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

[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. ]

[secondchances]

[Steph swears her next first impression will be better. As it is, she just keeps the "boy" down.]

Thread. What about thread? [Is that a clue because Steph really wants to believe so.]

[paradisamods]

[ Giovanni might as well have been tickling it, the way it squeals and giggles (gurgles). Its head is already starting to become whole again, with one bright blue eye and half a mouth grinning at them. Silly, silly creatures.

But there is a spindle somewhere in the room, the thread stained pink. ]

[batteriesarehard]

[The gun's reloaded, she's got a bullet in the chamber, and Stephanie says thread. That's right, where is-

There! The spindle must have rolled away in the fight, somewhere between Steph throwing the kid on the ground and Carley shooting it over and over in the face, but there it is, sitting harmlessly in the corner.

Maybe it's a waste of a bullet, but maybe, just maybe, things really can be that simple. So she aims, fires at the spindle. Fingers crossed shooting that actually works.]

[ensorceler]

[ Anne doesn't know what Carley is shooting at, everything happening too quickly for her to really understand or see. Well, she can see...see that the demon is doing nothing but healing, that stabbing it and shooting it does nothing. She is convinced that it must have it's head removed, that nothing can walk on without it's head, even if it can survive without a heart.

It isn't easy to force her way close with both Stephanie and Giovanni on top of it, but she clutches the dagger tightly and scrambles around so that she's behind where it's head is at, crying to the others. ]

Keep it still!

[ She grips the handle with both hands, and as Carley shoots at the spindle, Anne brings her knife down to the 'child's' throat. She doesn't have the strength to behead something, even a boy, in one swing, especially with a knife. So she must opt for the more gruesome method, one that takes a bit longer and makes more mess, to stab and stab and cut until there is nothing left and the head can be severed from it's shoulders. At least she hopes. ]

[paradisamods]

[ The spindle, unlike the child, is indestructible (which is probably a blessing to castle residents whose lives and dreams are now wound about it). It bounces off the floor and clatters about, but is barely scratched by the bullets.

The child itself was content to lie there kicking and laughing under the rain of all those bullets, but stitching back its neck would be more trouble than it's worth. The game ends here. It reaches to grab Anne's wrist after the first few stabs, holding on with enough strength to bruise. At least it makes no move to break her arm. ]

[deadlybanker]

[It was an action taken without much forethought. When Anne was grabbed Giovanni's borrowed blade lashed out again, striking at the arm of the child-like being hoping to free the lady from the hold even if that meant severing the small creature's hand from it's arm. ]

[secondchances]

[Steph lets go to go after the spindle, kicking about spent bullets as she scrambles over to it. Giovanni has Anne.]

It has to be this. It's always the weird object. C'mon.

[She tugs on the thread, experimentally. Thiiiiis?]

[paradisamods]

[ The child lets go of Anne as soon as the blade makes contact, cutting it down to the bone but not completely severing it. With Steph rushing off, it can finally stand again, dusting itself off while quickly regenerating the rest of its face, the arm last. Any blood and flesh spattered quickly dissolve into air.

The thread is about as indestructible as the rest of the spindle, but Stephanie's fiddling has it chuckling again, sounding as innocent as ever despite everything else. ]

You don't want to do that. It would hurt your friends. You wouldn't want that, would you?

[ensorceler]

[ Ew. Ewwww. Demon baby touching her, and then it's hand is nearly severed right in front of her. She can't hold back a shriek of disgust as she tries to fling it off of her, but the child lets go and moves himself. It having moved to stop her says something. Either removing it's head is definitely the right call, or whatever Carley discovered is actually key.

Anne tries to look over her shoulder and through her hair at where Stephanie has gone to. Thread? The thread that the sleepers had been whispering behind her?!

Holding back her urge to lose her breakfast over this entire gory scenario, Anne tries to grab for the tiny creature to knock it to the floor again. She felt it's strength on her wrist, but she can't just sit around screaming like a banshee now that she's here. She will definitely need Giovanni's help. ]

Ignore it's words. The Devil only wishes to spread doubt and lies! Perhaps you must remove it's head with that, or tie it, but choose something and act!

[batteriesarehard]

[Carley is inclined to agree with Anne, that's got to be a distraction. She keeps her gun trained on the boy just in case it tries to rush them or something and makes her way to Steph's side, glancing at the spindle in her hands.

And she's just not even going to think about the whole dismembered child thing, she'll throw up over all this later, when she's alone.]

Cut the thread, maybe? Can you break it?

[secondchances]

[Steph's not so sure she wants to fuck with the thread. She hates that she hesitates, looking between the monster and the spindle, but Anne might be on to something. It's sort of like those video games where you get the weapon right before the boss with a weakness for that specific weapon.

Not that she plays a lot of video games, these days, but she knows... people. Yeah.]

Pleaseworkpleasework.

[She hefts the spindle like it were a dagger and goes in to stab the child. Out of the way, Anne and Giovanni. She (maybe?) has this.]

[deadlybanker]

[What was with this lady and removing heads?! It was something he would really have to ask when there was a chance to!

He ducked behind the child, on the side opposite the one Ann attached from, hoping to grab the creature's arms and hold them over it's head. If it were restrained this would be much easier.]

[paradisamods]

[ At first it doesn't seem as if the spindle is any different from the bullets or the daggers, plunging into the child's chest with little response from it. It even laughs, along with all the rest of the sleepers, the sound echoing through the castle. ]

I told you. You can't hurt me now. I've grown much too strong.

[ Talking big, when its skin start to crumple and shrink into itself as if its flesh has disappeared to make way for skin and bones and then dust. Its nearly severed arm is the first to go, falling onto the floor without a sound as it scatters like dust. It all happens too fast for it to even make a protest, its body receding and falling apart into dust and cobwebs and white brittle hair.

Is it over? ]

[ensorceler]

[ If she can't have her head, clearly nobody else should keep theirs! But really it just seems like the only thing they haven't tried, to her. ...At least until Stephanie actually tries to rush it. With a spindle.

She isn't looking to get in the way of that, instead struggling with Giovanni to restrain it as the blonde impales it. At first it seems like it does nothing, and she wants to yell in frustration, and then suddenly the arm she's clutching seems to...dissolve, eventually leaving her crouched there clutching at nothing but her dagger and dust.

Now just to resist the urge to faint. ]

[deadlybanker]

[His breaths came in quick secession as his lungs tried to recover what his body had lost during the struggle to keep the creature still. Was that it?

He stepped back from the dust, watching both it and casting a look around the room hoping to make sure there was nothing he was missing. ]

Quick thinking with the spindle, signora.

[He nodded towards the door.]

Are those that were under its control free yet?

[secondchances]

[Stephanie pushes herself away from the dust and hair, sweating profusely. Never again. Holy crap.]

Thanks. And thanks for the help.

[She'll just try not to puke and sit on the floor here for a bit, don't mind her.]

[paradisamods]

[ Those outside the door may still be snoozing, but nothing a cold splash of water or the ring of an alarm clock won't fix. It may seem to them that only a few hours have passed since they entered the room, but the calendar would beg to differ. Stepping out of the door will see them arrive in a brave new world... ]

[ensorceler]

[ It did indeed take one's breath to struggle with that creature in a child's body, and Anne's bodice doesn't make recovering one's breath after such a fight easy. It's not only the shock that makes her faint, but actual lack of air from her sharp and short breaths and coughs from the dust.

Anne nods to Carley and Giovanni in recognition of their efforts, though she doesn't know them, before looking back to Stephanie seated across the dust pile from her. ]

You were...most correct, Mistress Brown, you can...indeed take a care...for yourself. All of you are heroes.

[ She would try to smile, but this is no time for it, instead struggling to stand so that she can try to see for herself if those outside are recovered. If they aren't, then they still have more to do. ...But Anne won't make it that far, eyes rolling into her head and collapsing nearly as soon as she stands.

Well, damnit, she tried. Clearly she'll have to hand out medals some other time. ]