wrfmlogsarchive | sleeping somewhere cold (Reply)

Who: Calum, Song, Josiah and Lilith
What: Song's rescue mission fails miserably, and there's rather unexpected side effect
Where: The Cork and a dream
When: July 19

The black plane was the same as the one Song had seen on that first dive with Calum, except this is much colder, emptier, and has a feeling of dread and hopelessness permeating through it.
The surroudings set her off because of her personal experiences with Nothingness as much as the general feeling of horror, but she had prepared for this. The first task was to identify any variation in the emptiness, and despite Lilith's doubts, try to find some sign of Josiah himself. First interpretations couldn't be trusted, either, so she tries to probe beyond the blackness, focusing on the simple fact that there must be more.

The darkness, black magic at its very root, shifted at Song's movements, circling around her as if curious. But there was no presence here, not Calum's, not Josiah's - just that wrong emptiness that could sink into a person's soul and stay there forever.

Her instinct was to push it away, summon Light, but even though circumstances in the waking world had changed, it still seemed prudent to try not to alert Calum to her presence. That may not be possible. He may have known the moment she initiated the link... but he may just as well be as dorment as Josiah and this darkness only an automatic defense. She'd have to penetrate it to find out.
She moved on through it, not walking, but floating, if only because it felt more comfortable. She kept trying as she moved, probing in every subtle manner she could think of to part the veil of shadow. She'd try to control it herself if she had to, but that thought made her nervous.

The magic, in its form as black fog, did not part as it should have done. Instead, it curled up around Song, crawling up her limbs towards her heart, the feeling of it as cold as death. And then, a voice that was not a voice, whispering to her, quietly, get out get out get out get out.

She tensed, drawing in a deep breath and suppressing panic before she reminded herself that this wasn't her physical body. If she willed it, there would be no heart for that Darkness to touch... at least, she hoped so. she still hadn't tested the real limits of this dream spell.
But she could not bring herself to remain passive in this situation. She strained against the magic like someone trying to burst free from bindings, and then she tried to overpower it, bringing her will down like strong arms to pin the black magic and hold it under control.

The "whispering" got stronger, even as the magic resisted Song's attempts to hold it back. If anything, the more she pushed, the colder the dreamscape became. Get out get out... not safe here...

Noting the response, she stopped fighting, though donig so raised her anxiety further. Those last words... or sense of words, anyway... those seemed strange for a warning from Calum.
"Josiah...?" Her voice was a whisper, but audial volume didn't matter when the real interface was a form of telepathy. "Josi, are you here?"

Song... please leave... can't stay... can't... The "whispering" abruptly stopped, cut off as a brutal gale rushed through the landscape, blowing even the dark magic back, although not far. It was just as cold though, but this magical wind hinted at unspoken dangers, fear, and a seething hatred that was barely controlled underneath an icy facade.
Then, footsteps echoed across the plane, coming towards Song slowly but surely.

It was getting more and more difficult to stifle the urge to run. Run, physically, as if it would do any good. Song very rarely experienced panic, but as useful as that trait was, it also meant she didn't have much experience controlling it.
She did retreat, ducking further into the darkness at first, then forcing herself to think a bit more clearly and changing her shape. She made herself small, putting up shields to mask her presence even as she hid her form. She didn't know how much good it would actually do, but she needed more time.
Josi, don't waste my time. I won't leave unless he forces me out or I find a way to save you, so for both our sakes, help me.

He appeared out of the darkness, a blond man with gray-blue eyes, perhaps only a decade older than Song if that, someone she had never seen before. He stopped only a few yards away from where Song had changed shape, narrowing his eyes at the gathering black magic. "It will do you little good to hide, Miss Song."

She almost, almost showed herself. She felt much less afraid when confronting an enemy face to face, rather than running and hiding like prey. But she'd taken the direct approach with Calum before, and it had accomplished little or nothing. So she fled, a tiny spark of shadow herself, blending in with the darkness as much as possible. Her path wasn't erratic, either. She was trying to trace Josiah's words back to their source.

Calum's presence flickered... and then disappeared. A roar of magic that sounded like a storm at sea followed his vanishing, and the black magic soared back to life, following Song at rapid speeds, bringing with them the icy cold winds that marked their presence. The dreamscape shuddered abruptly, as if it were tilting, falling back into something... something behind them that raged even stronger than the winds.
And then something grabbed at Song, pulling her from her path, back towards the dark magic that threatened to consume the dreamscape itself.

She acted on reflex, the agitation that had been building all along overriding most of her ability to plan, which might have been a good thing. Detailed plans took too much time.
Reflex was to shift again, into something stronger, something that could fight against the pull. The first image was of a great cat, a sabertooth, but that was no match for a storm. Nothing could stop a force of nature but another like it. Where there was only misplaced speck of shadow before, a dragon emerged, not her usual Western form, but a serpentine creature that didn't rely on fragile wings to carry it. An Eastern dragon was more a element than animal, like a storm itself. This dragon thrashed wildly, trying to gain ground, but focused as much on her own winds as on the strength of her imagined body.

The storm of black magic howled against Song's dragon form, pummeling her body - there was no mistaking it this time. This magic wasn't meant to warn or to frighten - this was meant to kill. The suffocating fog and the shadows reacted quickly, wrapping around the dragon, as sharp as knives and far colder, and pulling her down to the flat plane. And the other winds kept screaming over the dreamscape, piercing and deafening.
Then, another force entered into the fray, warmer but desperate, attempting to separate the dragon and the shadows. Stop stop stop...
Surprisingly, the winds slowed, but did not calm down. The dreamscape shuddered violently again, and then there was a loud, tearing noise, as if the black magic was ripping the plane apart to its very seams.

She shrieked in pain, and flinched away from the onslaught, the only 'away' being inward. Shrinking again, until the attack lessened and she latched onto the voice. The little dragon emmitted another cry, but with it, a frantic message. Josiah, keep trying! Help me! Make it stop!

Silence.
Just like that the winds stopped, the shadows pulled away from the dragon's battered body and the storm of black magic came to a halt so rapidly, it was abnormal. And somebody was holding Song protectively, but the touch wasn't warm at all. In fact, it was just as chilly as the black magic that still circled around them.
"Well...?"
Well what... can't leave her like this... can't...
"If you won't, I will. We have a deal, don't we, boy?"
Silence.

The change disoriented her, and she mentally scolded herself for that. This was her domain, she should be in control. She didn't shift back immediately, a dragon no bigger than a large dog now, staying carefully still as she calmed herself and willed her body to heal. "Josiah...? What does he mean?"

The fog swirled around them, prowling and waiting for an answer. The grip around Song tightened, and then relaxed with some unease.
Right. A deal.
The words - again, felt more than spoken - weren't right, didn't sit right at all as more magic rushed into the dreamscape, but nowhere near as malevolent as the magic that had just tried to kill Song. It was cool, almost like an autumn wind, but again, there was something not right about it.
Song... I'm sorry...
Then, the magic wrapped around her mind, searching for something, and not taking long to find it - her most important memories, the ones she held dearest to her heart.
Xemnas.
The magic pulled at the emotions that were associated with those memories, pulling them apart from the rest of her memories, wrapping them in dark shadows and hiding them, out of her reach and gone. But the enchantment was strange - there was something off about, something that-
Get out get out get out!
Then the hurricane gales were back, furious again, lashing against both of them and Josiah was pushing Song away, out of the dreamscape and back to her own mind. And even as that was happening, more magic unravelled along the black plane...
Ari wake up wake up wake up please wake up
Then the storm slammed into Song and Josiah.

She felt him pushing her out and fought against it, but there was too much happening at once. In the moment that her memories were altered, she could sense it too, though she didn't know what was happening. She could feel the darkness touching some deep part of her, and it unsettled her enough that she lost her grip on the dream. The impact of the storm finished it, throwing her violently back into the real.

She was sprawled on the floor when her eyes opened, though she'd been sitting when she cast the spell. She scrambled back up and turned to Josiah immediately, checking temperature and pulse, and calling his name. She wasn't quite foolish enough to go back in, but it was tempting.

He was cold to the touch, but he didn't wake up, didn't even stir when Song called his name. It was still, after all, Lilith's spell that kept him asleep.

She'd expected as much, and moved on quickly, but not without a last look. And, hesitantly, a light kiss placed on his forehead.
She didn't stop to explain things to Brandon yet. There was something Lilith needed to know first of all. The sense of urgency from the dream was still clinging to her, so when she accessed the Cork's communication system and contacted Lilith, she didn't bother with greetings. The first words out of her mouth were, "he's still in there. Josiah's still alive."

There was silence on the other side of the comm link, and then, Lilith's voice, quiet and dispassionate. "If that's true... why can't I sense him, Song?"

"Calum must be blocking you. Blocking everything. It... didn't feel right, even when Josi was there. He was cold..." she winced at her own doubts, but quickly argued them down. "I'm sure it was him, but Calum, his presence there, may be... changing him somehow. Corrupting him. You know more about this than I do."

Lilith didn't say anything for a very long time. In fact, chances were she wasn't going to say anything at all, as she let that information sink in. Then, the comm clicked on again.
"You're not sure of it," the succubus said, her voice even.

Song sighed, and resisted the urge to grind her teeth, not in anger at Lilith, but frustration at the whole thing.
"Why would Calum trick me? He tried to kill me in there, Lilith, and Josiah protected me. Protected me and then pushed me out. Why would he fake all of that? The only thing I'll do is keep trying. What's the point of ensuring I return when he had me there already?" She was talking too much, trying to reason it out, and even though she knew her words made sense, she wasn't quite managing to convince herself.

Lilith scowled. "Stop blinding yourself, Song. You see it as well as I do - these are only excuses. He might as well be dead." And then the comm turned off, for good this time.

She sighed again in exasperation, then sunk back, as darker, more oppressing emotions washed over her. Despair, and something that was not quite hopelessness but close, and worse because of the tiny shreds of hope that still existed in it, that she could feel unravelling every time Lilith shot her down and refused to help. It might even have been easier to give up and call this a lost cause, but Song was incapable of that. Not in this case. Not when the person in need of saving was someone she'd grown to care about so much, almost more than anyone, in a strange, quiet sort of way.
She could not give up, unless he was dead or she was.
But she didn't know what else to do.