hadriel_logs | Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

Entry tags:

Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the Dreamwalker part 2 event
Where: In your dreams
When: October 14th-20th (the second log will go up on Oct 23rd, please keep the two weeks of the event separate!)
Warnings: All different kinds of dreams falling under the umbrella of Delight, Rage, Sorrow, and Hope.

This time, the weird stuff doesn't happen when you're awake- as a matter of fact, your waking hours are the normal ones. That's because you're forced to sleep by some unknown entity, getting more and more exhausted by the moment as night falls. Better make sure you're always around a soft pillow.

Once asleep, it doesn't get any less weird- your dreams will be influenced by one of the four gods that make up the first week. Something to make you smile, something to make you angry- or something that reminds you of your deepest regret or most vulnerable hope, they're all things that you're dreaming about now for some reason, no matter how hard you may try to pull away from them.

To make matters more complicated, there are others intruding on your dreams who definitely don't belong there, and while they may seem like manifestations at first, it becomes clear that these others are actually the consciousness of other members of Hadriel, getting some top quality exposure to your angriest, happiest, most sorrowful moments. Hope it doesn't get awkward when you see them tomorrow...

► This log covers October 14th-20th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you die in dreams you don't die in real life, but if you somehow die in real life anyway, please let us know here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[In her dreams, Lup imagines she's back in her body.

There's a part of her that realizes how wrong this is almost immediately. Not just the the whole current setting she's in, which definitely is throwing off a big ol' spooky vibe, but the fact that she's dreaming at all. Because that really shouldn't be able to happen to her anymore. Not since she lost her body. Not since she was trapped.

But even if those keenly honed survival instincts of hers are telling Lup how bad it would be continue, the woman's natural curiosity wins out in the end. What else is there to do but continue on? It's a dream (isn't it? she thinks it is), so how bad could it be?

Her gaze flickers to the screen when it powers up, to the text displayed there, even if it makes no sense. The noises are easy to ignore when she spies Alphys in the corner, working away on something, murmuring under her breath. Lup steps forward--and boy, does that feel weird after not having walked in over a decade--and closes some of the distance between her and the other woman.]

Never figured you were all into the spooky life, Alphy. This place doesn't give off creepy, someone's-gonna-get-murdered vibes to you?

[Alphys jumps a bit when she hears Lup's voice, simultaneous of the lock clicking open and the door swinging just a bit ajar. She turns, but it's not as frantic as she tends to be; she just seems bogged down.]

Well, it's... n-not the best design, I admit.

[She seems somewhere entirely far off as she turns again, pushing the door open.]

But I don't have a choice. I have to pay for this. I can't keep it locked up forever.

[Another echo comes through, sounding almost like a dog barking, but distorted, hollow. She looks over her shoulder, smiling but obviously sad.]

You would have h-had to find out eventually.

[Lup isn't a woman easily spooked, not when she's technically been dead for thirty years now. But even she can't deny the icy shiver that shoots up her spine at the sound of that distorted barking in the next room, at the downright chilling attitude Alphys is displaying.

The door swings open and the elf kneels down to the other woman's level, wiggling her new fingers once before she reaches out to rest a hand against Alphys' shoulder. It doesn't pass through her for once.]

Alphys... [Lup hasn't called the woman by her real name since they became friends, but it just slips out. The seriousness of this moment is clearly not lost on Lup.] What's going on? You know whatever it is, we're gonna deal with it together. That's what friends do, sis.

[It's only been a few months in Hadriel, more time away than time in, but Lup remembers her interactions with this woman fondly. She deserves more than what she's been given.]

Edited 2017-10-22 20:45 (UTC)

[She doesn't brush Lup off, not at first, but she doesn't look at her either, focus off into the darkness ahead.]

You can't... fix this. It's already happened.

[That noise is getting louder. Alphys takes a step forward, then another into the dark, and Lup can see the floor is covered in dust.

It seems no one's been here for a long time. Alphys is still talking, but to no one in particular, like she's lost in a depressed haze.]

They're probably already dead.

[Lup falls into silence.

It's such a rare occurrence, both of the twins always have commentary on absolutely everything, no matter if it's helpful or not. They are just the type of people who have to get that last word in, to make sure everyone knows their opinion, no matter how relevant it is to the subject at hand.

But Alphys has managed to still the elf's tongue at least momentarily, a feat that would be pretty impressive if not for the sorrowful nature of this dream, the worry pressing down heavily against Lup's chest. Alphys steps forward, closer to the noise, across the floor covered in dust, and Lup quietly rises and follows.]

[Alphys' steps are heavy as the two start making it down the hall, head forward, focus gone. As they walk, more screens on the side of the wall flicker on with more entries, though Alphys doesn't seem to notice them past how they illuminate the space.

The barrier is locked by SOUL power.. Unfortunately, this power cannot be recreated artificially. SOUL power can only be derived from what was once living. So, to create more, we will have to use what we have now... The SOULs of monsters.

Using the blueprints, I've extracted it from the human SOULs. I believe this is what gives their SOULs the strength to persist after death. The will to keep living... The resolve to change fate. Let's call this power... "Determination."

I wonder... What happens when something without a SOUL gains the will to live?

Meanwhile, the noise once again echoes down the hall, but much closer this time. Alphys is leading, but the lab is labyrinthine, twisting and weaving until the original door they entered from is long gone. Still, though, despite the twisting path, every step seems to bring them closer to that hollow... well, it almost sounds like it could be a dog's bark. Meanwhile, the screens get more desperate as they go, projecting entries from the wall.

things aren't going well. none of the bodies have turned into dust, so i can't get the SOULs. what do i do?

experiments on the vessel are a failure.

nothing is happening. i don't know what to do. i'll just keep injecting everything with "determination." i want this to work.

The whole time, she's quiet. Trudging ever-forward, every surface still coated in dust.]

[Alphys may not pay much attention to the screens against the wall, flickering with words, but Lup pauses with each few steps to read each one, never straying too far behind her friend.

Alone, the entries mean nothing, random words splashed across a screen, fitted together as if someone had just taken fragments of sentences and thrown them against the wall to see what would stick. But, as Lup reads through them, one to the next to the next, the story begins to come to life.

...The barrier is locked by SOUL power ... Derived from what was once living ... The SOULs of monsters ...

Lup follows along at Alphys' heels slowly, taking her time to scan each screen.

...What happens when something without a SOUL gains the will to live?...

Something clicks, something dark and twisted and Lup shivers, not looking nearly as confident in her continued approach as she had. What her and Barry did to their souls, to themselves, it may be looked down as forbidden, dark magic but it was a choice they'd made for themselves. But what if someone could do something similar to someone else? Take their soul and use it against their will?

Lup's knocked out of her own thoughts by a particular loud noise echoing off of the hallway walls, her gaze flicking over to the back of Alphys' head, watching the way the shorter woman just trudges forward.

...i want this to work...

This silence is too much. She finally moves to catch up to Alphys, calling out to her,] Alphys. What did you do?

[Alphys stops when Lup speaks, looking back over her shoulder towards the other woman, just looking... tired. Worn down. Smudged at the edges, dust on her labcoat, and just... out of hope.

She kneels on the ground, puts her hand in the dust.]

When monsters die, t-they don't leave behind bodies. We're mostly made of magic, so, when our souls disappear... we turn to dust. Nothing's here anymore.

[Do you see what this means, Lup? What happened here?

She turns her head back to the end of the hall, when a large thump punctuates her sentence. Just then, one more screen lights up next to Lup's head out of nowhere, brighter than the others, and flashes a quick, red =) before displaying the final text.]

one of the bodies opened its eyes.

Everyone that had fallen down... ... has woken up.

no No NO NO NO NO

[Alphys, still, is looking off into the distance.]

If... if y-your people were trapped, and you thought. Really thought. You could save them all any nobody had to die.

[She tilts her head back towards Lup, tears stinging in her eyes.]

Wouldn't you want it to work?

[Suddenly, around the corner, a huge monster runs out, shambling and literally falling apart at the seams as it melts messily onto the floor. It's momentum is too strong as it rounds for it to stop, and it crashes into the wall, shaking the structure as it skitters across the ground. It lets out a broken, distorted howl, making it clear it's been the source of the noise since they started. It's movements are erratic, multiple legs struggling to keep balance.

But it sees them and charges, running as fast as it can, leaving bits of itself in it's wake.]

Edited 2017-11-11 04:22 (UTC)

[Monsters turn to dust...

Lup's head tips downwards to find the entire floor covered in dust, her boots coated completely. Death isn't exactly a sensitive subject for the elf, not after a life on the run where she had to witness so many worlds meet their end, their whole populations wiped out in a matter of moments. But all of those people left no evidence of themselves behind for the crew to mourn. They instead disappeared completely, absorbed into the blackness that made up the Hunger.

But monsters turn to dust. Even if Alphys is the only monster she knows, the idea of trudging through the remains of Alphys' kind is disturbing enough to make Lup's stomach drop, her own forward momentum halting right behind the other woman.

The screen next to her head flashes and Lup turns away from Alphys to scan the words lit up for her to read. It all clicks just as the other woman begins to speak again, her words twisting sharply next to Lup's heart. But there's no time for her to respond because suddenly that thing is lumbering right at them, so Lup does the only thing that makes sense. She moves forward to stand between Alphys and the abomination, looking back over her shoulder to the smaller woman.]

Am I allowed to kill this thing or what?! [Because if this place will let her call upon her magic, there's nothing stopping Lup from putting this dog to sleep once and for all.]

[Alphys is tilted in on herself, hands over her glasses, screaming over the sudden noise.]

You can't! I-- I have to help them, I did this, I did this--

[Meanwhile, Endogeny howls again, approaching at a breakneck pace. Except... it doesn't seem to care about Lup at all. It swerves again, erratic, and out of nowhere, Alphys pushes herself off the floor, passes Lup, reaching for it with arms outstretched.

And then, as soon as her hands touch it's goopy chest, it explodes.

In an instant, the monster is dust, and for just a few seconds, something else can be seen- a white, upside-down heart. Except it's not just one; it looks like four, or five, bisecting each other in ways that make only a nearly indistinguishable mess, until that too shatters and disappears.

And just as quickly as the noise came, it's quiet again, save for the distant sound of rushing water.

Alphys stands, completely still, hand still in the air. Her tears are the only things that cut through the dust as they roll down her face, and drop to the ground.]

Of... of course. Of c-course they wouldn't still be alive.

[The other woman begins screaming and the combined noise is just too much for a woman who hasn't heard sound like this in over a decade. Lup throws up her hands and winces, covering up her long ears just as the beast shifts to swerve around the elf, Alphys unexpectedly rising up to meet it head on. Lup only catches on to what's happening the second before they hit.]

Alphys, don't--! [But the collision doesn't happen.

The monster suddenly explodes, the air around the pair clouded with dust, before these strange misshapen hearts appear in mid-air, hovering silently before they shattered into nothingness. And everything falls right back into stillness.

Lup can't say she completely understands what this all means, but she thinks she gets it. And it's nightmarish. It's wrong. But Alphys is right here, crying and shaken. What the hell does someone even say after seeing this?]

You know you didn’t mean to make something like that. You didn't mean for any of this to happen.

[It's been years, but her brother's words to her that night have never faded. His careful, calm reassurances had kept her company while in the umbrella, kept her sane. And it's all that Lup can think to offer Alphys right now.]

Edited 2017-11-21 04:43 (UTC)

[The longer she stands there, dust coating her, water rolling down her cheeks and building the dirt in tracks on her face, the longer she feels like she's going to fall apart. She can't keep her hands steady, and the one outstretched drops to her side. Alphys tries to reach up to clean her glasses, do anything, do something, but she just ends up balling her hands into fists in front of her eyes, pressing them there to try and stop the crying.

She swears, she can feel her soul trembling with them. As if it will shake like theirs did, once, twice, and shatter.]

I never should have gotten this far. I l-lied to get this job, I never knew anything about souls or how this worked but I wanted to save everyone. I wanted to help them. They were all dead and I brought them back and then I just killed them again but worse. I didn't answer anything. I never helped anyone.

[Her hands move up towards the side of her head, like things are getting impossibly loud, because she can hear the rushing of water drawing closer. While Lup can't hear it, she will notice that she can feel it- water is flowing in from behind them, the space back there now nothing but stone. It's just enough to cover the floor, and it's not enough to be dangerous. But there is a current, and it's pushing towards something.]

It doesn't matter what I meant to happen. I hurt them, and I killed them, and no one ever found out what happened.

[Before the words even leave Alphys' mouth, Lup's already dropping a hand to her shoulder, squeezing her. Comfort has never been her strongest skill, even now the easy words and motions that come so simply to others continues to baffle her, but Lup knows that Alphys is in pain. She has to try something.]

It... It was just a mistake.

[But already the words sound so fake in her mouth, leaving an awful taste on her tongue. The relics had been her mistake and there was no sweeping the pain she'd caused under the rug discreetly. There was no way to fix what she'd done. There was no solution to the lives who'd been caught in the crossfire. How can she bolster Alphys with fake words that she can't even bring herself to believe?

Lup sucks in a breath and starts over again. Nothing she has to say is comforting or coddling and sweet. But it's the truth.]

Look, I get what you're going through, I honestly do, but this doesn't end here. They're dead and it's awful and no amount of penance is gonna fix that, but you have to keep going on. We can't give up here, we need to keep fighting. They may be too late to save but there are others who need us. We can't let 'em down too.

[The monsters who remain shouldn't be pushed aside simply for the monsters who've died. They need Alphys too, don't they?

The water raises at their feet and Lup frowns down at the strength of it's current, but refuses to let go of the other woman. She grips tightly at her shoulder.] Hey, stick with me here.

Edited (words) 2017-11-26 23:40 (UTC)

[Lup can feel that Alphys is shaking, tears falling from her cheek and hitting the water below. It's hard to hear Lup over the roar of the current, at least to her. Drawing her back. Reminding her of the natural conclusion of this scene.]

Nobody should need me. I've never done anything right! F-For anyone, or-- I've never helped anything! I only made it worse.

[The scene is opening up, the roof of the lab rising into a large, damp cave. The water isn't just confined to the hall, but all around, sweeping down in falls from higher peaks and ledges. It never goes higher than a few inches, just enough to cover their feet, but there's a push. A pull, really.

Towards the dark abyss, suddenly ahead. But when Alphys speaks, it's choked, and quiet.]

They starved. I wasn't there. I left and I'm n-never coming back.

You helped me. [And the scene is definitely changing, Lup's attention drawn upwards while she keeps gripping at the shorter woman's shoulder, her response slightly delayed. The fact that this is a dream has long left Lup's mind, the scene feeling more real than anything despite being in her body again after going so long without one. But she feels the current against her feet, the trembling of Alphys' tiny frame, the chill that keeps rising up and up her spine.]

When we were seeing weird reflections, you dragged me away from moping around to look at all the lights you put up around the cave. [Maybe it doesn't sound like much, but it had meant a lot to Lup at the time. It had given her something to focus on that hadn't reminded her of how she'd been forgotten.

Alphys keeps speaking, talking more about the deaths she'd caused, but Lup's gaze is too drawn to the surrounding scenery.] Alphys, we need to get out of here. [She tugs at the other's shoulder.] Alphys, c'mon.

[It's hard to remember what the Underground really looked like, anymore. She left a year ago, thinking there was nothing beyond, showing up to Hadriel with her favorite dress tucked under her lab coat and the edges of the hem still wet. The more she learns about the Door, the less she's sure how she actually turned up here. Was her theory right, that this chasm was a portal to somewhere else, that the unintentional test of her hypothesis proved? Or did the Door just happen to find her there, moments before the fall, when she closed her eyes and felt nothing but freedom?

She'll probably never know. Even if she goes back, she won't remember. Maybe, if it's a portal, it would take her somewhere else. Somewhere kind.

Alphys makes a small hiccuped sniffle. She doesn't advance, but the current doesn't stop.]

That didn't fix it. You still... you still hurt. And they did, too. Their families trusted me. Everyone did.

[Lup's patience is running thin.

She can't shake the awful feeling of despair that settles against her, but Lup's grip on Alphys stays tight, the elf finally giving her friend a tug forward to try and get her moving. Whatever is going on, whatever pain Alphys is trapped cycling through, Lup knows they need to get out and fast. The current rushing across their feet is strong, unnaturally so, and Lup is just over it.]

Hey! Snap out of it. We're fucking out of here. We can talk this shit out later, Alphys. There's no time for this!

[Alphys is still quiet, and the space seems to be more oppressive by the second, the waterfall behind them picking up pace, the crashing of the water escalating to a dull roar. This is always where she was going to end up, isn’t it? This is always where she was going to be. There’s no escaping the people she hurt, there’s no saving her life. What’s it even worth?

The current is strong, but it’s never enough to actually push them along. The point is that she has to choose.

And she does.

Alphys begins to step forward, towards the edge, just a few steps off.]

I don’t have anything left to give. Except for...

[She lets a hand drop just under her bust, and a small, upside-down white heart materializes. It looks much less sick than the amalgamated one Lup saw previously, but it still looks weak. Trembling. Afraid.]

I took theirs. It’s a-all I can do.

[Lup understands too late.

She pulls Alphys against the current, but the monster moves in the opposite direction, stepping away from her. The elf makes to lunge forward, to go after Alphys and drag her against her will away from where she's moving, but the sight of that trembling white heart freezes her in place. Everything suddenly clicks, the confusion Lup's felt since appearing in this dreamscape finally lifting, and a dread like nothing else she's ever felt knocking straight into her chest.

Her limbs fell too heavy to move, her body too weak to do anything but watch.]

Alphys, don't you dare.

[She's looking down at the heart, everything for a moment stopping in motion. It hovers there, seemingly the only little light in this whole place.

Finally, her head tilts just enough towards Lup to meet her eyes, her mouth pulled into a melancholy smile of acceptance.]

I'm sorry.

It's h-how the story goes.

[She closes her fist around the SOUL and the light disappears, and Alphys takes one step backwards, away from her, tail disappearing over the edge--

and drops. Unseen.

Gone, without another word, or sound, other than the rushing of the water.

The dream ends before she hits the ground, and Alphys wakes up shaking, curled in on herself, clutching her hands over her chest where her SOUL buzzes. She's never going back. She can't go back.

Not even a hero could save her.]

[It happens too fast for Lup to react. Just like that, Alphys falls over the edge and the dream is over, leaving Lup gasping out for breath she doesn't even need.

It takes her a little time to calm down after that nightmare, to float around to each room in her home and check in on her family, sticking her head through their bedroom doors to make sure they're all safely sleeping. But within the hour, she shoots Alphys a quick text. It isn't much, it isn't coddling and sweet or full of ancient wisdom about the importance of life. But Lup has to say something, to make sure that her friend knows.]

i need u around

[She isn't asleep. She doesn't know how to get back to sleep, after something like that, and insomnia has taken hold quickly. She's been trying to stave it off with old episodes of Mew Mew, but it's still... not great. That she's going to have to be accountable for this. So few people in the city even know about-- about all that, and it feels like a lifetime away now that it's been more than a year. But most people don't have to be accountable for their deaths. That sort of stops being their problem once they're...

Well, that would just be her luck, wouldn't it?

She's still in that pit of worry when Lup texts her, and because she's feeling truly masochistic, she replies.]

im sorry
you shouldnt have seen that
it was
a long time ago
far away

knock it off alphy
i dont care about that shit
just

[it takes lup a little longer to piece together just what she wants to say. shes never been the best at this shit]

you matter
dont forget it sis

[She stays glued to her phone as she waits for the texts to come in. When they do, she just... presses it to her chest, close. Alphys is usually the first to admit when she's crying, but for once, she has the chance not to look so pathetic. Not to look like she's just giving up.

Eventually, she responds, when she can wipe the water from her eyes.]

okay i
okay

thank you

if you want me to explain i will
its
its not a good story though

whatever you want sis
ill listen as long as you feel like talking
you want company or is this cool?
we could go wild on some more cookies if youre feeling it

Edited 2018-01-12 21:35 (UTC)

Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw suicide god im sorry

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

oh shit im a ghost

girl pls

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)