witheredblum | sinking down, down

Death is a drop into a blackness that swallows you. You feel the movement of not air but shadow across your face as you plummet, and there is no bottom. No crash.

If there is another side, you do not reach it.

It is neither the light of heaven or the fires of hell that greets you when you wake. And wake you do, to the buzz and flicker of old fluorescent lights.

You are laid out beside a full-size competitive swimming pool, half-filled with stagnant water. The doors out are blocked off by locked doors covered in caution tape. The locker rooms are long since emptied, paint peeling from the humidity. The only signs of habitation are a few pieces of scattered graffiti.

Welcome to your new home. There's no sunlight, no indication of time passing. Just you and each other and your thoughts. the stagnant water bubbles a little occasionally, but there's nothing in it.

Before long you'll realize that you no longer need to eat or drink. You might notice your hand go through something if you don't focus. You're a ghost now. What's that they say about unfinished business?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Anthy is mcfucking fuming after Hawke gets unconstitutionally levitated. This is bullshit!! But she's going to try to figure out what's going on with the Interim Headmistress's (or whoever's) magic from this side, now that she can.]

[First things first: does the shadow on Hawke look any different than it did before, now that she's directly under the magic's influence?]

[Second things second: is there any clue — sensory or ~vibes~ based — around Hawke under the effect of the magic? Anything Anthy can see now that she wouldn't have been able to before? In an ideal world, she'd like a ~~breadcrumb~~ granola trail to follow, but she'll take anything.]

[ The shadow doesn't change, but there is something different! Namely, a chain on Hawke's back, suspending her from the ceiling. And as a ghost, you can see it beyond just shadows - it's old, rusted, wrought iron. ]

[Huh. Okay. Is it coming out of Hawke's back? Out of the shadow? Where exactly is it coming from? And if Anthy tries to touch it, is it . . . tangible to her ghosty fingies?]

[ It's coming from the ceiling down to Hawke's back, where it has been attached. Anthy can touch it, but it doesn't budge if she applies force to it. It's very cold. ]