paradisalost | fifteen red letters

[Room 505]

[Nora stares in shock at her room. When she first got back she'd been too tired and relieved to see a real bed and a shower that she didn't look at the extent of the damage. She stands in the middle of the floor, slowly turning to take in the whole picture. Books everywhere, some torn with pages strewn everywhere. Her music collection is scattered across the floor and her stereo's in pieces. Her art supplies are utterly destroyed, paint flooding the tables and pooled on the floor like some surreal crime scene. She crouches down to pick up the broken coffee mug at her feet, looking at it before letting her eyes drift up to the walls. The walls covered with her drawings that were now slathered in spray paint.

She could appreciate vandalism, having done it more than a few times, herself. But there was a line that one does not cross. Destroying art, destroying something that cannot be replaced or repaired, something that someone so obviously put their heart and soul into... that wasn't vandalism. That was cruelty. She stands, squeezing the broken mug and seething as she stares at the desecration. Letting out a scream of rage and frustration she throws the mug at the wall, watching it shatter as it collides with the first portrait she drew in the castle, the one of Aziraphale covering his ears from the storm of curse words. She clenches her fists at her sides. She won't cry. She refuses to cry. She won't give them the satisfaction.

However, she doesn't have to stay here and take it, either.]

[/Room filter]

[Jo]

Hey, uh. Would it be okay if I stayed at your apartment for a while? I just... I can't take the castle right now. They destroyed all my art... all of it. I just need to get out of here.

[/Jo]

[Mark]

I'm moving downtown for a while. I heard the town didn't get trashed at all... I just... [She sounds right on the edge, as if she's about to either start screaming or crying, she just hasn't decided which, yet] They trashed my art, Mark. All of it. It's either broken or slashed or spray painted and I don't have a fucking clue why and I honestly don't care. I just need to get the fuck out of here... I can't handle this right now.

[Mark]

[Muttered]

Fuck this castle.

[With that, Nora is throwing a backpack over her shoulder and heading outside. She's running away from the castle for a while to live downtown. Feel free to run into her anywhere along the way... just don't expect her to be in the best of moods]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah... I know what you mean. Just... don't change too much, alright?

[She sounds a little worried. What if they changed in different ways? What if he changed so much that he didn't like her anymore? What if she did? She squeezes her eyes shut, rubbing a hand over her face, this place fucks with their heads way too much for comfort]

[he hears the hesitation in her voice, and frowns. she doesn't want HIM to change? she's the one moving out! doesn't she realize how that feels? like she's abandonin--- and then he realizes ... she's just as freaked as he is. quietly:]

Hey. Just because it's changing me? Doesn't mean it's changing us. I promise.

[Leave it to him to know exactly what she didn't want to say. She can't help but smile a little]

Thank you, Mark. I know that. It's just... this place really fucks with you, you know?

[considering the number of times he's nearly ragequit this conversation in the span of a few minutes?] … Yeah, I know.

[She sighs heavily and buries her face in a pillow, thinking for a minute. She could continue to be subtle and cryptic and, well, her... but he deserves more. He deserves an explanation. When she comes up for air she takes a deep breath.]

I don't want to leave you here... I just feel so helpless, right now. We get thrown onto some ship and hear about how everyone else' getting attacked and hurt and kidnapped and there's fuckall anyone can do. Then we come back to find that people came here and trashed everything while we were gone? What do they want? To try to get us to leave? We didn't want to come here in the first place!

[her voice cracks slightly and she takes a shakey breath as she tries to keep it together.]
I just need to feel like I'm in control of something. I'm so tired of feeling like all I can do is stand here and scream at the world when no one's fucking listening, anyway. No one but you.

Okay. I.... I can definitely get that. Just... you aren't gonna be alone, are you? Will Jo be there?

No, she has her own house. She still had this place because she'd paid it through the year. It was empty and she said I could use it whenever I wanted.

So you are gonna be alone.

.... Jesus fucking Christ, Nora.

Jo doesn't live far, and I plan on bringing a bat with me. What, do I have to promise to not open the door for strangers? [she appreciates the concern, but she can take care of herself, man.]

Alright, FINE, just ...

... just ...

[his anger deflates into pure worry. he doesn't want to lose her, plain and simple] If you hear anyone mention anyone named Riful, or Legato, or Arthas ... book it, okay? I don't think a bat'd be enough.

Riful, Legato or Arthas. Got it. Do I even want to know?

The Patrol's been talking about them - at least, they did at the first meeting. The three of them have been working together ... they're the ones responsible for all the people in town that were disappearing. And they're all really powerful.

[he sounds utterly disgusted and skeeved out by the whole thing] Riful .... she's some kind of monster that eats people. Once she kills them, I guess Arthas has some way of stealing their souls and keeping them in a magic sword ...

And the other guy, Legato? From what I've heard, he brings the people to the two of 'em. He can ... get inside people's minds and make them do whatever he wants.

I know, it all sounds like something outta those books I read, but ... They've found bodies, and there's all kinds of evidence, and I guess Riful's even owned up to it, because she thinks we can't do anything to stop her.

Oh my God... That's fucked up on so many levels. I'll definitely steer clear.

Good. ... Just ... yeah, keep an eye out.

[awkward silence. he's not really sure what to say.]

I will...

[pause.]

I'm not going far. I... guess I'll see you around.

fifteen red letters

Mark

Nora

Mark

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Mark forever

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