☁ 001 | Under an Endless Sky

[azuresong]

Who: Lyria and YOU
Which: ( Opened ) Passive + Interactive Dream
What: Lyria is experiencing a dream she's had many, many times before.
Warnings: Dark themes including slight mention of torture and imprisonment.



** [ OOC Note: Anyone is welcomed to interact with either parts of the dream, be it the passive or interactive! Should you choose to be apart of the interactive, you will have the option of appearing as your younger self or remaining the same. That is entirely up to the player! ]

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The sound of arguing opens the dream. At first there is muttering coming from an echoing room, and as the vision clears, the scene opens to a vast building of looming towers and dark infrastructure. The voices seem to be getting louder— more demanding.

Three figures stand prominent here, along with a line of soldiers blocking the entrance and exit. The man standing in the room overlooks it from above on a large pedestal, while a woman, her face hard, stands at his side.

"Go on, do it again."

"Stop this, Captain Pommern, she's had enough—!"

"—I said again!"

There is a flash of light from the man's hand, and a young girl screams from below, barreling over and cradling something at her chest. There is a sudden commotion of armor clattering, but eventually the noise goes quiet when Pommern raises his hand above his head, threatening to activate what appears to be a floating crystal cased within a tube. "This is for the Empire, lest you forget! We need these powers! Now, if you please..."

The girl on the ground hesitates, but wordlessly struggles to her knees. She turns her attention to the woman above, who only nods slowly yet solemnly. A frown appears, but eventually with the reluctant coaxing, the small girl will begin to close her eyes.

Suddenly a bright, omnipresent light suddenly glows from her chest, nearly encapsulating the previously dark room. The image of the girl is shown clearly now, as long blue hair appears mangled and unkept at her sides. She seems shuts her eyes tighter, extending her arms out in front of her, and through her sobs she mutters:

"Come forth and grant your power to me... Ifrit!"

The ground beneath her quakes, and as the light begins to dissipate, a large flaming beast appears at its center. Its chest bellowing with fires only to let out a hideous roar that shakes the entire room.

Lyria is seen to be struggling for control underneath, her hands trembling and eyes fluttering with a fresh new layer of tears. Eventually, exhaustion gives in completely just as the flames of Ifrit begin to lash out onto the floors and ceiling. The summon's body flickers with her consciousness dwindling, and soon completely fades out of existence as her body tumbles to the ground once again.

"Huh!? That was it!? Wake her up, we aren't done here!"

"Lyria? Lyria...!!"

And slowly... everything becomes dark.

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[ Darkness.

A cold, barely lightless room greets you as you step into this dream. Glancing around you quickly discover there is nothing to this place; no doors, no furnishing cept a small cot lying on the floor, and only a small square cut out from the ceiling with the night sky in full display.

There is a death-like silence here. The kind that crawls against your skin and slowly takes control.

And on top of all of this, you cannot seem to move from this place. Attached to your ankle is a cold, hard chain connecting you to the floor.

This place isn't without its visitors though, for seated a small distance away is Lyria. Her knees tightly pressed against her chest with arms wrapping around herself protectively. She doesn't seem to notice at first, as her eyes as cast upwards, staring up at the stars above.

Whether you are in the cell next to her, or perhaps in the same one, you soon you may realize ( should you have met Lyria in this world ) she seems younger, her features depicting a child no more than ten years old.

Eventually her gaze breaks away from the stars as she looks towards you, lifeless and void of emotion. When she speaks her words are soft, almost a whisper: ]

Who... are you?

Comments

[judoflipped]

[Percy is also ten years old, sitting next to her. he probably doesn't even quite remember being ten at this point, because of all the things he's been through. he looks a little unnerved, but there's a cute girl sitting next to him so he has to be Manly or something like that.]

I'm Percy. Who're you?

[azuresong]

[ Oh Percy, so many yet so young!

Lyria actually seems... a little surprised that he actually responded to her. She tenses slightly, and curls into herself further. ]

They... Katalina said my name was Lyria. [ A pause, frowning. ] I've never seen anyone else here...

[ Could this boy be like her? There had to be a reason- ]

[judoflipped]

What's a Katalina?

[Percy's eyebrows furrow a bit, before scooting over towards the girl a bit more.]

Lyria's a cool name, though.

[judicialassistant]

[ Susato blacks out, still reeling from what felt like a dream. Her entire body aches, and the icy coldness from the cell floor seeps into her bones as she stirs. She can still hear the roar from Ifrit, the rumbling beneath her feet threatening to shake her off balance. The heat of the flames as they crawl towards the ceiling and all over the floor. Little does she know she has not woken up yet, and only finds herself within another dream... ]

......

[ The shackles feel heavy. The metal might be cutting into her ankles. This is not the first time she's woken up in a cell, but at least she is dressed largely as herself. She remains her 18-year-old self, a great deal older than Lyria. ]

Nnngh...

[ She hears a voice. They are not lucky enough to be in the same cell, and from where she is, Susato can't see her. But no one responds, and the silence continues to be deafening.

She lifts her head off the ground... had she fallen off the cot? ]

Me...?

[azuresong]

[ The sound of another pair of chains rattling against the floor jolts Lyria into a small state of alert, her own binds shaking at the sound.

She couldn't tell from here if they were in any sort of pain, but it was her own fear that kept her body fastened to the ground beneath her.

Finally, quietly, as she listened for the other voice she eventually spoke up again. ]

You... you're not suppose to be here—

[judicialassistant]

[ What is keeping Susato here? Perhaps she'll find out... or perhaps she has her own fears that plague her. Either way, she manages to sit up and simply stares at a spot on the wall as she tries to pinpoint where she's heard this voice before. ]

Are you?

[ She doesn't think so. She sounds young...

What could she have done to deserve this? Before, what Susato saw... She feels heavy, like she'd failed. ]

[flamekthunder]

[Having witnessed parts of the dream and immediately try to reach out to her, Eustace is momentarily confused as he first finds himself low to the ground staring at bars before feeling the chain on his ankle as he tries to move.

But more than that, he had to find—

"Who...are you?"

Stunned at hearing the face, he whips his head around towards where he can barely make the young girl from the other side.]

Lyria! —!?

[The moment he calls out to her, he notices the change in his voice, eyes opening wide as he stares at himself again. This time he realizes he's taken on his childhood form from when he was around twelve. A little older from other times this bad happened, but not by much.

Gritting his teeth, he yanks at the chain as he contemplates how to handle this.]

Hang on, I'll get us out.

[Is this something they need to play out? Can he try to force her awake? Regardless he just wants to get her out of there and already ice is crackling beneath him, electricity buzzing through the air as he starts to focus on the chain.]

[azuresong]

[ Hearing her name addressed from a voice she had never heard before jostles her greatly. She feels a physical shock run through her spine as her head turns fully to the direction of the sound.

A boy's voice... and he knew her name... ]

H- how do you— [ She tried to ask, but the sentence that followed caused her face to go sheet white.

Lyria whimpers as she unwraps her hands from her legs and places them on the cold floor, her eyes begging from a distance. ]

N-no, you can't...! They... they'll hear you—!

[flamekthunder]

[There's only a pause as he looks at her before the two elements stop. Personally he's ready to just make this whole place explode, but perhaps discretion may be wiser for now.]

Who is "they"? Where are we?

[He has his suspicions from the reports he had read about her when he was first assigned to monitor her...but seeing it in person, or at least in memory, and from this perspective is a different matter.

And while he waits for Lyria to answer, he changes his method, the buzz of electricity quiet as it forms into a more needle like form, picking its way through the narrow lock.]

[skyglider]

[The boy who shares her cell is quite small. It makes him seem very young; perhaps nine or ten. But when he speaks--]

Hello. [... his voice is much softer than a kid.

Link has just turned thirteen, and it's been exactly one week since he drew the Master Sword from its centuries-long sleep. He thought it would make him feel stronger. Instead, he just feels lost.]

My name is Link.

[He doesn't seem terribly surprised at his bindings; engraved with the symbol of the Triforce and the likeness of the Master Sword, it seems appropriate for this sort of dream. His eyes set instead on the chain binding her, and he gestures at the attached cuff.]

What is that for?

[azuresong]

[ Still cradled into the small ball of protection, Lyria could only frown a bit deeper upon hearing his voice. So he was real, and in the same position as her...

It takes her moment when he said his name to reaction, and even longer when he mentions the cuff around her ankle.

Hesitantly, she will glance towards her foot and moves it ever so slightly so that the sound of the chain rolling across the ground finally breaks her silence. ]

... They don't want me to leave. [ She whispers before looking at the same one attached to his own foot. ] But you... I have never seen anyone else here before. Y- you're not hurt, are you?

[skyglider]

[Link is quiet, taking in the surroundings; her answer seems only to summon more questions to mind. He isn't entirely sure how to put them together, though, not yet. Instead, he begins with the obvious, shaking his head at her question. No, he seems to be unhurt.

She seems...young. Younger than him, maybe, and with a hesitant expression that makes him feel a nameless sort of concern.]

"They?" [He glances around for a moment; are "they" someone nearby, or some other ominous presence in her life?] ... How long have you been here?

[All alone?]

[morsecodes]

[Ten year old Leo was not exactly thriving in life. He was scrawnier than usual (if that was even possible), and his anxious energy was off the charts. It had only been two years since his mom died. Two years since his family tossed him aside after blaming him for her death. Two years of foster homes, and new schools, and running away, and away, and away--

It's all fuzzy and he doesn't really know why he's in the cell or what's going on, but when his eyes land on the girl, they get huge and he starts to move towards her, only to realize there's a chain around his ankle is a chain keeping them apart.]

I'm...I'm Leo. Who are you? [His mind is going a million miles an hour, taking in every inch of the room as he bounces on his feet, his hands twisting and fidgeting the entire time. Did his aunt finally get proof to blame him? He told them what happened, his evil dirt faced baby sitter is the reason his mom died, not him. So yeah, he caught a few things on fire since, but that wasn't on purpose. Surely this was all a misunderstanding why he was here...]

[azuresong]

[ Perhaps it was the guilt Leo felt deep down that brought him to his place, or the haunting and creeping memories that drew him into Lyria's dream. Either way, the girl flinches when he tried to approach, and clumsily scoots backwards in order to keep the distance.

Another person here? But why?? ]

... Leo. [ The name feels so familiar somehow. But how could that even be?

She hesitates to answer his question, but eventually after a moment of silence she will speak up, just barely, and enough to break the small barrier between them. ]

Lyria... is my name. [ A pause, frowning. ] No one else has ever been down here before.

[morsecodes]

Lyria... [What a pretty name, for a pretty girl. Leo's cheeks feel warm, because honestly, cute girls didn't usually talk to him. But this was a special situation. He makes himself breathe and focus, because if he feels too warm, then....well, fire tends to appear afterwards, and he definitely doesn't want that.]

How'd you get down here? [He asks, mostly because it might just tell him why he was. Did someone figure out the fire came from him? The workshop, the group home, even his-- what, 5th school? All those fires started after he got upset or angry?

While he waits for an answer, he shoves his hands in his pockets, because he can't be still, only to realize he had little pieces of metal in his pockets like always-- which gave him an idea. Hm...]

going with the following morning if that's okay~

[starshower]

[Tifa's presence won't be immediate, nor will she stumble accidentally into the dreamscape. Instead, it's in the morning when she sees her lantern flickering with something—someone's passive dream slipping out into the waking world...? She doesn't usually like to view them out of respect for the dreamer's privacy, and on the off-chance that she does catch a glimpse, she hardly reaches out unless she's someone she knows, and she'll let it play out on its own until it's gone.

But when she does spot it, the recognition is instant, and rather than tuck it away out of view, Tifa cradles her lantern carefully in her hands. It feels... wrong to be watching this after what Eustace had told her—or rather, what he refused to tell her. She knew there was something special about Lyria, something that others saw as powerful or potentially dangerous, and while this still leaves her with many questions, she still feels like she's watching a secret that she shouldn't be privy to.

It all makes her heart wrench and her chest tighten with anger at the sight, at the way the man orders her around. She doesn't know what to make of all this, besides that she is able to summon in a way similar to those equipped with the right materias... but it's clearly more than that, and it isn't as simple as relying on potent, crystallized mako to do the work.

And all the questions that are raised from it are ones that she's not prepared to ask just yet. A month has gone by, but does she know the girl well enough yet to know?

Either way, it won't change how she feels about her. So, bright and early in the morning when she hears the dogs making enough noise downstairs that would signal she's already awake, Tifa lets Eustace know her plans, requesting that she do this one on her own, before padding down the stairs to the ground floor with a tray of breakfast, where she taps gently on the door. She can hear the corgis barking and rushing to greet her, but she calls out gently anyway.]

Lyria...? It's Tifa. Can I come in?

absolutely 💕

[azuresong]

[ "We'll be here for you."

It was a sentence that had rung in her ears constantly as she would settle down for the night. She repeated those words- sometimes out loud or in her head- when she could feel the creep of anxiety begin to form. It wasn't much, but those little words were enough to allow Lyria to sleep comfortably most nights, without any fear or worry in the world. Unfortunately for her while those words were almost a barrier, the past always did find a way to creep in behind.

She had experienced the dream even while she was at home, too. Not very often, and the more she journeyed the more she attempted to bury it and leave it behind. It was something she continued to struggle with, even as the small tip-taps of the dogs awaiting their breakfast woke her from her slumber.

She lied in bed nearly petrified for a moment- trying to control her breathing as her hand instinctually reached for her ankle. When she felt nothing there she finally relaxed, and after a couple more minutes was able to roll out of bed and begin a morning routine.

Tifa's presence was not immediately noticed- no, it was dogs gathering around the door that gave a good indication that someone was there. So in a rush to try to control the already barking dogs, Lyria hurries over to fill some of their food bowls as a distraction before calling out to the door. ]

Ah! [ Oh it was Tifa!! ] Of course, please come in!

[starshower]

[She's so very careful as she opens the door, not wanting all of the corgis to rush her at once. The older ones are smart and stay at their bowls, but the younger ones scurry over to meet her and say their good mornings, so as soon as the crack is wide enough, they dart out to rush circles around her.]

Yeah, yeah, I know. Good morning to you all, too.

[She'd give them all pets if it weren't for the fact that she was carrying a plate of food and some orange juice for Lyria, so with them in tow, she shuffles inside and nudges the door shut behind her with a smile, but she wonders silently to herself if Lyria knows the reason she's here...]

Made some breakfast. Pancakes this morning, with a side of bacon.

[And to add some additional cheer, there's a single blue starflower in a tall cup to decorate the tray, and it shimmers for Lyria as Tifa sets it down on the table.]

[chefalier]

[Waking up in a prison cell is honestly new, but it's not surprising. Sort of feels like it was bound to happen at some point, being a pirate and all. Still, it doesn't make Sanji comfortable, and he rubs the sleeve of his jacket as he looks around. He can probably kick through the wall if worst comes to worst and once he breaks this annoying piece of shit chain that's connecting him to the floor.

If they think that can stop him--

But Sanji is pulled out of his thoughts when he hears a far too young voice speak out to him.]

I'm Sanji. [He frowns deeply, concern apparent in both his eyes and voice as he looks at the young girl that's imprisoned here. What the hell?? He's going to kick whoever made this decision. For now, however, Sanji answers with some level of confidence, his voice taking on a more reassuring tone.] ...Hey, I'm gonna get us outta here.

[azuresong]

[ To be honest, Lyria never expect a response back. There weren't many people that would talk to her, aside from Katalina, and if they did speak to her it was either an order... or just letting her know food was available.

She could only stare for a moment while she let the man's words sink in, her face now riddled with slight confusion. ]

Sanji... [ She'll repeat the name in a soft monotone voice before tensing up at his next sentence. ]

Get us out? B... but how?

[chefalier]

[He smiles just slightly, hoping that his face looks relaxed and kind in a situation like this. Sanji doesn't know the whole story about what's going on and he doesn't need to; a kid doesn't deserve to be imprisoned. He's willing to take shit being directed at his person, but not her.

As he speaks again, his voice lowers to a softer pitch, while still carrying that comforting note to it.]

I'm pretty good at some things.

[He's grateful that he still has his shoes on him, so the chef turns his body slightly and raises his unchained leg up high, before slamming it down on the chain that's attached to his other ankle. Normally, this sort of shit works, but who knows what happens in these dreams.]

passive

[stillarhino]

[There were a lot to take in from that dream. The large creature that seemed to form after Lyria called it forth, the man who demanded her attention and obedience, how she looked in that situation. It's hard to tell if there had been any truth to the dream. If it were some memory or if it had been twisted somehow the way dreams always wound up skewed on some way.

But there was one thing that stuck out to Beat. Especially with all the teasing he did during their first meeting.]

guess you helluva lot stronger than you look yo

[azuresong]

[ It... took her some time to reply, mainly because once she woke up and realized what people had saw, she was terrified.

But this was Beat and Beat had saved her. So there was no reason not to trust him, right? ]

I'm sorry... I wasn't trying to hide it from you.

[ Well, technically she was. She was trying to hide it from everyone. If people knew what she could do here, what's to say she wouldn't end up in the same situation as she was in back home? ]

You don't think I'm scary, do you?

Sender : shirou

[projections]

We met before in the candy forest. I think you wanted to try some more sweets then.

My name's Shirou Emiya. Do you still feel like eating dessert?

[azuresong]

[ It... takes her a moment to reply, mostly because she was trying to gather her bearings. ]

Shirou... that's is a wonderful name! I'm sorry I did not get it the last time we met. I'm Lyria.

[ Look! She's trying to be so cordial! She even puts a little smiley face at the end of her sentence. ]

I think I learned my lesson from the forest but... I do like desserts.