scribble_puppet | Central Silent Hill/Alchemilla Hospital (Foggy World)

Central Silent Hill/Alchemilla Hospital (Foggy World)

Their feet hit gritty pavement.

It's the middle of a block of foggy street in a run-down commercial district. Not the skyscrapers of New York, but squat, huddled old buildings of a quaint New England town. Behind them is a dusty toy store; other storefronts litter the street to either side and in front.

The whole place echoes emptily, the movement of the fog the only sound other than themselves.

Amber scuffs a sneaker on the asphalt. "So... yeah. Here it is."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wut.

"...think I'd know if they'd done something there."

"Not if it starts as an infection by a Power." It wasn't the easiest way to bring about Life, but 'Gods' were weird. "But yes, I can check your head? Best to do it here in case it's only active in this place."

"...'kay..."

She sits on one of the benches and watches Rachel with some trepidation.

Rachel folded to the floor by Amber's feet, spinning shields among shields among walls around them. Better to be safe if they were going to be so distracted. "Would you like to be with me when I look or would you like to not know what's happening?" she offered after a moment of thought and external construction.

"With you," she replies firmly. If anyone is mucking around in her head, she is going to be supervising every step of the way.

"Alright. That'll make things easier." The best person for sensing something wrong in a person's head was always the person themselves. With Amber there, they were less likely to overlook things!

"Deep breath now, don't worry." she took Amber's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, and suddenly they falling inward. Every mind was organized different, giving each mentalscape a unique appearance. Some liked to think of their mind as a house, some as a park, a theater...

Rachel's mental form was different, slightly, from her physical one. She wore facial tattoos openly and she seemed to have flame under her skin rather than muscle. She still held Amber's hand, sending reassurance and strength as she looked around. ::This is where we start::

A maze of tunnels and tracks; concrete and steel and scaffolds and tiles. There are distant hums and murmurs, a threatening tone.

In her mind, Amber is slighter, grayish, shadowed. Her jacket seems an armored carapace, swallowing her body. Her right hand is dark, blotchy, obviously Wrong.

She pulls back slightly, avoiding Rachel's eyes. "What now?" she asks, in a 'let's get this over with' tone.

In it's own way, the scene was comforting. Being enclosed yet able to run and hide...yes, Rachel could like Amber's mind. ::Now we look for anything wrong. Things that make you feel uncomfortable, anything you might think of as a taint. Think about Silent Hill, and how it makes you feel...then see if that feeling pulls you in any direction.::

Xavier would do it differently of course. He didn't like her methods, but then his was a very controlled, and controlling, mind.

"Um..."

She looks down at her hand immediately, then looks away and scuffs the ground.

"Dunno... I mean... I don't think anything's different."

Rachel also peered down at the hand, then tilted her head to the side. ::In a place like this everything is connected. Like strings knotting memories together, or scents that lead back to something. It's your mind, you can follow any connection you like. Start with your hand. Feel it. Can you feel any connections in it?::

She gives a noncommital grunt. "It's connected to my fuckin' arm, so?"

But it's also connected by a faint chain, barely visible- a thin pen line leading off into the darkness of one tunnel.

::Your arm, your bones, your blood, nerves, skin, and mind.:: she agreed grimly. ::And, also, this.:: she reached out carefully to tweak that thin chain. Like plucking a guitar string just enough to set it humming.

::Do you feel that?::

"OW! FUCK!"

Yes. She does.

And so does the tunnel- things shake and crack.

::Shhhh:: she soothed, standing well clear of the chain now. She was going to focus on shoring up the tunnel around with flame licked resolve. A calm, solid emotion to seep into cracks and fissures.

Strength. She had plenty to spare.

::Can you follow it?::

She spends a moment waiting for everything to go back to normal.

"...I guess?" She gingerly reaches for the line, wincing a bit as her fingertips brush it. Gritting her teeth, she follows its path into the tunnel.

The path is long and winding. Once, sunlight filters in through a long grating above, and the constant background noise becomes louder- it's the voices of people, a cacophony spattering the walls around them. Amber rushes through, head hunched down between her shoulders to block the noise out.

::You're very brave, Amber.:: Rachel admitted, following closely in the girl's wake.

Those voices were...she couldn't tell if they were external influences or internal. They could be memory, but they also could be a form of attack. Such things could wear down a persons confidence and defenses. Either way, she didn't like them.

She reached out, gently, to place her fingertips on Amber's shoulder. ::You don't have to listen to them. They can't touch you:: with those words she gave Starsong, a wild taste of freedom and glory to counter counter the cacophony.

She pauses, taking in the new sound and the gentle touch.

"there's always so many," she mutters.

::Who are they? How long have they been here?:: She asked quietly. They had the time in the world, so it would be alright to pause and think about it.

She might be able to help.

"everyone. forever."

She crams her hands in her pockets and hunkers against the wall.

"just won't fucking shut up."

::Is there any resonance with the chain and your hand here?:: She tilted her head to listen better. What kind of voices would play in a girls mind forever.

::Stand straight Amber. Don't let it defeat you in your own mind. This place is Yours::

She shakes her head. "No... 's just there."

The kind of voices that come from around her. Accusations. Anger. Frustration. Whispers about her- she's different, wrong, bad.

Amber shakes her head and walks. "Just don't listen..."

::I really am going to get you and your mom to move. That's...:: it wasn't right for anyone to grow up with that. ::...not something you should ever have to deal with.:: She desperately wanted to introduce the girl to Hank. He was such a gentle man.

::Sometime later we can come back here. I can show you how to lessen it all.::

"...okay..."

The tunnel goes deeper, and then there's a metal wall with a locked door. Scarred into the metal is the same seal (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/furikku/SilentMilliways/halo2.jpg) Amber usually draws unconsciously.

"Now what?" she asks dully.

::Are you tired? Is it hard to be near this?:: she asked, walking past Amber to lay her hand on the door. She needed to get a sense of it, and if it would harm Amber if it was opened.

"I don't know..."

It's

It runs throughout her, through her soul, like veins and arteries. Like breath.

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