sinking down, down

[facultwist]

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?

Comments

[trustheart]

[ Chris grits her teeth. ]

Rinne.

[ She grabs the girl's wrists and forces Rinne to look her in the eye. ]

Kana, whether she loved you or not, cried over your death! She cared about you! She saw you as someone important to her! Does that sound like she sees you as awful?! Get over yourself! Do you want Kana to suffer further when she gets here?! Listen to me! Listen to me!

[ She pulls Rinne into a hug. ]

If you need it, I'll be there with you. I'll hold you back! I'll stop you from taking revenge! I'll stop you from doing something that will make Kana hate you! I won't let you turn your love for Kana into something ugly, like what happened to me and Vanity! I promise!

cw rinne typical self-loathing

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[ The hug surprises her. It makes her whole body tense up.

She wants to scream. She wants to say her love's already turned ugly. It's always been ugly. She's always been ugly. Everything that comes from her is bound to be ugly too. How can Chris promise something like that, when it's too late? How can Chris stand to be near such an empty, disgusting thing?

But nothing comes out. Her voice gets stuck in her throat as miserable whimpers and squeaks. She's never been good at expressing herself, after all. ]

Aah... Aaaah...!!

[ Tears catch in her eyes. She shakes her head. Everything feels like too much. Too heavy. Too— ]

[trustheart]

[ Chris hugs her tightly. How many times had she felt like Rinne is feeling now? Worthless? Alone? Discarded? Time to call on that now. ]

You're not awful. You're not. You're worth saving. You're worth loving. I'm here. I've got you, Rinne. I've got you.

[ She thinks back...and remembers a time she considered song writing...back when she was first getting together with Vanity, and how it had changed her world. How it had made her feel. How it had made her feel like her world was opening up. She had discarded it, but...she still remembers the lyrics.

So she decides to sing it for Rinne. ]

...Ah… tomorrow, when I've overcome my tears
What's gonna be waiting for me?
The gears that were fading away, with a jolt
Start to move, sparkling bright…

Ah… for the sake of something that only
Connected hands create, I dunno if I can go on
Without separating the hands we've joined
I'll tear apart these distorted fakes with my song, my song of the future
'Cos finally, I've realized that… I can see it
I'm sure I'll get there… I'm sure...

[sweetsynergy]

[Vanity blinks, looking up a little- watching Chris and Rinne for a second before looking away. Her expression closes off, turning over the lyrics in her head.]

[She stays silent; anything she says right now will just make things worse.]

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[ It sounds much softer than she'd expect from... Well, from what she'd observed of Chris. An explosive girl, full of rage and anger. Vanity's attack dog.

That's not so true anymore, is it?

Rinne doesn't say anything. That's not to say she doesn't make a sound, because she does, whimpering quietly, crying. But she doesn't interrupt. Rinne's very good at listening and watching, after all.

Even when Chris is done, she can't quite find her voice for a long few moments. After a stretch, she squeaks out: ]

...s-sound...lovely.

[trustheart]

...Thanks. I'm told I'm pretty good at singing for someone who hates being on the school choir.

[ She squeezes Rinne just a bit tighter, holding her silently for now. ]