In the arms of the ocean, so deep and so cold

[oceantier]

Who: Lapis Lazuli and the residents/staff of Virgo Entertainment
What: After Lapis discovers that it was Virgo Entertainment who kidnapped Steven, she attacks the building late at night. More description here.
When: Wednesday, March 2, about one in the morning
Where: Virgo Entertaiment. Note: Lapis will be attacking from deep within the ocean, so she will not be visible.
Warnings: Blind rage. Property damage. Possibly sharks.


His hand in hers still haunts her mind. She can still feel the shadow of them throughout the day, the small weight of his fingers laced in hers, locked together, tight with the pressure of her own.

Worse, she can feel them yanked away, breaking from hers.

The sound of him crying out reverberates in her head, echoing, echoing, loud, louder, louder. She wants to press her hands to her ears, crouch, wait until it fades . . . There's no relief, and the weight of it pounds against her skull in dull and unrelenting rhythm: He's gone, and she's broken her word.

He's sick, he's in danger, and she's broken her word.

There is no relief.

***

The attack comes suddenly, brutally on Wednesday night as the ocean outside of Virgo Entertainment grows restless. The water rolls, it surges, it rocks, it builds, it moans . . . Like great hands thrusting forward, snatching at the earth, a little higher each time . . .

Until suddenly, it's on par with the building itself.

The noise alone may be enough to wake the residents of the building; the water lashes into the building structure. Windows explode in showers of glass, and the water pours in, eager and fast as it can. Wave after wave smites the structure from every angle, at every window they can reach, shattering the glass and sweeping inward with the glee of eager children. The impacts boom against the structure itself, shuddering through the metal and upward even into the very penthouses. There's no danger; the metal will hold. But the sound is horrible, and it continues, on and on and on, as the waves continue to moan and roll and crash, tearing through the very earth outside the building in their wake.

Residents or staff entering the lowest floor may find it immersed in 2-3 feet of water, complete with specimens -- various fish, masses of kelp . . . and if one is unlucky, very likely a shark. Water continues to wash in, easily able to swipe someone off their feet. Caution is recommended.

The sky is clear, and there is no visible cause for the lashing of the waters -- not even a completely specific origin point.



ooc: Feel free to post threads to this log of your characters reacting, investigating, etc. Lapis is under the ocean and a ways out, so would not readily be accessible or visible. (But hey, there's always the ghost of Edna theory, if you're into that kind of thing.)

Comments

[sponsorigami]

Maybe Ivan should go up a few floors to one of the cafes and look out the windows. He didn't hear anything about a storm, and something this big would have been everywhere. Something supernatural?

... In which case, maybe he shouldn't be around here for another reason; he's still watching his back from his involvement in Stella's rescue. "I'm Ivan from Flowers Over Bones. Um, can we go back higher? I want to get away from here."

[inversekeyblade]

Did he say Ivan? Wasn't that the name of the person Luce wanted him to meet and greet with? Maybe this extreme episode of water damage gone wrong had served a purpose after all. "Sure.. seeing seaweed and fish remains on the furniture is kind of freaking me out."

He likes the sea and all, but that just isn't right. Roxas will be nice here and open the elevator for the two, pressing the button once, twice, three times... eleven times until it opens. "So.. by chance, you in a band with Luce?"

[sponsorigami]

He gives a curt nod to Roxas for the gesture and works on wringing more of the water from his clothes. Hopefully someone on an upper, dryer level will give him a towel. Ivan does take note of Roxas pressing the elevator button so much. Impatient or nervous for some reason?

"Yeah, she's one of the co-leads of the band."

[inversekeyblade]

Definitely impatient; this headache isn't going away any faster with the elevator taking as many seconds as it is to get down here.

"Ah.. yeah, I spoke with her before. She mentioned you briefly a little while ago. After something.. bad happened. I think." He wasn't one hundred on that, but everything about that interaction told of someone being overly cautious for some reason that wasn't good.

"Now you add this to the mix.. maybe we're built on an Indian Burial Ground." This might be shamelessly blunt, "Did something happen to you around then too?"

[sponsorigami]

"I'm... afraid you're going to have to be more specific." Ivan laughs uneasily. He's been involved in far too many weird and dangerous happenings to be able to pick one out that fits the time frame of "a little while ago."

Ancient burial ground might not be that far off given the ghost situation, but they aren't around anymore. Hopefully. Hopefully, they are all free.

[inversekeyblade]

"It was a few weeks ago, tops. I remember walking into one of the community areas of the tower here, and Luce was there looking.. sad." He didn't like seeing that. More so, he didn't like not being able to help much.

The elevator door swings open with a light ding and Roxas steps inside, waiting for Ivan prior to pressing a button for a higher floor. This time he won't mash it. "That's when she mentioned you. Any thing like that sound familiar?"

[sponsorigami]

"Ah. That.... Y-Yeah... " Ivan bites his lip, and his eyes dart around to see who else may hear. But the elevator doors opening provides more privacy. He enters and presses the button to close the doors without checking if there is anyone who would have liked to get on as well.

"Something happen to me. Did you hear or see anything strange around then?" Ivan decides that is a good starting point. He needs to figure out what Roxas experienced when Arpegius looked for volunteers to help save his sister.

[inversekeyblade]

The truth about that is "No. Nothing. Wait--"

Okay, there's no way these things can possibly be related, but there was one odd occurrence that stuck out more than anything, if something even did. "There's no way this can mean anything, I could've been tired and delusional, but when I was listening to music on my headphones one night there was something unusual about the sound. The track was instrumental but I swear I heard a voice. I don't remember well what it was saying."

It's difficult to think back that far and recall a specific detail like that. It was late, but there was something unusual about what he heard. Tapping on the wall to the elevator, mimicking the beat of the track that night, he tries to go back enough to get that one detail.

They're almost at their destination. The number indicating the floor level on the display above them slows, that inevitable ding about to play. Just as it does, right before the door opens, "..help her?"

[sponsorigami]

"Yes. What if... what if I told you I heard things like that too?" The door dings, and Ivan steps out, looking both ways as if he's crossing the street. No one is around. "Virgo's haunted in a way, so your burial ground idea isn't... that far off. Things have been moved. Lights and technology flickers. Voices are heard but only sometimes understandable..."

Belief in the ghosts will go a long way. Ivan has had so many ghost related experience in past few months, so he's fairly positive that ghosts have a hand in everything that has been happening. Either they are the agents of an event or the label is trying to do something to them.

[inversekeyblade]

This is getting too freaky. A little gossip about something off happening here or there is exciting, but there's too much in this story. "Has this always happened?" Roxas is relatively new, he can legitimately ask this.

"Couldn't someone do something? Make them go away? With all the tools we have available to us." Why isn't there a resident Ghostbuster among their numbers?

[sponsorigami]

Ivan almost says that they would be better off with the ghosts hanging around and helping them remember who they are, but he stops himself. He's not sure. If the ghosts returned, they would risk being captured again. Possibly all of them this time.

They deserve to rest in peace. They've helped enough, got many of the musicians this far.

"The truth is Virgo has tried and failed. The ghosts don't mean any harm to us, though. If it happens again, and I hope it doesn't, try saying hi."

[inversekeyblade]

With his limited knowledge, Roxas is forced to take that to heart. And he will. "Okay. You seem like you know a lot more about this than I do, so.. sure. I'll try."

Hopefully an event like that doesn't happen anytime soon, or ever even. But if it does, he'll try to heed his word.

Now onto the current matter, ghosts of the past in consideration or not, "This high up enough? Since you were actually awake during this thing, you'll probably know better."

[sponsorigami]

At the moment, Ivan fears saying too much and getting Roxas involved and in trouble. (And that's to say nothing about the risk Ivan's putting himself in.) So, further talks about the ghost will most likely need to wait until another time. Besides, the idea of an actually haunted HQ is a lot to take in and pretty unbelievable without proof, which Ivan doesn't have.

Thankfully, Roxas provides Ivan with something more immediate to focus on, figuring out what in the world just happened. "I think so. We should be able to see from the window over there."

Ivan walks to the window and looks out. His eyes widen, and his mouth drops open. "... The rest of Vista City..." Ivan trails off but his remaining words are easily guessed.

The rest of Vista City is fine.

[inversekeyblade]

Yeah, that looks obvious to Roxas. At least, as much as he can remember. But really, how much is there to remember about a city top view from above if it has only been seen a few times? "..it's the same?"

Roxas only says this because he's thinking that's what is going through Ivan's mind right now. He's betting on this being a bad thing. "We probably have a lot of work ahead of us, huh?"

[sponsorigami]

And the fact that the rest of the city isn't flooded or running away in complete panic (besides those who were around Virgo HQ at the time this had started), are signs that the water was concentrated on the tower. If it had extended beyond, there should have been some damage...

"A lot of work... I was suspecting that this wasn't natural, but... that proves is, I guess."

[inversekeyblade]

Great, now they have a big mystery to solve or something, because an event like this can't be left alone without any answers to it. Maybe this is all meant to be and finally coming together; his being aware of Ivan in the first place was due to an event he never got answers to, and now this happens? Sounds like more than a convenient coincidence.

"Well.. if you were going after here like this," meaning the Virgo building, "Why would you? Extreme band rivalry gone wrong? I mean, ghosts aren't usually.. the water type, you know?" Not that it's impossible, just not likely.

[sponsorigami]

"No... I don't think this was the ghosts. This could have hurt someone, and I don't think they would do that to us." They wouldn't risk themselves for their sake only to try and hurt them later. Maybe they were trying to flood the basement... Though even as Ivan thinks that, it doesn't sound right.

"I'm not sure if rivalry has a part. It could be, but if someone wanted to get at a band, wouldn't they do something to the penthouse instead?" Who has this kind of power?

[inversekeyblade]

"I guess we'll just have to be on the lookout for persons who look like they possess the ability to do this kind of thing." Like a sea monster embodied in a man. Poseidon. Davy Jones. The like.

"Other than property damage hopefully no one was hurt." Except for the emotional damage no doubt caused by things like a fish smacking the face. "I almost wish I was awake when it happened. There wasn't anything outside? Did anyone in here do anything atrocious-" he thinks about that- "overtly atrocious towards someone else to deserve this?"

[sponsorigami]

They could try, but Ivan knows as much as anyone that appearances could be deceiving. A person could look completely average and normal on the outside but have a power one would never expect. Like Ivan does.

"I don't know. I was just heading outside when the water started coming in. It... kinda seemed like the ocean was having a temper tantrum with how out of control it was." Despite his earlier thoughts, Ivan doesn't realize how close he is on that. "I... I can think of some things, but I don't know who'd dare challenge them so blatantly."

"Them" being Blanche and Juno, the highest of the high in Virgo.

And rescuing a ghost is somehow not blatantly challenging Virgo... to Ivan at least. There's a faint difference.

[inversekeyblade]

This town is filled with plenty of personalities that would, if powers be given to them, feel over the top enough to go about this kind of thing with minimal thought to the consequences. The possibilities are, unfortunately, endless as to who. But as to why, with the way Ivan describes it the question answers itself. "It had to of been someone, or something, who was very upset or angry. But it wouldn't be easy to narrow down a suspect on just one person with that kind of grudge."

Many people for many different reasons probably harbor some kind of ill will towards Virgo; their favorite band didn't release on time, one of their crush casts left the label, someone on the inside engaged in something truly insidious.. who knows! But the given motivation is enough. That coupled with the abilities might narrow it down.

But.. probably not. "No one obvious comes to mind. But I'm sure with time, the more we know, the easier it'll be to figure it out." But by then, what if something else happens? What if someone gets seriously hurt? Again? Roxas doesn't want to bring that up and put a dent in what might be a neutral mood. Minus headache, of course.

"If we really want to figure it out, we'll probably have to get out there and learn more about those around us. Also all the people living here." There's a start. "But.. I don't like the idea of anyone getting hurt senselessly." If only he knew. "It'd be ideal to stop that before it can happen.. but maybe I'm just wishing hopelessly."

[sponsorigami]

Roxas really has no idea, and Ivan's both surprised and worried that Roxas might start talking to people and drawing attention to himself. Ivan doesn't know Roxas that well. He doesn't know how Virgo views him and if they suspect him of anything.

He doesn't even know if Roxas knows how bad Virgo can be; they aren't just a music label.

Ivan shuffles uneasily on his feet and rubs his arms, trying to regain some of the warmth the ocean waters sapped away. "Um... a word of advice... Don't poke into the thorn bush unless you're prepared to be scratched and possibly trapped."

[inversekeyblade]

Scratched, sure. Trapped? No, doesn't sound fun. The idea is one of the worst possible situations he could find himself in, actually. "Yikes.. sounds serious."

Doesn't mean he cares less by taking it easy, does it? But.. maybe he'll just tread lightly then. "I'm not going to go out with my detective coat and kit or anything, but keeping an eye out won't hurt?" Maybe.. ask around if the opportunity presents itself? "If I was caught in all of that, though, I don't know how I wouldn't want to find out what happened."

[sponsorigami]

"I know. I... I feel the same way... but..." Then he cringes as he tries to give Roxas a straighter answer. His tongue feels like it's twisting into knots. His brainwashing reminds him how powerful the label is, how he could put someone in danger, how he should stop thinking about who he used to be and just concentrate on making music.

But he can't just forget all that he's seen first hand. "People have... died... I don't know what they did to deserve it, but... just be careful, okay?"

[inversekeyblade]

That makes a lot more sense now. It sucks to think sitting back is the better option, but if people are dying around here, maybe it is. Something like this is going to eat at him now. How do the others cope knowing these things?

"I.. okay."

That's all he can say to confirm. This isn't a game he can play. Because it needs to be said after this, "Are you gonna be alright?"

[sponsorigami]

And later, Ivan will learn that Virgo has other ways they keep track of their musicians, a way that hurts how useful his shapeshifting can be.

"I'll... I'll be okay. As long as I don't draw too much attention... and get hit with another fish." The last part is a throwaway meant for anyone who could be possibly listening. This isn't a time to be joking. Ivan wants to apologize to Roxas, for discouraging him, but he also wants to make sure he doesn't get hurt.