slayers_desire | Into the depths of April's mind ((Clark, Ed, Cipher Nine))

Both of their powers do work in the mindscape, which is good to know now... Atropos rubs her arms, standing up once freed of the chain. All three version of April watch Ed try to deconstruct the gate...

However, while his powers are working, the Gate is reconstructing itself as quickly as he can deconstruct it.

At least one out of the two worked. Clark looks at the gate, considering their options. "What could this gate represent?" Chances are it's something symbolic, whether it's part of her unconscious shields, or a barrier put up by the mysterious Them.

Ed stops once he realizes it's not going to work, and frowns up at the gate. "Good question," he says, thoughtfully.

"Gates and walls are used either to keep something in, or keep it out," Cipher Nine muses. "Usually, where there's a gate, there's a gatekeeper—someone to watch the gates, and let in people who are trusted... or drive away those who are not. If April put this gate here, if it's part of her natural defences, then we'll probably have to prove we can be trusted. If 'They' put it here to keep us out... then we'll probably have an enemy to get past." A slight pause. "All of that assumes my interpretation is correct, of course. And I could be wrong."

"We put it up." Lachesis confirmed Ed's educated guess that it is one of April's mental gates. One of her natural defenses. Not only not to let people in... but more so to keep the voices from tainting her whole mind.

"We can get through... but it keeps unknowns out..." Clotho adds. And since instructed that the group stays together, none of the versions of April's mind had crossed the barrier.

"We're not unknown. Why can't we pass through it?" Clark asks with a frown.

Ed nods in agreement, also frowning. "You'd think the gate would at least let Clark through. He's her Soulmate. And I know she trusts all of us with her life."

"Why would we allow our soulmate to be in danger?" Lachesis glares at Ed.

"We're all in danger," Clark says, trying to defuse the situation. "Going into dangerous situations and taking care of it is my job."

"I'm a spy," Cipher Nine agrees. "Putting myself into dangerous situations and getting back out again in one piece is part of the job description."

Ed nods in agreement. "We have to get through there to help you. It's the whole reason we're here, because we're all willing to walk through fire for you." He sets his face into one of steely resolve. "That's our choice to make, and no-one else's. I am walking through fire for you. Period. End of story."

The three 'Fates' exchange a glance. Clotho hops off Cipher Nine's back and touches the gate first. She turns to the others. "They are here to help us. They only want what is best...."

Lachesis holds her head for a moment, then moves forward to touch the gate too. She shivers, hearing something that the others can not (yet).

Atropos was last to touch the gate. A doll appears in her arm (for it was not there before). And she smiles, but not in a kind way. "I see insanity and horror forming. The green succubus and the red urchin..."

And the gate glows, and opens to them. All six of them are hit by a wave of emotions. Panic. Guilt. Sorrow. Joy. Excitement. Anger. They are all mixed together... speaking all at once.

Clark was not expecting to be bombarded with these emotions, and he struggles for a few moments, just trying to sort it out. He can't tell if they're coming from himself or beyond the barrier, whether it's from the Fates themselves, or whether this is what April's kept locked away in her mind.

Ed and Cipher Nine are taken by surprise as well, and it's more of a struggle for Ed to get a reign on the emotions than it is for Cipher Nine. Cipher Nine essentially distances himself from the wave of emotions, recognizing their existence but not allowing them much influence, as most Chiss would do with their own emotions. (Though he's honestly not sure they aren't his. Then again... he's not sure they are either.)

Ed has to work considerably longer and harder to sort it all out. He's bull-headedly stubborn, though, and doesn't stop trying to sort through all of those emotions until he's actually done so. Though, like the others, he still isn't at all sure where the emotions are coming from.

A few of these emotions are April's. (Mostly the fear and guilt...). A lot of the emotions are their own reflected back at them. But the vast majority are the emotions of those who interact with April. They are truly experiencing the true heart of an empath... without any guards or protection.

Worse of all... they feel like they are being watched. From every corner and direction. And there are whispers too... the loudest of which are urging them off the path.

Clotho grips Cipher Nine's hand. Lachesis clings close to Clark. And Atropos... dances ahead of them on the path. "Lost little lambs. Where do we go? Blood lays in the snow..."

Clark takes a few deep breaths to center himself. He's no telepath himself, but some of the lessons he's had in shielding his mind help a little. "We keep moving forward."

Cipher Nine squeezes Clotho's hand and does his best to ignore the whispers trying to get him to leave the path. "Onward, then," he agrees with a small nod of his head. The feeling of being watched is... a little disconcerting, but he's actually used to it. He gets that same feeling whenever he's at I.I. headquarters. (Because of course the Empire's intelligence agency is going to be watching everything that goes on in its own halls.)

Ed's eyes drift away from the path ahead for a moment, before he closes them and shakes his head rapidly for a second, as if trying to get an unpleasant thought out of his head. "Right. Let's go."

There isn't much scenery in this section of April's mindscape. The strange thing is, everything seems to be made of living shadows. Every now and then a voice will get particularly loud and insistent, and one of the living shadows will move across their field of vision. The living shadows make the ground they walk through. The trees along the distance. Even their own shadows seem to stretch and become alive.

And they are whispering their own darkest secrets to them all.

((please describe what your own shadow might be whispering to your character))

It's difficult to ignore the whispers, especially when they strike so deep. "You still want me dead," Lex's voice says in the darkness. "You were relieved when Oliver killed me. It'd be easier if I was gone, wouldn't it?"

"You still wonder if you killed me," Titan's voice says also. "I bet you did, Kryptonian. I deserved it. You aren't as pure as you think you are. You went into that arena looking for blood, and you found it."

"You doubted," Barry the Chopper's voice says from the shadows. "Doubted yourself, your brother. I got into your head, just like I got into Al's head, made you both believe that your little brother... wasn't. That you gave up your right arm for nothing, just like with your mother. Al's body and your left leg lost, and it was all for nothing." Then the voice dissolves into a gleeful, psychopathic giggle.

Ed trembles at the whispers, clenching his teeth, automail arm clattering quietly beneath his jacket. "That's not true," he hisses. Even though it is. He's long been in denial about it. He had doubted he brought his brother back, just as Al had once doubted that he was the real Al. Barry the Chopper got into both their heads, just for a moment.

The whispers of Cipher Nine's darkest secret, though, are worse than Ed's. They come to him in his own voice, only this Cipher Nine's voice is much colder, more cruel, filled with contempt and condescension. "Murderer," not-Cipher Nine accuses him. "You force yourself to flinch from violence, but a part of you enjoys it. A big part of you. Oh, you offer your opponents the chance to surrender without violence, but inwardly, you hope they'll refuse. You're always a little disappointed if they accept, but because you must keep your word, you put your blaster and your knives away and spare them. You fear yourself, and so you believe this of yourself: Murderer. Assassin. Villain."

Cipher Nine starts breathing a little more rapidly at the words, but he doesn't dignify them with a response, simply clenches his jaws and tries to banish the whispers.

Edited 2014-03-08 12:28 (UTC)

"You haven't shared everything about what you saw... those you left behind... you claim to be a sweet young innocent girl... but your darkness is always there." Clotho clamps two little ears to her head, trying to shake away the whispers she hears. She looks up at Cipher Nine when he breathes more rapidly.

"He is a Demon... leading you to your death... you should run! Run!" Clotho flinches again. Biting her lower lip as her eyes get wet.

Of course Clotho would hear whispers of the past.

Lachesis is hearing whispers of the present. "You wanted that man dead... you knew exactly what buttons to press so things would go the way they did."

"He hates you now. He sees the blood on your hands, and knows that you have embraced your darkness. He will take your children from you..."

She clings to Clark, breathing hard and fast herself. And she looks up to the man that is her soulmate. "I can't lose you..." She whispers.

Strangely... if Atropos is hearing anything, she doesn't react. She just dances on the path. A small wicked smile at the others.

And that is when one shared whisper cuts through them all. "She planned this. She is leading you to your death..."

Strangely, it's Lachesis that helps Clark focus on something other than the voices. "You won't lose me," he says, trying to filter out those whispers, like he does with his superhearing. "I promise you that."

He hesitates when he hears that last whisper. But then... "They're lying." These are the misleading voices that led April down the wrong path. He refuses to believe it's the truth.

Cipher Nine pauses when he sees Clotho biting her lip and starting to tear up. Seeing anyone in distress makes him want to help, and it gives him something to focus on that isn't his own inner darkness spitting accusations at him. "What's wrong?" he asks quietly.

Ed halts in place at the whispers about Atropos, staring at her for a moment, almost believing the voices. Clark's words give him a logical hand-hold to grab, though. "The whole reason we're here is because April's voices are corrupted. We can't believe anything we hear from the shadows."

Clotho is scared to tell him for a moment. But both Clark's assertion and Ed's statement gives her confidence to not be so scared.

"They are trying to make me run from you. By preying on my fears..."

"They have never been this bad." Clotho tells the others. "They help us. They don't try to hurt us..."

"Something changed," Clark says, trying to shut out those whispers still.

Cipher Nine kneels down so that he's at eye level with Clotho. "I don't look human," he says, understanding and patient, "so they're telling you I'm a demon. And demons have been chasing after you your whole life so far." The whispers manifesting to him as the dark Cipher Nine are still whispering to him, but he's become very good at keeping that part of him in check. He stretches out a hand, and gently touches Clotho's cheek for a moment. "I won't hurt you. Never, in a million years." He glances over his shoulder at Clark. "Something changed, yes... The question is, what caused that change?"

Ed paces back and forth a little, a pensive sort of look on his face. "My gut instinct says 'outside influence,'" he says after a moment. "April is still herself. She hasn't changed, so that's probably not the cause of the change in her voices." He looks up the path. "Only one way to find out for sure, though, and that's to keep going."

"If this infection isn't fixed... we will change." Lachesis whispers. And that scares her.

Clotho moves to place her arms around Cipher Nine. The best way for her to defeat the lies is to embrace the truth.

"How do we find what we need, when everything looks the same?" Lachesis questions.

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