood to the thread and I said, now you will sleep, and as each of them slept I stole a little of their life, a little of their dreams, and as I slept I took back my youth and my beauty and my power...

[deadlybanker]

[No priest could destroy this.

The thought was had as he looked to the dagger offered him. A kind offer, but instead of taking the weapon he gently pushed it back to the clearly devote young woman. ]

You should keep this. If that thing can not be stopped... It might come for you.

[He reached for the top of his boot as he jogged towards the creature the girls were fighting, yanking a dagger earlier borrowed from his son from the hidden place in his boot as he moved. The throat of the creature was a muddle of blood and gore so he struck first for the heart. The short blade slid with the practiced skill of an Assassin between the ribs and deep into where the heart of the creature should have been. Few people he had faced could live through a strike like that but with this thing he braced himself, preparing to strike again if the beast did not die. ]