Dominion

[in_extremis]

WHO: Tony, Jon, Cal!
WHERE: The Palace! (Green 20)
WHAT: A bit of exploration that can't possibly go wrong.
WHEN: Mid-June
WARNINGS: I'll let you know if this gets weird.


The tower was still there, looming and somehow smug in its persistent darkness, quickly falling into shadow without the blinking light atop it to draw the eye as the sun sank behind the treeline. With that ground covered, such as it was, it was supposed to be a logical next step to spread their investigation to the nearest, free standing building and work methodically from there, but the reminder of what little understanding they came away with was demoralizing to Tony as he stood in the dusty road frowning up at the stubborn structure. They could just keep finding things and never be able to fit them together.

They had more people to work on it, though, or at least someone else who seemed approach a problem in the same way, and even if they didn't find anything tonight, maybe Ikora would be able to see it at a different angle back at the library. And even in the low light, Tony could see the alien glass of what he knew intimately by now were fractured datapoints to collect and put to use, scattered through the tall grass around the expansive building of what he could only assume was some kind of castle. Compared to the rest of the architecture in the city, this one was ornate and sat apart from the humble suburbs or tight towers clustered around the city centre. It sprawled, not like the imposing library, but with luxury. This was a seat of power.

Jon was greeted with a new lantern that Tony hung around his neck, which was clearly salvaged from the glove that should have matched the one that Tony wore and that glowed faintly from the palm even when Tony wasn't consulting it for atmospheric data. It didn't look much like the one he had worn on previous ventures, stripped and much lighter with the protective armor still twisted and waiting to be refired. Cal, Tony suspected, had salvaged or contrived any number of light sources for himself, so it was BD-1 that Tony grinned at and crouched before as they met at the door of Cal's workshop, presenting a tiny chip with a flourish. "Connect directly with the network," he had explained. "Send us pictures of what you're seeing."

There was no good way to otherwise prepare for what they could potentially find behind those doors as they approached the abandoned building. There had been massive beetles in a sinkhole, and an enchanting mouth at the bottom of the lake. So far, what Tony had learned was to pack light. Most likely, they were going to have to be able to run.

Comments

[out_of_order]

It was more his Force sense than the visual that prepared Cal for the abrupt reunion, and even then he wasn't quite ready for Tony to nearly slam into him and try dragging him along in this sudden retreat. But given what he'd seen...or thought he'd seen? Cal wouldn't blame them for running either, even as he reeled back slightly from the gust of unpleasant smells that wafted from the corridor.

He turned gracelessly to follow, but at least needed no further urging from Tony as he ran for higher ground, and was quick to keep pace with the man as they both barreled after Jon. BD-1 shrieked a warning when Jon went nearly plunging through one of the steps, Cal gasping before reaching out to try helping the Archivist out once they'd reached his position. He froze partly in the process, eyes staring at the hole Jon's foot had breached, seeing not rotted wood but another, albeit smaller but no less hungry maw, teeth gnashing angrily at a missed meal. His hand flew to his lightsaber, pulling it free without hesitation nor flourish, the blue blade igniting with a snap-hiss as he looked about ready to attack a stair-step.

[in_extremis]

The water was already rapidly flooding the stately entrance hall that had seemed so strangely untouched a moment ago as Cal and Tony went splashing across it to the stairs, the tide quickly rising at their heels as they went scrambling up the steps like it hadn't just been a pipe in the wall that burst, but a city mainline threatening to turn this area into another floodplain. By the time they caught up with Jon, he was already working his foot free but Tony still dropped down next to him to try to help lift him clear of the rot without disturbing too much of the splintered edge any further, one hand on the step above and the other curled under Jon's arm where he was once again looking over his shoulder and to the threat urging them on and upward. The water washed across the hall, filling it like a dark pool and crashing against the walls in a storm of waves that made it difficult for Tony to be entirely sure that it was movement that he could see underneath the surface, dark and with a shimmering crest that lasted for long, horrible seconds. They were going to have to find another way out, and hope this place really was sealed.

The searing sound of Cal's lightsaber snapped Tony's attention back to the immediate problem, yelping, "What the fuck?," and redoubling his efforts to drag Jon out of the range of the sword.

[beholding_archivist]

"Jesus CHRIST!" Seeing that glowing energy blade being drawn right above him has Jon do an inelegant scramble away without really bothering about his foot at that moment. One of his hands is clinging to Tony out of pure reflex. "C-Call-- Don't- Don't!"

His foot comes free abruptly as more of the step breaks away, causing Jon to fall forward again with a grunt of pain. Though his attention still sticks with that beam of deadly energy that somehow seems much more dangerous at the moment than the water following them up the stairs. So Jon pleads. "Cal, please! Put the weapon away!"

[out_of_order]

Even BD-1 cried out in alarm when the padawan suddenly armed himself. All three of them questioning his actions was enough for Cal to stay his weapon hand, and he swallowed, glancing from the threat he'd thought he'd identified, to his friends who seemed to be more wary of him than the creature that had attempted to eat Jon's foot.

There was a flicker of frustrated confusion on his face as he looked between them and the...broken, rotting staircase, the latter revelation seeming to throw him off even more. He thumbed off his lightsaber with a ragged breath, still anxious, knowing he needed to get a handle of himself.

"-I thought..." He shook his head. Not good enough, but they deserved an explanation, even though he was growing less and less sure of himself, but he hoped at least that his putting his lightsaber away would be less cause of tension. BD-1 trilled insistently, a reminder to move on upward, and obligingly Cal moved to help Tony get Jon to his feet so they could get to higher ground.

"The hole, I thought something had grabbed Jon... A-and back there, there was... a mouth, teeth-" he explained as they went, sounding less and less sure of himself. Again he shook his head, running a hand over his face. "I...I don't know. I think there's something here..."

[in_extremis]

Between trying to keep a hand on Jon and the other up cautiously toward Cal, watching the threatening brandish and waiting for the attack, Tony was left hanging onto Jon's clothes as he tripped his way up the stairs and tugging at them to get him to maybe stop provoking Cal any further. As the light winked out, Tony gave a slow nod and a demonstrative, steadying breath of his own to get them to all calm down and remember what the real threat here was; whatever the hell was going on in this building.

"I told you there was something here," Tony readily agreed, and gave his own glance back down toward the hole with trepidation as they finally helped each other to the landing, absolutely prepared to believe that Jon had been grabbed. It was difficult to tell now if the water was still climbing as it settled into the space and the surface calmed, and Tony only watched it for a moment longer before he was looking intently to Jon, patting his chest with the other hand still wrapped around his arm to ask, "Okay?"

[beholding_archivist]

Jon is stuck staring wide-eyed at Cal for a few more moments even as he is being pulled to his feet and guided further up until they find themselves out of harm's way. The lightsaber being put away helps however, and he gives a small nod at Tony's question, eyes flicking to him and he reaches up to gives a reassuring pat onto the other man's hand along with the nod. "Yeah. I'm- good. Thanks."

The nod is then also given in Cal's direction. An acknowledgement of his words and a sign of having understood. A mouth and teeth sound unsettling, however. "This place could be messing with what we see. It's-" He tries, gesticulating lightly with one hand, but then dropping it again.

"Let's head further up for now. And remain careful."

[out_of_order]

"Yeah..."

Cal nodded after a moment, glancing back at the pooling water below them before pushing on upwards carefully after the two. Behind him BD-1 warbled uncertainly, going on after an unspoken prompt from the padawan, a look towards the little droid at his shoulder and a furrowed brow.

"There wasn't?" he asked quietly, minding his steps in case any more of the stairs beneath their feet were just as weak. "And...what about the room? It hadn't...things were moving, weren't they?" Even as he asked, he was beginning to doubt it himself. He needed a moment to focus, but a more sturdy place to do it would be best.

[in_extremis]

Both Jon and BD-1 being apparently unconvinced of these things happening to them, that Tony could feel, like they had found the only haunted house in the whole dead city, brought back Tony's frustrated impatience enough to snort his irritation and push recklessly ahead as though 'remain careful' had been equally unreliable. From the landing, the stairs parted to meet with two equally door-lined balconies along either side of the entrance hall, an embarrassment of options, but straight ahead between them was another set of tall double doors that Tony shoved open without hesitation. They swung out easily enough, with some groaning of heavy wood and the creak of the unused hardware, to another expansive space that Tony guessed was some kind of covered garden. There were more windows here in the ceiling that hadn't been covered, letting the last red light of the day ooze into the space through the dust and more of that shimmering pollen in the air, dotting the length of the room light spotlights where there might have once been feature topiary and were now unrestrained trees reaching upward and outward in twists of greedy, gnarled limbs. The vines that covered the rest of the building so liberally thus far kept to the walls here, crawling along them to the far side of the room, where they clustered in their tight, white blooms against the darkened archway to the halls beyond.

[beholding_archivist]

The large doors are pushed open before Jon can remind Tony to be careful. So he just winces and gets ready to run further. But what gets revealed behind those doors rather has him pause.

"A garden? Up here?" He wonders aloud and is quick to move past Tony and into the room, shining his light around eagerly over clusters of flowers and up the tall trees surrounding them. It also lands on a set of old, rusted chairs and a table set up nicely along with a bench in one of the corners. Those do make him hesitate yet again. "Hey. These aren't sized for Agrii!"

And off he goes, to take a closer look at that seating corner.

[out_of_order]

"Technically there's a garden everywhere," Cal said dryly, growing a little testy himself, but he kept himself from saying anything further as they looked into the new room they'd found themselves in. His eyes lingered upon the suspended specks that drifted in the air.

He did glance over curiously at Jon's discovery, head tilting. "Was this not built for them..?" Behind him BD-1 borbled before jetting down to the ground to explore, pausing to look back at Cal.

"I'll be fine. Just give me a moment. Keep an eye out, all right?" He stepped to the side, looking at the available space before settling down on the ground in a distinctly meditative position, closing his eyes. Something was throwing off his senses. He needed to pull himself together, reaching out to the Force.

[in_extremis]

Tony gave another sardonic snort at Cal's retort, but the kid's unusual irritation was going to have to process in the background while Tony wandered curiously down the centre of the room, head tilted back to consider the skylights and how enthusiastically the plants in the room grew toward them and the open air. Even here, as he stopped to listen, Tony could hear the wind whistling through the windows and the grasses whipping around Jon as he went skulking through the garden, but Tony couldn't hear the buzz of a bee (space bee, probably tasted like peanut butter) or spot the flutter of a moth (space moth, probably gave birth to kittens). When he turned to watch Jon at his investigation, he pointed out, "The stairs weren't, either," so it wasn't just that there had been some human-sized entertaining happening in this building. It hadn't been built to typical Agrii standards.

With nothing else moving in the room, Tony turned on the droid to call, "Itty-BD--he'll be fine, go--can you do measurements? We might have to compare." The steps had felt human-sized, but there could be fractional differences to suggest some other species, like the ones in the database Ophiuchus carried around. Tony did wander slightly closer to Cal to appease any droid anxieties, but with his focus under the heavy boughs of the wild-growing tree to try to spy either more furniture or some decomposers at least, he wasn't exactly watchful enough to spot the curious, thin tendril sprouting from a tiny, white bulb on the wall curling its way toward the Jedi.

[beholding_archivist]

Cal's comment gets no response from Jon, who has reached the setup of furniture and has started a closer inspection of the different pieces. Nearby and hidden behind some more overgrown plants he also finds an open shelf housing a few old pots and a small cupboard with its doors having been pushed open by a large vine having decided to grow through it.

But just like Tony, Jon notices the lack of any actual creatures living in this sealed off structure.

"Has either of you ventured a little further out of Temba? Do we know if-" Jon asks, turning back to face the entire room and address his friends, only to find that they don't appear to be in the same room as him any longer. "Ah- Tony? Cal? BD-1...?"

Have they left him alone?

[out_of_order]

BD-1 looked over at Tony before hooting a compliance, skittering and hopping across the overgrowth carpeting the floor to start scanning what he could of the furnishings and whatever else happened to catch his interest.

Cal didn't voice it, but he gave a grateful nod in Tony's direction, breathing out a slow breath as his focus turned inward, quieting his thoughts and trying to calm the restlessness that had seemed to grow the longer they were here. Without the distraction of the things around him drawing his eye it was easier to do so as he kept his breathing steady, barely hearing the others around.

Slowly he let his senses expand around him through the Force, registering the general life surrounding them, the presence of Tony and Jon... His eyes were still closed, but his brow furrowed slightly as he sensed something off. No, it was a what he'd been there at the back of his mind, a presence that pervaded the building somehow. Was that what was throwing him off? There was something just at the fringes of his senses, foreboding. It muddied things, making it difficult to pinpoint a source, which was troubling in and of itself, and as he made the attempt he remained oblivious to the fresh and suddenly very animated flora in his vicinity.

[in_extremis]

Jon's muffled mutterings sounded a lot like talking to himself, or maybe BD-1, so Tony had to do a double take as he turned away from the tree with some frustration and no more animals to be found there, either. Despite the open windows, there wasn't a sign of anything living here besides plants, and whatever the toothy thing Cal had seen was. It was with that thought, considering that there was only one conscious being on the property and Jon still almost fell into its mouth, that Tony rounded on Jon again only to find him in the same position, with the same kind of distant look that had captured Cal before.

This time, Tony went still as well, nose wrinkling slightly as he tried to work out what was happening, before he went cautiously toward Jon, sneaking through the grass like he might take the other man by surprise despite the open approach. Behind him, the vines had multiplied, more flowers turning their faces toward the still, warm body on the soil and unfurling along the ground, the leading, most enterprising of them sneaking their way under the loose hems of Cal's comfortable clothes and twining gently as tickling grass around his fingers.

[beholding_archivist]

While Tony makes his very obvious approach towards him, Jon very obviously doesn't see him. Instead, he looks around with growing confusion, shifting uneasily where he stands. His hand goes to his bag and he turns sideways where he stands, craning his neck to try and see behind and around bushes and trees. "Tony? Cal? Where are you? I hope this isn't some kind of a tasteless joke!" He calls out, irritation now growing along with his unease and Jon makes to walk back to the door.

But the door isn't there anymore either.

Neither are the walls.

Jon stops short as he finds himself not only alone, but entirely surrounded by trees and vines and looking up where a large glass window should be is only darkness. A darkness that slowly bends down towards him. And Jon can't find it in himself to be surprised when it blinks open its one massive eye and stares down at him.

[out_of_order]

BD-1 looked over at Jon as the man started shouting, head cocking in that birdlike sort of way. He beeped inquiringly in the man's direction. Hey! He's right here! Except that the Archivist wasn't even looking in...anyone's direction really. And now he was staring at nothing. The droid whistled, and when he heard Tony coming up he turned to share his concerns.

Meanwhile, Cal felt like he was trying to adjust the dials on a fine tuner to try getting a clear reading on things, on anything, really. It shouldn't have been so difficult, and yet it felt like he was swimming through whatever fog filled this place. He wondered if using the raw crystal in his lightsaber would help him focus, but before he could move he felt something else moving around him.

Subtle but seeking, and with an intent he didn't quite trust. He sensed that impending threat again, so much closer, stirred into further action. Yet it wasn't quite a sentient mind, but something was undoubtedly alive. His fingers twitched, eyes flying open at the first stinging brush of a thorn. He would have been quicker to move to his feet but the plant-life had crept in and woven over his boots that he nearly faceplanted onto the floor. "Tony, Jon- BeeDee..!" he shouted across the room, hoping to warn them as he pulled his right arm free of the trailing vines, grasping his lightsaber.

For the second time it hissed to life, a vibrant thrum that drove back the stillness of the room. The blue blade of light swept through the offending vines that attempted to ensnare his arm again, suddenly spurred into quicker action.

The little droid gave a shriek of alarm and went dashing back towards him then. He may not have seen whatever the padawan had been seeing earlier, but BD-1 was definitely seeing this now.

[in_extremis]

"Yeah, I see him..." Tony assured BD-1, though didn't feel very sure himself anymore, unable to explain why Jon could look right past him. Maybe Jon wasn't really there at all, some trick of the strange light in this room, mirrors that Tony tried to catch the glare off of by circling around behind Jon and stopping in surprise as Jon abruptly halted in the middle of the room. The light flickered, like something passed over the window overhead where Jon stared, dropping them into shadow where Tony just started to hiss, "Jon--?" with one hand outstretched to try to draw him back.

That was when Cal's voice cut across the room, and Tony's head snapped back toward him where he had been left stupidly alone. What Tony tried to call back sounded shockingly quiet under the telltale noise of the lightsaber, spurring Tony to reach out for Jon more carelessly to take on this fight together. It was only when he turned to ensure that he had a good grasp on Jon's arm that he saw the fan of vines, twisting and contorting sickly, knit together like a roiling cage spreading up well over their combined height and hovering just on the edge of the faint, watery remains of the daylight that they stood in under the window. They didn't have time for Tony to make sure Jon knew he was there, Tony had to drag him back away from the writhing mass with a shout and go crashing back through the grass with the tendrils collapsing to the ground to dart after their heels. Tony could already see more of them winding densely together across the door they had come through, lashing up the walls and twining together enthusiastically until the formed gnarled knuckles of squirming growth. With his gaze on the door, Tony came crashing through Cal's conflict with Jon in tow, several of the delicate vines tearing as Tony stumbled over them before he got his footing.

[beholding_archivist]

The huge eye above him doesn't unsettle Jon as much as it probably should. But in a way it's a familiar sight. Not a soothing one, but familiar.

But as he opens his mouth to address it, something grabs his arm and he gets pulled away from where he stands without warning, resulting in a shout of surprise and alarm. "Wha- Hey! What is-- Let go of me!" He tries to struggle free while at the same time being puled along, leaving him tripping more then necessary until he can actually see who is pulling him.

A discovery that leaves him adequately stunned while stumbling along. But aside from Tony, Jon then also notices Cal again, weapon drawn and fending off some aggressive plants. And from those he finally takes notice of what else is going on around them. "Oh- shit! Tony! Cal! We need to get out of here!"

[out_of_order]

Cal severed the vines that had attempted to entrap his legs, pulling free just as Tony and Jon rushed back over. BD-1 was quick to bring up his foot to shock another winding plant that was getting much too close to his friends, beeping before jetting up towards Cal's outstretched arm so he could scramble back to his harness.

The soft glow from the lightsaber kept the plants from their approach, but only just, and once rejoined by the other two, Cal kept it moving, discouraging a few more daring vines as they wended towards them with a quick flick of a wrist, slicing their reaching tips. "I think we woke something up," he muttered, glancing back the way Jon and Tony had come, making out the suddenly more animated overgrowth. He nodded at Jon's advice. "Right behind you."

[in_extremis]

As his most gracious possible apology for dragging Jon as he struggled against him, Tony gave him a sharp nod for this well conceived plan of action and encouraging push away from the snarl of encroaching vines to lead them toward the back of the garden. From there, Tony could keep a hand on Jon's back as he watched Cal over his shoulder, teeth on edge and frowning dubiously at the light that Cal waved barely scaring the plants off. They recoiled, avoiding getting too close to the glow where some of their leaves would wither and die, but were quickly trailing after Cal again in its wake. It was only as they ran through the pools of sunset that still made it into the garden that the vines broke away to snake against the walls before regrouping again in the shadowy grass.

"Outside. Fast," Tony pointed out, throwing a glance up at the skylights and the stars he could already see blinking through the purple curtain drawing across the city. It was clear why this vine hadn't ventured much further than these dark halls, and if they didn't make it out in time for the sun to set, they might just be luring it out to tangle around Temba.

[beholding_archivist]

Jon has stopped counting how many times he nearly tripped during their comparatively short sprint, but he hasn't stopped paying attention to the vines not only trying to catch up with them, but also the ones trying to cut off their way.

"It's already getting dark outside!" Jon reminds Tony, but spares them all a lecture on how many doing these explorations in the early hours of the day might be worth considering in the future.

Letting himself be guided by Tony's hold on his arm, Jon turns to catch a glance of Cal and the reaction his blade gets from the plants. Somehow they seem to know the weapon is dangerous to them - Just as they know to avoid the light. Jon follows the thicker vines with his eyes to the large, bulbous flower still stuck to the ceiling. It still seems to call for them. Jon narrows his eyes at that, but doesn't get to mention it as their escape has him stumble out of the room. But before he does, he still notices the plant flinch in response to- Being studied? Being seen?

He makes a face once they are out of that one massive room and his attention is being completely pulled away from the plant. "Next time I demand a flamethrower!"

[out_of_order]

Cal watched their backs as they made way for- what, back out to the hall? He slashed through more of the vines that dared come too close, stealing a glance towards the skylights at Tony's indication.

"-Jon's right, we can't properly seal the window we came through. It'll just spread right out once it follows us." He turned around to guard their rear as they step out of the room. The atmosphere around them is a whole lot more animated, more flowers blooming along the entangled walls, making the air thick with pollen. Cal brought a hand to his face, stifling a cough. "This isn't good." He was starting to put things together, although the concentration of pollen in the air wasn't so much making him see things as it was making his thinking hazy.

"At the moment, I wouldn't object the flamethrower. Is- is it just one plant or separate?" He pulled himself into a sloppy Form III, bringing his blade in a circular sweep to once again trim the reaching plants. BD-1 beeped a rapid staccato as he clung closer to his padawan. "Hang on, I think we can," Cal said, blinking at a thought. "You two still have your lights? Things are going to get bright."

He held the length of his lightsaber out in front of him and away from the others before igniting a second blade from the base of the long handle, a brilliant yellow-white. With power flowing freely through the power crystal from the cave, the blue blade glowed brighter as well, along with any bit of metal on them, BD-1 included.

[in_extremis]

"What, am I not hot enough for either of you?" Tony would see what he could do about a flamethrower. Jon had some practice, he couldn't get much worse than trying to burn Cayde's casing off, clearly leaving the torch behind this time was a mistake. That pollen wouldn't be coating Tony's throat as he tried to catch his breath from the sprint across the garden if they could cauterize it at the source. Tony gave a heaving cough of his own to try to clear it, spitting sugar-sweet and shockingly yellow phlegm to the ground with a grumble of distaste, but it didn't stop the shadows from darting at the edges of his vision. It was hard to tell how much of that movement was more buds blooming all the way down the hall, welcoming the cool night air. He only had the chance to wheeze, "What?," before he was squinting in the flare of light bursting from Cal, then his own hand as the gauntlet responded in kind like the metal itself was burning. Impulsively, Tony clasped his hand shut around the beam of light that energy drew out of his palm before he realized what Cal was actually doing, and spun to aim the flare down the hall. The vines that had been sloughing off of the walls to twine toward them went cascading back away from the beam, like the hallway itself expanded with a deep inhale.

[beholding_archivist]

Cal's question is answered with Jon raising his torch into view, only to nearly drop it again with a quick yelp of surprise when the small device begins to glow viciously in response to the Jedi turning on his lightsaber.

"From what I can tell it's all the one plant." Jon offers and shines his own light the way they came and back into the room. From this angle he can only just make out the main body of the plant that is still slinging its vines at them. If they want to get rid of it, they will have to get rid of it here.

Jon looks back at Tony and then over to Cal before turning fully to go back. "Keep the vines away from me!" A rather sharp request.

[out_of_order]

Cal held the lightsaber out, watching as plants shrank back from their growing range of light. It was working, at least. That it was all one plant would make it easier, but only if they managed to deal with its source.

He glanced back at Jon, almost startled by the request made- as though he needed to say it so harshly! But the padawan looked at Tony before nodding and starting after the Archivist. "That, I can do," he said, shifting his grip on his weapon, readied to intercept the vines coming at them.